ABC Cycle Counting in Odoo Inventory#
Full annual physical inventory counts are disruptive and infrequent. ABC cycle counting replaces this with ongoing, systematic mini-counts - high-value A items counted weekly, B items monthly, C items quarterly - maintaining high accuracy without shutting the warehouse down.
ABC Classification#
First, classify products by their value impact:
- A items: top 20% of products by value, accounting for ~80% of inventory value → count weekly
- B items: next 30% by value → count monthly
- C items: remaining 50% by value (individually low value) → count quarterly or annually
Apply ABC tags to products:
Inventory → Products → [Product] → Internal Notes or Tags → add "A", "B", or "C" tag.
Scheduling Cycle Counts#
Inventory → Configuration → Locations → [Location] → Cyclic Inventory Count:
- Inventory Frequency (days): 7 (A items), 30 (B items), 90 (C items)
- Odoo automatically creates adjustment entries when the count is due
Create separate locations or use product filters:
Approach 1 - Location-based: dedicate locations to each category (A-Shelf, B-Shelf, C-Shelf). Set the cyclic frequency on each location.
Approach 2 - Manual schedule: create a recurring task or scheduled action that generates a filtered physical inventory for A/B/C products on the appropriate cadence.
Executing a Cycle Count#
Inventory → Operations → Physical Inventory → New:
- Filter by category tag: A items
- Staff counts only those products (using barcode or manual count)
- Enter counted quantities
- Apply adjustments
The cycle count is faster because only a subset of products is counted each session.
Counting Without Stopping Operations#
Cycle counts run while the warehouse is live:
- Count products during quiet periods (early morning, after hours for A items)
- Reserve the count zones during counting (staff avoid picking from those zones for 30 minutes)
- For B and C items, count can happen during normal operations - the product's demand is low enough that discrepancies are less likely mid-count
Accuracy Tracking#
Inventory → Reporting → Inventory Accuracy:
- % of counted SKUs that matched system exactly
- Value of adjustments by count period
- Products with persistent variances (signals a systematic issue)
Target: >98% accuracy for A items, >95% for B, >90% for C.
When to Do a Full Count#
Even with cycle counting, a full wall-to-wall count is worthwhile:
- At fiscal year-end for financial statement accuracy
- After a major warehouse reorganization
- After suspected theft or significant discrepancy