Month-end is here, and you want to know whether what's on your shelves matches what's in the books. A paper count takes a day, the shop either closes or work suffers, and you still end up with a number nobody can explain.
In Mobilat the count works differently: several people count at the same time, each on their own phone, and the totals merge by themselves. This post walks through the steps, what you see at the end, and where the limits are.
Why counting usually takes a whole day
The slow part is rarely the counting itself. One person counts and writes on paper, then someone else compares the paper with the quantity in the notebook. One typo creates a fake shortage, and you can't tell if it's real or just a counting mistake.
The book quantity can also be something somebody edited by hand. In Mobilat a quantity is never typed in. It's computed from movements: sale, purchase, return, transfer, adjustment. So the number you compare against has a full history behind it.
Before you start: prepare the numbers
A count is only as good as the records before it. The day before:
- Make sure recent purchase invoices are recorded. A phone that arrived but wasn't entered won't show in the quantity.
- Make sure returns are recorded, both customer returns and returns to suppliers.
- If you have two or more branches, record every transfer. Stock leaves one branch and enters the other right away, so don't leave anything in transit without a record.
- Decide who counts what. One person takes phones, one accessories, one chargers and cables, for example.
A group count, step by step
Everyone on the team opens the app on their own phone and scans what's in front of them. The totals merge live, so nobody waits for anyone and there's no paper to add up later.
- Start a new count from the stock page.
- Each team member joins the count from their phone.
- Each person scans the barcodes in front of them with the phone camera. No scanner needed.
- Phones tracked by IMEI are counted device by device. Accessories are counted by quantity, as usual.
- Watch the totals build up. When everyone is done, review the result before confirming.
If you haven't used it yet, try it on a demo shop first from the no-signup test page.
Before you confirm: shortages and extras, with their value
This is the most useful part. At the end of the count, before you confirm, you see the items that are short and the ones that are over, with their value at cost. So it's not just "3 chargers missing" but also what that gap costs you in pounds.
For phones tracked by IMEI, the count names exactly which devices are missing, not just that the number is lower. That changes the job: instead of hunting for "a missing Samsung", you have the IMEI and can read the device's history from purchase to its last movement.
If the numbers look right, confirm. If you spot a counting mistake, recount that item before confirming.
After the count: adjust with a reason
If a difference is real, it's recorded as an adjustment with a reason: damaged, lost or gift. The adjustment carries the name of the person who made it. So a quantity is never changed by hand without a trace.
Nothing is deleted. If an adjustment was entered wrongly, it's fixed with a reversing movement and the full history stays. A month later, when you ask where those chargers went, the answer is still there.
What helps between counts
- Low-stock alerts: when an item runs low, a notification reaches you even if the app is closed, so you don't wait for a count to learn your best-selling charger ran out.
- Dead-stock report: shows what sits on the shelf and doesn't sell, which helps you decide what to stop buying.
- Item history: open any item and see everything that happened to it.
- Branches: you can limit staff to their own branch or let them see all. Transfers between branches take one step, and phones move by IMEI so you know which branch holds each device. Transfers between branches come with the Pro plan and above, see pricing.
Limits to know
- A count shows the difference, but not the reason by itself. You still review the item's movements and ask your team.
- Stock and IMEI tracking are not in the Wallets plan, which is for wallet and InstaPay lines only.
- The IMEI is checked only for a valid 15-digit format. Mobilat doesn't check devices with any outside party, and the telephony registration status is typed in by you.
- It needs internet. If the connection drops you see an offline page, and selling fully offline isn't supported yet.
For more, see the stock and counts page, and the catalog and barcodes page for items and labels.
Summary
A team count turns a day of effort into about an hour. Everyone counts from their own phone, the totals merge, you see shortages and extras with their value before confirming, and you record adjustments with a reason and a name, without deleting any history.