Most problems on count day are planning problems made weeks earlier. This guide walks through how to plan a warehouse inventory in Uzbekistan from the point of view of a foreign company, where head office, the local finance team and the warehouse often sit in different places and speak different languages. Follow the steps in order and the count itself becomes the easy part.
Step 1: Define why you are counting and what is in scope
Start with the purpose. A count to support a year-end close, a count before a change of warehouse manager and a count to investigate losses in one product group all need different scopes. Write down the reason in one sentence and share it with everyone involved.
Then define the scope precisely: which sites, which buildings or zones, which stock categories. Decide how you will treat goods in transit, customer-owned stock, consignment stock, quarantined or damaged goods and packaging materials. Unclear scope is the most common reason two people report two different totals for the same warehouse.
- Purpose of the count in one sentence
- Sites, buildings and zones included
- Stock categories included and excluded
- Treatment of third-party and damaged stock
Step 2: Choose the dates and the cut-off
Pick a date when stock is at a manageable level and movements can be stopped or controlled. Weekends, public holidays and the days after a large outbound shipment are common choices. Check the date with your local finance team and with your auditor if they plan to observe the count; any requirement about count dates should be confirmed with your local accountant or auditor.
Agree the cut-off in writing: the last receipt that will be posted before counting, the last shipment that will leave, and how any urgent movement during the count is documented. Suppliers and customers should be told in advance.
Step 3: Build the counting team
Decide who counts, who checks and who supervises. Counting in pairs, one person counting and one checking, reduces errors. A separate recount team, ideally people who did not do the first count, handles lines that disagree. A single count manager has the final say on disputes and on when a zone is closed.
For many foreign companies the question is whether to use their own staff or an outside team. Own staff know the products but are busy and may not be seen as independent. An outside stocktaking team in Tashkent brings scanners, method and independence, while one or two warehouse staff act as guides.
Estimate team size from the number of locations rather than the floor area. A compact rack system with thousands of small bins needs more counters than a large hall of full pallets. Allow for breaks, for slower progress in difficult zones and for the recount team, which is often busiest in the last hours of the day when everyone else is finishing.
Step 4: Agree the counting rules
Write short, clear rules that every counter receives. They should cover the unit of measure for each type of item, how to count opened packs, how to record items without labels, what to do with stock found outside its location, and what tolerance triggers a recount.
If head office needs the results in English, agree now whether item descriptions will be reported in English, in the local language or both, so the final report does not need a second translation round.
Step 5: Prepare the warehouse and the data
In the weeks before the count, clean up the physical space and the system. Consolidate part pallets, separate damaged goods, check that every location has a readable label and remove empty packaging. In the system, post all outstanding documents, close old open orders and check the item master for duplicates and unit errors.
Prepare a system extract at the cut-off, with item code, description, unit, location and quantity. This becomes the reference for the reconciliation.
Step 6: Count, reconcile and report
On the day, work zone by zone, close each zone only when it is complete and recounted, and keep a log of exceptions. After counting, compare results with the system extract, investigate significant differences and prepare an adjustment list with causes.
The final report should give management a short summary, the detailed count by location and item, the variance list and recommendations. Send it in a format your local team and head office can both use, typically Excel for detail and PDF for the summary.
Finally, hold a short review with operations and finance a week or two later. Agree which recommendations will be acted on, who owns them and when the next count or cycle count will check that the fixes worked.
Key takeaways
- Write down the purpose and exact scope of the count before choosing a date.
- Agree a written cut-off for receipts and shipments and tell suppliers and customers.
- Count in pairs, recount differences with a separate team and appoint one count manager.
- Clean up both the warehouse and the system data in the weeks before counting.
- Confirm any accounting or audit requirements with your local accountant or auditor.