About Stocktakes

Learn how to undertake regular physical counts to keep your stock accurate.

Stocktaking is the act of physically counting your stock. Undertaking stocktakes regularly will allow you to see your exact stock on hand and identify any issues with your production processes. Craftybase allows you to take stock of your materials and products quickly and easily.

For a detailed tutorial on Stocktakes, please see our Introduction to Stocktaking.

Stocktaking is available in our Studio and above plans.


We'll cover:


Cycle Counting

As Craftybase is perpetual inventory software, stocktakes should be created regularly throughout the year using a Cycle Count approach. This means that instead of counting all stock at the end of the year, you will count small samples weekly or monthly to ensure accuracy with your usage and purchase records.

It is important to note that stocktaking should not be used to add or remove stock to the system. This feature is intended as a way to cross-check your physical inventory with your inventory in Craftybase.


Creating a stocktake

Stocktakes can be created via the Stocktake area. From there, you can select criteria to generate a list of either your materials, components or products to count. When the stocktake has been generated, a page will display to allow you to enter your physical count. 

Add, change, or remove a material stocktake

Add, change, or remove a product stocktake


Note: Components are considered materials for the purposes of stocktaking and are included in all stocktake lists generated.


Any differences in your count will be added automatically as an Inventory Adjustment, and your accuracy will be calculated and presented as an accuracy rating. This will let you know if any of your stock differences require further investigation.


For more information on why inventory stocktaking is important to your business, download our free Stocktaking Strategies for Handmade Success eBook.


Understanding the 'Last Stocktake Before' feature

The 'Last Stocktake Before' feature in the stocktake form is designed to help you identify items not included in previous stocktakes up to a specified date. By selecting a date, you should be able to focus on items that have not been checked since that date.

To add this:

  1. Navigate to the Stocktakes page via the ⋮ icon located in your top navigation menu and select Stocktakes
  2. Select Stocktakes. This page will be where your complete history of stocktakes will appear.

  1. Click the + Add Stocktake button that appears in the top right-hand corner of the page to add a new Stocktake.

  1. On the Add Stocktake form, after configuring the stocktake type, sampling method, categories, and total count size, scroll down to the Last Stocktake Before option.
  2. Click on the calendar icon to select the 'Last Stocktake Before' date.

  1. Click the Generate Items to Stocktake button. This will take you to a new page, where your list will begin generating. If your sample size is quite large, this can take a couple of minutes to complete.

Each stocktake item will be shown in a row on the table. Depending on the stocktake generated, the materials or products displayed will display the number of items that have not been counted since the Last Stocktake Before date.

Stocktake Accuracy Ratings

The stocktake accuracy rating calculates a percentage score and overall rating based on how close your Craftybase stock on-hand numbers were to your actual physical count. It is designed to give you a better idea of your accuracy between stocktakes to determine if your process needs to be improved.

For any score other than Perfect, we strongly recommend reviewing your adjustment history to determine the cause of the discrepancy and fix where necessary.


A score is assigned based on the following:

Accuracy Score Notes
0 Perfect Your physical stock was exactly the same as your calculated stock on hand in Craftybase.
+/- 2% Very Good Your stock numbers deviated by -2% to 2%
+/-5% Good Your stock numbers deviated by -5% to 5%
+/-10% Okay Your stock numbers deviated by -10% to 10%.
Above +/-10% Review Your stock numbers deviated by more than 10%.

N/A Your current stock is calculated as a negative, so no comparisons can be made. You'll want to review the cause of the discrepancy and re-create a stocktake if necessary.

Stocktake FAQs

Below are some common questions we receive about stocktaking.


How do I create a stocktake for my components?

At present, we don't have a dedicated stocktake feature for components. Components are however included in your material stock, so you can perform a stocktake for components by running a material stocktake. If you'd like to isolate your stocktake to specific components, you can use the category filter to do this.

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