Definition
Depletion
The reduction of on-hand inventory attributed to sales, transfers, waste, or other recorded events during a period, the outbound side of the inventory story.
Worked example
A nightclub depletes 14.0 L of vodka to POS sales, 0.5 L to documented comps, and 1.0 L transferred to a second bar. Recorded depletion = 15.5 L. If the physical count implies 17.0 L left stock, the unrecorded 1.5 L shows up later as variance/shrinkage. Tracking depletion by week also shows whether a holiday spike was sales or loss.
When operators use this
Depletion is the outbound story you already recorded: sales, waste tickets, transfers. Use it to see whether a holiday week was volume or loss, then reconcile to the physical count. nightclubs and actual usage are the neighboring pages. Clubs that bottle-service a SKU should still reason-code the pours that never hit a ticket.
Common mistakes
Treating POS depletion as the whole truth skips comps, tray waste, and a transfer to the patio bar. Unrecorded outbound movement appears later as variance. Always close a count before you call depletion a sales signal.
How ExactPour handles it
ExactPour attributes depletion from POS sales (via recipes), waste logs, and transfers, then contrasts that story with physical counts. Forecasts use depletion history to project run-out dates per SKU so ordering follows measured outbound movement, not last year's standing order.
Qualification
Depletion records are only as complete as the events actually captured; unrecorded movement appears later as variance. Always reconcile before treating depletion as a pure sales signal.