You have to ask the mixer manufacturer's marketing department that one!
Some companies count the stereo channels as 2, some don't.

A stereo channel _usualy_ count as two. And thats the way it should be to ;) really.

RichardJames wrote: Are stereo channels considered single channels on a mixing board or is each stereo channel equal to 2 mono channels?
In other words, if a mixer has 40 channels total with 4 of the channels stereo would it be a 36 x 4 or a 32 x 4?

Marketing departments would make that 44 channels, maybe even 88 peak (if you count each half of the sinewaves going into the + and - inputs). Using morphic resonance you might get considerably more.

BTW, the "x4" bits of the mixer specs usually refer to the number of buses you can mix to, and is not to do with the number of inputs.

Most manufacturers count stereo channels as two, is good for sales and as HansAm wrote, it's the way it should be. Mixers numbers would be designated as:
x number of input channels by y number of buses by z number of main outputs. So the board you described could be 40 x 8 x 2.

Thanks for all that, I think my fears are realized. I am trying to make sence of some inventory and hoped there would be some standardization, but I guess I'll have to do it the hard way.

Thanks for the info.
Richard