The sixty-second answer
Walk the racks and say each bin address, then each product and quantity in it: "Bin A-03-2. Blue mug 12 ounce, 36. Travel mug black, 18." Maple-AI turns the speech into a count sheet by location, you review it, and MapleInventory posts the variance for each bin. At year end the same count becomes your closing inventory [1][2].
Why count bin by bin instead of product by product?
Because a quantity without a location is only half the answer. If the system says you have 60 blue mugs and you find 48, you know you are short. If it says 36 in bin A-03-2 and 24 in overflow bin C-11-1, and you find 36 and 12, you know exactly where the problem is and can go looking for it.
BDC's advice for any business with stock is to track how much you have, where each product is located and when you received it, and to regularly count actual inventory so the system stays accurate [5]. Counting bin by bin does both at once: every count confirms a quantity at an address.
For online sellers this matters even more. If the system says a product is in a bin and it is not, the order picker walks to an empty shelf, the order ships late, and a customer leaves a bad review. Bin accuracy is what makes fast picking possible.
Why speak the count instead of scanning?
Barcode scanning is excellent for identifying a product and for moving one unit at a time. It is less good at counting a bin that holds 36 of something. You still have to count by hand, then put the product down, pick up the scanner or phone, and type 36. Multiply that by a few hundred bins and it is the typing, not the counting, that eats the day.
Speaking the count keeps both hands on the product. You can lift a case to see what is behind it, tip a tote, or climb a step stool without juggling a device. Many warehouses use both methods: scan when a product is hard to identify by eye, and speak the quantity.
What does a 20-minute bin count sound like?
Here is a weekly cycle count of one aisle in a small e-commerce warehouse selling homeware, done first thing in the morning before picking starts.
- Check the queue (1 minute). Make sure yesterday's receiving is posted and no picked orders are still sitting in totes waiting to ship. Either can create a false variance.
- Start the aisle (2 minutes). Phone in a pocket, one earbud in. "Aisle A. Bin A-01-1. Blue mug 12 ounce, 36. Blue mug 16 ounce, 24."
- Work the bays (12 minutes). Left to right, bottom to top, the same order every time. "Bin A-01-2. Travel mug black, 18. Travel mug white, 17. Bin A-01-3. Empty." Saying "empty" matters; it confirms the bin was checked, not skipped.
- Handle the odd ones (2 minutes). Something in the wrong bin gets counted where it is: "Bin A-02-1. Travel mug white, 1, wrong bin." Move it after the count, as a separate recorded move.
- Review and post (3 minutes). The count sheet shows each bin, each product and the quantity you said. Check that each spoken name landed on the right product and fix anything that did not. Then post.
A good layout makes this faster. CCOHS recommends storing frequently accessed materials near one another, keeping aisles clear, using bin racks for small items, and keeping heavy, frequently used items at waist height [6]. Those rules exist for safety and ergonomics, but they also make counting quicker and safer: no overhead reaching into a crowded top shelf with a phone in one hand.
How do you run a year-end count by voice?
At year end the count stops being an operational check and becomes a number on your tax return. Under the Income Tax Act, inventory is valued at the end of the year at the lower of cost and fair market value, or in a prescribed manner [2]; the regulations also permit valuing all inventory at fair market value [3]. The CRA's archived bulletin on inventory valuation says that in the usual case a physical stocktaking should be carried out at year end, and is not required only where a reliable perpetual inventory system has been periodically verified against actual quantities on hand [1].
A practical year-end plan for a small warehouse:
- Pick the cut-off. Ship the last orders of the year, post all receiving, and stop picking until the count is done. If you cannot stop entirely, count zone by zone and hold picking in each zone while it is counted.
- Split the warehouse into zones. One counter per zone, each with a phone and earbud. Voice counting scales well because nobody needs a clipboard or a second person to write.
- Count everything, including empties. Every bin gets a quantity or "empty".
- Recount big variances. When the variances come back, have a different person recount any bin that is well off and post the recount as a correction. Most large variances turn out to be a miscount or a product in the wrong bin.
- Count stock that is somewhere else. The CRA's bulletin says inventory usually includes all materials to which you have title, regardless of location, and that goods in transit or on consignment are included or excluded based on title [1]. Stock at a third-party fulfilment centre belongs in your count; use their report and record it as its own location.
- Post, then value. Once quantities are posted, multiply by cost and apply lower of cost and market item by item.
The total is your closing inventory, GIFI item 8500 on the corporate return, and it flows into cost of sales, item 8518, and from there into gross profit, which the GIFI notes may also be called gross margin [4].
What should you do with damaged and unsellable stock?
Count it, but do not leave it in a good bin. Set up a damaged or quarantine location and move anything broken, returned in poor condition, or past its sell-by date there. Under IAS 2, inventories are measured at the lower of cost and net realisable value, and losses of inventories are recognised as an expense in the period they occur [7]. Stock sitting in a pick bin at full cost when it cannot be sold overstates both inventory and profit.
What records should a bin count leave behind?
The CRA describes an audit trail as the information needed to recreate the sequence of events related to a transaction, and for e-commerce it can include web logs, emails, invoices and confirmations, alongside links to stock inventories [8]. For a count, that means keeping who counted each zone, when, the bin-level quantities, the expected quantities, and the adjustments posted. Keep them with your other records, generally for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to [9].
How does MapleInventory handle bins and counts?
MapleInventory tracks stock in a location hierarchy down to the bin, suggests put-away locations when stock is received, and posts each count difference by product and location to its stock ledger, so every variance is traceable. Voice count is in preview: you speak the count, Maple-AI turns it into a count sheet, and nothing posts until you have reviewed it. For more, see organising a small warehouse with bin locations and the year-end count for a T2.