Shopify POS / New feature

Stock counts in POS
Count on the sales floor, approve in the admin

You can now run cycle counts and full counts in Shopify POS. Staff record counts by scanning barcodes or entering quantities manually. Planning, review, and approval stay in the Shopify admin, so inventory quantities don't change until a count is approved.

On this page
  1. What's changing (30-second overview)
  2. How it works: from creating a count to updating inventory
  3. Division of roles between the admin and POS
  4. Why "submit" and "apply" are separate steps
  5. Requirements
  6. How to run it (4 steps)
  7. 5 key points for developers
  8. 3 business use cases
  9. One-line summary for proposals

1What's changing

In Shopify POS, you can now runcycle counts and full countsdirectly.
Counting happenson the POS at the store , whileplanning, review, and approvalstay, as before, in the Shopify admin.

Plan in the admin

Create and schedule a count, then choose the location and the products to count.

Count in POS

Staff open the count in POS and record on-hand quantities by scanning barcodes or entering quantities manually.

Approve and apply in the admin

Review completed counts and discrepancies; inventory adjustments are applied only once the count is approved.

2How it works: from creating a count to updating inventory

Shopify admin (users with permissions) Shopify POS (staff with inventory permissions) ① Create & schedule Select location Select products Shown automatically ② Shown in POS Products > Stock counts Selected locations only ③ Count Scan barcodes or enter quantities manually Submit for review ④ Review Check completed counts and discrepancies ⑤ Approve Only at this point are inventory adjustments applied Audit trail Records what was counted, when, and by whom
Stock counts created in the admin appear inPOS at the selected locations under Products > Stock countsautomatically. The article doesn't describe a separate step for creating stock counts in POS.

3How the admin and POS split the work

ItemShopify adminShopify POS
Who Users with the required permissions Staff with inventory permissions
Create & schedule Yes Choose locations and products Not specified
Recording counts The article covers counts recorded in POS Yes Barcode scan / manual entry
Submission Receives submissions for review Submit Send for review when finished
Review & approve discrepancies Yes Inventory adjustments are applied once approved No Submitting alone doesn't change inventory quantities
Audit trail Shopify records what was counted, when, and by whom —

Supported count types

Cycle count

Cycle counts

Can be run in POS. The article doesn't specify how products are selected.

Full count

Full counts

Can be run in POS. The article doesn't explain how the workflow differs from cycle counts.

4Why "submit" and "apply" are separate

Inventory at submission 20 Unchanged by submission Quantity counted in POS 17 Submitted, awaiting review Discrepancy −3 Approve Apply inventory adjustment 17 With audit trail * Figures are illustrative. The article gives no specific numbers.
Counting mistakes don't hit inventory right away
Submitting from POS doesn't change inventory quantities. A user with the right permissions reviews discrepancies before approving.
Inventory adjustments leave an audit trail
Shopify records what was counted, when it was completed, and who did it.

5Requirements

PRO

POS Pro

Running inventory counts in POS requires POS Pro.

v11.16+

Shopify POS v11.16 or later

Earlier versions can't run inventory counts in POS.

Shopify admin

Creating and approving requires the right permissions

Counts are created, reviewed, and approved by "users with the required permissions." The article doesn't give the exact permission name.

POS

Counting requires inventory permissions

Staff need inventory permissions to open and record counts in POS.

The article doesn't cover supported countries, Shopify plan requirements, offline behavior, or the maximum number of products per count. Verify with your actual store and devices before rolling out.

6Workflow (4 steps)

1

Create in the admin

Create and schedule a count, then choose the location and products.

Admin
2

Open in POS

Open the count listed under Products > Inventory counts at the selected location.

POS
3

Count and submit

Record counts by scanning or manual entry, then submit for review when done.

POS
4

Review and approve

Check the discrepancies and approve to apply the inventory adjustments.

Admin

75 key points for developers

1. Planning/approval and counting happen in different places

Creation and approval happen in the admin, while counting happens in POS. Because devices and permissions are clearly separated, your permission role design becomes your operational workflow.

2. Submitting doesn't change inventory quantities

Inventory quantities change only when the count is approved in the admin. If you sync inventory with an external system, assume updates occur at the time of approval.

API ?

3. No API or webhook details are provided

The announcement doesn't cover creating or retrieving inventory counts via the Admin GraphQL API, or webhooks on approval. For automation or external integrations, check the documentation and test on a development store.

v11.16

4. Align device versions and POS Pro

POS v11.16 or later and POS Pro are required. When rolling out across multiple stores, audit each store's subscription status and the app version on each device in advance.

5. The audit trail is kept in Shopify

Shopify records what was counted, when, and by whom. Count records previously kept in spreadsheets or on paper can be consolidated into Shopify. How to export the audit trail externally isnot documented.

83 practical use cases

USE CASE 1

Run cycle counts during store hours

Challenge
Staff are gathered after closing or on closed days for full counts once or twice a year, so inventory discrepancies go unnoticed until then.
Approach
Schedule regular cycle counts for selected products in the admin, and have floor staff scan with POS during downtime.
Impact
Discrepancies are caught earlier, and the workload of full counts is spread out.
Tech notes
Requires POS Pro and v11.16 or later. Frequency and product selection are up to your operations (no recommended patterns are given in the announcement).
USE CASE 2

Two-step control: stores count, HQ approves

Challenge
Store staff can edit inventory quantities directly, so miscounts or fraud are reflected in inventory as-is.
Approach
Give store staff only POS inventory permissions, and limit approval to HQ or store managers. Review discrepancies in the admin before approving.
Impact
Prevents incorrect inventory adjustments, and records of who counted and when make audits easier.
Tech notes
Submitting from POS alone doesn't change inventory. The exact names and granularity of admin permissions aren't documented, so check the staff permissions settings.
USE CASE 3

Distribute counts by location across multiple stores

Challenge
Counts for multiple stores are distributed and collected as Excel sheets, making aggregation and inventory updates time-consuming.
Approach
HQ creates counts per store (location) in the admin, which appear automatically on each store's POS. Completed results are reviewed together in the admin.
Impact
No more handing out and collecting count sheets or entering results by hand, and every store can follow the same process.
Technical notes
Inventory counts are created per location. The article doesn't say whether counts can be created for multiple locations at once.

9One-line summary for proposals

"Scan inventory counts in POS, and inventory updates only when a count is approved in the admin.
You get the convenience of counting on the sales floor plus head-office approval and an audit trail.
Requires POS Pro and POS v11.16 or later."