Physical inventory is a process where a business physically counts its entire inventory. A physical inventory may be mandated by financial accounting rules or the tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

 regulations to place an accurate value on the inventory, or the business may need to count inventory so component parts or raw materials can be restocked. Businesses may use several different tactics to minimize the disruption caused by physical inventory.

• Inventory services provide labor and automation
  Automation
  Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
  
   to quickly count inventory and minimize shutdown time.
• Inventory control system
  Inventory control system
  An inventory control system is a process for managing and locating objects or materials. In common usage, the term may also refer to just the software components......
  
   software can speed the physical inventory process.
• A perpetual inventory
  Perpetual inventory
  In business and accounting/accountancy, perpetual inventory or continuous inventory describes systems of inventory where information on inventory quantity and availability is updated on a continuous basis as a function of doing business. Generally this is accomplished by connecting the inventory...
  
   system tracks the receipt and use of inventory, and calculates the quantity on hand.
• Cycle count
  Cycle count
  A cycle count is an inventory management procedure where a small subset of inventory is counted on any given day. Cycle counts contrast with traditional physical inventory in that physical inventory stops operation at a facility while all items are counted at one time...
  
  ing, an alternative to physical inventory, may be less disruptive.

See also

• Inventory
  Inventory
  Inventory means a list compiled for some formal purpose, such as the details of an estate going to probate, or the contents of a house let furnished. This remains the prime meaning in British English...
  
  
• Inventory control system
  Inventory control system
  An inventory control system is a process for managing and locating objects or materials. In common usage, the term may also refer to just the software components......
  
  
• Inventory management software
  Inventory management software
  Inventory management software is a computer-based system for tracking product levels, orders, sales and deliveries. It can also be used in the manufacturing industry to create a work order, bill of materials and other production-related documents. Companies use inventory management software to...