Running a stock count

A stock count compares what StockBold thinks you hold at one warehouse with what you physically find. When the count is approved, StockBold posts inventory movements for the differences.

Find your stock counts

Open Inventory, then Stock Counts. If Stock Counts does not appear in the Inventory menu, you do not have the Create and manage stock counts permission. Ask whoever manages your team's permissions.

The Stock Counts page lists counts under All, In Progress, Review, Completed and Cancelled, each showing how many counts it holds. You can search by name and filter by Warehouse, Supplier, and a From and To date.

Each count shows its warehouse, progress, such as 12/40 counted, the number of products with a variance, its operation date, who created it and, once approved, who approved it. Select a count to open it.

Create a count

1. Open Inventory, then Stock Counts.
2. Select New Count to open the New Stock Count window.
3. Enter a Name. It appears on every movement the count creates, so make it recognisable, such as "Monthly count - Warehouse A".
4. Choose a Warehouse. A count covers one warehouse only; to count two warehouses, create two counts.
5. Set the Operation date. Movements will be posted on this date, not the date you are typing. You can backdate it, but you cannot choose a future date.
6. Optionally narrow the count under Filter products (optional) by supplier, category or department. Leave these blank to count everything at that warehouse.
7. Select New Count at the bottom of the window. It stays disabled until Name and Warehouse are filled in. StockBold builds the count and opens it.

If you choose an operation date in a locked year, the date is rejected as you choose it and a message names the locked year. Choose a date in an open year instead.

When the count is created, StockBold reads the current in-hand quantity for every included product. This appears in the Expected column.

Only products marked Count/Show in inventory are included. Products hidden from inventory and deleted products are left out. An included product with no stock at the warehouse is still listed with an expected quantity of 0. A product deleted after the count began stays listed with the note Product deleted: nothing will be posted.

Enter counted quantities

1. Open the count from Inventory, then Stock Counts.
2. Select a row to edit its Counted cell.
3. Enter the quantity you physically found, from 0 to 999,999,999, with at most 4 decimals.
4. Press Enter to save the row, or Tab to save it and jump to the next uncounted product below.
5. Repeat until the Counted column is filled in for everything you counted.

Each quantity saves when you confirm it or click away from the box. There is no separate save button for the whole count, and you can close the page and return without losing entries. Press Escape to abandon an entry you are part-way through typing.

Use the All, Uncounted, Counted and Variances tabs to switch between products. The search box accepts a product name, code or barcode. The cards at the top show Total Items, Counted, Variances and Net Variance.

If you use a barcode scanner that types like a keyboard, scan into the search box. Search matches the product's EAN, UPC, barcode or code, leaving the matching row on screen.

Clearing the Counted box marks the product as uncounted again, so it will not be adjusted. To record that you found none, enter 0.

Scan with your device camera

Select Scan at the top of the count to use your device camera. The button appears only while the count is In Progress, and the browser asks for camera permission the first time.

StockBold matches the scanned code against the product's EAN, UPC, barcode or product code. It clears any search or filter, jumps to the row and opens it for typing. If the code does not match anything in the count, Product not found in this count appears and the scanner reopens.

Count products by shelf

A product that tracks shelf positions is counted per shelf. Its row opens to one row for each shelf that held it when the count began, plus Unassigned. You can also add another shelf of the warehouse.

The total is the sum of those rows. A row left blank stays at its expected quantity. Approval corrects the shelves you counted; if units only moved between shelves, their shelves are corrected without a stock movement. Shelves are included in the Starter plan and above.

Recount products that moved

Each product remembers when its expected stock was read. If a sale, delivery, transfer or any other movement of that product at that warehouse is recorded afterwards, a banner shows how many products moved after the count began, and the row says Moved after the count began: recount.

Select Recount on the banner. StockBold reads the expected stock of those products again and clears their counted quantities, so you must count them again. If the count is already in Review, the button reads Reopen and recount and first sends the count back to In Progress.

Approve is refused while a counted product has moved after its expected stock was read. This prevents a movement recorded during the count from being posted twice or lost. Products left uncounted do not block approval.

Submit for review

1. Select Submit for Review at the top of the count when you have finished counting.
2. Check how many products have no counted quantity, if the confirmation reports any.
3. Confirm only if you meant to leave those products out. The count moves to Review, and no further quantities can be entered.

Uncounted products are ignored, not treated as zero, and will not be adjusted. This is what makes a partial count safe: count one aisle, submit, and nothing else on the list is touched.

If you spot a mistake after submitting, select Reopen to return the count to In Progress and edit quantities again.

Approve the count

Approval changes your stock levels. It is available only for a count in Review and only to people with the Approve Stock Counts permission. Without that permission, the Approve button does not appear. The approver does not also need permissions for stock-outs or found inventory.

1. Open the count in Review.
2. Check the Variance column. Positive numbers mean you found more than expected; negative numbers mean less.
3. Correct the Operation date if needed. You can still change it while the count is in Review.
4. Select Approve.
5. Read the confirmation. It shows how many movements will be created and how many products will only have their shelves corrected, or says there are no variances and the count will simply be marked as completed.
6. Confirm.

For every product whose counted quantity differs from its expected quantity, StockBold posts one inventory movement dated on the count's operation date: a found-inventory movement for more stock, or a stock-out movement for less. The found-inventory movement lowers your cost of goods sold through the report's Corrections (found inventory) line.

Each movement carries the count's name in its comment, and Related Movements links to each one. The count then moves to Completed and shows who approved it.

If the operation date falls in a locked year, approval is refused and nothing is posted. Change the operation date to a date in an open year, or ask someone with the Lock/Unlock Years permission to unlock it.

When movements are refused

A stock-out is refused if it would push that product's stock below zero on the operation date or any later date. This is common when you backdate a count and there were deliveries or sales in between. A stock-out is also refused if it would take units held under an open supplier claim.

A found-inventory movement is refused if you counted more than found inventory can bring back. Found inventory only brings back stock-outs recorded at that warehouse that found inventory and adjustments have not already brought back. The message names the product, how much could be recorded as found inventory and how much is left unaccounted for. Record the rest as a delivery on a purchase order or as opening stock.

Cancel or delete a count

Use the three-dot menu at the top of the count for these actions.

Cancel Count marks the count as Cancelled and makes no adjustments. It is offered while the count is In Progress or Review, and is refused once the count is Completed.

Delete permanently removes the count. It is offered only while no inventory movement is linked to the count, so an approved count that created movements cannot be deleted. A count approved with no variances creates no movements and can still be deleted. The same Delete is available in the three-dot menu beside each such count on the Stock Counts page.

Department restrictions

If your user is restricted to certain departments, you only see counts that include products from your departments. Inside a count, you only see those products.

The supplier and department lists in the New Stock Count window are filtered the same way. A count you create is limited to products in your departments even if you leave the filters blank.