Receive, adjust and count inventory with Square for Retail
About inventory management
Efficient inventory management helps streamline operations, reducing the time and costs associated with stocking, reordering, and warehousing. It ensures that products are available when customers want to buy them.
With Square for Retail Plus, you can receive, adjust and count your inventory right from the Square for Retail POS app on iOS devices, Square Terminal, Square Stand and Square Register.
Before you begin
You have three main stock actions that you can take from the Square Retail POS app.
Receive stock: When you receive stock, you can add stock units by individual item or across multiple items in bulk.
Adjust stock: You can adjust stock levels and attribute reasons, such as loss, theft, or damage.
Count inventory: At regular intervals, you can do a full count of your inventory.
You can transfer stock between locations using a barcode scanner with your online Square Dashboard — but keep in mind:
Stock transfers are only available through the Square Dashboard at this time.
Bluetooth scanners must be in Keyboard mode to work with a desktop or laptop computer.
Incremental adjustments on Square Dashboard can only be made by clicking on the quantity and typing in the amount at this time.
Receive Stock
- Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory.
- If you’re using Square for Retail on an iPhone, tap the list icon to view Inventory.
- Tap Stock Overview > Receive Stock.
- Search or scan items to receive stock > enter stock amounts. You can also scan the same item numerous times to receive multiple stocks, or scan multiple items once and adjust their quantities afterwards.
- To edit vendor and item information, including the item unit cost, tap the appropriate items from your Stock Overview and edit the information from the pop-up screen.
- When you’re finished, tap Confirm Receive.
Bulk Receive Stock
You can also receive stock in bulk from your Square for Retail POS app by using a compatible barcode scanner. To do so:
Make sure your barcode scanner is connected.
Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Add Stock > Receive Stock.
Scan all relevant barcodes that you’d like to add > click Next.
Review all item information and add vendor information and unit cost, if applicable > click Continue.
From the stock added confirmation, confirm the number of items added.
Exiting the screen while receiving stock will not save the scanned inventory added. If you’re receiving hundreds of new items, make sure to periodically commit your work by saving all the items and their counts.
Adjust Stock
You can adjust stock levels from Your Square for Retail POS app.
- Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Items.
- Scroll through your item list or use the search bar. Tap on the item once you find it to view the item details page.
- Tap the highlighted number for Current Stock.
- Select a reason, enter the new stock number, and tap Save.
You can adjust stock levels from your Square for Retail POS on Square register.
- Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Items.
- Scroll through your item list or use the search bar. Tap on the item once you find it to view the item details page.
- Click Stock on hand > Manage Stock > Stock received.
- Add the stock number
- Tap Save.
You can adjust stock levels from your Square for Retail POS on Square terminal.
- Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Items > All Items.
- Scroll through your item list or use the search bar. Tap on the item once you find it to view the item details page.
- Click Manage Stock > Stock received.
- Add the stock number > Tap Done.
- Tap Save.
Count inventory
With Square for Retail Plus, you can easily perform cycle counts from your iPad or iPhone manually, using a compatible barcode scanner, or using the built-in camera on your iPhone or iPad.
- Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory. If you’re using Square for Retail on an iPhone, tap the list icon to access Inventory, then tap Stock Overview.
- Tap Adjust Stock > Count.
- Tap the search bar at the top of the screen, and select the appropriate variation > tap Add to List.
- Tap the item variation to input a quantity using the number pad > tap Done.
- Repeat this process across all applicable variations.
- Tap Continue > Confirm.
- Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory. If you’re using Square for Retail on an iPhone, tap the list icon to access Inventory, then tap Stock Overview.
- Tap Adjust Stock > Count.
- Using a compatible barcode scanner or the built-in camera on your iPad or iPhone, scan the item. Continue to scan, or tap the screen while the built-in camera is open, to increase the quantity by one each time.
- Repeat this process across all applicable variations.
- Tap Continue > Confirm.
Scan a barcode twice to add the item to your inventory list.
View your current stock levels
You can view your currency stock levels from your Retail POS app.
- Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory, then tap Stock Overview.
- Use the search bar to search for items by name or SKU, or use a compatible barcode scanner to search by GTIN or UPC.
- Tap the toggle icon to bring up the Filters screen to filter your search results. From here, you can filter by category and location, as well as sort by Lowest stock first, Highest stock first, and Alphabetical.
- Tap Apply once the appropriate filters are selected. From here, you can view current stock counts and take various actions like receiving stock, adding vendor information, and adding unit costs.