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Restaurant stock-take checklist for cafés and kitchens
A stock take is how you catch gaps before they cost you money: items that vanish, items you over-order, and items you run out of. This checklist keeps it simple.
Two kinds of counting
| Order count | Full stock take | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Decide what to order | Know what you hold and what it's worth |
| How often | Daily or every delivery day | Monthly for most items; weekly for expensive or fast-moving ones |
| Detail | Quick look, rough quantities | Exact count of every item |
| Who | The person closing | Two people, one counts and one records |
Most small kitchens do order counts all the time and a full stock take less often. Both are useful. This checklist covers the full count; the order count is a shortened version of it.
1. Before you count
- ☐ Pick a quiet time: after closing or before opening. Avoid the days before Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali, when everything is moving.
- ☐ Process paperwork first: today's deliveries, returns and transfers between outlets.
- ☐ Freeze movement: no receiving, no transfers, no cooking from stock during the count. If you must keep selling, note the exact time you started.
- ☐ Tidy each area. Label shelves, turn labels outward, put loose items back with their kind.
- ☐ Print or open your item list, in the same order as your shelves.
2. Assign roles
- ☐ Counter: counts and says the number aloud.
- ☐ Recorder: writes it down or enters it on the phone.
- ☐ Checker (optional): re-counts a sample, such as your 10 most expensive items.
3. Count by area, not by item
- ☐ Walk the same route every time: dry store, chiller, freezer, bar, packaging, cleaning supplies.
- ☐ Count everything in one area before moving on. Don't count the same item in two places.
- ☐ Count opened and unopened stock. Estimate partial packs (for example, half a bag) consistently.
- ☐ Use the same unit your supplier invoices in. If you order eggs by the tray, count trays.
- ☐ Check expiry dates as you go. Move older stock to the front, and note anything close to expiring.
4. After you count
- ☐ Compare with what you expected: last count plus deliveries, minus what you used or sold. Flag anything that's off by more than you'd accept.
- ☐ Re-count the flagged items before you decide it's missing.
- ☐ Record waste, spoilage and staff meals so they don't look like theft or errors.
- ☐ Decide what to order, using what you have and what you'll need until the next delivery.
- ☐ Save the count with the date and who did it.
5. Make it a habit
- ☐ Same time, same route, same people where possible.
- ☐ Keep your item list current: add new items and remove ones you no longer stock.
- ☐ Review the numbers once a month. Look for items that keep going missing.
Tired of paper and retyping? With TapStok, staff enter what's needed on their phones, the list is grouped by supplier, and each supplier's order opens in WhatsApp ready to send.