Used auto parts inventory software
- Dead lines as a percent of the shelf
- 18
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Dead stock at cost
- $30,960
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- The write-down to clear it
- $18,576
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Cash back if it all clears at that price
- $12,384
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. Binstockly publishes no catalogue, no interchange table, no fitment data and no target margin: the usage, the lead times, the costs and the prices are yours, and the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own figures.
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The figures above start from a worked example (18). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Used auto parts inventory software worked example (CSV)
Used auto parts inventory software has to answer a question a new-parts system can dodge: what is on the shelf that is never going to sell, and what is it costing to keep. This sheet works it. Enter the part numbers on the shelf, how many have not sold in twelve months, the average units held on each of those lines, the average unit cost and the write-down you think it would take to clear them, and it returns the dead share of the shelf, the dead stock at cost, the write-down that clearing it implies, the cash that would come back and the lines still moving. On the worked example, 430 dead lines out of 2,400 is 18% of the shelf and $30,960 at cost; a 60% write-down to shift it is $18,576 written off and $12,384 back in the till. Both numbers are uncomfortable, which is the point: the stock is already lost, and the only open question is whether the shelf space goes on paying for it.
How much of the shelf is not moving
430 part numbers out of 2,400 unsold in twelve months is 18% of the shelf. The share matters more than the count: 430 dead lines out of 20,000 is housekeeping, out of 2,400 it is most of a buying problem.
What it cost, and what it would take to move
430 lines at two units and $36 is $30,960 at cost. A 60% write-down to clear it is $18,576 written off and $12,384 back. The sheet shows both halves because only one of them usually gets discussed.
The money is already gone
The cost was paid when the parts were bought, so the only live question is whether the shelf space keeps paying for it. Holding dead stock at full value does not make it worth full value; it makes the turns figure on this site's turns sheet worse every quarter.
Used auto parts inventory software: common questions
Is twelve months the right cut-off? It is the common one and it is what the worked example uses, but the sheet does not enforce it. For a salvage operation holding parts for older vehicles, a longer window is honest; for fast-moving service parts, six months already tells you something is wrong.
Should dead stock be written down in my accounts? That is a question for your accountant and this site publishes no rule about it. The sheet works out what the write-down would be at the percentage you name; whether and when you take it is an accounting judgement, not arithmetic.
What if I cannot clear it at any price? Then the honest figure is a 100% write-down, and the sheet will show it: the cash back goes to zero and the whole dead stock value is the cost of having bought it. The shelf space it frees is still worth having.