How to do bar inventory, step by step

1. Build your product list

List every product you stock: spirits, liqueurs, wine, beer (bottles, cans and kegs), mixers you want to track. For each one, note its category, vendor, bottle size, what you pay per bottle and your par. Use the same name your distributor's invoice uses, so receiving is easy to match.

You can start from our free bar inventory count sheet, which has those columns ready.

2. Split the bar into sections

Count in the order you'd walk the bar: well, back bar, beer cooler, walk-in, storage room. Put each section in its own column on the sheet, and keep products in the same order as they sit on the shelf. The count goes much faster when the sheet matches the room.

3. Count at the same time every week

Pick a day and time when the bar is closed and nothing is being delivered, often before opening on Monday or after close on Sunday. Counting at the same point each week makes one week comparable with the next.

4. Count full bottles, then open bottles in tenths

Count sealed bottles as whole numbers. For open bottles, estimate in tenths: a bottle that's 70% full is 0.7. That's accurate enough for most bars. Weighing bottles is more exact but much slower. Whatever you choose, have everyone count the same way.

For draft beer, weigh kegs if you have a scale, or estimate each keg in tenths.

5. Log deliveries as they arrive

Inventory only makes sense if you know what came in between counts. Keep every invoice and enter it before the next count, with the case size converted to bottles.

6. Work out usage and liquor cost

Once you have two counts and the deliveries in between, usage for each product is:

Usage = last count + delivered − this count

Multiply by bottle cost and add it up for your cost of goods used. Divide that by your liquor sales for the week and you have your real liquor cost percentage. Our pour cost calculator does the sum for you.

7. Compare usage with what you sold

This is the step most bars skip, and the one that finds the money. Your POS knows how many drinks of each kind you sold. Multiply by the pour in each recipe and you know how much you should have used. The difference is your variance: over-pours, spills, comps that weren't rung in, or missing bottles.

8. Reorder to par

Anything below par goes on the order. If you don't have pars yet, the par level calculator works them out from your usage.

How often should a bar do inventory?

Weekly is the standard for liquor, beer and wine. It's often enough to catch a problem while you can still find the cause, and quick once the routine is set. Some bars count high-value spirits every night or every shift. Monthly counts keep the books right but make it hard to tell when, or why, product went missing.

Tips that save time

• Have two people count: one counts out loud, one writes it down.
• Never count during a delivery or while the bar is open.
• Keep the sheet in shelf order and update it when you add a product.
• Look at last week's number as you count. A jump from 3 to 9 bottles is usually a typo.