Web dashboard

Run a stock take

Run a stock take: what the prefilled figures are for, what a difference means, and why a count is signed.

Sound is off

A stock take records what somebody physically counted. The expected quantities are prefilled so you have something to compare against — they are not a count, and confirming one is a claim that you looked.

Several people can be on the same count at once. Every line records who counted it, and the screen updates as other people work — you do not need to refresh, and you do not need to wait for anyone before starting your own lines.

There is no Pause, deliberately. Every entry saves as you make it, so closing the sheet loses nothing and the count is still there when you come back.

Reporting a difference is not deciding what to do about it. The counter says what is on the shelf. Whether the organisation accepts that as the new expected quantity — or goes looking for the missing twelve towels — is a judgement made later, from the record, by somebody who can see the pattern across sites. The count screen deliberately does not ask you.

Everyone who touched a count signs for their own lines, and a line that needs two people carries a witness as well. A count that is complete but still owed a signature is parked, not finished.

Step 1
Open the register
The inventory you are counting. Registers belong to an owner, which need not be a facility.
Step 2
Start the count
Start stock take opens the sheet — or joins the one already in progress if somebody else has started it.
Step 3
Work down the lines
Every line is listed, grouped by where it is kept. Enter what you actually find, or confirm the figure where it matches.
Step 4
Entries save as you go
Each entry saves the moment you make it. There is no Pause and nothing to lose by closing the sheet.
Step 5
Review what is left and what differs
Review stock take shows what differs from what was expected, line by line, and the net change. Anything not yet counted is still flagged, and other people's lines appear as they count them — the sheet is shared, and live.
Step 6
Add a note where the numbers cannot explain themselves
A room you could not get into, a delivery part-way through, damage — anything the next person should know.
Step 7
Sign for your lines
A count is signed before it is submitted, and you sign for the lines you counted.
Step 8
Witnessed lines
Where an item needs two people, the witness signs for it too.
Step 9
Submit
Submit stock take closes the count.
Step 10
What the record keeps
Every line's difference, the net change, and the signatures against it — who counted what, and who witnessed it.
Step 11
Lines that need a second pair of eyes
An item can be marked as needing double confirmation, and a line like that is not finished when somebody has put a number on it — it needs a second person to witness the count. That is the whole point on a controlled-drug cupboard: one person's figure is exactly what a witness exists to check.

It has a practical consequence worth knowing before you start. Signing only opens once every line is complete, so a count with a witness-required line cannot be signed off by the person counting alone, however many numbers they enter. If the signature panel says "Signing opens once every line is counted — and witnessed, where two people are needed", that is what it is telling you: find the second person, do not look for a button.
Step 12
A count is a report, not a correction
Submitting does not silently rewrite the register to match what you found. The difference is recorded and the decision about it is made afterwards, from the record, by someone with the wider view. That is why the count screen never asks you to choose.
Step 13
Counting with other people
You do not divide the sheet up beforehand. Start anywhere; each line records who counted it, and a line somebody else has done is already marked when you get to it. A count with lines still owed a signature is parked until those people sign — so tell them rather than waiting.