Run a WMS Mobile Cycle Count and Approve the Variance in NetSuite

The quick answer

On the WMS mobile app, open Inventory > Cycle Count, pick the released plan, and count each task: confirm the bin, confirm the item, and enter what's on the shelf. With blind counting on, the counter never sees the expected quantity. Then open the Inventory Count on the desktop and click Complete Count. That exposes Snapshot Quantity (what NetSuite had when the count started) next to Count Quantity, and Adjusted Quantity is the difference. Approve it, and NetSuite creates the inventory adjustment (or adjustments) for the difference, listed on the count's History subtab.

The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.

Before you start

The count has to exist already: a WMS cycle count plan was generated and released, and someone clicked Start Count, which took the snapshot and pushed the tasks to the handheld. The location uses bins. You need WMS mobile access to count, and inventory count permissions to complete and approve; plenty of accounts give those to different people. The example item isn't lot numbered or serialized. Those items ask for inventory detail during the count. The accounting period has to be open for the adjustment to post. Mobile menu labels, blind counting and inventory statuses depend on how WMS is configured in your account, and a WMS rule decides whether counts can be started or completed in the app instead of on the desktop.

01. Open the plan on mobile

From Mobile Emulator > Mobile Emulator > Mobile Screen (or your handheld), the app opens on Select Application. Choose WMS and the warehouse, then Inventory > Cycle Count. Select Plan lists released plans that still have tasks. Here that's IC214, with one count task dated 09/14/2026. Select it.

The WMS mobile Select Plan screen lists IC214 with 1 count task and IC209 with 3 count tasks. — Select Plan only lists plans that still have tasks to count.

On Select Task, pick bin C3-14-B. Enter Bin shows the expected bin; scan or type it and click Enter Bin, so you know you're counting the right shelf. Scan or type the item, TPL-0842, and click Enter Item. If the item isn't in the bin, Zero Quantity records a zero count instead.

Enter Quantity doesn't show what NetSuite expects. Type what you counted (35), check the unit, and click Enter Quantity. Inventory Status only shows when inventory statuses are turned on.

The Enter Quantity screen shows 35 typed with unit Eaches(1) and inventory status Good, and no expected quantity. — The counter enters 35 without seeing the system quantity.

Count Plan Complete lists what was counted: C3-14-B, TPL-0842, 35 Each(1). The counting is done. Nothing has been approved or adjusted yet.

Count Plan Complete says cycle count plan IC214 is complete and lists bin C3-14-B, item TPL-0842, status Good and quantity 35 Each(1). — Finishing the last task on mobile does not close the Inventory Count.

03. Open the count for review

Back on the desktop Home page, click the To Do: Cycle Counts Pending Review reminder. (It's a configured reminder. Your account may label it differently or not have it on the dashboard, in which case open the count from the WMS inventory count list.) The results show IC214 for Riverside DC with status Started. Open it.

The Inventory Count is still Started. The Items sublist shows Count Quantity 35 for C3-14-B (units Eas(1), the web abbreviation for the same Eaches unit), and on this form there's no Snapshot Quantity column yet.

Inventory Count IC214 with status Started shows Count Quantity 35 for TPL-0842 in bin C3-14-B and a Complete Count button. — The count is still Started, with the mobile count on the line.

04. Complete the count

Click Complete Count. The status changes to Completed/Pending Approval, Approve and Reject replace Complete Count, and the Items sublist now shows Snapshot Quantity, Snapshot Detail, Adjusted Quantity and Variance Detail. Read the line: Snapshot Quantity 38, Count Quantity 35. Adjusted Quantity is 35 - 38 = -3, so the bin has three fewer than NetSuite thought.

The completed count shows Snapshot Quantity 38, Count Quantity 35 and Adjusted Quantity -3 on the TPL-0842 line. — Adjusted Quantity is Count Quantity minus Snapshot Quantity. On this form there's no column labeled Variance; Variance Detail is a drill-down.

05. Approve the variance

If -3 is believable, click Approve. The count becomes Approved. Approve and Reject disappear; Edit, Back and Actions are what's left. If the number looks wrong, click Reject instead. The count goes back to Started with Complete Count available again, so the bin can be recounted and the count completed and reviewed again. Depending on your count settings, a reject can also refresh the snapshot.

Inventory Count IC214 shows status Approved with Edit, Back and Actions buttons. — Once approved, the count can no longer be approved or rejected.

06. Check the inventory adjustment

Open the History subtab, then Inventory Adjustments. Here the approval created one adjustment, IA388. A count with both shortages and overages can create more than one. Click the date to open it.

Qty. On Hand on the adjustment is NetSuite's quantity when the adjustment was created. Nothing moved during this count, so it matches the 38 snapshot and New Quantity lands on the counted 35. If stock moved, those numbers can differ.

The History subtab of the approved count, on its Inventory Adjustments tab, lists Inventory Adjustment IA388 dated 09/14/2026. — The adjustment created by the approval is listed on the History subtab of the count.

Inventory Adjustment IA388 uses 5140 Inventory Shrinkage and shows TPL-0842 at Riverside DC with Qty. On Hand 38, Adjust Qty. By -3 and New Quantity 35. — New Quantity 35 matches what the counter found.

Check the result

The count's status is Approved.
History > Inventory Adjustments lists the adjustment.
On the adjustment line, Adjust Qty. By equals the count's Adjusted Quantity (-3) and New Quantity equals the counted quantity (35).
Adjustment Account is the count's account (5140 Inventory Shrinkage here), and Estimated Total Value is -55.20 (-3 at 18.40) in this example.

Check the adjustment's Inventory Detail for the bin and its GL Impact for the posted value. The value depends on how the item is costed.

Common questions

Why can't the counter see the expected quantity?

Because it's a blind count. If the handheld showed 38, it would be easy to type 38 without really counting. The counter only records what's physically in the bin, 35 here. Whether counts are blind is a WMS setting.

Why is the count still Started after the counter finished on mobile?

Finishing the last task records Count Quantity on the line, but it doesn't complete the Inventory Count. Someone has to click Complete Count to move it to Completed/Pending Approval. If the WMS system rule Start and Complete Counts on App is on, an authorized user can tap Complete Count on the app's Select Task page instead, confirm, and the count moves to Completed/Pending Approval without the desktop step.

Where do I see the variance on the Inventory Count?

In Adjusted Quantity, once the count is completed. It's Count Quantity minus Snapshot Quantity, so 35 - 38 = -3 means three short. Variance Detail breaks that difference down by inventory detail, which matters more for lot and serial items.

What does Reject do?

It sends a completed count back to Started so the bin can be recounted, then completed and reviewed again. Look into the difference before asking for the recount. Depending on your count settings, the snapshot and variance details can be recalculated after a reject.

Why doesn't Qty. On Hand on the adjustment match the snapshot?

Qty. On Hand is NetSuite's quantity when the adjustment was created, and the snapshot is from when the count started. If stock moved in between, they differ. In this example nothing moved, so the adjustment shows 38, -3 and 35. Approval can also fail if the adjustment would leave negative inventory.