Inventory Management
Stock Counts: FAQs & Troubleshooting
Answers to common questions about stock counts, and help with tracking down variances and cost differences.
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In this article
Introduction
Stock counts help you record your on-site inventory accurately, giving you a clear view of stock levels and highlighting any variances that need attention.
This guide answers common questions and gives troubleshooting tips, whether you're carrying out a routine period-end count, investigating a discrepancy or reviewing stock performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
QWhich products can be counted?
You can add these product types to stock count sheets:
Supplied products
Regular stock items.
Recipe products
Only those flagged for Batch Counting.
Production products
Made and prepared items, if you use the production feature.
How Recipe counts are used
Stock period reporting only uses Supplied products in its calculations. When you count a Recipe product with Batch Counting enabled, the counted quantity is automatically shared across the recipe's Supplied component products, in their defined proportions.
Do I need to count everything?
No. You only need to count Supplied products that:
Had an opening count
Their opening stock at the start of the period was anything other than zero.
Had movements
They had any stock movement during the period, such as sales, wastage, transfers, orders or deliveries.
Missed a product?
If a product that needs counting isn't counted, a Count Exception appears in Period Exceptions when you try to approve the period.
QCan I enforce blind stock counts?
Yes. With Blind Stock Counts enabled, users can't see expected stock on hand or period reports while a period is still open. Once counts are entered and the period is Approved, the reports become available to review.
Troubleshooting
I have a stock count variance that needs investigating
The Period Variance report breaks down any stock variances at the end of the period. It also shows each product's opening stock, carried forward from the previous period's closing count, and every stock movement recorded during the period.
Use it to trace where a variance came from. These are the most common causes:
The Opening column only shows the previous period's closing count once that period is approved. Move the previous period to Approved.
Check the Count column matches the physical stock on hand at the end of the period. If it doesn't, correct the count on the count sheet.
This makes the Opening column wrong in this period. Roll back the previous period and correct the count.
Run a Trial Approve to find any outstanding records that need finalising in the period.
Check the product's movement totals match what actually happened during the period. If they don't, select the value to review the records behind it (see the Period Variance report). Roll back any record with the wrong date, correct it and re-approve it.
Check the product's movement totals as above. Roll back any record containing a mistake, correct it and re-approve it.
There's a difference between actual and theoretical costs
The Margin Summary & Stock KPIs and Period KPI Results reports show the total Actual Cost and Theoretical Cost for the period. There's usually a small difference between them, caused by known losses:
Period count variance
At the end of the period.
Declared wastage
During the period.
Yield loss wastage
During the period, if you use Product Preparations.
You can see these losses for each period in the Wastage Analysis section of the Margin Summary & Stock KPIs report:
Why the difference might not match your losses
Sometimes the difference between actual and theoretical cost doesn't equal the total losses in Wastage Analysis. This happens when costs change during the period, because Actual Cost values opening stock at the costs from the start of the period, and closing stock at the costs from the end.
Cost changes within a period are usually small, so the effect is minimal. This exaggerated example shows how it works:
| Opening Stock | Purchases | Sales | Closing Stock | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Units | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Value | £100 | £150 | £125 | £150 |
- Opening stock: the cost at the start of the period is £1 per unit, so 100 units are valued at £100.
- Purchases: halfway through the period, an order for 100 units arrives at the new cost of £1.50 per unit, a total of £150.
- Sales: 50 units are sold at £1 before the order arrives, and 50 at £1.50 after. The cost of sales, or Theoretical Cost, is £125.
- Closing stock: the cost at the end of the period is £1.50 per unit, so 100 units are valued at £150.
Actual Cost is Opening + Purchases − Closing, so £100 + £150 − £150 = £100.
Actual Cost
£100
Opening + Purchases − Closing
Theoretical Cost
£125
Cost at the time of each sale
Difference
£25
Caused by the cost change