Stock across two warehouses without the mismatch
Updated
Keep each warehouse as its own location, move goods between them only on a transfer, receive a transfer at the other end and write off what didn't arrive, and count each warehouse on its own rota. Between two GSTINs, a transfer is a supply on a tax invoice, not a challan.
Two warehouses, one problem
With one warehouse, stock is wrong when a movement isn’t recorded. With two, there’s a new way to be wrong: goods that are on the road, or that left one place and were never entered at the other. The head office thinks the branch has them, the branch says they never came, and both are right on their own paper.
1. Each warehouse is its own location
Stock should be known by warehouse, not only as a total. A sale from the branch should take stock from the branch. A goods receipt at the factory should add it at the factory. If the system only knows one total, the mismatch moves between locations without anyone seeing it.
2. Move goods only on a transfer
Every move between warehouses is a transfer: from, to, items, quantities, date. Make it the rule that no carton leaves without one. Under one GSTIN the goods travel on a delivery challan, with an e-Way Bill when the consignment is worth more than ₹50,000.
3. Receive it at the other end
If the goods take a day or a week on the road, they are in transit: out of the first warehouse, not yet in the second. The receiving warehouse records what actually arrived. What didn’t arrive is written off there and then as a shortage, against that transfer, so it doesn’t disappear into the next stock count.
4. Between two GSTINs it is an invoice
A branch in another state has its own GSTIN, and under GST it counts as a separate person. Stock sent there is a supply. It goes on a tax invoice from the sending GSTIN, and the branch records the purchase and takes the credit. Sending it on a challan gets the GST wrong at both ends.
5. Count each warehouse on its own rota
Count a few items a day in each warehouse, against what that warehouse’s books say. A shortage found in one place points to one team and one week, not to “the stock”.
How EaseDesk helps
In EaseDesk every warehouse holds its own stock, and every bill, invoice, production order and transfer moves stock in the warehouse it names. A transfer can be sent in transit: the goods leave the sending warehouse at once, and the receiving one records what arrived, with any shortage written off there automatically. Between two of your GSTINs, the transfer makes the tax invoice from the sending GSTIN and the purchase bill at the receiving one by itself, at cost. Counts are per warehouse and post every difference as one adjustment. Stock keeps one value per item across warehouses, so a transfer never changes its cost. See inventory and warehouses and transfers and counts.
Questions
Is moving stock between my own warehouses a sale under GST?
Not when both warehouses are under the same GSTIN. The goods move on a delivery challan. When the warehouses are under two GSTINs, usually in two states, the move is a supply between two registrations and goes on a tax invoice, with GST.
At what value do I invoice stock sent to my branch in another state?
At the open market value or the value of similar goods. If the receiving branch can claim the full input tax credit, the value you put on the invoice is accepted as the value. Many businesses invoice at cost for that reason.
Do I need an e-Way Bill for a transfer between my own warehouses?
Usually, when the consignment is worth more than ₹50,000, even though nothing is sold. The movement of goods is what needs it.
What do I do when fewer goods arrive than were sent?
Record what actually arrived and write the difference off as a shortage at the receiving end, with a note on the transfer it came from. Then look into it while the driver and the loader still remember the trip.