If it is your first time doing one or you want to improve the way you keep your products in stock in your business, let me tell you that you have come to the right place, because in this article I will not only tell you how to take inventoryinstead, I’m going to show you four different methods to achieve it, so you can choose the one that best suits your business.
In addition, I will include tips that will help you make it even easier like this. Don’t worry, later on I will teach you how to use it and master it as if you were an expert in the art of taking inventories. Accompany me!
How to start an inventory from scratch?
For start taking inventory from scratch, the first thing you should consider is logistics, since counting your merchandise is no small thing. Therefore, I recommend you follow these steps:
- Locate the space where you will count the items.
- Define the system to follow to make the inventory.
- Create the document where you will record the movements.
- Schedule yourself to spend some time on it.
Let me explain a little more about each of these points. In case it is your first time.
1. Locate the space where you will count the items
To take an inventory, you will probably need a space to locate the items, both those that you have already counted, and those that you will include in the count. To do this, you will need a clean and illuminated space to locate your merchandise. Often, in companies that count, the inventory is made in these places or in the case of having stores or physical points of sale, this space is also used to count products.
2. Define the system to follow to make the inventory
There are different inventory systems, depending on the type of merchandise you sell. Whether they are cyclical, perpetual, supplies, raw materials, obsolete inventories, each one is different and will require accounting for different characteristics. Choose the one that best suits your objective and create the registration tool according to the necessary fields. Do you need to take a step back? Understand and how many types of inventories exist by clicking on the link.
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3. Create the document where you will record the movements
It is the main tool! Without a document where the results of the inventory are registered, it is as if no count had been made. For this, it is necessary that you have the registry where you will document the item count, either in a notebook, through a computer with Excel or with the help of a mobile device that registers the products, scanning RFID tags, to start an inventory, these tools they will be essential. Prepare them and try to have them ready to use on inventory day.
4. Schedule yourself to spend some time on it
In addition to the tools, you need to schedule the time you will spend on inventory. It is likely that you need to pause your sales to do it properly or request help from a team to make it more dynamic and efficient. Training your team on how to take an inventory is vital to reducing the time you spend on this task.
💡Tip: If you cycle inventories, practice can help shorten the learning curve and get an inventory done in less time.
How to make an inventory by hand?
Don’t worry! Almost all of us who start with a business, do our inventories by hand, since at an early stage, it seems easy to keep track of our products in a notebook. These are the steps you would have to follow to achieve it:
- Choose a notebook or notebook to hold your inventory.
- Create the table with the information fields that you will collect.
- Plan the method for accounting for the merchandise.
- Arrange them in blocks to make counting easier.
- Count and record your results.
Here’s a little more information about each step. Take note!
1. Choose a notebook or notebook to contain your inventory
When doing an inventory by hand, perhaps the best recommendation I can give you is that you allocate a specific notebook to record the count. This way you can have a stock history for the next time you need to account for your merchandise. Make sure you protect it as if it were the most powerful tool in your business.
🚨Eye: Making an inventory by hand is not the most recommended method, since even if you keep your count in a notebook, it can be lost, wet or ruined, plus you will notice that as time goes by, doing it in a notebook is not scalable. Opt for a tool that allows you to keep the count digitally or in the cloud. So the chances of something happening to him will be minimal!
2. Create the table with the information fields that you will collect
Although these fields can be customized according to the type of inventory and merchandise that you account for, the information that is usually collected in an inventory is:
- Product code
- Description
- Category
- Birthplace
- Model
- Color
- Number of pieces in stock
- Price
- SKUs
- Barcode
Please note that these are recommended fields. You can create the table for registering your inventory with the information that adds the most value to your business. You decide what information you require to have a complete photograph of your stock.
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3. Plan the method to account for the merchandise
Choose the method that best suits your inventory. By doing it by hand, you will likely have limited space. You can start your count with those items with the highest volume to clear the area more quickly and thus keep smaller products. Consider what is the most efficient way to get started and plan your inventory around that.
4. Arrange your merchandise in blocks to facilitate counting
Once you have defined the order in which you will carry out your count, arrange the merchandise in blocks or sections to facilitate the count and thus not lose order while you carry out your inventory. You will see that advancing by categories will help you to do it more efficiently and without so much clutter between your articles.
💡Tip: If you decide to make your inventory through an Excel spreadsheet or some other digital resource, you will be able to add rows in case you want to record missing items at the time of counting, while in a notebook, you will not have the possibility of grouping the items in case of have missing Consider this when planning your count.
5. Count and record your results
This is perhaps the most exhausting part, but the most important part of an inventory. Try to register all the information necessary for your business, filling in the previously defined fields. When doing it by hand, it is possible that errors are made in the count, for this, I recommend you do a count at the end, to make sure that the number you have written down in your notebook is correct.
now that you know how to take inventory by handfind out about other methods to do it that can be more effective, such as using an Excel sheet or using a specific application to do it.
How to make an inventory in Excel?
As our business grows, it’s common to conclude that a passbook isn’t the best way to keep track of our business, and many of us turn to tools to do just that. These are the steps you should follow to take inventory in excel. Take note!
- Open Excel on your computer.
- Create a new document to carry your inventory.
- Add the necessary columns according to your business.
- Plan the method for counting and identifying products.
- Record the data.
Give me a chance to explain a little more about each point.
1. Open Excel on your computer
You can also do this using other spreadsheet programs, such as Google Sheets, Numbers, or the cloud version of Excel.
2. Create a new document to carry your inventory
Similar to doing an inventory by hand, you’ll need to create a spreadsheet to keep track of your merchandise. You can do it with the most important fields of your products or those that allow you to clearly identify your products. If you want to save time and effort, you can download this one that we have developed here at Tiendanube and it is completely free.
3. Add the necessary columns according to your business
Once downloaded, you will find inside the instructions to use this document, as well as those fields that you must maintain so that the calculations are maintained and work correctly.
💡Tip: In case you require more information in your inventory sheet, you can add additional columns and fields that allow you to get more out of this free resource. Customize it according to your business!
4. Plan the method for counting and identifying products
With the template adjusted, it is now time to plan the ideal method for counting parts, items or raw materials. It may be that you do it by blocks, by product categories or even by stock in branches. Depending on your business and its operation, you can find the ideal way to carry out your inventory.
💡Tip: In case there is a lot of merchandise or you want to carry out a complete inventory, you can divide this task into several days, dividing the merchandise by blocks or by work units, so that you do not have to pause operations completely.
5. Record the data
In addition to accounting for the merchandise, when making an inventory, you must include the entry and exit record, two fields that you will find in our inventory template. In the entries, all those merchandise that are added to what you have in your initial stock will be counted, while the exits will be the pieces that have been sold, have been transferred, have been returned to the supplier or what will come out as promotional merchandise.
💡Tip: Merchandise that has been broken or that will no longer go on sale must also be accounted for, although this should not be included in the inventory document, but in a separate book where you can keep track of the loss of your business.
How to make an inventory in Word?
yes it is also possible take inventory in word. In case you feel more comfortable with this tool, here are the steps you should follow to achieve it:
- Open Word on your computer.
- Create a new document to carry your inventory.
- Add the necessary columns according to your business.
- Plan the method for counting and identifying products.
- Record the data.
As you can see, the steps are very similar, the only thing that changes is the program where you will keep the registry. Although Microsoft Word can be very dynamic, I recommend that you use Excel, since spreadsheets can be of more help to you than any document in a word processor.
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