I have an ambitious idea here that I want to get some input on, to see if anyone has an idea of the best way to approach this within the scope of Access.

Some of the regulars around here may recognize this as part of the Returns database I've been developing to improve out process at work. The "closeout" process occurs after each month, and is essentially a reconciliation/accounting of what parts we expect to have vs what we actually have on our returns shelf at the time. The report on the left reports the results of a query that pulls up all of the parts returned in the month before the current month, and the report on the left is the result of an aggregate query of a table into which I scan all of the parts currently on the shelf.

Ideally, what I'd like to create is a form where one half of it, perhaps a column on the left, has all of the expected parts, and then as you scan through the parts, it tallies them up in a column to the right, aggregating the count as you go. This could either be done by tallying the count, as on the report on the right, or just by enumerating the parts, as in the report on the left, in the picture below.

I'm wondering if this would be simple as having a form containing the expected parts, pulled from a query, and a subform to the right that collects the parts as you scan. The hard part then, of course, is how do you compare these live? Is this something that would even be possible in Access?

Please let me know if more detail or clarification is needed

Click image for larger version. 

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