Free stock count sheet template
This free stock count sheet template — printable PDF or editable Excel — is organised by storage area with columns for unit, opening count, closing count, unit cost and value, so the count matches the order you physically walk the site.
Free. No email address, no sign-up — the stock count sheet downloads straight away.
Stock counts go wrong for a mechanical reason, not a mathematical one: the sheet is in a different order to the shelves. Counting a sheet listed alphabetically means walking the dry store six times and guessing at the end. Organise the sheet by area — walk-in, freezer, dry store, bar, cellar — in the order you physically walk it, and the count takes half the time and is materially more accurate.
Fix the unit before you count anything. "Tomatoes: 4" is meaningless — four tins, four kilos, four cases? The unit column exists to be filled in once and then never argued about again, and it should match the unit your supplier invoices in so the cost column reconciles without conversion.
Count with two people where you can: one counting, one writing. It is faster than one person doing both and it removes the single most common error, which is writing a number in the row above or below the one you counted.
Count at the same point in the cycle every time — after close, before any delivery, on the same day of the week. A count taken on Tuesday morning and compared against one taken on Friday night tells you nothing about usage. The Excel version carries opening and closing columns and a value total so the same sheet gives you a period usage figure.
What's on the sheet
Log sheet — blank rows to fill in · Landscape A4 · PDF, Excel and CSV
Header fields
Venue / site · Count date and time · Counted by · Checked by
Columns
- Storage area — Walk-in / freezer / dry / bar / cellar
- Item
- Unit — kg / L / case / each — match the invoice
- Opening count
- Closing count
- Unit cost
- Value — Closing count x unit cost
Extra columns in the Excel version
- Purchases in period
- Usage — Opening + purchases − closing
- Par level
- Order qty
These are left off the printable version so the columns stay wide enough to write in by hand.
20 blank rows per sheet.
What you get
- ✓Printable PDF, landscape A4, 20 item rows per sheet
- ✓Excel (.xlsx) version with purchases, usage, par level and order quantity columns
- ✓CSV version for import
- ✓Storage area column so the sheet follows the shelves
- ✓Unit and unit cost columns for a value total that reconciles with invoices
- ✓Counted-by and checked-by fields for a second pair of eyes
How to use it
- 1
Build your item list once, grouped by storage area in the order you physically walk it.
- 2
Fix the unit for every item and write it in before the first count.
- 3
Fill the unit cost column from your most recent invoices, and update it when prices change.
- 4
Count after close and before any delivery, with one person counting and one writing.
- 5
Enter the closing count, let the value column give you the stock on hand, and total the sheet.
- 6
Have a second person spot-check the highest-value lines, then sign the sheet.
Questions
How often should a restaurant count stock?
Weekly for high-value and fast-moving lines, and a full count monthly at minimum. The interval matters less than the consistency — always at the same point in the cycle, after close and before a delivery.
How do I calculate stock usage from a count sheet?
Opening count plus purchases in the period minus closing count. The Excel version has all three columns and a usage column, so you get the figure without a separate calculation.
Should stock be counted at cost or at sale price?
At cost. Stock on hand is a cost figure, and valuing it at sale price overstates it. Keep the unit cost column up to date from your most recent invoices.
Why does my count never match the system?
The usual causes are wastage that was never logged, staff food and drinks, over-portioning, transfers between sites or bars, and unit mismatches between the count sheet and the invoice. Log wastage separately and check your units before assuming theft.
Or stop printing it altogether
Rotahr does this check on a phone — timestamped, with the person who did it attached, reminders when one is due, and a PDF export when somebody asks for a month of records. Same job, no folder to search through.
Templates that go with it
Par level order sheet
This free par level order sheet template — printable PDF or editable Excel — lists items by supplier with a par level, a current count and an order quantity column, so ordering becomes subtraction instead of a judgement call.
Wastage log
This free wastage log template — printable PDF or editable Excel — records what was thrown, how much, why, what it cost and who signed it off, so the reason column tells you which problem to fix rather than just how much you lost.
Spirit stocktake sheet
This free spirit stocktake sheet template — printable PDF or editable Excel — counts full and part bottles separately, records part bottles in tenths, and gives you a value and a variance against expected usage.
Free to print, copy and use in your venue — no attribution required. Written for an international audience: where a threshold is a widely used figure it is printed as one, but food safety and employment rules differ by country and change. Check yours before relying on this sheet.
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