Cycle Counting Checklist

Run the cycle count report in NetSuite, Epicor, or Dynamics for today's ABC bucket — A items counted monthly, B quarterly, C annually. Filter by location and exclude any SKUs already on a hold or NCR. The inventory control lead owns this pull.

Coordinate with production and shipping to halt put-aways, picks, and kit pulls in the affected aisles. Open WOs that need material from these locations should be staged before the freeze. Movement during the count is the single biggest source of false variance.

Verify receipts, issues, scrap, and WIP move transactions from the prior shift are posted in the ERP. Unposted material movements will show up as phantom variances. Materials supervisor signs off before counters start.

Charge RF scanners, load the count batch, and print blind-count sheets (no on-hand quantity shown — counters must enter what they see). Stage "counted" tags or colored dots for marking locations as complete.

Assign aisles or bin ranges so no two counters cover the same location. Review the variance tolerance — typically 2% by quantity for C items, $50 by value for A items, anything outside requires a recount. Remind the team to capture lot/heat numbers on traceable material.

Counters scan the bin barcode, enter quantity, and confirm part number against the label. Do not reference the system on-hand during the first count. Watch for mixed bins, mislabeled containers, and partial cases at the back of the rack.

For traceable material — castings, alloy bar, medical or aerospace components — confirm the lot or heat number on the material matches the system record. A quantity match with a lot mismatch is still a finding and may trigger a hold per AS9100 or ISO 13485 traceability requirements.

A second counter performs an independent recount on any location where the first count differs from system on-hand beyond tolerance. If the recount confirms the variance, flag the location for investigation rather than accepting the adjustment blind.

Apply a dated "counted" tag or colored dot to each completed location so movement can resume in counted zones while the rest of the area finishes. The cycle count lead does a walk-through to confirm no location was missed before lifting the freeze.

Walk back through receipts, issues, and WIP moves on the variant SKUs. Common causes: scrap not reported, kit pulled but not backflushed, mis-stage to the wrong bin, BOM unit-of-measure mismatch (each vs. box), or a damaged label. Use 5-why; do not just adjust the system.

If the same SKU, bin, or transaction type drives variance across cycles, escalate to a corrective action — retraining a shift, fixing a BOM, adding a poka-yoke at the put-away. Quality manager owns CAR closure with effectiveness verification.

Enter approved adjustments using the cycle count adjustment reason code so finance can trace them. Adjustments above the materiality threshold (commonly $500 or 5% of bin value) require controller approval before posting.

Pull the count accuracy metric (locations within tolerance / total locations counted) and dollar variance. Trend against prior cycles. Distribute to the materials manager, quality manager, and controller.