Loss prevention · Retail

How do I fix inventory variance after a stocktake?

The stocktake is done and the numbers do not match the system. Before you adjust the book or start wondering who took it, slow down. Inventory variance is a process signal first: a delivery received twice, stock in the wrong spot, damage never written off, a count done in a rush. Investigate the gap, then coach the habit behind it.

Short answer

Freeze or log stock movement while you check. Recount the items that are out of tolerance with a second person. Give every gap a reason, such as a receiving miss, damage, a markdown, the wrong location, or unknown, before you write the system down. Then schedule a short cycle count on the items that keep coming up, rather than waiting for the next full stocktake.

Variance is not automatically theft

Variance is the difference between the book and the shelf, and it runs both ways. Overages matter as much as shortages: a positive gap on one SKU and a negative gap on a similar one often means the wrong item was scanned or received. Shelf variance is also a different pile from a till short and from customer theft. Keep them apart: process loss is covered in how to reduce retail shrinkage, your own team in preventing employee theft in a retail store, and customers in how to prevent shoplifting.

Run the count so the number means something

• Split counter and reviewer. One person counts, another checks. The person who received the stock should not be the only one counting it.
• Count units and locations. Back room, shelf, display, and returns pile are counted separately, so a “missing” item can turn up in the wrong spot.
• Do not adjust mid-count. Write down what you see. Fix the book after the recount, not while people are still counting.
• Blind recount above a simple threshold. Pick a line, such as a set number of units or a dollar value that matters to your shop, and recount anything past it without showing the counter the system figure.

Reason-code before you write it off

Every adjustment gets a reason: receiving, damage, markdown, mis-bin, or unknown. Receiving gaps go back to the docket and the person who signed for it. Damage and markdowns that were never recorded are a same-day logging habit to coach. Mis-bins are a layout or put-away fix. If “unknown” keeps repeating on the same SKU or the same shift, that is your coaching target, and it is a much shorter list than the whole stocktake.

When to pull floor or till context

Only after the reason codes. Match the remaining unknowns to a shift window: when the stock was received, moved, or sold. Check the till side for voids, refunds, and no-sales on the same items; why is my till always short? and how to stop staff stealing from the till cover that pile. A camera at the receiving door, the stock room, or the till can confirm what happened at that moment; see security cameras for a retail store and cameras vs POS. If a pattern survives all of that, how to catch employee theft fairly is the next step. Accusation comes last, not first. Running a cafe or restaurant stock room? The same piles apply in how to reduce restaurant shrinkage and employee theft in a restaurant.

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