Stock take app: do the stocktake yourself by scanning
By mise · Updated September 29, 2026
Quick answer: a stock take app lets you count by scanning each product's barcode with your phone and typing the quantity, split by area (cellar, bar, kitchen), with part bottles and weights. The best ones recognise products without setup, work offline and calculate usage and GP from opening stock, deliveries and closing stock.
Paying a stocktaker every month, or losing a Sunday to a clipboard, are the two usual options. A stock take app is the third: faster than paper and cheap enough to count weekly. mise is free to try for 7 days with no card, then £26 a month — and it doubles as a stock control app between counts.
What to expect from a stock take app
| Need | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| Product setup | Scan and the product is already there — no building a product list first. |
| Areas | Cellar, back bar, kitchen, dry store, each counted separately. |
| Part bottles | Tenths or weight; a Bluetooth scale for accuracy. |
| Deliveries | From a photo of the invoice, at the price paid. |
| Results | Usage, cost of sales and the difference against the previous count, per line. |
| Team | Staff can count without seeing costs. |
| Export | Excel, PDF and CSV for your accountant. |
How mise handles a stock take
You scan each bottle or pack; the mise AI finds the product from the barcode or a photo and brings it back named and categorised. You type the quantity or put the part bottle on a Bluetooth scale. When you close, you choose whether the count replaces your current stock or is kept as a periodic stock take to compare against the next one.
Check any barcode before you count
Not sure what a code on a delivery note or a dusty cellar bottle is? Paste it here — the same database the app scans against. More on UK codes in barcode lookup UK.
Saved. As soon as we identify this code, we'll email you the product.
Free, no sign-up, no daily cap. The result is curated: name, brand, category, size and photo. Codes we don't recognise are researched by the AI within minutes.
Weekly beats monthly
A monthly stock take tells you there was a problem four weeks ago. A weekly one lets you act while the rota and the suppliers are the same. When counting takes half the time, weekly becomes realistic.
Point the camera and the product comes up complete: name, brand, category, size and photo — the mise AI finds it from the barcode or a photo. 7-day free trial, no card.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I replace my stocktaker with an app?
Many venues do their own weekly counts with an app and keep an external stocktaker only for an occasional audit. The app makes the weekly count quick enough to be routine.
Does a stock take app work for a café or shop?
Yes — anything with barcodes counts the same way. Items without barcodes are added once by name.
How do I count part bottles?
Estimate in tenths or weigh the bottle: weight minus the empty bottle weight, divided by the full liquid weight, gives the fraction left.