The stock list your council asks for. For collections licensed in Great Britain: farm parks, bird of prey centres, aviaries, small aquaria.
Your Annual Stock Record, right first time.
Type a scientific name and Keepersbook fills in the hazard category and IUCN status, checks every row adds up, and prints the return in Table 12.1 order.
No card needed. The stock record stays free; it isn't a trial.
| Common name | Scientific name | IUCN | Hazard | Total on 1 Jan | Born | Died | Group on 31 Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barn owl | Tyto alba | LC | 2 (Category 2: less risk) | 3.4.0 | 0.0.3 | 1.0.0 | 2.4.3 |
| Eurasian eagle-owl | Bubo bubo | LC | 1 (Category 1: greater risk) | 1.1.0 | 0.0.0 | 0.0.0 | 1.1.0 |
| Common ostrich | Struthio camelus | LC | 1K (Category 1K: Category 1, special kicking risk) | 1.2.0 | 0.0.0 | 0.1.0 | 1.1.0 |
| Meerkat | Suricata suricatta | LC | 2 (Category 2: less risk) | 2.3.0 | 0.0.4 | 0.0.1 | 2.3.3 |
Every row reconciles: 1 Jan + arrived + born − died − departed = 31 Dec
The 2026 return is due to your council early next year
Why the spreadsheet keeps going wrong
1.2.3 → 01/02/2003
Counts aren't numbers
"1.2.3" is male.female.unknown: 1 male, 2 females and 3 unsexed (sex unknown). A spreadsheet reads it as a date and can't add it up. Keepersbook does the sums and flags any row where the year doesn't add up, as 12.4(a) asks.
Two columns need looking up
Every row needs an IUCN Red List status and a hazard category from a 620-entry table in Appendix B. Both fill in as you type the scientific name, with the match shown so you can check it.
Three returns, not one
Individual counts, colony or census counts (12.4) and wildlife rehabilitation (12.5) have to be kept apart. Keepersbook keeps them apart and prints them apart.
Two jobs, one place
Free, for good
The stock record
- Log arrivals, births, deaths and departures as they happen, from a phone or a tablet
- Hazard category and IUCN status filled in from the scientific name
- All three returns, printed in Table 12.1 order or downloaded as CSV
- Last year's closing counts carry forward as this year's opening counts
£49 a month or £490 a year, 30 days free
Ready for inspection
Appendix C lists 200 documents an inspector can ask for. Answer a few questions about what you keep and do, and the list drops to the ones that apply. A bird of prey centre needs about 67.
- 8.22Records of escape drillsOverdue
- 6.5Daily written records of animal careDue today
- 8.9Records of zoo perimeter checksUp to date
- Due dates worked out from the wording of each standard, with the clause shown
- Photos and files kept against the document they prove
- An inspection pack in Appendix C order, licence holder column ticked, inspector column left blank
Two dates for the diary
The last day of the current Standards. The 2025 Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for Great Britain replace them the next day, and inspections from then are against the new documentation list.
200 documents in Appendix C, 31 of them on a recurring cycle. Only the ones matching what you keep apply to you.
The stock record gains two columns. From the first return under the new Standards, every species needs its IUCN Red List status and its Appendix B hazard category alongside the counts, and the deadline becomes 1 March (12.2) rather than the 1 April in most licence conditions.
Until then your licence conditions govern the date. Worth checking yours with the council either way.
Built from the Standards, clause by clause
Every category, document and due date in Keepersbook comes from the published Standards and shows the clause it came from, so you can check it against your own copy.
What it won't do: make you compliant. Inspectors decide that. Keepersbook keeps the records straight, works out what's due, and gets the return in on time and in the right format.
Pricing
Stock record
Free
Unlimited species and movements, hazard and IUCN columns, all three returns, print and CSV. Most small collections only ever need this.
Start freeInspection
£49 a month
or £490 a year, two months free
Everything in the free plan, plus the scoped Appendix C checklist, due dates, evidence storage and the inspection pack. 30 days free, cancel in a click.
Start 30-day trialMulti-site
£99 a month
or £990 a year, two months free
Up to five licensed collections under one account, each with its own licence number, checklist and returns (10.1).
Get in touchPrices exclude VAT. Annual billing suits a seasonal business better and is the one most collections pick. Your records export to CSV at any time, including after you stop paying.
Questions licence holders ask
Does the law make me buy software?
No. Standard 1.17 says records may be paper or electronic. Keepersbook saves time and gets the arithmetic right. It isn't a legal requirement, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling harder than we are.
Will my council accept it?
It prints the return in the Table 12.1 column order with the counts in male.female.unknown, as standard 12.2 sets out. Licensing authorities can set their own conditions, so check what yours asks for.
We already use ZIMS.
Then your stock record is mostly solved, and some licence conditions accept a ZIMS stock report directly. Keepersbook is for collections that don't pay for a full records system.
What happens to our data?
Hosted in the UK, exportable as CSV whenever you want, deleted on request. Evidence files stay yours.
Who is behind it?
A small independent software company. Not Defra, not BIAZA, not your licensing authority. Write to hello@keepersbook.co.uk and a person replies.
An illustration, not a photograph of a particular collection.
Get this year's return off your desk.
Add your species, log the year's movements, print the return. Free, and yours to export whenever you like.
Start your stock record, free