How Negative Stock Works
Access requirements. Seeing it needs view access to "Data cleaner" for that store. Fixing it needs edit access to "Product list" for that store instead — a separate permission. You need both, not just one, to go from seeing an issue to actually correcting it.
Selling never stops at zero — that's the main cause. A register or online sale never checks whether there's actually enough stock before it completes. Selling past zero is what drives a count negative in the first place, not a bug or a glitch.
Linked pack sizes show up negative together. If a pack size shares stock with others (a case linked to individual bottles, for example), the whole group draws from one shared count. Fix any one of them and the rest clear too, since they were only ever different views onto the same number.
Fixing it can visibly move your average cost. Once a count goes negative, cost tracking on it resets to zero. When you bring it back up, only the portion that actually crosses back above zero picks up a cost — so don't be surprised if margin looks off right after a fix, until fresh stock cycles through normally.
This is a different tool than Inventory Counts. This is an immediate, one-off correction for one or a few items — not a structured recount session. Use Inventory Counts instead when you're doing a real physical count of many items at once.
Where to Access Each Feature
To… | Go to |
See everything currently negative | Stock management → Data cleaner → "Negative inventory" |
Fix one or several items at once | Data cleaner → select row(s) → "Adjust inventory" (also available from Product list) |
Reviewing What's Flagged
Step 1
Click on "Stock management" in the left-menu bar, then click on "Data cleaner." This opens on "Negative inventory" by default.
Step 2
Check the "Linked inventory" column for each row — it reads "From: {name}" or "For: {names}" if that pack size shares stock with others, which tells you whether you're looking at several symptoms of one shared problem.
Fixing a Negative Count
Step 3
Select the item you want to fix, and then click Actions on the far right of the row, or check several rows and use the bulk actions menu.
Step 4
Click "Adjust inventory." This opens "Edit unit stock."
Step 5
Enter the correct "Current stock" value.
Step 6
Optionally choose a "Reason" (Waste, Promotion, Donation, or Other) and add a note. Leaving Reason blank just records it as a plain manual adjustment.
Step 7
Click "Update."
Note: fixing one pack size in a linked/shared-inventory group fixes every sibling pack size flagged alongside it — they were all reading off the same shared count.
Troubleshooting
"Adjust inventory" isn't available, or doesn't seem to do anything: you likely have view access to Data cleaner but not edit access to Product list for that store — you need both to fix an issue you can see.
You fixed a negative count and margin or average cost looks wrong right after: expected — cost tracking resets to zero once a count goes negative, and only rebuilds gradually as fresh stock comes in after the fix.
Several pack sizes are all showing negative at the same time: check the "Linked inventory" column — if they're linked, they're all symptoms of one shared count going negative, and fixing any one of them clears the rest.
You want to correct a lot of items with an actual physical count instead: use Inventory Counts instead of "Adjust inventory" — this tool is for a quick one-off correction, not a full recount.