What is a write-off (списание) in warehouse accounting?

A write-off (списание) is an accounting move that removes goods from on-hand stock without treating them as a normal customer sale. The units leave the sellable ledger because they are damaged, expired, lost, used internally, or adjusted after inventarization — not because a buyer paid for them in the usual way.

Why write-offs exist

If broken or missing goods stay “alive” in the books, free stock lies. Staff promise items that are trash, and profit reports look better than cash. Write-offs align the ledger with reality and make loss visible.

Common reasons

• Damage / defect — broken packaging, stained apparel, crushed boxes
• Expiry / spoilage — food, cosmetics, flowers past usable date
• Shortage after inventarization — documented gap you accept as loss
• Internal use / sampling — staff demo, photo shoot, gifts (still a cost)
• Quality reject at intake — never entered as good stock, or entered then removed

Write-off vs sale vs return

• Sale — stock down, money (or receivable) up from a customer
• Return to supplier — stock down because goods go back under a claim; often paired with a credit, not “loss to nowhere”
• Write-off — stock down, usually expense/loss, no customer revenue

Calling a theft “just adjust the sheet” without a write-off reason trains the team that loss is invisible.

Good write-off hygiene

1. Name the reason (damage, expiry, inventarization shortage, etc.).
2. Note SKU/variant and quantity — not “misc.”
3. Separate sellable stock from quarantine before you write off.
4. Who approved it (owner / shift lead) for non-trivial amounts.
5. Look for patterns: same SKU every month means a process bug, not bad luck.

Mistakes to avoid

• Silent deletes in a spreadsheet with no history
• Writing off reserved goods that still belong to a paid order
• Using write-off to hide mis-sorting instead of correcting both SKUs
• Never writing off expiry — then inventarization “surprises” every quarter

Optional next step

A clear write-off habit is warehouse practice, not a software feature. Systems that journal write-offs next to stock make audits easier — for example stock ledgers in datalizeCRM — but a dated note with reason already beats silent edits.