The new year stock take: how to use it as a proper inventory reset
The new year stock take closes off the busiest trading period and opens the next one. Done properly, it resets your inventory position cleanly. Here is how.
HOPS Team
Product & Operations
The new year stock take happens in a peculiar operational window: after the busiest trading period most hospitality businesses see all year, before January trading begins, often with reduced staffing and the accumulated fatigue of December. It is the most important stock take of the financial year, and it is done under the worst conditions.
Getting it right matters. The closing figure from this count is the opening position for the new year. Every GP calculation for the months ahead is anchored to what this stock take produces.
Why the January count is different
Every stock take is subject to the same basic accuracy requirements: count what is there, not what should be there. The January count has specific challenges that require specific preparation.
Volume is unusual. December trading depletes some categories heavily and leaves others unusually full. Products that are specific to Christmas menus — seasonal spirits, specific garnishes, festive accompaniments — may be at zero or near-zero. Core products that ran out briefly and were over-ordered for the final push may be at higher levels than a normal count would see. Neither of these is wrong; they need to be counted accurately.
Product condition matters. Open bottles that were held over from Christmas service, perishables at varying ages, products that were stored in non-standard locations during the busy period. The January count needs to check condition alongside quantity. A case of product that has been stored incorrectly has a different value from a case stored properly.
The count covers a different product set. Christmas menus often introduce products that are not on the regular menu. Some of these were used up during the period. Others are still in stock. The count needs to include everything, including products that will not appear on the January menu.
Preparation before the count
Tidy and organise storage before counting. A chaotic storage area produces a chaotic count. Group products by category, clear out anything that is clearly unfit for service, and remove any non-stock items that have accumulated in storage areas during December. A storage area that is organised for counting produces more accurate results than one counted in the state it was left after a busy final service.
Update your product list. If your stock take system works from a product list, make sure the list reflects everything that was brought in for Christmas and has not yet been depleted. A product that was ordered for Christmas but is not on the standard list will either be missed in the count or will appear as an anomaly that takes time to investigate.
Gather your purchase records first. Before the count, reconcile your purchase records for the Christmas period. Any invoices that have not been processed need to be in the system before the closing count is done. An opening stock figure that does not include purchases that happened before the count is not an accurate opening position.
Doing the count
Count to zero. The most common error in a post-Christmas count is treating depleted products as done without counting them explicitly. A product at zero is a confirmed zero. A product assumed to be at zero might not be — there may be a case in a secondary storage area, or stock held in a different location. Count everything.
Count physical units, not cases. Products that have been partially used from a case should be counted as individual units. A case counted as a case when it is three-quarters empty produces an inflated valuation.
Note condition issues at the point of counting. If a product is going to be written off, note it at the count rather than adjusting the valuation later. A write-off that is captured at the point of count is visible in the variance report. One adjusted after the count without documentation creates a discrepancy that is harder to explain.
The same principles that apply to any well-run stock take apply here, with the added pressure of an unusual product set and fatigued staff. Preparation before the count does more to protect accuracy than any other single factor.
Closing the Christmas period properly
The new year stock take does not just open the new year. It closes the Christmas period.
The GP calculation for December requires: opening stock at the start of December, plus purchases during December, minus the closing stock from the January count. If any of these three figures is wrong, the December GP is wrong.
This is why the count matters beyond just knowing what you have. It is the data point that makes your December GP a real number rather than an approximation, and that anchors the January trading period to a known opening position.
Once the count is complete and the figures are entered, the December GP can be calculated and the January trading period begins with a known opening position. Both periods are clean. Both can be managed and compared against expectations.
“Cash-up used to be the part of the night everyone dreaded. Now, one click on the till and we understand exactly what happened during service, close with confidence, and protect revenue. Saves the team time every night and gives staff a much better finish. Simple, fast, and molto efficace.”
Matteo Iacoponi
Rooftop Manager, Boundary London
Hops supports the new year stock take with digital counting tools that update the inventory position in real time. The closing count feeds directly into the GP calculation for December and sets the opening position for January — without manual entry or reconciliation.
Frequently asked questions
When should I do the new year stock take?
The count should be done before any January trading begins. Stock consumed in the first week of January should not appear in the December GP figures. The count creates a clean break between the two periods, so both December and January can be calculated and compared against expectations with confidence. Even a partial day of January trading before the count contaminates the December figures.
What is different about doing a stock take after Christmas?
Post-Christmas counts have three specific challenges. Volume is unusual, with some categories heavily depleted and others overstocked from the final push. Product condition varies more than normal, with opened bottles and perishables at different ages requiring assessment alongside quantity. And the product set is wider than usual, including seasonal items that will not appear on the January menu but still need to be counted accurately.
How do I handle seasonal stock that will not be used in January?
Count it accurately and record it at its actual value. Product that was purchased for a Christmas menu and is still in stock is still an asset until it is used or written off. If any of it is going to be written off because it cannot be used, note the write-off at the point of counting rather than adjusting the valuation later. A write-off captured at the count is visible in the variance report and easier to explain.
What purchase records do I need before doing the January stock take?
All invoices from the Christmas period need to be processed before the count is run. Any invoice not in the system will make the count look as though stock was consumed when it was simply not recorded as received. This is the most common source of inflated December variance figures, and it is entirely avoidable by reconciling purchase records before rather than after the count.
Why does the January stock take matter so much for annual GP?
The closing figure from the January count is the opening position for the entire new year. Every GP calculation for the months ahead is anchored to what this stock take produces. An inaccurate January count introduces a systematic error that compounds across every subsequent period. Hops makes this reset process faster and more reliable with digital counting that feeds directly into the GP calculation — book a demo at hopshq.com.
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