Cut Inventory Counting Time in Half (or More) with Business Central

Inventory counting in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central often requires more time and effort than necessary. Whether it’s a year-end physical count or routine cycle counts, many teams rely on outdated processes that create delays, introduce errors, and disrupt warehouse operations.

The good news is that you don’t need to overhaul your entire system to address this issue. With a few practical adjustments to processes and tools, teams can routinely cut their count time by 50% or more.

Real world results back this up. KONG Company, known for its high-quality pet products, gained tighter control over inventory and improved accuracy by updating its inventory counting approach in Business Central. Their story shows what’s possible when you streamline counts with the right strategy and tools.

1. Assign Count Period Codes to Streamline Scheduling

When everything gets counted at the same frequency, the workload stays high—and unnecessary. Low-volume or slow-moving items require less attention than fast-moving, high-value stock.

Set up count period codes (such as FAST, NORMAL, or SLOW) to group items by movement or value. Use these groupings to schedule counts with intent. You’ll spend less time overall and focus on the inventory that matters most.

This approach reduces the amount of inventory your team needs to count while improving accuracy and control.

Users can set up inventory count periods such as FAST, NORMAL, and SLOW. Each code represents a grouping based on item movement or value, enabling efficient prioritization of inventory counting schedules. The count frequency and percentage of items by cost help warehouse managers focus on fast-moving or high-value items.

2. Customize Count Sheets Based on Real-World Criteria

Generic count sheets waste time. If your team counts items that aren’t in stock or located in the assigned area, the process slows down and increases the chance of errors.

Tailor count sheets by shelf, location, item group, or SKU range. Assign sheets to zones, teams, or shifts as needed. By aligning sheets with your warehouse’s actual structure, your team spends more time counting and less time searching.

Customizing count sheets in this way eliminates irrelevant items from the process, helping the team to focus solely on what is essential.

Create customizable options for generating count sheets, including filters for inventory activity periods, specific locations, and SKUs. The functionality ensures that inventory managers can focus on relevant subsets of inventory, reducing time and effort during cycle counts.

3. Let Teams Work Simultaneously, Not Sequentially

When only one person enters count data, everything bottlenecks. Even if multiple people are out counting, they end up waiting to hand off sheets or take turns entering data.

Instead, allow multiple team members to enter counts simultaneously, each working on their assigned sections, which reduces wait times and accelerates the entire process from floor to posting.

Enabling teams to enter data in parallel helps you finish counts faster and avoid unnecessary delays.

A summary displays a list of inventory counts, showing detailed statistics such as sheet lines, counted lines, and last reconciliation reports. This overview helps track progress, identify discrepancies, and streamline the inventory reconciliation process.

4. Record and Reconcile with Line-Level Detail

Without visibility into individual item counts, errors often go unnoticed until posting. At that point, resolving discrepancies can mean starting over—or worse, posting inaccurate data.

Use a line-level count entry to compare expected quantities with actual quantities in real time. When the system flags mismatches early, teams investigate immediately—while the count is fresh—so errors get resolved before they multiply, which helps your team catch problems early and correct them quickly before they affect reporting.

Lists individual count sheet lines, including item details, locations, expected quantities, and differences. This granular view allows inventory teams to reconcile discrepancies quickly and ensures accurate inventory reporting.

5. Review Differences with Built-In Reports

Raw count numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. Without analysis, it’s challenging to determine which differences require closer examination or where to send teams for recounts.

Use difference reports that sort by cost, location, or item number to identify high-value discrepancies and risky variances, enabling you to focus efforts where they’ll have the most impact and avoid chasing minor issues.

Prioritizing the most critical discrepancies saves time and improves inventory reliability.

Displays a detailed report of discrepancies between counted and expected inventory levels. It includes lot numbers, bin codes, and difference amounts, providing insights into inventory variances for further investigation and resolution.

6. Use Mobile Devices for On-the-Floor Data Entry

Paper-based counts create double work. Teams write counts by hand, then someone else types them in—often days later after they’ve forgotten key details and introduced avoidable errors.

Instead, use mobile devices to record counts directly. Teams scan items, enter quantities, and send data directly into Business Central, thereby eliminating the need for re-entry and reducing handwriting errors, which improves both speed and accuracy.

Capturing count data directly at the source cuts entry time and reduces data-entry errors.

Enter inventory data in real time using a handheld device, with barcode scanning for bins, serials, and lot numbers—streamlining warehouse operations and eliminating manual entry.

Advanced Inventory Count: Purpose-Built for Business Central

The Advanced Inventory Count app from Insight Works supports all the strategies outlined above and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The app connects directly to standard journals and equips your team with the tools necessary for fast and accurate inventory counts.

With Advanced Inventory Count, simplify inventory tasks with comprehensive features for data entry, reconciliation, posting, and analysis—everything required to improve accuracy, reduce manual effort, and complete counts efficiently from start to finish.

To explore the solution or start a trial, visit InventoryForDynamics.com, install Advanced Inventory Count from Microsoft AppSource, or connect with your Microsoft Partner.