How to do a stock take without closing your shop

Many shops in Ghana close for a day or two at the end of the year to count stock. It is tiring, you lose sales, and by the time the numbers are typed up, they are already out of date.

There is a better way. Count a little, often, while you keep selling.

Why not close for one big count?

One big count finds problems months after they started, costs you a day of sales, and is more likely to be wrong because everyone is rushing. Counting a section at a time spreads the work, catches losses while you can still trace them, and keeps the doors open.

How do you split the shop into sections?

Split the shop by shelf or by type of goods, so each section can be counted in 20 to 40 minutes by one or two people. A simple plan for a mini-mart might look like this.

This is an example plan. Count most often whatever sells fastest, costs most or goes missing.

• Counter20 minutes
• Drinks30 minutes
• Provisions40 minutes
• Toiletries35 minutes
• Storeroom30 minutes

Source: Example figures

When is the best time to count?

Count when the shop is quiet: early morning before the rush, mid-afternoon, or just after closing. For most provision shops that is the first hour after opening. Avoid Saturday mornings, market days and the days around paydays and festive seasons.

What about items sold while you are counting?

This is the one part that needs care. If a customer buys a tin of sardines from the shelf you just counted, your count is now one too high. You have three ways to deal with it.

1. Hold that section for the count. For 30 minutes, staff serve the section's items from the storeroom or ask the customer to wait a moment. This is the simplest.
2. Count sections the till is not selling. Count the storeroom while the shop sells from the shelves.
3. Note sales during the count. Write down anything sold from the section while you count, and adjust before posting.

Whichever you choose, do not let a count sit for days before you post it. The longer you wait, the more sales happen between the count and the record.

How do you count accurately?

Count accurately by scanning each item rather than writing names, counting in the unit you keep stock in, and having a second person recount anything that looks wrong.

1. 1Pick the section and a quiet time
2. 2Tidy the shelf so like items sit together
3. 3Scan each item and type the quantity
4. 4Count cartons in pieces if you stock in pieces
5. 5Review the differences with a manager
6. 6Recount anything that looks wrong
7. 7Post the count

Tips that save trouble:

• Count in the stock unit. If you keep stock in single tins, a closed carton of 24 is 24, not 1. Our guide to selling by carton, pack and single piece explains why.
• Do not count from the computer. The counter should not see the expected number. Count what is there, then compare.
• Check expiry dates while you count. You are already touching every item. Move short-dated stock to the front and take out anything expired. See expiry dates and first-expiring-first-out.
• Count damaged goods separately. A dented tin or burst bag is a loss to record, not stock to sell.

What do you do with the differences?

Look at every difference before you post it, starting with the biggest by value. Small differences on cheap items are normal. A big gap on an expensive or fast-moving item is a question to answer.

Ask, in this order:

1. Was it miscounted? Recount it.
2. Was a delivery not recorded, or recorded twice?
3. Was a carton sold as a single piece, or the other way round?
4. Is a barcode shared by two products, so one sells as the other? See barcodes for a Ghanaian shop.
5. Was it damaged, expired, used in the house or taken?

If the same items keep coming up short on the same person's shifts, read stop stock and cash leakage in your mini-mart for the till habits that close the gap.

A worked example

Here is an example of a weekly count of the counter section.

These are example figures. The six missing tins of milk are worth a closer look: six is exactly one pack. Perhaps a pack was sold as a single tin.

How often should you count?

Count fast-moving and high-value items every week and the rest of the shop over a month, so every item is counted at least once a month. Keep a full count for the end of your financial year if your accountant needs it, but by then it should hold few surprises.

How MPOS helps with stock takes

MPOS does stock takes by scanning: you scan each item, type the quantity, review the differences against what the system expected, and then post the count. Stock is kept per branch, and it changes only through sales, returns, deliveries, counts, write-offs, supplier returns and transfers, so a difference always has a trail to follow. Low-stock warnings tell you what to reorder, and the stock value report shows what your shelves are worth.

To try a count on your own shelves, start a free trial. For the whole setup, read the complete guide to running a shop in Ghana.