Stock reconciliation (stock takes)

A stock reconciliation — also called a stock take or physical count — is how you bring the system into line with reality. You walk the shelves, count what's actually there, type those numbers in, and POS adjusts only the products where the count and the system disagree.

Who uses itManagers and stock staff.

How oftenMonthly, quarterly, or area by area.

Where to find itOpen Inventory → Stock Reconciliation.

Overview

Over time, small differences creep in between what the system thinks you have and what's really on the shelf — miscounts, unrecorded breakages, the odd slip at the till. A stock reconciliation fixes them all in one go. It's a document that moves through two states: you build and count it as a Draft, then post it to become Posted, which applies the corrections.

The clever part is that posting only touches the products whose count differs from the system. Everything that already matched is left exactly as it was, so a stock take is safe to run even on a large catalog.

The stock reconciliation screen showing expected and counted quantities side by side — A stock take: the system's expected quantity on one side, your counted quantity on the other, with the difference highlighted.

Why it's useful

It catches everything at once. A single count fixes every quiet difference that's built up since the last one.
It only changes what's wrong. Products that match are left alone, so the count is quick and low-risk.
It freezes a snapshot. When you start, POS remembers the expected quantities, so later sales don't muddle the comparison.
It records the variance. The differences (the "variance") flow into Stock Activity as proper movements, keeping your history complete.

Running a stock take, step by step

Start a new count
Open Inventory → Stock Reconciliation and start a new stock take. At that moment POS takes a snapshot of the expected quantity (what the system currently shows) for each product — this is the baseline you'll compare against.
Count the shelves
Go round and count what's physically there. You can count everything, or focus on one area, shelf or category at a time.
Enter your counted quantities
Type the number you counted next to each product. How you fill a line matters:
- Leave it blank to skip the product — it's untouched, as if you didn't count it.
- Enter 0 to record a real count of none — you checked and the shelf is empty.
Review the differences
The screen shows the expected quantity beside your counted quantity and highlights the variance (the difference) on each line. Use this to spot anything that looks surprising before you commit.
Post the count
When you're happy, post it. POS adjusts only the lines where your count differs from the expected quantity — bringing the system into line with what you counted. Skipped (blank) lines are left exactly as they were.

Blank vs. zero — the one thing to remember

A blank line means "I didn't count this" and changes nothing. A 0 means "I counted and there are none" and will bring the system down to zero. Getting these two right is the whole skill of a clean stock take.

Tips & best practices

Count when the shop is quiet. Counting outside trading hours means fewer sales happening mid-count to confuse the picture.
Count by area. Breaking a big count into shelves or categories makes it manageable and easier to double-check.
Only fill the lines you actually checked. Leave the rest blank so you never accidentally zero out stock you didn't count.
Review big variances before posting. A surprising difference is worth a recount — it's easier to fix before posting than after.

Notes & warnings

Once posted, a stock take is final. Like adjustments, it can't be edited afterwards. If you find an error, correct it with a fresh stock adjustment or another count.

Don't leave a count open for days. The longer a draft stays open, the more sales happen against stock you've already counted — finish and post on the same day where you can.