Purpose
This function is used to record the physical ‘Stock Take counts’ on the items on a stock take run. This information is recorded by hand by the ‘counters’ on the stock take tally sheets/tickets produced for the stock take run.
Before entry of stock counts can take place, all outstanding processing must be completed to enable the Freeze Stock Take process to be run. Once a run has the ‘freeze quantity’ recorded, it allows normal transaction processing to continue whilst entry of the stock count is conducted and the subsequent finalisation of the stocktake processes are carried out.
Tip: You do not need to enter zero counts if there is no quantity counted. If no count is entered on a ticket the system assumes zero counted, and any quantity on hand, bin quantity or Tracking details are cleared from the system when the stock take is finalised.
Data Input
Step 1 – Stock Take Run Number
Stock Take Number
Enter a valid stock take number. This stock take number can be found on the tally sheets or printed tickets and must be a valid and open stock take run that has already had the Freeze Stock Take process completed.
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Step 2 – Stock Take Details
Count Number
Select the count number you want to record – either ‘Count 1’ or ‘Count 2’.
The stock take routines allow for the entry of two stock counts. Thus the user must nominate whether this is the first (Count 1) or second (Count 2) stock count being keyed in. The function maintains separate count quantities for each of the two counts.
All the stock take print routines allow for the comparison between counts as well as variance reporting between the freeze quantity and the ‘Count 1’ or ‘Count 2’ quantities. Thus the two counts can be used in two main ways.
The first approach is that with tally sheets, the count can be entered twice thus allowing the user to report on data entry keying errors made by comparing the count quantity variances.
Secondly, when tickets are in use, you can decide to perform two physical counts of the stock and enter each count quantity against ‘Count 1’ and ‘Count 2’ and do comparison reporting on the variances between those two counts. This then highlights counting errors as opposed to data entry errors, and allows you to go back and double check the physical counts on items with discrepancies.
Of course if you wanted to, you could print two sets of tally sheets and do two physical counts using that method if you prefer to work with tally sheets.
Care should be taken when nominating which count you are entering because once you start the entry of individual stock counts, this function will not prompt you again as to which count you are entering. Therefore it is important to keep separate the counts whether they be physically separate counts or just duplicate data entry counts.
It should be noted that ‘Count 1’ is treated as the official “count” when it comes time to finalising your stock take. The stock take adjustment calculation for the final variances posted during the Finalise Stocktake function is based on ‘Count 1’.
Counted By
Enter the name/initials of the person who physically counted the stock as recorded on your tally sheets/tickets. This provides some historical lookup on the system as to which warehouse staff member performed the physical count when doing enquiries with the various displays in the system showing the differences between actual and counted stock. This entry is not verified data. It is purely text based so any name or initials can be used.
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Step 3 – Item Number
Item Number
Enter the item number on the tally sheet for the item whose stock count you wish to enter, or select ‘Next’ to create a new stock take item. If you are entering a count for an item on the stock take then the item number must already be recorded on the Stock Take Run. Selecting ‘Next’ informs the procedure that you want to manually add the details of an inventory item to the stock take that is not already recorded. Through this feature, stock counts can be entered for items that were not originally selected as part of the stock take during the Initiate Stock Take function.
When you first begin entering counts for a stock take run, the item number defaults to ‘1’. The function assumes you’re starting at the 1st item on the stock take. The item number is then incremented by ‘1’ each time you submit a count. This means that the user does not have to keep entering the item number for each item as each item is called up sequentially for count entry automatically. Essentially in the sequence they would appear on the Tally Sheets. This helps eliminate product code keying errors and is much quicker than having to enter the details of each inventory item into the screen.
Note that you can start count entry at any item that is valid on the run. This means that you can enter counts for any Tally Sheet/ticket in whatever order you get them in.
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Step 4 – Location and Product
These inputs are only required for a ‘New Item’ that is being added to the stock take i.e. when entering additional inventory items counted via the ‘Next’ option.
Location
Enter a valid Stock Location for the Inventory item you wish to add to the stock take run.
Product
Enter the Product for the Inventory item you wish to add to the stock take run. Once the product has been selected, the function will check that the product and location specified (i.e. the Inventory item) are not on an open stock take run already. If the item is found to be on another open stock take then it cannot be added to this stock take run.
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Step 5 – Enter Count
Current Count
The function displays any ‘Current Count Quantity’ for the Inventory item selected.
Quantity
At this prompt you can enter the physical count quantity that has been recorded for this item. Quantities can be entered into the system in either stock units or purchase units. Please refer to Quantity Input for more details on entering quantities and associated data such as Bins and Tracking details.
When entering a count there are two options available as follows:
- ‘Add Quantity to Current Count’ – makes the count quantity entered an additional or accumulated count for the item. For example, if you enter a count of ’10’ on ticket ‘1’, and then later enter a count of ‘5’ for ticket ‘1’, the total count for ticket ‘1’ will be ’15’ using this option.
- ‘Replace Current Count’ – this will overwrite any existing count quantity with the new count quantity entered . For example, if you enter a count of ’10’ on ticket ‘1’, and then later enter a count of ‘5’ on ticket ‘1’, the total count for ticket ‘1’ will be ‘5’ using this option.
Bin
The format of bin entry is dependant on what sort of Bin Tracking is being used for the Stock Location or Inventory item.
Those products on which ‘Specific Bin Tracking’ is performed will require entry of a validated bin. Note however that the bin for these products should already be known to the stock take system and so in most cases should not require manual entry.
For those products where ‘Optional Bin Tracking’ is in use, the entry of a free form bin number is accepted if no bins have previously been recorded against the item. Otherwise a bin can be entered, or the bin displayed can be changed to whatever bin details are recorded form the physical counting so that the correct bin is recorded against the inventory item.
Note that in all the bin tracking modes, the word ‘UNKNOWN’ will appear as the bin if the procedure is not aware of the bin code that applies for the inventory item.
For Inventory where ‘Multiple Bin Tracking’ applies, a valid Bin must be entered on the stock take to record where the product was counted.
Bin Type
Select the Bin type. This prompt only relates to ‘Optional Bin Tracking’. There are 3 types available:
- Primary
- Secondary
- Other Bins
The choice made causes the procedure to store the bin entered as either a ‘Primary’, a ‘Secondary’ or one of the ‘Other Bins’ in use on this Inventory item. This is particularly useful when performing look ups on the location of a product, and primary and secondary bins also appear on picking dockets, purchase receiving dockets and tally sheets to provide the user additional assistance in locating items in the warehouse.
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Submit Options
Upon saving (submitting) the details of a count, the following options are then available:
Enter Count for Next Item on this Run
This is the default selection. Choosing this option increments the ‘Item Number’ from the one just saved, and prompts the user for the count of the next item in the stock take sequence.
Enter a New Count Item for this Run
Use this option if you are entering items/tickets out of sequence, or want to enter a new Inventory item that has been recorded on a tally sheet/ticket.
NOTE: To start entering a count for a different stock take run, or to change from ‘Count 1’ to ‘Count 2’ (or vice versa), or change the ‘Counted By’ details, use the ‘Cancel’ icon to start from the beginning screen.
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