Advanced Inventory Counting & Cycle Count

Key Features

Full physical inventory and recurring cycle count workflows delivered as native AL table, page, and codeunit objects on top of Business Central's Item Ledger

Simultaneous multi-user count entry — each counter owns their own count sheet lines against a shared count header, with no row-locking collisions or overwrites

Barcode / GS1 / SKU scan capture via an AL event subscriber that resolves the scanned code to item, variant, bin, and tracking

Flexible count sheets segmented by location, zone, bin range, item category, or ABC velocity class

Cycle count cadence engine — schedule counts by frequency or velocity so fast-moving and high-value SKUs are counted more often than the annual freeze

Variance reconciliation against a configurable tolerance threshold, with side-by-side counted vs. calculated on-hand quantities

Approval workflow for out-of-tolerance variances before anything posts to the ledger

Clean posting into the standard Phys. Inventory / Item Journal so costing, valuation, and the audit trail remain native to BC

Lot and serial number capture on count lines where Item Tracking is enabled

Recount and blind-count modes — hide system on-hand from counters to keep counts honest

Dedicated permission sets shipped with the extension so warehouse and finance roles see only what they should

Optional OData v4 / REST API endpoints and Job Queue jobs for Power BI variance dashboards and scheduled count generation

Optional Power Platform / Dataverse virtual-table exposure for a Power Apps handheld counting app

Count session reports and variance audit log exportable to Excel via the native BC layout engine

Built to order, done for you

No DIY setup — a working app, built, installed and supported by ECOSIRE.

You order

Start with a one-time build price. We scope it with you at kickoff.

We build & install

ECOSIRE builds, configures and installs it on your Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Go live + support

You go live in about 2–4 weeks, with a post-launch support window.

About this Product

Inventory accuracy without the spreadsheet shuffle

Business Central ships physical inventory counting through the Phys. Inventory Journal and Phys. Inventory Order/Recording documents, but real warehouse counting quickly outgrows them: one journal per counter, no barcode capture, no zone segmentation, and reconciliation that mixes blind counts with on-hand quantities. Advanced Inventory Counting & Cycle Count is a custom AL extension that ECOSIRE designs, builds, and installs on your Business Central environment to close those gaps.

The extension adds dedicated count sheet pages and a count-header table (delivered as table and page extensions plus new objects), so multiple warehouse staff can count the same location simultaneously without overwriting each other. Counters scan barcodes / GS1 / SKU on a handheld or phone browser; each scan increments a count line via an AL event subscriber, with bin, lot, and serial captured where item tracking is enabled. You define cycle count cadences (ABC velocity, by bin, by item category, or by zone) so high-value SKUs are counted more often than the full annual freeze.

When counting closes, the reconciliation engine compares counted quantity against calculated on-hand, flags variances against a tolerance threshold, routes them through an approval step, and posts the approved result into the standard Item Journal / Phys. Inventory Journal — so your costing, valuation, and audit trail stay native to Business Central.

ECOSIRE delivers this as a per-tenant extension (not a public AppSource listing): we build it against your exact BC version, install it in sandbox, validate with your data, publish to production, ship the permission sets, and support it after go-live. Optional OData/REST API endpoints and Job Queue automation let you wire counts into Power BI or scheduled variance reports.

What you get

A per-tenant Business Central AL extension (.app) built against your exact BC major version and published to your sandbox and production environments

Source AL project (table/page/codeunit objects, event subscribers, permission sets) handed over in a Git repository you own

Installation and publishing in your sandbox, data validation, then production deployment by ECOSIRE

Configured cycle count cadences, count zones, and tolerance thresholds matching your warehouse setup

Dedicated permission sets for warehouse-counter and finance-reconciler roles

Optional OData/REST endpoints and Job Queue jobs configured for reporting or automation

Admin and counter user guide plus a short handover/training session

A defined post-go-live support and update window covering BC version compatibility

Who this is for

Warehouse / Inventory Manager

Runs daily and periodic counts across multiple zones and needs several staff counting at once on handhelds without tripping over each other or freezing operations for a full physical.

Finance / Controller

Owns inventory valuation and the audit trail. Wants variances approved before they hit the ledger and every adjustment posting through the standard Phys. Inventory Journal so costing stays clean.

BC Administrator / IT Lead

Responsible for the tenant. Prefers a supported per-tenant extension with clear permission sets and AL source ownership over ad-hoc customizations or an opaque third-party app.

How Advanced Inventory Counting & Cycle Count Compares

Criterion	ECOSIRE	Custom Build	Competitor
Simultaneous multi-user counting on shared count sheets	Included	Partial support	Partial support
Barcode / GS1 / SKU scan capture via AL event subscriber	Included	Partial support	Included
Cycle count cadence by ABC velocity / zone / category	Included	Partial support	Partial support
Variance approval step before posting to the ledger	Included	Partial support	Partial support
Posts natively into Phys. Inventory / Item Journal (costing-safe)	Included	Partial support	Partial support
Built, installed, and supported on your tenant with AL source ownership	Included	Partial support	Not included
Dedicated permission sets shipped with the solution	Included	Partial support	Partial support
Optional OData/REST API + Job Queue automation for Power BI	Included	Partial support	Partial support

Frequently Asked Questions about Advanced Inventory Counting & Cycle Count

How long does delivery take, and how is it installed?

This is a build-to-order extension, not an instant AppSource download. Typical delivery is about 2 to 4 weeks depending on scope (zones, item tracking, API/Power Platform options). ECOSIRE builds the AL extension against your exact Business Central version, installs and validates it in your sandbox, then publishes it to production as a per-tenant extension. You receive the source AL project in a repository you own.

Do you provide ongoing support and updates after go-live?

Yes. The engagement includes a defined post-go-live support window for fixes and questions, plus compatibility maintenance so the extension keeps working across Business Central's monthly and major-version updates. Because Microsoft ships BC updates regularly, we test the extension against new versions and republish as needed under the agreed support terms. Enhancements beyond the original scope are quoted separately.

Will counting interfere with our existing inventory and costing setup?

No. The extension reads on-hand from the standard Item Ledger and posts approved adjustments through the native Phys. Inventory / Item Journal, so your costing method, valuation, and audit trail stay exactly as Business Central handles them. We add count sheets and reconciliation on top — we don't replace core inventory posting.

Can counters use phones or handheld scanners?

Yes. Barcode capture works through the Business Central web client on a phone or tablet browser and with USB/Bluetooth handheld scanners that emulate keyboard input. For a dedicated mobile counting experience, we can optionally expose count data through Dataverse virtual tables and build a Power Apps handheld app as an add-on.

Why not just use Business Central's built-in physical inventory journals?

The native Phys. Inventory Journal and Phys. Inventory Order work for a single counter doing a periodic count, but they lack barcode-driven capture, true multi-user concurrent count sheets, zone/ABC cycle cadences, and a variance approval step. This extension adds those workflows while still posting back into the same native journals you already trust.