If you track inventory in Excel, you don't need to scan the whole sheet to find what's running low. Let Excel flag it for you.
The setup
Keep one sheet with these columns: Product, Quantity on hand, Minimum level. The minimum is yours to set per product — fast sellers get a higher minimum than slow movers.
Step 1: Add a status column
In the status column, use a simple comparison:
=IF(B2<=C2,"Low stock","OK") Where B2 is the quantity on hand and C2 is the minimum. Copy it down the column.
Step 2: Turn the low rows red
Select the product rows, then Home → Conditional Formatting → New Rule → "Use a formula to determine which cells to format", and enter:
=$D2="Low stock" Pick a red fill. Now every low-stock row turns red the moment the quantity drops to the minimum — no manual checking.
Step 3: Do the same for expiry
Add an "Expiry date" column and a "Days left" column:
=ExpiryDate - TODAY() Then a second conditional formatting rule: yellow fill when days left is 30 or fewer. Products close to expiry stand out before they actually expire.
Why this works
In the sample sheet I use — 20 products, 48 in/out transactions for November 2026 — these two rules flag 3 items as low stock and 2 as near expiry. The total stock value is 50,227,000 VND across 1,249 units, and a small Top 5 list shows the best sellers (Coca-Cola 330ml sold 63 units, white sugar 1kg sold 55), so I know which items deserve a higher minimum.
Check it once a week. The sheet does the watching; you just order what it flags.
