A stocktake can finish with a net value difference of zero while still showing serious record problems. One item may be missing and another may be overstated by the same amount. Offsetting the values does not restore either product to its correct location or make either quantity dependable for the next customer order. Read a count report at item level before drawing a conclusion from its total. This guide uses a deliberately small invented example to show how quantity, value and investigation answer different questions.
Decide what is being counted
Define the product identity, the unit and the locations included in the exercise. A box of ten and ten individual pieces may represent the same physical goods but cannot be compared as quantities until the unit is consistent. Identify whether damaged, reserved or returned goods belong in the chosen count boundary. The stocktake tool compares the book and counted quantities you provide; it does not discover what those labels mean in your warehouse. Resolving the definition first prevents an avoidable mismatch from looking like missing stock.
Choose a common cut-off for records and physical movement. If a receipt is entered after the book figure is exported but before the shelf is counted, the two numbers describe different moments. You do not have to halt every business operation to learn from a small count, but you do need a reliable way to record movements during it. Write down which transactions need reconciling before interpreting a difference. A spreadsheet with no time boundary may give precise arithmetic for an invalid comparison.
Keep the signs visible
Suppose SKU A has a book quantity of 100, a counted quantity of 95 and an entered cost of 4 per unit. Quantity variance is counted minus book, giving minus five. The value variance is minus twenty. SKU B has forty recorded, forty-two counted and cost ten, giving plus two units and plus twenty in value. The net value is zero. The absolute value variance is forty because it adds the magnitude of both discrepancies. Neither the missing A units nor the extra B units has disappeared.
The sign convention is a communication choice that must stay consistent. In Workday Kit, negative means a shortage relative to the book record; positive means an overage. It is not a transaction automatically posted to your accounts. The entered unit cost is simply the valuation basis for this comparison. It does not establish a tax value, a recoverable amount or a finding about loss. Two items with different costs can have equal value variances while having very different quantity issues.
Investigate before assigning a cause
Shopify's discrepancy guide identifies record-versus-physical mismatches and discusses receiving, picking and other possible causes. Use those as investigation categories, not accusations. Recount the product, check nearby variants and verify other locations. Review the receipt, return and transfer history around the cut-off. A count mistake, a unit-conversion issue and an unrecorded movement can produce similar-looking differences. The calculator cannot choose among those explanations, and a shortage by itself does not prove theft or misconduct.
Imagine finding five A units in a temporary receiving area that was omitted from the original count. The corrected physical count becomes 100 and A's variance disappears. B's overage may still require a separate review. Do not force the entire report to one common explanation simply because the value totals once offset. Preserve the original count, the follow-up evidence and the corrected figure so another person can understand what changed. A clean final total is less useful than a traceable resolution.
Check downstream decisions that used the old number
Inventory records often feed replenishment calculations. If a reorder-point review used an overstated on-hand quantity, the resulting inventory position may have delayed attention to a real shortage. Shopify's replenishment explanation provides context for that relationship. After a discrepancy is confirmed, identify which planning records need updating. Do not assume that correcting a downloaded stocktake file changes the source inventory system. This site's report is local and has no integration that posts an adjustment or updates a purchase plan.
Close the loop with a documented explanation
For each difference, retain the quantity checked, locations included, relevant transaction evidence, conclusion and person responsible for any approved correction. If your process calls for an adjustment, follow that process in the actual inventory and accounting systems. The tool's CSV is evidence of the entered comparison, not authorization to modify records. You can print or download it for your own review, but no result is sent to another person or stored automatically by Workday Kit.
After several counts, look for repeated patterns rather than celebrating a single net-zero result. Do errors cluster around a particular receipt process, product variant or unit definition? That observation can guide a targeted improvement without inventing a cause from one report. Reliable stock records come from consistent identity, timing and follow-through. The arithmetic is useful because it exposes the differences clearly; the practical value arrives when the differences lead to a justified explanation and a better next count.