Weekly Inventory Count and Order Day Checklist
A step-by-step checklist for running the weekly count on the same day and in the same order, turning it into clean vendor orders, and closing the loop when the deliveries arrive.
Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.
The count that keeps getting done is the one that is short, identical every week, and immediately useful. Most inventory routines die not because anyone stops caring but because the count drifts: a different day, a different walking order, a half-case recorded one way this week and another way next week, and an order sheet that still has to be built from memory afterward. This checklist is the fixed sequence for count day. It starts before anyone opens the walk-in, runs through the count itself, and finishes with the vendor orders sent and the deliveries checked in, so the numbers you collect this week are comparable to the ones you collected last week.
Print it and pin it to the office wall, or copy the lines into whatever your team already uses. Adjust the storage order to match your building, but keep whatever order you settle on. Our article on the fastest way to run accurate weekly counts explains the layout and pairing habits behind several of these lines, and the piece on how reorder alerts prevent stockouts covers the after-count steps in more depth. If you want to know what the routine costs in wages, the Kitchen Inventory Count Labor Cost Calculator in our Tools section will tell you in about a minute.
- Confirm the count is happening on the fixed day and time, right before the main vendor order goes in, and that nobody has moved it for a busy week.
- Print or open the count sheet in walking-route order, with the count unit printed next to every item.
- Check that every delivery received since the last count has been logged with quantities, not just a signed invoice in a drawer.
- Tidy each storage area first: like items together, labels facing out, opened containers marked with the date they were opened.
- Assign pairs for the count: one person calls the item and quantity, the other records.
- Count the walk-in first, then reach-ins, dry storage, bar, and paper goods, in the same order every week.
- Count opened containers the same way as last week, by weight or by estimated fraction, and never mix the two methods for the same item.
- Flag any item found in two locations so the sheet and the storage plan can be fixed before next week.
- Note items with no usage since the last count as candidates to drop from the list or to order only when needed.
- Write down anything close to its use-by date so it can be worked into prep or a special before it becomes waste.
- Enter the counts and let the par comparison produce a below-par list for every item.
- Subtract stock already on order before accepting any suggested order quantity.
- Round each quantity up to the vendor case pack and check it against that vendor's order minimum.
- Separate items that need a phone call today from items that simply go on the regular order for that vendor's next delivery day.
- Review the largest variances against sales and write a likely cause next to each one: waste, over-portioning, a shorted delivery, or a counting error.
- Adjust suggested quantities for anything unusual coming up: a private event, a holiday, a menu change, or a weather forecast that will move covers.
- Send each vendor order before its cutoff time and record who sent it and when.
- Check each delivery against the order sheet for shorts, substitutions, and damaged cases before anyone signs for it.
- Log the delivery quantities the same day so next week's usage calculation is correct.
- Record any waste thrown out this week by item and reason so the monthly par review has something real to work with.
- Add any item that ran out, or sat untouched all week, to the list for the next par review.
https://parlevelr.com/templates/weekly-count-and-order-day-checklist/Use it in your business, share it with your team, or link to it from your own site.
Also from ParLevelr
- Par Level Setup Worksheet: A one-page worksheet for recording the item, count unit, storage area, vendor and delivery days, usage between deliveries, buffer, and a defendable starting par for every item that matters.
- Free calculators