Do a stocktake with your phone in half the time

The year-end stocktake means clipboards, miscounts and a spreadsheet nobody trusts. Set up a phone form so two people can count at once and the totals add up automatically.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Save

The prompt · ChatGPT

Help me plan a stocktake using a phone form.

My stock: [types and rough number of lines]
Where it's kept: [areas, shelves, storeroom]
Who will count: [number of people]
How I value stock: [cost price list, or don't know]

First ask me up to 4 short questions. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. A counting plan by area, so nothing gets counted twice.
2. The form questions: counter, area, item (dropdown), quantity, notes.
3. A totals sheet layout: quantity by item and value at cost, with formulas.
4. A check for big differences from what I expected, and how to recount.
5. What my accountant will want, to ask them about.

Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts or figures. UK English.

Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. types and rough number of lines: a short note you already have. areas, shelves, storeroom: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

This does not give tax advice. The books stay in the accounting system.

The prompt · Copilot

Help me plan a stocktake using a phone form.

My stock: [types and rough number of lines]
Where it's kept: [areas, shelves, storeroom]
Who will count: [number of people]
How I value stock: [cost price list, or don't know]

First ask me up to 4 short questions. Wait for my answers.

Then:
1. A counting plan by area, so nothing gets counted twice.
2. The form questions: counter, area, item (dropdown), quantity, notes.
3. A totals sheet layout: quantity by item and value at cost, with formulas.
4. A check for big differences from what I expected, and how to recount.
5. What my accountant will want, to ask them about.

Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts or figures. UK English.

Stay in this Copilot chat. Leave plugins off, and do not open a file from OneDrive.

A short example

Fill the blanks, then paste. types and rough number of lines: a short note you already have. areas, shelves, storeroom: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.

You describe your stock, where it's kept and who will count.

The assistant asks how you value stock and how items are labelled.

You get a counting plan by area, the form questions, a totals sheet and a check for big differences.

GkGrok ClClaude ChChatGPT GeGemini CoCopilot

What happens

Use Copilot to do a stocktake with your phone in half the time

The year-end stocktake means clipboards, miscounts and a spreadsheet nobody trusts. Set up a phone form so two people can count at once and the totals add up automatically.

Tools

Paste the prompt, fill the blanks, copy the draft.

Microsoft Copilot — required. Drafts from the text you paste. Nothing is sent.

The prompt is on this page. A free account saves it.

Create a free account

Loading the outline…