7 Ways To Stock Take

What is Stock Take?

Keeping an accurate view of your inventory is essential for any business. A stock take involves checking how much you have on hand, assessing the condition of goods, and recording the results. This process helps you maintain control over your stock, prevent shortages, and avoid excess inventory that ties up resources.

The frequency of stock checks depends on your products. Perishable items like food and beverages need regular counting, while other goods may only require periodic or annual reviews. By conducting regular inventory checks, businesses can monitor stock levels, streamline ordering, and uncover issues such as supplier problems or theft.

Ways to Stock Take

1. Inventory management should scale with your business

There’s no getting around it—a stock take can be time-consuming and requires dedicated manpower. Setting aside focused time helps minimize distractions and reduce errors.

You’ll also need to decide how often to conduct inventory checks:

Periodic – Count stock monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually over one or two days.
Annual – A larger undertaking, suitable for businesses with inexpensive or non-perishable items.
Continuous – Regularly update stock counts based on item type; some items may be checked daily, others weekly or monthly, with records updated constantly.

2. Print stock take sheets

Stock sheets form the foundation of a stock take. They allow you to record your actual counts against the expected quantities in your system. Always use the most up-to-date records when preparing your sheets, and integrate them into your existing stock control system.

To avoid errors, follow the correct order:

Count what’s physically on the shelves or in the warehouse first.
Then, compare it against what your system indicates should be there.

3. Organize stocks first

Make sure to set aside any items that have already been sold but are not yet delivered or picked up by customers.

During this process, pause all purchases and sales, as shifting inventory can create confusion while you’re counting.

Next, start organizing your existing inventory. Keep the counting area clean and clutter-free to reduce errors.

Your inventory will likely fall into several categories, so it helps to establish a system from the start. This might involve physically moving items, sorting them into groups, and counting each category separately to ensure accuracy.

4. Organize employees

If you have staff helping with counting, ensure they are well organized. Once inventory is categorized, assign team members to specific categories.

Be sure to allocate more staff to larger categories to keep the process efficient. Also, allow your team to take regular breaks as counting inventory can be tiring, and short rests help maintain focus and accuracy.

5. No estimations

Accurate inventory counting requires a methodical approach. avoid guessing or estimating. Mark items as you go to prevent counting the same item twice.

You can simplify the process by organizing inventory into logical categories and ensuring that sold items are removed from the areas being counted.

Start by counting what’s physically on the shelves first, before referencing your records or system to compare expected quantities.

6. Validate stock take

Once your counting is complete, validate your results by comparing them to the records you prepared earlier. Note and address any discrepancies. For example, have a clear procedure for handling damaged items.

If you operate multiple branches, ensure that store transfers are tracked accurately and that purchase orders are properly processed.

Discrepancies can indicate serious issues, so investigate their cause. Is an item misplaced, is there a supplier problem, or is the inventory system at fault?

The good news is that counting and validating inventory is the first step toward identifying and preventing future issues.

7. Update stock records

Finally, update your inventory records with the results of your latest count. If you use software to track stock, this should be straightforward. For those still relying on paper-based systems, switching to a digital solution can simplify the process and reduce errors.

Is there a stock take software?

Yes – in fact, these software makes the process much easier.

Axacute is a SaaS Inventory and Production System that enables you to stock take! It is a solution designed for small and medium sized manufacturing companies to obtain greater visibility into their warehouse and shop floor operations; so that they can get better insights to true operation costs, improve cycle times and on-time deliveries.

Read more: Axacute Introduction