Stock in Katana is automatically updated in real-time, but for many manufacturing businesses, it’s common practice to also perform regular stock counts (i.e. stocktake, inventory, or cycle count) to ensure that all stock is recorded correctly. Stocktakes are usually done on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis, with some companies requiring it for audit purposes.
If you need to audit on a regular basis for a specific group of products, then you'll want to perform a cycle count. Cycle counting over time will usually end up counting all your goods.
Performing a cycle count is similar to doing a full stocktake, except you limit the counting to certain item categories or only some selected items.
Create a stocktake
Navigate to the Stock screen.
Click on Bulk actions from the top right and select Create stocktake from the dropdown to create a stocktake document that includes all item variants with their stock quantities.
If performing a cycle count, use column filtering and/or the checkboxes to specify the stock you wish to count.
Note: Stocktakes are created per Location. If you have more than one Location in Katana, you’ll need to perform a separate stocktake for each. You can change the stocktake’s location if the stocktake status is still on Not started. When changing location, the quantity in stock will change accordingly.
If you’re using batch tracking, all the batches for each batch trackable item will have a separate stocktake row. Batch tracking is a feature of the Advanced and higher plans.
Before stock counting, review and adjust the stocktake document if needed:
Add a reason for this Stocktake
Delete rows that won't be counted
Add additional rows
Write notes where useful.
Begin counting stock
To prevent the quantity in stock from changing, we recommend stopping business operations for items on the stocktake until the stocktake is completed.
Navigate to the Stock screen and select the Stocktakes tab.
Open a stocktake and change its status to → Work in progress.
Setting the status to Work in progress saves each row's stock quantity. The stock quantity on the stocktake will save the quantity of each row at the moment of setting stocktake Work in progress and if the stock quantity is changed by other operations i.e. purchase order or manufacturing order, then this will not reflect on the stocktake. Saving the quantity lets you review any discrepancies after the stocktake status is updated to Counted.
After setting the stocktake to Work in progress, the Quantity in stock column is replaced by the Counted quantity column.
Note: If your team needs to count your inventory levels on paper, you can print the stocktake document by choosing the print icon on the stocktake. This way, your team can write all the counted quantities on paper, and you fill the counted quantities in Katana stocktake based on the results.
Count the items and update the Counted quantity column for each item variant/batch row.
If you're using barcodes for your items, you can use a barcode scanner to identify and count item variants/batches and automatically update their counted quantity.
Barcode scanning is available on Katana's Advanced and higher plans.If you find items in stock that aren't on the list, just add a new stocktake row, search for the item, and add the amount counted.
If you're using a barcode scanner during the stocktake and scan an item that isn't in stock, a new stocktake row is automatically added with the item's variant/batch number. The item's quantity will equal the number of times the barcode is scanned.
When the entire stock is counted, you can choose what to do with item variants listed on the stocktake but not found in stock.
Select the Mark all remaining items as counted checkbox to set the quantity to "0" for any stocktake rows that were left blank. The stock levels for these item variants will also be adjusted to 0 after the stocktake is completed.
Leave Mark all remaining items as counted unchecked if you want the stock quantity for items that were left blank to remain unchanged after the stocktake is completed.
After counting has been completed, change the stocktake status to → Counted.
Complete the stocktake
Once the stocktake status is changed to Counted, a full report is generated with the results.
With the Counted status you can examine the stocktake to review discrepancies between the quantity in stock and counted quantity - pay attention to any notes left on a stocktake row.
Delete rows that you want to be left off the Stock adjustment and recount them later.
When you're ready to allow the stocktake to create adjustments in stock according to the counted quantities, change the stocktake status to Completed, and a Stock adjustment will automatically be created, which will change the quantity in stock to the counted quantity.
Note: By default, Katana updates only stock quantities from the stocktake once the stocktake is complete, leaving the Average cost field for items untouched in Katana. To change average cost, you'll need to head to do the changes in the stock adjustment created by the stocktake or using the update stock levels through import.
The Stock adjustment link is shown on the Stocktake document after it is completed:
If you change a Stocktake status from Completed back to another status, the Stock adjustment created by the stocktake will be automatically deleted and all the changes in inventory done by stock adjustment are reversed.
Tips and tricks
If counting stock with multiple users, have each person filter by a product or category in stocktake so each can count their part section of the stocktake.
Write notes about items you want extra attention given to when counting.