Field Notes
How to Prepare for an Inventory Observation Day
What your warehouse team should stage the night before the auditor counts stock—and what slows the day when it is missing.
inventory fieldwork
Inventory observation is often the longest single day of an audit. The auditor is not there to manage your warehouse; they are there to see whether the quantities on the stock sheets match what sits on the shelves.
The night before, freeze movements where you can. Goods received after the count cut-off belong on a separate dock list. Goods shipped after cut-off should not remain on the floor counted as on-hand stock. Label staging areas clearly so counters do not double-count pallets that have already been tagged.
Assign one person who knows the SKU map to walk with the auditor. When a bin is empty because product moved to a temporary overflow aisle, that guide saves an hour of searching. Bring the perpetual stock report printed or exported with the same cut-off timestamp the count sheets use.
If you hold consignment goods or customer-owned materials, segregate them before the count starts. Auditors will ask who owns those items; mixing them into company stock creates avoidable exceptions on the findings list.
Finish the day with a debrief: unresolved variances, damaged goods set aside, and any locations the team could not reach. Capturing those notes while memories are fresh shortens the follow-up week.