How to do a stock count and correction

No matter how careful POS and inventory documents are, physical stock and system stock will drift over time — spillage, breakage, mis-rings, ingredient over-pours, theft. Periodic counts catch the drift early, give you a reliable shrinkage figure, and reset the baseline. This article walks through the workflow.

Before you start counting

• Decide on the scope: one warehouse only, or all warehouses today? Counting one at a time is faster and more accurate.
• Pick a quiet moment — end-of-shift, before opening, between services. Stock should be still while you count it.
• Pause POS sales for that warehouse if possible. If not possible, accept that any sales rung up during the count will need to be reconciled separately.
• Bring two people: one counts, one records. A clipboard with the printed system stock helps but isn't required — you can also count blind and enter actuals into the screen.

Step 1 — Open the Adjust Inventory page

POS → Inventory. At the top of the inventory list, click the Adjust Inventory button. The page loads with empty filters.

Step 2 — Load the system stock

1. Pick the Warehouse you're about to count. Required.
2. (Optional) Pick a Category to limit the list to one section — "Wines", "Beers", "Cleaning supplies". For weekly bar counts, this is much faster than scrolling through 200 products.
3. Set Date and Time to when the count was actually taken — usually now if you're counting live, but use the actual moment if you're entering a count from earlier.
4. Click Load Products. The table populates with one row per product: name, category, the system Quantity at that timestamp, and an empty Adjusted Quantity input column.

Step 3 — Enter the physical counts

Walk through the warehouse and count each product. As you go, enter the actual figure in the Adjusted Quantity column. Skip rows where the system count and physical count match — leaving Adjusted Quantity empty means "no adjustment for this product". You only need to enter values for products that differ.

For partial units (half-empty bottles, partial cases), use decimals. The system uses 2-decimal precision: 0.50 for half a bottle, 0.25 for a quarter. Don't try to be more precise than the smallest unit you sell at — there's no point logging 0.137 of a bottle.

Step 4 — Add the audit note

Below the table is a Note field. Fill it in. Good notes include who counted, the scope, and any anomaly worth flagging:

• "Weekly bar count Apr 14 by Mira and Andi. 0.7 bottles wine unaccounted in the red category, 2 missing tonic waters — suspect kitchen."
• "Monthly housekeeping count May 1 by H. Plata. All amenity stock matched. Towel stock on hand 184 vs system 200 — investigation pending, possible miscount during last week's transfer."
• "Quarterly retail count, Spa Jul 1, by Edon. Variance within tolerance."

Step 5 — Save

Click Save. HotelBee creates an inventory adjustment record for each product whose Adjusted Quantity differs from the loaded system value. Each adjustment is timestamped, linked to the warehouse, attached to your note, and signed with your user. The product's stock balance for that warehouse becomes the Adjusted Quantity going forward.

After the count

• Review the variance — the visible difference between old and new on each row is your shrinkage for this period. Big surprises (5+% on a high-value product) deserve a follow-up: did POS rings get the right product? Was there a transfer that wasn't recorded? Is the deduction factor still right?
• Resume POS sales in that warehouse. Subsequent sales now deduct from the corrected baseline.
• Track shrinkage over time — adjustments accumulate in the inventory ledger. A reporting view over them is the cheapest theft/wastage metric you have.

Patterns we see in practice

• Bar weekly — Sunday close. Bar manager + duty supervisor. Filter by Wines, Beers, Spirits in three passes. Note explains who and any incidents from the week.
• Restaurant pantry weekly — between lunch and dinner, every Wednesday. Chef + sous-chef. Less granular than bar; focus on cost-heavy items (proteins, premium oils, cheeses).
• Housekeeping monthly — first of the month. Head housekeeper + assistant. Amenity bottles, towels, linens. Slower velocity; monthly catches drift fine.
• Annual full count — Dec 31 close or Jan 1 morning. All warehouses, all categories, all on the same day. Becomes the opening balance for the new financial year.