We have supported enough stock counts to recognise the gaps before counting them. Here are the five that turn up everywhere.
1. The "I'll put it back later" issue
An item leaves the warehouse for a customer, a test, a repair. Nobody records it, because "it's coming back". An unrecorded issue is a permanent issue in the numbers. Create a loan issue reason and record it: it clears in one click on return.
2. Two units for the same product
The case at the supplier, the unit at the till. If the conversion is not declared, every delivery skews the count. Declare the purchase unit, the sales unit and the factor once and for all.
3. Breakage never entered
A bottle falls, a sack tears. Someone sweeps, nobody records. At year end the gap is called "theft" when it was called "breakage". A dedicated adjustment reason costs ten seconds and saves a reputation.
4. Returns put straight back on the shelf
The item comes back, it is fine, it goes back on the shelf without a receipt operation. Physical stock rises, theoretical stock does not. Always go through a return operation.
5. Counting once a year
An annual count reveals a gap but never its cause. Rolling inventory — a few product families each week — finds the gap while people still remember what happened.
Where ZOUTI helps
ZOUTI Stòk keeps a timestamped, named trace of every movement, offers configurable adjustment reasons and schedules rolling inventory. It does not replace discipline: it makes the lack of it visible.