Definition
Perpetual inventory
A running estimate of on-hand quantity maintained by adjusting a starting count for every recorded receipt, sale, transfer, and adjustment between physical counts.
Worked example
Monday count: 10 bottles. POS sells the equivalent of 3 bottles; one case (6) is received. Perpetual book = 10 − 3 + 6 = 13. Friday physical count finds 12.4 after fill levels, the 0.6 gap is the drift you correct with the new physical baseline.
When operators use this
A perpetual book is a guide between stocktakes, not a replacement for the walk. Use it to spot a run-out before Friday. Reset it every time you finish bar stocktaking. physical inventory remains the source of truth. bar inventory software is the category page for the software that keeps both sides.
Common mistakes
Trusting the book for a month without a physical count is how a perpetual system becomes a second fiction. Missing receiving, an unmapped pour, or a fill nobody updates will drift the book in either direction. The next scan is the correction, not a suggestion.
How ExactPour handles it
ExactPour maintains expected on-hand from the last count plus POS and receiving activity, then realigns when you complete the next physical count. The perpetual figure is a guide; barcode counts remain the source of truth.
Qualification
A perpetual balance drifts from physical reality between counts; periodic physical counts remain necessary to correct it.