If you prefer to take your inventory in one day, use the following steps to simplify the inventory process. The process listed below must be done before you close your store for the day. Each step is defined in detail earlier in other articles. If you prefer to take inventory over several days, see the article Recommended Procedure for Taking Monthly Inventory over Several Days.
- As close to the end of the day as you can get without interfering with your operation, print an Inventory Count Worksheet (1-7-4-1) for the items you want to count and start counting your inventory.
- After you have completed the physical count, you need to enter the counts to compare with the system’s inventory. Use the Enter an Inventory Count (1-7-4-2) option. Type M in the Enter the Count Period field to specify this is a monthly count, and type the category for which you want to input the counts in the Enter the Category field.
- Enter the counts accurately from the Inventory Count Worksheets. It is extremely important that you enter accurate counts or your inventory valuation will be incorrect.
Whenever your count does not match the system count, the computer beeps and your cursor does not move to the next field. Double-check the accuracy of your entry. Change the entry, if necessary, or press [Enter] again to specify that your entry is correct.
- When you have finished entering your inventory counts, you receive an Inventory Variance Report, which lists the items with a different count than what the system calculated.
- For each item on the report, check your counts again (did you miss a case in the corner?). If you have made any entry errors, pencil in the new count on the report and adjust the variance on the report accordingly. You can re-enter your count to correct the Inventory Variance Report.
- You must reconcile the counts on the Inventory Variance Report. You have two options for adjusting your counts: Adjust Inventory on Hand or Automatic Inventory Adjustment.
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- Use Adjust Inventory On Hand (1-7-4-3) to change each variance individually.
- If you feel all adjustments need to be made that show on the variance sheet, select Automatic Inventory Adjustment (1-7-4-6) to change these items automatically. The system assumes everything you entered in your initial counts is correct. If you miskeyed, the incorrect amount will be assumed to be correct. You can re-enter the count to correct a mistake and receive an accurate variance report. The previous values will remain.
- When all items on the Inventory Variance Report have been adjusted, you need to select Update Inventory (1-7-4-4).
- Print the Inventory Valuation Report (1-7-4-5), and review it. If what is reported is not what you expected, check the Current Item Cost column. You may not have the correct costs for each item.
- If you find problems with the current item cost, you can adjust the cost of the remaining items in stock in Adjust Current Inventory Cost (1-7-7-2) or in Enter Inventory Activity (1-7-7-6). In Enter Inventory Activity, you must specify the Tran Type as 51 (change cost/price). Fill in the new cost for the item and save your changes.
- Select Update Inventory (1-7-4-4).
- Print the Inventory Valuation Report (1-7-4-5) and review it again. Repeat steps 8-10 if necessary.
