Preparation for inventory: checklist of information, documents, reserves and balances

Inventory in Torgsoft is a comparison of the actual quantity of goods in a store or warehouse with the stock balances recorded in the software. After the inventory statement is closed, Torgsoft records identified surpluses as receipts and writes off shortages, so errors in documents before counting begins directly affect the result. Entrepreneurs most often ask specialists why goods are physically present but are not shown in stock, whether inactive receipts and internal transfers need to be completed, how to count reserved goods and goods in transit, what to do with negative stock balances, whether sales can continue during inventory, and when to use the «Recalculate quantity» function.

The main condition for a correct inventory

When counting begins, the physical location of goods must match their location in the software.

This means:

• goods that have already arrived at the store must be received into this warehouse;

• goods sent to another store must not remain in the sender’s stock balance;

• a received internal transfer must be accepted by the recipient;

• reserved goods must be recorded in the location where they are going to be counted;

• all old inventory statements must be checked;

• negative stock balances and suspicious discrepancies must be investigated before creating a new statement.

If you first perform an inventory and then activate a forgotten receipt or accept an internal transfer, the same quantity may be added to the warehouse twice.

1 Define the warehouse, time and scope of the inventory

Before working with documents, specify:

• the accounting center or warehouse where the inventory will be conducted;

• the date and approximate start time;

• whether the entire warehouse, specific types of goods or selected items will be counted;

• whether the store will continue operating during the count;

• which physical areas are included in the inventory: sales floor, utility room, display cases, boxes, reserved goods, goods near the checkout;

• who is responsible for each area.

For a large store, it is safer to divide goods into groups or areas. Each employee should count a designated area so that goods are not missed or counted twice. This approach corresponds to the general practice of cycle and partial inventory counts: the fewer stock movements that occur between the beginning and end of the count, the lower the risk of error.

2 Check old inventory statements

Open: Document → Inventory statement. Review statements not only for the current day, but also for previous periods.

For each unclosed statement, check:

• the creation date;

• the accounting center;

• the description;

• the goods included in the statement;

• whether the actual quantity was entered;

• the counting status of the goods;

• the selected blocking method.

An old unclosed statement may leave individual items blocked. This depends on its settings and the status of the goods:

• «Block goods when added to the statement» — the goods are blocked immediately;

• «Block goods after the first scan» — blocking starts after counting begins;

• «Do not block goods» — sales remain available;

• the «Counting completed» status makes the goods available for sale again.

The blocking rules are described in the Torgsoft instructions for creating an inventory statement.

What to do with an old statement

If counting was completed but the statement was not closed

Check the actual quantity and discrepancies, then close the statement. Do not close it without checking: when the statement is closed, the software will create a receipt for the surplus and a write-off for the shortage.

If the statement was created by mistake and contains no reliable results

It must be deleted or cancelled according to the user’s permissions. Do not close an empty or outdated statement solely to remove blocking — uncounted goods may be treated as a shortage.

If the inventory was started but not completed

Either complete it before starting a new inventory or cancel it after checking the entered data. Do not create a parallel statement for the same goods until you have decided what to do with the previous one.

If an error was found in an already closed statement

The closure can only be cancelled immediately, as long as there have been no subsequent movements for these goods. If sales, receipts or transfers have already been processed after the inventory, create a new statement only for the incorrect items. Torgsoft Help

Do not close the same statement simultaneously from several workstations.

3 Complete receipts for goods actually received

Open: Warehouse → Goods receipt invoice registry.

Set a sufficiently wide period and use the «Invoice status» filter:

• «Active» — the invoice affects the warehouse status;

• «Inactive» — goods from the invoice are not included in stock balances.

Inactive invoices are usually displayed in gray.

What to do depending on the situation

If physically available goods are left in an inactive invoice, the software will not see them in the recorded stock balance. During inventory, they will be treated as a surplus. After the statement is closed, Torgsoft will create an inventory receipt, and subsequent activation of the original invoice will double the stock balance.

Check not only the invoice status but also the document date. A receipt with an incorrect future or past date may distort stock balances at the control date.

4 Check internal transfers

Open: Warehouse → Internal transfer registry.

Using the «Status» filter, check:

• deferred transfers;

• active transfers;

• open documents;

• closed documents.

A deferred or inactive internal transfer should not be used as confirmation of a physical movement that has already taken place. An active transfer affects stock balances.

Match the document with the actual location of the goods

Do not mechanically change all found deferred transfers to «Active». First determine whether the corresponding physical movement actually took place.

5 Check «Goods in transit»

Open: Warehouse → Goods in transit.

Review all unaccepted invoices. If the goods have already been delivered:

1. Select the invoice.

2. Click «Check invoice».

3. Enter the quantity actually received.

4. Complete the invoice check.

5. Click «Accept invoice».

After acceptance, the goods will appear in the recipient’s warehouse. The detailed procedure is described in the instructions «Internal transfer: “Goods in transit” mode».

If the shipment is genuinely still in transit, do not accept it just to complete the preparation. Such goods should not be counted either at the sender’s or the recipient’s warehouse: they are physically absent from both warehouses and are recorded separately.

The same invoice cannot be accepted simultaneously from two workstations.

6 Check reserves and third-level warehouses

Third-level warehouses may include temporary storage warehouses, pledged-goods warehouses, reserve warehouses and other subordinate warehouses.

Torgsoft supports two reservation methods:

1. The goods remain in the main warehouse, but their sale is restricted.

2. The goods are moved by an internal transfer to a third-level warehouse.

In the second case, the goods are no longer part of the regular stock balance of the main warehouse, although they may physically remain in the same premises.

Check before inventory

• active invoices and orders with reserved goods;

• expired reservations;

• partially fulfilled orders;

• goods physically returned to the sales floor but not released from reserve;

• stock balances in third-level warehouses;

• whether the reserve corresponds to a specific invoice or order.

Expiration of the reservation period does not always automatically return goods to sale. If the customer cancels the order, the goods must be released from reserve using the corresponding action in the document. The software then creates an internal transfer back to the main warehouse.

How third-level warehouse settings work

The inventory statement includes the option «Include the quantity of goods in third-level warehouses». It must be checked before work begins rather than relying on the default value. The option is also available when creating a statement in the mobile app.

If the option is enabled but reserved goods are not counted, the software may show a shortage. If the option is disabled but goods from a third-level warehouse are scanned together with the main warehouse, a surplus will arise.

Employees must therefore know which boxes, shelves and premises are included in the current statement.

If goods are recorded in a third-level warehouse but there is no document through which they can be returned, or the standard release from reserve ends with an error, do not create manual invoices to conceal the problem. The document links must be checked by a technical support specialist. More about stuck reserves

7 Find negative stock balances and identify their cause

Open: Warehouse → Warehouse status. In the goods status filter, select: «Only with negative quantity». A negative stock balance means that according to the documents, more goods have been removed from the warehouse than were received.

The most common causes are:

• the goods were sold before the receipt was recorded;

• the goods receipt invoice was made inactive or deleted after the sale;

• a similar but different product was selected during the sale;

• a write-off, supplier return or internal transfer was created by mistake;

• acceptance through the «Goods in transit» warehouse was not completed;

• selling goods into negative stock is allowed.

Correct procedure for fixing the issue

1. Select the goods in «Warehouse status».

2. Open «Goods movement».

3. Find the document after which the quantity became negative.

4. Check receipts, sales, write-offs, returns and transfers.

5. Correct the original document if it is the cause of the problem.

6. Recalculate the quantity.

7. Only then include the item in the inventory.

Negative stock balances should not be adjusted mechanically. For example, if the recorded quantity is –5 and the actual quantity is 0, closing the inventory will create a receipt for 5 units. If the forgotten original receipt is then activated, an unjustified surplus will appear in the warehouse.

Inventory is appropriate when the documents have already been checked but the actual quantity really differs from the calculated quantity. In this case, closing the statement will align the stock balance. The causes of negative balances and how to find them are described in detail in the article «Negative stock balances».

8 When to use «Recalculate quantity»

The function is used if the data in «Warehouse status» may not have been updated after:

• editing or deleting old documents;

• bulk sales or write-offs;

• inventory;

• an emergency shutdown of the software;

• a network or computer failure;

• backdated document changes.

The button is available in the static warehouse calculation mode: Warehouse → Warehouse status → Recalculate quantity.

You can recalculate:

• the selected product;

• goods in the current warehouse;

• goods at all retail locations.

Torgsoft Help

Safe recalculation procedure

1. Finish editing receipts, write-offs and transfers.

2. Ask other users to temporarily avoid changing warehouse documents.

3. If the issue is system-wide or all warehouses are being recalculated, create a database backup.

4. Log in with owner or administrator permissions.

5. First recalculate the problematic product or the current warehouse.

6. For discrepancies between stores and «Goods in transit», recalculate all warehouses.

7. Wait until the operation is complete.

8. Click «Refresh».

9. Check the quantity and «Goods movement».

Recalculating the quantity does not replace inventory. It rebuilds the recorded stock balance from existing documents but does not tell the software how many goods are physically present. If there is no receipt document, the function cannot create one; if the stock balance according to the documents is –5, it will remain –5 after recalculation.

If the goods do not appear after recalculation, check active filters, the accounting center, product card status, «Goods in transit» and third-level warehouses. Algorithm for checking missing goods

9 Select a safe goods blocking mode

The store is closed during inventory

Use: «Block goods when added to the statement». The goods will become unavailable for sale immediately after they are added.

The store continues operating

Use: «Block goods after the first scan».

Before counting begins, the goods can be sold. After the first scan, the software records the accounting quantity and blocks the item. After setting the status to «Counting completed», the goods become available for sale again. Torgsoft recommends this mode for accurate counting while the store remains open.

Goods are not blocked

The «Do not block goods» mode requires strict control over the sequence of operations:

• after entering the actual quantity, the «Counting completed» status must be set;

• if a sale occurs before the actual quantity is entered, the quantity that existed before the sale must be entered in the statement;

• employees must control every movement of goods during the count.

Because of the high risk of chronological errors, it is safer to use one of the blocking modes.

10 Configure the behavior for goods not found in the statement

When creating a statement, in the «If the product is not found in the statement» field, you can select:

• «Report an error» — the software will not add an unrelated item;

• «Add product to the statement» — the scanned product will be added automatically.

The first option is suitable for a strictly defined inventory of a specific group. The second is suitable for a full count when goods not included in the initial selection may be found on the premises.

Before adding the goods, check:

• whether the goods belong to the current accounting center;

• whether they are reserved or in transit;

• whether a duplicate product card has been created;

• whether the barcode was scanned correctly;

• whether the goods belong to another supplier, customer or warehouse.

Final checklist before creating the statement

1. The accounting center, date, time and inventory scope have been defined.

2. The sales floor, utility rooms, display cases, boxes and other storage locations have been checked.

3. All old unclosed statements have been found.

4. A decision has been made for each old statement: complete, cancel or delete it.

5. It has been confirmed that goods have not remained blocked by a previous inventory.

6. Inactive goods receipt invoices have been checked.

7. All deliveries actually received have been correctly recorded.

8. Deferred, active and open internal transfers have been checked.

9. All invoices for goods actually received from the «Goods in transit» mode have been accepted.

10. Goods that are genuinely in transit have been excluded from the count at both the sender’s and recipient’s warehouses.

11. Reservations and overdue orders have been checked.

12. It has been determined whether third-level warehouses will be included.

13. The physical counting areas correspond to the third-level warehouse settings.

14. Negative stock balances have been found and the movement of problematic goods has been checked.

15. Errors in source documents have been corrected before inventory.

16. «Recalculate quantity» has been performed if necessary.

17. Stock balances and goods movement have been checked after recalculation.

18. The appropriate goods blocking method has been selected.

19. It has been determined what to do with goods that are not included in the initial statement.

20. Employees have been assigned counting areas and instructed not to move counted goods between them.

21. The warehouse, product groups and scope of the check have been specified in the «Inventory description» field.