Inventory monitoring apparatus capable of real-time counting of objects added to or subtracted from a location whose inventory is to be monitored. The apparatus includes structure for supporting a plurality of objects and a lever adapted to be contacted and displaced by movement of the objects to and from the supporting structure. Movement of the lever in one direction triggers a switch which generates a signal indicating that an object is being added to the support structure. Similarly, opposite movement of the lever triggers another switch which generates a signal indicating that an object is being removed from the support structure. A microprocessor receives and counts the signals generated by the switches to provide a real-time total of the quantity of objects borne by the supporting structure.