What is a stocktake, and how often?

What is a stocktake? It is a full count of everything a venue holds in stock, item by item, at a set moment, with each item valued at its cost. In a restaurant, that means every bottle behind the bar, every case in the dry store, every container in the fridges and freezers, counted and recorded. The total value of the stock, compared with the last stocktake and the purchases in between, shows what the venue actually used.

A stocktake sounds like accounting, and it is. But it is also one of the most practical tools a manager has. It shows whether the food and drink cost is under control, where waste and losses are happening, and whether the stock on the shelves is sensible or tying up cash. Done badly, it eats a manager's day and produces numbers nobody trusts. Done well, it takes a couple of hours and produces numbers that lead to decisions.

This guide explains what a stocktake is, what it is for, how it differs from a quick restaurant stock count and from spot checks, the stock count frequency that suits venues of different sizes, a simple stocktake checklist, and how to make the count fast and reliable. It ends with a worked example and the common mistakes.

A stocktake is a full count of all stock, at a moment in time, valued at cost. The word means taking stock: finding out exactly what is there. In many businesses it is done once or twice a year; in restaurants, where stock moves quickly and costs matter every week, it is usually done monthly.

The wider practice of stocktaking is common to every business that holds goods; restaurants simply do it more often, because their stock is perishable and their margins are tight.

A stocktake has three main purposes. It gives the value of stock on hand, which the accounts need. It allows the cost of goods sold to be calculated: opening stock, plus purchases, minus closing stock. And it reveals problems: items that are disappearing faster than sales explain, items that sit untouched for months, and stock that has passed its date.

Without regular stocktakes, food and drink costs are guesses.

The most important use of a stocktake is the cost of goods sold. Take the value of stock at the last stocktake, add everything bought since, and subtract the value of stock now. The result is what was used. Divide by food sales for the food figure, and by drink sales for the drink figure.

Our guide to what is food cost, and which one you mean explains why this is different from the cost in the recipes.

Three kinds of count are often confused:

Each has its own purpose and frequency. Together, they give a full picture without a full count every week.

A weekly count of the most valuable items, perhaps the twenty or thirty that make up most of the stock's value, gives a good weekly estimate of food cost and keeps ordering on track. It takes far less time than a full stocktake and catches problems sooner.

Our guide to how to run a restaurant stock count properly covers the method.

Spot checks are short, unplanned counts of a few items that are valuable, easy to lose or often wasted: spirits, wine, premium meats, seafood. Count them and compare with what the records say should be there. A difference that keeps appearing points to a problem: waste, over-portioning, recording errors or theft.

Spot checks work because they are unpredictable. Do them at different times, and by different people.

The right stock count frequency depends on the size of the venue and how fast its stock moves:

Monthly is the most common frequency for a full stocktake in restaurants. It matches the monthly accounts, gives a regular food and drink cost, and is frequent enough to catch problems within a few weeks. Counting less often lets problems run for too long; counting fully every week usually costs more time than it is worth.

Do it on the same day each month, ideally the last day or the first, so the figures line up with the accounts.

Count more often when a problem appears: a food cost that jumps, a drinks figure that does not make sense, or a new team in the kitchen or bar. Weekly full counts for a few weeks can show where the problem is. Once it is fixed, return to the monthly rhythm.

Count more often too in very high-volume venues, where a month's stock movement is so large that problems become expensive quickly.

A stocktake should not take a whole day. If it does, something is wrong: the store rooms are disorganised, the count sheet is in the wrong order, items are counted in awkward units, or one person is doing it alone. With good preparation, two people can count a typical restaurant in a couple of hours.

The stocktake checklist below is designed to keep it short.

A simple stocktake checklist:

Count when stock is lowest and nothing is moving: after the last service and before the next delivery, often late at night or early in the morning. Make sure no deliveries arrive during the count, and that nothing is used until it is finished.

If the kitchen must keep working, count each area once and do not go back to it.

The biggest time saver is organisation. The day before, tidy each store room: like items together, labels facing out, opened items at the front. Make sure each item on the shelf matches an item on the count sheet. A store room that is easy to count is also easier to use every day.

The count sheet should list every item in the order it sits on the shelves, room by room, with its unit and its cost. Counters then walk through each area in order without jumping around. Update the sheet when items are added or removed from the menu.

Counting in pairs is faster and more accurate. One person counts and calls out; the other records. They can swap halfway. Pairs also reduce the chance of mistakes going unnoticed, and of anyone being tempted to fill in numbers without counting.

Where possible, include someone who does not work in that area every day, such as a manager counting the bar.

The people who know the stock count fastest, but the people who manage it should not be the only ones checking it. A common approach is for the head chef or bar manager to count with a second person from outside their area, often the general manager. That combines knowledge with independence.

Rotate the pairs from time to time. Fresh eyes notice things that become invisible to someone who sees the same shelves every day.

Counting looks simple, but small differences in method create large differences in the result. Train everyone who counts: how to read the count sheet, how to measure part units, how to handle items not on the sheet, and what to do with damaged or out-of-date stock. Agree how opened bottles and containers are estimated.

A ten-minute briefing before each stocktake keeps the method consistent, especially when a new person joins the count.

Count each item in the unit it is bought in: a case, a bottle, a kilogram. Record part units as decimals: 0.5 of a case, 0.3 of a bottle. For spirits, estimate bottles to the nearest tenth, or weigh them if accuracy matters. Agree how part units are measured, so everyone counts the same way.

Value each item at its latest cost from the supplier invoices. Using old prices understates or overstates the value of stock, which changes the cost of goods sold. Update the prices on the count sheet before each stocktake, at least for the most valuable items.

When the count is finished, check the total. Is the stock value roughly what you expected, given trade and deliveries? Are any items far higher or lower than last month? A sudden drop in an item with steady sales, or a large stock of something rarely used, needs a closer look before the figures go to the accountant.

Do not forget stock that is already in the kitchen: prepared sauces, portioned meat, opened bags, the mise en place in the fridges at each station. Some venues count it, some estimate it, some leave it out if it is small. Decide and be consistent, because leaving it out one month and counting it the next changes the cost of goods sold.

The bar is often where the largest losses hide: over-pouring, free drinks, breakage and theft. Count the bar carefully, including the stock behind the bar, the cellar and any storage. Count opened bottles accurately.

Our guide to bar inventory management without closing the bar covers counting a bar efficiently.

A stocktake is easier to read when waste is recorded. A simple waste sheet, listing what was thrown away and why, explains part of the gap between what should have been used and what was. Without it, waste and loss look the same.

Our guide to how to reduce food waste in a restaurant kitchen covers waste in detail.

Compare each stocktake with the last. Look for items whose use has jumped without a rise in sales, items that have not moved for two months, items close to their date, and a food or drink cost that has moved. Each points to an action: a portion check, a menu change, a smaller order, a conversation with the bar.

A stocktake is only as reliable as the purchase records between counts. If deliveries arrive short, or invoices are missing, the cost of goods sold will be wrong however carefully the stock is counted. Check every delivery against the order and the delivery note: quantities, weights, quality and temperature. Record any shortages and make sure credit notes arrive.

Make sure every invoice for the period reaches whoever calculates the figures before the stocktake is closed.

Sometimes a stocktake reveals losses that waste, portions and errors do not explain. Most of the time, there is an innocent cause: a delivery not recorded, a transfer to another venue, free drinks that were never rung through. Look for those first, and talk to the team before assuming anything else.

If losses continue in the same items, tighten the controls: spot checks, locked storage for the most valuable stock, every drink rung through the till, and a clear record of anything given away.

The stocktake at the end of the financial year matters more than the others, because it sets the value of stock in the year's accounts. Many accountants ask for it to be done carefully, sometimes with someone from outside the team present. Plan it in advance with the accountant, and keep the count sheets.

It is also a good moment to clear out items that have not moved for months.

The stocktake also shows whether par levels make sense. Items that sit well above par month after month are being over-ordered; items that run out between deliveries need a higher par. Use the stocktake to review the pars of the most valuable items.

Our guide to what is a par level explains how to set them.

Stocktakes can be done on paper, in a spreadsheet or in inventory software. For a small venue with a manageable number of items, a spreadsheet works well. As items, areas and people increase, software can make counting faster and the arithmetic reliable.

Our guide to spreadsheet vs inventory software covers when to move.

In a group, every venue should count on the same day, using the same method and units, so the results can be compared. Stock moved between venues must be recorded, or one venue's cost looks too high and another's too low.

Our guide to multi-venue operations covers what a group should standardise.

Here is an illustrative stocktake for a mid-sized venue. The figures are examples.

servearound does not hold stock or run stocktakes, so the counting stays in your own sheet or stock system. It provides the sales side of the picture: payment analytics shows what was collected, net of discount, and the menu report lists every dish that sold with its units, checks and revenue, which is what a stocktake's results are compared against. Each dish can carry its cost, so the menu report also shows gross margin.

When a dish runs out between deliveries, an 86 takes it off everywhere at once. See Analytics.

A full count of all stock at a moment in time, valued at cost.

Usually monthly, with a weekly count of key items and spot checks on high-value stock.

A stocktake counts everything; a stock count may cover only some items, often weekly, for ordering and estimates.

Quick, unplanned counts of a few valuable items, to catch losses early.

With good preparation and two pairs counting, a couple of hours for a typical restaurant.

When stock is lowest and nothing is moving, after the last service and before the next delivery.

Decide and be consistent. Leaving it out one month and counting it the next distorts the figures.

Calculate the cost of goods sold, compare with last month, and act on items whose use or stock looks wrong.

No. Count after the last service and before the next delivery, when nothing is moving. Most venues finish well before the next shift starts, as long as the store rooms were tidied the day before.

Check the obvious first: missing invoices, deliveries not recorded, transfers between venues, and items counted in the wrong unit. Most odd results have a simple cause, and finding it the same day is far easier than a month later. If nothing obvious explains the difference, recount the items concerned before drawing any conclusion. Keep a note of what was found, so the same mistake is easier to spot next time.

What is a stocktake? A full count of all stock, valued at cost, usually once a month. It gives the value of stock, the cost of goods sold and a picture of waste and losses. Alongside it, a weekly restaurant stock count of key items and occasional spot checks give earlier warnings without a full count every week.

Choose a stock count frequency that suits your size, use a stocktake checklist, organise the store rooms the day before, count in pairs from a sheet in shelf order, value stock at current prices, and compare each stocktake with the last. Done this way, it takes a couple of hours and produces numbers that lead to decisions.