Stock Take: How to Run an Inventory Count Your Whole Team Can Do
Published · 8 min read
A stock take is a count of everything you hold, shelf by shelf, compared with what your records say you should have. Done on paper it eats a closing day and still ends in a spreadsheet nobody trusts. Done in a stocktake app it's a list on everyone's phone: each thing shows how many Hoardo expects, you count with − and + or a scan, and the gaps show up in colour while you go.
This guide covers what a stock take is, full counts versus cycle counts, how to prepare the shelves, and how to run an inventory count in Hoardo, which is free with every feature included. There's a free stock count sheet too, if you'd rather start on paper.
What a stock take is
A stock take (also called a stocktake, a stock count or a physical inventory count) is the moment you stop trusting the numbers and count what's really there. It answers three questions:
- What's short? Things sold, used, lost or never delivered.
- What's over? Deliveries nobody entered, returns put back on the shelf.
- Where is it? A count by location shows the case of candles that ended up on the wrong shelf.
The result is a corrected stock level for every item, and a list of differences worth looking into. Shops, stores, workshops, labs, bars and anyone holding stock for someone else all do one, whether they call it a stock take, an inventory count or a stock check.
Full counts and cycle counts
There are two ways to count, and most teams end up using both.
| Full stock take | Cycle count | |
|---|---|---|
| What you count | Everything, in one go | A few shelves or items at a time |
| How often | Once or twice a year, or at year end | Every week or month, in turns |
| What it costs | A closed day, or an evening with the whole team | Fifteen minutes here and there |
| Best for | Year-end figures, a new system, a fresh start | Keeping numbers right between full counts |
A cycle count works well for the things that move fastest or cost the most: count those every week, and the slow shelves once a quarter. In Hoardo, a cycle count is simply a smaller stocktake list, with just the shelves you're counting today.
Before you count: set up the shelves
A count is only as good as the map behind it. Spend the time here and the counting itself goes quickly.
- Make a room for each place you hold stock. The stockroom, the shop floor, the van, the second site. If you hold stock that isn't yours, give it its own room too (see consignment and vendor managed inventory).
- Make a numbered box for every shelf, bay, bin and crate. Switch on letters in box numbers (Settings › Boxes) and "A1" or "B3" can match the shelf labels you already use.
- Put each item where it lives, with its quantity. The same product in two places is two entries, each with its own count: 18 fig candles in the stockroom and 6 on the front table.
- Add barcodes and SKUs. Switch on Barcode / SKU in Settings › Show on items and add the code from the packaging or your own SKU. Scanning finds the item from then on.
- Print labels. A QR label on every shelf, and barcode labels for the items without one. The guide to a barcode inventory system covers the details.
How to run a stock take in Hoardo
1. Start a stocktake list
Make a new list and pick Stocktake as its kind. Name it after the count, like "Monthly count" or "Year end 2026".
2. Add what you're counting
Pick from Hoardo: whole rooms, single shelves or single items. A shelf goes on the list as one entry and unfolds to everything in it, and a room goes on as its shelves. For a cycle count, add only the shelves you're doing today.
You can also start empty and scan as you go: scan something that isn't on the list and Hoardo offers to add it.
3. Count
Each thing on the list has a button like "− 3/5 +": what you've counted so far, and how many Hoardo expects.
- Tap + or − for each one you count.
- Tap the number to type it, when there are 150 gift bags and you counted them in tens.
- Scan with the phone's camera: each scan of a barcode counts one more. A Bluetooth or USB barcode scanner that types like a keyboard works too.
The colour tells you where you stand: green when the count matches, orange when it's short, red when there are more than expected. A shelf on the list is counted thing by thing, and its ring fills as you go. It's marked as counted once everything in it is.
4. Count together
A stocktake is a shared list, so the whole team can count at once, each on their own phone. Two people counting the same shelf both count: Hoardo adds each tap to the same number rather than one person's count overwriting the other's. Share the list with the people helping (Can tick off is enough to count), and the room too, so they see which shelf each thing is on.
That's the one sense in which a stocktake is a team task: one list of what to count, ticked off by everyone at once. Hoardo isn't a general task tracker for to-dos or projects.
5. Check the differences
When the counting stops, the list shows what's done and what's left. "Hide counted things" leaves only what nobody has counted yet. Orange and red lines are your differences: recount those before you believe them.
6. Use the counted quantities
In the list's ⋯ menu, "Use counted quantities" copies every counted number onto its item. Only things that were counted change, and only where the number is different. Each change gets its own History entry, with who made it and the old number, so nothing is lost.
Low-stock alerts follow the new numbers. If the count leaves a product at or under the level you set, Hoardo emails whoever set the alert.
A free stock count sheet
If you'd rather count on paper first, or want a sheet for a site without phones, download the stock count sheet. It has columns for the item, its SKU or barcode, the room and box, the expected quantity, what you counted, the difference, who counted it and notes. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.
Download the stock count sheet (CSV)9 columns, 8 example rows from a small shop. Free, no sign-up.
When you move the count into Hoardo, drop your stock list (without the count columns) into Hoardo's chat and it plans the rooms, shelves and items from it.
Tips for a faster, more accurate inventory count
- Count in pairs on big shelves. One counts, one checks the number on the screen. Both can tap.
- Freeze movement. Count before opening or after closing, and put new deliveries in a separate box ("Delivery to unpack") until the count is done.
- Count each location once. Work shelf by shelf, top to bottom, and let the ring on each shelf tell you when it's finished.
- Recount the differences, not everything. Orange and red lines only.
- Look for patterns. The same item short every month is a reason to look at how it's sold, stored or received.
- Keep the old lists. Each stocktake list stays with its counts, so next quarter you can compare.
Where Hoardo fits
Hoardo is inventory management software for knowing what you have, where it is and how many: locations, items, scanning, stocktakes, low-stock emails and your team. It doesn't do purchase orders, automatic reorders, point of sale or accounting, so a count updates your stock levels in Hoardo, not in a till or an accounting package. Export any room or list as a CSV when the numbers need to go somewhere else.
To try scanning before you set anything up, the free barcode scanner reads codes in your browser.
Questions about stock takes
What is a stock take?
A stock take is a physical count of the stock you hold, compared with what your records say. It shows what's short, what's over and where things really are, and ends with corrected stock levels. It's also called a stocktake, a stock count or an inventory count.
How often should you do a stock take?
Most businesses do a full stock take once or twice a year, often at year end, and cycle counts in between: a few shelves every week or month, with fast sellers and expensive items counted more often.
What is the difference between a stock take and a cycle count?
A stock take counts everything at once. A cycle count counts a small part of the stock at a time, in turns, so the whole place gets counted over weeks without closing for a day.
Is there a free stocktake app?
Yes. Hoardo is free with every feature included. Make a stocktake list, add the shelves or items to count, and count with − and +, a typed number, your phone's camera or a keyboard barcode scanner. There's no paid plan.
Can several people count at the same time?
Yes. A stocktake list is shared, and two people counting the same shelf both count: each tap adds to the same number. Share the list with Can tick off, and the room too so they see which shelf things are on.
Can I scan barcodes during an inventory count?
Yes. On a stocktake list, each scan of a barcode or QR label counts one more. The phone's camera works, and so do Bluetooth and USB barcode scanners that type like a keyboard. See the barcode inventory system guide for labels.
What happens to my stock levels after the count?
Nothing until you say so. "Use counted quantities" in the list's ⋯ menu copies the counts onto the items, only where they differ, with one History entry each. Low-stock alerts then follow the new numbers.