Stock Counts

What this guide covers

Creating, assigning, and completing stock counts — the periodic verification that what the system says is in a bin is what's physically there. Covers count creation, multi-counter requirements, completing as the assigned counter, and the adjustment workflow when counts disagree with system stock.

For status-badge meanings see Roles and permissions field definitions.

Where to find it

Open Warehouse → Stock Counts. The page lists active and recent counts, scoped to the areas you have access to. Use the Search box and the area dropdown to narrow it; count admins also get an All / Not Completed filter and an assignee filter.

Who can do what

Stock Counts follows the same split as Move Orders and Direct Stock Adjust: a permission says what you may do, and your ordinary Area access grants say where.

• Counter (stockCountUser) — see the counts assigned to you in your areas; count items physically; submit counted qty + serial numbers. Creating, assigning and deleting counts is not part of this role.

• Stock-count admin (stockCountAdmin) — in the areas you have access to: create a count from stock on hand, assign or clear a counter, delete a count, and read its results. This is not a global role — it is scoped by your Area access grants.

• Report viewer (StockCountReport) — the read-only, org-wide Stock Counts report and Stock Count Metrics under Warehouse → Reports.

• Adjuster (StockCountAdjust) — apply adjustments after counts disagree with system (write-down or write-up).

• Site admin (ADMIN) — bypasses all of the above and reaches every area.

Creating a count (admin)

• Click Create New. The dialog opens.

• Pick the items or locations to count. You can scope by warehouse area, by location, or by product range.

• Configure the count (minimum number of independent counters, whether a photo is required, whether every serial must be checked) — these options depend on your site configuration.

• Save. The system creates one StockCount header per area, even if the items span multiple locations within an area.

• Items already in an active count are skipped — you cannot create overlapping counts on the same bin/product.

You can also start a count from Product Locations (Create Stock Count on a product row) with the same permission.

Assigning counters

• Open the count from the list.

• Click Assign Counter. The Assign Personnel dialog lists the users who hold stockCountUser or stockCountAdmin and have access to this count's area.

• Pick a user and click Save Assignment. The assignment writes immediately and the counter sees the count in their queue.

• Clear Assignee removes an assignment, but only if the counter has not started counting; if they're mid-count, you'll see "In progress by [user]" and have to ask them to back out first.

Counting (counter)

• Open your assigned count from your queue.

• For each item:

• Verify product code + location.

• Enter the physical qty.

• For serialised products: scan or type each serial. The system flags duplicates and mismatches against system records.

• For image-required items: take a photo and attach.

• Click Submit when done. If the count requires n counters, the item stays open for the next counter.

• The count cannot be completed until every item has been counted by the required number of distinct users.

View Results on a count shows Area, Location, Product, User and Qty per submission.

Common errors and fixes

• "No items, cannot create empty stock count!" — fires when the create dialog is submitted without any items selected. Tick at least one location item before saving.

• "[Name] cannot perform two counts in a row. Please assign a different user." — the assigned user just counted this item and would be the second counter as well; the system enforces independence by requiring distinct users. Pick someone else from the dropdown.

• "User has created too many [n] stock counts for this item" — the configured per-user-per-item count limit has been hit. Either lower the load or raise AppConfig: group=StockCount, name=maxCounts (admin only).

• "There is at least one item that has not been counted" — fires when Complete is clicked but some items are still pending. Either complete them or assign more counters.

• "Cannot complete Stock Counts for someone else" — fires when an unassigned user (not the assigned counter, not admin) clicks Complete. Only the assigned counter or an admin can finalise.

• "App Config [group: StockCount] [name: maxValueDiff] not set" — the threshold above which a count discrepancy triggers an adjustment-case is missing from app_config. Admin must set it.

• "In progress by [user]" — you tried to clear an assignment while the counter is actively scanning. Ask them to pause, then clear; or wait for them to submit.

Tips and gotchas

• Counts are immutable once posted. Once completedDate is set, you cannot edit the qty. To correct a wrong post, raise an adjustment via the Stock Adjustment dialog (separate workflow).

• Multi-counter rule: if the count requires 3 counters, exactly 3 distinct users must submit. The system enforces uniqueness.

• One header per area: even if you select items from multiple locations within the same warehouse area, the system rolls them up under one StockCount header for that area.

• Mismatches across counters — if two counters disagree on the same item, the system opens the Serial Mismatch dialog (for serialised) or queues an adjustment-case (for non-serialised). Adjusters with StockCountAdjust resolve the case.

• Skipped items after creation — when you create a count, items already in another active count are silently skipped. Check the resulting count to confirm it includes everything you expected.

• For quick spot-checks without the full workflow use Stock Check.