Retail price markdown audit template
Markdown Audit Checklist
Verify markdown authorization, product eligibility, discount accuracy, labels, POS execution, stock quantities, clearance progression, exceptions, and corrective actions across every retail location.
Is the sampled markdown authorized and applied at the correct POS price?
Store Manager · Due in 2 hours · Closure proof required
Select an answer to preview the workflow.
About this checklist
What a markdown audit should help you verify
Confirm every markdown is approved, applied to eligible stock, reflected correctly at checkout, reconciled in inventory, and closed without residual customer or loss risk.
When
Scheduled and change-triggered reviews
Use it after markdown launches, clearance stages, seasonal exits, short-date activity, complaints, overrides, and exception alerts.
Who
Store, pricing, inventory, and LP teams
Store teams inspect execution while pricing, inventory, finance, and loss prevention review approvals, values, and exceptions.
Outcome
Controlled markdown execution
Create objective proof of authorization, item eligibility, price accuracy, stock control, disposition, corrective action, and approval.
Complete audit checklist
Checks across the complete retail markdown workflow
Ten sections, sixty checks. Expand any section, then adapt approval thresholds, discount stages, sample sizes, evidence rules, closure deadlines, and escalation paths to your policy.
Section 1Audit setup, governance, and sample plan
- Confirm the correct store, audit type, date, approved window, and current markdown policy.
- Define the sample by department, category, markdown reason, discount stage, stock value, and risk level.
- Confirm the store manager, pricing owner, inventory owner, and loss prevention contact.
- Review previous markdown errors, customer complaints, refunds, overrides, shrink findings, and open actions.
- Confirm approved markdown files, item lists, scanners, label printers, POS access, and reference reports are available.
- Capture arrival geo-location, timestamp, and an approved reference photo of the markdown area.
Section 3Product eligibility and stock identification
- Confirm each sampled product meets the approved markdown reason and eligibility rule.
- Scan the item and verify SKU, barcode, variant, size, colour, flavour, model, and pack match the approved record.
- Confirm only the approved quantity has been marked down.
- Verify recalled, quarantined, expired, reserved, or otherwise restricted stock is excluded from sale.
- Confirm mixed batches, shelf-life groups, or condition grades are identified and priced according to policy.
- Verify serialized, high-value, or controlled items retain required traceability after markdown.
Section 5POS and transaction accuracy
- Scan each sampled marked-down item at POS and confirm the checkout price matches the approved markdown price.
- Verify the receipt shows the correct item, quantity, original price where required, markdown value, tax, and total.
- Test markdown accuracy at assisted checkout, self-checkout, mobile POS, and other active payment points.
- Confirm coupons, loyalty prices, staff discounts, and promotions combine with markdowns only as allowed.
- Verify tax, rounding, currency, and price-format rules are applied correctly to markdown transactions.
- Record every overcharge, undercharge, failed scan, or manual price intervention with customer impact and evidence.
Section 7Inventory, quantity, and valuation control
- Compare physical marked-down quantity with the approved event quantity and system balance.
- Verify the markdown value or inventory valuation adjustment was posted using the approved method.
- Confirm the markdown event, file, or batch was posted once and duplicate adjustments were prevented.
- Verify transfers, online reservations, returns, click-and-collect stock, and inter-store movements retain the correct price status.
- Confirm remaining stock moves to the next markdown stage only at the approved time and discount level.
- Reconcile sold, remaining, transferred, returned, quarantined, disposed, and written-off quantities.
Section 9Exceptions, fraud, and loss prevention
- Check for unauthorized markdown labels, handwritten prices, manual price changes, or altered tickets.
- Test whether markdown labels can be removed, transferred, or switched to higher-value products.
- Review users, stores, or categories with unusually high discount depth, frequency, or value.
- Confirm employee purchases of marked-down goods follow conflict, timing, approval, and reservation rules.
- Review voids, refunds, returns, exchanges, and post-sale overrides involving marked-down items.
- Confirm material or suspicious markdown exceptions are escalated with evidence and preserved records.
Section 2Markdown authorization and source records
- Verify each markdown event has an approved reference, business reason, owner, and effective period.
- Confirm the approved item list, SKU, variant, pack, quantity, and participating locations match the markdown execution.
- Verify the approved markdown price, discount percentage, or price stage matches the source record.
- Confirm required approval levels were obtained for the markdown value and stock exposure.
- Verify manual markdowns, one-off discounts, and emergency price changes have separate authorization.
- Confirm cancelled, reversed, expired, or superseded markdown instructions are closed and no longer active.
Section 4Markdown label and ticket execution
- Confirm the markdown label, ticket, or sticker is applied to the correct product or approved display position.
- Verify the original price, markdown price, discount, dates, and required conditions are accurate and readable.
- Scan the markdown barcode, PLU, or price-embedded code and confirm it resolves to the correct item and value.
- Check the markdown label does not obscure product identity, expiry, warnings, ingredients, serial numbers, or legal information.
- Confirm old, duplicate, layered, damaged, or conflicting labels have been removed.
- Verify electronic shelf labels, digital displays, or print queues reflect the approved markdown status.
Section 6Display, segregation, and merchandising
- Confirm marked-down products are displayed in the approved shelf, rail, table, bin, or clearance zone.
- Verify marked-down stock is clearly separated from full-price stock where policy requires it.
- Confirm clearance signs, price boards, and promotional communication match the approved markdown mechanics.
- Check sizes, variants, and product groups are organized so customers can identify the correct marked-down item.
- Verify damaged, contaminated, expired, incomplete, or unsafe goods are not presented as normal markdown stock.
- Confirm markdown displays are replenished, faced, and maintained without exceeding approved quantities.
Section 8Expiry, clearance progression, and disposition
- Verify short-dated or expiry-driven markdowns follow the approved timing and remaining shelf-life rule.
- Confirm each markdown stage begins and ends at the approved date and time.
- Verify final-clearance products move to return, donation, disposal, or write-off when the selling window closes.
- Confirm unsold stock is removed from customer areas and system availability promptly.
- Capture evidence for disposal, destruction, donation, supplier return, or controlled write-off.
- Confirm closed markdown events have no residual labels, price files, displays, or open quantities.
Section 10Reporting, corrective actions, and sign-off
- Calculate markdown authorization, label, POS, quantity, and closure accuracy for the audited sample.
- Escalate unauthorized markdowns, overcharges, unsafe stock, fraud indicators, and major quantity variances immediately.
- Assign every material finding a root cause, named owner, priority, due date, and evidence requirement.
- Retest corrected labels, POS prices, stock quantities, displays, and system status before closure.
- Review repeat errors by SKU, reason, discount stage, category, store area, user, and source system.
- Complete store manager and pricing or inventory reviewer approval with timestamp.
Take it with you
Use the complete checklist during your next markdown audit
Download the printable version, or continue below to see how the same audit can run with authorization checks, price comparisons, evidence, corrective actions, and approval in Taqtics.
How to use it
Turn markdown activity into a controlled audit process
Plan the sample, verify approval and item eligibility, test the customer transaction, reconcile stock, and close every material exception with evidence.
Plan the sample
Cover high-value markdowns, short-dated stock, seasonal clearance, manual overrides, repeat SKUs, and high-risk users.
Verify authorization
Match the item, quantity, reason, discount, effective period, approval, label, and display against the approved source.
Test execution
Scan sampled items at active checkout points and compare physical, POS, receipt, inventory, and transaction records.
Correct and close
Contain customer or loss risk, assign owners, retest labels and systems, reconcile quantities, and require closure proof.
Live interactive demo
See how the markdown audit works when it is run in Taqtics
Complete representative checks, compare approved and POS markdown values, attach evidence, and trigger a corrective action without using a full-screen interface.
Verified audit context
Use assigned stores, geo-fencing, time windows, markdown events, sample plans, and auditor identity.
Evidence at the point of sale
Capture authorization, product, label, displayed price, POS result, quantities, photos, and transaction references together.
Accountable exception closure
Create containment, price correction, stock reconciliation, investigation, retest, and closure tasks with owners and deadlines.
Illustrative website demo. Responses are not stored or submitted.
Why digitize it
A clearer way to control markdown execution across every store
Taqtics connects markdown schedules, approvals, item checks, price comparisons, quantities, evidence, corrective actions, retesting, and reporting in one workflow.
Verify every markdown event
Capture assigned store, auditor, geo-location, time, authorization, items, prices, quantities, evidence, and approval together.
Standardize execution checks
Use the same eligibility, label, POS, display, quantity, progression, exception, and closure rules across locations.
Close every material exception
Assign containment, price correction, stock reconciliation, investigation, owners, deadlines, retesting, and closure proof.
Compare markdown performance
Review accuracy, overcharges, discount depth, repeat SKUs, unusual users, stock variance, open actions, and trends.
Frequently asked questions
Markdown audit checklist FAQs
What is a retail markdown audit?
A retail markdown audit verifies that reduced prices are authorized, applied only to eligible products and quantities, displayed correctly, processed accurately at POS, reflected in inventory, and closed through the approved clearance or disposition process.
What should a markdown audit checklist include?
It should cover governance, authorization, product eligibility, quantity control, labels, POS transactions, displays, inventory valuation, clearance stages, final disposition, fraud risks, corrective actions, retesting, and approval.
How should markdown items be sampled?
Use a risk-based mix of high-value events, deep discounts, manual overrides, short-dated products, seasonal clearance, repeat SKUs, customer complaints, unusual users, and items with recent price or stock changes.
Which markdown failures should be treated as critical?
Critical failures commonly include unauthorized markdowns, customer overcharges, unsafe or expired stock on sale, wrong-item labels, discount stacking errors, large quantity variances, suspected fraud, and residual prices after an event closes.
What evidence should be collected during a markdown audit?
Useful evidence includes geo-location, timestamps, authorization records, item lists, product and label photos, barcode scans, approved values, POS transactions, receipts, quantity records, disposition proof, and management approval.
How should a markdown discrepancy be handled?
Contain the customer or loss risk, correct the label or system price, segregate affected stock, apply the approved customer remedy where needed, record the root cause, assign owners, reconcile quantities, retest execution, and require closure proof.
Schedule audits by location, validate authorization and item eligibility, compare approved and POS prices, control quantities, capture approved evidence, close critical exceptions, and compare performance across every store.
Run markdown audits with verified evidence and accountable follow-up
Schedule audits by location, compare customer-facing and system prices, capture approved evidence, correct critical mismatches, and compare pricing performance across every store.
Printable PDF · Free Taqtics trial · No credit card required