A tire inventory audit for a busy shop comes down to one daily check by tire size and model: what the supplier invoiced, what was checked in at the store, and what was billed on tickets, with transfers and customer storage tracked separately. If those three numbers don't tie out each day, the yearly count will be off, and you won't know which day, store or delivery caused it.
The winter changeover is when this breaks. Deliveries arrive several times a day, the person who'd normally check them in is mounting tires, and customer-owned tires come out of storage at the same time. This post gives you the daily 3-way match worksheet, the usual reasons tires go missing, and where cameras help.
Quick answer
- Three numbers per size and model, per day: invoiced by the supplier, checked in at the store, billed on tickets.
- Keep apart: store-to-store transfers and customer storage tires. They aren't sales or purchases.
- Do it daily in the rush, not monthly. A week-old gap is hard to trace.
- Start with: the worksheet below for your top 20 sizes at your busiest store.
Why do tire counts drift?
Because most of the paperwork is only checked on one end. A Fleet Equipment article on tire inventory describes a fleet that found "206 tires unaccounted for in a ten-month period" and notes that "most do not review the paper work on both ends of the transaction." A 2008 internal audit by the Municipality of Anchorage found that "52 of 140 tire types inventoried had discrepancies" between the book balance and the count, with overages and shortages both in the hundreds.
Neither is a retail tire shop, and that's the point: even fleets with dedicated parts staff lose track when the only check is a yearly count. A retail store in changeover season has more deliveries, more staff touching tires and less time.
What is a 3-way match for tires?
It's the check accountants use for purchases, applied to tires:
- Invoiced: what the supplier says it delivered and is billing you for.
- Checked in: what someone at the store counted off the truck and entered.
- Billed: what went out on customer tickets.
Invoiced and checked in should match on the day of delivery. Checked in, minus billed, minus transfers out, plus transfers in, should match what's on the rack. When either doesn't, you look that day, while people still remember the truck.
The daily tire inventory audit worksheet
One row per size and model per store. In the rush, do it at close for your top sellers.
| Column | Where it comes from | What a gap usually means |
|---|---|---|
| A. Opening on hand | Yesterday's closing count | |
| B. Invoiced today | Supplier invoice or delivery ticket | |
| C. Checked in today | Store receiving entry | B ≠ C: short or wrong delivery, or not checked in |
| D. Transfers in | Transfer log | Missing from log: tires arrive with no record |
| E. Transfers out | Transfer log | Missing from log: tires leave with no record |
| F. Billed today | POS tickets | |
| G. Expected on hand | A + C + D − E − F | |
| H. Counted on hand | Quick rack count | G ≠ H: tires out without a ticket, wrong size billed, or a count error |
Customer storage tires get their own sheet: tires in, tires picked up or mounted, by customer. They should never touch columns A–H. Mixing them in is one of the most common reasons a rack count looks fine while tires are missing.
Example (made-up numbers, not real store data)
One size at one store on a Saturday in November:
| Value | |
|---|---|
| A. Opening on hand | 24 |
| B. Invoiced today | 32 |
| C. Checked in today | 28 |
| D. Transfers in | 4 |
| E. Transfers out | 8 |
| F. Billed today | 36 |
| G. Expected on hand (24 + 28 + 4 − 8 − 36) | 12 |
| H. Counted on hand | 8 |
Two gaps:
- B vs C, 4 tires. The supplier billed 32 and the store checked in 28. Either a set was short on the truck, or a set came in and nobody entered it. If it came in, it's on the rack somewhere and the count will show it. Here it doesn't, so call the supplier with the delivery ticket today.
- G vs H, 4 tires. The math says 12 should be on the rack and there are 8. That's a set that went out with no ticket, a set billed under a different size, or a transfer nobody logged. Check the tickets for the nearest sizes first, then the transfer log, then the bays.
At a made-up $180 a tire, those two sets are $1,440 of tires on one Saturday for one size. Put your own cost in.
What are the usual causes of missing tires?
| Cause | How it shows up | How to catch it |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery short or wrong model | B ≠ C on the day | Count every delivery against the ticket before the driver leaves |
| Delivery never checked in | B > C, rack count higher than expected | Same-day check-in rule, one person owns it per shift |
| Transfer not logged | One store long, another short by the same set | Transfer log signed on both ends |
| Wrong size or model on the ticket | One size short, a near size long | Match the ticket to the tire actually mounted |
| Storage tires mixed into stock | Rack count looks fine, stock is short | Separate storage sheet and storage area |
| Tires mounted, never ticketed | G > H with no other explanation | Match tire sets mounted per bay to tickets |
| Warranty or comeback swap not recorded | Small, steady gap | Ticket every swap, even at no charge |
The last two are where most owners stop, because you can't check them from paperwork alone.
How do cameras help a tire inventory audit?
A bay camera can count how many sets of tires were mounted at each bay and when, without anyone watching the footage. Line those counts up with tickets by hour and you see the sets that went out with no ticket, the same way quick lube owners compare cars serviced to tickets. A camera on the receiving door gives each delivery a time stamp, which makes the B vs C check easier when the driver says the tires were dropped off.
You still need the worksheet. The cameras tell you which day and which bay to look at instead of searching a month of tickets.
How often should a multi-store tire shop reconcile?
- Daily in the changeover rush for your top sizes at each store. It takes minutes once it's a routine.
- Weekly the rest of the year, plus a full count each quarter.
- Every transfer, on the day, signed on both ends.
Then compare stores. If one store's gaps are always bigger, that's a process or a person, and you'll know which week it started. The tire shop page covers the rest of the owner numbers by store, and our winter tire changeover guide covers the booking side of the same rush.
How Trilix fits
We build the daily match for you: supplier invoices, store check-ins, transfers and POS tickets pulled together every night, with the gaps by size, store and day on one owner dashboard. Add bay camera analytics on the cameras you already have and the dashboard also shows tire sets mounted against tickets. It sits on top of your POS and supplier portals rather than replacing them.
Want to know where your tires go at every store?
We'll look at your supplier invoices, POS tickets and camera coverage and show you how the daily match would work across your stores.