---
title: "Stock Count"
space: "ERPNext"
url: "https://www.prilk.com/docs/erpnext/stock-count"
updated: "2026-05-15"
---

## Stock Count

A physical stock count — walking through your warehouse and writing down what's actually there — is reconciled against ERPNext via the **Stock Reconciliation** tool.

### When to count

- **Year-end** — required for accurate financial reporting
- **Quarterly** — for high-value or fast-moving items
- **Spot-checks** — for items where you suspect discrepancies (theft, shrinkage, mispicks)
- **After a system change** — when adopting ERPNext or after a major migration

### Cycle counting

Instead of one big year-end count, count parts of your inventory continuously throughout the year:
- Group items by ABC value (high-value items counted monthly, low-value yearly)
- Schedule a few items per week
- Catches errors faster, doesn't shut down operations

### Running a Stock Reconciliation

**Stock Reconciliation → New**:

1. **Purpose** — Stock Reconciliation (for counts; Opening Stock for initial migration)
2. **Posting Date** — when you counted
3. **Items table** — for each item being counted:
   - Item Code
   - Warehouse
   - **Current Quantity** (what ERPNext shows — auto-fills)
   - **Quantity** (what you counted — you enter)

ERPNext computes the difference per row.

### Download / Upload template

For large counts:
1. On the Stock Reconciliation form, click **Download Template** → get a CSV with current quantities pre-filled
2. Hand the printed sheet to your warehouse team to count
3. Update the CSV with counted quantities
4. **Upload Template** back into the same Stock Reconciliation
5. Submit

### What happens on submit

- For each item where counted ≠ current:
  - A Stock Ledger Entry posts to bring stock to the counted quantity
  - A General Ledger Entry posts the value change to a **Stock Adjustment** account (gain or loss)
- The reconciliation is locked in audit history

### Investigating discrepancies before submitting

If a count is way off (e.g., 100 short or 500 extra), investigate before submitting. Common causes:
- Stock movements not yet entered in ERPNext (paper trail behind)
- Movements in wrong warehouse
- Items in wrong location physically — count again
- Items recorded under different Item Code (variants confusion)

The Stock Reconciliation is your reset point — only submit when you're confident the actual count is correct.

### Reports for verification

After the reconciliation, check:
- **Stock Balance Report** — confirms new quantities
- **Stock Adjustment account** in GL — see the total value impact

### Common situations

- **Found extra units** — Stock Reconciliation; value posts as gain to Stock Adjustment
- **Items missing** — Stock Reconciliation; value posts as loss
- **Found items in wrong warehouse** — two Stock Reconciliations (decrease in wrong, increase in right) OR a Material Transfer