Cycle Count Accuracy: The Daily Proof That Your Inventory Data Is Real

Cycle counts fail when operations rely on guesswork

Cycle count accuracy is one of the most practical indicators of fulfillment health because it tests inventory truth every day, not just at year-end. Research shows that brands increasingly depend on frequent cycle counts to prevent inventory drift, reduce stockouts, and protect order accuracy. When cycle count accuracy is weak, the warehouse is effectively operating with unreliable data, and the cost of that unreliability shows up fast.

Brands that move to G10 often describe cycle counting at their previous 3PL as a recurring headache. Counts never aligned with what the system claimed. Exceptions lingered for weeks. Variances appeared without explanation, and teams spent too much time reconciling spreadsheets instead of focusing on growth. These issues are not caused by cycle counts themselves. They are caused by the workflows that produce the data cycle counts are meant to validate.

As Maureen Milligan said, "Most of the customers who come to us from another 3PL, their challenges have always been access to their data, order accuracy and efficiency, and basically just meeting the committed requirements. So we've seen a lot of people come disillusioned by their last 3PL, where their orders weren't getting fulfilled in time, their inventory accuracy was not there, and they were not able to satisfy customer orders." Cycle count accuracy is one of the fastest ways to confirm whether those problems are being eliminated.

Accurate cycle counts require real time, event-level tracking

Cycle counts can only validate inventory if the system of record reflects real time movements. If updates are delayed or incomplete, cycle counts become a constant firefight instead of a steady verification process. Real time tracking provides the chain of custody that cycle counts depend on.

Bryan Wright described the level of traceability required when he said, "Absolutely. We have portals that show you the data. We have history that shows you all of that tracking. It shows the product landed on the dock at 8 o'clock. At 8:10, John picked it up and took it to location XYZ, and at 10 o'clock, we picked two items off of that pellet in the location 1, 2, 3, 4, order, you know, ABC, and at 11 o'clock, we packed it, we put it in this box and put this label number on it, and all the way through the process onto the truck and to the customer." Cycle count accuracy depends on this kind of event history.

When a warehouse can trace movements precisely, cycle count discrepancies become solvable and rare.

Scan-based workflows protect cycle count accuracy

Cycle count accuracy collapses when inventory moves without scanning. A single missed scan can distort location counts, SKU availability, and outbound reliability. Scan-based workflows ensure every unit movement is recorded, making cycle counts confirmation rather than correction.

As Connor Perkins said, "You want everything to be scanned in the warehouse, nothing done on paper. You can lose a lot of money in this industry by you know having people ship stuff wrong, or store it wrong, and now it's lost somewhere. So having a 3PL and WMS that is 100% scan-based is crucial." Cycle count accuracy is built on exactly this discipline.

Connor also said, "One of the pain points our clients have experienced with previous 3PLSs is inventory accuracy; maybe their previous 3PL wasn't great at picking the orders accurately. So they were losing money by shipping wrong items or wrong quantities of items." Cycle count accuracy helps reveal where these problems originate and whether they are being eliminated.

Visibility portals strengthen cycle count programs through transparency

Cycle count accuracy improves when brands have visibility into inventory levels and historical transactions. Transparency makes it easier to validate why a variance occurred and how it was resolved. It also reduces the back-and-forth that slows down reconciliation.

As Maureen said, "We're in the last stages of developing a new portal that will give customers real-time visibility to their on-time order fulfillment, inventory accuracy, and even inventory levels so that they can monitor those things directly in our systems. They'll have visibility to what the statuses of their orders-are they getting processed as they expect?-and things like that." Cycle count accuracy fits directly into this real time visibility.

She added, "A lot of the 3PL customer expectations are that order fulfillment is happening extremely timely, that our inventory is accurate, that we're able to execute on their orders very quickly, and get them shipped the same day. So what these real-time portals provide our customers is 100% visibility." That visibility helps cycle count programs stay credible.

Connor described the reporting depth that supports cycle count investigations when he said, "Our clients get best-in-class visibility and transparency. They can see their daily orders, they can see KPIs, and they can see historical transactions. They can look at a daily level or go into the more granular version where they're looking at transactional history on an item." This depth is critical for cycle count accuracy because it helps teams trace discrepancies to their source.

He also said, "You have easy access to reporting and you can export to Excel, or really any format that you like you know directly from our WMS portal." When cycle count results can be validated quickly, accuracy improves and disputes decline.

Early detection keeps variances from becoming expensive failures

Cycle count accuracy matters because it catches drift early. Variances often start with small issues: a mis-slotted SKU, a partial inbound receipt, a rushed replenishment, or a pick recorded incorrectly. If those issues remain hidden, they multiply into larger discrepancies that disrupt fulfillment and erode customer confidence.

With strong cycle counts backed by real time data, teams can catch these issues early, correct them fast, and keep inventory integrity intact.

As Maureen said, "We will take in your inbounds, we will get them received and reported back to you within our SLAs, and oftentimes more quickly than what we contracted for. We will ship your orders out the day they're required. And our inventory accuracy is generally right there at that 99.7% that we agreed. So that's one of the areas where we really do excel, and where we've been able to win business." Cycle count accuracy supports this consistency by preventing drift.

Cycle count accuracy rebuilds confidence after failed 3PL relationships

Brands often switch 3PLs because they can no longer trust inventory numbers. Cycle counts that never reconcile, variances that linger, and inconsistent reporting destroy confidence quickly. A reliable cycle count program restores confidence by proving the data is real.

As Maureen said, "For customers who have come to us from a bad 3PL relationship, they experience relief. They're suddenly seeing their business scaling, that the data supports what we agreed to, and then the trust begins to build." Cycle count accuracy is one of the clearest ways to create that relief.

Cycle count accuracy is now a competitive necessity

As fulfillment networks become more complex and customer expectations rise, cycle counts are no longer optional maintenance. They are a competitive requirement. Accurate cycle counts protect inventory integrity, reduce variance, and strengthen fulfillment reliability.

As Connor said, "This is one of our strengths. G10 is on the cutting edge for this kind of transparency and feedback for clients." Cycle count accuracy is one of the strongest expressions of that transparency.

If your brand wants fewer variances, fewer stockouts, and more predictable fulfillment, improving cycle count accuracy is one of the smartest investments you can make.