# Make an Adjustment

Count first, enter the counted number rather than the difference, and pick a reason that will still mean something in a year.

Those three habits are most of what separates a useful adjustment from a mystery.

![The New Adjustment screen, where the date, reason, warehouse and adjustment type are set above a line grid for the items being adjusted and the quantity or value change against each.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/stock-adjustments/new-stock-adjustment-form.png)

*Reason and description are what make an adjustment readable a year later.*

## Record an adjustment

- **Pick the location**

  Adjustments are always at one location. Do not adjust down at one site to explain a surplus at another; that is a transfer.
- **Choose quantity or value**

  Decided per adjustment, not per line.
- **Add the items and the new figures**

  Enter the counted quantity, not the difference. SorviAI Finance calculates the movement.
- **Pick a reason**

  This is what makes the adjustment auditable later.
- **Set the account**

  Where the write-off posts. Usually a cost of goods or shrinkage account.
- **Save**

  Stock and valuation both move at this point.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Count, then adjust**
>
> Do the physical count first and record the counted number. Working out the difference in your head before typing is where mistakes enter.

## Reason codes

| Reason | Use for |
| --- | --- |
| Physical Count Discrepancy | A counted difference at a stocktake |
| Stocktaking results | The outcome of a full count |
| Damaged goods | Broken or spoiled stock |
| Stolen goods | Loss you can attribute to theft |
| Stock Written off | Stock that is gone and will not be recovered |
| Found Items | Units that turned up which the system did not know about |
| Expired Items | Stock past its date |
| Obsolescence Reserve | Still there, no longer sellable |
| Inventory Revaluation | A change in what the stock is worth rather than how much there is |
| Initial Stock Setup | Setting stock at go-live |
| System Error Correction | Fixing an earlier entry error |

The account an adjustment posts to is chosen on the adjustment itself, not implied by the reason. The list above is what a new workspace is seeded with; you can add, rename and retire reasons to suit how your warehouse explains itself.

A short list that people actually use is worth more than a long one they guess at. If half your adjustments are coded Correction, the code has stopped meaning anything.

## Stocktakes

A full or partial count follows the same route: count, then record one adjustment per location with reason Stocktake. Do it when nothing is moving, because an adjustment recorded halfway through a picking round is a snapshot of a moving target.

- Freeze despatches and receives for the location while counting, or count outside working hours.
- Record every line, including the ones that matched. A zero-movement line is evidence you counted it.
- Investigate the large differences before saving. An adjustment is quick to record and hard to explain later.
- Count variants individually. Each holds its own stock.