Inventory Reconciliation Accuracy: Fixing the Gaps That Cost Brands Time and Money

Reconciliation problems begin long before the numbers stop matching

Inventory reconciliation accuracy is one of the clearest signs of whether a fulfillment operation is truly under control. Research shows that brands expect reconciliation to happen smoothly and consistently because inaccurate counts create a cascade of problems: delayed orders, incorrect stock levels, forecasting errors, and customer frustration. When reconciliation falls behind, operational precision falls with it.

Many brands who come to G10 report that their previous 3PL could not reconcile inventory reliably. Units disappeared without explanation. Counts drifted from reality. Cycle counts contradicted the warehouse management system, and teams spent hours reconciling spreadsheets instead of growing the business. These failures stem from a lack of visibility, inconsistent scanning, and weak process discipline.

As Maureen Milligan said, "Most of the customers who come to us from another 3PL, their challenges have always been access to their data, order accuracy and efficiency, and basically just meeting the committed requirements. So we've seen a lot of people come disillusioned by their last 3PL, where their orders weren't getting fulfilled in time, their inventory accuracy was not there, and they were not able to satisfy customer orders." Inventory reconciliation accuracy solves exactly these pain points.

Accurate reconciliation requires real time tracking

Reconciliation accuracy depends on the ability to track every movement in real time. A warehouse cannot reconcile reliably if it only learns about discrepancies after they have already caused downstream problems. Every step, from receiving to shipping, must be recorded the moment it happens.

Bryan Wright described the depth of tracking needed for accuracy when he said, "Absolutely. We have portals that show you the data. We have history that shows you all of that tracking. It shows the product landed on the dock at 8 o'clock. At 8:10, John picked it up and took it to location XYZ, and at 10 o'clock, we picked two items off of that pellet in the location 1, 2, 3, 4, order, you know, ABC, and at 11 o'clock, we packed it, we put it in this box and put this label number on it, and all the way through the process onto the truck and to the customer." That level of detail is essential for reconciliation accuracy.

When operations can trace every action, reconciliation becomes a confirmation of truth rather than a search for missing information.

Scan-based workflows prevent discrepancies from spreading

Reconciliation accuracy collapses when product skips the scanning process. A single untracked movement can create a chain reaction of inaccuracies that affect picking, inventory counts, and outbound orders. Scan-based workflows eliminate these gaps.

As Connor Perkins said, "You want everything to be scanned in the warehouse, nothing done on paper. You can lose a lot of money in this industry by you know having people ship stuff wrong, or store it wrong, and now it's lost somewhere. So having a 3PL and WMS that is 100% scan-based is crucial." Reconciliation accuracy depends entirely on this discipline.

Connor also explained how weak practices create costly errors when he said, "One of the pain points our clients have experienced with previous 3PLSs is inventory accuracy; maybe their previous 3PL wasn't great at picking the orders accurately. So they were losing money by shipping wrong items or wrong quantities of items." Reconciliation accuracy improves when every movement is captured correctly.

Visibility portals strengthen reconciliation accuracy through transparency

Reconciliation accuracy improves dramatically when customers can see the same data the warehouse sees. Transparency forces operational accountability and reveals discrepancies early.

As Maureen said, "We're in the last stages of developing a new portal that will give customers real-time visibility to their on-time order fulfillment, inventory accuracy, and even inventory levels so that they can monitor those things directly in our systems. They'll have visibility to what the statuses of their orders-are they getting processed as they expect?-and things like that." Real time visibility helps ensure reconciliation aligns with reality.

She also said, "A lot of the 3PL customer expectations are that order fulfillment is happening extremely timely, that our inventory is accurate, that we're able to execute on their orders very quickly, and get them shipped the same day. So what these real-time portals provide our customers is 100% visibility." Visibility strengthens reconciliation accuracy by exposing issues immediately.

Connor added perspective on the value of reporting when he said, "Our clients get best-in-class visibility and transparency. They can see their daily orders, they can see KPIs, and they can see historical transactions. They can look at a daily level or go into the more granular version where they're looking at transactional history on an item." Reconciliation accuracy depends on this deep visibility.

He also said, "You have easy access to reporting and you can export to Excel, or really any format that you like you know directly from our WMS portal." Clear reporting helps teams detect discrepancies early.

Early detection prevents small discrepancies from becoming costly corrections

Most reconciliation failures begin as small issues: a bin off by one unit, an incorrect pick, a misplaced SKU, or a receiving oversight. If these signals go unnoticed, they grow into large discrepancies that require lengthy recounts and operational downtime.

Real time dashboards and reporting allow teams to catch discrepancies early and resolve them before they harm performance.

As Maureen said, "We will take in your inbounds, we will get them received and reported back to you within our SLAs, and oftentimes more quickly than what we contracted for. We will ship your orders out the day they're required. And our inventory accuracy is generally right there at that 99.7% that we agreed. So that's one of the areas where we really do excel, and where we've been able to win business." Accurate reconciliation reinforces this consistency.

Reconciliation accuracy rebuilds trust after failed 3PL relationships

When brands leave a 3PL, it is often because they no longer trust the inventory numbers. Reconciliation became a guessing game instead of a reliable verification process. A strong reconciliation accuracy rate helps repair that trust quickly.

As Maureen said, "For customers who have come to us from a bad 3PL relationship, they experience relief. They're suddenly seeing their business scaling, that the data supports what we agreed to, and then the trust begins to build." Reconciliation accuracy is the backbone of that trust.

Reconciliation accuracy is now a competitive necessity

As fulfillment becomes more complex and customer expectations rise, inventory reconciliation accuracy has become a competitive requirement. Brands cannot afford inventory drift, hidden discrepancies, or unreliable counts. Real time tracking, scan-based workflows, and deep visibility create reconciliation accuracy customers can trust.

As Connor said, "This is one of our strengths. G10 is on the cutting edge for this kind of transparency and feedback for clients." Accurate reconciliation is one of the clearest examples of that strength.

If your brand wants predictable fulfillment, fewer discrepancies, and smoother operations, improving reconciliation accuracy is the most effective place to start.