When you have a big business, it’s easy to hire an entire team and let them handle inventory operations for you. But the story isn’t so sweet for the small store owner.

Small store owners have to do most of the job themselves, either because of a lack of income, lack of man-power, or a combination of both. If you’re a small store owner, and find it difficult for yourself to conduct exact inventory counts and audits, then this is for you.

Here is how you can master the art of inventory counting like a pro:

Divide & Conquer

The reason inventory counts and audits become so time-consuming is because people often go in head-first without proper planning. The best way to make the task as easy as possible is by dividing your warehouse or storage units into sections of similar categories of products. Count in sections, and tally the resulting amount.

Sectioning your warehouse before counting helps make the task a lot easier and faster, so that you don’t have to waste precious time and energy.

Set A Cut-Off Date

Majority of the times, inventory functions never stop; there will always be a point where some product is being brought in, or some item is being sent out. This causes your stock levels to fluctuate, which makes inventory counting even more of a headache. The best solution for that is to set a cut-off date – i.e. a date when inventory audit will be conducted, and any product coming after that date will not be counted for the time being.

This makes sure you have a threshold to stay under, and give accurate numbers for a specific date and time.

Choose A System For Damaged Goods

There may be instances you find broken, expired or obsolete products you don’t need hidden in your warehouse. Instead of letting them fall under the rug, be sure to include them as a separate count while conducting inventory audits. This shows how much of your inventory is being put to good use, and how much of it is being wasted. It also helps put into perspective the kinds of products you don’t need, or that are unpopular compared to others.

Use Accurate Procedures

This goes without saying, but you can’t hope to do accurate inventory audits if you don’t use accurate procedures. Although manual counting methods are what most small store owners have to rely on, using an automatic system like barcode scanning and electronic tallying can do them wonders.

You might be wondering, “That must be expensive!”

But we’re here to tell you that now you have a great option: Oscar Lite.

This free Udhaar and POS app has all important POS features like sales, analytics, product listing – and inventory. The app lets you conduct inventory audits through the app or the website seamlessly, so that you don’t miss out on a single item. This saves you a lot of precious time and energy.


A successful store owner is one who has both front and back ends of their store in control. With good business tools and procedures, any small store owner can do inventory audits and counts like a pro.