Inventory

Stock Counts

Note: The Stock Counts feature is only available in our Premium and Enterprise plans. It is also available in the Advanced Warehouse Operations add-on for other plans.

Stock Counts is when you physically check and record the stock of an item and match them to the system records. Let’s see how Stock Counts works in Zoho Inventory.

Scenario 1: Patricia wants to prevent stock outs and overstocking in her retail business. So she started using Zoho Inventory, which helps her maintain a balance between having enough products to meet customer demands without overstocking items.

Scenario 2: John aims to create an accurate inventory order budget for next year. Using Zoho Inventory, he can easily get a detailed report on the required stock counts on a monthly basis.

Enable Stock Counts

Note: Multi-warehouse must be enabled in order to use stock counts feature.

You will have to enable the Stock Count module in order to create and match stock counts in Zoho Inventory. To do this:

Go to Settings on the top right corner of the page.
Select General under Preferences.

Check the Stock Counts option.
Click Save.

Create New Stock Count

Once you’ve enabled stock counts, you can start creating stock counts and assign them to the users in your organisation. To create a new stock count:

Go to Inventory from the left sidebar and navigate to Stock Counts.
Click the + New button in the top right corner of your page.
Fill in the required details.

Fields	Description
Stock Count#	This value is auto-generated. Click the gear icon if you want to enter a unique number for your stock count.
Warehouse	Select the warehouse where the stocks are to be counted.
Assign To	Select the user to whom you want to assign the stock count.

Click Next

Once you’ve created the stock count, you’ll be automatically redirected to the page where you can add the items you want to count. Here is how you can add the items:

Click Select Items to add the items that you want to count.
Choose the items from the list and click Add items.

Click Save.

Pro Tip: You can check the Schedule Counts option to instantly create a recurring stock count.

Create Recurring Stock Count

Go to Inventory and navigate to Stock Counts.
Click the dropdown on the top right corner next to + New and select New Recurring.

Choose how often you want the stock count to happen.
If you want the stock count regularly, select Periodic or if you want it on specific days, select Custom.
Select the start date and time for the count.
Determine when the count should stop with Schedule expires after.
Set a reminder to notify the assigned users before the count starts with Remind Before.

Click Next.
Click Select Items.
Choose the items that you want to count and click Add items.
Click Save.

Cancel Stock Count

If you wish to stop a stock count, you can cancel it in Zoho Inventory. Here’s how you can do it:

Warning: Once you cancel a stock count, it cannot be undone.

Go to Inventory and select Stock Counts.
Select the stock count that you’d like to stop.
Click the Three dots icon on the top right corner of the page.
Click Cancel.

Note: You cannot cancel a stock count that is in the Completed status.

View Stock Count

If you have already created a stock count, you can view them in the Stock Counts module. Here’s how you can do it:

Go to Inventory and select Stock Counts.
Select the stock count you want to view.

View Recurring Stock Count

You can view the recurring stock count that you have created in Zoho Inventory. Here’s how you can do it:

Go to Inventory and select Stock Counts.
Click View Recurring Counts on the top right of your page.

Count Stock Using Mobile App

You can count stock only using the mobile app. Here’s how:

Open your Zoho Inventory mobile app and sign in.
Tap the More icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Tap Stock Counting under the Items section.

Select the Stock Count task you want to count.

Tap Start Counting at the bottom right. Note that, If batch or serial tracking is enabled for an item, you must enter the relevant details or scan to count it. For non-tracked items, simply enter the quantity.

Tap Save when finished.
Tap Save and Submit after you’ve finished counting all the items.
Tap Submit in the pop-up that appears to confirm.

Note: Other actions like create, edit, and approval can only be done using the web app.

Stock Count cannot be started if there’s a mismatch in quantity and available tracking details. The mismatch in quantity and serial numbers could be due to the following reasons:

If Tracking Details Relaxation is enabled, transactions might have been created without serial or batch numbers.
If your tracking preference is set to invoices and bills, and packages or receipts were created without tracking details, or vice versa.

Contact your admin to verify these settings and add the missing tracking details to the transaction.

Approve Stock Count

Once the stock count is submitted using the mobile application. You’ll have to approve the count from the web. Here’s how:

Prerequisite: Only users who have access can see the system quantity and approve the stock count. Make sure you have provided the access in users and roles.

Go to Inventory from the left sidebar and select Stock Counting.
Select the stock count that you want to approve.
Click Start Approving at the top right corner of the page.

Under All items, you can now approve or reject each stock count.

If the status is Matched, you can approve or reject as your requirement.
If the status is Unmatched, click Approve and select an adjustment reason you can Reject and schedule another stock count to double check.
Approvers can view if items were transacted during the counting process. Click on the Variation Badge to display suspected transactions in a sidebar.

Click Proceed to Approve at the bottom left, to confirm.

Click Save in the pop-up that follows to confirm.

Once saved, this inventory adjustment(Quantity Adjustment) will be created under “Cost of Goods Sold” account and by default the reason would be “Stock taking results”. You can customize a default account and reason in Settings > Items > Stock Counts.

Status of Stock Count

Stock Counting in Zoho Inventory will have the following status:

Status	Description
Yet To Start	You have scheduled a stock count that hasn’t begun yet.
Counting in Progress	The assigned user has started the stock count.
Pending Approval	The assigned user has completed counting and has submitted for approval. The approval process is yet to begin.
Completed	The stock count has successfully been completed.
Cancelled	A scheduled stock count has been cancelled.

Customize Stock Count Columns

In the Stock Counting module, you can choose the fields to be displayed on the main page. You can rearrange the columns or fields. Here’s how you can do it: