Prepare one comparable counting line
Use the same item, location and base unit for both quantities. Write the snapshot time and note whether movements were paused or separately recorded. A physical count taken after a receipt cannot be compared fairly with a system quantity from before it without reconciling the receipt. Our worksheet simply subtracts the recorded amount from the counted amount. It cannot decide whether either number is correct. The accompanying note fields belong in your operational record, not in a public report containing customer or supplier details.
Read the sign before the percentage
A negative variance means the count is lower than the entered record; a positive variance means it is higher. Neither proves theft, waste, a failed integration or a particular employee’s mistake. The percentage uses the absolute recorded quantity as the denominator, so a zero record has no meaningful percentage. We show that explicitly instead of dividing by zero. Quantities may be fractional for a properly defined unit, but a count expressed in cases cannot be compared with a system number expressed in individual pieces.
An original discrepancy example
Imagine a fictional stock line recorded as 48 pieces with a count of 42. The arithmetic difference is minus six, or minus 12.5 percent of the recorded amount. Before approving a correction, the team finds a six-piece pick that occurred after the snapshot. That event may explain the difference without any missing stock. Alternatively, a recount could identify an unopened box. The same calculated variance can have several causes. Preserve the event evidence and the reviewed conclusion instead of using the calculator’s answer as the reason for an adjustment.
Verify the correction with an accountable person
If a correction is authorized, retain the old figure, new figure, reason, date and responsible person in the appropriate system. Recheck the affected record after saving and preserve unresolved differences for follow-up. This worksheet does not calculate financial write-offs or certify a stocktake. Its purpose is to make a quantity comparison explicit. Entries remain in the current page and are not uploaded or saved by the tool. For a repeatable count process, pair this arithmetic with a clear counting plan, movement cutoff and review responsibility.
Sources used for this page
These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.
- W3C: label form controls — Reference · w3.org · Publisher independence not verified · checked 2026-09-24