Adjusting inventory: adding and removing stock

Applies to: All tiers  ·  Last reviewed: 2026-10-11

What this is

A manual adjustment changes the on-hand count for a SKU at a specific location, without a receipt or an order. Use it for found stock, damages, cycle-count corrections, and write-offs. It lives at Inventory > Adjust Inventory. Every adjustment needs a reason.

Add stock

1. Go to Inventory > Adjust Inventory and stay on the Add tab.
2. Choose the Warehouse and the Client, then the Product: type the SKU or scan the barcode and pick it from the list. If the code is a product's exact SKU or barcode, press Enter (a scanner sends it for you) and CanShip selects that product without a pick from the list. To change it, scan or type another code straight away: the new product replaces the one in the field, and the bin follows it. Part of a code chooses nothing.
3. Choose the Location, the bin the stock goes into. If the product already has stock in that warehouse, CanShip pre-selects that bin and tells you which one. If a bin is still chosen from your last adjustment, CanShip keeps it and names the product's own bin instead, so you can switch. The line follows the bin you choose: it says how many units of the product that bin holds, or, if it holds none, names a bin that does.
4. Enter the Quantity to Add and choose a Reason: Cycle count, Found, Received outside CanShip, or Other. Other needs a note. For the rest the Note is optional.
5. Click Add Inventory. CanShip confirms what was added and what the bin now holds.

After an add, the form keeps the warehouse, the location and the reason, so several products going into the same bin can be added one after another.

A lot-tracked product has no lot field here. Stock you add joins the lot already in that bin.

Remove stock

1. Switch to the Remove tab.
2. Choose the Warehouse, the Client and the Product.
3. Inventory by Location lists each bin that holds the product, with its On Hand and Available quantities. Type the quantity to take out in the Remove box beside the bin. You can remove up to the Available figure, so stock already allocated to an order stays where it is. Type more and the box shows the most you can take, for example Max 3, and Remove Inventory stays greyed. For a lot-tracked product, each bin's line names its lot and expiry date, for example Lot FEFO-EARLY · exp 2026-12-31, and a lot past its date reads EXPIRED.
4. Choose a Reason: Cycle count, Damaged, Disposed, Lost, Returned to client, Sample, or Other. Other needs a note.
5. Click Remove Inventory. The stock comes off at once, with no second question, and CanShip confirms what was removed and what the bin now holds.

With a client filter on

If a client is selected in the client filter at the top of the page, the Client field is set to that client and cannot be changed on either tab.

Where an adjustment is recorded

Reports > Audit Trail shows every adjustment: the SKU and bin, the quantity before and after, the change, the source Adjustment, who made it, and the reason with your note. See Reports, and the inventory Audit Trail.

When to use this versus a receipt

Use a receipt (Inventory > Receipts) for planned inbound shipments from a supplier, so the inbound is tracked as a document. Use an adjustment for one-off corrections that have no inbound paperwork, like a cycle-count fix or a damage write-off.