How do I perform an inventory audit?

What is the issue?

Periodic inventory audits are required for state compliance and financial accuracy. A failed audit indicates significant loss, theft, or data errors that must be reconciled immediately to prevent fines.

What’s causing the issue?

Inaccurate inventory counts are the result of missed sales, unrecorded breakage, or items being placed in the wrong physical bin.

How do I solve the issue?

1. Navigate to Products > Audits.
2. Click Create Audit and configure your audit filters (e.g., Room, Category, or specific packages).
   1. For Audit workflow, choose Advanced or Simple.
   2. Define the inventory you want to audit. 
   3. Choose whether you want to make this a Blind audit.
   4. Choose an audit Type of Manual or Scan.
3. Click Create.
4. When you begin auditing, your selected packages or packages matching your criteria are listed in the Uncounted tab. For each package, fill in the Counted Qty  (the actual quantity you have on hand).
   1. If you have a scanner connected to your device, you can scan a package to pull it up in the list, then enter its quantity.
5. The Expected Qty is shown next to the Counted Qty. 
   1. If the expected quantity and counted quantity match, the Confirm button turns blue. Click Confirm to move the package to the Counted tab.
   2. If the expected quantity and counted quantity do not match, the Adjustment Reason dropdown becomes active. Select an appropriate Adjustment Reason from the dropdown, as needed.
6. Once you’ve entered and confirmed a count for each package in the list, select the Counted tab. At this point, you can Edit a count as needed. Your changes will be automatically saved if you navigate away from the audit page.
   1. For Simple audits, click Adjust and close to complete the audit, adjust quantities, and report your adjustments to any integrated traceability system.
   2. For Advanced audits, click Submit. This does not complete the audit or adjust any quantities. Instead, this moves the audit into Needs review status. When the manager has completed their verification, they can click Adjust and close to complete the audit.

Note: Users can also start an audit directly from the Inventory page by selecting packages and using the "Audit packages" bulk action.

Commonly Asked Questions

• How can I do a full store audit?
• What do I do if my audit doesn’t match my physical count? 
• What do I do if my count for one item is way off from the POS system?

Additional Resources

• Guide to performing inventory audits
• View, filter, and search inventory audits in Dutchie POS
• Inventory audit types, workflows, and permissions in Dutchie POS
• Best practices for inventory auditing and reconciliation in Dutchie POS