Stocktake

Stocktake

A stocktake is a physical count of everything you hold, valued at what you paid for it, used to work out what a period actually consumed rather than what it should have.

The formula it exists to feed

usage = opening stock + purchases - closing stock

That single line is the only way to see waste, spoilage, over-portioning, breakage and theft, because none of them appear in a recipe. Compare it against what your recipes say you should have used; the difference is the finding. See food cost percentage.

Counting rules that decide whether it is worth doing

Count at the same point in the cycle every time. Before deliveries, after production, same day of the week. Count on a Tuesday once and a Friday next time and the variance you measure is the timing, not the kitchen.

Count in the unit you buy in. Convert once, at costing time. Counting in grams what you buy in sacks introduces a conversion error into the valuation itself.

Weigh partial containers. Estimating a tub as "about half" is the single biggest source of error on high-value items. Record each container's empty weight once as its tare.

A full count is not always the right tool. Cycle counting a rotating subset each week, weighted toward fast-moving and expensive items, catches drift far sooner than a quarterly full count and takes less time in total.