Review Counts Before Updating Inventory

Physical Inventory Overview | PI Reports

It is highly recommended that you review your physical inventory counts before updating a physical inventory. No mater how you've entered your item counts, they all end up in the item list on the main Physical Inventory window. From this window, you have several options for reviewing your counts to help determine if investigation or recounts are necessary before updating your inventory with the counts.

1. Do you need to set all items not counted to zero (0)?

When updating inventory with your counts, only the items with a count entered will be updated. It is important to enter a zero for items that are out of stock during the count so that your inventory is updated accordingly. You can enter a zero manually for these items or you can select the check box labeled Set all items not counted to zero to accomplish this in one step.

Do not use this option if you are counting and updating inventory for only a portion of your store (such as for one department). All items in your inventory that do not have a count entered are set to zero, not just those currently displayed in the Physical Inventory item list. Always review the results before updating inventory. Clearing the check box before updating will remove the zero counts.

2. Recount items whose quantity may have changed since starting.

While it is not recommended, sometimes a physical is done while your store is open and you continue selling. Or maybe you have started, saved, and restarted a physical with a period of sales between. Point of Sale will track and alert you when any transaction (receiving, sale, adjustment, transfer) affects items you have already counted. This gives you an opportunity to recount the item(s) in question before updating your inventory.

3. Review the physical inventory difference totals.

At the bottom right of the window is a summary of the differences in quantity, price, and cost of the counted items compared to what was expected. If the numbers are way off what you expected, review the counts in the item list looking for large discrepancies.

Tip: Filter the item list by Differences Only to quickly find suspect counts.