How to Track Cleaning Stock in Google Sheets & Excel

## 1. Traditional, Manual Ways to Manage a Cleaning Inventory\n\n### Method 1: Paper logbook + weekly count\n1. Print a simple checklist: columns for Item, Location, Unit size, Quantity on hand, Min level, Notes.\n2. Store it in a binder in the supply closet or janitor room.\n3. Once or twice a week, have a staff member walk each storage area, count items, and write quantities.\n4. Compare counts to your minimum levels; highlight anything below threshold.\n5. Manually create a purchase list from the highlighted lines and send it to your supplier or purchasing team.\n\n**Pros:** Works without tech, easy to start.\n**Cons:** Error-prone, not real time, impossible to analyze across locations.\n\n### Method 2: Basic Google Sheets template\n1. Create a new sheet in Google Sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets.\n2. Add columns: Category, Item, Brand, SKU, Storage location, Unit of measure, Quantity, Reorder point, Supplier, Last updated.\n3. Turn the range into a filterable table using the Filter view (see Google support: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3540681).\n4. Use a simple formula to flag low stock, e.g. in a “Status” column: `=IF(G2<=H2,"Reorder","OK")` where G is Quantity and H is Reorder point.\n5. Once a week, staff update counts in the Quantity column from a walk-through.\n6. Filter Status = "Reorder" to generate your purchase list.\n\n**Pros:** Free, collaborative, accessible from mobile.\n**Cons:** Still manual data entry, depends on people remembering to update.\n\n### Method 3: Excel spreadsheet on a shared drive\n1. Open Excel and start from a blank workbook or an inventory template (see Microsoft guide: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-and-use-an-excel-template-f0c28e08-2a00-40e0-8367-c9e33fb21b4e).\n2. Insert a table (Home → Format as Table) with columns similar to the Google Sheets setup.\n3. Add conditional formatting (Home → Conditional Formatting) to highlight rows where Quantity <= Reorder point. Microsoft help: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-conditional-formatting-2f453fd2-5cc8-4f59-8e49-e61f9c4e76e2.\n4. Save the file on OneDrive or SharePoint so teams can access it.\n5. Ask site leads to open the file weekly, update quantities, and save.\n\n**Pros:** Powerful formulas, familiar to office staff.\n**Cons:** Version conflicts, hard to keep in sync across locations, still manual.\n\n### Method 4: Printable templates (Sheets or Excel)\n1. Design the template digitally in Sheets or Excel.\n2. Print and hang per-storage-location inventory sheets.\n3. Staff mark changes on paper during the week.\n4. An admin transcribes updates back into the master file.\n\n**Pros:** Easy for frontline workers not comfortable with devices.\n**Cons:** Double work, transcription errors, delays between real usage and records.\n\n## 2. No-Code Automation on Top of Your Template\n\n### Approach 1: Google Sheets + Forms + email rules\n1. Build your inventory template in Google Sheets as in Method 2.\n2. Create a Google Form tied to that sheet for quick updates (see: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2917686).\n3. Each time staff take items from the closet, they submit a short form: Item, Quantity taken, Location.\n4. Use formulas to subtract taken quantities from stock, e.g. maintain a "Starting stock" and "Used" sheet, then compute `Current stock = Starting - SUM(usage)`.\n5. Use conditional formatting in Sheets (https://support.google.com/docs/answer/78413) to highlight low-stock rows.\n6. Set up email notifications via Add-ons or simple Apps Script so that when any row goes to "Reorder", a purchasing email is drafted.\n\n**Pros:** Reduces manual counting, simple mobile data entry.\n**Cons:** Still depends on staff submitting forms; setup requires some basic scripting.\n\n### Approach 2: Excel + Tables + Power Automate (for Microsoft 365 users)\n1. Store your Excel inventory file in OneDrive or SharePoint.\n2. Make sure your inventory range is an Excel Table (Insert → Table) so Power Automate can reference it reliably.\n3. In Power Automate, create a flow that triggers on a schedule (e.g., daily).\n4. The flow reads each row; if Quantity <= Reorder point, it:\n - Adds the item to a separate "Reorder" table, or\n - Sends an email to purchasing with the item list.\n5. Optionally, add another flow that listens for form submissions or email confirmations from suppliers and updates an "On order" column.\n\n**Pros:** Good for organizations already on Microsoft 365, less manual chasing.\n**Cons:** Power Automate has a learning curve; flows can break if table structure changes.\n\n### Approach 3: Cross-app syncing (Sheets ↔ other tools)\n1. Use a no-code tool (like Zapier or Make) to connect Google Sheets inventory with other apps such as your ticketing or CRM system.\n2. Trigger a workflow when a row in Sheets changes to Status = "Reorder".\n3. The automation can create tasks, send Slack messages, or log purchase requests.\n4. Keep the Sheets template as the single source of truth; other tools act as notification layers.\n\n**Pros:** Better visibility across teams, less emailing.\n**Cons:** Multiple tools to manage; automations can become brittle as processes evolve.\n\n## 3. Scaling with AI Agents (Simular)\n\nNow imagine the inventory template in Google Sheets or Excel is just the **hub**, and a Simular AI agent does the clicking, typing, and cross-checking.\n\n### Method 1: Agent-driven digital walk-through\n**Workflow:**\n1. Staff upload photos or a quick video of shelves to a shared folder or drive.\n2. A Simular agent opens the folder, inspects images, and cross-references labels or SKUs with your existing inventory list.\n3. It updates quantities in Google Sheets or Excel, row by row, just like a human would, but faster and more consistently.\n4. It then filters to low-stock items, drafts a reorder sheet, and even opens your supplier’s portal in the browser to prepare a cart for review.\n\n**Pros:** Massive time savings on counting and data entry; works across desktop, browser, and cloud.\n**Cons:** Initial setup and instructions must be clear; best for businesses with recurring, stable product lines.\n\n### Method 2: Autonomous reorder forecasting and prep\n**Workflow:**\n1. The Simular agent periodically opens your Google Sheets or Excel inventory file.\n2. It analyzes historical usage (weekly or monthly deltas) and compares against upcoming contracts or seasonal spikes.\n3. Using your defined business rules (target days-on-hand, preferred suppliers, packaging sizes), it calculates suggested order quantities.\n4. It creates a new tab: "Next Order", populates item, quantity, supplier, and estimated cost, and sends you a summary via email or chat.\n\n**Pros:** Moves you from reactive to proactive purchasing; leverages existing templates and tools.\n**Cons:** Requires good historical data; humans still need to approve orders (which is usually desirable).\n\n### Method 3: Multi-location, multi-system orchestration\n**Workflow:**\n1. For each site, the Simular agent opens that location’s Google Sheets or Excel file, or logs into its local system.\n2. It normalizes data (units, naming, categories) into a master inventory workbook.\n3. It then prepares location-specific restock plans and a consolidated purchasing view for HQ.\n4. Through Simular’s transparent execution, ops leaders can inspect every step, tweak logic, and rerun workflows reliably.\n\n**Pros:** Scales across dozens or hundreds of sites; no need to rip and replace existing tools.\n**Cons:** More complex orchestration; needs thoughtful governance and monitoring.\n\nAcross all three AI-driven methods, the key advantage is this: your managers stop babysitting spreadsheets and start making higher-level decisions, while the Simular agent handles the repetitive, cross-app work that humans find draining.