Stocktake

Stocktake

A stocktake is a physical audit of the asset register. Every asset gets verified — “is this device actually here, in the place the register says it is?” — and the register is corrected for what you find.

Trusts that don’t stocktake annually are guessing about their asset count by year three. The point of a stocktake is to refuse to guess.

Cadence

The standard cycle is annual, usually in the summer holiday when buildings are accessible and rooms aren’t full of pupils. Larger trusts split into termly waves (one academy per term).

Smaller trusts can do it in a long Saturday. Larger ones plan it as a project.

Running a stocktake

1. Open a stocktake from /agent/assets/stocktake. Give the session a label, optionally narrow the scope to a site, building, or room (leave blank for a whole-estate sweep), then create it — there’s no separate /new page; the new session is posted straight from the index.
2. The session is now open. The live tally starts at zero.
3. Walk the buildings with the mobile-scan view (or a tablet on the desktop web app). Scan asset barcodes, references, or serial numbers — the app marks them found in the session.
4. Scanned codes that match an asset outside the scope are flagged unexpected; unrecognised codes are flagged unknown. Assets in scope that were never scanned remain in the missing list.
5. Close the session when every area has been swept. The session page shows a coverage percentage and the full tally of found, missing, unexpected, and unknown-code scans.

What “missing” means

Missing = on the register but not seen during the stocktake. Three possible causes:

• Stolen / lost — needs reporting through safeguarding/insurance pathway
• Moved without paperwork — common; needs locating before being marked lost
• Disposed without paperwork — also common; check the WEEE log

A stocktake usually surfaces 2-5% missing on first pass. After investigation, most are moved without paperwork. The remainder is your honest shrinkage number — useful to know.

What “unexpected” means

Unexpected = scanned code matched an asset, but that asset is outside the scope of this session. Possible causes:

• Asset has moved rooms or buildings without a register update
• Borrowed long-term from another site in the trust and forgotten

Update the asset’s location in the register once you’ve confirmed where it actually is.

What “unknown codes” means

Unknown = the scanned code doesn’t match any barcode, reference, or serial number in the register. Possible causes:

• Bought outside the procurement process and never registered
• Donated by a parent, governor, or partner organisation
• Badly printed or damaged label that scanned incorrectly

Each genuinely unregistered item needs to be added to the register manually.

After close

Once the session is closed, the session page retains the full tally (found, missing, unexpected, unknown codes) and the complete scan log. Use the missing list as your investigation starting point.

Don’t aim for 100%

100% verified is suspicious — it usually means corners were cut. Aim for >97% verified, with a credible explanation for the missing 3%.