The sixty-second answer
Set up each service van and the tool crib as its own stock location. At the end of a shift, open the van, and say each bin's contents out loud into a phone or earbud: "half-inch copper elbow, 14." Maple-AI builds the count sheet and MapleInventory posts the variance for that van. Parts on trucks are still your inventory [1].
Why is van stock so hard to keep track of?
Because it moves every day and nobody writes it down. A plumber grabs three fittings for a job, uses two, and throws the third back in the wrong bin. An electrician borrows a box of connectors from another truck. The shop restocks a van from memory. By month end the office has no idea what is on any truck, and technicians either carry far too much or run back to the supplier mid-job.
Each van is really a small warehouse on wheels. BDC's basic advice for any stock system is to record where each item is located and to physically count on a regular basis so the records match reality [6]. That applies to a truck just as much as to a shop shelf. The only thing that is different is that nobody wants to stand in a cold van with a clipboard at 5 p.m.
Is the stock on a van really inventory?
For parts you install and bill for, usually yes. The CRA's archived interpretation bulletin on inventory valuation says that inventory usually includes all materials to which the taxpayer has title, regardless of their location [1]. A box of fittings on truck 3 is inventory just as much as the same box in the shop.
That matters at year end. Under the Income Tax Act, inventory is valued at the end of the year at the lower of cost and fair market value [2], and the same bulletin says that in the usual case a physical stocktaking should be carried out at year end [1]. A shop that counts only its shelves and forgets the trucks is understating closing inventory, which overstates cost of sales and understates profit. For a busy HVAC or plumbing shop with several well-stocked vans, that can be a meaningful number.
How are parts, tools and shop supplies different?
They are three different things for tax and for counting, and mixing them causes most of the confusion.
- Parts and materials you install (fittings, breakers, filters, wire, fixtures) are resale stock. They belong in inventory, get counted, and are valued at year end [2].
- Tools (drills, pipe threaders, meters, ladders) are not for sale. The CRA's current-versus-capital test asks whether a cost gives a lasting benefit; buying a separate asset like a compressor is a capital expense [3]. Small tools are often in CCA Class 12, while more expensive tools go in Class 8 [4]. They belong in an asset register, not in inventory.
- Shop supplies (tape, zip ties, rags, sealant) are cheap consumables that recur quickly. Most small businesses expense them when bought and do not count them item by item [3].
Decide which items are counted parts and which are expensed supplies, write the list down, and apply it the same way every year. Consistency matters more than where exactly you draw the line.
What does a 15-minute voice count of a service van sound like?
Here is a monthly count of a plumbing service van, done by the technician at the end of the day, back at the shop.
- Close out the day first (2 minutes). Make sure every part used today has been recorded against its job, and any restock from the shop this morning was entered as a transfer to the van. Otherwise the count will be off by exactly those parts.
- Driver's side bins (5 minutes). Doors open, engine off, one earbud in. Bin by bin, top to bottom: "Bin A1. Half-inch copper elbow, 14. Half-inch copper tee, 9. Three-quarter copper elbow, 6. Bin A2. Half-inch SharkBite coupling, 5."
- Passenger side and shelving (5 minutes). Same rhythm. Say the size every time; "elbow, 14" is not enough when you carry four sizes.
- High-value items (1 minute). Water heater elements, cartridges, pumps. Count these every time, even on a partial count.
- Review and post (2 minutes). Check the count sheet on the phone and make sure each spoken part landed on the right product. Fix anything that did not, then post. The van's variance for the month is now on record.
Saying the bin name out loud before its contents keeps you in order and lets the count sheet follow the van's actual layout. If a part is in the wrong bin, count it where it is and move it afterwards, with a recorded transfer.
How should you count the tool crib?
The tool crib is a different kind of count. You are not valuing resale stock; you are checking that tools are where they should be and in usable condition. CCOHS recommends keeping tools in good condition, inspecting them for defects, replacing or repairing defective tools, and storing tools properly after each use [5].
A voice count of the crib can do both jobs at once: "Milwaukee M18 hammer drill, serial ending 4471, in crib, good. Press tool, on truck 2. Pipe threader, needs new dies." Tools are tracked individually against a person or a location, and condition notes turn the count into a quick inspection record. Anything not found becomes a question for the crew the same day, while someone still remembers who had it last.
What do van variances usually mean?
- Short on parts used every day usually means parts are going into jobs without being recorded. That is lost billing, not just lost stock.
- Over on one van and short on another by the same amount means borrowing between trucks. Record transfers, even quick ones.
- Short on expensive parts with no job to match needs a conversation.
- Consistently over after restocking means the shop is restocking without recording it, so the system thinks the van is emptier than it is.
The value of counting each van as its own location is that a variance points to one truck, one technician and one month, instead of disappearing into the company total.
How often should you count, and what should you keep?
A practical rhythm for a small trades business is a monthly count of each van, a weekly check of a handful of high-value parts, a quarterly walk through the tool crib, and a full count of shop and vans at year end. BDC notes many businesses combine frequent partial cycle counts with a periodic full count [6].
Keep count sheets and the adjustments they produced with your other business records, generally for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to [7].
How does MapleInventory handle vans and tools?
MapleInventory keeps stock by location, so each van, the shop and any job-site trailer can be counted and reconciled separately, and a count on one van never touches the numbers for another. Tools and equipment go in its company asset register, assigned to a person or location, separately from resale parts. 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. See also tracking company tools and equipment.