Stock count & order

How it works

1. 1 Say who delivers and when: the days the truck comes, when the order has to be in, and what they do on a holiday. Then list your items by where they sit, with the case size.
2. 2 Walk the shelves and count on your phone, one area at a time. Each item shows what will be left when its next truck comes.
3. 3 Get one order per supplier, rounded up to whole cases, with a warning for anything that runs out first. Copy it, share it, or print a purchase order for each.

Free, with no account. The count, the orders and every download are worked out in your browser: your counts and prices are never sent to us. Remember is off unless you turn it on, and then keeps your items, suppliers and last count on this device only, so next time it can tell you how much you really used.

Good to know

How is the order worked out?

It starts from what you'll still have when the truck comes: today's count, less what you'll use before then, plus anything already ordered that hasn't arrived. Then it works out what you need to last until the truck after that, with a little extra in case it's busy, and orders the difference. Everything is rounded up to whole cases, because nobody sells half a case of lids.

Weekly use or par level?

A par level is the amount you want on the shelf once the order is in; the tool orders whatever fills it back up. Weekly use is how much goes in a usual week; the tool works out how much the next gap between trucks needs, so a longer gap gets a bigger order. Mix them item by item. Count twice with Remember on and it works out what you really used, and offers that as the new weekly use.

What about long weekends?

Many suppliers don't deliver on a public holiday, so the gap to the next truck gets longer just when it's busy. The tool marks each Ontario public holiday on the delivery strip and orders for the longer gap. Whether a supplier skips the day or comes the day after is up to them: ask your rep and set it for each one. The Civic Holiday in August isn't one of the nine public holidays, so check that one too. See Ontario's public holidays.

HST on a purchase order

The purchase order adds 13% HST to the items you tick, as an estimate; the supplier's invoice is what counts. Basic groceries are zero-rated, so no GST/HST is charged on things like most milk products and coffee beans. Packaging and cleaning supplies are generally taxable (verify). See CRA's memorandum on basic groceries.

Stock value at year-end

A count at the end of your fiscal year gives you the closing stock for your taxes. CRA lets you value items at cost or fair market value, whichever is lower, and expects the same method each year; see inventory and cost of goods sold. The spreadsheet download has each item's count and its value at cost. Keep it with your records, generally for six years from the end of the tax year it relates to; see how long to keep records.

Counting tips

Count in the same order each time, before a delivery is put away rather than after. Count opened packs as part of one: a half-used sleeve of cups is a half. Move the older stock to the front as you go, so it's used first. The blank count sheet prints the shelves in your walking order, for a clipboard on count day.

Guidance, not legal or financial advice.