Counting Recommendations and Guidelines Overview

When performing inventory counts, we recommend the following:

Lock the count date for large cycle counts or full physical inventory counts. This action saves you from having to manually enter the count date for each product when entering inventory count information. Instead, the system automatically populates all product count dates with the locked count date.
Capture inventory costs when performing a full physical inventory count. Use these costs to create cost bases, which the system in turn uses as benchmarks when running various reports.
Decide how to use null entries when entering inventory counts into the system – whether they indicate that a line item has zero quantities or has not been counted. Use this definition consistently throughout the physical inventory programs for a single count.

In addition, we recommend the following guidelines when counting your inventory

Start as early in the day as possible.
Count by team by price line or by team by location.
Include blank count numbers when printing count sheets or count cards to accommodate for unexpected inventory.
Perform any necessary location maintenance after the inventory count is complete.
Count from bin to the count sheet or count card.
If there is nothing in the bin, write zero (0) on the count sheet or count card. Do not use blanks for zero quantities as this can be misinterpreted as an item that was skipped during the count.
Return count sheets or count cards to a single location where they can be collated for entering into the system.
Verify that print phantoms and overnight updates do not conflict with the count date.
Enter counts into the system as soon as count teams complete their sections.

We also recommend that you do not do the following:

Count during regular business hours as inventory moving in and out of your warehouse can affect the accuracy of the count.

Note: Customers with RF Warehouse Management can cycle count during regular business hours because RF units communicate with the system in real-time.

Pick products or load trucks for shipping during a physical count.
Pre-count slow-moving items with the idea that if any items are sold, you can "leave a note in the bin."
Include on-hand quantities when printing the count sheets or count cards. There is too much temptation to misuse this information when counting.
Move items found in unexpected locations to their "correct" locations until after the physical count is complete.
Move items from an over-stocked location to an under-stocked location and adjust the quantities on the count sheet.