Stock numbers
Choose what you are numbering
Begin by choosing the Stock type at the top of Stock numbers. This identifies the form you are preparing labels for, such as a tray or culture vessel. The page finds the prefix saved for that type on Stock types, then suggests numbers that take account of earlier entries and reservations.
When you save a reservation row, keep its Stock type unchanged after you have used any label from it. The reservation needs to remain an accurate reference for the labels already prepared. Reserving a range does not create stock or tell you that the physical items exist yet.
Use a recognizable prefix
A prefix is the short beginning of a stock label. It gives you a recognizable pattern while the numbered part distinguishes individual records. Set it under Set up your farm → Stock types → Stock number prefix. Use 1–12 capital letters, numbers or hyphens, beginning with a letter, and a different prefix for each active Stock type.
The full label places an underscore between the prefix and the number. For example, if your prefix is TR, a label can be TR_0001. Keep changing details such as place and stage in their own fields, so the same number can stay with the stock. Copy the prefix into the reservation as text that stays unchanged, using Values only as described below.
Reserve one number or a range
Choose the Stock type, then enter How many? labels you need. The suggested First number and Last number give the start and end of the range to set aside. The page checks earlier reservations and stock-entry numbers, including entries still being prepared, before making this suggestion.
Copy the suggested prefix and first and last numbers into an empty reservation row. Use Edit → Paste special → Values only so the saved numbers stay the same when the next suggestion changes. Complete Stock type, Reserved by and Reserved on. Read Reservation check and wait for Reserved before making or using the labels.
For one label, First number and Last number are the same. For ten labels starting at 21, save 21 as the first and 30 as the last: both ends count. The complete label uses at least four digits after the prefix. Once saved, use the numbers in your reservation rather than the changing suggestion at the top.
Reserved by
Enter the person or team setting the labels aside, so colleagues know whom to ask about an unused label or planned job. Have one person reserve numbers at a time. This practice sheet does not prevent two people from trying to reserve a range together.
Reserved on
Choose the date you set the labels aside. It identifies the reservation, which may happen before the stock arrives or is produced. For a blank date cell, type @date and choose Date to open the calendar; double-click an existing date to reopen it.
Read Reservation check
Reserved means the row has its required details and does not share numbers with another entered range. If a message reports an overlap or a different Stock type, resolve it before making labels. Two stock records must not use the same number.
The entry pages also check for a number used twice or reserved for another type. If they show a warning, find the mistaken entry or reservation and correct that mistake. Giving the same physical stock another number just to clear the message would leave two histories for one item or lot.
Understand Numbers & usage
Numbers & usage shows the complete labels in the saved range and counts how many have appeared on Add Stock or Produce or harvest. It includes unfinished drafts because a number already typed there needs checking before it is used for another entry.
For example, 2 used of 10 means two reserved labels have been typed into stock entries, including entries still being prepared. It does not say eight more items physically exist. Leave the displayed calculations in place and use Find number for a particular label.
Find a number before using it
Enter the full label in Find number. A label used on a stock-entry page points you to that entry; an unused reserved label shows the Stock type and who reserved it. That can help you distinguish stock already being recorded from labels prepared for future work.
A missing search result does not set the number aside. Save a reservation that says Reserved before making a new label. Capital and lower-case versions count as the same number. If a duplicate is reported, resolve it first: the search can show only the first matching entry, so its result alone cannot tell you which use was mistaken.
Keep labels and earlier reservations
Once a label identifies stock, use the same number for its later notes, movements and production sources. Keep it even after the stock is consumed or archived, and do not give it to a different item. The old history must continue to refer to the original stock.
Retain earlier reservations, including unused or spoiled labels. A prefix change affects future suggestions without renaming old ranges or stock. Keep the register with your backups and archive information, so a label found later still refers to the original item or lot.
This practice page has room for 200 reservation ranges. When a range says Reserved, continue with Add Stock for arrivals or Produce or harvest for new output, using the labels you set aside.
Add Stock
Before you start
Decide what one row will represent before typing. It can describe one separately followed item or one lot: an amount you manage together under one Stock number, location, stage and history. Use separate stock records when those details need to be managed separately.
Have the arrival details or opening count ready. Check that the Set up your farm section offers suitable Product, Stock type, Unit and Location choices, and prepare an unused label on Stock numbers when needed. Choose the actual details on the receipt; the usual setup choices do not select them for you.
For something made or harvested from stock already recorded, use Produce or harvest. That entry records which stock it came from. Entering the same output there and again on Add Stock would record two arrivals instead of one.
Prepare the receipt
Use an empty Add Stock row: one horizontal line for the item or lot you are recording. Type or choose details in its white boxes, called cells. Leave Posted and Entry check alone because they display results. Start with Stock number, Date received and Entry reason, then choose Stock type and Product / variety.
Enter the positive Quantity and its Unit as a pair, then choose the actual Location. Add a Process : stage if it helps describe progress, and choose Use status according to what you know about readiness. A place, a stage and a status describe different facts, so one should not have to stand in for the others.
Add any useful supplier reference, recorder name or arrival detail. Enter Usable until only where you have a justified last-use date. Read Entry check and follow its message if details are missing or need correction. Ready means you can submit the receipt; Ready · review asks you to check the named choice before proceeding.
Google Sheets saves your typing, so you can stop and return to an entry still being prepared. That saved draft does not yet add to stock. If its number has already been used, find the existing record before creating another. Repair or clear only the white cells of a mistaken unsubmitted draft, leaving earlier accepted records intact.
Submit the receipt on Post entries
Submitting the receipt on Post entries is what adds it to the stock views. Use the next empty line after all previous submissions. In Choose completed record, select the choice beginning with Receive and check its Stock number, quantity and description.
Wait for Result and read Entry summary on the same line. Accepted means the receipt was recorded. The Posted box on Add Stock then changes automatically; it is not a box for you to tick.
If Result says Rejected, that attempt added no stock. Read why, return to the same draft and correct it. On a new posting line, select the updated choice for that same draft, keeping its Stock number and the earlier rejected line. If the receipt already says Accepted, find that result instead of submitting again. Keep the posting list in its original order without sorting, replacing or deleting lines.
Check the result in Current Stock
Open Current Stock and search for the Stock number. Clear any search or status and location filters if they hide the record. Read the stock description together with its on-hand quantity, unit, location and status, and compare them with the receipt you intended to enter.
Stock that is Not assessed, Not ready or On hold can still be physically present while showing no amount available to use. That is expected when the status accurately describes your decision. On the original Add Stock row, Posted now ticks automatically and Entry check says Posted · use Corrections for changes.
The receipt is complete when Post entries says Accepted and the correct stock appears in Current Stock. You can now use that Stock number for later work. If the record is missing, first check whether it is still a Ready draft or was Rejected; entering another receipt before checking could count the same arrival twice.
Return after closing the spreadsheet
After reopening the workbook, find the same Stock number before beginning again. Google Sheets keeps the cells it saved, and Post entries shows whether the receipt was accepted. After a connection problem, look for confirmation that the sheet saved and read the posting result before repeating the work.
If it is still a draft, complete that row and submit it. If it says Accepted, continue with the stock already recorded. If it was Rejected, correct the same draft and select its updated choice on a new posting line. Keep the same Stock number: an interrupted or rejected attempt is not a second arrival.
For a mistake in a receipt already accepted, use Correct quantity for the original amount or Correct details for a detail that tool supports. These need the development add-on. Changing the old draft does not correct the accepted stock. If an amount was really used or lost later, enter that separately on Use or loss.
What each field means
The receipt needs Stock number, Date received, Entry reason, Stock type, Product / variety, Quantity, Unit and Location. The other fields help explain its starting condition or preserve useful context. The sections below explain how each part contributes to a record that another person can understand.
Stock number
The Stock number is the lasting label for this particular item or lot. Use the label prepared on Stock numbers. Separate arrivals can need separate numbers even when the Product is the same, because their quantities, dates and later histories may differ.
Keep the number after stock is used up or archived, and do not give it to something else. Put the supplier’s own reference in Supplier lot / reference. It helps identify that arrival without replacing the Stock number you use throughout the workbook.
Date received
Choose when the stock actually arrived. For Opening stock, use the date you counted what was already on the farm. A planned delivery is not physically present yet. Use the date cell’s calendar for a complete date; the spreadsheet does not automatically record this date when you type.
Entry reason
Choose Purchased for something bought, Received for another arrival, or Opening stock for stock already present when you begin keeping these records. Output from recorded stock belongs on Produce or harvest, where you can explain its actual sources.
Stock type
Choose the physical form you are receiving, using the choices prepared on the Stock types tab. Product tells you what it is, while Stock type tells you the form you have. Read them together before continuing. If a choice is missing, check its setup row and Show in dropdowns setting rather than using an unrelated type just to complete the entry.
Product / variety
Choose the crop, plant, animal or other Product, with its variety, strain or breed where relevant. The dropdown combines the names saved on Products. Several stock records can share that description; the permanent Stock number is what distinguishes this receipt from the others.
Quantity
Enter the positive amount that actually arrived or was present at your opening count. Always read it with Unit. If a separate-item record counts whole items, each item has its own Stock number and Quantity 1. A separately followed container may instead have a measured quantity of contents, so make that meaning clear.
For grouped stock, enter the amount you will manage together. Zero cannot stand for an unknown quantity: establish what the amount represents before posting. Use no more decimal places than the chosen unit allows.
Unit
Choose how the amount was counted or measured, using the Units tab. A count of containers, a count of plants and a weight of harvested material mean different things. The workbook does not turn a container count into the weight or volume of its contents, so clarify what was counted in Stock type or Receipt detail if needed.
Location
Choose the place where someone can actually find the stock, using Locations from setup. Keep that arrival location on the receipt. If it moves later, record the move on Move or change stage so both the arrival and later place remain understandable.
Process : stage
Use Process : stage when the stock’s starting progress is useful to record. The dropdown combines the process and stage names so that similar stage names stay distinguishable. You can leave it blank where no process is needed. Choosing a stage describes progress; it does not move stock or confirm a planned job was completed.
Use status
Choose Not assessed when a usability decision has not been made, Available when the stock is ready to use, Not ready when more time or work is needed, or On hold when you are deliberately withholding it. A blank is treated as Not assessed.
Stock can remain physically present while it is not available to use. Later decisions on Assessment & holds apply to the whole item or lot. This preview does not track part of a lot being reserved for a customer, so that kind of reservation is not automatically deducted from the displayed available amount.
Usable until
Enter a last-use date only when an established rule or reliable source gives this stock a fixed limit. Leave it blank when no such date applies; a planned review date serves a different purpose.
When this date is before today, Current Stock shows Past use-by and makes the available amount zero while still showing physical stock. That does not record disposal. The field holds a date you enter; it does not automatically calculate a lifetime from setup or represent a time-of-day cutoff.
Supplier / origin
Use Supplier / origin for the outside person or business supplying this arrival. Choose a saved supplier or type a clear name. If it was produced from stock already recorded here, use Produce or harvest and choose the actual source Stock number, rather than trying to describe that relationship with a supplier name.
Supplier lot / reference
Copy a supplier lot number, delivery reference or external tag exactly as it appears in the arrival information when it will help you trace the purchase. Several separately managed items can share that outside reference while keeping their own Stock numbers. Sharing the reference does not combine their quantities.
Recorded by
Choose or enter the person or team making the record. General settings and People or teams can offer names, but the actual label needs to be selected or typed. The spreadsheet does not automatically identify the author or stamp an entry time in this field.
Receipt detail
Use Receipt detail to explain useful arrival context, such as how the stock was packaged, what you counted or a discrepancy you noticed. A readable sentence is more useful later than a private abbreviation. For observations made after arrival, use Stock notes so that each observation can retain its own date instead of repeatedly replacing the receipt’s explanation.
Read Entry check
Read Entry check for help completing the receipt. It can point out a missing field, a number used twice or a date or quantity that needs correction. The View entry checks link near the top takes you to that results column; leave its displayed message in place.
Ready means you can submit the receipt through Post entries. Ready · review asks you to check an unusual or older choice, keeping it if it correctly describes this arrival. Posted · use Corrections for changes means an earlier submission was accepted. Entry check and Posted show the results for you; they are not fields to fill or tick yourself.
Current Stock
Find stock and reset the view
If you know the Stock number, type all or part of it in Find stock. This is the lasting label you gave that item or lot. If you only know what kind of stock you want, search for its Stock type or Product name instead.
You can narrow the list by choosing a Use status or Location. A location choice is useful when you are preparing to work in one area. To see everything again, delete the words in Find stock and choose All in both lists.
The coloured input cells are the places to enter these choices. The rows underneath show results worked out from your other entries, so leave those rows for the spreadsheet to fill. Use Add Stock for an arrival and Produce or harvest for something your farm has produced.
If expected stock is missing, clear the search and filters first. Then find its entry on Post entries. A result of Accepted means it has been added to the stock figures; an unfinished or rejected entry has not. Check that result before entering the same arrival again.
On hand: how much is still there
On hand is the amount your records say is still physically present. It starts with what you received or produced. Amounts recorded as used or lost are taken away, including material used to produce other stock. A saved quantity correction puts an incorrect earlier amount right.
Stock can still occupy space while it is growing, awaiting a decision or being held back from use. It therefore stays on hand when marked Not ready or On hold, and when its usable-until date has passed. Read Available to use alongside this amount to see whether it is also marked ready for the next job.
Producing something does not always use up the stock it came from. That original stock is called the source. If the recorded source quantity is unchanged, the production entry uses zero Quantity used from it. The source can then remain on hand for later production.
If an earlier amount was typed incorrectly, use Correct quantity. If some stock really was used or lost later, record what happened on Use or loss. These entries explain different reasons for a changed amount.
Available to use: what you have marked ready
Available to use helps you decide what is recorded as ready for use. It matches the on-hand amount when the whole item or lot is marked Available and its usable-until date has not passed. Otherwise it shows zero, even though the stock may still be on the farm.
Read Use status to understand the reason. Not assessed means you have not yet recorded a decision. Not ready means it is still waiting to reach a usable condition. On hold means you have deliberately withheld it while deciding what to do.
Record a later decision about the whole item or lot on Assessment & holds. A note can explain a concern, but you still need to enter the decision if you want its use status to change. This version does not record partial quantities promised to customers, so those promises are not deducted from Available to use.
Read the note preview
The short note shown here helps you notice something worth reading before you work with the stock. You might need the context even when its amount and location look ordinary.
A note marked Important is shown ahead of routine notes. When notes have the same priority, the one recorded most recently is shown. An older important incident can therefore stay in view after you add an everyday observation.
Open Notes & History to read the full note and its dates. If you decide to move stock, put it on hold or remove an amount, record that action on its own page as well. This lets you see what you noticed and what you did about it.
Understand the note count
This number tells you how many completed individual Stock notes are linked to this stock number. Notes that do not pass the note page’s checks are not counted.
The number does not include the original Receipt detail or notes saved for a batch. Open Notes & History to read the individual notes together with any saved batch notes that affected this stock. There may therefore be more context in the history than this count suggests.
Stock number
The Stock number is the lasting label for this particular item or lot. Several lots can have the same Product name, so the number tells you which one a note, movement or production entry belongs to.
Keep the number when the same stock moves or reaches another stage. Give a separately recorded new item or lot its own number. Stock numbers helps you organize those labels before entering new stock. Current Stock shows the number you entered; it does not create one for you.
Stock: its type and product together
The Stock column shows the Stock type and Product / variety together, making it easier to recognize the item without scrolling between columns. The type describes the form you handle, while the Product tells you what it is.
Your original Add Stock or Produce or harvest entry keeps these as separate choices. Open that entry if you need to read the full description or the explanation entered with it.
Product / variety
Product / variety identifies the crop, plant, animal or other product you recorded. A variety, strain or breed gives a more specific description when you know it and need that detail.
Two lots can share this description and still have different arrival dates or origins. Use the stock number to find the particular lot. To see where produced stock came from, follow its recorded sources on Lineage; a shared variety name alone does not establish that relationship.
Unit
The Unit tells you what the amount measures. Ten could mean ten plants, ten containers or ten kilograms, so read the unit with the number before deciding what remains.
The spreadsheet uses the measure recorded for that stock number. It does not turn a container count into the weight of its contents automatically. Check that quantities use the same kind of measure before comparing or adding them.
Use status
Use status tells you what has been decided about the whole item or lot. Available means it has been marked ready. Not assessed means no decision has been recorded; a blank starting status is treated this way too.
Not ready means it needs more time or work before use. On hold means it has been withheld pending a decision. Both keep the stock physically on hand while showing zero available. Use Assessment & holds when you make a later decision.
Location
Location tells you where the stock is currently recorded as being kept. It begins with the place entered when the stock arrived or was produced. A completed move changes that place once the movement entry has passed its checks and its Include change box is ticked.
Use Move or change stage for a later move. If only its stage changes, the place stays the same. The location filter also keeps places already used by the stock shown here, even when you have stopped offering those places for new entries.
Process : stage
Process : stage describes how far the stock has reached in a sequence of growing or handling steps. The process names the sequence; the stage is the step it has reached. Location answers the separate question of where it is kept.
The starting stage comes from the arrival or production entry. Later completed stage changes update it when their checks pass and Include change is ticked. Moving stock to another place without changing its stage leaves the stage as it was.
The expected days in Stage plans help with planning. A number of days passing does not confirm that the stock is ready or move it to the next stage for you.
Usable until
Usable until is the last-use date entered for stock with a fixed limit. A blank means no fixed date was recorded; you still need to judge and record its condition when necessary.
Once that date is before today, Current Stock shows Past use-by and zero available. The physical amount stays on hand until you record what actually happened to it, such as a use or loss.
You enter the date yourself. This field does not calculate a shelf life or set a cutoff time during the day. Use a work task if you want to plan an inspection before deciding whether to keep using the stock.
Supplier / origin
Supplier / origin helps you find the entry explaining how this stock came onto your farm. For an arrival, it shows the outside source you entered on Add Stock. For something produced on the farm, it points to the production entry.
Open that entry for its full details. When the stock was produced from earlier stock, its source stock numbers show the actual connections. Writing a supplier’s name is useful background, but it does not create those connections between stock numbers.
Receipt detail
Receipt detail is the explanation entered with the original arrival or production. It can clarify the packaging, condition on arrival or what was included in the starting count.
Put later observations on Stock notes. Each can have its own date, so someone reading later can distinguish what was known at arrival from something noticed afterward.
Stock notes
Choose the Stock number
Choose the Stock number of the item or lot you are writing about on an empty Stock notes row. This puts the observation with its existing history. You do not need another arrival entry when you only want to add information about stock already recorded.
Write the note and enter its recording date, then read Note check. Once its required details pass that check, the note can appear in Current Stock and Notes & History directly; it does not go through Post entries or need a separate window. For one observation concerning several members of a group, use Batch notes.
Happened on: the incident date
Happened on is when you saw the problem or the incident occurred. It may be earlier than the day you enter the note. Keeping both dates lets a later reader understand the sequence without mistaking a late entry for another incident.
Leave it blank if the date is unknown rather than guessing. To use the calendar in a blank date cell, type @date and choose Date; double-click a date to reopen its calendar.
Time happened
Choose a suggested time in 15-minute steps or type the local time you know. Read it with Happened on, because a time without its date does not tell you when the incident occurred. Leave the time blank if unknown. Use 00:00 only when you know it was midnight.
Write the note
Write enough for someone who was not present to understand what you saw and why it may matter. Describe the affected stock, the observation and any useful circumstances in ordinary language. Distinguish what you know from what you are uncertain about. A routine note does not need a category, severity or follow-up field.
The note preserves an observation; any separate action still needs to be recorded. Writing that stock looked unusual does not place it on hold, change its quantity or confirm a job was completed. If you also make a decision or record a real loss, use the appropriate entry page. These editable practice notes do not yet retain a formal correction history for changes to note text.
Recorded on: when you wrote it down
Recorded on is the date you wrote the note into the workbook. You must enter it, and it cannot be in the future. If you are recording an older incident, keep the earlier date under Happened on and use the real entry date here.
Choose or type the date that should remain with this note. Do not use a TODAY formula, which changes the date as days pass. The spreadsheet does not automatically fill this recording date for you.
Time recorded
Choose or type the local time you entered the note, if known. It can differ from Time happened when the observation was entered later. Keep a written time that stays the same; a NOW formula would keep changing. Leave it blank where unknown.
Recorded by
Choose or enter the person or team writing the note. People or teams and the name in General settings provide suggestions, and you can type another name when appropriate. The label helps a colleague know whom to ask about the observation.
This is the name entered by the recorder, not an automatic check of the Google account. Leave it blank when unknown. Hiding a person from future choices does not rename the notes already recorded under that name.
Mark a note Important
Tick Important when you want this observation kept prominent in Current Stock’s short note preview. This can keep a significant incident visible after routine notes are added. The other completed notes remain available in the full history.
Importance is a visibility choice for the note. Any hold, quantity change or follow-up task must still be recorded separately; the tick does not carry out those actions.
Location at the time
You can enter the place relevant to the observation so the context remains understandable after stock moves. For a late entry, use the place at the time of the incident when you know it, rather than automatically copying today’s location.
Keep that recorded context fixed. A correct older location can remain on the note even if it is no longer offered for new stock. Leave the field blank when it would add no useful information or the place is unknown.
Stage at the time
Enter the process and stage relevant to the observation if they help explain it. The stage tells a later reader how far the stock had progressed when you noticed the issue, even if the current record has moved on.
This describes the observation’s context without changing today’s stage. Leave it blank where unknown or unnecessary rather than inventing a past stage.
Read Note check and find the result
Note check looks for the stock you chose, the note text and the recording date. It also checks that entered dates and times make sense together. For example, the incident cannot be later than its recording, and a Time happened needs a Happened on date. Follow any message before relying on the note elsewhere.
When Note check says Ready, open Notes & History for that Stock number and find the text and dates. The note can also appear in Current Stock’s preview. If it is missing, check the row’s message and chosen stock before making another copy of the observation.