Stocktaking; who needs to plan for it? It’s just counting isn’t it? No, there is a lot more to it than you may think and unfortunately some people discover this too late. Failing to plan is planning to fail here. To stay on top of it, try out these tips to help you ease the stress of stocktaking.

Be prepared

Preparation is key; a plan needs to be in place and all people involved must be informed of this plan.

• A time must be carefully chosen and an estimated length of time that it will take.
• Each area should be divided into sections with a certain person/people assigned to each section.

The stocktake will run more smoothly if all people involved are of similar understanding of what is required on the day.

Tidy up

The ‘front of shop area’ and the stock room need to be tidy and ready to be counted to ensure accuracy.

• Organise shelves into straight lines, this allows for ease of counting- making the count more efficient.
• Tidy all shelves, boxes and crates in stockroom so that bar-codes are easily accessible.

A messy stock room, front of shop or having items thrown in a corner another room can lead to items being easily omitted from the count.

Bar-code all items

Check and double check that all bar-codes are correct, scanning and prices are correct. Add temporary bar-codes on items that do not have one. It will save time on the day of the stocktake and also allow for correct valuation of stock.

Ensure IT is working correctly

 If you are renting equipment, ensure that it’s working and that you have someone present on the day that will be capable of dealing with technological issues. If you are using your own equipment ensure to have everything on your system updated before the stocktakes commences.

 

Conduct rechecks

Whether you conduct your stocktake in-house or use an external company, rechecks must be undertaken to ensure accuracy. Carry out these rechecks in random areas on different member of staff as anyone can make mistakes and you must be thorough.

It is also important that you recheck high value items as these are areas where discrepancies can skew actual stock value massively.

Generate reports

Assemble data into summary report format, this is important for your accountant and also to know where you stand in regards stock but also financially.

And last but not least;

Do not close your store

Closing your store can lead to loss of business. Customers will not understand a reason behind why you have shut up shop. Your customers don’t appear or become loyal overnight, don’t give them a reason to veer away from you.

Try these out, but before you do so take all the costs into consideration. Compare all these prices to the cost of outsourcing your stocktake externally and ask yourself, is the hassle worth it?