What is a stock-out entry in the kardex?

What is a stock-out entry in the kardex?

A stock-out entry in the kardex is an outgoing movement that decreases the stock of a product in the warehouse and is recorded in the product's kardex history. In Kardex Tauro, most stock-outs are not typed by hand: they are generated automatically when a document such as a sales invoice, a warehouse consumption, an internal transfer or a shrinkage is finalized. The manual stock-out is the opposite case. It is used when merchandise leaves the inventory without any commercial document backing the operation, and it is recorded through the Menos Kardex window, also called the manual inventory stock-out window, which decreases the quantity of units of a product in the current warehouse and automatically generates the corresponding accounting entry in the kardex history. In the product-uses classification, this movement belongs to negative inventory adjustments: non-commercial stock-outs (shrinkage, theft, obsolescence) that may have no third party associated.

The Menos Kardex window, area by area

The window is usually opened from the "- Kardex" button on the main kardex window. Its upper area shows, as read-only information, the product code, the current stock (the units available in the warehouse before applying the stock-out) and the product name, so you can confirm that you are adjusting the right item.

Under the heading "Remove products from inventory", the stock-out form asks you to complete:

• Decrease by: numeric field where you type the number of units to subtract from the inventory.
• Reference: free-text field to detail the reason or circumstance of the stock-out; it is vital for auditing and future traceability. The help suggests texts such as "Faltante en conteo físico" (shortage in physical count), "Mercancía dañada no registrada" (unrecorded damaged goods), "Robo detectado" (theft detected) or "Merma por vencimiento" (expiry shrinkage).
• Value: the unit value at which the merchandise leaves, always with tax included, because in Kardex Tauro every price is recorded with IVA (VAT) included. Entering the value without tax would leave stock and averages at a lower-than-real cost.
• Third party: search selector to choose the person involved in the stock-out: the customer who received the goods, the employee who reported the issue, the person responsible for the adjustment, or anyone relevant for traceability.

At the bottom, the Cancel button closes the window without applying any change, and the Save button runs the operation: it creates the kardex entry with the concept of manual stock-out or adjustment, subtracts the units from the current stock and updates the warehouse inventory.

Typical use cases of the manual stock-out

The help describes four situations in which a manual kardex stock-out is the right registration:

1. Adjustment for shortage in a physical count. During a physical inventory, 10 units fewer than the system shows are detected. Menos Kardex is used to remove those 10 units, with a reference such as: "Faltante detectado en conteo físico del [fecha], bodega principal".
2. Registration of damaged or lost merchandise. Merchandise damaged by a water leak, or stolen goods that were not documented at the time, are found later. The suggested reference is "Mercancía dañada por fuga de agua el [fecha], bodega 2" or "Robo detectado el [fecha], acta de seguridad #123".
3. Adjustment for an error in a previous receipt. In an earlier purchase, 50 units arrived but 60 were recorded. The 10 excess units are removed with a reference such as "Corrección de error en recepción de compra #4567 del [fecha]".
4. Stock-out of unrecorded samples or donations. Samples or donations that did not go through the consumptions or sales modules are removed with references such as "Muestras entregadas a cliente XYZ el [fecha]" or "Donación a institución ABC el [fecha]".

What must not be registered as a manual stock-out

If the merchandise leaves because it was sold, consumed internally or transferred to another warehouse, this window must not be used: the right path is the Outflow Module with the matching window, such as sales invoices, warehouse consumptions, internal transfers or shrinkages. When those documents are finalized, the system generates the kardex stock-out automatically, discounts the stock correctly and keeps commercial traceability. Menos Kardex remains for exceptions and adjustments: correcting shortages in physical counts, registering lost or stolen merchandise that was not documented at the time, or adjusting discrepancies between the system and the physical stock that have no supporting document.

The boundary with the shrinkage document is drawn by the help itself. The Create Shrinkage or Decrease window is the module where losses, deterioration, damage or negative inventory adjustments are recorded: it requires selecting the responsible party and the cause, and when the shrinkage is finalized the stock is discounted automatically and the kardex entry is generated as a shrinkage stock-out. Therefore, when a loss or damage is formalized as a shrinkage document with responsible party and cause, that document is the one that must produce the stock-out. The manual kardex stock-out remains for adjustments with no supporting document, such as the four cases above: the help places in Menos Kardex the damaged or lost merchandise that was not documented at the time, while an event already documented as a shrinkage is registered through the document's own window. One nuance worth knowing: the help mentions negative differences from physical counts in both modules, as a type of shrinkage that can be recorded as a document and as a typical manual adjustment case. What separates the two paths is the existence of the document: if the difference is formalized as a shrinkage, the stock-out comes from that document when it is finalized; if the difference is detected and adjusted directly, with no prior supporting document, the correct registration is the manual kardex stock-out.

Worked example: shortage detected in a physical count

In a physical count of the main warehouse, the stock shown by the system is compared with the units actually counted. For each product with a shortage, Menos Kardex is opened, the quantity is typed in "Decrease by", the unit cost with tax included is typed in "Value", and a descriptive text is written in "Reference".

The adjustment removes 13 units for a total value of 27100. Each registration leaves an entry in the kardex with its own reference and date; if a later count reveals another shortage, the procedure is repeated with a new reference that identifies it.

Situation and correct document

The immutability of the kardex and error handling

Once Save is pressed, the movement is recorded in the kardex history permanently and immutably: the system does not allow deleting, voiding or editing an already saved kardex entry, because that would break accounting integrity and inventory traceability. If you typed a wrong quantity, a wrong value or the wrong third party, do not look for a delete option. The solution given by the help is to open the Más Kardex window on the same product and record a manual entry for the wrong quantity or value, using in the Reference a text such as: "Reversión de error en salida manual de fecha X". In this way the inventory returns to its correct state and the audit history reflects both the error and its correction transparently.

Auditing best practices

• Descriptive references: a text such as "Adjustment" says nothing for the future; one such as "Adjustment for shortage in cycle count of warehouse 2, responsible: John Perez" saves hours of investigation for accountants and auditors.
• Tax-inclusive value: entering the value without tax leaves stock and averages at a lower-than-real cost and distorts the profitability of reports.
• Restricted permissions: because of its ability to alter inventory without a supporting commercial document, permission for this window should be limited to administrators, accountants or highly trusted warehouse managers.
• Physical evidence: when adjusting shortages, theft or damage, keep photos, count minutes or security reports that back the movement.
• Investigate root causes: if the same product or warehouse requires adjustments often, review internal controls, receiving processes or staff training.

In short, the manual kardex stock-out is the adjustment tool for recording inventory exits when no commercial document backs the operation. Used with descriptive references, tax-inclusive values and restricted permissions, it keeps inventory integrity when shortages, losses, damage or registration errors appear that were not documented at the time.