Keeping accurate inventory counts is critical for smooth operations in Finale Inventory. A stock count (AKA stock take) is how you record the physical quantities of products in your warehouse(s) so Finale can match what you have on hand.
This article covers the most common stock count scenarios and explains how to set up your scanner correctly to avoid common mistakes.
Entering Initial Inventory Levels
When setting up Finale for the first time, you’ll need to load your starting inventory levels. The recommended method is using the Stock Take feature on the barcode scanner.
Steps:
On the scanner, navigate to 5. Stock Take from the main menu.
Select or scan the correct sublocation.
Enter or scan the product’s ID or barcode.
Enter the quantity physically counted.åç
Continue scanning each product and entering its count on the scanner.
After you are finished with all your counts for that section or sublocation, sync the scanner to upload your counts into Finale.
Transitioning from a Single “main” Sublocation
Some accounts begin with all inventory stored in a single placeholder sublocation called Main. If you want to transition to a sublocation-based workflow, you have two options:
Option A: Stock Transfer (No Recount Required)
Use a Stock Transfer to move inventory from Main into the correct sublocations.
This approach is best if you already know the correct quantities for each product for each sublocation.
Stock transfers can be completed on the browser, or on the barcode scanner app.
Stock Transfer on the Barcode Scanner Steps:
On the scanner main menu, select 6. Transfer.
Select 3. Transfer From
Select the sublocation where the inventory is currently stored (e.g., “Main”).
Select the sublocation you are moving the inventory into (e.g., “Aisle 1 – Bin A”).
Enter the Product ID or scan the Product Lookup for the product you are transferring.
Input the number of units being moved to the new sublocation.
Repeat the scan-and-quantity step for additional products moving to the same sublocation.
Once the transfer is completed, navigate to the main menu and sync the scanner.
The transfer will appear in Finale Inventory, moving the quantities from the source sublocation to the destination.
Option B: Zero and Recount (Physical Count Verification)
First, zero out the quantities in “Main" by pulling a Stock Report of all items in main, replacing their quantities with zero and importing into the Stock Take screen in Finale.
Then, perform a Stock Take on the scanner, scanning items into their new sublocations while physically verifying counts.
This option is best when you want to validate actual inventory quantities during the move.
Steps:
On the scanner, navigate to 5. Stock Take from the main menu.
Select or scan the correct sublocation.
Enter or scan the product’s ID or barcode.
Enter the quantity physically counted.
Continue scanning each product and entering its count on the scanner.
After you are finished with all your counts for that section or sublocation, sync the scanner to upload your counts into Finale.
Important: “Write Zeros” Setting on the Scanner
Before performing a stock take with the scanner, you’ll want to navigate to 14. Settings from the main menu to verify your 19. TAK Write Zeros setting on the scanner. This setting determines how Finale handles items that are not scanned during a stock take - either not adjusting the quantity count for items not scanned during the Stock Take or overwriting uncounted Product IDs in the sublocation with a zero.
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Set Write Zeros = No (Recommended Default)
Use this if you are only counting part of a sublocation.
Prevents Finale from wiping out items you haven’t scanned yet.
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Set Write Zeros = Yes
Use this only when you are intentionally counting the entire sublocation in a single sync session.
Items not scanned will be set to zero.
Best Practice: Always keep Write Zeros set to No unless you are doing a complete sublocation count in one go.