What is an inventory in tspoonlab and how do you manage it?
An inventory in tspoonlab is the mandatory physical count of every ingredient in a store at a specific date and time. It's a formal, dated process that covers the whole store, and it's best to plan it for your month-end close.
📢 Important: an inventory is a full audit of the store. If you don't record stock for an item during the count, tspoonlab automatically sets it to zero.
How do you run an inventory in tspoonlab?
To run an inventory in tspoonlab, you create it for a store, enter the actual quantities you count and then finish it.
Go to "Management".
Select "Inventories".
Select "New inventory" in the three-dot menu.
Select the store you want to count in the "Store" field.
Choose the inventory type in the "Date/time" field.
Choose one of these three ways to enter the actual quantities. The new inventory is now ready to start. When you start it, tspoonlab lists every item in the store with its theoretical stock and cost at that exact moment.
From the web: click "Start" to enter the actual quantities in the tspoonlab interface on your computer or tablet.
Enter each item's actual quantity in the "Actual quantity" column.
To see an ingredient's formats, click the calculator icon next to its actual quantity cell.
From the mobile app: open the tspoonlab app on your smartphone and tap "Start" to enter the actual quantities.
With an Excel template: in the "In ingredients" section, select "Export inventory for stocktake (XLSX)" in the three-dot menu to download the template.
To include your suppliers' purchase formats, select "Export inventory with formats for stocktake (XLSX)" instead. Purchase formats make blind stock counts easier.
Fill in the quantities in the yellow cells only. Don't change any rows, columns or ingredient data.
To import the file back into tspoonlab in bulk, go to the imports section of the inventory and select "Import inventories" in the three-dot menu.
Click "Finish" once you've counted everything.
To add a comment, write it in the "Comment" section.
Select "Lock inventory" in the three-dot menu to lock the finished inventory. You can only do this if your settings give you permission to lock inventories.
To see only the ingredients with movements, click "Show only ingredients with movements".
Check the total real cost of your inventory. tspoonlab calculates it with the inventory valuation method set for the store. Find out how each method works in Set up inventory valuation for your stores.
📌 Note: the option you choose in "Date/time" when you create an inventory decides how you filter its results in tspoonlab reports. Use "Month end" to filter your reports by month. With "Date" or "Now", you have to filter by the exact dates of your opening and closing inventories.
What's the difference between an inventory and a partial count in tspoonlab?
In tspoonlab, an inventory and a partial count differ in how much of the store they cover. A partial count is a quick, selective check of specific ingredients or locations. It only updates the items you count and leaves the rest of the store unchanged.
An inventory is a full, mandatory audit of the whole store for period closes. tspoonlab automatically sets any item you don't record to zero, so it can calculate your real Food Cost and overall waste.
Still need help?
Click the built-in Support Chat in the bottom-right corner of your screen and our team will get back to you.