Reports to Check Before Posting a Physical Inventory

Tip: Using HDP's Exceptions and Unscanned Items reports to identify mistakes made during a physical inventory.

When performing a physical inventory, items may be overlooked or miscounted. The Hand-Held Data Processing (HDP) application contains reports to help you identify these kinds of mistakes and correct them before they are committed to your inventory (next month we'll show you how to correct miscounts using the hand-held terminal).

The Exceptions report should be checked to identify large discrepancies between the inventory count and the book value in CDBWin. The Unscanned Items report should be checked to identify items that may have been missed. By using these reports you can avoid mistakes, save time and maximize profitability by having a high level of inventory accuracy.

Step 1: Scan the items in your store and send them to the HDP application. A QuickStart Guide on this part of the process can be found here.

Step 2: Prepare the HDP application to run your reports as shown in the steps below the illustration.

1. In the Site combo box, select the CDBWin site number with which you are working.
2. In the Select CDB Criteria group box, select criteria to narrow down your sample. In our example, we are selecting the Dept. range check box and typing the beginning and ending departments. Only manager level and higher users have access to this group box.
3. For the purposes of our example, select the Adjust unscanned items to 0 in CDB check box. All items that were not scanned during the physical inventory will be set to zero quantities in CDBWin when inventory is posted.
4. In the Process Date box, select the date of the physical inventory. In our example, this is the last closed CDBWin shift date.
5. Select the transaction on which you wish to run reports by clicking the leftmost column of the record. You can select more than one transaction at a time, but for in our example we'll be selecting just one.
6. In the Report Options group box, select List Exceptions by, leave the default setting as Department, and click View. The report displays:
   
   
   
   This report shows all the discrepancies between your inventory book value and physical count. Columns to pay attention to include:
   
   Book Qty - The quantity of the listed item currently recorded in CDBWin.
   Physical Qty - The quantity of the listed item that was scanned/counted.
   Qty Variance - The difference between the book value and physical value.
   
   The Exceptions report is important because by scrolling through it looking for large numbers in the Qty Variance column you can uncover possible mistakes. Large negative numbers tend to indicate items that have been miscounted-such as cases of water stacked in the back of a cooler or extra boxes of candy in a storage room. Large positive numbers can mean an item was double counted or that a purchase has not been tagged and posted. If this is the case, return to the Paidout window to check for open invoices before continuing with the physical inventory process. If you are maintaining an accurate inventory by posting all purchases, sales and known shrink-such as breakage, spoilage and store usage-then your exception numbers will likely be minimal.
   
   When you are finishing reviewing this report, click Close.
    
7. In the Report Options group box, select List unscanned items only and click View. The report displays:
   
   
   
   The List Unscanned Items report is important because it narrows your focus on what was not scanned during the physical inventory. This can mean several things: that you carry the item but it is currently out of stock; that you are no longer stocking an item and it should be removed from the site's inventory database; or that the item was not counted during scanning. Again, HDP is giving you the opportunity to review this report before posting so you can take the corrective action necessary to protect the integrity of your site inventory database.
    
8. After reviewing these reports and fixing the mistakes you found, you should be ready to post with confidence!

For more information.....

A detailed look at creating and posting an inventory transaction can be found in Chapter 3 of the HDP6 User's Guide. Advice about the most effective way to approach keeping your physical inventory up to date can be found in a previous tip of the month, Adjusting Inventory with the Hand-Held Terminal.

For Past Tips of the Month...

Consult the Tip of the Month Library and click on the tip of choice.