How to Take an Inventory of Your Art Studio

Shot of a ceramic artist using a digital tablet in her workshop

A complete studio inventory includes all your art-making tools, equipment and supplies, artworks, business equipment and supplies and other assets.

Basic Studio Inventory

It’s never too late to start a studio inventory. Thanks to technology, this practice is easy to start, maintain and store. 

• Use your smartphone video and narrate your inventory, then upload to the “cloud”
• Take photos with your smartphone, then upload to the “cloud”
• Use a camcorder or digital camera to take video or photos. Transfer to computer and organize before upload
• Include the make and model of any major tools in the narration if using video or in the file name if organizing photos

Business Property

A business asset is a piece of property or equipment purchased exclusively or primarily for business use. Business assets span many categories, such as vehicles, real estate, computers, furniture and other fixtures. Read more.

Services such as Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and OneDrive offer free cloud storage as well as paid accounts. 

 Better Studio Inventory

Add written business property details to your Basic Studio Inventory. For each business asset include:

• Make, model and description
• Approximate year purchased and cost
• Approximate replacement value
• Condition

What’s the Cost?

Take it a step at a time. Finding the value in your work is rewarding.

If you don’t have records of the actual cost of everything, find the replacement cost of items on the internet or in catalogs. Check if your insurance coverage is based on replacement cost or actual cost (minus depreciation).

Make it easy on yourself and use a spreadsheet program like Excel or Google Sheets (which can include images or links to them), but it can be done on paper as well. Here’s an Art and Art Sales Inventory Template and a Studio Inventory Template to help get you started. (Note: from the File menu, select either Make a Copy or Download to create a copy for your own use.)

 Be sure to store a copy of the inventory in a Safe Offsite Location 

CLICK BELOW FOR “BEST” STUDIO INVENTORY STEPS.

Information about your artwork is critical. For each artwork include details such as:

• Title
• Dimensions
• Medium
• Price
• Consignment Record
• Sales record

All Systems Go

Consider upgrading to software or a cloud-based system designed for keeping track of art and studio inventory.

Update frequently and keep copies in a Safe Offsite Location 

Resources

Art Inventory Systems

• Art Systems – Manage art information, including artwork and images, editions, contacts, transactions, accounting, images, exhibitions, shipments, sales, consignments, resumes, artwork bibliography, provenance and exhibition citations.
• artcloud – Art inventory and e-commerce for the artist.
• Artlook Software – Manage artwork and art contacts. An optional application is available to link artwork information to an artist’s website.
• artmoi – Art cataloguing software for artists, collectors and galleries.
• Artwork Archive – Manage art inventory, images, exhibitions, location & provenance history, clients and sales, and scheduling. Present work with reports, private rooms, web embeds and a discovery profile.
• Getting Your Sh*t Together (GYST-Ink) Track artwork, art supplies and exhibitions along with other artist records.
• Tessera – Includes artwork, artists and client management features; collections, consignment and sales tracking; reporting capabilities.
• Career Documentation – The Joan Mitchell Foundation has a workbook including information on many elements key to career documentation.
• CALL Estate Planning Workbook – A guide designed to be a practical tool for artists and/or their supporters to use when carefully assessing and identifying the unique estate planning needs and concerns specific to the visual arts.

Accounting systems that have basic inventory systems

• QuickBooks Online – The Plus version has inventory management capabilities or a 3rd party app that integrates with QBO and can be purchased for more advanced inventory and/or fixed asset management.
• Xexo – Online accounting system includes inventory and fixed asset management.