Cycle count
Counting a small part of your stock regularly — a category or a shelf at a time — instead of shutting the shop for one large annual stock take.
A cycle count checks a slice of the stock on a rolling schedule, so every item is verified over a period without the business ever stopping.
Why it beats the annual count
An annual stock take finds a difference twelve months after it happened, when nobody can explain it. A cycle count finds the same difference within weeks, while the delivery, the staff member and the customer are all still traceable. It also spreads the work into an hour a week instead of a lost weekend.
Count the important things more often
Rank your items — fast movers and high-value lines get counted every month, the long tail two or three times a year. Anything that has thrown up a difference before goes on the frequent list until it stops doing so.
Investigate before you adjust
A difference is information. Was it a short delivery never recorded, a transfer received but not entered, a sale billed in the wrong unit, or actual pilferage? Adjusting the number without asking hides the cause and guarantees a repeat.
How KillStock handles it
Stock can be counted and adjusted from a phone, working offline and syncing when the signal returns. Every adjustment carries a reason, so the difference leaves a paper trail instead of just a corrected number.
A common mistake
Counting with the sales counter open and the stock still moving. Freeze the section you are counting, or you will be chasing your own transactions.