Physical stock taking in Fast Inventory is simple and safe. Pick a user and a location, scan or select each item or lot, and the system shows you the book quantity while you enter what you actually counted. Saving records the variance — it never changes your stock on its own. You reconcile by posting one stock adjustment for the difference, so every correction leaves a ledger trail.
A count and an adjustment are two separate acts, and that is the point — counting tells you the truth, adjusting acts on it. New to stock accuracy? Start with our guide, what is inventory management software?
A count should be assigned, not ad hoc. You open physical stock taking, choose who is counting and which store or location they are counting, and pick the count type — annual, quarterly or a perpetual cycle count. Then you scan or select each item, or drill to a specific lot where batches matter, and the system shows the book quantity it currently holds beside a field for the quantity actually found. It is the store as the system thinks it is, ready to be checked against the shelf.
This is the safety principle that keeps your stock trustworthy: enter the physical quantity and Fast Inventory captures the difference between the book figure and what you found, and stops there. Saving the count does not move a single unit of on-hand stock. That means a slip of the finger or a mis-read shelf label can never quietly corrupt your balance — the count is evidence, not an edit. Nothing changes until you decide to act on the variance.
When you are ready to reconcile, you post a stock adjustment for the variance — an increase where the count was higher than the book, a decrease where it was lower. The adjustment is the posting that actually changes on-hand stock, and it writes a row to the immutable stock ledger with its reference and reason. So book stock is corrected through a documented, reversible movement — the same movement engine your goods receipts and issues run on — not an untraceable manual override.
Every count produces a count sheet and a variance report — book versus physical, item by item — so you can see which items keep drifting and where accuracy is slipping. And you do not have to count everything equally. ABC analysis ranks items by their share of stock value, and because A items carry the most money they earn the most frequent cycle counts, while low-value C items can be counted far less often. That puts your counting effort exactly where the value and the risk sit.
The system quantity shown beside a field for the counted quantity, item by item and lot by lot, so the check is against a real figure, not memory.
Saving a count records the difference and never changes on-hand stock by itself, so a mis-count can't corrupt your balance.
Post a stock adjustment — increase or decrease — for the variance to bring stock in line, with a ledger row for every correction.
The same flow run on any schedule — a full annual count, a quarterly check, or a perpetual cycle count that never shuts the store.
Every count leaves a count sheet and a book-vs-physical variance report, so you can see where and how far accuracy is slipping.
Let ABC value-share set how often each item is counted, so high-value A items are checked most and low-value C items least.
A count on paper that gets typed straight over the system loses the one thing that keeps stock trustworthy — the separation between counting and adjusting. Here is what changes.
You open physical stock taking, pick the counter and the store or location, then scan or select each item — or a specific lot where batches matter. The system shows the book quantity it currently holds, and the counter enters the quantity actually found. Saving writes a count sheet that records the difference between book and physical for every line. You can count a whole store or just a slice of it, and repeat the flow as often as your count policy needs.
No — and that is deliberate. Physical stock taking records the variance only: it captures book quantity versus counted quantity and never touches your on-hand balance by itself. Nothing moves until someone reviews the variances and posts a stock adjustment. That separation stops a mis-count from silently corrupting your stock and keeps every correction traceable.
They are the same count flow run on different schedules. An annual count is a full physical inventory, usually a once-a-year, count-everything exercise. A quarterly count checks stock every three months. A perpetual or cycle count counts a small slice of items continuously through the year — often driven by ABC class, so high-value A items are counted most often — so accuracy is maintained without ever shutting the store.
After the count, you review the variances and post a stock adjustment for each difference — an increase where you counted more than the book, a decrease where you counted less. The adjustment is what actually changes on-hand stock, and it writes a row to the immutable stock ledger with its reference and reason. So book stock is brought in line with the shelf through a documented posting, not an untracked edit.
ABC analysis classifies items by their share of stock value — A items are roughly the top 70 percent of value, B the next band and C the smallest. Because A items carry the most money, they earn the most frequent cycle counts, while C items can be counted far less often. Using ABC to set count frequency puts your counting effort where the value and the risk actually are. Fast Inventory runs cloud or on-premise, for manufacturers, distributors, traders, 3PL and warehousing businesses across India and worldwide.
Live demo of physical stock taking and reconciliation — your items, your locations, your lots. Cloud or on-premise, no generic slideshow.
