Stock checks

Every so often - your state's rules set how often - you count the physical stock and check it against the register.

The Stock checks due figure on the Register tab's summary cards keeps score: it counts the drugs whose last physical count is older than your state's cadence allows.

Common tasks

Do a blind stock check

Blind means you count without seeing what the register expects, so the count is honest. Wattle only reveals the expected number after you submit.

1. Stock check, top right of the register.
2. Choose the Drug.
3. Count the physical stock in the safe.
4. Type the Physical count. You won't see the expected number yet.
5. Optionally, the soonest expiry date you can see on the labels.
6. Submit count.

If it matched, the stock check records immediately and shows Counted, Expected and Discrepancy (zero). Done.

If there's a difference, nothing is recorded yet. An investigate step shows both figures and asks you to check the usual suspects first:

• Recount the safe - include opened bottles and part-used vials.
• Check the pending queue for doses awaiting sign-off.
• Check today's billing and consults for uncaptured charges.

From there, either Recount to enter a corrected figure (say you found that part-used vial), or Accept and reconcile to write the reconciling entry - the register balance moves to match your physical count.

A discrepancy you can't explain is more than a bookkeeping matter. If your investigation points to theft or an unexplained loss, reconciling the register does not discharge the reporting duty. The result screen reminds you who to notify for your state - see Destruction, loss & damage for the reporting details.

Expiry dates

The stock check is the only place Wattle asks for an expiry date, and that is on purpose: it is the one moment somebody is already holding every vial and reading the labels. Asking anywhere else would mean asking someone to go and open the safe.

Record the soonest date you can see for that drug. Reports → Stock rotation then lists your pages by how soon they expire, with the balance beside each one, so you can see at a glance what to use first and what is heading for the destruction bin.

Adjust stock

Use this to reconcile the register to a physical count, or to fix an opening balance you got wrong. It writes a finalised entry straight away - no pending queue - and always needs a reason.

⋯ → Adjust stock → the Drug → Increase or Decrease → the Quantity → a Reason ("Stock check discrepancy") → Record adjustment.

The reconciliation summary

A quick per-drug summary over a date range, useful for copying figures into the paper register you're keeping alongside Wattle.

Reports tab → Reconciliation → set From and To (defaults to the last 7 days). The table shows per drug: In, Out, Net and Closing balance.

When a stock check is due

The Stock checks due count tracks each drug against your state's counting cadence - QLD is monthly, NSW is on the calendar dates the regulation sets.

The clock for a drug starts at its last physical count - a stock check, or the opening balance you entered when the register began - so a freshly set-up register is never instantly "due".

Wattle reads the state from your clinic's address (Settings → Clinic). Worth setting: the cadence, the destruction-witness rules and the loss-reporting details all key off it.

Gotchas

• Miscounted before submitting? Close the dialog and start again. You can't peek at the expected number - that's the whole point of a blind count.
• Accepted a discrepancy and then found the stock? Adjust stock with a reason like "Found after stock check".
• Record adjustment stays greyed out even though Reason looks filled - you've probably typed only spaces. A space doesn't count as a reason. Same for quantity: it must be above zero.
• Reconciliation numbers look short by a day? Date filters include both the From and To days in full, midnight to midnight.

Next

Recording movements · Destruction, loss & damage · Reports & printing