Inventory Restaurants: Closing a Stock Period

Overview

A stock period must be closed in order to access the closing stock reports. It is always possible to re-open a closed period and make any changes as required. However, once a stock period is approved, it cannot be re-opened. This article will show how to close a stock period, and what should be checked beforehand.

Checking Pending Transactions

Before a stock period can be closed, all relevant transactions must have been entered onto the system. 

• To begin, select Stock Management from the tabs at the top of the screen
• Check the Pending tab

Fig.1 - Stock Management > Pending tab

This lists all transactions that have been logged on the system, but not yet approved. It will list all pending transactions, regardless of date.  

• Any pending transactions that are relevant to the current stock period need to be dealt with before the stock period can be closed
• This means they either need to be checked and Approved, their Delivery Date moved forward, or Deleted (depending on access levels)
• To carry out any of the options above, select a transaction from the Pending tab
• Anything with a future date can be left in the pending tab, and will be taken into the next stock period

Fig.2 - Approve, Delete, and Delivery Date options within a transaction

• Additionally, the Approved tab needs to be sense checked to make sure the stock is up to date. For example, if there is a 7-day stock period, there should be 7 wastage files, etc

Once the transactions in and out of the system have been checked, it is important to check that the stock count has been fully input. 

• Go to Stock Management > Stock Count and select Input full stock count
• Ensure that the figures in the Close fields are correct
• Save once complete

Fig.3 - Checking/inputting stock count figures

Next, sales files need to be checked to make sure they have come in from the EPoS provider. 

• Go to Stock Management > All Options > Import POS figures

Fig.4 - Stock Management > All Options > Import POS figures

The sales files should be visible for every trading day of the stock period. If there are any files missing, please contact the system administrator. 

• Next, select Verify and Process PLU Data

This will check for and list any missing PLU numbers, which are sales that have not been correctly linked to the system. Missing PLUs should be reported to a system administrator, though there is an option to 'Ignore' them if required. 

Fig.5 - List of uploaded sales files, and Verify and Process PLU Data button

Option to 'Ignore' Missing PLU Numbers

This functionality will be available from 18th (US) and 19th (EMEA & APAC) November 2025.

Sometimes, PLUs received from POS do not represent sales of inventoried items — a PLU for "medium rare", for example, and are listed as 'missing' on the Import POS Figures page.

• Use the Ignore buttons (see Fig.6) against the missing PLUs as required

They will then be listed under the 'Ignored PLUs' section, and will not be included in any 'unmatched PLUs' alerts on the Fourth iQ app.

• Using the Un-ignore option will return the PLU to the 'missing list'

Fig.6 - Import POS Figures screen - 'Ignore', 'Un-ignore' options

Ignore PLUs Globally

• Go to Setup > All Options > Stock Admin > Unmatched PLUs

Fig.7 - 'Unmatched PLUs' option

Search for any unmatched PLUs (the ones that are listed as 'missing') across all Locations within a date range

• Use the Ignore for all/Un-ignore for all buttons as needed
  Doing this will overwrite any actions taken at Location level. A locally ignored PLU will become un-ignored if done so globally

The ability to mark PLUs as Ignored globally is controlled by the Stock Admin > Role Functionalities > Menu Access > Unmatched PLUs option.

Fig.7 - Unmatched PLUs screen - 'Ignore/Un-ignore for all' options

Back on the 'Import POS Figures' screen, using Verify and Process PLU Data will also flag up any sales price discrepancies, which highlight if an item was sold for a different selling price to that of the system.  

• Once all the information has been checked, at the bottom of the Stock Management tab, select Close

Fig.8 - The Close button on the Stock Management tab

If any key information has been missed, then warnings will be displayed. It is important these are investigated and rectified prior to proceeding to close the period.

After any warnings have been corrected, it is possible to close the stock period. Once the screen has refreshed, the stock period will be listed as closed, which will be visible on the top of the Stock Management tab.

There will now be access to the Closing Stock reports, such as the Stock Reconciliation Report and the Management Figures, which can be accessed via the buttons at the top of the Stock Management tab.