How often do I need to do a stocktake?

One stocktake as close as possible to the end of the financial year is a legal requirement for most organisations to determine the value of their stock for tax purposes.  However there are other business reasons why you would conduct a stocktake more often such as identifying if stock is being stolen or damaged.  Stocktakes can be done as frequently as daily where you would do a spot check on one item.  Weekly stocktakes may involve an isle or set number of items.  Organisations in the past needed to close down or do the stocktake after hours or on a weekend if they were only being done annually but nowadays more frequent stocktakes are the norm.