Count list, automatic discrepancy list and a finished evaluation — built for fashion shops and sports retailers. No sign-up, no email address, no newsletter.
Works in Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Apple Numbers and Google Sheets. There is one file for both language versions and it is the German original, HANGCOUNT-Inventurliste.xlsx: the sheet names and the column headings in it are in German. The table further down gives every heading as it reads in the file, next to what belongs in the column.
The template is made of four sheets: a page of instructions, a count list with 500 prepared rows, an automatic discrepancy list and an evaluation that works out the value of your stock and your stock accuracy in per cent. The download needs no sign-up and no email address.
One page: what you fill in, what calculates itself, and five practical tips that make the count faster and more accurate.
Item number, description, size, colour, area, book stock, counted quantity, purchase price. Fill in the yellow fields; difference and value calculate themselves. With a filter and a drop-down list for the area.
Filters out the items where book stock and actual stock diverge — including the value of the difference. That is your recount list.
Piece counts, shortfall, surplus, the value of the stock at purchase price and your stock accuracy in per cent. Nothing to enter, everything automatic.
The most useful figure sits right at the bottom of the evaluation: your stock accuracy. It tells you in a single number how far you can trust your own stock control system. In retail this figure sits between 65 and 75 per cent without continuous recording, in our experience.
You only fill in the yellow fields: item number, description, size, colour, area, book stock, counted quantity and purchase price. Difference, value, evaluation and stock accuracy follow from those on their own. The headings in the file itself are German; the table below gives each of them.
| Heading in the file | What belongs in it | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Artikelnummer | item number — the number your stock control system uses | always take it from the system, never assign a new one |
| Bezeichnung | description — the item name as it reads at the till | helps when you recount and the number tells you nothing |
| Größe, Farbe | size and colour — the variant | a separate row per variant — otherwise you will never find a discrepancy |
| Bereich | area — shop floor, stockroom, window, fitting room, reserved | use the drop-down list, do not type freely |
| Soll | book stock — the figure your system holds | export it as shortly before the count as you can |
| Gezählt | counted — what is actually there | leaving it empty is not the same as zero — enter the zero too |
| Einkaufspreis | purchase price — net, per piece | only for the valuation, not for the piece count |
The most common mistake: an empty cell in the counted column, the one headed Gezählt. Empty and zero are not the same thing. Empty means “not counted yet”, zero means “counted and not found”. Mix the two and you can no longer say afterwards whether an area was forgotten or whether the goods really are missing.
If you need more than 500 rows: select the last row and drag it down, the formulas copy with it. Above about 1,000 lines, though, counting by hand turns into a weekend project — more on that below.
An example for a shop with around 2,000 pieces and two people. Shift the times to suit your range, but keep the order they come in.
| Time | What happens | Who |
|---|---|---|
| before | export the book stock, prepare the list, define the areas | owner |
| 08:00 | short briefing: allocate the areas, agree what counts as one piece | everyone |
| 08:15 | count the shop floor, ticking off area by area | pair 1 |
| 08:15 | count the stockroom | pair 2 |
| 10:30 | break. After four hours the error rate rises noticeably | everyone |
| 10:45 | the areas that are left: window, fitting room, till area, reserved goods | everyone |
| 12:00 | merge the lists, look at the discrepancy sheet | owner |
| 12:30 | recount, discrepancies only | pair 1 |
| 13:30 | assign the causes, and only then correct | owner |
Our planning aid, not a standard. The point of it is the order: count in full first, then recount, then correct. Mix those three steps and you will not find a cause at the end.
About half of all stock discrepancies resolve themselves on a second look — they are counting errors, forgotten areas or returns that were never posted. So the rule is: recount first, then assign the cause, and only then correct.
The discrepancy sheet in the template shows you exactly the rows where book stock and actual stock diverge. Work through them in this order:
Note the cause in a column of its own. Next time round you will see at a glance whether the same pattern comes back — and that is the real insight a stocktake gives you.
The counted quantities go back into your stock control system so that book stock and actual stock agree again. How that works depends on your system: some read in a CSV file, with others you type the corrections in by hand. Do not put this step off — a stocktake whose result was never posted creates two truths, and after that you trust neither.
Keep the completed list, the discrepancy sheet and the evaluation. The obligation to record what is in stock comes from the EU Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU, which every member state has transposed into its own law; how long the papers have to be kept and in what form is set by national law and differs across the EU, so settle that with your accountant. Save a PDF version alongside the spreadsheet — that will still be readable many years from now.
And note down the stock accuracy from the evaluation, with the date on it. After the second or third stocktake you will see whether your processes are getting better. That is the most useful figure a stocktake produces — and the one almost nobody writes down.
For a manageable range a well-kept Excel list is entirely sufficient, and it costs you nothing but time. There are two limits you do reach eventually:
The first is the effort. Above about 1,000 lines the count becomes a weekend project for two people. From 4,000 pieces upwards it is realistically 30 working hours plus a day with no takings — every year again.
The second is the shelf life. A list is a snapshot. It tells you what was there on the counting day, not what is there today. The day after the stocktake your figures start drifting apart again, and until the next count you order on the basis of estimates.
This is exactly the point at which RFID gets interesting: when a complete count takes one to two hours instead of a weekend, you stop counting once a year and count every few weeks instead — and the list stays right.
Yes, with no sign-up, no email address and no newsletter. We put it up because we want to reach fashion retailers who take their stock seriously. If the list helps you, and if you work out at some point that counting by hand takes too long, you know where to find us.
The file is an .xlsx and opens in Microsoft Excel, in Apple Numbers, in LibreOffice Calc and in Google Sheets. The formulas are deliberately simple so that they work everywhere. There is one file, the German original, so the sheet names and the column headings in it are in German.
The template is prepared for 500 rows. If you need more, select the last row and drag it down — the formulas copy with it. Above about 1,000 lines, though, counting by hand turns into a weekend project.
It shows how close your book stock is to what was actually in the shop. 100 per cent means not one single piece differs. In retail this figure sits at 65 to 75 per cent without continuous recording, in our experience. If you are well below that, it is worth a look at your processes — returns, exchanges or shrinkage are usually behind it.
Yes, without restriction, and in several branches as well. You may adapt it, rename it and pass it on. The one thing you should not do is resell it.
You can document the count itself cleanly with it. Whether the form meets the requirements that apply to you, and how long you have to keep the papers, follows from the law of the country you trade in: the EU Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU carries the obligation, the detail is set by national law. Please settle that with your accountant — we are not accountants and this template is no substitute for advice.
Yes. Make a copy for each round of counting and put the period in the file name. What matters is that every item is recorded at least once in the financial year and that you can show it. Whether perpetual stocktaking is permitted in your case, and what is required of the stock records, is set by national law — please settle that with your accountant.
Most till systems can export the item stock as a CSV or an Excel file. You copy those columns into the count list. Make sure the item numbers are read in as text and not as a number — otherwise leading zeros disappear, and after that nothing matches up any more.
Because a discrepancy is impossible to find otherwise. If you carry twenty pieces of one model and one of them is missing, the total tells you nothing. Only the split by variant tells you that size 38 in blue has gone — and that is exactly the information you can reorder or investigate on.
Goods on consignment stand in your shop but still belong to the supplier. They do not belong in your own stock, but they do have to be recorded and shown separately, so set up an area of their own for them. The other way round: your goods that are with a customer or at the tailor still belong to you and have to be counted.
Once a financial year is enough for the accounts: the EU Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU ties the record of stock to the annual accounts. In practice more often is markedly better. Count at least your most valuable product groups every few months and you spot shrinkage and posting errors while somebody can still remember the cause. With a hand count that is real work — which is exactly why most shops count once a year.
Send us your rough piece count. We will work out how long the same stocktake would take with RFID and what the system would cost for your shop. No appointment, no call back.