Stock control for a community-owned pub: whose stock it is, counting with volunteers on the bar, and what the board needs to see

In a community-owned pub, who should be watching the stock depends on how the pub is run. If the society lets it to a tenant, the stock is the tenant's and the board's job is the rent and the building. If the society employs a manager, or runs the bar with volunteers, the stock is the society's, it was bought with shareholders' money, and the board needs to see two numbers every month: GP% and the stock gap in pounds. CAMRA counted 217 community-owned pubs in April 2025, plus 28 more community-run. Plunkett says a community pub has 19 regular volunteers on average. Nineteen people pouring is nineteen ways of pouring, and the only thing that turns that into a number the board can trust is one count, done the same way, by the same person, every month.

There's a lot written on how to buy your local. Share offers and grants. Search for how to keep the stock straight once you've got it and there's nothing. So this is that, from the side of the bar that has to explain the numbers.

First, whose stock is it?

Get this straight before anyone buys a scale or a clipboard. Most community pubs run one of three ways, and each one puts the stock somewhere different:

If you're tenanted, most of this guide is for your tenant, and you could do worse than send them it. If you're managed or volunteer-run, carry on.

The licensing rule volunteer bars forget

In England and Wales, every premises licence that allows alcohol sales comes with two conditions written into law. There has to be a designated premises supervisor who holds a personal licence. And every sale of alcohol has to be made or authorised by someone who holds a personal licence. That's section 19 of the Licensing Act 2003, and it doesn't relax because the person behind the bar is a volunteer.

So a volunteer rota always has a personal licence holder standing behind it, usually the DPS. Ask your licensing authority how they want authorisations recorded, and do it properly. Then notice the obvious: that person is already responsible for every sale. They're the natural owner of the stock count too. It's one job, not two.

Why volunteer bars drift

Not because volunteers are dishonest. I'll say that loudly, because the minute a community pub's stock comes back short, someone at the AGM says it isn't. It's because the system leans towards drift:

• Lots of different people pour, each with the habits of wherever they learned. Generous on the wine here, heavy on the free-pour there.
• The "volunteer's drink" at the end of a shift is a kind thing to do and usually never goes through the till. A comp nobody records looks exactly like stock walking out. My comps guide has the fix: a zero-priced button, so it's counted.
• Events. Quiz prizes, a raffle bottle, a donated case for the beer festival, the barrel the brewery gave for the opening. Stock in or out that never passes the till.
• Handovers. Six people opening and closing in a week means six handovers, and every one is a chance for a keg change or a breakage not to be written down. My shift handover guide covers the one-page fix.

None of those are theft. All of them show up in a stocktake as unexplained loss.

What a small leak means for a society

Illustrative numbers, so you can plug your own in. A community pub taking £3,000 a week on the bar, ex-VAT. A 2% gap between what the stock says should have been taken and what was, is £60 a week. That's £3,120 a year. For a society that raised its money from people in the village, that's real money gone every year without anyone deciding to spend it. Measure it and you can fix it. Don't, and it turns into a rumour.

Setting it up so it survives the rota

1. One count owner. Usually the DPS or the paid manager. Volunteers can help count, but one person signs it off.
2. A fixed count day. Same day, same time, every month. Before opening is best, nothing moving.
3. One method per product. Weigh it or count it in tenths, but the same way every time and whoever's counting. My counting accurately guide explains why mixing methods makes noise that looks like loss.
4. Everything that isn't a sale gets a button or a line. Volunteer drinks, comps, prizes, breakages, line cleaning. If it isn't written down it'll be blamed on someone.
5. Donated and event stock gets booked in. If the brewery gives you a firkin, it goes on the count at the price you'd have paid, or your GP% for that month is fiction.

What the board pack needs

I've written up the one-page monthly report a club committee should see in my members' club guide and it works just as well for a community pub board: GP% against target, the stock gap in pounds and as a percentage, the top five lines driving it, stock value, and what's been done since last month. Two extra things for a society:

• The year-end closing stock. Your annual accounts need a stock figure, and a count done properly on the right date beats an estimate. My year-end valuation guide covers how it goes in the accounts.
• A line for the AGM. Shareholders don't need the spreadsheet. They need to hear the bar is counted every month and what it showed. That one sentence stops a lot of car-park conversations.

Do you need a professional stocktaker?

Maybe, at the start. An independent stocktaker gives you a clean opening figure and someone outside the village to say it. That counts for a lot when the committee knows everyone behind the bar. My stocktaker cost guide has what they charge. After that, the monthly count can be done in-house, and a stocktaker once or twice a year gives whoever does the monthly count an outside figure to stand behind.

Where StockTap fits, and where it doesn't

StockTap suits this sort of bar: one count owner, the same method every time. You can add team members, bottles are weighed or done in tenths, kegs counted, and the reports show GP% and the gap by product. There's a CSV export of valuation, GP and the order guide, which drops straight into a board pack. It isn't accounting software, it doesn't run your share register, and it's built for a single venue, which is all a community pub needs. If you'd rather not type the bar in, send me your last stocktake and I'll set it up for you, free.

Common questions

Who owns the stock in a community-owned pub?

It depends how the pub is run. If the society lets the pub to a tenant, the tenant owns and controls the stock. If the society employs a manager or runs the bar with volunteers, the stock belongs to the society and the board should see GP% and the stock gap every month.

Can volunteers serve alcohol in a community pub?

In England and Wales, yes, as long as every sale is made or authorised by a personal licence holder and there's a designated premises supervisor with a personal licence. Those are mandatory conditions under section 19 of the Licensing Act 2003. Check with your licensing authority how they want authorisations recorded.

How often should a community pub do a stocktake?

Monthly, on a fixed day, by the same count owner, using the same method for each product. A professional stocktaker at the start and once or twice a year gives an independent check.

What should the board of a community pub see about stock?

One page a month: GP% against target, the stock gap in pounds and percent, the top five lines behind it, stock value, and actions since last month. Plus a properly counted closing stock figure for the annual accounts.

Should volunteers get a free drink at the end of a shift?

That's the board's decision, and plenty of community pubs do it. The point is to record it. A zero-priced till button means the drink is counted, so it doesn't show up as unexplained stock loss.