Second count: how to make it truly independent

The second count is one of the core elements of an orderly stock count. In practice it often shrinks to a "please have another look": the same colleagues walk down the aisle with the completed sheet and confirm what is written there. That is not an independent check but a nod. A second count has evidential value only if the second team finds its figure for itself. This article describes what is needed for that and how much second counting you can afford.

What independence means in practice

• Different people count than in the first count, ideally from another department or another site.
• The second team knows neither the result of the first count nor, in a blind count, the book stock.
• It works on its own blank sheet and not on a copy of the first sheet.
• There are no agreements between the teams during the count.

The procedure in six steps

1. Team A counts the count zone, enters the quantities and signs the sheet.
2. The count leader takes the completed sheet. It does not stay lying in the zone.
3. Team B receives a blank sheet for the same zone with bins and items but without quantities.
4. Team B counts independently and signs.
5. The count leader compares both sheets line by line.
6. If the quantities agree, the position is closed. If they differ, a third team counts the position again. All three results stay in the file, including the discarded one.

The third count is a clarification and not a majority vote. If it agrees with neither of the first two, the position is measured or recorded afresh together with the count leader and the result is justified.

Complete or partial?

A complete second count doubles the counting effort. Some companies therefore limit it to the important items. A fictional worked example: a warehouse has 3,000 count positions, and one team manages 40 positions an hour.

• Complete second count: 3,000 ÷ 40 = 75 team hours.
• Partial second count: all 600 positions of the most valuable items (20 per cent) and a random selection of 10 per cent of the remaining 2,400 positions, that is 240. Together this is 840 positions, or 28 per cent, equal to 840 ÷ 40 = 21 team hours.

In this example the partial variant saves 54 team hours. Whether it is sufficient for your accounts is for head office and the auditor to decide, not the warehouse. Regardless of that, every position with a deviation from the book stock is always counted one more time.

You fix the positions to be counted in part before the count and document the draw. If they are chosen only during the count, by feel, it can later not be shown that the selection was not made in a deliberately favourable way.

Five typical mistakes

• Team B is given the sheet of team A "for orientation".
• The teams stand in the same aisle and compare as they go.
• The second count is taken on by colleagues or superiors from the same department who are themselves affected by the result.
• Counting goes on until the "right" figure comes out.
• The second result is written over the first, so neither value can be checked any more.

Working with the warehouse staff

Independent does not mean unfriendly. Warehouse staff should give the count teams access to the areas, explain units and help with language questions. They just do not take part in the counting. Discuss this division of roles with the warehouse management beforehand, so that nobody feels bypassed. Also plan breaks and team changes: after several hours of counting attention drops, and that is exactly when counting errors arise. A second count with the same tired eyes loses its value.

In short

A second count is only as good as its independence. At AuditMaster a second team counts without knowing the first result, and if the result differs, the position is checked a third time. All count sheets remain traceable in the inventory record.