Service 02 · $280 / month
Know What Your
Store Is Actually Losing
Inventory shrinkage is a consistent financial drain for most retailers — and it's rarely visible in the books until the damage is already done. This service makes it measurable, categorised, and financially understood.
What This Delivers
Shrinkage That's Measured, Not Guessed
Most retail operators have a rough sense that they're losing inventory — but not a clear picture of how much, where it's happening, or what it's actually costing the business. This service changes that. Physical counts are reconciled against your perpetual records, losses are categorised by type and location, and the financial impact is documented in periodic summary reports.
Losses by Category
Shrinkage is broken down by product category and location — giving you the detail needed to understand where losses are concentrated, not just the total.
Periodic Summary Reports
Shrinkage findings are compiled into structured financial reports on a regular basis — making the pattern visible over time, not just as a one-off exercise.
Informed Loss-Prevention Decisions
When losses are quantified and categorised, you can evaluate whether your current prevention measures are working — and where changes might make a measurable difference.
The Challenge
Shrinkage Tends to Sit in the Books as a Rounding Error Until It's Much Larger Than That
For many retailers, inventory losses are absorbed into the financials without being examined. The variance between what should be on the shelves and what actually is gets noted at year-end, written off, and moved past — without any analysis of what drove it.
That approach has a cost. When theft, damage, and administrative errors aren't distinguished from each other, it's impossible to know whether a loss-prevention investment would help, or whether the real issue is a process problem that's straightforward to fix.
Understanding the source of shrinkage — and its financial weight — is the first step toward managing it. This service provides exactly that foundation.
Inventory discrepancies recorded as a single line item with no breakdown of cause — theft, damage, and process error all counted together.
Physical counts conducted infrequently or informally, with no systematic reconciliation against perpetual inventory records.
No visibility into which product categories or store locations account for the majority of shrinkage — making targeted decisions impossible.
Loss-prevention measures evaluated on instinct rather than financial data — with no baseline to measure whether they're having any effect.
The Approach
Systematic Monitoring Built Around How Retail Inventory Actually Moves
The service doesn't just count what's missing — it tracks what's missing, where it's missing from, what likely caused it, and what that loss represents in financial terms.
Physical Count Reconciliation
Physical inventory counts are reconciled against your perpetual records on a regular schedule. Variances are identified by product, category, and location — not absorbed as a general discrepancy.
Loss Classification by Cause
Losses are categorised as theft, damage, or administrative error where the evidence supports that distinction. This separation is what makes the data actionable rather than simply informative.
Financial Impact Quantification
Each category of loss is quantified in dollar terms. The financial weight of shrinkage is made visible in a form that connects directly to the business's bottom line — not just as a unit count.
Periodic Summary Reports
Summary reports are produced at regular intervals, structured so you can track shrinkage trends over time. Consistent reporting makes it possible to see whether the situation is improving or changing.
Working Together
A Structured Process That Runs Alongside Your Operations
The monitoring process is designed to work with your existing inventory systems, not against them. You continue operating as normal; we work with the data your physical counts and perpetual records generate to produce a clear financial picture of what's being lost.
Each reporting period, you receive a summary of what was found — categorised, quantified, and structured to be genuinely readable. The aim is to give you something useful, not a report that requires interpretation before it says anything.
Over time, the reports build into a trend picture — making it easier to assess whether changes to your operations or loss-prevention approach are having a measurable effect.
Baseline Setup
We establish a starting point from your current perpetual inventory records and agree on the count schedule and reporting format.
Ongoing Reconciliation
Physical count data is reconciled against perpetual records regularly. Variances are identified, categorised, and recorded with their financial equivalent.
Periodic Reports
Summary reports are delivered at agreed intervals — clear, categorised, and structured to build a trend picture across multiple periods.
Investment
A Predictable Monthly Investment
Shrinkage & Loss Tracking
Systematic shrinkage monitoring with financial reporting
$280
per month
Physical count reconciliation against perpetual records
Loss classification by category (theft, damage, administrative error)
Variance quantification by product category and location
Financial impact reporting in dollar terms
Periodic summary reports structured for trend tracking
Can be combined with Retail Business Accounting service
Suitable for: Retailers who want to move beyond guessing at their shrinkage figure — and understand, in financial terms, what's actually being lost and from where.
Context
Why Systematic Shrinkage Tracking Matters Financially
The case for structured loss tracking comes down to one thing: losses that are measured can be managed. Losses that aren't measured are absorbed invisibly.
3–5%
Typical Annual Loss Rate
Industry data consistently places retail shrinkage at 3–5% of annual inventory value. For a store carrying $200,000 in stock, that can represent $6,000–$10,000 in losses each year.
3 Types
Of Loss to Distinguish
Theft, damage, and administrative error require different responses. Categorising losses correctly is what makes the reporting useful — and what makes a response to the data practical rather than speculative.
Periodic
Reporting Builds Trend Data
A single shrinkage report tells you what happened once. Consistent periodic reports tell you whether the situation is stable, worsening, or improving — which is the more useful information.
Our Commitment
Straightforward to Start, Easy to Adjust
Getting shrinkage tracking set up shouldn't be a project in itself. The process is designed to be simple on your end from the beginning.
No-Obligation Consultation
We start with a conversation about your current inventory systems and what you're looking for. No commitment required to have that initial discussion.
Agreed Reporting Format
Before the service begins, we agree on the reporting format and schedule. Reports are structured to be useful to you, not produced in a standard format that doesn't fit how you work.
Flexible as You Grow
If you expand to new locations or your inventory structure changes, the service adjusts with you. The scope isn't fixed at the point of setup.
Getting Started
Simple to Get Moving
Setting up shrinkage tracking takes a short initial process — after that, the monitoring runs on an agreed schedule with minimal input required from your side.
Get in Touch
Send us a note through the contact form with a brief description of your store and inventory setup.
Systems Review
We review your current inventory records and agree on the count schedule and classification approach.
Baseline Established
An initial baseline reconciliation is completed to create a reference point for ongoing tracking.
Monitoring Begins
Ongoing reconciliation and periodic reporting begins. You receive structured loss reports on the agreed schedule.
Other Services
Explore the Other Two Services
Service 01
Retail Business Accounting
Complete monthly accounting for retail operations — POS reconciliation, inventory cost accounting, vendor payment management, and category-level margin reporting.
Service 03
Seasonal Inventory Valuation
Periodic inventory valuation at key seasonal transition points — year-end, post-holiday, mid-year — with markdown adjustments and detailed inventory schedules.
Ready When You Are
Let's Talk About Your Inventory Losses
If you'd like to understand what your store is losing — and where — get in touch. A short conversation is all it takes to see whether this service fits your situation.
Get in Touch