Physical Counts in Heartland Retail allow you to count inventory in a location in two ways: (1) a partial count, which is a subset of inventory and (2) a full count, which is a complete count of an entire location.

You can also (1) scan items to update quantities or (2) import quantities as part of a count.

After a completed count (partial or full, scanned or imported quantities) is accepted by the user, Heartland Retail performs the necessary inventory adjustments to make your inventory balances match exactly what was specified in the counts.

This article explains how to use the Counts feature.

Creating a Count

1.) Navigate to Inventory > Counts in the top navigation menu.

2.) Click the “New" button to start a new count.

3.) Click the "Set" link to choose the location you are counting.

4.) Select the reason you want to use for the count.

Note: Adjustment reasons are customizable. We recommend that you create an adjustment reason called "Physical Count."

5.) Select either the "Partial Count" or "Full Count" option.

6.) Click the "Save" button to move on to the next step.

What is the difference between a Partial Count and a Full Count?

A partial count is a way for you to count a subset of your inventory instead of the entire store at once. For example, if you wanted to count only a particular style of inventory, you would set up your count as shown below:

If you wanted to count the entire store's inventory and not just one style, you would set up your count this way:

Setting up Count Batches

You can scan your inventory directly into Heartland Retail using your POS barcode scanner. Items are scanned into "batches." Batches are a way to help you organize the store into sections that are easier to count. During the count, you scan inventory directly into each batch. You can work on multiple batches at once (so multiple people can be scanning into different batches at once) and you can start a batch and then come back to it. During and after a count, you will see a batch total quantity within the batch and you will see a total quantity (of all batches) on the count page. You can create as many batches as you wish within a single count. You can be scanning into multiple batches at once. You do not 'complete' batches as you can start a batch and later come back to it, you complete the count, not the batch.

Tip: Batches are also a great way to have multiple people scanning into the count at the same time. It's fine for multiple people to scan into the same count at the same time, we just recommend that they scan into separate batches.

To make the counting process as efficient as possible, we recommend that you plan and create batches prior to starting a count.

To create a batch:

1.) Click the "New" button on the count page under the "Batches" heading. That will take you to this popup:

2.) Click the "Create Batch" button to save the new batch.

You have successful created a batch! Note: You can't add inventory to a batch until you have started the count. In order to start scanning items into a count, you need to click the "Start Counting" button.

After you click the "Start Counting" button and confirm "Yes, start counting", the status of the count will change from "Pending" to "Counting."

Now, it's time to start scanning! You can create as many batches as you wish within a single count. You can be scanning into multiple batches at once. You do not 'complete' batches as you can start a batch and later come back to it, you complete the count, not the batch.

Counting

There are two ways to complete a count: either by scanning into the count or by importing a spreadsheet.

To scan:

1. Within each batch, use your barcode scanner to scan all inventory in the store into batches.

Note: If an item won't scan or is missing a barcode label, you can manually add items to a batch using the "Find" button.

2. Once you have finished counting, click the "Done Counting" button.

To import your quantities:

1. Within a count batch, click the "Import Lines" button. 

Important:  Please note that to import quantities, you have to first create a batch as the 'import lines' button is found within a count batch.

2. On the resulting page, upload your spreadsheet (or download a template if you need one).

For more information about how to import quantities into a physical count, click here.

Canceling Counts

If a count was started in error or needs to be canceled for other reasons, you can click the "Cancel" button to cancel the count.

Important: Be careful. Count cancellation is irreversible. If you cancel a count after you have scanned the entire store, you will then need to scan the entire store again.

Finalizing Counts

Once you have finished counting, you need to click the "Done Counting" button.

Once a count is done, it moves into the "Approval" stage. Any user with the "Review discrepancies and accept physical counts" can then look at the count and review any discrepancies before accepting the count (and adjusting the inventory).

Reviewing Discrepancies

The "Discrepancies" tab on the count will display all items that are expected to be included in the count but are not. For example, for the partial count of the "Allen Sweater" style that I described above, take a look at these discrepancies:

As shown above, there is a whole size run of green Allen Sweaters that was not counted. The person reviewing the count can then work with the store to determine if these items are actually in the store or not and update the count qty accordingly.

In the event of a partial count, every item with a positive expected qty will be displayed on the "Discrepancies" tab.

While you can edit the counts directly on the "Discrepancies" tab, you can also click the "Return to Counting" button to go back and make corrections on the count batches as well.

Accepting Counts

Once you have reviewed the count for accuracy, you need to accept the count. Upon count acceptance, inventory in Heartland Retail will be adjusted to match the exact count quantity provided.

Important: Because inventory will be adjusted to match the exact count provided, you can actually "zero out" a location using the Count feature. If an item has qty on hand in the system when you complete the count, but the item is not included in the count, that item's qty will be adjusted to zero when the count is completed.

Once you click the "Accept Counts" button, the inventory adjustments will be processed. Depending on how many adjustments need to be processed, this can take up to a minute or two.

Once the adjustments have been completed, a green success message will appear telling you that the count was successful. The count's status will change from "Approval" to "Complete."

Reporting on the Count

Once the count has been successfully completed, you can build a report on the adjustment and view all changes that have been made.

First step of building the report is to set the date range to be the day you performed your physical count.

You then want to select the groups tab and add in "Inventory » Adjustment Reason". You will also want to add in the Item number, description, and any other information you would like to help identify what has been adjusted.

From there you will go to the metrics tab and select "Inventory Adjustments » Net Adjusted Qty". You can also add in the "Inventory Adjustments » Net Adjusted Cost if you would like more information.

You are now ready to run the report and can save it as well to use in the future. From here you can export the data as well if you would like to further analyze or report on it.