Stock counting for a small shop: how often, and how to do it quickly

Most shopkeepers count stock only when something feels wrong. By then the difference has been growing for months and nobody can say where it came from.

Two kinds of count

Full count: everything in the shop and godown, once or twice a year. Do it after closing, with two people, one counting and one writing.

Cycle count: a few shelves or one category each week. Biscuits this week, oil and ghee next week. Over a month or two you have counted everything, and the shop never closes.

What a difference means

When the count and the record don't match, the reason is usually one of these:

• a dealer bill that was never entered
• goods given on udhaar without a bill
• damage or expiry thrown away without a note
• a wrong item scanned at the counter
• theft

Write the reason next to each difference. After a few counts a pattern appears, and that is where to look.

Fast-moving items first

Count the 20 items that sell most, and the ones that cost the most (oil, ghee, cigarettes, baby milk), more often than the rest.

Keep stock and records together

The best way to get fewer differences is to make the record update itself. Every dealer bill adds stock, every sale takes it away, and a count only needs to confirm.

Munshi's inventory management software does exactly that, shows the difference when you count, and keeps a note of why.