Stock counts - count on a phone, review and approve

A stock count (stock-take) checks what is really on the shelf against what the system thinks is there. Anyone who can count stock (owners, managers and inventory clerks) can start a count, count the items and send it for approval. Only an owner or manager can approve it. Nothing changes in stock until a manager approves.

Counts are part of Inventory & recipe costing, included in the Growth plan and above, and in the free trial.

Start a count

1. Open Inventory → Stock → Counts and tap Start a count.
2. Give it a name (a name with the date is suggested). If the outlet has more than one store, you must also choose which store you are counting; counts are per store (see Stores within an outlet).
3. Choose what to count:
   • Everything: every active stock item.
   • One category: for example Dairy or Bar.
   • One kind: ingredients, ready-made, packaging, liquor or prep.
   • Pick items: tick the items you want.
   • High-value items (Count high-value items): for owners and managers who can see costs, the 20 items with the most stock value. For everyone else, all liquor plus meat and seafood. These are the items that go missing most often.
4. Optionally switch on Blind count (see below), then tap Start count.

The count opens straight away. You can leave it and come back: it stays under In progress on the Counts tab until someone submits it.

Counting on a phone

The count screen lists the items in storage order (by category, then name) and shows progress, for example 32 of 58 counted.

• Tap an item to open the keypad. Type the quantity with the big number keys and tap Save. The next item that is not counted opens automatically.
• For bottled liquor you enter Full bottles and Loose ml (for example 3 bottles and 450 ml).
• To jump to an item, scan its barcode, use the camera button, or type its short code or part of its name in the Scan or type a code or name box at the top.
• Use the All, Not counted and Counted filters to see what is left.
• Every item is saved the moment you tap Save. If the connection drops, the entries wait on the phone and are sent again automatically (the status says Waiting for connection). You can reload the page without losing them. This is not a full offline mode: open the count while you have a connection.

When you are finished tap Submit count. If some items are not counted, AirQR tells you they will stay as they are. Wait until the status says Saved before you close the page.

Blind counts

A blind count hides what the system expects from the person counting, and never shows any value, so the count is honest. The count screen shows only the item and the keypad. Managers still see the expected quantity when they review. While a blind count is open (being counted or waiting for approval), people who can count but not manage stock also get no on-hand quantities anywhere in Inventory (Stock, Stock-in, Wastage, Prep, Movements): those screens say Hidden during a blind count until the count is approved or cancelled. Clerks never see any money value, blind or not.

Reviewing and approving (owners and managers)

Counts waiting for approval are listed under Waiting for approval. Tap Review.

The review shows, for every counted item, what the system had when it was counted, what was counted and the difference with a percentage. Owners and managers who can see costs also see the value of each difference, and the totals for items short, items over and the net value.

• To correct a figure, tap Recount on that line and enter the quantity.
• Send back for more counting reopens the count for the counters.
• Cancel count closes it without changing any stock.
• Approve count moves the stock by the differences only. Each difference is recorded on Movements as a Stock count movement. Items that matched cause no movement. Items that were not counted are left as they are.

Sales while you count

Counting takes time and the restaurant keeps selling. AirQR remembers what the system held at the moment each item was counted, so a sale made after that is not mistaken for missing stock. Example: the system shows 10 kg of rice, 2 kg is sold, and you count 8 kg. That matches, so nothing is adjusted, and a further 1 kg sold after the count stays deducted. If you counted 7 kg, the 1 kg difference is booked and the later sale still comes off.

For an item that tracks expiry dates, a count that comes out lower takes the shortage from the earliest-expiring batches, and a count that comes out higher adds undated stock (see Batches and expiry dates).

Approving a count twice does nothing the second time.

One open count per item

An item can only be in one open count (still being counted or waiting for approval) at an outlet. Picking an item that is already in another count is refused, and a whole-shelf, category or kind count simply leaves such items out and tells you. The quick count on a single stock item refuses them too. If an item is counted again somewhere else after a line was counted, approving the first count does not apply that line (the review says Counted again elsewhere after this; not applied), because the newer count already set the stock.

Counts compared with the quick count on a stock item

The ⋯ → Stock count option on a single stock item still works for a quick fix of one item and changes stock straight away. Use a count from the Counts tab when you want to count many items, have someone else count, and have a manager check the differences first.

Troubleshooting counts

• I can't see the Counts tab or Start a count: it needs the Inventory module and permission to count stock. Ask an owner or manager.
• Submit says count at least one item: save at least one quantity first.
• The count is closed: someone submitted, approved or cancelled it. Open the Counts tab to see its status. A manager can send a submitted count back.
• Entries show Waiting for connection: keep the page open. They send themselves when the phone is back online.
• Nothing happened when I approved: if all items matched, there is nothing to adjust. The status still changes to approved.