# Running stock counts

A count records what's on your shelves. Submitting it sets each counted item's stock on hand and shows how far it was from what Mays expected.

For: Admins, Managers · On: Web · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Inventory](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory) · Last updated October 10, 2026 · Mays Team

A count records what's on your shelves. When you submit it, each counted item's stock on hand is set to what you counted, and Mays shows how far that was from what it expected.

**Where:** **Inventory → Counts** on the web (the page is called **Counts / Audits**), or in the app. See [Counting inventory in the app](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/count-inventory-on-mobile). Counts started on a phone show up here too, and a draft can be finished on either.

## Start a count

1. Click **New count**.
2. Choose the type:
   - **Full audit**: every item at the location.
   - **Partial audit**: pick one or more **Categories** and, under **Specific items (optional)**, search for items to add. The count includes both.
3. Click **Start count**.

A partial audit with nothing picked counts everything, and the page warns you: *Pick at least one category or item, or this partial count will include everything.*

![The New count panel with Partial audit selected, Dairy & alternatives picked among the categories Bakery, Coffee & tea, Dairy & alternatives, Packaging, Produce and Syrups, Espresso beans added as a specific item, and the Start count button](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__stock-counts__01-new-count.c251077722.png)

## Count

The count sheet lists the items in the count. Narrow it down with **Storage**, **Category**, **Subcategory** and **Search**.

1. Type the amount in the item's **Count** box.
2. Change the **Unit** if you counted in another unit, such as cases. Mays converts it to the item's count unit.
3. Press Enter or click away. The line saves straight away, turns green and gets a ✓. The header shows how many items you've counted.
4. When you're done, click **Submit count**.

![A full count in progress: Storage, Category, Subcategory and Search filters, and nine items each with a count and a unit, all ticked as counted, with the Submit count button at the top](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__stock-counts__02-count-sheet.e16ac8dd84.png)

## What submitting does

For each item you counted:

- **Expected** is what Mays had on hand just before you submitted: your last count, plus deliveries, minus waste, sales and transfers since then, including the sales made earlier today.
- **Variance** is **counted − expected**. Red means less than expected; amber means more.
- On hand is set to what you counted, and the item's **Last counted** date on **Inventory → Stock** is updated. See [Stock on hand](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/stock-on-hand).

![A submitted full count with Counted, Source, Expected and Variance columns: 16 oz hot cups 6.5 against 7 expected, −0.5 in red; Avocados 11 against 12, −1; Oat milk 8 against 9, −1; Vanilla syrup 1.75 against 2, −0.25; Whole milk 5.5 against 5, +0.5 in amber; the rest match](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__stock-counts__03-submitted-count.45f4adec3f.png)

**Items you didn't count keep their old on hand**, even in a full audit. Leave an item blank only if you really didn't count it; type **0** if the shelf is empty.

## Counting at close

You can count at any time of day, at close included. If the location sells through Square or Union:

- **Submitting** first takes every sale made so far out of stock, so **Expected** already has the day's sales out.
- **Overnight,** sales made before the count aren't taken out again. Only sales made after it are.

See [POS mapping and automatic depletion](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/pos-mapping-and-depletion).

## Fix a mistake

A submitted count can't be edited. To correct it:

- **Count the item again** in a new count. The newest count wins.
- **Or delete the count:** click the trash icon on the Counts list, or **Delete** on the count. *Delete this count? This will recalculate on-hand stock.* Mays takes back the change the count made, except for items counted again since.

## Approving counts

The Counts list has an **Approved** column, but counts can't be approved from the web or the apps yet. Until they can:

- the **Approved** column stays empty;
- the start and end inventory on the **Theoretical** page and the **Actual vs theoretical** report have no counts to use (see [Theoretical vs actual usage](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/theoretical-vs-actual-usage));
- a **count variance** alert under **Insights → Alerts & Reports** doesn't fire, because it runs when a count is approved. See [Alerts and scheduled reports](https://www.mays.app/help/reports-insights/alerts-and-scheduled-reports).

## Good to know

- **Who:** admins, and managers at their own locations.
- **The Storage filter** only lists storage areas that came in with an import. To count shelf by shelf, use **Guided** mode in the app.
- **The count's date** is the day it was started.
- **Counting the same item on several shelves** (in the app) adds the shelves together when you submit.
- **Counts don't use AI credits,** including counting by voice or photo in the app.

## Related articles

- Inventory: [Counting inventory in the app](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/count-inventory-on-mobile) — Managers and admins can count stock in the Mays app, shelf by shelf or from one list, by tapping, typing, scanning barcodes or saying the count out loud.
- Inventory: [Inventory items](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/inventory-items) — Items are what you count, order and cost, like a carton of oat milk or a pound of espresso. Each has a count unit, other units such as a case, and vendor prices.
- Inventory: [POS mapping and automatic depletion](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/pos-mapping-and-depletion) — Map each item you sell in Square or Union to a recipe, and every night Mays takes that recipe's ingredients out of stock for what you sold.
- Inventory: [Theoretical vs actual usage](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/theoretical-vs-actual-usage) — Compare what your sales say you used with what you actually used. The Theoretical page shows each ingredient's deliveries, waste, transfers and recipe use.
- Inventory: [Placing purchase orders](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/purchase-orders) — Build orders from your par levels, send each vendor a PDF purchase order by email, and check what arrived against what you ordered.
- Inventory: [Inventory-count and restock tasks](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/inventory-count-tasks) — Add an Inventory Count task to a checklist so staff count a short list of items. Anything under its minimum becomes a Restock Order task for managers.
- Inventory: [Stock on hand](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/stock-on-hand) — See what a location has on hand right now, set each item's par level and spot what's below par. Counts, deliveries, waste, sales and transfers keep it current.
- Inventory: [Shelves and storage areas](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/shelves-and-storage-areas) — Set up each location's zones and shelves and give each item a home shelf, so your team can count shelf by shelf in the Mays app, in the order they walk the store.

## Still need help?

Send us a support request and a real person on the Mays team will get back to you.

[Contact support](https://www.mays.app/contact?topic=support) · [Call +1 (561) 286-3939](tel:+15612863939)

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/stock-counts