Guide
Perpetual vs periodic inventory
If you're trying to keep stock accurate with a small team, this is the decision that shapes everything: how often you update inventory, how much you trust the numbers, and how painful counts feel.
Last updated: 2026-01-01
Quick definitions
Perpetual inventory updates quantities continuously as transactions happen (receiving, sales, transfers, adjustments). Periodic inventory updates quantities at specific intervals (weekly, monthly, quarterly) based on a physical count.
Side-by-side comparison
| Category | Perpetual | Periodic |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy between counts | Higher (if workflows are disciplined) | Lower (unknown between counts) |
| Effort | Distributed daily (scan + small corrections) | Spiky (big counts + reconciliations) |
| Best for | Warehouses, ecommerce, tool tracking | Very small catalogs or low transaction volume |
| Biggest risk | Bad process creates “false confidence” | You make decisions on stale numbers |
Which should a small business choose?
If you reorder regularly, sell online, move stock between locations, or issue tools to staff, perpetual inventory usually wins — but only if you can keep updates fast and simple.
The turning point is scanning. When a team can scan → confirm → done, perpetual inventory stops feeling like overhead and starts feeling like insurance.
How to make perpetual inventory work (without an ERP)
- Label top movers first (don’t wait for perfection).
- Standardize locations (warehouse → shelf → bin).
- Scan to receive, transfer, and adjust — don’t “fix later.”
- Run small weekly cycle counts to maintain trust.
- Use low-stock alerts so reorder decisions aren’t guesswork.
Want perpetual inventory without the pain?
StockZip is built for small teams: barcode scanning, offline reliability, and audit trails that keep counts trustworthy.