Physical Stock Count (Stocktake)

Overview

Periodic stocktake to reconcile what the system thinks you have vs. what's on the shelf. Surfaces shrinkage, miscounts, and uncaptured movements before they snowball.

Step-by-Step Guide

1

Open a Stocktake

Inventory → Stocktake → New. Pick the store + (optionally) a single category or aisle to scope it.

2

Freeze Counts

On open, the system snapshots current expected quantities. Sales + purchases between now and the close still post but get queued for reconciliation.

3

Count Physical Stock

Walk the floor with the app on phone/tablet. Scan or enter SKU; type counted quantity. Variance auto-computes per line.

4

Review Variance

Sort by largest variance (absolute or %). Investigate before committing — common causes: untagged returns, free-of-charge giveaways not logged, theft.

5

Commit

On Commit, the system creates adjustment journal entries (Inventory account → Stock Adjustment expense) for every variance. Audit log captures the user + reason.

Tips & Best Practices

Tip: Quarterly is the right cadence for most SMBs. Monthly for high-shrink categories (electronics, liquor, pharmacy controlled substances).
Tip: Two counters per aisle (one scans, one writes) cuts count time by ~40% and catches typos in real time.
Note: Don't commit a stocktake with material un-investigated variance. Once committed, the journal entries hit your P&L; reversing them is messy.