Physical Inventory and Sales

Doug,

Thanks for the reply, but we can't do a count by department, category, or supplier, since all our items are scattered throughout the store and warehouse. Our count takes roughly a week, but of course, we could/should have committed it sooner!

Does anybody else have any remarks in regards to my post?

I have to agree with Doug. The best way is to do a cycle inventory based upon a specific filter (dept, supplier, description, upc code, etc...). You need to count the items and then go back and verify any discrepancies before committing the count. We do several daily counts which take 5 - 30 minutes each prior to the store opening. This gives us a good "snapshot" of our inventory. In your case, if the person making the count is not accurate then you will never find what you are truly short or over.

Jay

Alex wrote:

Jay, thanks for the reply, but as mentioned previously using a specific filter is not possible in our case. Also we spend about 4 to 5 12 hour days with about 16 people or so on average either scanning or auditing the scanned sections.

Alex, To answer your question you would need to backup your database and install that database on another machine and run your own tests on commiting your inventory count. That would give you all your answers before you make a big mistake. If you can't break up your inventory count into bin location, dept or some other form of breaks without doing a full count then something maybe wrong with the way the inventory has been put into the computer. I hope that this will help you out.

We are talking about almost 48K scanned line items with different quantities. Each ILC is scanned separately and our software on the hand held scanners will only increase the line item quantity if the exact same item is scanned consecutively (back to back), There is no way of separating our items.

Thanks!

I've already done some testing with different databases (see the results and questions that I came up with in my original post). The problem is not with the way the inventory is put into the computer but with the way the inventory is spread out throughout the store (and warehouse). Due to our business we can't separate our inventory by department or category.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Physical inventory adjusts the real quantities by delta quantity. So even if you expected 1 and counted 0 (delta is -1), before committing the physical inventory you sell the item (suppose it was missed when counting) --> quantity will be 0, then commit physical inventory --> the new quantity will be: 0-1=-1 (yes, it can be negative after committing). You asked suggestions or remarks. As told, your formula that you use is correct. The suggestions made here you can read from the Store Operations User Guide: "For accuracy, it's generally recommended that you perform a physical inventory while the store is closed" (page 326 in the book I have). I can add some remarks. At first the bug that was in 1.3 version and is still in 2.0.0116 - expected quantity and value summary is wrong in the Physical Inventory Discrepancy header if you have negative expected quantities. It seems to calcualte absolute values. To get real quantities I use Print button and group Ref# column (also some customization of the report to get values). Another remark that bings us back to the suggestion is that in some cases quantities may go wrong. I know that there have been issues when opening physical inventory on different computers or when the physical inventory is already opened in minimized window and you try to reopen it from the list (and meanwhile items are sold). There may be messages like: "The Data on this form has changed. Would you like to save the changes?" or "Data has changed! Another user has updated this data record. The system cannot save your changes." I remember that there have been even issues when expected quantity is messed but I cant evoke it in my test system. To be sure and if you know that you cant finish the physical inventory right after the counting and start selling before committing - it is recommended to save/print the expected quantity right after the opening of the physical inventory. If you havent done that and have doubts you can also take some reports - current quantity list and movement from the beginning of the physical inventory and calculate backwards.

Koit Lahesoo

"Alex" wrote in message news:% snipped-for-privacy@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

Koit,

Thanks for your suggestions and information!

Due to factors beyond my control we still have not committed our Physical Inventory Count. We basically finished our inventory count 5 days after we opened the physical inventory count, meanwhile it's about 2 months later and have NOT committed it yet. What problems can or should I expect if I am committing the physical inventory count now?