Stock-taking in a workshop: how to do it in one evening, and what to do with the result

Most workshops put stock-taking off until the accountant demands it. Then it happens at night, in a hurry, and ends with the numbers in the spreadsheet being edited until they agree. Afterwards nobody knows what actually happened.

The point of a stock-take is not the number on the shelf. The point is the difference between what the records show and what is really there — and the reason it appeared. Without the reason you are fixing a symptom, and next time you will fix the same one.

Pick a moment when nothing moves

You can only count when parts are standing still. In practice that means an evening after closing or a Sunday — but the important part is different: during that time nobody issues parts to a repair and nobody books in a delivery. If that happens, the count is wasted.

Before you start, finish every open goods-in document. A delivery that has arrived but has not been entered is the single most common reason parts look "missing".

Do not count everything — count what moves

A full count once a year is a legal requirement, but for running a business it is far too rare. It is much more useful to recount, once a month, the few dozen items that make up most of your turnover: screens, batteries, the connectors you use every week.

A practical rule: if an item moved more than five times last month, count it often. If it has not moved in a year, count it once a year — and consider whether to sell it at all.

Write down the difference and the reason, not just the new number

This is the one step that separates a stock-take from editing numbers. When you find 7 screens on the shelf and 9 in the system, do not just write "7". Write: was 9, now 7, difference −2, reason — broken during fitting, never written off.

The reasons are usually few and they repeat: used in a repair but never attached to it; damaged while fitting; given to a customer as warranty; paid to a supplier but never delivered. Each has a different fix, and you can only tell them apart if the reason was written down.

What the numbers tell you afterwards

After three months the list of reasons is worth more than the balance itself. If half your differences say "used in a repair, never attached", the problem is not theft — it is the way work is booked, and one conversation fixes it.

If the differences cluster around one supplier or one person, that shows up immediately too. But only if the reason was written at the moment, rather than remembered a month later.

How this works in ReactDesk

In Inventory you enter the real count for an item and the system works out the difference itself. You give the reason right there, and it stays with that part's history along with the date and the person who entered it.

A balance never changes quietly: every change is a record you can read back later. So the question "where did those two screens go" is answerable a month later, instead of being guessed at.

A stock-take is not a punishment for untidiness. It is the only way to learn how much money is standing on the shelf and where it leaks — and that is worth knowing before it runs short, not after.