Track inventory by location: count, receive and move stock

Help center / Stock and sales

Stock is counted by location. Every store has a Backroom and an Unassigned location, each fixture on the store map is a location, and you can add named locations, such as bins, in Locations. A product's total is the sum of its location counts.

Count stock at one location

1. Open Inventory and choose Count / alerts.
2. Pick the product and the stock location.
3. Enter the actual quantity at this location.
4. Optionally set a low-stock threshold in the "Low-stock alert at or below (units)" field, then save.

Use Count / alerts for opening counts, damage and corrections. It sets the quantity rather than adding to it.

Receive a delivery

1. Choose Receive stock.
2. Pick the product and the location the delivery goes to, such as the Backroom.
3. Enter the units and save. The product's total rises by that amount.

Move stock between locations

1. Choose Transfer stock.
2. Pick the From location and the To location. The destination can be in another store.
3. Enter the units and save. Both sides change in one save, the total never changes, and a transfer cannot move more than the From location holds.

How locations work

The Inventory table shows each product's total for the current store, its total across all stores, and a breakdown by location. Expand a product to see every location, including those not yet counted. A location nobody has counted stays uncounted: headoffis does not treat it as zero.

Each fixture you place on the store map becomes a stock location without any extra setup. Select it on the map to see its quantities and open Manage stock. For anything that is not a fixture, such as a stockroom shelf or a bin, add a named location in Locations.

What is a bin location?

A bin location is a fixed, labeled spot in a stockroom or warehouse, such as a bin, tote or shelf section, where a product is kept. In headoffis a bin is a named location like any other, so you can count, receive and transfer stock in and out of it.

The Backroom and Unassigned locations

Backroom inventory is the stock held off the sales floor. Use the Backroom location for it, and keep shelf stock on the fixture locations, so the store map shows what is on display. Use Unassigned for stock you have counted but not yet put in a place.

Low-stock alerts

When a location's count is at or below its threshold, the product appears in Alerts and the Inventory badge in the sidebar shows the count. Restocking above the threshold clears it. Leave the threshold blank to switch alerts off for that location, or set it to 0 to get a low stock alert only when the location runs out. Email and SMS alerts are previews only in this version: nothing is sent.

How to do a stock count

Count one location at a time, product by product, and enter what you see, not what the system expects. Do it before the store opens or at a quiet hour, so no sale lands between your count and your save. If a sale was recorded in Sales & stats after you counted, recount that product rather than entering the old figure.

The IRS notes in Publication 538 that a business that must account for inventories has to take a physical inventory at reasonable intervals and adjust its records to match. Ask your accountant what your business needs.

What is a cycle count?

A cycle count checks a small part of your stock on a rotating schedule, such as one aisle or one bin each week, instead of counting everything at once. Count / alerts works for this because it sets one product at one location without touching the rest.

Avoid counting a delivery twice

Receiving inventory with Receive stock adds to what is there. If you count the delivery afterwards with Count / alerts, enter the new full quantity, not the delivery again. A receipt followed by a count of the same units is fine; two receipts for one delivery are not.

Worked example

This is an illustration. Receive 100 units into the Backroom. Transfer 40 to Location 1 and 30 to Location 2. The product's total stays 100, with 30 still in the Backroom. A stock transfer between locations moves units without creating or losing any.

Good to know

• Counts are whole units.
• Planogram facings and checklist progress do not change stock. Only counts, receipts, transfers and sales do.
• Stock activity keeps the latest 2,000 movements, and Stock movement history lists receipts, transfers, counts and threshold changes.
• Export stock CSV respects your product and location filters.
• A location or product that holds stock cannot be removed. Move the stock or record a zero count first.

Common mistakes

• Using Receive stock to fix a count. A receipt adds units. Any inventory adjustment for damage, loss or a miscount belongs in Count / alerts, which sets the true quantity.
• Leaving stock in Unassigned. It counts toward the total, but no fixture or bin shows it.
• Counting during trading. A sale saved while you count makes your figure wrong by that sale.

Coming soon

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