It involves a comprehensive physical inventory count from wall to wall, counting each and every inventory article. It is a strict tight rope audit during which all operations are placed to halt and long hours working is assumed to ensure minimum time taken in the process. Detailed stock reconciliations with due explanations for all the variances are compiled and necessary follow up action plan is chalked out for future implementation. This exercise is a substantive audit process and resorted to not more than once in a quarter or may be only twice in a year, depending on the size and nature of the particular business, coupled with the state of internal control in place. As Indian retail market is in a developing phase, more of such substantive audits are resorted to here than as compared to developed markets where sophisticated and automated internal controls are in place.