View a product's inventory history in Shopify
The adjustment history is the audit trail for a product: every increase and decrease, with who made it, when, and why. This tutorial reads the Trail Crew Tee history and checks that its entries add up to the current count.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Product | Trail Crew Tee, Medium Blue |
| Opening count | 18 units |
| Delivery | +24 units |
| Damaged write-off | -6 units |
| Quality control hold | -4 available |
| Current available | 32 units |
Download the record: trail-crew-tee-adjustment-history.csv (213 bytes).
An adjustment history record for the Medium Blue variant: opening count, each movement, and the running total after each entry.
1Open the product
From your Shopify admin, go to Products and click Trail Crew Tee. The history is reached from the product or the variant, not from the reports list.
2Open the variant
In the Variants section, click the Medium Blue variant. History is kept per variant, so the Medium Blue entries are separate from the other five variants.
3Open the adjustment history
In the Inventory section, click View adjustment history. The history lists each change in order, with the date, the change, and the person or app behind it.
4Read the delivery entry
The first entry shows a delivery of 24 units from Inventory addition, with the reason Received. The count moves from 18 to 42 in that entry.
5Read the write-off and the hold
The next entries show 6 units removed to Inventory removal with the reason Damaged, and 4 units moved to the Quality control state. The write-off lowers the count to 36; the hold lowers Available to 32 while On hand stays at 36.
6Check the entries add up
Add the movements to the opening count: 18 plus 24 minus 6 is 36 on hand, and 36 minus the 4 held units is 32 available. If the entries do not add up to the current count, a change was made without a reason, or at another location.
The arithmetic
The history is checked by adding its entries in order:
| Entry | Units |
|---|---|
| Opening count | 18 |
| Delivery (+24) | 42 |
| Damaged write-off (-6) | 36 |
| Quality control hold (-4 available) | 32 available |
| Net change | +14 |
18 plus 24 is 42, minus 6 is 36 on hand, and minus the 4 held units is 32 available. The net change from the opening count is plus 14 units.
Held at the counter
History is per variant, not per product. The Trail Crew Tee has 6 variants, and each has its own history. A missing entry for the product as a whole may simply be sitting on another variant's history.
History only exists while tracking is on. If Track quantity was off when a change happened, Shopify did not record it, and the history starts from the day tracking was turned on. Old gaps cannot be filled in afterwards.
A change without a reason is a dead end. Entries with no reason, and no note, cannot be explained months later. Add the reason at the time of the change, while the facts are in front of you.
Sources
- Adjusting inventory quantities — Shopify's help pages: every update is recorded in the adjustment history, creating an audit trail for accounting and stock errors.
- Inventory reports — Shopify's help pages: the Inventory adjustment changes report lists adjustments in a period, including orders, manual edits, and app changes.