Retail compliance

Inventory accuracy calculator

How closely your system matches the shelf.

An operator’s desk with a world map and planning cards

Formula

Inventory accuracy % = (physical count ÷ recorded inventory) × 100

units
units

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Inventory accuracy

98.20%

inventory accuracy

Worked example

Count 9,820 units against a system figure of 10,000 and accuracy reads 98.20%. The 180-unit gap is what becomes a short shipment on an order you already confirmed.

When you reach for this

Run it per cycle count, not once a year. Accuracy that drifts between counts is what turns a confirmed retail order into a short shipment nobody saw coming.

How to read the number

A figure above 100% is as much a problem as one below it — it means receipts are going unrecorded. Track the absolute distance from 100, not the direction, and count your fastest-moving SKUs most often.

Questions operators ask about this metric

Is a reading above 100% good?

No. Above 100% means you hold stock the system never recorded, which usually points at unposted receipts or returns put away without a scan. It disrupts planning as much as a shortage does.

Should I measure by SKU, by location, or by dollars?

By location for warehouse discipline, by SKU for order risk, by dollars for the auditors. Location-level accuracy is the one that predicts pick failures, so start there.

How often should I cycle count?

Count by velocity rather than by calendar. Fast movers rack up the most transactions and drift fastest, so they earn weekly counts; slow movers can wait a quarter.

Why does accuracy drift between counts?

Movement nobody recorded: returns put back without a scan, damages pulled without a write-off, picks short-shipped without an adjustment. All three are process gaps rather than counting mistakes, and recounting will not fix them.

Stop calculating this by hand

Every number on this page comes out of data you already have — orders, shipments, inventory, deductions. Endless keeps those in one source of truth instead of four exports, so the metric updates on its own and agents watch it for you.