Cycle counting & inventory audits¶

A cycle count (also called an inventory audit) is a structured process for verifying that the physical stock on your shelves matches the quantities recorded in FSM Navigator. You start an audit session, count your items, and the system highlights any discrepancies — then adjusts your records to match reality in one click.

Why cycle counting matters¶

Inventory records drift over time. Parts get used without being logged, items are misplaced, or receiving errors go unnoticed. Without regular audits, you end up with:

• Phantom stock — the system says you have parts you don't actually have, leading to failed jobs.
• Surprise shortages — technicians arrive on-site without the parts they need because stock levels were wrong.
• Wasted spend — you reorder parts you already have sitting on a shelf somewhere.
• Financial inaccuracies — inventory valuations in reports don't reflect what's actually in the warehouse.

Regular cycle counts catch these problems early. Instead of shutting down for a full-day physical inventory once a year, you can audit sections of your stock on a rolling basis with minimal disruption.

Starting an audit session¶

You can audit a single warehouse or all warehouses at once.

Auditing a single warehouse¶

1. Go to Inventory in the sidebar and open the Warehouses tab.
2. Select the warehouse you want to audit.
3. Click Start Audit.
4. Confirm that you want to begin the audit session.

The system locks the warehouse's inventory and takes a snapshot of current stock levels. You are now in an active audit session.

Auditing all warehouses¶

1. Go to Inventory in the sidebar.
2. Open the Audit tab.
3. Click Start Company-Wide Audit.
4. Confirm that you want to begin.

This locks inventory across every warehouse in your company and takes a snapshot of all stock levels at once.

What happens during a freeze¶

When an audit session is active, the system freezes inventory — meaning no one can add, remove, or transfer stock until the audit is completed, cancelled, or expires. This prevents changes from sneaking in while you are counting, which would make your counts unreliable.

During a freeze:

• Stock adjustments are paused — users cannot manually increase or decrease quantities.
• Stock transfers are blocked — parts cannot be moved between warehouses.
• Purchase order receiving is paused — incoming shipments cannot be logged against open POs.
• Job-related stock deductions are held — parts used on jobs are queued and applied after the freeze ends.

The freeze ensures the numbers you are counting against stay consistent from start to finish. Once the audit ends, all held operations process automatically.

Counting your stock¶

With the audit session active, you will see a counting worksheet listing every part in the audited warehouse (or all warehouses for a company-wide audit).

For each item:

1. Physically count the item on your shelves.
2. Enter the Physical Count in the corresponding field.
3. Repeat for every item in the list.

The worksheet shows the Expected Quantity (what the system recorded at the start of the audit) alongside your physical count. You do not need to count every item in one sitting — your progress is saved as you go.

Reviewing variances¶

As you enter physical counts, the system calculates the variance for each item automatically:

Variance = Physical Count − Expected Quantity

Items with variances are highlighted so you can spot problems at a glance. Review any large or unexpected variances before submitting — it is easier to recount a few items now than to fix records after the fact.

Submitting and adjusting stock¶

Once you have entered physical counts for all items and reviewed the variances:

1. Click Submit Audit.
2. Review the summary showing total items counted, total surplus, and total shortage.
3. Confirm the submission.

On submission, the system adjusts your inventory records to match your physical counts. If you counted 47 units but the system expected 50, the record updates to 47. If you counted 53, it updates to 53.

The freeze is lifted immediately and any held operations (stock adjustments, transfers, job deductions) process automatically.

Cancelling an audit¶

If you need to stop an audit without applying any changes:

1. Open the active audit session.
2. Click Cancel Audit.
3. Confirm the cancellation.

Cancelling discards all physical counts you entered and lifts the freeze. Your inventory records remain unchanged — no adjustments are made.

This is useful if you started an audit by mistake, an emergency requires immediate stock access, or you need to reschedule the count for a better time.

Audit history¶

Every audit session — whether completed, cancelled, or expired — is preserved in your audit history.

To view past audits:

1. Go to Inventory and open the Audit tab.
2. Scroll to the Audit History section.

Each record shows:

Click any record to view the full item-by-item breakdown, including the expected quantity, physical count, and variance for each part.

Audit session statuses¶

Every audit session moves through a simple lifecycle:

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Frozen : Start audit
    Frozen --> Completed : Submit counts
    Frozen --> Cancelled : Cancel audit
    Frozen --> Expired : Session times out
    Completed --> [*]
    Cancelled --> [*]
    Expired --> [*]

Session expiration¶

To prevent a forgotten audit from blocking your team indefinitely, audit sessions expire automatically after a set period of inactivity. When a session expires:

• The freeze is lifted and normal inventory operations resume.
• Physical counts entered during the session are discarded.
• The session is recorded in audit history with an Expired status.
• No stock adjustments are applied.

Your account administrator can configure the expiration window under Settings → Inventory to match your team's counting workflow.

Single warehouse vs. all warehouses¶

Choosing the right audit scope depends on your goals:

Frequently asked questions¶

Related guides¶

• Warehouses & stock — manage the locations where your inventory is stored.
• Warehouse bins — organize stock by bin location within a warehouse.
• Parts catalog — view and manage the parts that appear in audit worksheets.
• Stock transfers — move parts between warehouses after an audit reveals misplaced stock.
• Technician van stock — understand how van stock works independently from warehouse audits.
• Low stock alerts — get notified when audit adjustments bring stock below threshold.
• Reports & audits — review audit history alongside other inventory reports.