Counting stock with a phone: blind counts, variance and adjustment
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In most small businesses a stock count happens once a year, with paper and a pen, with the shop closed. In Depo you count with your phone, a shelf at a time if you like, and you can stop halfway and carry on later.
Starting a count
More → Stock Counts → New Count. Choose the scope:
- Everything: every location that holds stock is counted.
- One Location: the warehouse or shelf you choose is counted, together with the bins inside it.
The Count button on a location’s page starts a count of that location too. When a count starts, the expected quantities are written down. Only one count can be open at a time.
Blind counting
By default Depo does not show the expected quantities. With no “should be 12” on screen, whoever is counting really counts instead of rounding to the expected figure. If you need them, Show Expected reveals them.
Counting
- Every time you scan an item’s barcode, its counted quantity goes up by one.
- Tap a line to type the quantity; handy when you count by the box.
- Find items without a barcode with search.
- Scan an item that is not in the count and a new line starts with nothing expected.
You can stop at any time; even if you close the app, the count carries on where you left it. With Depo Pro, the count’s progress shows on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.
The variance report
Review opens the report. Lines fall into four groups:
- Matched: counted equals expected.
- Short: counted is less than expected.
- Over: counted is more than expected.
- Not Counted: never counted.
Next to the quantities, the report shows the value of the difference at cost.
What happens to lines nobody counted is your call: Leave Unchanged keeps their stock as it is; Set to Zero records that the item is not there. Depo does not decide this for you.
Finishing
Finish Count records one adjustment for every line that differs, and the counted quantities become the stock on hand. The adjustments are linked to the count and show up in the Activity tab. A finished count becomes history and cannot be reopened. Share Report sends the report as text.
An example
Four items are counted on one shelf:
| Item | Expected | Counted | Result | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood Screw 4×40 mm | 50 boxes | 50 boxes | Matched | none |
| Hex Bolt M8×50 | 19 boxes | 17 boxes | Short | 2 boxes out |
| Hex Nut M8 | 71 packs | 73 packs | Over | 2 packs in |
| Masonry Nail 40 mm | 6 kg | — | Not Counted | none if left, 6 kg out if set to zero |
After the count, the bolts stand at 17 boxes and the nuts at 73 packs; the screws are untouched.
A few tips
- Count a large stockroom shelf by shelf, in separate counts, not all at once. Each count gives its own report.
- If an item sits on several shelves, each shelf’s quantity is its own line; count each shelf where it is.
- If you have just imported your items from CSV, enter the opening stock with a count too: the counted quantities become the stock. More in moving from a spreadsheet.