Preparing your warehouse for a year-end count
A disciplined two-week run-up removes most of the pain from year-end counting. Here is the checklist our teams use on client sites.
A year-end count fails or succeeds before the first item is scanned. Preparation determines whether your team spends the night counting or the following week investigating.
Two weeks out, freeze the master data. No new SKU codes, no location renames. Print and verify bin labels, and resolve any unlabelled or duplicated locations. Clear the receiving dock — goods in transit are the single largest source of unexplained variance.
One week out, agree the cut-off with finance in writing: which documents are in scope, and what happens to shipments that leave mid-count. Brief counting teams on the tolerance thresholds and the escalation path for exceptions.
On the day, count in zones with independent verification of high-value areas. Record variances as they occur rather than at the end — the context needed to explain a discrepancy disappears within hours.
Afterwards, the count report should do more than restate quantities. It should identify the locations, categories and processes generating variance, so next year's count starts from a better position.
