Conduct cycle counts with Square for Retail
Who is this article for?
This article is for business owners and their team members with inventory permissions who want to perform a periodic audit of a subset of their inventory with the Square Retail POS app. This is a feature available with Square for Retail Plus. Learn more about Square Staff and inventory permissions.
About cycle counts
Cycle count is a periodic auditing process where a subset of your inventory is counted at regular intervals to maintain accurate stock levels and identify discrepancies. It is recommended to conduct a cycle count for each item variation at least once every 90 days. With Square for Retail Plus, you can conduct inventory counts at regular intervals to maintain accurate stock levels.
Before you begin
Make sure to set inventory permissions with Square for Retail to allow your team members to perform cycle counts.
You will need a compatible barcode scanner if you prefer using a barcode scanner to perform a cycle count.
Complete a cycle count
- Tap Inventory > Stock counts from the navigation bar in your Square Retail POS app.
- Tap Count stock > Cycle count.
- Tap the search bar at the top of the screen and select the appropriate variation. Then tap Continue.
- Tap the item variation to input a quantity using the number pad, then tap the tick.
- Repeat this process across all applicable variations.
- Tap Next > Confirm.
- Tap Inventory > Stock counts from the navigation bar in your Square Retail POS app.
- Tap Count stock > Cycle count.
- Use a compatible barcode scanner or the built-in camera on your iPad or iPhone to scan the item.
- Continue to scan item duplicates individually, or tap the item list on the screen to input a quantity using the number pad. Then, tap the tick.
- Repeat this process across all applicable variations.
- Tap Next > Confirm.
Inventory counting is currently only available on iOS devices. This feature cannot currently be used on Square Register or Square Terminal.