How to do a stock count in a pharmacy (without closing for a day)

Why count at all

Stock goes out of step for ordinary reasons: a sale not billed, a purchase entered twice, a breakage nobody wrote down, a strip sold loose and billed as a box - and sometimes theft. A count shows the difference, and the pattern of differences shows the cause.

When to count

• A full count once or twice a year, for example before the financial year ends.
• A small count every week: one shelf, one company or the 20 most expensive items. Small, regular counts catch problems early and make the full count easy.
• Right away when a product's stock looks wrong at the counter.

Before you start

1. Finish entering all purchases and returns up to today.
2. Post every bill - nothing should be waiting unposted.
3. Print or open the stock list for the section you will count, with batches.
4. Choose a quiet time, such as after closing or early morning.

Count section by section

Do not try to count the whole shop at once. Take one shelf or one company at a time, count it completely, and mark it done. If you count during the day, do not sell from that shelf until its count is entered.

Count by batch, and check expiry while you are there

In a pharmacy the same medicine can have three batches with different expiry dates. Count each batch separately. While you hold each strip, check its expiry: pull out anything expired or expiring soon and put it aside for return.

Count loose units carefully

For medicines sold loose, count full packs and loose tablets separately, then convert to units. Most differences in pharmacies come from loose sales.

Compare and investigate

For each product, compare your count with the computer:

• Small differences on cheap items: correct them and move on.
• Big or repeated differences: look at that product's recent bills, purchases and returns before correcting. A purchase entered twice or a missed return is common.
• Expensive items short again and again: keep them behind the counter, and check who sold them.

Correct the stock - with a reason

When you correct the stock in your software, write the reason each time (counted, expired, broken, returned to company). Months later, the reasons tell you where the losses come from.

How Alpha helps

Alpha shows the stock of every product by batch with expiry dates, lists unposted bills so nothing is left out, and records each stock adjustment with its reason and the person who made it in the activity log. Expired and expiring-soon stock has its own lists, so the count doubles as an expiry check. See Alpha for pharmacies.