Which Xero inventory reports help you decide what to buy?

For purchasing in Xero, two reports do most of the work. The Inventory Item List shows the quantity and value of each tracked item on hand, and Inventory Item Details shows every sale and purchase line by item. The Inventory Item Sales and Sales by Item reports cover untracked items. Export any of them to Excel from the report.

Which report shows stock on hand?

The Inventory Item List report. Xero describes it as helping you keep track of the quantity and value of your inventory on hand, with the quantity available to sell and the value on hand for tracked items.

Run it as at today when you are about to order. Run it at a month end to see how much cash sits in stock.

Which report shows what each item sold?

For tracked items, use Inventory Item Details. It shows line-by-line sales and purchase details for your items, which lets you see how stock levels change over time and count units sold per item and month. It is the report to export when you want to forecast demand.

For untracked items, Xero has two sales reports:

• Inventory Item Sales shows sales of untracked inventory items, totalled from approved invoices and receive money transactions.
• Sales by Item gives a snapshot of sales of untracked inventory items over a period, with sales of non-inventory goods and services alongside for comparison.

Untracked items carry no quantity on hand, so these two tell you what sold but not what is left.

Which reports matter most for each purchasing question?

How do you run and export these reports?

1. Go to Accounting, then Reports, and open the report by name.
2. Set the date or date range. For Inventory Item Details, use at least 12 months back to today.
3. Click Update.
4. Click Export and choose Excel. Xero can also export to Google Sheets or a printable file.
5. If some amounts show as 0.00 in Excel, click Enable Editing; Xero notes this updates them.

Xero copies the figures across, not the formulas, so the export is a snapshot. Re-export when you need fresh numbers.

What do these reports not tell you?

• What is on order. Tracked stock rises when the supplier's bill is approved. Check open purchase orders under Purchases, then Purchase orders.
• When to reorder. Core Xero has no reorder point, so no report flags low stock. See our Xero reorder points guide.
• Supplier and lead time. Keep these in your own sheet next to the export.

How can you turn these reports into a reorder list?

Total units sold per item from Inventory Item Details, compare with quantity on hand from the Inventory Item List, and subtract open orders. Our Xero demand forecasting guide has the formulas.

ReorderOwl does this from the same two exports. Upload them and it works out what to order and how much, and builds the purchase order when you ask, with nothing sent to suppliers. It works in ChatGPT today; Claude setup is coming shortly. See ReorderOwl for Xero.

Frequently asked questions

Which Xero report shows quantity on hand?

The Inventory Item List report shows the quantity and value of tracked inventory on hand.

Which Xero report shows sales by item over time?

Inventory Item Details shows line-by-line sales and purchase details for each item. For untracked items, use Inventory Item Sales or Sales by Item.

Can I export Xero inventory reports to Excel?

Yes. Run the report, click Export and choose Excel. Figures are copied, not formulas.

Can Xero export purchase orders?

There is no purchase order export report; users have asked for one on Xero Product Ideas. Use the Approved tab under Purchase orders to see open orders.

Sources

1. Inventory Item List report, Xero Central, accessed 2026-10-01
2. Inventory Item Details report, Xero Central, accessed 2026-10-01
3. Inventory Item Sales report, Xero Central, accessed 2026-10-01
4. Sales by Item report, Xero Central, accessed 2026-10-01
5. Export and print a report, Xero Central, accessed 2026-10-01
6. Purchase orders import/export function, Xero Product Ideas, accessed 2026-10-01