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Periodically, you will need to do a physical count (or cycle count) of the stock level in storage. A count sheet can be used to record the counted quantities. After everything is counted, stock adjustments can be made to the software to correct discrepancies found during the count.

The Count Sheet process works as follows:

1. Create a Count Sheet.
2. Add products and locations to the Count Sheet to schedule them for counting.
3. Take an Inventory Snapshot of the inventory quantity in the system.
4. Physically count the product quantity at each location in the count sheet at the time of the Inventory Snapshot, and enter these quantities into the count sheet.
5. Make a Stock Adjustment to correct the inventory discrepancies found.

It is not strictly necessary to lock down operations while an inventory count is in progress, but care must be taken to ensure that the counting process counts the inventory quantity at the time the Inventory Snapshot was taken. For example, if more products are moved into a location during the counting process and after an Inventory Snapshot is taken, they should not be included in the count.

Create a Count Sheet

To create a new Count Sheet, click the inFlow Menu button, select the Inventory menu and click Count Sheet. You can also view or modify existing Count Sheets from the listing there.

Count Sheet Contents

Count Sheet Header

Sheet # - A unique number by which you can refer to this count sheet. This will be automatically filled in the first time you save your count sheet. You can edit this Sheet # directly, or set the pattern of how sheet numbers will be created under Company Settings. If sheet # is set before saving sheet, no number is generated.

Started Date – The date on which the counting process started. This will be defaulted to the current date when the counting process is completed

Completed Date – The date on which the counting process finished. This will be defaulted to the current date when the counting process is completed.

Status - A short description of the status of this Count Sheet.

The possible Status values are:

Open - Before an Inventory Snapshot has been taken for this Count Sheet

In Progress - After the Inventory Snapshot has been taken for this Count Sheet

Complete - After the entire counting process, including a Stock Adjustment has been completed.

Cancelled - If the Count Sheet was cancelled before being completed. No stock adjustments would have been made.

Adding Products and Locations for Counting

You can manually add in products and locations for counting, but inFlow also provides some shortcuts for common counting patterns.

If you typically count by Product(s), i.e. count the quantity of one or more products at every location, you can quickly add all known inventory locations where those products are stored. To do this:

1. Click the Add By button.
2. Click Product.
3. An advanced search dialog appears allowing you to search for products to add. Specify some search criteria (e.g. the Product Name) and click Search. All known inventory locations where products matching your search criteria will be added to the Count Sheet. A line will also be added for the default location of the product, even if there's nothing in stock there.

If you typically count by Location(s), i.e. count the quantity of all products stored in a certain location, you can quickly add all products known to be stored in that location. To do this:

1. Click the Add By button.
2. Click Location.
3. Select the Location(s) you wish to count, and click Add.

Inactive products will not be included by Add By Product or Location functions.

A Count Sheet cannot have two lines for the same product at the same location and sublocation.

Count Sheet Columns

Item – The item name or item code for the product to be counted.

Description – A text description of the product being counted.

Location – The inventory location at which to count this product.

Sublocation - This column may be hidden depending on the Company Settings. The inventory sublocation (e.g. Aisle Number) at which to count this product.

System Quantity – The quantity which inFlow Inventory had stored for the specified product at that location when the snapshot was taken.

Counted Quantity – The actual quantity of the product at that location, as determined by the physical counting process.

Count Sheet Footer

Counted By - The person responsible for the physical counting process.

Remarks - Any extra remarks you wish to make about the count. These remarks will be shown on the printed Count Sheet.

Taking Inventory Snapshots

Once you have added some products and locations to count, you can click the Take Snapshot button to take an inventory snapshot. This will record the quantity known by inFlow at the time into the System Quantity column. The Take Snapshot button is enabled when the Count Sheet is in Open or In Progress status and there are some lines that do not yet have their snapshot taken.

You cannot change the product or location on lines which have their System Quantity column filled in by a snapshot. However, these lines can still be deleted from the Count Sheet to cancel that counting.

Counting the Quantities

Once you have prepared your count sheet and taken a snapshot, you need to arrange for a physical count to take place. You may wish to print out a Count Sheet document to allow workers to record the counted quantities onto, and then enter the counted quantities into the Counted Quantity column in inFlow.

Adding to an In Progress Count Sheet

You may find it necessary to add new items to a count sheet. For example, if you are counting by location and you find an unexpected product in that location, you can add the discovered product into the count sheet to correct the inventory.

Once you have added these new lines, you will need to update the inventory snapshot by clicking the Take Snapshot button. This will only take a snapshot of the new lines which do not have a snapshot, and will not update the snapshots of the existing lines.

Adjusting Stock Levels

Once you have completed the counting process, you can adjust the inventory to correct discrepancies found during the count. Once all lines have been counted, the Stock Adjustment button becomes enabled. Click this button to create a Stock Adjustment correcting the errors found. This will pop up an Adjust Stock window, allowing you to view or modify the adjustments to be made.

Clicking the Adjust button on the Adjust Stock window will update your inventory records and mark the Count Sheet as complete. This will change the status of the Count Sheet to Complete and fill the Completed Date field with today's date. No further edits will be allowed to the Count Sheet.

Cancelling a Count Sheet

A Count Sheet may be cancelled any time before it is completed. To cancel a count sheet, click the Cancel Count Sheet button. A cancelled count sheet cannot be re-opened, but you may use the Duplicate button to quickly create a copy of the cancelled count sheet. No inventory transaction is filed if the Count Sheet is cancelled and its status changes to Cancelled.