In short
- 01You can't manage expiry you didn't record: capture the batch and expiry date at receiving, for every batch.
- 02Sell and pick by expiry date, not arrival date (FEFO). A later delivery can expire sooner.
- 03Set expiry windows (say 90, 60, 30 and 7 days) and give each one an action and an owner.
- 04Move short-dated stock to the store that sells it fastest before you mark it down.
- 05Never order more than you can sell before it expires: daily sales × usable shelf life is the ceiling.
On this page
- In short
- Why does stock expire on the shelf?
- Step 1: Capture expiry dates at receiving
- Step 2: Sell and pick by expiry (FEFO), not arrival
- Step 3: Set expiry windows with an action for each
- Step 4: Move short-dated stock to where it sells
- Step 5: Order no more than you can sell before expiry
- Step 6: Write off promptly and record why
- How does Momentum help reduce expiry write-offs?
- Questions people ask
The way to reduce expired stock write-offs is to stop expiry being a surprise. Record an expiry date against every batch when it arrives, sell the soonest-expiring batch first, and review stock at fixed windows before expiry, with an action for each: stop reordering, move it to the store that sells it fastest, mark it down, return it, or, as a last resort, write it off promptly with a reason. The rest of this guide shows how pharmacies, grocers and distributors run each step, with a worked example.
Why does stock expire on the shelf?
Waste at retail is not a rounding error. The UN Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report 2024 estimated that 1.05 billion tonnes of food were wasted in 2022, about 19% of the food available to consumers, across retail, food service and households, with retail responsible for around 12% of that waste (summary by FSSC). Pharmacies face the same problem with medicines, often at far higher unit costs.
In a store, expiry losses almost always trace back to a handful of causes:
- Ordering to habit or minimum order quantity rather than to what actually sells.
- Receiving without recording batch and expiry, so no report can warn anyone.
- Rotating by arrival (FIFO) when a later delivery carries an earlier date.
- Short-dated stock stuck in a store where it sells slowly, while another store runs out.
- Nobody owning the dates: reports exist, but no one is asked to act on them.
Step 1: Capture expiry dates at receiving
Every later step depends on this one. When goods arrive, record the batch or lot number and expiry date for each line, scanning where the supplier's barcode carries them. A batch without a date is invisible to every expiry report you will ever run.
Make it a rule that the receipt cannot be completed without dates on dated products. It takes seconds per line and saves hours of shelf-walking later. It also lets you trace a recall to the batch.
Step 2: Sell and pick by expiry (FEFO), not arrival
FIFO (first in, first out) assumes the oldest delivery expires first. Often it doesn't: a supplier can deliver a batch made earlier than the one already on your shelf. FEFO (first expired, first out) always draws down the batch with the nearest expiry date. For a deeper comparison, see FEFO vs FIFO.
The rotation must be done by the system as well as the shelf-stacker. When a sale or a transfer takes stock from the soonest-expiring batch, the stock left on record matches the stock left on the shelf, and the expiry reports stay true.
Step 3: Set expiry windows with an action for each
An expiry report nobody acts on is decoration. Give each window a job and a person. The days below are a starting point; tune them to your shelf lives and sales speeds.
- Action
- Stop reordering this item for this store; check the supplier's return terms for short-dated stock
- Who
- Buyer
- Action
- Move stock to the store that sells it fastest (see step 4)
- Who
- Stock controller
- Action
- Promote it: a price cut, a bundle, or a buy-one-get-one offer
- Who
- Store manager
- Action
- Final markdown, return to supplier or donate where allowed
- Who
- Store manager
- Action
- Write off at cost, with a reason, the same day
- Who
- System, reviewed by manager
| Days to expiry | Action | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 90 | Stop reordering this item for this store; check the supplier's return terms for short-dated stock | Buyer |
| 60 | Move stock to the store that sells it fastest (see step 4) | Stock controller |
| 30 | Promote it: a price cut, a bundle, or a buy-one-get-one offer | Store manager |
| 7 | Final markdown, return to supplier or donate where allowed | Store manager |
| 0 | Write off at cost, with a reason, the same day | System, reviewed by manager |
Step 4: Move short-dated stock to where it sells
Before you discount anything, check whether another store would sell it at full price in time. The test is expected sales before expiry: daily sales rate × days left.
Step 5: Order no more than you can sell before expiry
The cheapest write-off is the one you never buy. For dated products, cap every order at what you can sell within the shelf life you will actually receive:
Step 6: Write off promptly and record why
Expired stock left on the books overstates inventory and hides the loss in next quarter's count. Write it off when it expires, at its cost, with a reason. Over a few months those reasons show you which suppliers, products and stores produce most of the waste, and that tells you where to change the order, not just the markdown.
How does Momentum help reduce expiry write-offs?
Momentum by Ltiora records the batch or lot number and expiry date at receiving, and can draw stock from the batch that expires first (FEFO). The Batch Expiry, Expired Batches and Company-Wide Expiry reports show what is coming up at every store, and stock that passes its date is written off overnight so it stops counting as sellable. Transfers carry batches and dates with them, and offers (including buy-X-get-Y-free and offers limited to one branch) help clear short-dated stock where it sits.
For businesses that want it, Momentum AI can suggest remedies for stock nearing expiry, such as a transfer, a markdown or a supplier return. It is optional, off by default, not part of the standard plans and set up per business. It suggests; a person decides.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between FEFO and FIFO?
FIFO sells the oldest delivery first. FEFO sells the batch that expires first. For dated goods FEFO is the safer rule, because deliveries don't always arrive in expiry order.
Can I return short-dated stock to the supplier?
Often, if your supplier agreement allows it. Many suppliers accept returns up to a set number of days before expiry. Check the terms before the 90-day window, not after.
At what point should short-dated stock be marked down?
When the units you expect to sell before expiry (daily sales × days left) fall below the units you hold, and you have no store to move them to. For many grocers that is around 30 days out for longer-life lines and a few days out for fresh food.
How is expired stock recorded in the accounts?
As a write-off: the stock's cost is removed from inventory and recorded as an expense or loss, ideally in its own account so waste is visible rather than buried in cost of sales.
Expiry write-offs fall when dates are captured on the way in, stock leaves in expiry order, and fixed windows force a decision while there is still time to move or sell the stock. The last step, ordering no more than you can sell in time, is the one that keeps the problem from coming back.
Sources
Find next month's write-offs today
In a demo we'll load a sample of your batches and expiry dates into Momentum and show you, store by store, what is due to expire and where it would sell instead.
