Stock Counts

A stock count records what is physically on the shelf in one warehouse and compares it with what SolaStock expects. When you post the count, SolaStock works out the variance for every counted line and posts all non-zero variances through a single stock adjustment. Counting itself never moves stock.

Use a stock count for cycle counts (a few items or bins at a time, often scheduled) and full stocktakes (everything in a warehouse, usually at period end). If you already know the exact difference, for example 3 damaged cartons, post an Adjustment directly instead.

Typical users: storekeepers who count, and inventory controllers, owners or SolaStock Administrators who prepare counts and post the variances.

Where to find it

• The menu item is shown to anyone who can view stock balances. Click Operations to expand the group if it is collapsed.
• Preparing, editing and posting counts uses the same permission as adjustments: Create / post / reverse stock adjustments. Without it, New count is greyed out (hover: "You do not have permission for this action.") and /counts/new shows Access denied.
• Stock counts are a plan feature. If your plan does not include them, saving or posting shows "This SolaStock feature is not available for the current plan or entitlement state."

Count types and options

Screen tour: the stock counts list

The page is titled Stock Counts: "Post physical-count variances to the inventory ledger with one stock adjustment. Blind, scheduled, and ABC cycle counts are supported."

• Header (top-right): New count.
• Filters, search, paging, export: none on this screen. The list shows the 50 most recent counts for your warehouses, newest first. For history, use the Count Variance report in Reports.
• Row action: click the count number. There is no row menu or bulk action.

Empty state: No stock counts — "Create a count to record physical stock and post any variances." If the list fails to load you see Stock counts could not be loaded with Try again.

Statuses and lifecycle

Draft → Posted. Counts created on this screen are always drafts until posted. (The badges Counting and In review exist for counts created by other channels; they are not offered here.) Counts cannot be deleted.

Create a stock count

1. Go to Operations → Stock Counts and click New count (top-right). The page is titled New stock count.

2. Fill in the header:

   Field	Required	Rules / defaults	Notes
   Count number	No	Placeholder Generated automatically.	Leave it blank. On a new count SolaStock always assigns the next number (CNT-000001, …); a typed value is ignored.
   Count type	Yes	Cycle count (default) or Full stocktake.
   Warehouse	Yes	Only your assigned warehouses are listed.	One warehouse per count.
   Scheduled for	No	A date.	Needed for Cadence to repeat.
   Cadence	No	Once (default), Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly.
   ABC class	No	Not classified (default), A, B, C.
   Notes	No	Free text.

3. Set the options below the header: tick Blind count if counters should not see expected quantities; leave Freeze expected-quantity snapshot ticked unless you don't need the frozen figure.

4. Fill Count lines:

   • Click Prefill expected quantities from stock (top-right of the Count lines panel; enabled once a warehouse is chosen, shows Loading stock… while working). It loads one line per item, bin and lot currently held in the warehouse, with the system quantity. It replaces any lines already entered. If the warehouse holds nothing you see "No stock was found for the selected scope."; if it fails, "Expected quantities could not be loaded."
   • Or click + Add count line and pick items yourself. Remove a line with ×.

   Column	Notes
   Item	Active inventory items only (SKU · Name).
   Batch / lot	Filled by prefill for lot-tracked stock: the lot code and expiry date (hover shows Expires …). — for untracked items or manual lines.
   Bin	Optional bin of the warehouse. Prefill fills it.
   Expected / snapshot	The system quantity. For serial items also the number of expected serials (hover lists them). On a blind count the column is headed Expected and shows Hidden. Manual lines show 0.
   Counted	What you physically counted. Leave blank for lines you did not count; they are skipped when posting.
   Variance	Counted minus expected, shown red when short and green when over.

   Under the table: "Zero-variance lines create no stock movement. Posting creates one adjustment for all non-zero variances."

5. Save from the bottom:

   • Cancel returns to the list.
   • Save draft saves the count ("Draft saved."). Use this to prepare the count and come back to enter Counted quantities.
   • Save and post variance opens Post count variance? — "Posting writes stock movements to the inventory ledger and locks this document. It cannot be edited afterwards." Click Post. You see "Stock count posted and variance adjustment created."

If no line has an item you see "Add at least one count line." If saving fails you see "The stock count could not be saved."

Enter counted quantities on a draft

1. Open the draft and click Edit (top-right). The page is titled Edit stock count.
2. Type each Counted quantity. Leave lines you did not count blank.
3. Click Save draft ("Draft updated.") or Save and post variance.

Only drafts can be edited; otherwise you see "Only draft stock counts can be edited." and return to the count.

Two cautions when you reopen a draft:

• Lot-tracked lines lose their lot. The lot of a prefilled line is not reloaded into the edit form (the Batch / lot column shows —), and saving stores the line without a lot. For lot-tracked items, enter the Counted quantities and post in the same session as the prefill, or check the Batch / lot column before you save.
• Snapshot. Unticking Freeze expected-quantity snapshot on edit clears the snapshot time; ticking it keeps the original time.

Post a stock count

1. Open the draft count and click Post variance (bottom).
2. Confirm Post this count variance? — "Posting creates the variance stock movements in the inventory ledger and locks this stock count. It cannot be edited afterwards." Click Post variance.

You see "Stock count posted and variance adjustment created." What happens:

1. Lines with no Counted quantity are skipped.
2. Each counted line's variance is recalculated against the live on-hand quantity at the moment of posting (for that item, bin and lot), not the figure shown when you prepared the count. Stock that moved in between is taken into account. The line keeps the frozen Snapshot and stores the posting figure as Expected at posting.
3. All non-zero variances go into one adjustment numbered COUNT- plus the count number (for example COUNT-CNT-000007), dated today, warehouse = the count's warehouse, reason cycle_count, notes "Variance from stock count CNT-…". Positive variances become Increase lines, negative ones Decrease lines. The adjustment is posted immediately.
4. If every counted line matches, the count is posted with no adjustment (Generated adjustment shows —).
5. If Cadence is Weekly, Monthly or Quarterly and Scheduled for is set, SolaStock creates the next draft count for one week, one month or three months later, with the same type, warehouse, blind setting, cadence and ABC class, and the note "Recurring monthly count generated from CNT-…". The new draft has no lines: open it, click Edit and Prefill expected quantities from stock on the day.

Valuation of variances:

• Shortages leave stock at its current cost (average or FIFO), like any decrease adjustment.
• Surpluses are valued automatically at the item's current costing basis, never at zero (the count has no cost column): a weighted-average item takes its current average cost in that warehouse (or the warehouse-wide average if the bin or lot has no stock); a FIFO item takes the cost of its latest cost layer; failing both, the most recent inbound cost of the item. A count that finds a surplus of an item with no cost history at all is refused and stays a draft: "Item X has no cost history to value this stock gain. Enter a unit cost on an adjustment instead." In that case post a separate Increase adjustment with a unit cost for that item. The gain is posted to SolaCount (when connected) at that value, so the gain journal and later cost of goods sold stay consistent.

Posting is refused (the count stays a draft) for the same reasons as an adjustment: "Insufficient stock …" when negative stock is off, a blocked lot, a missing SolaCount account mapping, or "You are not assigned to this warehouse."

Screen tour: the count detail page

• Header: count number, status badge, and Edit (top-right) on drafts.

• Summary panel: Type, Mode (Blind count or Expected quantities visible), Warehouse, Scheduled (date · cadence), ABC class, Snapshot captured (time, or —), Generated adjustment (link to the COUNT-… adjustment), Notes.

• Tabs:

  Tab	Contents
  Count lines	Item (name · SKU), Bin, Snapshot (frozen quantity, or —), Expected at posting, Counted, Variance. On a blind count that is not yet posted, Snapshot and Expected at posting show Hidden and Variance shows —. Empty: "This stock count has no lines."
  Ledger result	The generated adjustment's movements: Date, Item, Warehouse, Direction (Inbound / Outbound), Quantity, Unit cost, Total, Running quantity. Empty: "No ledger entries were created for this stock count."
  Audit	Audit timeline — "Stock-count posting events are recorded in the inventory audit log."

• Action button (bottom): Post variance on drafts.

Blind counts

A blind count stops the counter from simply copying the system figure.

If the result is not confirmed

If the connection drops while you save or post from the form, a yellow notice appears above the buttons: "We could not confirm whether the change completed. Check the current status before submitting again." (or "The request could not be completed. Check your connection and review the page." when the draft saved but posting failed). The buttons stay disabled. Click Check current status to open the count and see whether it is still a draft before trying again.

Permissions

The list only includes counts for your warehouses; opening, editing or posting a count in another warehouse is refused with "You are not assigned to this warehouse." Warehouses are assigned on Admin → Team access. To let a warehouse team post counts without full adjustment rights for everyone, give the count lead a custom role that includes Create / post / reverse stock adjustments (see Settings).

Worked example 1: quick cycle count of one bin

Al Noor Trading LLC counts bin A-04-02 at Dubai Main.

1. Omar Haddad opens Operations → Stock Counts → New count: Count type Cycle count, Warehouse Dubai Main.
2. + Add count line: Item COF-500 · Arabic Coffee 500g, Bin A-04-02. Expected shows 0 for a manual line, so instead he clicks Prefill expected quantities from stock, then removes the lines for other bins with ×, leaving COF-500 in A-04-02 with expected 109.
3. He counts 107 and types it in Counted. Variance shows −2 in red.
4. Save and post variance → Post.

Result: CNT-000006 is Posted; Generated adjustment COUNT-CNT-000006 decreases COF-500 by 2 at the average cost of AED 45.00 (AED 90.00 loss). The list shows CNT-000006 · Cycle count · — · Dubai Main · Posted · COUNT-CNT-000006.

Worked example 2: monthly blind count of A-class items

Sara Khan, SolaStock Administrator, sets up a monthly blind count of high-value items at Dubai Main.

1. New count: Count type Cycle count, Warehouse Dubai Main, Scheduled for 2026-10-12, Cadence Monthly, ABC class A — high value, Blind count ticked, Freeze expected-quantity snapshot ticked.

2. On 12 October she clicks Prefill expected quantities from stock and removes the B and C items, leaving three lines:

   Item	Bin	Expected (hidden to counters)
   SAF-10 Saffron 10g, lot SAF-2610	B-01-01	120
   OUD-50 Oud Oil 50ml	B-01-02	40
   CAR-250 Cardamom 250g	B-02-01	75

3. Storekeeper Omar Haddad counts and Sara types the figures straight away: saffron 118, oud 40, cardamom 76.

4. Before she posts, a sales shipment takes 1 jar of saffron out of B-01-01, so live on-hand is 119.

5. She clicks Save and post variance → Post.

Result on the Count lines tab:

• COUNT-CNT-000007 is posted with two lines: Decrease 1 saffron (at its current cost) and Increase 1 cardamom, valued at the item's current average cost in that warehouse (for example AED 28.00 if that is the average), not at zero.
• The oud line creates no movement.
• A new draft CNT-000008 appears, Plan 2026-11-12 · ABC A, blind, monthly, with no lines yet.
• If SolaCount is connected, Adjustment posted and Stock count posted events are sent.

How it connects

• Adjustments: every posted count with variances creates a posted COUNT-… adjustment that you can open and, if needed, reverse. See Adjustments.
• Current Stock and Stock Ledger: variances change on-hand quantities like any adjustment. See Current Stock.
• Traceability: prefill counts per lot; variances move the specific lot. See Traceability.
• Reports: the Count Variance report lists count variances. See Reports.
• SolaCount: the generated adjustment posts the gain or loss to the inventory adjustment accounts. See SolaCount integration.

Tips and common problems

Related

• Adjustments
• Transfers
• Current Stock
• Opening stock
• Items
• Warehouses
• Traceability
• Reports
• Settings
• Team access
• SolaCount integration
• Internal Consumption