# How to record your opening stock

> On the Stock page, click Record movement, choose the type Opening, select the item, enter the quantity you have on the shelf and its cost per unit, and save. Do this once per item when you start, so the ledger matches reality from day one.

_Category: Getting started · Updated 2026-10-18 · Canonical: https://jogan.cloud/help/record-opening-stock_

Jogan works out stock from movements, so a new item starts at zero. An **Opening** movement tells it what you already have.

## Steps

1. Count what is on the shelf for each item.
2. Open **Stock** and click **Record movement**.
3. Set the type to **Opening** and choose the item.
4. Enter the **Quantity** in the item's unit.
5. Enter the **Unit cost**, what one unit cost you. If you leave it blank, the item's current cost price is used. See [How Jogan works out cost](https://jogan.cloud/help/how-costing-works).
6. For an expiry-tracked item, enter the **Expiry date** and optionally a **Batch number**. Leave the expiry blank to use the item's shelf life counted from today. If you have several batches with different dates, record one Opening movement per batch.
7. Save. The item's stock and the Dashboard's stock value update immediately.

## Many items at once

Use **Stock → Import** with one `opening` row per item (SKU, type, quantity, unit cost, and expiry date or batch number where relevant). See [How to import from Excel](https://jogan.cloud/help/import-from-excel).

## Got the count wrong?

Click **Reverse** on the opening entry's row on the Stock page and record it again with the right count, or record an **Adjustment in** or **Adjustment out** for the difference. Movements are never edited or deleted, so the correction sits in the ledger as its own line. See [How to correct a count or record waste](https://jogan.cloud/help/stock-adjustments-and-waste).

## What next

[How to record a sale](https://jogan.cloud/help/record-a-sale), or [How to log incoming stock](https://jogan.cloud/help/log-incoming-stock) when the next delivery arrives.