Inventory Power BI dashboard: stock and checks

An inventory Power BI dashboard should show stock value at a stated date, aging of the stock still held, and turnover over a matched period. Build it from reconciled exports before choosing charts. The stock balance answers what is held; the movement figures explain how it is being used.

Set the reporting boundary first

Write the stock cutoff, reporting period, valuation basis and included locations above the workbook. A September balance and year-to-date cost of goods sold can be useful together, but their ratio needs average inventory over that same year-to-date period.

Request a stock valuation export, remaining receipt-lot detail and cost of goods sold by SKU and location. Keep transfer movements available for reconciliation. Use SKU codes rather than descriptions as identifiers, and retain location codes even when management wants one company number.

Decide what the aging clock measures. Receipt age describes the remaining lots; days since last movement describes activity. They answer different questions. The detailed inventory aging by site method covers the separate review of stock with no movement.

Prepare a small, reproducible workbook

Consider a US industrial distributor reviewing September 2026. Opening stock is dated August 31; closing quantities and receipt ages are dated September 30. COGS covers September. All amounts are USD, costs are constant in this illustration, and each SKU-location has one remaining receipt lot.

Enter these inputs in columns A:G, starting with headers in row 1. Dates below use US month/day/year order; store them as actual spreadsheet dates.

In a production workbook, preserve the exported carrying amount rather than replacing an approved valuation with a convenient unit cost. Separate reserves and other valuation adjustments so finance can explain the tie to the ledger.

Add columns H:L for closing value, receipt age, value older than 90 days, average inventory and September turns. Enter these Excel formulas in H2, I2, J2, K2 and L2, respectively, then fill down through row 5.

=D2*E2
=DATE(2026,9,30)-F2
=IF(I2>90,H2,0)
=(C2+H2)/2
=IF(K2=0,"",G2/K2)

The two-point average is a stated approximation. Use more frequent matched balances when inventory changes materially within the month. A blank ratio means no valid denominator; it should prompt review rather than appear as zero turnover.

Turns are rounded to two decimals after calculation. They are September turns, without annualization. The company figure is 27,000 / 24,500 = 1.10, using the summed September COGS from the input table. See inventory turnover ratio for the full formula and period choices.

Prove the location totals

Create a separate summary table with a row for each site and a clearly labeled company row. Sum the additive amounts before calculating ratios. For example, if the site label is in N2, the closing balance formula is:

=SUMIF($A$2:$A$5,N2,$H$2:$H$5)

Apply the same pattern to opening value, COGS, older stock and average inventory. The resulting summary is:

The company average must equal both 16,000 + 8,500 and (28,000 + 21,000) / 2: $24,500. Older stock share is 10,000 / 21,000 = 47.6%, rounded to one decimal. Atlanta and Dallas closing values must add to the signed-off $21,000 valuation export; COGS must tie separately to the September ledger.

Build the report, then the dashboard

Format the detail and summary ranges as named Excel tables. In Power BI Desktop, select Home > Get Data > Excel, open the workbook, select the tables in Navigator, and select Load, following Microsoft's Desktop instructions.

Build an additive detail matrix with Site and SKU in Rows and closing value and older-stock value in Values. Microsoft documents matrix field placement and expandable row groups. Use the summary table for a separate display of site and company ratios, with automatic totals disabled so the company row is not added to the site rows.

Keep this first report fixed to one cutoff and one COGS period. Display precomputed ratios only at their stated scope; do not sum them or expect them to recalculate for arbitrary combinations of filters. Add a location stock-value chart and a visible date label. Broader Power BI dashboard examples can help with presentation after the inventory checks are settled.

Save the report and publish it to your authorized workspace using Desktop's Publish command. Open it in the service, enter editing view, hover over a visual and select its pin icon. Choose a new or existing dashboard and select Pin. Microsoft confirms that dashboards are created in the service and can contain pinned report visuals; check the tile's date and return link after pinning.

Covirage is not affiliated with Microsoft.

Where it goes wrong

• Summing snapshots. Adding consecutive month-end balances creates a figure that was never held. Select one closing date or explicitly calculate an average.
• Repeating COGS across lots. Aggregate remaining receipt lots to SKU-location before combining them with period COGS and opening balances. Otherwise each lot can repeat the same movement amount.
• Adding ratios. Site turnover and aging percentages need recalculation from their summed numerators and denominators. Precomputed ratios need a controlled display scope.
• Treating old stock as worthless. Receipt age identifies a review population. Demand, condition and disposition evidence determine whether a valuation action is appropriate.
• Losing the reporting context. A pinned tile needs its stock date and period in the title. Recheck its result after publishing rather than assuming report filters carry across unchanged.

Check your inventory file in Covirage

Bring your dated stock valuation, receipt-lot detail and matched COGS workbook to Covirage. Covirage maps the columns, and its tools compute and check the stock, aging and turnover comparisons; the external AI model explains the results with every figure traced to its rows. Create a free Covirage account and bring a sample of your own export.

See Covirage for supply-chain teams for the business context.