Checklist
What to have ready before your stocktaker arrives
A stocktake is only as good as the information around it. Twenty minutes of preparation before we arrive makes the difference between a report that explains itself and one full of questions.
10 September 2026 · Craig Haugh, Apex Stocktaking
The paperwork pile
Every delivery docket and invoice for the period, with nothing missing — including the one in the kitchen drawer. Any credit notes for returned or short-shipped goods. If a delivery arrives on the morning of the count, keep it separate and tell us: stock that lands on count day needs careful handling so it is not counted and purchased.
The till
A Z-reading or sales report for the full period, taken after close on the last day of trading. If the till can break sales down by PLU, even better — that is what lets us cost cocktail sales back to individual bottles and spot wrong-button problems.
Tell us about anything rung through oddly: a staff tab kept open all month, a function paid by transfer, a till float mix-up. Small mysteries on the till become big variances on paper.
The unrecorded stuff
Staff drinks, breakages, spoilage, promotional giveaways, transfers to or from another venue — if it left the shelf without going through the till, we need a note of it. None of it is a problem; all of it is a variance until it is recorded.
The easiest habit: a docket book behind the bar. Anything poured that will not be paid for gets written down on the spot.
On the day
Count before opening where possible, with shelves and fridges accessible and the cellar unlocked. Keep new deliveries untouched until the count is done. Have one person available who knows where everything lives — every venue has a shelf only one person knows about.
Do that, and you will have your full report — GP, variance, purchases and valuation — the same day.
Want this handled for you?
Apex takes stock in bars and kitchens across Ireland — managed stocktakes, or our lower-cost Self-Count model — with the full report in your hands the same day.