The stock count on 31 December is the one count that goes straight into your annual accounts. Whatever figure you hand your accountant becomes closing stock, and closing stock moves your profit one-for-one: every crate of wine nobody counted is profit you understate, and every expired tray counted at full price is profit you overstate.
It is also the count most likely to go wrong, because it happens on the busiest night of the year. Here is how to get it right in one evening.
The week before: make the count smaller
Run stock down. Order a little less in the last week and push perishables through specials and staff meals. Fewer items on the shelf means fewer to count and less value at risk.
Clear out first. Go through the cold rooms and dry store a few days before and throw away anything expired or damaged. Record it as waste with a reason. If it is still on the shelf on the 31st, someone will count it.
Set the cut-off and tell everyone. Decide exactly when the count happens: after the last service on 31 December, or before opening on 1 January. Then agree with your suppliers that nothing is delivered between the cut-off and the count. Anything received after the cut-off belongs to next year, and so does its invoice.
Prepare the lists. Print or set up one count list per storage area, in the same order as the shelves. For every item, decide the unit in advance: kilos, litres, bottles or packs. Most counting errors are unit errors.
Pick teams of two. One person counts, the other writes down. It is faster than one person doing both, and far more accurate.
On the day: count, don't estimate
- Work zone by zone — cold room, freezer, dry store, bar, cellar — and finish one before starting the next. Mark each list as done.
- Count in the unit on the list. If the list says kilos, weigh it. Don't switch to "about two boxes".
- Opened packages: weigh them, or use one fixed rule for the whole team, such as counting in quarters.
- Prepared items — stocks, sauces, doughs — count too. Value them at the cost of their ingredients, not at menu price.
- Goods in transit: stock moving between your sites, or paid for but not yet delivered, needs a decision. Note it on a separate line so the accountant can see it.
- Don't forget the odd places: the off-site store, the van, the second freezer behind the kitchen.
When a zone is done, the second person does a quick spot check of five random lines. If two of them are wrong, recount the zone.
Valuation: quantity times the right price
A count is only a list of quantities. Turning it into a figure needs a price for every line, and two decisions:
Which price. The usual choice is the purchase price from your supplier invoices, either the latest price, an average, or first-in-first-out. Which method you use matters less than using the same one every year. Agree it with your accountant once and stick to it.
What to write down. Most accounting rules value stock at the lower of what it cost and what it is still worth. Damaged, expired or slow-moving goods should be written down, or out. Do it now, not as a surprise in March.
The exact rules depend on your country and company type, so treat this section as the checklist of questions to ask your accountant, not as the answer.
Handing the figure to your accountant
Send one package, not a stream of photos:
- The total value, split by group: food, non-alcoholic drinks, alcohol, packaging and consumables.
- The count lists, dated and signed by whoever counted.
- A list of write-downs with the reason for each.
- The cut-off details: the last delivery note and invoice included in the count.
Keep the lists afterwards. They are part of your accounting records.
Counting in KitchenFlow
KitchenFlow turns the count into a few taps per line. You count in the app, with barcode scanning, and KitchenFlow flags lines that differ from expected stock while you are still standing at the shelf, so you can recount on the spot. Prices come from your supplier invoices, so the value is ready the moment the count is finished.
Recent updates help at year-end in particular. Stock Move moves products between storages in one step, so goods are counted where they actually are. Stock In and Stock Out register goods coming in or going out by counting them. A new home screen with live count cards shows how far each area has come, and the app now has layouts made for tablets.
Printable checklist
The week before
- Order down and push perishables through specials
- Throw away and record expired or damaged goods
- Agree the cut-off time and a delivery stop with suppliers
- Prepare one list per storage area, with units
- Assign count teams of two
On the day
- Count zone by zone, in shelf order
- Weigh opened packages or use one fixed rule
- Count prepared items at ingredient cost
- Note goods in transit separately
- Spot-check five lines per zone
Afterwards
- Price every line with the agreed method
- Write down damaged and slow-moving stock
- Send totals, signed lists, write-downs and cut-off details to the accountant
Want the count done in an evening next year as well? Talk to us about setting up KitchenFlow before the next one.