Stock take template for a pub or bar
A bar stock take is a count of kegs, bottles, cans and mixers, done on a fixed day each week or month. The useful number is not the count itself but the difference between what you should have used (from sales) and what you did use. The free sheet below works for a bar: use one line per product and one column per area.
Free: count sheet to print or fill in
Blank stock count sheet (PDF, A4) to print and write on, and the sample count sheet with variance (.xlsx) to fill in on a computer. Free, no email asked.
What to put on a bar count sheet
- One line per product and size (for example lager 50 L keg, vodka 70 cl, tonic 200 ml).
- Opening count (last count), purchases since, closing count. Opening plus purchases minus closing is actual usage.
- Areas: back bar, cellar, cold room, storeroom. Count each area on its own line group so bottles are not counted twice.
- Open bottles: estimate in tenths (0.3 of a bottle), and always have the same person do it.
- Unit cost, so the difference can be valued.
Variance: where bars lose money
- Expected usage comes from your till: drinks sold times the measure and recipe.
- Actual usage minus expected usage is the variance, in units and at cost.
- Small steady gaps point to over-pouring or spillage. Large one-off gaps point to a miscount, a missing delivery or theft.
- Count on the same day and time each period, before opening, so results compare.
Using the sheet
The blank PDF is for the cellar and storeroom walk-round. The Excel sample shows opening, counted and difference columns and how the variance and value are worked out; rename the columns to opening, purchases and closing for a bar. The kit below is built around retail shops with SKUs and locations, so it fits a bar with a stock list in a spreadsheet less directly: read the page before buying.
If you want the whole job done: the Stocktake Kit (12 USD)
The free sheet gives you a place to write counts. The Stocktake Kit for Excel adds an import tab for your inventory export, blind count sheets, variance at cost with a RECOUNT flag, an automatic recount queue, a shrink report by category and a 52-week ABC cycle-count calendar. One payment, no subscription, refund within 14 days if it does not work for your shop.
See the Stocktake Kit (12 USD) or buy it now
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