Reliable stock figures come from a few early decisions: where stock is kept, how items are identified, and which documents are allowed to move stock. Get those right and the rest follows.
Decide your stock locations
Set up one location per place stock is physically kept: each godown, shop or warehouse. Movements between them should be recorded as transfers, never as a sale in one place and a purchase in another.
Batches or serial numbers?
- Use batches when items with the same code differ by lot, purchase price, manufacturing date or expiry.
- Use serial numbers when each unit must be identified individually, for warranty or service.
- Use neither for simple items where every unit is the same, to keep data entry light.
Let documents move stock
Stock should go up with a purchase or a return from a customer, and down with a delivery or a return to a supplier. When stock only changes through documents, every quantity can be traced to the document that moved it.
Watch these numbers
- Items below their minimum stock level.
- Stock value by location and batch.
- Differences between the stock count and the system, investigated rather than simply overwritten.