Workflow · operations · monthly

The slow-moving inventory report, by SKU

A slow-moving inventory report lists every SKU whose stock is old relative to how fast it sells, usually by receipt date and trailing-twelve-month sales, valued at landed cost. Buyers use it to plan markdowns, finance uses it for reserves, and lenders ask for it in a field exam. Most brands build it by hand when someone asks. Built once on your definitions, it refreshes in minutes every month.

By Jim Wilson · Updated October 14, 2026

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What the report contains

  • Every SKU with units on hand by location, aged by first receipt date
  • Trailing-twelve-month units sold and months of supply
  • Value at landed cost, and the share of total and eligible inventory
  • A flag for each test it fails, using your definition, or your lender's
  • A short read on what is driving it: discontinued lines, a bad fit, an over-buy, or simply a seasonal build that will sell through

Where the eight hours go

StepBeforeAfterBack per year
Export on-hand and receiptsInventory system, by location and lot2 h024 h
Join twelve months of salesStore, wholesale, marketplaces2 h024 h
Apply cost and the testsLanded cost, aging buckets2 h024 h
Check it and explain itWhat is driving the list2 h20 min20 h

Sample figures, run monthly. The larger win is acting on the list every month instead of discovering it at year end.

Same question, two answers

"What should we mark down this month?" Illustrative example
Out-of-the-box AI

These 50 SKUs have the lowest sales in the last 30 days. Consider a 30% discount to clear them.

Thirty days of sales on a seasonal brand. No cost, no age, no sense of which styles come back next year.

Trained on your business

Start with the two discontinued colorways: 38 SKUs, $210K at landed cost, all over a year old by receipt date and under 10% sold through. Leave the core styles alone; they look slow only because spring stock just landed. One new fit is selling at half its plan with high size exchanges, so fix the size chart before discounting it.

Receipt-date aging, landed cost, discontinued versus carryover, and the judgment about what a markdown would and would not fix.

Where it fits

If you borrow against inventory, this is the report a lender field exam asks for first, and having it monthly means the exam holds no surprises. If you do not, it is still the cleanest way to see cash sitting on the shelf. It is a common build during an operations audit.

Automate the weekly business recapHow consumer brands turn a four-hour weekly KPI recap into ten minutes of review, with a model that knows your definitions, sources and seasonality.Automate the month-end close packHow consumer brands turn a six-hour monthly close pack into thirty minutes of review, with a model that knows your definitions and sources of truth.Automate the monthly returns analysisA monthly returns read for consumer brands: return rate on your definition, from your returns system, by style, fit and reason, with the cause written out.

Questions

How is slow-moving defined?

There is no single standard. Common tests compare stock on hand to trailing sales (months of supply) and age stock by first receipt date. If you have an asset-based loan, your credit agreement's definition is the one that counts, so the model uses that one.

Why receipt date instead of last sale date?

A SKU can sell every week and still have two-year-old units on the shelf, and a style received last month can look slow because it has not had time to sell. Aging by receipt lot shows what is actually old.

What cost should the report use?

Landed cost, including freight and duty, from the file your finance team trusts. Platform cost fields are often stale or missing freight, which understates the exposure.

Who uses it besides finance?

Buyers and merchandisers use the same list to plan markdowns, bundles and what not to reorder. That is where most of the value is.

Thirty minutes. Bring one question your team answers every week.

I'll show you how generic AI answers it, how your best analyst would, and what it takes to close the gap.

jim@trimtabops.com