Shortage, surplus, and mis-sorting: what inventarization finds

When a shop finishes inventarization, the interesting part is not the count itself — it is the gaps. Three words show up again and again in CIS warehouse talk: shortage (недостача), surplus (излишек), and mis-sorting (пересортица). They describe different ways “books” and “shelf” disagree.

Shortage (недостача)

Books say you have more than the shelf shows. Example: the system has 10 units; counters find 7. Common causes:

• Sale or giveaway never recorded
• Theft or unlogged staff use
• Damage thrown out without a write-off
• Intake entered higher than what actually arrived

Shortage hits cash and trust. Fixing it only by lowering the book number — without a reason — hides the leak for next month.

Surplus (излишек)

The shelf has more than the books. Example: books show 3; shelf has 6. Typical causes:

• Goods receipt skipped or under-entered
• Return put back on the shelf without a document
• Wrong SKU counted as “extra” of another item (see mis-sorting)
• Double sale cancellation that restored stock twice in the ledger

Surplus is not free profit. Untagged surplus often means someone else’s shortage, or tax/stock reports that no longer match reality.

Mis-sorting (пересортица)

Total pieces may look fine, but identity is wrong: size M is on the shelf while the book says size L; black is counted under white; supplier code A was receipted as code B. Mis-sorting is especially common with variants (size/color) and look-alike SKUs.

A naive fix — “just move the numbers” — can create a fake shortage on one SKU and a fake surplus on another. Good practice: document both sides of the swap and only then adjust.

How the three interact

One messy shelf can show all three at once. After a count you might see: SKU A short 2, SKU B over 2 (classic mis-sort), plus SKU C short 1 (real shortage). Treat each line with a cause, not one blanket “inventory adjustment.”

What to do after you find gaps

1. Re-count disputed lines (second person if possible).
2. Check recent receipts, write-offs, and returns for those SKUs.
3. Separate true loss/gain from labeling errors.
4. Post adjustments with a clear reason code or note.
5. Change the process that caused the gap (intake checklist, variant barcodes, write-off habit).

Optional next step

Once you know these three outcomes, inventarization becomes a diagnostic, not a ritual. If catalog and stock live in one place, posting shortage, surplus, and mis-sort fixes is faster — for example warehouse tools in a shop stack such as datalizeCRM — but the distinctions above work with a notebook too.