Candle Inventory Management: A Practical Guide

The Two Types of Inventory in a Candle Business

Raw material inventory: wax, fragrance oils, wicks, containers, dye, labels

Finished goods inventory: completed candles ready to sell

Both need to be tracked separately. Many candle makers only track finished goods and are constantly surprised when they run out of a key raw material mid-production.

Why Spreadsheets Break Down

Spreadsheets work at the very start. But they break quickly:

• • You make a batch and forget to update the sheet
• • You order more wax but don't log it
• • You sell 15 candles at a craft fair and the sheet is on your laptop at home
• • You can't quickly see which materials are running low
• • No automatic cost calculation when you run a batch

Most candle businesses outgrow spreadsheets within the first year.

What Good Inventory Management Looks Like

Good candle inventory management means:

1. Every material purchase is logged immediately

2. Every batch production automatically deducts from raw material stock

3. Finished goods stock is updated when you sell

4. Low-stock alerts tell you before you run out

5. You can see your total stock value at any time

Setting Par Levels

A par level is the minimum stock quantity you should always have on hand. Set par levels for your most-used materials:

• • Soy wax: 5 kg minimum
• • Your top 3 fragrance oils: 200ml minimum each
• • Wicks (your standard size): 100 units minimum
• • Your main jar size: 50 units minimum

When stock drops below par, reorder. This prevents the classic "sold out in the middle of a busy season" problem.

CandleFlow Automates All of This

CandleFlow tracks your raw material inventory, automatically deducts materials when you complete a production batch, and alerts you when stock drops below your minimum level. You always know what you have, what it cost, and when to reorder.