How do I run a physical stock count, from draft to approval?

A physical count is where the system meets reality: you count what is on the shelf, enter what you counted, and the system settles the difference and books it as a gain or a loss in your accounts.

Steps

1. Open Inventory → Stock Counts and press New Stock Count — image 2.
2. Pick the branch, then the warehouse.
3. Choose the type:
   • Full count — every item in the warehouse, usually at year end.
   • Partial count — one section or category.
   • Spot check — a handful of items, unannounced.
4. Set the date and write notes.
5. On the lines: pick the product, the system quantity fills in automatically, and enter the counted quantity.
6. Choose a variance reason: shortage, surplus, recording mistake, damaged, expired, other.
7. Press Save.

The four statuses

1. Draft — editable and deletable, with no effect on stock.
2. Completed — counting is finished and entry is closed. Still no effect on stock.
3. Approved — only here are the variances applied: a surplus posts an inbound movement, a shortage an outbound one — image 1.
4. Cancelled — reverses the movements if it was approved, restoring the earlier balance.

The order is enforced: no approval before completion, no editing once it leaves draft, and no deleting an approved count.

The accounting effect

On approval the system creates an entry for each variance:

• Surplus — debit Inventory, credit Stock count gains.
• Shortage — debit Stock count losses, credit Inventory.

The value uses the unit cost, which is filled from the item's average cost and can be edited on the line.

Notes

• Approving a count is a separate permission from creating one, so the storekeeper can count and the manager approve.
• Count on paper first, then enter; do not look at the system quantity while counting or it will bias you.
• Freeze movement on the warehouse during a full count — one sale mid-count ruins the result.
• A monthly spot check on ten items is worth more than one full count a year.
• The variance reason is not a formality — it is what separates theft from damage from data entry when you review the pattern later.
• If no journal entry appears after approval, see the next article.