Recording item counts - Manually

You can add item count to an ACTIVE Stock Take by using the Add Counts button, using the Update counts button adjacent to a line item, or, if you have the equipment, by importing counts from a data logger or CSV file (this file must be in a specific format, with rows having columns representing EAN, Count and optionally dateTime).

Counts can be added from any computer running BookMine, i.e. you can open the Stock Take form on several computers and add counts to the Active stock take simultaneously form each computer.

• Add Counts button – if you do not have a data logger this is the most efficient way to record item counts. You can record as many separate counts per item as is required as the same stock item may be spread across the premises in several piles. Items are added in a loop. After clicking the Add counts button you are presented with the standard Stock search form (either FULL or Compact, depending on the Options you have selected for searching). Scan a barcode or enter words in the  title or use any of the fields to locate the item.

• You can just count items on hold the same as items in stock. Bookmine compensates, using the total in stock and on hold as the stored count. This means you can leave everything on hold that is on hold.

• When the corresponding stock record is located enter the number counted and any optional information. You can record a 0 count to indicate that the item was actually counted but none were found. This sets the count to 0 and sets the Counted flag to true.

• This process is repeated until you want to have a break or you have counted everything. Each item is flagged if at least one count has been recorded for it.

• If you locate an item without a product code or a damaged product code use the text search fields to locate the corresponding stock record. If there is no matching Stock record you can optionally add one to the database. Note: this results in a stock record being created.

• Update Counts button – you can use the Add... button adjacent to any line item to update an existing count or price. Note a new count record is recorded. To decrease the overall count for an item enter a negative quantity. This can also be achieved by adding a new count record, as above.

• To view all existing counts for an item click the Details button to the Right of the entry.

• Data logger – Portable Data Terminals are hand-held devices that can store and scan multiple product codes and counts in a single session. The maximum number of counts depends on the particular device but is typically many thousand.

• BookMine can import counts from some brands of portable terminal into the active Stock take, as if they were entered using the Add Counts button. Counts can be uploaded from a portable terminal piecewise, doing single departments or single shelves at a time and then uploading them. After uploading counts make sure to clear the portable terminal (Typically the device prompts you to delete after an upload).

• BookMine will accept either 2 or 3 field formats. The first field is the product code, followed by an optional count field. If the count field is missing BookMine assumes a count of 1. The last field is the date and time of the count.

• For details see Importing from a Data Logger

Data loggers currently fully supported: BHT Denso 3000 to 8000 Series or any that produce CSV files. Note: Bookmine can import counts from any data logger, such as MetroLogic, that provides the counts as a standard CSV (a standard text file that has rows and columns) or Excel compatible file. See importing using CSV files. 

You can import counts from any data logger by uploading the counts to a disk file in CSV format (CSV files have data arranged in rows and colums - If opened in Excel the data appears in rows and column format)

Data from the portable terminal is stored in an import queue that can be checked before actually importing them into the stock take count records.