MPH WMSStock Counts
Count physical inventory and adjust stock levels
A stock count (inventering) lets several people walk the shelves at once, then reviews every difference before a single stock level moves.
Counting requires stock:count. Closing and approving requires stock:count:approve.
Creating a count
- Go to Inventory → Stock counts and click New count.
- Pick the warehouse.
- Choose the uncounted items policy:
- Keep system quantity - anything nobody counted is left alone. Use this for a partial count of one aisle or one tag.
- Set to zero - anything nobody counted is adjusted to 0 on approval. Only use this for a genuine wall-to-wall count, or you will zero out half your warehouse.
- Add notes if you want, and create. The count opens with status Open.
Set to zero is the setting that bites. It means "if it was not counted, it is not there". Pick it only when you are certain every item in the warehouse will be visited.
Counting
The Count tab is only available while the count is open. Several people can count at the same time, and each of you sees only your own entries - which is what stops two counters from overwriting each other.
- Auto +1 on scan is on by default. Scan or type an exact SKU and it records one unit immediately, then clears the field ready for the next scan.
- Turn it off when you want to type a quantity instead: an exact match selects the item, you enter a Qty, then Add.
- The search box matches as you type and shows a dropdown of candidates. Any of the item's barcodes will match.
- Your entries are listed with a running summary, and each row can be edited or removed.
Diff report
The Diff report tab compares what was counted with what the system holds, per item:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Match | Counted quantity equals system quantity |
| Variance | Counted, but a different number |
| New | Counted, but the system had no stock record |
| Uncounted | Nobody counted it. What happens depends on the uncounted policy |
Filter chips narrow the list to all items, variances only, or uncounted only. Summary tiles show how many were counted, how many varied, how many were missed, and the total value change. The report can be printed.
Closing and approving
- While the count is open, a single Close and approve button does both steps after a confirmation. The result is reported as
Approved: 14 items adjusted. - If you close a count without approving, it sits at Closed with Approve adjustments and Cancel count available. Use this when someone else has to sign off on the differences.
Approval writes one cycle_count movement per changed item, so every correction stays traceable in Transactions and in the item's stock history.
Log
The Log tab is the audit trail: who counted what, when, and to what quantity, searchable and with a summary per user. It survives approval, so you can still answer "who counted this" three months later.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open | Counting is in progress |
| Closed | Counting is finished, differences not yet applied |
| Approved | Adjustments have been written to stock |
| Cancelled | Abandoned, nothing was changed |
Practical advice
- Freeze picking in the area you are counting, or count outside operating hours. Stock that moves mid-count shows up as a phantom variance.
- Count by tag or aisle regularly rather than the whole warehouse once a year. Small counts get approved; big ones get abandoned.
- Look at variances before approving, not after. The diff report is the point of the whole exercise.