---
title: How do I take inventory?
description: This article provides a complete overview of the entire process for taking inventory with Backbar.
---

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# How do I take inventory in Backbar?

### Overview

#### Who can use this feature?

Admins and managers

All plans

Desktop

Mobile

1. In the left navigation panel, go to **Inventory** and select **Take inventory.**

2. Click the **Start new inventory session** button.

 

![take inventory_sidebar](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/take%20inventory_sidebar.png?width=1600&height=641&name=take%20inventory_sidebar.png)

 

3. On this page, you will see a table that shows all of your inventory locations. If you have not yet setup locations where your products are stored for taking inventory, be sure to do that first. To begin, choose a location to count from either the drop-down menu or by clicking on it's row in the table.

 

![Choose location_2](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Choose%20location_2.png?width=1600&height=376&name=Choose%20location_2.png)

 

 

4. You will then see a table of all of your inventory items as shown below. Backbar is very flexible to allow you to enter in your counts in many different ways to make it fast to do inventory however you organize your products and shelves. Here are important tips for filtering and sorting you inventory items when putting in counts:

 

![Sorting options_take inventory](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sorting%20options_take%20inventory.png?width=1600&height=324&name=Sorting%20options_take%20inventory.png)

 

1. **Search box: **This searches not only by name, but also drink attributes as well! For example, if you are counting your whiskey shelf, type *whiskey* in the search box and you'll only see your whiskies in the list, making it faster to enter the counts.
2. **Sort by last order counted: **Once you have done inventory once, Backbar remembers the order you put in your counts for each location. That way when it's time to count inventory next time, you can easily go right down the list entering in your counts for each item in the order they appear on your shelves. If there is a new item that wasn't counted last time, find it at the bottom of the list, put in the count, then resume entering in counts where you left off. Next time, the order will be adjusted to the same order you just put them in. Using this option set to *Yes* is usually the fastest way to do inventory.
3. **Sort by custom:** You can save and sort the sequence of inventory items to match a custom order that was previously used for inventory. This can help you match the layout of your bar and storage shelves to quickly move through inventory products.
4. **Filter by type or subtype**: Use these filters to pare down the list of inventory items to just what's in front of you. For example if you are counting the beer cooler, set the Filter by Type to *Beer* and you will only see beers in your list. Filtering while doing inventory removes the distraction of all the extra items that aren't applicable.
5. **Add new item**: If you come across an item on your shelves that you haven't added to Backbar yet, you can add it from this page while doing inventory.

 

5. Once you are finished entering the counts for this particular location, click the **Finish** button. Don't worry, if you aren't completely finished or realize later you need to make a change, you can always return to this location to make changes.

 

![Finish location](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Finish%20location.png?width=1600&height=324&name=Finish%20location.png)

 

6. You will be returned to the same page as before except now the table will show the start and end times for the location you just counted and the number of items counted. Repeat steps 3 - 5 for each location you have. When finished entering counts for all locations, click the **Review session **button.

![Review session-1](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Review%20session-1.png?width=1600&height=346&name=Review%20session-1.png)

 

7. If you did not count a location, or you did not click **Finish*** *when you did count, you will get a warning message to confirm that you are done. Click **Confirm** if finished and each location will then be set to a finished status.

![Modal _finish location](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Modal%20_finish%20location.png?width=1600&height=324&name=Modal%20_finish%20location.png)

 

8. The last page shows a summary of your inventory session before finalizing it and closing the session. There are very important details on this page to be aware of.

1. **Session end time**: This is the date and time your session is ended. By default it selects the current time, however you can change it to another time the session was really ended. This date is very important as it will show up on all of your reports and is the exact time all of your inventory counts will be adjusted to the numbers you entered in.
   
   One situation to be aware of is if it takes you a long time to do an inventory session and other things happen during that time that could influence the counts. For example if it takes you three days to do inventory and you receive deliveries with new items before your session is finished. If you receive the orders in Backbar before your session end date, it is assumed that those deliveries are included in the counts for the inventory session.
2. **Partial inventory**: There are two types of inventory sessions that can be done in Backbar, partial and full. By default, Backbar assumes you did a full inventory, meaning you counted all of your products. Any item that does not have a count entered for it (in any location) will be set to a quantity of 0. Basically, if you didn't count it, it's assumed you no longer have it.
   
   Conversely, you can check the box to indicate you only performed a partial inventory. A partial inventory means you didn't count every item that you have, but of the ones you did count, you counted them everywhere. The most common use case for this are venues who do a full inventory once a month, but do partial inventories weekly to help determine what orders to place for the week. In this scenario, a venue may do a partial inventory of their high volume products: well liquor, wine by the glass, and draft beer, for example; to make sure they have enough for the following week.
3. **Inventory count summary table**: At the bottom of the page is a summary of all of your inventory items and the total counts they have across all locations. Items highlighted in yellow have a negative usage, which occurs when your current count is more than your last count plus purchases. The most common reasons for this are you didn't put an order in Backbar for a purchase, you forgot to close an order, or there is an inaccuracy with your inventory counts. Click [here](https://www.getbackbar.com/support/why-dont-my-items-show-on-usage-reports) to read more about negative usage. 
   
   The important thing to check is to make sure that all items have been counted. Items highlighted in red did not have a count entered in any location, and as such, the quantity will be set to 0 for these items when you end your session.

 

9. Once finished reviewing all of the information, click the **End session** button to complete the inventory.

 

1. In the bottom navigation bar, tap **Inventory** (clipboard icon).  Tap the **Take inventory **button.

2. Tap **Start new session** button on the next screen.  If a session is in progress you may return to it by tapping **Resume session**.  You can only have one open session at a time, in progress.

 

![startmobilesession(1)](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/startmobilesession(1).jpg?width=200&height=428&name=startmobilesession(1).jpg)

 

3. Next, you'll see your inventory storage locations. If you haven't set up locations for your different storage and service areas, please do so before proceeding. To start counting, tap a location and begin entering quantities for each item.

[*Read: How to add inventory locations*](https://www.getbackbar.com/support/how-do-i-change-the-name-of-a-inventory-location)

 

![mobilelocaitonsscreen(2)](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Support/Screenshots/mobilelocaitonsscreen(2).jpg?width=200&height=440&name=mobilelocaitonsscreen(2).jpg)

 

4. You will see a list of all your inventory items as shown below.  There'll be a bottle slider to help estimate partial bottle volume to the nearest tenth of a unit, as well as entry fields for Case/Unit counts.  You can change between Slider entry and Keypad entry from the buttons of the same name.  Tap **Next **to move to the next item.  Tap the **Plus **button to add a new item not currently in inventory.

 

![sliderimage](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Support/Screenshots/sliderimage.jpg?width=200&height=422&name=sliderimage.jpg)

 

**Search Box:** You can search here by name, but also by drink attributes!  For example, if you are counting your whiskey shelf, type "whiskey" in the search box and you will see only a list of whiskies in the item list.  To see the full item list again clear the search box. 

 

**Scanning: **You may also tap on the small **Bar Code** **icon **on the right side of the Search Box and this will open the scanner linked to the camera on your mobile device.  You can use this to quickly scan and jump to a linked item, or to add/link an inventory item to this Bar Code.

 

**Sort Filters:** will display above the item list and below the storage location name.  You can access these sort filers by tapping the **Filter Icon** (funnel) to the right of the search bar. The default on new locaitons is a full alphabetical list (**A-Z**). 

 

**Last count: **when selected the items will sort to last count on this location (items counted in sequence from your last session, with remaining items at the bottom of the last count sequence). You must complete a session before this is available on the subsequent session.  Counting your items in the order they are laid out so that you can speed up the process by matching shelf-to-app layout.

 

**Custom:** when this sort method has been built for a location, "Custom" will default as the location sort (a user assigned list and sequence of items.  Custom sorts are built within Manage Locations page on the web app). 

You can also add filters for **Type**, **Subtype**, **Style**, and by **T****ags **from the sort filters screen.  Tap **R****eset **on the top right to reset all filters to a full alphabetical view.  Tap **Apply filter **when done.

 

![fitlerscreen(4)](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Support/Screenshots/fitlerscreen(4).jpg?width=200&height=412&name=fitlerscreen(4).jpg)

 

5. Once you have finished the count in a location tap the** Finish location** button and that location will conclude, and you will return to the list of inventory storage locations list.  Completed locations will say "Completed" below after finishing.  If you need to make an adjustment to a count in a completed location you can tap back into that location, make the change, and then tap Finish location again.  Tap into the next storage location and begin to count again as outlined above.  Repeat for all desired locaitons.

 

6. When finished with all location counts, tap **Review** on the locations list page to begin finalizing the Inventory session.  You will receive a notification if any areas have been left as** In Progress **(started, but navigated away from the count screen prior to tapping Finish location).

 

7. The last page before ending the session will show you how many items have not been counted (in red).  Tap the back arrow and then resume to return to the locations screen and add any missing counts as necessary.  If everything looks good tap **End session**.

 

![endsessionscreen(5)](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Support/Screenshots/endsessionscreen(5).jpg?width=200&height=402&name=endsessionscreen(5).jpg)

 

8. **End session pop-up screen** will ask you to enter the date and time for the inventory session.  By default this displays the current time and date, but this date is very important, as the closure time is the time when you are resetting the on-hand quantities on the account and assigning the reporting timestamps for many reports.  

 

If it takes you a long time to complete inventory, and if the quantities of some items have changed due to sales or received orders, either backdate the session closure date/time to prior to those events, or return and recount items to include those changes.  

 

You can also perform partial inventories with the **How to Handle uncounted items** selector.  If you have counted a complete inventory and items that are uncounted are out of stock, select "Set quantity to 0". If you performed only selective item counts, select "Keep Quantity" and the current on-hand totals will remain on fully uncounted items. 

 

Note if you count even 1 unit of an item in any location, you must count it in all locaitons.  The uncounted items selector only handles items that have 0 as the count across all locations. 

 

![endsessionmodal(6)](https://www.getbackbar.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Support/Screenshots/endsessionmodal(6).jpg?width=200&height=407&name=endsessionmodal(6).jpg)

 

9. When everything has been assigned correctly, tap **Finish **to fully end the session.  Congrats! You've finished taking inventory on the mobile app!

 

 

### Related articles

[Why don't my items show on usage reports?](https://www.getbackbar.com/support/why-dont-my-items-show-on-usage-reports)

[What is an inventory session?](https://www.getbackbar.com/support/what-is-an-inventory-session)

[What is the best/fastest way to take inventory?](https://www.getbackbar.com/support/what-is-the-best-fastest-way-to-take-inventory)

 

 

### Related videos

[How to take inventory in Backbar](https://www.getbackbar.com/support/how-to-take-inventory-in-backbar-video)

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