Cycle count sheet

What is on the sheet

One page, twenty lines, and a column order that matters.

The top holds the date, the section or bin, and who counted. Then twenty lines with SKU, description, a wide box for the counted figure, a box for the system figure and a box for the difference.

The counted column comes before the system column on purpose. Fill the system figure in afterwards, from Shopify, once the counting is done.

Count blind

A counter who can see the expected number will find the expected number. Not dishonestly, just because 47 and 48 look alike when you already know which one you are looking for.

So the sheet has no system figures printed on it. You count what is there, write it down, and only then compare. It is a small thing and it changes the answer more than anything else on this page.

Note the time you counted next to the section. If something sells while you are working, the timestamp turns an argument into an explanation.

What to count, and how often

Frequency follows value and speed, not the alphabet.

Count your twenty fastest sellers every week. Count high value lines monthly. Work through everything else over the year, a section at a time. Done that way, cycle counting replaces the annual stocktake entirely, and it finds problems while they are still fixable.

A bin or shelf is the right size for one sheet. Counting by bin location rather than by product means you count what is in front of you rather than walking the shop for each line.

After the count

Put the differences through the stock accuracy scorecard to see how the section rates. If you want the gap in money, the shrinkage calculator will give you that.

Then find the cause before you adjust. An adjustment with no reason next to it is the same error waiting to happen again next month.