Creating a counting session: five steps

In most counting apps the work revolves around a single unit: the session. It is the folder of one stock count, the place where you record what you are counting, when, with whom and where. A well-prepared session makes everything else run smoothly. A badly prepared one means correcting the list mid-count, adding people on the fly and fixing the reports by hand. Here are five steps, best done in this order.

Why a session matters

A session gathers all the entries of a count in one place. A full stock count carried out in April and a spot recount in June never get mixed up. Each session has its own list, its own participants and its own result, which later makes it easy to answer the question "what came out last time?".

The five steps

1. Name

Think about the name. "New session 1" will mean nothing later. A good name holds three things: the type of count, the date and the site. For example "Full, October 2026, Chilonzor warehouse" or "Cycle, groceries, week 3". A year on, the name still tells you what it was.

2. Date

Set the start time and the expected finish. Above all, know exactly when the booked balances were taken. If the list was loaded on Monday and the count happened on Thursday, the receipts and dispatches in between will show up as differences. Pull the balance file as close to the start of the count as you can.

3. List

The list is normally imported from Excel or 1C. The minimum columns are article, name, barcode, unit of measure and booked balance. Clean it before loading: remove duplicate articles, empty codes and stray blank rows. If one row is wrong, a worker will run into exactly that item during the count.

If you hold stock for Uzum or a Telegram shop, colour and size variants each need a row of their own, otherwise they merge into one position.

Many apps offer a blind count mode in which the counter cannot see the booked balance. This is very useful, because people then avoid unconsciously nudging a number so that the figures "match".

4. Participants

Add each participant under their own name and give them a role: counter, zone supervisor, observer. As an observer, for example, the warehouse owner or the accountant can follow progress but cannot change entries. Do not use a shared account, or you will not see who entered an entry. Add participants before the count, because a newcomer appearing after the start disrupts the order.

5. Zones

Distribute the participants among the zones and write in which places belong to each. Every counter then sees only their own part and does not wander into someone else's.

The check before launch

Set aside three minutes before starting the session:

• does the number of positions in the list match what you expected;
• has everyone logged in on their own phone and can they see the session;
• has one test entry been added and then deleted.

Closing a session properly

A session has its ending too. Once every zone is closed, the discrepancy list is reviewed, doubtful positions are recounted, and only then is the result exported to Excel or PDF. After that the session should be closed: nothing can be added to a closed session, and the result stays in the archive unchanged. At the next stock count this copy becomes the basis for comparison: which positions showed the most differences last time and what has changed since.

Common mistakes

• The session name and date are vague and nobody can find it two months later.
• The list was taken several days before the count.
• Participants logged in from one shared account.
• Zones were not defined and two people counted the same spot.
• The session was left open after the count and someone added an entry by accident.

Conclusion

Creating a session takes five minutes, yet the quality of the count is set right here: a clear name, the right date, a clean list, named participants and zones. If you want a finished result without organising the count yourself, order one from StockCheck: the team prepares the session, counts with scanners and hands over the discrepancy list.