Roles and permissions: who sees what

When many people take part in a count, the arrangement where "everybody sees everything and can change everything" seems the most convenient, but it is the most dangerous. It stays unknown who changed which figure, and a counter who sees the booked balance may fit their number to it. Roles solve this: everyone sees and does only what their job needs. Below: typical roles, the "blind count" principle and a simple routine for granting access.

Why roles are needed

There are three reasons. First, there are fewer mistakes: a person sees only their own zone and cannot enter a figure in another place by accident. Second, honesty improves: a counter who cannot see the booked balance will not nudge the figure towards the books. Third, responsibility becomes clear: every change is kept in a log with its author and time, so the argument "it wasn't me" cannot arise. Roles exist not to police anyone but to give everybody a clear rule.

The four main roles

• Counter. Sees their own zone and list, enters quantities and corrects their own entries. Does not see the booked balance, other people's results or prices. Cannot delete anyone else's entry.
• Zone lead. Follows progress in their zone: who has counted how much and which positions remain. Issues recount tasks and replaces counters. Cannot close a difference.
• Count manager. Creates the session, loads the list, adds participants, sees all zones and differences, and approves or rejects them.
• Observer: an accountant or auditor. Views and downloads reports but cannot change anything.

There is one more role: administrator. They manage users and roles but stay out of the count results. Usually there is one, two at most.

In a small warehouse one person may hold several roles, so long as the counter and the approver are not the same person.

The "blind count" principle

The counter is not shown the booked balance. They see the product name and code and enter what they actually saw. This removes the temptation to write a figure "to match the books", and if a difference appears it is a genuine difference, not a counting error. In a recount, it is also better to hide the previous figure.

Counting and approving are different people

The key rule: whoever counted does not approve their own result, and the warehouse head does not close the difference for their own warehouse alone. This is not distrust: two pairs of eyes let through fewer mistakes and fewer abuses. For a large difference, make approval two-stage. For example, a difference above a set amount must be seen by both the zone lead and the manager. The company sets the threshold itself, say from a million so'm.

Granting access step by step

An example. A warehouse is divided into four zones (A, B, C, D), each with two counters. A good trick is to assign the leads in a circle: the lead of zone B watches zone A, the lead of C watches B, and so on. Then nobody supervises their own zone. The warehouse head acts as count manager, and a large difference is also approved by the director or chief accountant. The routine is:

1. Before the count, draw up the list of participants: name, role, zone.
2. Give everyone one role, the smallest that does the job. Widening rights later is easy; narrowing them is hard.
3. Give temporary helpers a role for the counting day only.
4. At the start of the count, check that each person sees only their own zone on their screen.
5. After the count, close the temporary roles and review the change log.

Common mistakes

• One shared account for everyone: nobody can see who did what.
• The warehouse head counts their own zone and approves it too.
• Accounts of departed staff and one-off helpers stay active for months.
• A manager gives everyone administrator rights "out of trust": someone changes the list by accident and nobody notices.
• Roles exist but nobody ever opens the log, so the rule stays on paper.

Conclusion

Separating roles is not bureaucracy but a condition for trusting the result: the counter sees and counts, the lead follows, the manager approves. Having the count done from outside gives the same independence. If you order a count from StockCheck, the team counts while you and the warehouse head approve the books, and the result comes as an Excel or PDF file.