Stock

Six Expert Tips For Successful Stock-Taking

28 June 2017 • 1 min read

The stock-take. Certainly not my favourite pastime, but one that is crucial if you hold stock. Here are my tips for successful and easy stock-taking:

Make sure the stock-room is tidy and well organised before you start. Stock-takes need to be systematic and thorough.
Ideally you should lock down your stock room while carrying out the stock-take. If this isn’t possible, and orders are being taken and dispatched at the same time, you will need to run a report to show all of the orders dispatched during the stock-take and add these items back on at the end to show an accurate total of what was in stock.
Discourage chatting, mobile phones etc. Any distraction can cause inaccuracies, so build in regular breaks to ensure everybody stays focussed on the job in hand.
Equip all the stock-takers with a clipboard, different coloured pens, calculators, and stock count sheets. I would recommend not displaying the amount of each unit that is supposed to be in stock, keep the forms as uncomplicated as possible.
Do not estimate anything, count every single item. If a case says there are 12 items inside it, you still need to count each item just in case.
Once the counting is complete, the physical amount on hand will need to be updated on all systems (websites, accountancy packages etc.). Any discrepancies should be noted and followed up accordingly.