Cycle counts let you audit a subset of your inventory without pausing full warehouse operations. Every account can scope a count to one or more warehouses (optionally narrowed by category or preferred supplier) and choose to count by SKU or by specific bin location. Accounts with a newer expansion enabled can additionally narrow a count to specific locations within those warehouses, count by lot instead of by product, or start the count from a specific list of products/lots rather than from a warehouse.
- Warehouse scope (including selecting more than one warehouse) and Count by SKU / Bin location are both generally available today — no flag required.
- Locations narrowing, automatic lot-level counting, and the "By products or lots" starting point are part of a newer expansion.
How It Works (Step-by-Step)
Step 1 — Set the Scope
- In Luminous, go to Inventory > Cycle Counts.
- Click New Cycle Count.
- Warehouse (required) — select one or more warehouses. This field is a multi-select:
- Click it, choose a warehouse, and click again to add another. A single cycle count can span multiple warehouses today, with no separate "location group" concept needed.
- If your account has location scoping enabled, a Locations field appears here as well, letting you narrow the count to specific locations/bins within the warehouse(s) you selected, on top of the filters below.
- Optionally narrow further:
- Category (optional) — limit the count to a specific product category.
- Preferred Supplier (optional) — limit the count to products with a specific preferred supplier.
- Name (optional) — label the count for your own reference (e.g., "Q1 2026 Offseason Count").
- (Optional) Expand Advanced: include excluded SKUs if you need to bring normally-excluded SKUs into this count.
- Click Next: Count mode.
Step 2 — Choose the Count Mode
- Count by — choose how rows are generated:
- SKU (default) — one row per SKU per warehouse. Bin location — one row per SKU per bin location. Requires bin-level inventory tracking. Optionally select specific bin locations to include; leave blank to include all bins in the warehouse(s).
- Beta: accounts with lot-level counting enabled get a third dimension layered on top — lots are automatically split into their own rows rather than being rolled into the SKU total, so a count can show discrepancies at the individual lot level instead of only the SKU level.
- Beta: if your account has the products-or-lots starting point enabled, you'll also see a "Start from" choice — By warehouse (the flow above) or By products or lots. Choosing By products or lots lets you pick specific products or lots to recount directly (for example, to spot-check a handful of slow-moving lots) instead of starting from a warehouse scope, with an optional warehouse filter you can still apply on top if you only want to check those products/lots within specific picking warehouses/bins.
- (Optional) Enable Blind count to hide system quantities from the counters performing the count.
- Click Next: Confirm. Review the number of items and warehouses the count will include.
- (Optional) Add Remarks.
- Click Start count to generate the cycle count and begin counting.
Key Features / Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Warehouse scope (multi-select) | Select one or more warehouses for a single cycle count |
| Category / Preferred Supplier filters | Optional filters combinable with the warehouse scope |
| Count by SKU | Default — one row per SKU per warehouse |
| Count by Bin location | One row per SKU per bin location; requires bin-level tracking; optionally restrict to specific bins |
| Locations field (Scope step) | Narrows the count to specific locations within the selected warehouse(s) |
| Lot-level counting | Automatically splits lots into their own rows instead of rolling them into the SKU total |
| Start from: By products or lots | Lets you pick specific products/lots to count directly, with an optional warehouse filter, instead of starting from a warehouse scope |
| Blind count | Hides system on-hand quantities from the person doing the count |
| Advanced: include excluded SKUs | Brings normally-excluded SKUs into this specific count |
Tips & Best Practices
- A single cycle count can already span more than one warehouse — you don't need to run a separate count per warehouse just to cover multiple locations, unless you specifically want separate results per warehouse.
- Use Count by Bin location when you only need to verify a handful of bins rather than recounting an entire warehouse by SKU.
- If lot-level counting is enabled for your account, use it when you need to catch discrepancies at the individual lot level (e.g., after a receiving error affecting one lot) rather than only seeing a blended SKU total.
- If your account has the products-or-lots starting point enabled, use it for targeted recounts — e.g., recounting a handful of slow-moving or high-value lots — instead of scoping a full warehouse count.
- Use Blind count when you want an unbiased physical count.
FAQs & Troubleshooting
Q: Can I scope a single cycle count across multiple warehouses?
A: Yes — the Warehouse field accepts more than one selection. Select each warehouse you want included; the Confirm step will show the combined SKU count across all selected warehouses.
Q: Can I count by lot number instead of by SKU or bin?
A: Only if your account has lot-level counting enabled(Beta). If you don't see lot-level rows or a "by products or lots" starting option, your account likely doesn't have this flag on yet; contact Luminous Support to request it.
Q: Why don't I see a Locations field under Scope? A: This is in Beta and that's off by default and independent of the lot-level counting flag. Contact Luminous Support to request it.
Q: Why don't I see a Bin locations option in Count mode?
A: Bin-location counting requires bin-level inventory tracking to be enabled on the warehouse — this is unrelated to the flags above. If you don't see the option, confirm that setting first.
Q: What does Blind count actually hide?
A: It hides the system's expected on-hand quantity from whoever is performing the count, so their entries aren't influenced by what Luminous expects to see.
Additional Help If you run into issues creating a cycle count, or the counted quantities don't match what you expect, contact Luminous Support.