As with just about everything else in business, there’s a right way and a wrong way to conduct an inventory count. While a few errors here or there may still occur even with the best inventory management strategy, an influx of consistent blunders could be costing your organization money. Here are 7 of the most common inventory count mistakes to avoid making in your own business.

Inadequate Preparation – Conducting inventory counts is no easy feat, especially for companies that house a large volume of stock items. It takes time and preparation to get an accurate count. Without such prep work, important items could be missed and costly disruptions and delays in operations could result.

Inaccurate or Missing Items – Are you accounting for everything you should be when checking your inventory? It’s important to remember that inventory doesn’t necessarily include only what’s stocked on your warehouse shelves. You may also need to include things like fixed assets and external inventory items in order to get a truly accurate count.

Overlooking Errors – When counting inventory, chances are you’ll run into some type of discrepancy. Failing to reconcile and resolve such errors at the time they’re discovered, no matter how minor they may appear to be, could result in wasted time and money for your business.

Lack of Control System – When and where you conduct your inventory count can also impact the outcome. For best results, inventory should be counted in a controlled environment, such as after-hours with a select number of employees taking part. The more control you have over the process, the less likely errors will occur.

Not Being Timely – Inventory counts are important undertakings and shouldn’t be left for end-of-year. To maintain a more accurate count and subsequently avoid over or understock situations, make inventory a regular occurrence. Not only does this make the process more manageable, but it also provides the opportunity to identify issues such as shrinkage so they can be addressed right away.

Using Dated or Inadequate Programs – If you’re still using an Excel spreadsheet to manage your inventory, chances are your business is paying the price financially. These antiquated systems simply don’t have the features and capabilities that software designed specifically for inventory management does.

Being in Over Your Head – The last mistake many organizations make when it comes to inventory management is attempting to handle the task alone with little to no experience or knowledge about the process. In these instances, enlisting the help of a professional may make more sense. If you could use some assistance in this department, contact us today. We’d be happy to help!