--- id: "stock-take" lang: "en" title: "Blind stock-take: count your shop's stock" summary: "Count what is on the shelves without seeing the system's figures, then compare. Validating the count puts the differences into stock." area: "Stock & products" kind: "task" url: "https://zeropos.shop/help/stock-take" alternate: "https://zeropos.shop/help/stock-take?lang=es" markdown: "https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/stock-take.md" screens: ["/pos/stock-taking","/reports/data/stocktake-variance"] where_to_find: ["Quick actions › Stock-taking","INSIGHTS › Reports"] related: ["adjust-stock","tester-or-damaged","reports-overview","roles-and-permissions"] updated: "2026-10-13" --- # Blind stock-take: count your shop's stock Count what is on the shelves without seeing the system's figures, then compare. Validating the count puts the differences into stock. A stock-take is a blind count: the screen hides what the system thinks you have, so the number you type is what you really counted. Zero POS compares afterwards. For checking many products. To fix one number you already know is wrong, use [Correct stock by hand (Stock adjust)](https://zeropos.shop/help/adjust-stock). Where to find it: Quick actions › Stock-taking; INSIGHTS › Reports. ## Before you start - Applying a count to stock needs permission to validate counts. Without it, tap **Submit count**: the count waits on this screen until someone who can validate applies it. - Count when the shop is quiet: sales made while you count change the figure you are compared with. ## Steps ### Count 1. Open [Quick actions › Stock-taking](https://app.zeropos.shop/pos/stock-taking) and check that **Location** is the shop you are counting. 2. Find each product and type what you counted in **Counted quantity**. - Leave a row empty if you didn't count it. Type 0 only when the shelf is really empty. 3. Watch the **counts entered** total go up as you work. 4. Add a **Session note (optional)**, for example who counted and which shelves. ### Submit and check 5. Tap **Submit & validate** to apply the count, or **Submit count** to only save it. - **Submit & validate** applies the count only if your role may validate; otherwise it is just saved. 6. Read the results: **System** is what Zero POS expected, **Counted** what you typed, **Diff** the difference. 7. Check the line at the bottom: **Applied to inventory.** or **Session saved — waiting on validation to apply.** 8. Tap **Close**. ### Validate a saved count 9. Open [Quick actions › Stock-taking](https://app.zeropos.shop/pos/stock-taking) at the count's **Location**: saved counts wait under **Counts waiting for validation**, with who saved each one and when. 10. Tap **Validate** on the count. 11. Check each line: **System**, **Counted** and **Diff**. A line marked “Left out” won't change stock. 12. Tap **Validate count**. 13. Read **Applied to inventory.** and tap **Close**. The count leaves the list. ## What happens next - Once validated, now or later, each counted product moves at that shop by the difference found when the count was saved, and the change is logged as a stock-take in the **Stock Movements** report. - The **Stock-take Variance** report ([INSIGHTS › Reports](https://app.zeropos.shop/reports/data/stocktake-variance)) adds up only what counts applied to stock. A count still waiting shows under **Δ waiting**, a line left out under **Δ left out**, so a product counted twice has its gap counted once. - Rows you left empty are not touched. No money moves: a count never changes takings or invoices. ## Counts saved without validation A count saved with **Submit count**, or by someone whose role can't validate, waits under **Counts waiting for validation** on the stock-taking screen, with who saved it and when. Everyone who counts at that shop sees it there; only someone who can validate gets **Validate**. Validating later applies the differences the count found when it was saved, so sales, refunds and deliveries since then still count. If the shelf held 8 serums where Zero POS expected 10, and one has sold since, stock ends at 7. A line is left out when applying it could fix the same gap twice: a newer count of that product exists, or its stock was changed by hand ([Correct stock by hand (Stock adjust)](https://zeropos.shop/help/adjust-stock)) after the count. A product no longer in the catalogue is left out too. The count shows these lines before you validate. A count validates once: if someone else validates it first, nothing is applied twice. Validate soon after counting, because the older a count, the more the shelf may have changed. There is no way to discard a saved count. An old one waits for someone who can validate, such as the owner or a manager. If the shelves have changed since, count those products again first: validating the old count then leaves out every product the new count covered. ## Common questions ### Why can't I see the stock number while I count? So the count is honest: people who can see the expected number tend to find it. The system's figure appears in the results after you submit. ### Which system figure is my count compared with? The one at the moment you submit, not when you started. That is why you should count when the shop is quiet, or submit one area at a time. A count validated later keeps that comparison, so sales made since still count. ### Who can validate a count? By default owners, administrators, managers and logistics staff; sellers can count but not validate. Owners can change this in [What each role can do](https://zeropos.shop/help/roles-and-permissions). ### Can I delete or discard a saved count? No. It stays under **Counts waiting for validation** until someone who can validate taps **Validate**. If it is old, count those products again first: validating it then leaves out every product the new count covered, and it leaves the list. ### How do I find where stock keeps going missing? Open the **Stock-take Variance** report in [INSIGHTS › Reports](https://app.zeropos.shop/reports/data/stocktake-variance) and group it by product: items that come up short count after count stand out. [What each report answers](https://zeropos.shop/help/reports-overview) explains the reports. ## If you see this - “**Session saved — waiting on validation to apply.**” — What to do: Nothing changed in stock yet. The count waits under **Counts waiting for validation** until someone who can validate taps **Validate** on it. - “**Someone has just validated this count. Nothing was applied twice.**” — What to do: Another person validated it a moment before you, and stock moved once. Tap **Close**: the count has left the list. - “**Left out: its stock was changed by hand after this count.**” — What to do: That product was corrected after the count, so the count leaves it as it is. If its figure is still wrong, count that product again. ## Good to know - Count one area at a time and submit it before starting the next, so sales in between don't blur the figures. - Record opened testers before you count ([Mark tester or damaged](https://zeropos.shop/help/tester-or-damaged)), or they will show up as missing. ## Related guides - [Correct stock by hand (Stock adjust)](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/adjust-stock.md) - [Mark tester or damaged](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/tester-or-damaged.md) - [What each report answers](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/reports-overview.md) - [What each role can do](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/roles-and-permissions.md)