Key Takeaways
- Best practice inventory management can improve the quality of patient care and lift your clinic’s profitability by reducing waste, stockouts, and unnecessary costs.
- Stock tracking, ordering, and expiry management with a PMS like Covetrus Ascend can save time and increase accuracy.
- Regular audits, staff training, and clear SOPs ensure accountability, compliance, and consistent stock control.
- Partnering with a trusted supplier like Provet can help optimise costs, streamline purchasing, and keep your pricing data accurate.
- Data-driven insights and automation will help you make smarter ordering decisions, minimise manual admin, and free up your staff for patient-focused tasks.
Patient care is at the heart of every veterinary practice. Effective inventory management will make sure your staff have immediate access to the essential medications, supplies, and equipment they need to deliver the best possible patient outcomes.
Best inventory management practices are also a cornerstone of a profitable and high-performing veterinary clinic. Without an efficient and effective system, you risk stockouts, overstocking, wasted resources, and increased costs, which can negatively impact your veterinary practice’s financial health.
Read on to find out about the best inventory management practices for veterinary clinics in 2026. Discover tips to track your stock, reduce waste, and maximise your practice’s efficiency.
Why Inventory Management is Important in Veterinary Practices
Did you know that inefficiencies like daily stock ordering, margin leakage, holding excess stock, and wasted staff time can cost your practice up to $84,000 per vet per year, according to Crampton Consulting Group? Aside from financial loss, poor inventory management can also reduce the time your staff are available for patient care and client services.
However, you can turn your inventory management into a competitive advantage using practice management software (PMS) like Covetrus Ascend. It not only offers a convenient and efficient dedicated stocktake app, but it also integrates directly with leading veterinary wholesalers like Provet. This means that pricing and inventory data updates automatically in Ascend, saving time and reducing errors.
“A huge drawcard was being able to integrate with our major supplier, Provet. It meant our staff didn’t need to spend unnecessary time updating prices and they could focus on other, more important, tasks. Plus, it reduced the risk of items being missed.” – Danielle Appay, Indooroopilly Vet Clinic
Book a demo or watch our recorded demo below:
Best Practices for Veterinary Inventory Management
To get your inventory management under control and keep it there, it helps to follow some tried-and-true industry tips. These will make it easier to keep your stock organised, reduce costs, and keep your practice running smoothly and cost-effectively.
1. Manage inventory using technology and automation
Choose practice management software with built-in inventory management features or use an inventory management system that integrates with your PMS. This will help you track sales, product use, stock levels, expiry dates, and reorder points in real time. Barcoding or RFID systems will also improve accuracy and speed up your practice’s inventory and ordering processes.
Industry best practices recommend that your PMS should have:
- Real-time stock tracking across multiple locations
- Automated reordering when supplies run low
- Direct integration with suppliers.
“I really love that Ascend is cloud-based. I don’t have to worry about having a lot of on-site hardware and making sure my records are stored safely. It simplifies the storage of data for me a lot, securely.” – Linda Morgan, Post Pet Meds
2. Conduct regular inventory audits
Even with advanced practice management software, you should still hold frequent, and sometimes blind, audits of your stock to reconcile it with your software records and identify any discrepancies early on. In an audit, you should compare physical counts with system records, follow up on any discrepancies, and adjust records and refine processes based on what your audit shows.
3. Categorise inventory
Organise items into categories such as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, surgical supplies, pet food, and retail, lab and diagnostic materials. Categorising your stock will make your tracking and reporting more efficient.
4. Set par levels and reorder points
Define the minimum and maximum stock levels for each item, according to par levels (the ideal quantity to have on hand) and reorder points (the threshold at which new stock should be ordered). Automated alerts can also help prevent stockouts or overstocking.
5. Track expiry dates
Use batch tracking or expiry date fields in your practice management software and inventory system to rotate stock using FIFO (First In, First Out), minimise waste from expired products, and make sure you remain compliant with industry regulations in Australia and New Zealand.
6. Monitor usage trends
Be sure to use data for stock-related decision-making. This includes monitoring key metrics like inventory turnover to make sure stock moves efficiently and doesn’t expire. Also, analyse usage patterns to set reorder points accurately, identify slow-moving items, and control costs. Adjust your ordering patterns seasonally, too, for example, ahead of flea or tick treatments in warmer months.
7. Control supplier costs
Secure a trusted partnership with a leading veterinary wholesaler like Provet to stay on top of variable product costs to maximise clinic profitability and optimise your cost of goods sold (COGS).
You can also reduce inventory costs through a strong partnership with a trusted veterinary wholesaler, where you can get loyalty benefits such as Provet PLUS points, exclusives products and competitive pricing for frequently ordered items that offer quality and value.
8. Train staff and assign inventory responsibilities
Effective inventory management is a team effort, and it’s important that staff are familiar with it and are aware of its importance. Train your staff thoroughly on the correct inventory procedures, including accurate data entry and stock handling and storage. In our podcast episode below, we discuss how one order per week improves efficiency.
A business improvement and training organisation like Provet’s Crampton Consulting Group (CCG) can support you with inventory management best practices and audits.
It can pay to appoint a specific team member or inventory manager to oversee ordering and stocktakes and maintain supplier relationships. This will help ensure accountability and consistency in your inventory practices.
9. Document processes
Create and document Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for receiving stock. This includes cross-referencing incoming orders against purchase orders and updating inventory in your PMS – including lot and expiry dates – before items are used. Your SOPs should also include how to handle returns, manage expired items, and emergency stocking.
10. Optimise stock and storage
Use the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method to optimise your stock. This means stocking shelving so that older items with earlier expiry dates are used first to reduce waste.
Also, keep your stock room and storage areas clean, organised, and secure to prevent loss and make it easier to find items. It’s also important to lock away high-value items like medications in locked cabinets or rooms with restricted access to prevent theft or misuse.
Book a demo or watch our recorded demo below:
Veterinary Inventory Management Checklist
1. Technology and automation
☐ Practice management software integrates with suppliers
☐ Real-time stock tracking across locations
☐ Automated reordering
☐ Barcoding or RFID
2. Inventory audits
☐ Monthly or quarterly audits are scheduled
☐ Blind audits are conducted occasionally
☐ Physical counts matched with system records
☐ Discrepancies investigated and resolved
☐ Processes refined based on audit results
3. Categorise inventory
☐ Items grouped by type (e.g. medications, food, retail)
☐ Categories should match what’s used in reporting and tracking
4. Par levels and reorder points
☐ Par levels defined for all items
☐ Reorder points set and reviewed
☐ Automated alerts enabled for low stock
5. Expiry dates
☐ Expiry dates recorded in PMS
☐ The FIFO method is used for stock rotation
☐ Expired items removed and logged
6. Usage trends
☐ Inventory turnover
☐ Usage patterns
☐ Seasonal adjustments
☐ Slow-moving items
☐ Supplier pricing
7. Supplier costs
☐ Supplier partnerships are reviewed annually
☐ Special pricing or loyalty programmes
☐ PMS updates supplier pricing automatically
8. Train staff and assign roles
☐ Staff trained on inventory procedures
☐ Inventory manager appointed
☐ Responsibilities documented
9. Inventory processes
☐ SOPs created for receiving, storing, and disposing of stock and returns
☐ Incoming orders checked against POs
☐ Lot numbers and expiry dates entered before use
10. Stock and storage
☐ The FIFO method is used for shelving
☐ Storage areas are clean and organised
☐ High-value items locked and access restricted
Tips to Reduce Waste and Increase Efficiency
Applying the best inventory management practices is achievable for any vet clinic. Here are some top tips to cut down on inventory waste, increase efficiency and improve clinic performance:
- Technology: Automate inventory management using Practice Management Software like Covetrus Ascend. It provides real-time tracking, lets you set automated reorder points, and helps prevent missed charges.
- Cycle counting: Implement cycle counting instead of annual stock takes. Count your highest-value and fastest-moving items weekly and your lower-value items less often to catch discrepancies early. Your PMS should generate reports that measure the right metrics, and you should also do physical counts of specific subsets of inventory. Then reconcile the results against your system records to manage shrinkage.
- Logistics: Follow FIFO (First-In, First-Out) rotation. Always place products with the earliest expiry dates at the front to make sure they’re used first, which will reduce waste.
- Staffing: Appoint a staff member to manage inventory, as well as a backup. This will create accountability, make sure protocols are followed, and save other staff members’ time.
- Purchasing: Use inventory reports in your PMS to set minimum stock volumes that trigger a reorder and the maximum quantity of each item to hold. This will help avoid costly stock-outs and overstocking, and expired stock.
- Control: Hold regular audits and investigate discrepancies promptly. Investigate differences between your physical count and your PMS count to identify the source of shrinkage, for example, missed charges, theft, or waste.
Simplify Inventory and Save Time with Covetrus Ascend
Covetrus Ascend helps you follow veterinary inventory management best practices by automating the tracking and reordering of stock and integrating with your suppliers. It will give you real-time visibility of stock levels, generate purchase orders automatically, and help prevent overstocking or shortages to save you time and money.
With less manual data entry and paper-based tracking, your staff will be freed up to spend more time on patient care. Cloud access and automated reporting make it easy to manage inventory from anywhere and at any time, which will keep your veterinary operations smooth, efficient, and cost-effective.
Book a demo or watch our recorded demo below:
