---
id: KB-SC-017
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/smartcheck/certifying-a-stocktake-or-inventory
idioma: en
categoria: smartcheck
subcategoria: certificar
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-SC-006, KB-SC-012]
citadoPor: [KB-SC-011]
---

# Certifying a stocktake or inventory

_Recording what existed and in what condition on a specific date, which is what nobody can reconstruct later._

**Responde a:** certifying an inventory · recording a stock count · proving the condition of premises on a date · asset inventory with evidence

There are moments when what matters is not a document someone sends you, but the state of things: what stock existed at year end, what condition premises were in when you moved in, what equipment was in a warehouse before a move. That does not arrive by email — it has to be created, which is why it rarely exists when needed.

## When it is worth doing

| Moment | What it protects | Who asks later |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year end | The count supporting the accounts | Auditor or adviser |
| Moving into or out of leased premises | The condition received or handed back | The landlord, when the deposit is claimed |
| Before a move or building works | What was there and how it was | The insurer, if something turns up damaged |
| Change of warehouse manager | What is handed to whoever takes over | Both parties, if something later goes missing |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The fourth row is done least and prevents the most internal conflict. When someone takes over a warehouse with no record of what was there the day they took it, any later discrepancy is theirs by default — which is unfair and hard to argue without a starting point.

## How to do it so it counts

1. **Photos with judgement, not a hundred photos** — A wide shot of the whole and detail of what matters: damage, valuables, meters.
2. **A written list alongside the photos** — Photos prove condition; the list says what was counted and how much.
3. **Signed by whoever was present** — If two parties, better both: it turns a record into an agreement.
4. **And certified the same day** — It fixes the date. An inventory certified three weeks later does not evidence that day's condition.

> [!WARNING]
> The nuance that makes it genuinely useful: **certify the set, not each photo separately**. One document with the list and the images inside, sealed once, is a single piece that is understood and checked as a whole. Fifty individually sealed photos are fifty loose exhibits someone will have to relate to each other, and that work will be done by whoever disputes it, not by you.

## What to include that hardly anyone includes

**En corto**

- The date and time, visible in the document itself.
- Who was present, by name.
- What could NOT be checked, stated explicitly.
- And meter readings, if the place has them.

The third seems to subtract and adds: an inventory that admits what was not reviewed is far more credible than one pretending everything was inspected.

> [!NOTE]
> Certifying the document is an action and consumes like any other. A yearly inventory, a change of premises or a handover of responsibility are exactly the cases where that cost is beyond argument.

**What if a third party does the inventory?**

Have them sign it and you keep it: their report with your record of receipt.

**Does it work for a partial count?**

Yes, stating its scope: what was not counted is information too.

**Must it be repeated every year?**

If it supports accounts or a contract, yes: last year's proves last year.

## Ejemplos

**A company hands back leased premises and the landlord claims for pre-existing damage.**

- It had certified the condition and meter readings on move-in day, with photos and a signed list

→ The dispute closes in one conversation instead of a deposit claim.

**A stocktake happens and no record of the state remains.**

- Seals the inventory the day it closes

→ What was there that day is provable.

**There is a dispute about what existed on a given date.**

- Checks the sealed inventory for that date

→ The dispute closes on the record.

**The count is kept in a spreadsheet that is later edited.**

- Seals the closed version

→ Later editing does not erase what was counted.

**The count is sealed without identifying the warehouse.**

- Includes location and date before sealing

→ The seal proves something specific.

**The count must be handed to a third party.**

- Shares the sealed inventory and its reference

→ The third party verifies without depending on you.