Use an Inventory Table Template

Performing a physical inventory | Sequence of the day’s events, from A to Z

Compiling an annual stock inventory is a legal obligation and must take place no later than several days before the end of the fiscal year. The inventory involves physically checking merchandise so that the actual quantities in store can be compared with those in the digital list. Performing a physical inventory isn’t difficult in itself, but requires detailed advance planning and careful attention on the day of the inventory.

The first thing to decide is the date and time when the inventory will be taken. It needs to take place during a period of low activity in the day, when the business is closed, or sometimes even during the night.

This will enable the inventory manager to ensure that product inputs and outputs are kept to a minimum during the inventory process. The manager must also set up a suitable team with enough people to perform a double count in each predefined zone in the store.

This method of checking the merchandise will ensure optimal reliability of the results. If there is not enough internal staff, calling in temporary workers can be a good solution for this type of project. Each person participating in the inventory needs to know exactly what tasks are expected of them. An instruction manual could be distributed to team members in advance.

All these preparations will help the event flow more smoothly and keep errors to a minimum. A control chart will ensure verification of each step as it is completed.

Insert the right information for an efficient inventory

By first segmenting the locations where the stock is held (in store, in the warehouse), the inventory manager facilitates the counting work that is to follow. Once the breakdown of these areas has been determined, the teams can take their places and spread out over the designated areas with their counting sheets. These include a consolidated table with the following information:

• Product reference
• Product designation
• Type of storage (raw materials, products in process of manufacture, finished products, merchandise)
• Actual quantity (to be filled in on the day of the physical inventory)
• Expected quantity (data extracted from the computer tool)

The teams work in pairs in most cases: one person counts by marking the product with a symbol as it is accounted for and the other notes it down in the table. This means that the counting process (carried out twice by two different teams) is faster and the margin of error greatly reduced. The physical stock inventory ends with the retrieval of data by the accounting department.

This department will be responsible for assessing the discrepancies between the actual counts and the expected stock data displayed in the company’s management tool (due to damage, losses and thefts, or errors in the quantities delivered by suppliers). It will also be able to place a value on the stock (valuation or depreciation) from an accounting perspective.

A well-conducted inventory provides important information to the company for the ongoing management of its stock and for tax and other financial reporting purposes.