Correct words for transitional and non-transitional

I'm trying to explain two different ways of doing something and can't remember the correct words.

I have a stock room full of items

Way 1:

Every week count how many of each item there are, write this down.

Way 2:

When items come in/leave; add or take from the current stock level.

I want to call these transitional and non-transitional but am certain there are correct words to describe these two different approaches. What are they?


According to Wikipedia:

Periodic inventory is a system of inventory in which updates are made on a periodic basis. This differs from perpetual inventory systems, where updates are made as seen fit.

Perpetual inventory or continuous inventory describes systems of inventory where information on inventory quantity and availability is updated on a continuous basis as a function of doing business. Generally this is accomplished by connecting the inventory system with order entry and in retail the point of sale system.

The term transactional inventory has also been advanced as an alternative to perpetual inventory. accountingtermsdictionary.com says that a “Perpetual inventory system ... records purchases ... each time transaction occurs”, and Googling will show you many more instances where perpetual inventory is explicitly associated with transaction-based updating; so the two terms are essentially equivalent. This NGram suggests that perpetual inventory is the prevailing term of art.


The first way might be called intermittent or snapshot inventory. In some places I've worked they called this physical inventory since the product was physically counted.

The second way would generally be called transactional or continuous inventory.