Kitchen Stock Counts: Tracking Store Inventory in the App
Kitchen Stock Counts: Tracking Store Inventory in the App
BarSight can keep a running stock level for every kitchen inventory item at each of your locations. Deliveries you receive in the app add to that level, and a periodic stock count brings it back in line with what is actually on the shelf. This guide covers turning tracking on for a location, receiving deliveries so they land in stock, and running a count from the BarSight app.
Before You Start
- The kitchen module is active for your business.
- Your inventory items exist with a stock unit and a display unit. See Kitchen Inventory: Adding Items & Understanding UOMs.
- Optional but recommended: storage areas (walk-in, dry storage, bar, and so on) with items mapped to them. Counts are grouped by area, which makes the walk-through much faster.
- Access levels:
- Kitchen Inventory (Access Level 55) level 1 lets staff see stock, receive deliveries and enter counts.
- Kitchen Inventory (Access Level 55) level 2, or an owner login, is needed to post or void a count.
- Kitchen Settings (Access Level 54) level 2 is needed to change the Stock Tracking switch.
- The BarSight app, updated to the build that includes the count screen.
Part 1: Turn Stock Tracking On for a Location
Stock tracking is switched on or off per location. A location that is switched off still places and receives orders as normal, but nothing is added to its stock, the stock buttons on the purchase order screen are hidden, and the app's Stock Count screen shows "Inventory tracking is not enabled for this location." This lets you bring stores online one at a time, each starting from a proper opening count.
Step 1: Open Inventory Settings
- Navigate to Kitchen → Inventory
- Click Configure
- Scroll to the Stock Tracking box
Step 2: Choose the Locations
- Owners see a checkbox for every location. Managers see only their own location.
- Tick each location that should track stock. Untick a location to pause tracking there.
- Click Save at the top of the page
[SCREENSHOT: Kitchen inventory settings page with the Stock Tracking box showing a list of locations and checkboxes]
Important: new locations track stock by default. If your stores were set up before stock tracking was introduced, BarSight support may have switched them all off for you so that each one can be activated after its opening count.
Best practice for bringing a store online
- Switch the store on.
- Run a full count in the app the same day (see Part 3) and post it. This becomes the store's opening stock.
- From then on, receive every delivery in the app so the level stays current.
Part 2: Receiving Deliveries Into Stock
When a purchase order is received in the app, each line that is linked to a kitchen inventory item is added to stock at the location the order belongs to. Lines that are not linked to an inventory item (for example a one-off unmanaged item) are marked received but do not change stock.
Receive All
- In the app, open Purchases and tap the order
- Open the three-dot menu and tap Receive All
- Confirm. Every outstanding quantity on the order is received and the order is closed.
Receive Items (partial deliveries)
Use this when a delivery is short, or arrives in more than one drop.
- Open the order and tap Receive Items
- Each line starts at the quantity still outstanding. Adjust the Qty to Receive and, where the item is ordered by the case, Cases to Receive, to match what actually arrived.
- Leave Close order after receiving unticked if the rest of the order is still coming. The order stays open and the next delivery starts from the new outstanding amounts.
- Tick Close order after receiving if the missing items are not coming. The order is closed with the quantities you entered.
- Tap the check mark and confirm
[SCREENSHOT: App Receive Items screen showing the Close order after receiving checkbox and two item cards with quantity steppers]
Received quantities add up across deliveries. If 10 cases were ordered, 6 arrived Monday and 4 on Wednesday, the order shows 10 received and closes itself after the Wednesday receive.
Note: receiving from the desktop purchase order page always closes the order when you save, as it did before. The "leave it open" behaviour is only on the app's Receive Items screen.
Commissary orders
Orders placed on your commissary are received the same way. At present a commissary receipt marks the lines received but does not add the finished product to the store's stock. Adding commissary products to store stock on receipt is planned as the next phase. See Commissary Setup & Managing Incoming Orders.
Part 3: Running a Stock Count in the App
Open the app menu and tap Stock Count under Kitchen.
Between counts
With no count in progress, the screen lists every inventory item by storage area with its current level in the display unit. It is read-only: levels only change when a count is posted or a delivery is received, so there is always a record of why a figure moved.
[SCREENSHOT: Stock Count screen with no count open, storage areas expanded and item levels shown in blue]
Managing storage areas
Users who can edit inventory items see Edit Areas in the three-dot menu of both the Stock Count and Manage Items screens. It opens the list of storage areas for the location:
- Reorder: press and hold an area, then drag it to its new place. The order is saved straight away and is the order areas appear in on the stock list and on count sheets, so put them in the order staff walk the store.
- Add: tap the + button, type a name and tap OK. The new area opens so you can tick the items counted there. Area names must be unique at a location.
- Open an area: tap it to see every inventory item with the ones counted in that area ticked. Tick or untick items and tap the check mark to save. The three-dot menu there can Rename the area, Empty it (clears the list, stock is untouched) or Remove it. An area cannot be removed while a count is open on it.
- Item order: each area lists its items alphabetically unless you choose Sort Items Manually from that menu. In manual mode, press and hold a ticked item and drag it to where it should appear on the stock list and count sheets, matching the way the shelf is laid out. The change saves as you make it. Sort Items Alphabetically switches back, and your manual order is remembered if you switch to manual again. Dragging is turned off while a search is active.
[SCREENSHOT: Storage Areas list with drag handles on the right and the + button, then the area item list with checkboxes]
Step 1: Start a Count
- Tap the play button in the top bar
- Choose Whole location, or a single storage area to count just that area
Only one count can be open per location at a time. BarSight records the expected level of every item in scope at the moment the count starts.
[SCREENSHOT: Start a Count dialog listing Whole location and each storage area]
Step 2: Enter the Counts
- The screen now shows a Count in progress card with who started it, the area and a progress bar.
- Work through each area. Tap an item, type what you counted on that shelf and tap OK. Decimals are fine (for example
2.5). - Counted shelves show a green check and the counted figure. Shelves not yet counted show the item's expected level in grey.
- To clear a count you entered by mistake, tap the item, delete the number and tap OK.
Several people can count at the same time on different devices. Each saved count is recorded against the person who entered it.
Items kept in more than one area
An item mapped to two storage areas, say coffee in the back room and at the front counter, appears once under each area with an "also in" note. Count what is in front of you in each place. BarSight adds the shelves together when the count is posted, so you never have to work out a total yourself.
Example: 10 cases of coffee were received during the week and 1 case was used, so the system expects 9. Staff moved 2 cases to the front for the morning rush. Nobody records that move. At count time the front shelf is counted as 2 and the back room as 7. The count posts 9, matching the expected level, variance 0.
If you start a count on one area only, the other shelves of its items are listed at the bottom under Also stored elsewhere so they can be completed too. An item that is counted on some shelves but not others is held back at posting (see Step 3).
[SCREENSHOT: Stock Count screen in session mode with the progress card and a mix of counted (green check) and uncounted items]
Step 3: Review and Post
- Tap the check button in the top bar
- The review lists every counted item with three figures, and a shelf breakdown (for example "Front 2, Back 7") for items kept in more than one area:
- Expected: what BarSight thinks is on hand right now
- Counted: what you entered, added up across shelves
- Variance: counted minus expected. Red is a shortage, blue is a surplus, green is a match.
- Items under Partly counted were counted on some shelves but not others. They are skipped when you post, unless you tick Count blank shelves as zero, which treats their uncounted shelves as empty. Use that only when you know those shelves really are empty; otherwise go back and count them.
- If a line says "Was X when the count opened. Stock moved while counting", a delivery was received or stock was used while the count was open. The variance is still measured against the current level, so that movement is not reported as shrink.
- Add an optional note (for example "Month end count, walk-in door left open overnight").
- Tap the check button and confirm Post
Posting sets each fully counted item's stock to its counted total. Items you did not count, and partly counted items unless you ticked the zero option, are left exactly as they were. Posting needs Kitchen Inventory level 2 or an owner login; staff at level 1 can enter counts and leave the posting to a manager.
[SCREENSHOT: Review Count screen with the note field and several line cards showing Expected, Counted and Variance]
Voiding a count
If a count was started by mistake, open the three-dot menu (shown only while a count is open) and tap Void Count. Everything entered is discarded and stock is untouched. Whoever started the count can void it as long as no figures have been entered yet. Once anything has been counted, voiding needs the same access as posting.
Count History
Tap the history icon in the top bar to see past counts for this location, who ran them, when they were posted and how many items were counted. Tap one to see its variance lines. The list loads more as you scroll.
[SCREENSHOT: Count History list with Posted, Open and Void status badges]
Part 4: Recording Waste
Stock that is thrown out, used for staff meals or lost in prep comes off the store's level through a waste entry, so the next count does not report it as an unexplained shortage and the cost shows up on the waste report.
Step 1: Record the Waste
- On the Stock Count screen, tap the trash icon in the top bar
- Find and tap the item. Each row shows how much is on hand.
- Enter the quantity wasted in the unit shown, pick a Reason (Spoiled, Expired, Damaged, Staff Meal, Prep Loss or Other), change the date if it was not today, and add a note if it helps
- Tap the check mark and confirm
[SCREENSHOT: Record Waste screen with an item selected, the quantity box, the reason dropdown and the date row]
Waste comes off the oldest stock first, the same way a sale does, and carries that stock's cost. It can never take stock below zero: if you enter more than is on hand the app tells you how much there is. A saved entry cannot be edited or deleted, so check it before confirming. If an entry was wrong, the next count sets the level straight.
If a count is open at the location you will see a yellow warning. You can still record the waste; the count measures against the live level, so it will not double count it.
Waste History
Tap the history icon on the Record Waste screen to see what has been recorded at this location, newest first, with the reason, who recorded it and the cost. On the desktop, Reports → Kitchen → Waste lists a location's waste for a date range with the total cost and the cost by reason, and exports to Excel.
Tips and Best Practices
- Count each shelf, not the total. If flour sits in both dry storage and the prep area, enter what is on each shelf; the count adds them up. Stock levels themselves are held per location, so moving stock between areas never needs recording.
- Treat the first count after switching a store on as the baseline. Its variances are meaningless because the previous figures were never maintained. Variance becomes useful from the second count onward.
- Receive deliveries before you start a count when you can. The count can handle stock moving while it is open, but it is cleaner to start from a settled position.
- Count in the display unit. The unit shown under each item is the one to count in. BarSight converts to the stock unit for you.
- Use the note. A short reason on a count with a big variance saves a lot of head scratching at month end.
Troubleshooting
Problem: The Stock Count screen says "Inventory tracking is not enabled for this location."
Solution: The location is switched off in Kitchen → Inventory → Configure → Stock Tracking. An owner or kitchen settings manager can switch it on.
Problem: "A count is already open for this location."
Solution: Someone else started a count. Open the Stock Count screen to join it. If it was opened by mistake, the person who started it can void it while it is still empty; otherwise ask a manager to post or void it.
Problem: "That count is no longer open."
Solution: The count was posted or voided from another device while you were entering figures. The screen reloads to the current state.
Problem: "Nothing has been counted yet." when posting.
Solution: No item has a counted figure. Enter at least one count, or void the session.
Problem: "Every counted item is missing a shelf."
Solution: Each item you counted sits on another shelf that was left blank. Count those shelves (look under Also stored elsewhere on an area count), or tick Count blank shelves as zero on the review screen if they really are empty.
Problem: A received delivery did not change the stock level.
Solution: Check three things. The location is switched on for stock tracking. The purchase order line is linked to a kitchen inventory item (unmanaged lines never add stock). The item's purchase unit converts to its stock unit; if it does not, the line is received but skipped for stock and an error is logged for support.
Problem: "Only X of Item is in stock. Waste cannot take stock below zero."
Solution: The level on hand is lower than the waste entered. Record what is actually there, then run a count if the level itself is wrong.
Problem: "Could not convert the counted amount into the item's stock unit."
Solution: The item's display unit and stock unit are different types (for example litres and kilograms). Fix the units on the inventory item, then post again.