Stock counts

Tabs knows what your stock should be. It starts from what you entered, takes off every sale and adds every delivery. A stock count is how you find out whether that matches what is actually on the shelf.

It often won't, and that isn't a failure of the software. Goods break, expire, get miscounted on delivery, get given out and not recorded, or walk out of the door. A count is how you catch the gap while it's still small.

How to run a count

1. Go to Inventory and open the Stock count tab.
2. Find an item. Tabs shows the quantity it expects.
3. Count that item on the shelf and type what you counted beside it.
4. Carry on with the next item. Leave blank anything you haven't counted.
5. Save the counts.

Your numbers are kept as you move from page to page, so you can work through a long list. They are not saved until you press save. If you leave the Inventory page before that, they're lost, and Tabs warns you first.

What happens when you save

For every item you typed a number for, Tabs sets its stock to that number. Items you left blank are not touched.

Tabs then tells you the result: how many items were updated, and how many already matched. If every count matched what was expected, nothing changes.

Each correction is written to the History tab with who did the count, so you can go back later and see which items were short and which were over.

One rule to know: a count is saved all together or not at all. If Tabs refuses one of your numbers, none of them are saved. Fix that one and save again.

A worked example

You count your drinks shelf on a Sunday evening.

When you save, Coke doesn't change. Fanta goes down by 3. Malt goes up by 2. Water is untouched because you didn't count it. Tabs reports that 2 of 3 items were updated and 1 already matched.

The Fanta is worth a look. Three short on one shelf in one week could be breakage, or sales that weren't recorded. The Malt being over usually means a delivery was typed in wrong.

You don't have to count everything at once

Counting a whole shop in one go means closing early or working late. Most shops don't need to.

Count in parts. Do one shelf or one category a day, and you'll get round the whole shop every week or two without closing. Because blank items are left alone, a part count is completely safe.

Count your fastest-moving and most valuable items more often than the rest. Phone accessories, cosmetics, drinks and anything small enough to fit in a pocket deserve a weekly count. Slow, bulky goods can wait a month.

Getting an accurate count

A few habits make the numbers trustworthy:

• Count when nothing is moving. Before opening or after closing is best. A sale made halfway through a count will throw that item off.
• Count what you see, not what you expect. Don't look at the expected number first and count towards it.
• Check the store room too. Stock in a carton at the back is still stock.
• Have a second person count the expensive items.
• Leave out anything that's already sold. Goods waiting for a customer to collect have already come off your stock.

If you run more than one store, remember that stock is kept per store. Count each one on its own.

After the count

A count only tells you there's a gap. The History tab helps you find out why.

Filter History to an item that came up short. You'll see every sale, delivery and adjustment since the last count. Often the cause is obvious: a delivery recorded as 24 when 20 arrived, or a breakage nobody wrote down.

When the same items come up short count after count, and History shows nothing to explain it, the cause is usually outside the system. That's the point at which to look at who has access to that shelf.

Who can count

The Stock count tab only shows for people whose role allows them to change stock. If you can't see it, ask the owner to check your role.

Think about who you give this to. The person who counts the stock is able to change the numbers, so it works best when that isn't the same person who sells from that shelf all day.