The Stock Movement Audit Trail

The Stock Movement Audit Trail

The stock movement audit trail is a complete, chronological log of every quantity change for every material in your inventory. Every time stock goes up or down — for any reason — a movement record is created and stored permanently.

What Each Movement Record Shows

• Date and time — when the movement was recorded
• Movement type — the category of change (see below)
• Quantity change — the amount added or removed, with the unit of measure
• Running balance — the stock level after this movement
• Reference — a link to the order or event that caused the movement (purchase order number, production order number, sales order number)
• Location — which stock location was affected
• Recorded by — the team member who logged the movement

Movement Types

• Purchase Received — stock added when a purchase order was marked as received
• Production Consumed — stock removed when material consumption was logged on a production order
• Production Completed — finished goods added to stock when a production order was completed
• Sales Shipped — stock removed when a sales order was fulfilled
• Manual Adjustment — a direct correction, with reason noted
• Transfer — stock moved from one location to another
• Waste — stock written off as waste
• Opening Balance — the initial quantity set when stock tracking was enabled for a material

How to Access the Audit Trail

For a Single Material

1. Go to the material (via Materials or via the Inventory view).
2. Open the Stock History tab.
3. All movements for that material are listed in reverse chronological order.

Cross-Material View

1. Go to Stock Management > Movements.
2. This shows all movements across all materials, filterable by date range, material, location, movement type, and reference number.

Investigating a Stock Discrepancy

The audit trail is most powerful when something does not add up. Example:

You expect to have 3.5 kg of UV resin, but the system shows 1.5 kg. You open the Stock History for UV Resin:

• Opening Balance: +5.0 kg
• Purchase Received (PO-042): +5.0 kg — Total: 10.0 kg
• Production Consumed (Production Order PO-31): -1.5 kg — Total: 8.5 kg
• Production Consumed (Production Order PO-34): -1.8 kg — Total: 6.7 kg
• Production Consumed (Production Order PO-38): -2.2 kg — Total: 4.5 kg
• Manual Adjustment (Waste): -3.0 kg — Total: 1.5 kg

The trail shows exactly where the resin went. The -3.0 kg waste adjustment was recorded by a team member after a failed batch. The current balance of 1.5 kg is correct — you had miscounted your expectations.

Why the Audit Trail Cannot Be Deleted

Movement records are permanent. You cannot delete or edit a stock movement after it is saved — only add a new correcting movement. This is by design: the audit trail is your evidence of what happened, when, and why. It protects you in disputes, supports your accounting records, and gives you confidence that what the system shows reflects reality.

If a movement was entered incorrectly, record a new movement to offset it, and add a note explaining the correction.