How to see what is due for a count and what has gone missing

Two tabs on Selling › Counts sit beside the list of counts. Due shows what has not been counted lately, and Shrink adds up what your posted counts found missing or found extra.

Both build on How to count your stock, part of What is Inventory?. They need View inventory in Settings › Permissions as well as View stock counts, and without it only the Counts tab shows.

How do you see what is due for a count?

Open the Due tab. A line at the top says how many items at the location have gone uncounted, such as 214 items at Showroom not counted in the last 90 days. Never counted first, then oldest.

When everything has had a recent count, it reads Everything at Showroom was counted in the last 90 days. With more than one location, a link for each sits above the line, so you can switch between them.

The table has Item, SKU, Last counted and Flags. Last counted reads Never or how long ago, such as 41 days ago.

What do the flags on a due item mean?

They mark items worth counting first:

• Went negative: Shopify's stock for the item went below zero.
• Big difference last time: its last posted count was off by your big-difference setting or more.

How do you start a count from the due list?

Tick the items you want counted and press Start a count of N items, such as Start a count of 25 items. Tideswell starts the count and opens it, and from there it runs like any other count.

The ticks and the button need Start stock counts, which starts at lead. See How to count your stock for the rest of the count.

How do you change how often items are due?

Use Count settings, at the foot of the Due tab. It shows to people with Rename organization in Settings › Permissions, which admins hold by default.

• Count every (days): how long before an item is due again. A whole number from 7 to 730, and 90 to begin with.
• Big difference (units): a review flags any line off by this many units or more. 10 to begin with.
• Big difference in your store's currency, such as Big difference (USD): a review flags any line off by this much value or more. 100 to begin with.
• Ask a second person to sign off a count before it posts: off to begin with.

Press Save, and Saved. confirms it. A line counts as a big difference when it crosses either threshold.

When should you ask for a second sign-off?

Turn it on when you want two people behind every change a count makes to Shopify. Each count then waits for someone other than the person who started it and the person who asked.

The steps are in How to count your stock, and the sign-off itself is decided on Buying › Approvals. See How to route a purchase order for approval.

How do you see what has gone missing?

Open the Shrink tab. It adds up every posted count in the period and splits the result into what was missing and what was found.

Choose a Period, Last 90 days, Last 12 months or Last 2 years, and how to group it: Month, Vendor, Product type or Location. The table shows Missing (units), Missing (cost), Found (units) and Found (cost), with a Total row.

At Fairgreen Golf Co., Priya Raman groups the last 12 months by Vendor before each buying trip, to see which ranges lose the most stock.

Why is the shrink table empty?

Because only posted counts feed it. A count still counting, in review or cancelled adds nothing, and the tab reads No posted counts changed any stock in this period.

Post the counts you have finished, or widen the Period. See How to count your stock.

Why are some units left out of the cost?

Because those items have no cost in Shopify. A line under the table names how many units and lines are left out of the cost totals, and the units are still in the table.

Fill in Cost per item on those products in Shopify. A count takes the cost when the item is counted, so the next counts of those items carry it.

Which day does a month start on?

On your store's clock. A line under the table names the time zone the months are cut on.

What if it asks you to confirm your locations?

Confirm which locations are yours, then come back. Shrink counts only stock you own, so until you confirm, the tab gives the reason and a Confirm which locations are yours link.

The link opens Buying › Data feeds › Open to buy, where you mark each location. See How to send your open-to-buy file to a buying planner.