Short answer: To do a stock take, choose a clear cut-off time, count the physical units of each product variant at each location, compare those counts with your recorded on-hand quantities, recount differences, and approve documented adjustments. Then investigate why the records were wrong. A count is useful only if your till or online shop can promise the next customer what you can actually supply.
Inventory workflow and linked product documentation checked on 23 October 2026. The figures below are worked examples, not estimates of typical South African stock loss.
What is a stock take?
A stock take is a physical check of the goods you have against the quantities in your system or spreadsheet. It can cover the whole shop or a smaller group of products, often called a cycle count. The output is a dated record of what was counted, where it was found, any difference, and the approved correction.
For a South African boutique, “blue shirt” is not a useful counting unit if small and large sizes sell separately. Count each SKU or variant. For a café, distinguish unopened coffee bags, open ingredients and prepared items if your stock system treats them differently. The unit of measure must match the record: six bottles are not six cases.
Physical stock and stock available to sell are not always the same. An online order may reserve an item that is still on your shelf. A damaged item may still be on the premises but should not be offered to customers. Shopify's inventory-state definitions distinguish on-hand, committed, unavailable, incoming and available quantities. Whatever software you use, compare like with like.
A seven-step stock-taking procedure for a small shop
1. Pick the cut-off and the scope
Choose a quiet period and say exactly which location and products are in the count. A small Durban clothing shop might close at 5 p.m., export its stock list, count the sales floor and back room, then approve changes before reopening. If the shop stays open, keep a separate movement log for every sale, return, delivery and transfer that happens after the count starts. Lightspeed's full-count instructions explain why sales and returns during a count need to be accounted for before completion.
Avoid changing both the stock records and the goods on the shelves without a trail. If a supplier delivery is due, either receive it before the snapshot or keep it sealed and clearly outside the count until the snapshot is complete.
2. Prepare one list per location
Export your product catalogue or make a sheet with the columns below. Give each variant a unique code and assign shelves or bins to a named counter. Mark customer orders waiting for collection, damaged goods, display samples and stock in transit. Do not count a transfer as being in two stores at once.
| Column | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| SKU, product and variant | Prevents sizes or colours being mixed |
| Location or shelf | Shows where the item was counted |
| Unit of measure | Prevents “case” versus “single unit” errors |
| Expected on-hand | System snapshot at the cut-off |
| Physical count | What the counter actually found |
| Difference | Physical count minus expected on-hand |
| Recount, reason and approver | Records the decision before adjustment |
If possible, give counters a sheet that does not show the expected number until they have entered the physical result. It makes the first count less likely to be nudged toward the system value. A second person can review large differences. Shopify's stock-count workflow separates staff counting from manager approval; a spreadsheet can use the same control.
3. Count what is physically there
Work shelf by shelf in one direction. Count each SKU once, including back-room boxes and customer-reserved stock still physically at that location. Do not add goods merely marked as incoming. Put a visible mark on shelves or boxes already counted. If two people count different zones, define the boundary so neither misses or duplicates a storage area.
Record damaged or expired goods separately. They may be on hand but not available. This distinction matters when the online shop promises a customer the last unit. Shopify's inventory guide describes this difference; use your own system's labels when making the final adjustment.
4. Reconcile movements and compare the counts
Bring the expected quantity to the same cut-off as the physical count. Suppose a shoe was counted at 2 p.m. and sold at 3 p.m. while counting continued. If you compare that 2 p.m. count with a 4 p.m. system quantity without noting the sale, you may create a false difference. Record the sale and adjust one side of the comparison so both represent the same moment.
Calculate variance in units = physical count − expected on-hand. A negative number means fewer units were found than recorded; a positive number means more. Recount every material difference before calling it a loss.
5. Investigate before you adjust
Check the obvious causes first: an unreceived supplier delivery, a return placed back on the shelf without being recorded, the same item under two SKUs, a size counted in the wrong bin, or a sale recorded by the till but not deducted from the online stock system. Ask staff what moved, without treating an unexplained count as proof of theft.
Then approve a correction with a reason. Shopify's inventory-adjustment documentation records a reason and history for quantity changes, including physical counts and damaged goods. If you use a spreadsheet, keep the original snapshot, count sheet, adjustment date and approver rather than overwriting the old number without explanation.
6. Update what customers can buy
After approval, update the POS and every channel that sells the product. Check one or two affected SKUs on the till and the public website. The available-to-sell number may need to exclude committed orders and damaged stock even though those units were physically counted. If your systems do not sync quickly, temporarily limit online quantities or assign stock to a channel so the same final item is not sold twice.
This is where stock accuracy becomes a customer-retention issue: cancelling an order after payment because the listed item cannot be found damages confidence. Our Black Friday planning guide explains why sale allocations and fulfilment promises need a reliable stock count.
7. Fix the recurring cause
Review variances by SKU and reason. If returns repeatedly show as missing stock, improve the return-to-shelf step. If deliveries are late to be entered, change receiving. If the same fast seller is frequently short, count it more often. One large year-end count can reveal a problem; smaller regular counts can show when it first appears. Shopify's inventory-start guide recommends comparing recorded quantities with physical stock regularly.
Worked example: six units short is a question, not a verdict
A Johannesburg skincare shop's system shows 80 jars on hand at the cut-off. Staff physically find 74. The unit variance is 74 − 80 = −6 jars. At a recorded unit cost of R45, the six-unit difference has an illustrative cost value of R270. That is the value to investigate, not a conclusion that someone stole R270 or that R270 in sales was lost.
On a recount, staff find two jars on a display shelf. They also discover that one four-jar transfer to the other branch was completed physically but never recorded. The corrected count at this location is 76 jars, and the four-jar transfer explains why its previous system balance was too high. With the transfer recorded, expected on-hand becomes 76; no unexplained variance remains. The lesson is to reconcile movements before booking a write-off.
Of those 76 jars, say five are committed to paid collection orders and three are damaged. The shop has 68 available to sell (76 − 5 − 3). A web listing of 76 available would invite overselling. These figures are an example of stock states, not a claim about any particular POS.
How often should a small business count stock?
There is no single interval for every product. Start with a full count when a new system goes live, before a major promotion, or when records are clearly unreliable. Then count fast-moving, expensive or frequently disputed SKUs more often than slow, low-risk items. A small shop might check its top sellers weekly and rotate through the rest monthly; those are starting schedules to test against its workload and error patterns, not rules.
Keep a short record for each count: date, location, SKUs, counter, approver, units adjusted and causes found. The most useful result is a process that makes the next customer order dependable.
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