Counting at night or by day: which works better

You have decided to hold a recount, and now the question is when. If sales must not stop, night looks more convenient. If you want alert staff and good light, day is better. In truth there is no single right answer: the choice depends on how the shop runs, when it takes its money and what the team can manage. Below are the strengths and weaknesses of both options and a few simple questions to help you decide.

Counting at night

The benefits are clear. There are no customers, so sales do not distort the figures. Daily takings are not lost, and in the morning the shop opens as usual. Goods movement has stopped too: deliveries, transfers and returns simply wait. Phones and visitors do not interrupt, so the team works calmly.

The drawbacks are serious as well:

• staff have worked all day and count in the evening, so attention drops and mistakes multiply;
• poorly lit corners and bottom shelves need extra lamps;
• you pay for extra hours, meals and getting people home;
• in a shopping centre or market, night access must be agreed with security in advance.

If you choose night, plan the logistics early: portable lamps or head torches, hot tea and a light meal, heating in winter, ventilation in summer, a list of names for security and transport home. These look like small things, but they decide the quality of the count.

Counting by day

By day there is light, the team is alert, and the supplier, accountant and owner can be reached by phone, so questions get settled at once. But it has a price: either sales stop entirely or you must run them in parts. In the second case customers pick goods up and put them down elsewhere, and a rack you have already counted gets mixed up again. There is a halfway option: the shop stays open but the zone being counted is taped off and customers cannot take goods from it. That works in small shops, as long as the cashier records the time of every sale. That is why daytime counting mostly works when the shop is closed for a while or trading hours are shortened.

A worked example

These figures are only illustrative, so put in your own. Say hourly takings are 800,000 so'm. Closing for six hours by day loses about 4.8 million so'm. At night, eight people work five hours and each is paid an extra 25,000 so'm an hour: that is 1 million so'm, and even with transport and food it comes out cheaper than a daytime closure. But if more mistakes are made at night and recounts are needed, the saving shrinks. So in the decision weigh quality as well as cost.

Questions to decide

1. When are the shop's quietest hours? If most takings come in the evening, counting from 6 to 10 in the morning may cost less.
2. How many positions are there? With a large volume one night is not enough and the team must work two shifts.
3. Is the team ready for night work? Someone kept on against their will works slowly and carelessly at night.
4. What are the building's rules? A shopping centre, market or rented unit may require agreed hours and security cover.
5. What is on the calendar? Avoid the days before holidays and the height of a sale or season; the best time is usually when the season has just ended or not yet begun.

The middle way

For many shops the best time is neither night nor day but the stretch between. For example, start after closing at 21:00 and finish the rest at 6 in the morning, or start early on a day off and finish by lunch. With such a plan people get some sleep, little trade is lost, and during the break the zones are locked and nothing is moved.

Conclusion

The right time is the one that costs your shop the least trade and tires the team the least. Put the two criteria side by side, work out the figures for your own shop and the choice becomes clear. If organising a night, early-morning or weekend count yourself is hard, the Pereuchet service will agree the timing with you, bring the team and count at the hour that suits you.