# Stock accuracy scorecard

> Score your last count and see how it rates against the trade.

- Source: https://storestandards.com/tools/stock-accuracy-scorecard/
- Kind: Scorecard
- Updated: 2026-08-15
- Author: Marcus Ilori, Support lead, Store Standards

---

## How this is worked out

Accuracy here is measured in units, not in lines that matched.

```
accuracy = (1 − (units out ÷ units Shopify said)) × 100
```

An overcount counts the same as an undercount. Finding forty units you did
not know you had is not a happy accident. It means something moved without
being recorded, and the next thing it does is break an order.

## A worked example

Shopify said you had 2,000 units of a line. You counted 1,960.

You are forty units out. Forty divided by 2,000 is two percent, so your
accuracy is 98 percent. That grades as an A.

Two percent sounds small. On a line you sell twelve of a day it is three days
of stock, which is most of a delivery window.

## The grades

**A, at 98 percent or better.** Order against these numbers with confidence.

**B, from 95 to 98 percent.** Usable, but count your fast movers weekly.

**C, from 90 to 95 percent.** Bad orders are being placed already.

**D, from 85 to 90 percent.** The count is the problem, not the stock.

**F, under 85 percent.** Start again at goods in.

## What to do about a bad score

Almost nobody has one cause. The usual mix is receiving, returns and damage
that nobody wrote down. The article on
[why stock counts drift](https://storestandards.com/blog/why-shopify-stock-counts-drift/) works through
all six in order.

Start at goods in. A delivery booked in as ordered rather than as counted
puts the error in on day one. If you want the gap in money rather than in
units, run the same count through the
[shrinkage calculator](https://storestandards.com/tools/shrinkage-calculator/).

Then count more often and smaller. Weekly
[cycle counting](https://storestandards.com/glossary/cycle-counting/) on your fastest lines catches a
problem while you can still remember what caused it.

## What it asks for

- **Units Shopify said you had**: The figure before you started counting.
- **Units you actually counted**: What was on the shelf on the day.

## What it gives back

- **Stock accuracy** (%)
- **Grade**
- **Units out** (units)

## Questions

**What counts as good stock accuracy?**

Most retailers treat 98 percent and up as healthy. Below 95 percent you will place orders that are wrong often enough to notice. Below 90 percent the numbers are not worth ordering against.

**Should I measure in units or in lines?**

Units. A line that is out by one and a line that is out by four hundred are not the same problem, and counting lines hides that completely.

**Does an overcount matter as much as an undercount?**

Yes, and this tool treats them the same. Finding stock you did not know about means the count was wrong, and it means something was received or sold without being recorded.

**How often should I count?**

Count your twenty fastest sellers every week and everything else across the year. One big count in January tells you how wrong you were, not how wrong you are.

**What is the most common cause of a gap?**

Receiving. A delivery booked in as ordered rather than as arrived puts the whole shortfall into your stock figure on day one, and nothing catches it until you count.