What should be on a stock count sheet?

Item name in the words your staff use, the unit being counted, the location or section, a wide column for the count itself, unit cost, calculated value, and who counted it. Fill unit cost in afterwards at a desk, not on the floor.

How do you value stock after a stocktake?

Multiply the quantity counted by a unit cost. The common methods are latest cost (simplest), weighted average (total spent divided by total units bought, which smooths price swings), and FIFO, which assumes the oldest stock sold first so remaining stock is valued at recent prices.

How do you calculate stock variance?

Expected closing stock is opening stock plus deliveries minus sales and wastage. Variance is that expected figure minus what you actually counted. Investigate the variances with the highest value first, not the highest quantity.

How often should you do a stocktake?

It depends on what you sell and what your accountant needs. A common pattern is a full count at least yearly for the accounts, with more frequent partial counts on the high-value or fast-moving lines where variance actually costs money.

Stocktake6 min read

The stocktake template, and how to count without doing it twice

A stocktake goes wrong in one of two ways: the sheet is missing a column you needed, or two people counted the same shelf and nobody counted the next one. Both are layout problems, and both are fixed before anyone picks up a pen.

Last updated 24 August 2026

The columns on a stock count sheet

A count sheet has to be usable by someone standing on a step ladder holding a torch. That constraint decides the layout more than anything else: few columns, wide rows, and the item name where the eye lands first.

Item — the name staff use, not the supplier's catalogue name. "House red", not "Cab Sav 2019 750ml btl case/6".
Unit — bottle, case, kilogram. Ambiguity here is the single biggest source of wrong counts.
Location or section — bar, cellar, dry store. This is also how you split the work.
Count — the number, written by the counter. Leave it wide.
Unit cost — filled in later, at the desk, not on the floor.
Value — count × unit cost, calculated.
Counted by — a name. When a number looks wrong you need to know who to ask.

Pick a unit and never change it

If a sheet says "beer — 14", nobody a week later knows whether that is fourteen bottles, fourteen cases or fourteen kegs. This one ambiguity produces more wrong stock valuations than arithmetic errors do.

Decide the unit per line, print it on the sheet, and count in that unit only. Where something is genuinely counted two ways — full cases in the store, loose bottles in the fridge — give it two lines, not one line and a note.

Split by section so nobody counts twice

The reason a stocktake takes all night is rarely the counting. It is the recount, because two people worked the same aisle from opposite ends and the totals do not reconcile.

Split the sheet by physical location before you start, and give each person a section outright. Count in the order the stock is physically arranged, not alphabetically — an alphabetical sheet makes a counter walk the room once per item.

Valuing the count

The count gives you quantities. The value is quantity × unit cost, and the only real decision is which cost you use.

Method	What it means	Good for
Latest cost	The most recent price you paid for that item.	Fast-moving stock and a quick figure. Easiest to actually do.
Weighted average	Total spent on the item, divided by total units bought.	Items whose price moves around. Smooths out a single odd invoice.
FIFO	Assumes the oldest stock sold first, so what remains is valued at recent prices.	Perishables, and where you need a defensible figure for the accountant.

Compare against expected, not against nothing

A stocktake in isolation gives you a number. A stocktake compared to what should be there gives you an answer.

Expected closing stock is: opening stock, plus everything delivered, minus everything sold or written off. The gap between that and what you actually counted is your variance — and variance is the entire point of the exercise. A count that is never compared to anything is a night's work for a spreadsheet nobody opens.

Opening + deliveries − sales − wastage = expected
Expected − counted = variance
Investigate by value, not by quantity. Twelve missing garnishes matter less than one missing spirit bottle.

Count at a time when nothing is moving

Stock that moves during a count is stock that gets counted twice or not at all. Count before opening or after close, not during service, and freeze deliveries for the duration.

If a delivery genuinely cannot wait, put it aside unopened and in one place, and note it separately. A pallet counted into the shelves halfway through a count is the reason the variance report makes no sense the next morning.

Or let Stocktake do it

Regentflow's Stocktake does this with your whole team at once — one link, everyone counts on their own phone, and the sheet fills in live. No transcription at the end, because there was never any paper. Build the list by pasting it from a spreadsheet or reading it off a photo of a supplier invoice; walk the room saying the numbers instead of typing them; save the list so next month's count starts already written. Excel and PDF export on every count.

See how the stocktake app works See pricing

Questions

What should be on a stock count sheet?: Item name in the words your staff use, the unit being counted, the location or section, a wide column for the count itself, unit cost, calculated value, and who counted it. Fill unit cost in afterwards at a desk, not on the floor.
How do you value stock after a stocktake?: Multiply the quantity counted by a unit cost. The common methods are latest cost (simplest), weighted average (total spent divided by total units bought, which smooths price swings), and FIFO, which assumes the oldest stock sold first so remaining stock is valued at recent prices.
How do you calculate stock variance?: Expected closing stock is opening stock plus deliveries minus sales and wastage. Variance is that expected figure minus what you actually counted. Investigate the variances with the highest value first, not the highest quantity.
How often should you do a stocktake?: It depends on what you sell and what your accountant needs. A common pattern is a full count at least yearly for the accounts, with more frequent partial counts on the high-value or fast-moving lines where variance actually costs money.