The quick answer
In the SCM Mobile app, open Smart Count, pick the location (and zone and aisle, if your setup uses them), and tap Spot Count at the bottom of the Task List. Scan or enter the bin, then the item, type what's on the shelf in Total Quantity Counted, and tap Complete. That saves the count as an Item Count but doesn't touch inventory. On the desktop, go to Transactions > Smart Count > Count Review, find the row, check its variance, select it and click Approve. Approving a nonzero variance creates an inventory adjustment, linked from the Item Count record.
The example is a fastener distributor. Item HCN-4410, a 3/4 in hex coupling nut, should have 62 in bin B2-07-C at Lakeshore DC. Someone on the floor thinks the bin looks short, but HCN-4410 isn't due for a count today, so there's no task to open. The screenshots use sample data, and the person, company and item names are fictional.
Smart Count is a separate SuiteApp from NetSuite WMS. If you're counting with the WMS mobile Cycle Count menu instead, the screens and the approval step are different.
Before you start
You need the SCM Mobile and Smart Count SuiteApps installed, plus the account features Smart Count lists as prerequisites, such as Advanced Inventory Management. This example counts a bin, so the location also uses NetSuite WMS and bins. Smart Count has to be set up for the location: count configurations, tolerances and a default inventory count account for the adjustment. The counter needs Smart Count mobile access. The person approving needs access to Count Review and enough permission for the resulting inventory adjustment to be created and posted. They can be different roles. The example uses one Administrator for both.
Several things on these screens are preferences. The zone and aisle screens only appear when Smart Count is set up to use them. Blind counting hides the expected quantity. Tally scanning adds 1 per item scan. Tolerances decide which counts get flagged. The example item isn't lot numbered or serialized. Those items ask for more detail during the count. Approval can fail when the adjustment would land in a closed period, is missing a required department or class, or would leave negative inventory.
01. Check the bin before counting
Open the item record for HCN-4410 Hex coupling nut, 3/4 in, for example from Lists > Accounting > Items. On the Inventory Detail subtab, bin B2-07-C at Lakeshore DC shows status Good and On Hand 62. That's what NetSuite thinks is on the shelf, and the count will be measured against it.
02. Start a spot count on mobile
Open the SCM Mobile app on the handheld. In the example it's launched from the desktop menu SCM Mobile > WMS > WMS Mobile App. On Select Application, tap Smart Count. Pick the location (Lakeshore DC), then the zone (Fast Movers Zone) and aisle (B2).
The Task List shows the counts due in aisle B2. There are four, and none of them is HCN-4410 in B2-07-C. (HCN-4402 in B2-05-A is a different item.) Tap Spot Count. Smart Count asks you to scan or enter the bin.
03. Count the bin
In Scan or Enter Bin, scan or type B2-07-C. In Scan or Enter Item, scan or type HCN-4410. Bin Name and Item Name appear at the top. Scanning the item is what starts the count: Smart Count creates the Item Count and captures the bin's on-hand quantity as the count-start quantity. Here that's 62.
With tally scanning, that first scan puts 1 in Current Quantity and Total Quantity Counted. Nobody is going to scan 57 nuts one at a time, so replace Total Quantity Counted with 57. Blind counting is on, so the screen never shows the 62. Leave Inventory Status Good and Unit Of Measurement Each, and tap Complete.
The app goes back to the Task List without a confirmation message. The count is saved, and because a 5-unit shortage is outside tolerance it waits for review. (If auto-approval is turned on, a count within tolerance can be approved without anyone reviewing it.) Inventory hasn't changed. Pause would have kept the count open to finish later, Remarks adds a note the approver sees, and Cancel abandons it.
04. Review the variance
On the desktop, go to Transactions > Smart Count > Count Review. The Primary Filters are Location All, dates 09/28/2026 to 09/29/2026, and To Be Approved. The Key Performance Indicators count 4 unapproved counts, 1 of them with a variance over tolerance.
In the Report grid, find the HCN-4410 row for bin B2-07-C:
- Actual Count/Approved Count shows the counted 57.
- Variance Quantity is -5: 57 counted against the 62 captured when the count started.
- Variance Amount is -18.00.
- Count Status is Tolerance Error, because a 5-unit shortage is outside this account's tolerance.
- Count Reason is Spot Count, Counted By is Marisol Okafor, and On-Hand Change During Count is 0, so no on-hand change was recorded while the bin was being counted.
05. Approve the count
The manager believes the shortage, so check the box on the HCN-4410 row and click Approve. Show Comments Popup on Action is checked above the grid, so a Comments dialog opens. Type the reason, Shortage confirmed at shelf, and click Ok.
The page shows Count Record approved. In the example the HCN-4410 row leaves the To Be Approved list, Total Unapproved Counts drops to 3, and the over-tolerance count drops to 0.
If the number had looked wrong, Recount would set the count to Recount Suggested and make the bin available to count again. Reject sets it to Rejected and keeps the record. Neither posts an adjustment.
06. Confirm the item count and adjustment
Go to Transactions > Smart Count > Item Count. SC118, the spot count of HCN-4410 in B2-07-C, now has Status Approved. Click View on SC118.
The Item Count shows Count Type Non Directed Count and Count Reason Spot Count, which is how a spot count is labeled. Reviewed By is Marisol Okafor, Reviewer Comments holds the comment from the dialog, and Inventory Adjustment links to #IA2207.
On the Item Count Details subtab, the Good line has Count Start – Quantity On-Hand 62, Actual Count 57 and Approved Count 57. The Damaged and Quarantine lines are zero.
Click Inventory Adjustment #IA2207. On the Adjustments subtab, the HCN-4410 line at Lakeshore DC goes from Qty. On Hand 62, Adjust Qty. By -5, to New Quantity 57.
Check the result
- The Item Count's Status is Approved, with your comment in Reviewer Comments.
- The Item Count links to an inventory adjustment.
- On the adjustment line, Adjust Qty. By equals the count's Variance Quantity (-5) and New Quantity equals the counted quantity (57).
- Estimated Total Value is -18.00, the same as the Variance Amount on Count Review in this example. Costing and timing can make them differ.
Check the adjustment's Inventory Detail for the bin and status, and its GL Impact for the accounts and value actually posted. The value depends on how the item is costed.
Common questions
What's the difference between a spot count and a counted task?
The tasks on the Task List come from your Smart Count count configurations, so they're directed counts that someone scheduled. A spot count is for anything that isn't on that list, like a bin that looks wrong today. On the Item Count record a spot count shows Count Type Non Directed Count and Count Reason Spot Count.
What does Tolerance Error mean?
The variance is outside a tolerance set in Smart Count. Tolerances can be by quantity, amount or percentage, at the item or company level. Five short out of 62 was outside this account's tolerance, so the count waits for a manager. A count inside tolerance can be approved automatically, but only if auto-approval is turned on.
Does tapping Complete change inventory?
No. Complete saves the Item Count and works out the variance. Inventory changes when someone approves the count. Here, approval created the adjustment that took the bin from 62 to 57.
What's the difference between Approve, Reject and Recount?
Approve accepts the counted quantity and creates an inventory adjustment if there's a variance. Recount sets the count to Recount Suggested so the bin can be counted again, and Reject sets it to Rejected. Neither of those posts an adjustment, and the Item Count record stays either way. Whether a comment is asked for, and whether a recount can be assigned to someone, depend on Smart Count preferences.
Why doesn't the app show the expected quantity, and what if stock moves during the count?
That's blind counting, a Smart Count preference. If the counter could see 62, it'd be easy to type 62 without really counting. The variance is measured against the quantity captured when the count started. If on-hand changes while the count is open, Count Review shows it in On-Hand Change During Count, and a Smart Count preference decides how the app handles it, such as asking for a recount.