Inventory counts are currently available on the web dashboard. Counting in the POS app on your iPad or iPhone is coming soon.
An inventory count is how you make sure the stock in Material matches what's actually on your shelves. You walk the store scanning items, on your own or with your team. Material compares what you counted against what it expected, and nothing changes until you review the results and apply them.
Before you start
- Counts are per-location. If you have multiple locations, you'll pick one for each count.
- Counts are for recounting products already in Material. If you scan a barcode Material doesn't recognize, the scan is flagged so you can follow up, but a count can't create new products or bring unknown items into your catalog. Add new products from the Products page first, then count them.
- Anyone with "Add and edit" access to Inventory Counts can create counts and scan items. Applying a count to your stock (or canceling one) requires Full Access. Owners, admins, and managers have Full Access by default; cashiers can count but not apply.
Start a new count
- Go to Inventory → Counts in the sidebar and click New count.
- Choose the Location you're counting.
- Optionally narrow the Scope to specific Vendors or Departments. Leave both empty to put your whole store in scope. Picking multiple vendors includes items from any of those vendors, and the same goes for multiple departments. If you pick both vendors and departments, only items that match both are included: for example, choosing Nike and your Tops department counts only Nike items in Tops. The preview below shows exactly what you'll be counting, for example "480 SKUs and 48 units in scope at Glenview."
- Decide what happens to items no one scans. Check Remove unscanned SKUs from stock for a true wall-to-wall count: every in-scope item is included, and anything unscanned drops to zero when you apply. Leave it unchecked to only update the items you actually scan, which is a good fit for spot checks and cycle counts.
- Optionally use Add employees to include your team. You're included automatically.
- Click Start counting.
We recommend splitting a big count up by department. Parallel counts are fine, just make sure two people aren't counting the same shelf.
Count your items
- Click Start scanning. You can scan barcodes with a barcode scanner, click Use camera to scan with your device's camera, or type a barcode in.
- Each scan adds 1 to that item's count. Scan again for each unit, or use Set quantity to enter a total (say, 12 of the same shirt). Made a mistake? Click Undo.
- No barcode on the item? Use the Add Product search in the Items list to find it and enter a quantity.
- Everyone you added counts from their own device, and progress saves automatically.
- Employees click I'm done when they finish their part. If you created the count, you won't see that button; clicking Review count marks your own session as done and opens the review.
Review before anything changes
The review screen shows what was counted, the unit and cost change, and who counted. A few things to look at:
- The Discrepancies tab shows items where the counted number doesn't match what Material expected.
- If you chose to zero unscanned items, the Will be zeroed tab lists everything that no one scanned. Check this carefully before applying.
- Material flags anything worth a second look, like stock that moved between scans, and recommends what to do. Use Scan history on any line to see exactly who counted it and when.
- Not done after all? Click Continue counting to go back.
Apply the count
Click Apply count and confirm. Material updates your stock and creates adjustment orders you can find linked on the count record, so there's always a paper trail. If your counted quantities matched expected stock exactly, no adjustments are needed and none are made. Applying finishes on its own; you can close the page.
Canceling a count
From the Actions menu, choose Cancel count. All entries are kept for reference, but no stock changes are applied. This can't be undone.