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View, receive and adjust inventory

Who is this article for?
  • Sellers with general items and inventory permissions. Set permissions in the Square Dashboard.
  • Square for Retail Free, Plus and Premium subscribers.
  • About inventory management

    Efficient inventory management helps streamline operations, reducing the time and costs associated with stocking, reordering, and warehousing. It ensures that products are available when customers want to buy them.

    With Square for Retail Plus, you can receive, adjust and count your inventory from the Square Retail POS app on iOS devices, Square Terminal, Square Stand, and Square Register.

    Before you begin

    You have three main stock actions that you can take from the Square Retail POS app.

    • Receive stock: When you receive stock, you can add stock units by individual item or across multiple items in bulk.

    • Adjust stock: You can adjust stock levels and attribute reasons, such as loss, theft, or damage.

    • Count inventory: At regular intervals, you can do a full count of your inventory.

    You can transfer stock between locations using a barcode scanner with your Square Dashboard — but keep in mind:

    • Stock transfers are only available through the Square Dashboard at this time.

    • Bluetooth scanners must be in Keyboard mode to work with a desktop or laptop computer.

    • Incremental adjustments on Square Dashboard can only be made by clicking on the quantity and typing in the amount at this time.

    Receive stock

    Retail POS app on an iOS device

    1. Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory.
      • If you’re using Square for Retail on an iPhone, tap the list icon to view Inventory.
    2. Tap Stock Overview > Receive Stock.
    3. Search or scan items to receive stock > enter stock amounts. You can also scan the same item numerous times to receive multiple stocks, or scan multiple items once and adjust their quantities afterwards.
    4. To edit vendor and item information, including the item unit cost, tap the appropriate items from your Stock Overview and edit the information from the pop-up screen.
    5. When you’re finished, tap Confirm Receive.

    Retail POS app on Square Register

    1. Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory.
    2. Tap Receive stock.
    3. You can multi-select items, then tap Confirm.
    4. Enter the stock levels, then tap Next.
    5. Review the stock information, then tap Confirm.

    Bulk receive stock

    You can also receive stock in bulk from your Square Retail POS app by using a compatible barcode scanner. To do so:

    1. Make sure your barcode scanner is connected.

    2. Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Add Stock > Receive Stock.

    3. Scan all relevant barcodes that you’d like to add > click Next.

    4. Review all item information and add vendor information and unit cost, if applicable > click Continue.

    5. From the stock added confirmation, confirm the number of items added.

    Exiting the screen while receiving stock will not save the scanned inventory added. If you’re receiving hundreds of new items, make sure to periodically commit your work by saving all the items and their counts.

    Adjust stock

    Retail POS app

    To adjust stock levels from the Square Retail POS app:

    1. Tap ≡ More > Items.
    2. Scroll through your item list or use the search bar. Tap on the item once you find it to view the item details page.
    3. Tap the highlighted number for Current Stock.
    4. Select a reason, enter the new stock number, and tap Save.

    Retail POS on Square Register

    To adjust stock levels from the Square Retail POS app on Square Register:

    1. Tap ≡ More > Items.
    2. Scroll through your item list or use the search bar. Tap on the item once you find it to view the item details page.
    3. Click Stock on hand > Manage Stock > Stock received.
    4. Add the stock number.
    5. Tap Save.

    Retail POS on Square Terminal

    To adjust stock levels from the Square Retail POS app on Square Terminal:

    1. Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Items > All Items.
    2. Scroll through your item list or use the search bar. Tap on the item once you find it to view the item details page.
    3. Click Manage Stock > Stock received.
    4. Add the stock number > Tap Done.
    5. Tap Save.

    Count inventory

    With Square for Retail Plus, you can easily perform cycle counts from your iPad or iPhone manually, using a compatible barcode scanner, or using the built-in camera on your iPhone or iPad.

    Count manually

    1. Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory. If you’re using Square Retail POS app on an iPhone, tap the list icon to access Inventory, then tap Stock Overview.
    2. Tap Adjust Stock > Count.
    3. Tap the search bar at the top of the screen, and select the appropriate variation > tap Add to List.
    4. Tap the item variation to input a quantity using the number pad > tap Done.
    5. Repeat this process across all applicable variations.
    6. Tap Continue > Confirm.

    Use a barcode scanner

    1. Open the Retail POS app, then tap ≡ More > Inventory. If you’re using Square Retail POS app on an iPhone, tap the list icon to access Inventory, then tap Stock Overview.
    2. Tap Adjust Stock > Count.
    3. Using a compatible barcode scanner or the built-in camera on your iPad or iPhone, scan the item. Continue to scan, or tap the screen while the built-in camera is open, to increase the quantity by one each time.
    4. Repeat this process across all applicable variations.
    5. Tap Continue > Confirm.

    Scan a barcode twice to add the item to your inventory list.

    View your current stock levels

    You can view your currency stock levels from your Retail POS app.

    Filter your inventory by category and location

    1. Open the Retail POS app, then tap Inventory > Stock Overview.
    2. Tap the three horizontal lines to bring up the Filters screen to filter your search results. From here, you can filter by category and location, as well as sort by Lowest stock first, Highest stock first, and Alphabetical.
    3. Tap Apply once the appropriate filters are selected. From here, you can view current stock counts and take various actions like receiving stock, adding vendor information, and adding unit costs.

    View inventory levels for a specific variation

    1. Open the Retail POS app, then tap Inventory > Stock Overview.
    2. Use the search bar to find an item by name or SKU, or use a compatible barcode scanner.
    3. Tap the item, and Item details such as default vendor and unit cost will be listed at the top of the screen, followed by Stock on Hand per location.

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