Inventory of goods with a scanner

Inventory with a barcode scanner: sales blocking, fractional quantities, and duplicate barcodes

Inventory with a barcode scanner in Torgsoft is a mode in which an employee scans product barcodes, while the program records the actual quantity and compares it with the recorded stock balance. It is used to check a store or warehouse without manually searching for each item in the statement. Business owners most often ask specialists whether sales can continue during stocktaking, which blocking mode to choose, how to hide recorded stock balances from employees, how to enter weight or another fractional quantity, why one barcode finds several products, what causes double scanning, and what to do if Torgsoft does not recognize a code with a leading zero.

How inventory with a scanner works

To count products using a computer, first create an inventory statement and add the products that need to be checked. This can be the entire warehouse or a separate group, for example, one product type, manufacturer, or supplier. Then open the statement and switch to the «Product Inventory» mode.

The actual quantity can be entered in three ways:

• scan each product unit — when «Increase Quantity» mode (Ctrl + 1) is active, each scan adds one unit;

• enable «Request Quantity» (Ctrl + Q) — after scanning, the program opens a window for entering the quantity;

• select an item and click «Edit» or press F3 to enter the actual stock balance manually.

When creating the statement, you also need to specify what to do if the scanned product is not included in it:

• «Show an error message» — the program will not add unrelated items. This is more convenient for a control count based on a predefined list;

• «Add product to statement» — an item found in the database will be added to the current inventory. This option is appropriate when all products physically located in the counting area need to be included.

Before starting, it is advisable to test the scanner in standard Windows Notepad. After one scan, one barcode should appear and the cursor should move to a new line. This helps identify in advance a missing Enter command, extra characters, duplicate code transmission, or an incorrect operating mode of the device.

Can products be sold during inventory

The store does not necessarily need to be closed completely, but the same product item should not be counted and sold at the same time without recording the moment of counting. Otherwise, it is impossible to determine whether the sold unit had already been included in the actual quantity.

Torgsoft offers four blocking modes.

For a store that continues operating, the most manageable scenario is «Block product after the first scan» and counting in small sections. The employee finishes one shelf or product group, rechecks discrepancies, sets the items to «Counting Completed», and only then moves on to the next section.

Product statuses in the statement have practical significance:

• «Not Counted» — the item is still available for sale;

• «Counting Started» — the item is blocked, and the recorded stock balance is fixed at the moment counting begins;

• «Counting Completed» — counting is finished and the product can be sold again.

How to perform a blind count without showing stock balances to the employee

If the employee can see the recorded quantity, they may unconsciously stop checking once the physical result matches the number on the screen or adjust the entered value accordingly. Therefore, it is advisable to separate counting from result analysis.

In the «Settings → Parameters → Access» menu, there is an option «Restrict the inventory statement for inventory performed by a salesperson». For the salesperson, it hides:

• the quantity of products in the warehouse at the time of inventory;

• the wholesale price;

• the ability to print documents with inventory results.

Separately, in «Settings → Parameters → Role», you can enable «Hide warehouse quantity for products under inventory». This restriction applies to the specified role and hides the warehouse quantity of products currently being inventoried.

Employees should log in to the program using personal accounts. Then, in the «Inventory Log», you can see who scanned a product or changed the quantity manually. The «Product Log» shows actions only for the selected item.

How to enter a fractional quantity correctly

Regular sequential scanning is suitable for unit-based products: one scanner signal increases the actual quantity by one. For weighed products, fabric, cable, construction mixes, and other items recorded in fractions of a unit, the actual value must be entered.

Enable «Request Quantity» (Ctrl + Q). After scanning, a window will open where you can enter, for example, 2.450 kg, 0.75 m, or another actual quantity according to the product's unit of measurement. The same can be done using «Edit» or F3.

Before mass counting, test on one item how the program handles the decimal separator under the current Windows regional settings. This helps prevent situations where 2.5 is interpreted differently from what the user expects.

For prepacked weighed products, Torgsoft can recognize the quantity encoded in the label barcode. For the corresponding product type, the «Product barcode contains quantity» option must be enabled, and the prefix parameters, number of digits, and quantity coefficient must match the scale settings.

If the coefficient is set incorrectly, a value in grams may be interpreted as kilograms. Therefore, before inventory, scan a test label with a known weight and compare the result in the program with the value printed on the label.

What happens when several products have the same barcode

The same barcode can appear in two different situations:

1. the same product was mistakenly created in the database several times;

2. different products were assigned the same code — because of an input error, import, data exchange between retail locations, or because the supplier uses one code for several product variants.

If Torgsoft finds several matching items during scanning, the program opens the «Product with the Same Barcode» form. You need to select the specific product card by name, product code, characteristics, price, or photo. Do not automatically select the first row: the scanner only transmits the code and cannot determine which duplicate is physically in front of the employee.

It is better to correct identical codes in the catalog before inventory through «Merchandising → Error Diagnostics»:

• if these are duplicate cards of the same item, keep the correct card and merge the incorrectly created product into it;

• if these are different products, change the barcode of one item, generate your own code if necessary, and relabel the product;

• if the same manufacturer's barcode is used for variants that need to be tracked separately, each variant should receive a unique internal barcode.

Before merging cards, check their stock balances, product movement, characteristics, and prices. Merging changes the structure of accounting data, so it should be performed by a responsible person who understands which card should remain.

How duplicate barcodes differ from double scanning

Duplicate barcodes in the database mean that one code is linked to several product cards. Double scanning means that one physical unit was counted twice or the scanner transmitted the same code twice. The correction method depends on the cause.

Check the lower part of the «Product Scanning History» form and the «Product Log». Correct the actual quantity using F3, then recount the item. For areas with a large quantity of identical products, it is more convenient to scan the code once with «Request Quantity» mode active and enter the verified total than to scan the same label many times.

Run a test in Notepad:

• one code on one line — the scanner is transmitting data correctly;

• two identical lines after one press — the problem should be investigated in the scanner settings or hardware;

• two codes are joined on one line — check the terminating Enter character;

• extra characters appear together with the digits — clear the prefixes and suffixes according to the instructions for the specific model.

If necessary, reset the scanner to factory settings, switch it to USB HID Keyboard mode, clear Prefix/Suffix, and configure only the Enter terminator again. The service barcodes for these actions must be taken from the manual for your specific scanner model.

Check whether the employee is scanning the same unit repeatedly, pressing the scan button several times, or whether the cursor is positioned correctly. In Torgsoft, enable the display of errors only in the scanning history and compare the operation times in the log. If one scanner signal produces one correct line in Notepad, but the statement consistently adds the quantity twice, record an example and send it to technical support together with the scanner model and a screenshot of the log.

Why Torgsoft does not find a barcode with a leading zero

Some scanners transmit the code without the leading zero or without the check digit. As a result, the barcode on the label, the code in the product card, and the string actually received by the computer may differ.

Correct diagnostics:

1. scan the label in Notepad;

2. compare the resulting string with the digits on the label;

3. compare it with the barcode in the product card;

4. check whether the scanner transmits the EAN-13 check digit;

5. review the «Correct barcodes starting with zero» option in «Settings → Parameters → Barcode».

The correction option was created for compatibility with certain formats and earlier versions. It may interfere with recognizing non-standard codes that have already been entered, so it should not be switched without testing on a control product. If the discrepancy is indeed caused by the leading zero, the settings should be aligned with the actual codes in the database; before making mass changes to product cards or labels, it is advisable to contact technical support.

Common problems during inventory with a scanner

How to check the results before closing the statement

Before closing the inventory, you need to:

1. filter products with shortages and surpluses;

2. recount all significant discrepancies;

3. check items that were not counted;

4. review errors in the scanning history;

5. check manual changes in the log;

6. make sure completed items have the «Counting Completed» status;

7. separately check products with identical barcodes and weighed items.

After clicking «Close Statement», Torgsoft adjusts the warehouse to match the actual quantity: it creates a goods receipt document for surpluses and a write-off document for shortages. If an error is noticed immediately, closing can be cancelled as long as there has been no product movement after the inventory. If sales, receipts, or other operations have already occurred, it is safer to create a new statement only for the incorrect items and enter the correct actual quantity.

Short procedure for inventory with a scanner

 Before starting: define the area and responsible employee, create the statement, select the blocking mode, configure the salesperson's permissions, test the scanner in Notepad, and test one unit-based and one weighed product.

 During counting: move sequentially along the shelves, do not return already counted products to an unchecked area, monitor focus in the input field, immediately handle messages about identical or unknown barcodes, and complete the count for each checked item.

 Before closing: recount shortages and surpluses, review the log, check fractional values and duplicate codes, then close the statement and verify the created goods receipt and write-off documents.