Seller guide
Why does my WFS inventory reconciliation report not balance?
Recompute a seller-supplied WFS inventory movement equation, preserve each unexplained unit, and separate shortages, excesses, and impossible negative balances without treating a report difference as proof of inventory loss.
Freeze one WFS reporting scope
Start with a single Walmart marketplace, facility or other reported scope, and exact start and end dates. Preserve the export timestamp, SKU, beginning inventory, ending inventory, and every supplied movement bucket. Do not join a weekly beginning balance to a monthly movement file or mix facilities just because the SKU is the same. If one file uses item ID and another uses seller SKU, retain both and require an explicit seller-supplied crosswalk. Blank and duplicate keys belong in an exception list rather than being silently dropped.
Write the signed unit equation before looking for a cause
Treat receipts, customer returns, and positive adjustments as additions only when the report definition says they are positive movement. Treat shipped units, removals, damages, and negative adjustments as deductions on that same basis. Calculate beginning inventory plus every signed movement to produce a calculated ending balance, then subtract the supplied ending balance. Keep the raw components beside the result. Never flip a sign or invent an adjustment merely because doing so would force the equation to close.
Separate shortage, excess, and negative-balance exceptions
A calculated ending balance above the supplied ending balance is a shortage-direction difference under the submitted equation; one below it is an excess-direction difference. A calculated negative ending balance is a separate source-data or scope exception even when its delta happens to be small. Rank by absolute units and, only when the seller supplies a unit value, optional value exposure. Do not net unrelated SKU differences together, because equal opposing deltas can hide two unresolved inventory questions.
Check timing and movement coverage in the source reports
For each high-priority difference, inspect late-posted receipts, transfers between facilities, customer-return timing, damaged or found inventory, removals, report cutoff timezone, and regenerated files. Confirm that every movement type in the source has a named equation treatment and that the beginning balance follows the same scope as the ending balance. A balanced row can still omit a real movement, while an unbalanced row can reflect report latency rather than missing physical inventory. Preserve that ambiguity in the review notes.
Use the exception queue as evidence triage
Attach the original export references, the exact equation, the unit delta, and the seller's verified follow-up evidence to each reviewed row. Re-run the same bounded calculation on a later export before closing a timing-related exception. Inventory reconciliation does not prove inventory was lost, determine accounting treatment, establish reimbursement eligibility, or show that Walmart owes money. Any case, ledger entry, or inventory action remains a human decision in authorized seller systems; Friday only produces the deterministic review queue.
Tools that help with this
Prices below are exact x402 per-call prices. Human card checkout uses fixed $3, $9, and $29 bundles; follow a tool page to see its applicable bundle.
- Free one-row balance-equation check for an analogous inventory ledger (free)
- WFS Inventory Reconciliation Exception Finder ($1.00) — Recompute supplied WFS movement equations and rank unit and value exceptions
- FBA Inventory Ledger Reconciliation Exception Finder ($1.00) — Use the analogous bounded ledger workflow for seller-supplied Amazon rows
- Marketplace Payout Reconciliation Analyzer ($1.00) — Trace a separately verified cash adjustment through settlement evidence
Every paid output is a draft for your review before you publish, appeal, or activate anything. Friday does not access your seller account.
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