How long does stocktaking software really take to set up? A 270-line answer

Every vendor says you'll be set up in minutes. Signing up takes minutes, that part's true. Being able to run a count that spits out a GP% you'd stake an argument on takes hours, spread over a couple of weeks, and almost nobody selling software will put a number on it. So here's a real one. I put my own bar's full range through a setup recently, 270 lines from a CSV, and paid attention to where the time actually went. The software was the quick bit. The product library is the setup.

If you're weighing up systems on price and features, the cost guide and the 2026 comparison cover that. This guide is about the question buyers ask third, after price and features, and should probably ask first: how long before this thing is actually working for me?

Setup is four jobs, not one

Whatever system you pick, getting from a fresh account to a trustworthy count is the same four jobs.

Getting your product list in. Fast if you have a list, slow if you're typing it. A CSV import takes minutes; building a 270-line list from the shelves takes an afternoon.

Getting sizes and containers right. The sneaky one. Wine that imported as 700ml when the bottles are 750ml. Mixers set up as measured bottles when they should count as whole units. Kegs with no capacity set. Every one of these silently bends your valuation and GP until it's fixed.

Getting prices right. The long tail. Cost prices from your last invoices, selling prices off the till. Estimates get you moving, but your GP is only as honest as these numbers, so this job decides when the reports become trustworthy rather than merely present.

Getting counting methods sorted. Which spirits you'll weigh, which you'll do in tenths, keg and cask sizes on the draught lines, dipstick depths if you use them. This one can build over time, which matters more than most vendors explain.

Where the hours actually went

My own 270-line setup, timed loosely rather than with a stopwatch, went like this. One venue's experience, so treat the numbers as a shape rather than a promise.

One real 270-line pub setup: where the time went. Author's own venue; your range and starting point will move these numbers.

Job	Time it took	What it involved
CSV import, 270 lines	Minutes	Upload, check the preview, untick the duplicates it flagged
Sizes and containers	About an hour	Wine bottle sizes corrected, 80-odd mixers and packaged lines switched to counting as whole units
Draught setup	An evening	Keg and cask capacities on 40 draught lines, dipstick depths on a dozen casks
Prices	Ongoing, dearest first	Replacing estimated costs with invoice figures, spirits and premium lines first because errors there cost most
Bottle weights	Builds as you count	18 bottles matched against a catalogue of known weights instantly; the rest weighed over the first counts, tenths in the meantime

The point of that last row is the one that changes how you should think about setup: you don't need setup finished to start counting. Over a hundred of my spirits and wines had no full-bottle weight on day one. Tenths counting works immediately, weighing accuracy arrives bottle by bottle as you count, and the system I use flags anything still missing setup so the gap list shrinks visibly. A first count in week one on tenths, a second in week two with prices corrected, and by the third count you're arguing with the result instead of the setup.

What "free onboarding" actually means

Vendors handle these four jobs very differently, and the word "onboarding" is doing heavy lifting across the industry. It can mean someone builds your product library for you, or it can mean a video call where someone shows you where the import button is. Before you pay anything, ask which one you're getting.

What setup involves at the vendors I've compared on this site. Figures from each vendor's own public pages, on the dates shown; check before you rely on them.

Vendor	Setup offer	Route in	Checked
WISK	$750 setup fee	Demo-led	6 Sep 2026
MarketMan	Free setup, badged "$1,500 value"	Demo-led, no self-serve trial	12 Sep 2026
StockTake Online	Personalised demo	Demo only, no self-serve trial	18 Sep 2026
Growyze	Self-serve	30-day trial, no card	5 Sep 2026
Jelly	Self-serve app	£129/mo flat	3 Sep 2026
Backbar	Self-serve	Free Basic tier, one location	7 Sep 2026
StockTap	Self-serve, CSV import + known-bottle matching	14-day trial, no card	Today

A paid or "free" done-for-you setup is well worth having if it means real data entry: someone taking your invoices and till export and handing back a finished library. If it means a training call, you're still doing the four jobs yourself, just with company. Neither answer is wrong, but they're different products and they cost you different amounts of your own time. Ask the question directly: who types in my 270 products, me or you?

StockTap's honest answer is: you do, and the tooling exists to make it fast. The import handles the list, a catalogue of known bottle weights fills in what it recognises, the app flags what still needs sizes or prices, and tenths counting means an incomplete library still counts. There's no done-for-you library service today. If you want one, some of the vendors above will sell it to you, and that's a fair reason to pick them.

Faster starts: the spreadsheet crowd and the switchers

Two groups get a head start. If you're coming off a spreadsheet, your product list already exists, and the spreadsheet-to-software guide covers cleaning it up for import. If you don't even have that, the free stocktake template gives you a working sheet whose product list becomes your import file later, which is a decent way to start the setup before you've picked a system at all.

If you're leaving another provider, your list, cost prices and history are sitting in their exports, and getting them out cleanly is its own subject: the switching guide covers the exports to take and the overlap count that proves the new system against the old one before you cancel anything.

How to run the setup so it doesn't eat a weekend

Three sittings, not one heroic Sunday. First sitting: import the list, fix the duplicates and sizes the software flags, set the draught capacities. Second sitting, a day or two later: prices, dearest shelf first, straight off the invoices. Then run your first count in tenths and let the count itself show you what's still wrong, because it will: the missing keg size, the wine at the wrong bottle size, the double entry. Fix as you count. The free trial guide lays out the two-count method for testing a system properly inside a trial window, and it's exactly the rhythm that finishes a setup too.

And one thing worth doing on day one regardless of vendor: check the till. Your selling prices live there, your product names live there, and a till export cross-checked against your import catches the products you forgot you stocked. If you're wondering about deeper till integration, the EPOS integration guide covers what connects to what and what a CSV upload gets you meanwhile.

Common questions

Can I start counting before setup is finished?

Yes, and you should. Tenths counting works with nothing but the product list, and the first count is the best setup audit you'll get. Waiting for a perfect library before counting is how trials expire unused.

How long before my GP% is trustworthy?

When the cost and selling prices are real rather than estimated, which for most pubs is after the invoice pass, so within the first week or two. Until then treat the GP as scaffolding. A count on estimates still finds missing stock; it just can't put a fair price on it yet. Reading the GP report covers what the number means once it's real.

Do I need to weigh every bottle before I can use weighing?

No. Weigh bottles as they come up in counts and the coverage builds. Catalogue matching gives some of them instantly, tenths covers the rest meanwhile. The part bottles guide explains why weighing is worth building towards for spirits.

How long does the count itself take once set up?

A different question with its own guide: how long a pub stocktake takes. Short version: a couple of hours for a typical wet-led pub once the library's right, and the library being right is what this page was about.