Back Office Inventory Management

February 5, 2024

Description

How to count and receive inventory and use the Inventory Snapshot in the Back Office

What's in this article?

Count Inventory

The first step to managing your inventory is to know how much you have. To do this, you need to perform an initial count of each item you wish to track. This number serves as the starting point for tracking the quantity on hand for that item during the entire period that item remains in your inventory.

To help you accomplish this task, you can use the Item Count Worksheet to create a listing of all the items you intend to count. Once you’ve done this, print the worksheet and take it with you as you count the items in your store. Write the counts in the appropriate boxes. When you’ve completed your count, use the Count Entry screen to enter the count for the items.

Inventory Count Worksheet

When performing an inventory count on a large number of items, use the Item Count Worksheet. This allows you to create a useful template to print and use when manually performing your actual count.

To count inventory using the Count Worksheet

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Manage subtab.
From the left navigation, select Count Worksheet.
(Optional) Filter the item worksheet by category or last time counted, or enter your own search criteria to filter by.
Print the page so you can have it with you as you count and record the quantity of items on the sales floor and in the stock room.
Count the packages on hand and then count any individual units.
- If an item is only available in individual units, do not write down a quantity in the Enter Full Pkgs. On Hand field, but instead capture it in the Enter Units On Hand field.
- For the most accurate results, remember to count all inventory, including unopened and partial packages.
Write the counts on the Item Count Worksheet and continue with Entering Inventory Counts.

Count Entry

When you complete your count, use the Count Entry screen to enter the inventory information.

To enter the inventory count

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Manage subtab.
From the left navigation, select Count Entry.
Enter the count of the items you just inventoried.
- The Expected On Hand quantity is calculated using your last count of an item minus any sales of that item plus any returns of that item since your last count.
- The system will calculate and display the Total On Hand (Units).
(Optional) Filter the item worksheet by category or last time counted or enter your own search criteria to filter by.
Click Save Changes when you are done.

NOTE:
Red triangles in the corner of the cell indicate where information on the screen has changed since the last save.

Receive Inventory

Inventory is always changing, whether you are selling items or receiving new items. Keeping track of those fluctuations is important to ensuring profitability. The Receive Inventory screen enables you to know the quantity of items being added to your inventory, as well as knowing the quantity of items you are selling. Use the Receive Inventory screen to easily track the quantity of items being added to your inventory, as well as to update the vendor, cost and retail price for those items.

To receive inventory

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Manage subtab.
From the left navigation, select Receive.
Filter by vendor search for the item.
(Optional) Update the vendor name, if needed. Select Add New to add a new vendor to your vendor list. You can also remove a vendor if the vendor has changed.
Enter the quantity of packages received in Packages Received. The system will calculate the total number of received units based on the information in Units in Pkg. field.
- Depending on how you entered an item, a package may be equal to one unit or multiple units.
- For example, you may receive t-shirts in a box of 24. The package (box) has 24 units.
(Optional) If the item changed cost, update New Cost with the price.
Compare your Receiving Extend Cost to the cost on your shipping invoice to ensure you were billed accurately. The Receiving Extend Cost is calculated by taking the quantity of packages received and multiplying by the package cost.
(Optional) Add a new item to your inventory, if needed.
Click Save Changes.

NOTE:
Red triangles in the corner of the cell show where information on the screen has changed since the last save.

Snapshot

Inventory Snapshot provides an at a glance view of your tracked inventory, so that you can see what you have, what you need more of, and how much it will cost to replenish your inventory all in one place. You can print or export the snapshot if needed.

Items will not appear on the snapshot until you have entered a item count or received an item.

NOTE:
If you use Online Ordering, the sales of online inventory and in-store inventory are tracked from the same inventory. Using the safety stock feature will allow you to indicate that an item is out of stock online when there is still some inventory left in the physical store.

To view the Inventory Snapshot

In the Back Office, select the Inventory tab.
Select the Manage subtab.
From the left navigation, select Snapshot.

(Optional) Filter the snapshot:

table listing filters and their descriptions
Filter	Description
Category	Item category
Vendor	Item vendor
Number of Days to Reorder Point	Items projected to require reordering in “x” days or less. Projected to require reording is calculated based on the average sales activity for those items over the past 6 weeks and the item’s reorder point. The reorder point is a value you chose and entered when adding or editing an item to your inventory list. It represents the number of units on hand that will trigger the system to tell you it’s time to place an order for more of this item.
Show Items with Days of Supply Less Than	Items projected to be out of stock in “x” days (or less). This number is calculated based on the average sales activity for those items over the past 6 weeks and the item’s current on-hand quantity.
Search	Entered search criteria

The snapshot report shows:

table listing fields and their descriptions
Field	Description
Item Name	Item name
Variations	Item variations
Category	Item category
Vendor	Vendor who sells you the item
Qty on Hand (Units)	Number of units of the item currently in your inventory based on initial item count pluis any items received and less any items sold.
Reorder Point	The value entered when you added inventory to let you know when it is time to place a new order.
Avg. Sold Per Week	Calculated based on your total sales over the past 6 weeks.
Days of Supply	The estimated number of days until an item is out of stock calculated by using average sales activity from the past 6 weeks.
Unit Price	Unit price
Unit Cost	Unit cost
GM%	Gross margin percentage
Replacement Value	Calculated by multiplying your Qty On Hand (Units) by the Unit Cost. This is a valuation of inventory that might be used for accounting or insurance purposes.