If you make jewelry, chances are you have beads exploding out of every nook and cranny in your house.  Keeping track of thousands of different beading components is a headache, and if your jewelry making is a business, year-end inventory can make you want to scream.

I have been in the handmade jewelry business for several years, and tried several methods of tracking my jewelry components.  I wanted something simple and inexpensive – who has time or money to throw at all the little details in a business?  After experimenting, I settled on using Excel to track everything.With Excel, I can track every single component, calculate the total cost, per item cost and keep an accurate inventory count.  That means tax time is a breeze (well, as much as taxes can be) because I already have an accurate total for my beads.  I also keep track of finished pieces this way, so it is easy to add or remove new pieces and always know just where I stand.

My spreadsheet contains six main worksheets: discontinued components, current components, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and sold items.  I can quickly reference items, add up costs per piece, and move a piece of jewelry to the sold area when needed.

The most important section is components.  You can track anything you like, but I have a column for item description, size, price per pack, items per pack, price each, quantity and total value.  The total value column is totaled at the bottom so I can see at a glance the value of all of my beads.  Any time I use an item, I deduct it from the inventory count.  Its value will then be added into the total cost of a piece.

Tune in next week for tracking jewelry pieces in Excel.