How To: Create a Full Physical Inventory

How To: Create a Full Physical Inventory

Yellow Dog Software
Yellow Dog
Software
How To

Create a Full Physical Inventory

End user · Yellow Dog Inventory 2026

Why It's Important

Regular physical inventories help maintain accurate on-hand quantities and ensure reports reflect true inventory valuation.

Prerequisites

Permissions

  • View and edit Physical Inventories

System preparation

For the most accurate count, complete the following reviews:

TaskTimingPurpose
Review sales5 days beforeEnsure all sales are pulled in and processed.
Review purchasing3 days beforeConfirm receipts, invoices, and transfers are committed.
Review manual adjustments2 days beforeVerify waste, damages, production adjustments, etc. are submitted.
Review handheld devices1 day beforeEnsure users can log in, devices are charged, and the application is up to date.

Step By Step

Create the Physical Inventory

  1. In Yellow Dog Inventory, go to Physical Inventory > Physical Inventories, then select Create New Full Physical.
  2. Highlight the store where the physical count will occur, then select Select.
Note: You may see a Physical Inventory warning if there are purchasing documents that haven't been resolved (committed or accepted) that could affect the on-hand quantities and/or costs of items in the physical you're creating. Recommendation: resolve the documents before continuing — commit the invoices, accept the transfers, or remove them.
  1. The Physical Inventory Editor opens with all active items available to the store included.

Physical Inventory Editor overview

FieldDescription
Store Store where the physical count is performed.
Physical Inventory Number Auto-generated number; editable with permission.
This Physical is a Cycle Count Indicates a cycle count; does not update the store's Close Out date.
Description Auto-filled with month and year; editable with permission.
Status Shows the current status and, if committed, includes the user and timestamp.
Effective Date/Time Date and time the count will be applied—typically when counting finished.
Sort By Sort items by SKU, description, reference, count sheet order, variance, etc.
Show only Items with no counts / with Variances Filters items for review or worksheet printing.
Flag Filters by specific flags; option to hide flag columns.
Add Items Add items omitted during creation, or re-add corrected problem items.
Add Items From Add items using a wizard (from a CSV, par levels, purchasing document, etc.).
Import Counts From Import counts after the Physical is created.
Remove Item Remove items from this Physical.
Edit Item Open the Item Editor directly.
Item History Report View item history for the selected item and store.
Add/Rename/Remove Column Manage custom counting columns.
Update Totals Refresh item data; useful after making adjustments that need to be applied to this Physical.
Save / Save & Close Save work.
Print Worksheet Print worksheets for recounts based on current filters.
Reports Access Physical Inventory reporting. Reports update after commit.
Commit Finalize the Physical. Total Counted becomes the new on-hand amount.

Editor columns

Each item row in the editor shows the following count and variance columns:

ColumnDescription
Reference Data entered in the item Reference field, if any, is listed here.
On Hand Counted Manual counts, or adjustments to counts from sessions, are entered here.
Child Items Counted If the item is a base unit and has related purchasing/counting sizes that were counted, those values are listed here.
Recipes Counted If the item is an ingredient in batch recipes that were counted, those values are entered here.
Total Counted The sum total of all counts for the item, including sessions, child items, and recipes.
Variance Cost % The percentage difference between what the system expected and what was counted.

Adding Counts to a Physical Inventory

Add counts from a session

  1. In the Physical Inventory Editor, select Import Counts From.
  2. Select Add counts from a Session, then Next.
  3. Select all relevant sessions for the store, then choose Next. There is no session limit.
  4. Review the preview and remove problem items if needed. Note issues so you can correct and manually re-add items later.
  5. A new column with the session name is added. Edit counts if needed.

Add counts from a CSV file

  1. In the Physical Inventory Editor, select Import Counts From.
  2. Select Add counts from an Excel, CSV, or Text File, then Next.
  3. Match file columns to Yellow Dog fields:
    1. Required fields: SKU/UPC and Quantity.
    2. Select your file using the browse icon.
    3. If the file has headers, check Data has a header row.
    4. Select Next.
  4. Review the preview, remove problem items, and correct as necessary.
  5. A new column with the file name is added. Edit counts if needed.

Reviewing Before Commit

Filters

  • Sort By: Sort by variance (quantity or cost), descending, to identify high-impact items.
  • Show Only Items with No Counts / With Variances: Quickly narrow your review list.
  • Print Worksheet: Prints only filtered items for recounts.

Item History Report

Use the Item History Report to verify:

  • Purchases
  • Receipts / invoices
  • Manual adjustments
  • Sales
  • Past physical inventories

To generate the report:

  1. Highlight an item.
  2. Select Item History Report.

This helps identify whether missing purchases or sales caused variances.

Setting the effective date and time

Set the effective date/time to when the counts were collected.

Recommendation: Perform counts outside business hours whenever possible.

Committing the Physical Inventory

When you are confident counts are accurate:

  1. Confirm the Effective Date & Time.
  2. Select Commit.

Once committed:

  • Total Counted becomes the new on-hand quantity.
  • Items without counts are set to zero.

Reports Available

Pre-commit

  • Resulting On Hand by Item (Physical items only)
  • Resulting On Hand by Item (all store items)
  • Resulting On Hand by Department (Physical items only)
  • A vs T by Item
  • A vs T by Vendor
  • A vs T by COGS Dept / Category
  • Item History Report

Post-commit

  • Detailed Variances Report
  • A vs T by Item
  • A vs T by Vendor
  • A vs T by COGS Dept / Category
  • Item History Report

Last reviewed: August 2026 · Applies to: Yellow Dog Inventory 2026