Overview

Stocktakes are essential for balancing the number of items bought and sold since your last stocktake, ensuring your system reflects the actual stock on hand. The goal is to match:

Previous Stock + New Stock – Sales = Current Stock

By performing stocktakes regularly, you can detect and resolve discrepancies in your inventory, identify missing items, and ensure your stock records are accurate.

How Often Should You Conduct a Stocktake?

It is good practice to conduct rolling stocktakes throughout the year rather than leaving it to a rush at the end of the financial year. This provides ongoing oversight of stock discrepancies and helps keep inventory accurate year-round.

Stocktake Responsibilities

• Setup: Performed by a supervisor or manager.
• Counting: Anyone in the team can do this part.
• Reporting and Checking: Done by a supervisor or manager.
• Backup and Applying Variances: Typically done by the owner or manager, as it may involve significant financial adjustments.

Breaking the Stocktake into Manageable Sessions

Rather than tackling the entire store at once, break the stocktake into smaller sessions based on departments, suppliers, or logical groupings.

Tip: It is usually easier to complete a stocktake on all departments of a Product Type, e.g. all Ring Departments (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 21). This is a small subset of your entire stock and allows you to scan all rings without having to determine which specific department each belongs to.

Before Starting Each Stocktake Session

Before you begin counting, make sure to:

• Complete all stock entries for the selected department(s) or supplier(s).
• Finalise any inter-store transfers for the selected department(s).
• Ensure all laybys and special orders have been reviewed.
• Avoid entering any new stock for the selected department(s) until the stocktake session is complete.

Starting a Stocktake Session

1. In The Edge, go to Stock → Stocktake → Proceed on the left-hand menu.

Stocktake menu — Stock → Stocktake → Proceed

2. The stocktake screen will appear. Note that hovering over each button shows a description and requirements for each task.

Stocktake flow chart screen

3. Click Create to open a new Stocktake Management screen.

Create new stocktake — enter name, store, and criteria

4. Fill in the required details:

• Stocktake Name: Give this a meaningful name. Each name can only be used once.
• Store: Select the store for the stocktake.

5. Select the criteria for the stocktake by unticking All beside the Criteria type and selecting only the values you wish to include:

Stocktake criteria selection screen

• Selection Tab: Store, Suppliers, Departments.
• ID Codes Tab: ID Code 1, 2, 3, 4.
• Groups & Catalogues Tab: Groups, Catalogues, Brands.
• Other Tab: Locations, Stock Types.

Note: To understand each field, refer to the Stock Screen Interpretation guide.

Counting Stock Items

1. Select the Existing Stocktake you just created.
2. Click Scan.
3. Enter your ID and password.

Stocktake scan screen — enter credentials to begin

4. If you are in a multi-store environment, you may see messages regarding inter-store transfers. Type EXCLUDED in the box and click OK to proceed.

Inter-store transfer warning — type EXCLUDED and click OK

Second inter-store transfer warning

Interpreting the Stocktake Screen

Stocktake screen showing top section and grid

The stocktake screen is broken into two sections:

• Top Section: Shows the criteria and setup for the stocktake. Displays the stocktake name, operator, store, and criteria line.
• Grid Screen: Tracks the scan or entry history of items.

The Grid Screen columns include:

• Item #: The item The Edge has matched to the entered number.
• Scanned: What was entered or scanned.
• Quantity: The quantity entered (when scanning, this should always display 1).
• Item Total: Running total of all counted for the item number.
• Description / RRP: Stock description and current RRP.
• Messages: Instructions or information for the person performing the stocktake.

Grid screen showing item entries and messages

Setting Up to Count

Using a Scanner

1. Inside the Stock section at the top of the screen, tick the Auto Scan box. This makes the system automatically add 1 to the quantity each time an item is scanned.

Auto Scan checkbox in the Stock section

2. Scan your product until all items are scanned and counted.

Note: If scanning the same item multiple times, the system will automatically update the quantity.

Manual Entry

1. If not using a scanner, manually enter the item code and quantity, then press Go.

Manual entry fields — enter item code, quantity, and click Go

2. Repeat for each item.

Additional Options

By default the system will also look up items by Old Stock #, Design #, and Other ID. Use the Other Options setting to enable or disable sound alerts when a code is scanned.

Additional options including lookup settings and sound alerts

Important: Laybys, Custom jobs waiting to be picked up, and Appro out to customers are NOT to be scanned in the stocktake. Special Orders waiting to be collected ARE to be scanned.

Correcting Mistakes

Small Corrections

1. Enter the item code and the quantity to adjust by (add or subtract).
2. Click Go to update the current total.

Quantity adjustment entry

Go button

Large Corrections or Re-Scanning Items

1. Enter the item code.
2. Select Reset the stocktake quantity.

Reset the stocktake quantity option

3. Enter the total quantity of the item and click Go.

When done, click Close to return to the stocktake main screen.

Note: The stocktake utility saves as you go. You can exit and return at any time and it will remember where you left off.

Producing the Variance Report

1. Click Variance Report.

Variance Report button on the stocktake flow chart

2. Select the Sort by option you wish to use.
3. If you are in a multi-store environment and wish to see Qty on Hand at other stores, check Show Store Allocations.

Show Store Allocations option

4. Click OK to produce the Variance Report.

Reading the Variance Report

Variance Report — full report layout

The Variance Report is broken into three sections:

• Top Section: Summary of the stocktake criteria, report date, and store information.
• Section 1 – Items Rejected: Items that have been rejected by the stocktake and the reason why.
• Section 2 – Stocktake Variances: All stock with a variance between what was scanned and what the system believes you should have.

Understanding Section 2

Section 2 of the Variance Report showing items to re-scan

At the top of Section 2, items that need to be re-scanned or re-checked will be highlighted. Items that have been sold, transferred, refunded, or had invoice or adjustment entries since the last scan must be re-checked before you can apply the stocktake.

The Stock Variance Grid columns include:

• Stock #: The Edge SKU number.
• S/Take: The quantity scanned or entered during the stocktake.
• QoH #: The quantity on hand that The Edge currently believes is in stock.
• Adj.#: The number of items that will be adjusted once the stocktake is applied.
• Message: Any important notes, such as “Item MUST be re-scanned.”

Stock Variance Grid showing S/Take, QoH, and Adj# columns

Important: Do NOT manually adjust stock quantities to correct them. Once you apply the stocktake, The Edge will automatically update and correct these quantities.

Finalising the Stocktake

1. On the Stocktake Flow Chart, click Variance Report OK?.

Variance Report OK? button on the flow chart

2. You may encounter a screen prompting you to check boxes. Read each question carefully.

Final confirmation checklist before applying the stocktake

Warning: If you are unsure about any of the questions, do not proceed. Contact the Retail Edge Consultants Customer Success Team for advice before continuing.

3. After checking all boxes, click OK. This will unlock the next steps on the Flow Chart.
4. (Optional) Click Backup Database to save a backup of your current database before applying the stocktake.
5. Click Update to apply the stocktake adjustments to the system.

Update button — applies the stocktake adjustments

Important: Ensure you print the final Variance Report before clicking Update, as it will no longer be available after the update is applied.

6. Click the bottom Variance Report button (text will be green) and click OK to produce the final report.

Final Variance Report — should be blank confirming all adjustments applied

The final Variance Report should be blank, confirming that the stocktake has successfully applied all adjustments. If any items appear in the Stock Variance Grid, contact the Retail Edge Consultants Customer Success Team immediately.

Post-Stocktake Considerations

Once the stocktake is complete, review the results for important insights:

• Missing Stock: Look for unaccounted items, which may indicate theft, misplacement, or inventory errors.
• Mislabelled or Incorrectly Entered Items: Review items with variances for possible data entry or labelling mistakes.
• Stock Transfers or Sales During Stocktake: Ensure variances were not caused by items sold or transferred during the stocktake period.
• Supplier Errors: Investigate whether supplier discrepancies, such as incorrect deliveries, caused variances.
• Stock Shrinkage: If variances indicate shrinkage, consider reviewing store security or stock handling procedures.