Inventory accuracy is the foundation of warehouse performance. When counts are wrong, receiving, shipping, and financial reporting all suffer.
Full physical inventory
A full physical count pauses operations while every SKU is counted at once. It is familiar, but it creates downtime, labor spikes, and stale discrepancy data.
Cycle counting
Cycle counting spreads the work across the year by counting small sets of locations or SKUs every day. It keeps operations moving and finds problems sooner.
Best practice
Use cycle counting as your default, then reserve a full physical count for audits or exceptional validation. A systematic schedule and clear variance handling matter more than the counting method itself.