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¶

Each audit session covers one warehouse. To count several warehouses, run one audit per warehouse, one after another.

1. Go to Inventory in the sidebar and open the Audit tab.
2. Select the warehouse you want to audit.
3. Choose a freeze duration and click Start New 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 — down to each individual storage bin. You are now in an active audit session.

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.
• Technician van-stock usage on jobs continues normally — only warehouse-level stock changes are blocked during the freeze.

Warehouse stock changes (adjustments, transfers, PO receiving) are blocked until the audit completes, cancels, or expires.

The freeze ensures the numbers you are counting against stay consistent from start to finish. Warehouse stock changes stay blocked until the audit completes, cancels, or expires; technician van-stock usage on jobs continues normally throughout.

Counting your stock¶

With the audit session active, you will see a counting worksheet with one line for every storage location a part occupies in the audited warehouse. A part kept on the open warehouse floor and in a storage bin gets two lines — one tagged Warehouse floor and one tagged with the bin code (for example, Bin A-03). Parts stored only in bins appear too, each under its own bin tag.

For each line:

1. Physically count the item in that exact spot — the floor area or the specific bin shown on the line.
2. Enter the Physical Count in the corresponding field.
3. Repeat for every line in the list.

The worksheet shows the Expected Quantity for that exact spot (what the system recorded at the start of the audit) alongside your physical count. When you submit, each spot is corrected individually — so a part that drifted from a bin to the floor is fixed in both places, not just in the warehouse total.

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 warehouse stock changes (adjustments, transfers, PO receiving) can resume.

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.

Planning your audit schedule¶

Audits run one warehouse at a time, so your schedule is about frequency and rotation:

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.