Counting your stock

A stock count checks what is really on your shelves against what TradeBroken says you have, fixes the difference in your books, and gives you a certificate that a lender can check. You can count your own stock any time, or book a relationship manager to count independently.

Set up a count#

Owner and branch managers set counts up. Go to Stock counts → New count:

1. Branch: a count covers one branch.
2. Locations: leave it for the whole branch, or pick certain shelves.
3. Who counts: a staff member, or a relationship manager you've given access to.
4. Blind or not. A count is blind by default: the person counting never sees what the system expects, so they can only report what is really there. Switch it off for a quick check, but then the certificate says it wasn't blind.
5. Add any notes, then Set up count.

Counting#

The person counting opens the count and presses Start, which fixes the list of every product that has stock in the branch or shelves you chose. Then, shelf by shelf:

1. Pick the shelf (or scan its QR label).
2. Enter how many of each item are really there: type zero for none.
3. Add a note for anything odd. Anything found that wasn't on the list can be added.

Each quantity is compared with the system at the moment it is entered, so sales made while a long count is under way don't show up as differences. While someone counts a branch blind, they can't see its stock levels anywhere in the app until they submit.

When every line has a quantity, press Submit. TradeBroken says how many are missing if you try early.

Approving#

Someone with approval rights reviews the count, and it can't be the person who counted it.

• Approve: shortages are recorded as stock losses and surpluses as stock gains, at your average cost. If a product has no cost on record at all, the approver enters one. Approving issues the certificate.
• Send back: if something looks wrong, send it back with a reason, and mark the lines to check again. The counter fixes those and submits again.
• If stock changed a lot since it was counted (for example, you sold more than the counted amount), approval is refused and the count goes back for a recount.

You can cancel a count before it's approved. A count you booked through TradeBroken (it shows a Booked mark) can be cancelled only until it's submitted. Once it's in, send it back for a recount instead.

The certificate#

An approved count has a certificate showing the shop, branch and scope, who counted and in what role, who approved, the dates, how many lines were counted, the value at cost, the gains and losses, and a verification code.

The role matters to a lender:

Share the certificate's link or QR code. Anyone can check it on TradeBroken without signing in, and sees whether it is valid, the shop, who counted, when it was approved and what was counted. If a booked count is refunded, its certificate is withdrawn and the check shows it as no longer valid.