5. Performing a Cycle Count

Skip to main content

5. Performing a Cycle Count

You are here:

The steps involved in completing cycle or partial counts are the same steps used for a full count. However, additional filtering criteria on the count lines may be used to specify particular groups of items, and additional options on the Generate Count Sheets function can be used.

Generating Cycle Count Sheets

To begin, configure the count sheets based on your required criteria. For a cycle count, the criteria will often typically restrict sheet contents by either item number or bin location.

Once the count sheet configuration has been set, generate the count sheets.

Though all options on the Generate Count Sheets batch will affect how a cycle count is created, the options highlighted in red are specific to cycle counting.

Option Description
Restrict to Count Period A Counting Period Code that defines how often to count the inventory. This field corresponds to the Phys Invt Count Period Code found on the item card or SKU.
Use Next Count Period If set, this will add only the items or SKU’s with a “Next Counting Period” that matches the current work date. See the Dynamics 365 Business Central cycle count documentation for information on the “Next Counting Period” field. Column 2 Value 2
Use Random Items When set, this will cause the count module to select random items, from the set of items defined by the previous filters, to add to the count sheet.
Max. Item No.s to Add This option works with the “Use Random Items” setting to limit the number of items added to the count sheet(s).
Not Counted Since This option works with the “Use Random Items” option to restrict the list of items to only those that have not been counted since the specified date.

See the section on performing a full inventory count for other options for the Generate Count Sheet function.

Once the count sheets have been generated, they are entered and posted the same way a full count is handled. However, the “Items Not Counted” report would not be used in a cycle count, as you will only be concerned with posting the items on the sheets.

Cycle Counts for Bins and Item Tracking

If the following conditions are true, you should only perform cycle counts by item, not by bin:

  • bins are mandatory
  • the items you are counting use serial numbers or lot numbers without warehouse tracking turned on
  • you have the same items in multiple bins, or have the potential for having the same item in multiple bins (e.g., receiving and stocking bins)

This is because if you need adjust the quantity of an item in a bin, you cannot be sure which lot or serial number is missing without counting all lots or serial numbers for that item.

Warehouse Item Tracking

The same concern generally also applies when warehouse item tracking is turned on. In that case, you do know the specific lot and serial numbers per bin, but it is quite possible that the wrong lot/serial numbers were placed in the bin being counted. If this is the case, you may not even be able to post the adjustments. For example, assume you have an item with serial number SN123 that is supposed to be in bin B01, and serial number SN456 in bin Z01. However, the actual physical inventory is reversed, with SN123 in bin Z01, and SN456 in bin B01. Therefore, during your cycle count of Z01 you actually count serial number SN123. Without counting the additional product in bin B01, the system will attempt to negative adjust SN456 (since it was not counted), and positive adjust SN123. This will fail if you have SN Specific tracking turned on, as the system will be attempting to create two instances of the same serial number.

The way to avoid any cycle count issues with item tracking, whether Warehouse Item Tracking is on or not, is to ensure the item is counted in all bins.

Was this article helpful?
0.5 out Of 5 Stars

1 rating

5 Stars 0%
4 Stars 0%
3 Stars 0%
2 Stars 0%
1 Stars 100%
5
How can we improve this article?
Please submit the reason for your vote so that we can improve the article.
Need help?
Tags:

8 Comments

  1. Andrew Cordova
    Andrew Cordova February 26, 2026 at 9:04 am

    Hello,

    I’m looking for some advice on generating cycle count lines and hoping maybe someone can point us in the right direction. We are currently using the parameters below when generating daily cycle counts for our DC’s. The Max Item limit is typically used so the DC can manage their workload throughout the month. We have found that if we don’t use a limit, the system tries to count everything the first week and then we get no count lines for the rest of the month. The main problem we’ve found with doing this is the system may skip items due to the random logic and the count start and end dates fall into the past. The system doesn’t seem to know how to find those items and “catch them up”. We will sometimes take those items and set the start and end dates to the next day in hopes that they will be forced into that day’s count, but that hasn’t been 100% successful.

    My question is…are we setting the parameters correctly in order to accomplish this task or is there another way to force items into a daily count in addition to items that should typically be showing up? Any guidance would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

    Include Inventory = Yes
    Empty Bins Activity Period = 1D
    Include Active Items = Yes
    Activity Period = 1D
    Include Inactive Items = Yes
    Use SKUs Only = Yes
    Exclude Next Counting End Date = No (What does this one do?)

    Use Next Count Period = Yes
    Use Random Items = Yes
    Generate Random Lines by = Item
    Max Item No.s to Add = 25
    Not Counted Since = (Seven Days Ago)

    • Terri Vaive February 27, 2026 at 11:36 am

      Hello Andrew,

      The generation logic you can interact and toggle in the Generate Count Sheet lines dialog will filter through the Bin Contents, Warehouse Entries, and Item Ledger Entries depending on your Location setup and other configurations within it.

      Different combinations of these toggles can produce different output for the lines found, including for the usage of the Next Count Period toggle, for instance. If the Item No. in the system does not have this date set, or if the End Date has passed without it being counted, it will not be added to the sheet based on the filters for the Generate Count Sheets dialog.

      Please submit a support request to [email protected] for further assistance.

      Thank you,

  2. Andrew Fiack
    Andrew Fiack June 26, 2025 at 11:27 am

    I would like the current on-hand quantity to show up on the count sheet, where are the settings that will allow the count to not be blind?

  3. Mike Osolinski
    Mike Osolinski April 16, 2024 at 2:37 pm

    We are currently implementing the Cycle Count portion of the Advanced Inventory Count software using handhelds purchased from insight. When we create a cycle count the handheld is requiring our team to scan a bin. It then asks the user for a quantity. It never request that we scan a Item bar code to confirm we are counting the correct item. We have more that one item in each bin.
    Are there settings we need to adjust in the setup we would like to have SCAN BIN > SCAN ITEM BARCODE > enter quantity. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

    • Terri Vaive April 17, 2024 at 10:11 am

      Hello Mike,

      You are absolutely correct that it should prompt for an item scan after a bin scan.

      It sounds like the scanning device you are using may be passing an extraneous carriage return on scan, essentially pressing “Enter” after the bin scan.

      This will trigger the change quantity menu action, since it has Enter as a shortcut. In most cases, you’ll notice that it enters the Quantity Dialog on the highlighted line.

      Feel free to reach out to our support team an email us at [email protected] and we can help you get the configuration adjusted to behave as expected.

      Thank you,

Leave A Comment

Table of Contents
Go to Top