Inventory management: how to avoid duplicates, limit staff rights, and track changes

How to organize your product database: locking names, fixing duplicates, and controlling sales staff

The lack of unified standards in reference directories (for example, in the product type tree) when data is entered in a decentralized way leads to chaos across the retail chain. Since product classification and descriptions in different stores may be created by different people, the program may generate different descriptions for identical products. For example, in one store a user may name a tree branch «Toys», while in another store — «Toy», even though the products there are identical. When the task arises to collect and jointly analyze information about the operation of the entire chain on the central computer, such different descriptions lead to ambiguity in the analysis.

To limit this chaos and ensure a unified classification that forms the basis of correct analysis, the Torgsoft system uses a combination of centralized reference directory management, strict access rights separation, and staff action auditing.

1. Centralized reference directory management

One of the main ways to solve the problem is to maintain a common classifier of product groups (types) exclusively on one control computer (for example, at the central warehouse or in the owner's office) and transfer all changes to other store computers.

To do this, you need to configure access rights so that only one responsible person has permission to change the product type tree.

• Go to the menu item Settings — Parameters — Access tab and pay attention to the parameter Allowed to change product types.

• If the checkbox is not selected, no user with this role will be able to change the previously created product type tree.

2. Restricting access rights at the user and role level

To prevent situations where frontline staff accidentally or deliberately break the structure of the directories, a flexible administration system is used.

• Editing prohibition. In the access rights settings card of a specific user (menu item Settings — Users), you need to clear the checkbox Allowed to edit Product Types. For example, the absence of this permission will not allow an ordinary sales assistant to make mistakes out of lack of knowledge or inattention that will lead to inaccuracies in overall accounting.

• Restricting directory visibility. You can physically limit which branches of the directory a specific employee sees. Using the setting Restrict access to product types in the Access Rights Setup Wizard, you can mark only those categories that the employee is allowed to work with.

• Locking the product name. During import or manual creation, you can use the product name lock setting to prevent further changes by frontline staff (the Fixed product name button in the product card).

3. Monitoring and auditing changes

If changes still occur, the owner or system administrator must have tools to identify who exactly violated the standardization. Several logging journals are provided for this in the system:

• Keep a document change log. If you enable this switch in Settings — Parameters — Access, the Document Change Log item will appear in the File menu, where detailed information about who changed the data and how will be stored.

• User action protocol for edit forms. This mode (located in the File menu) allows strict control over changes specifically in edit forms. It records the date, time, the list of elements edited by the user, as well as the old value before editing and the new value after editing. This makes it possible to instantly find the person responsible who created a duplicate or renamed a reference entry in the directory.

Implementing these rules turns the database from a set of chaotic entries made by different sales staff into a structured, protected system where the directories serve as the reference standard and are protected from unauthorized interference.

Issues of directory standardization, rights configuration and staff action control are extremely relevant. Users often face the consequences of decentralized data entry or look for tools to prevent mistakes.

Requests on this topic can be divided into three main categories.

I. Questions about auditing and finding those responsible for changes

When confusion appears in the database, owners try to find out which employee entered incorrect data or changed documents.

— To see who edited invoices and at what time, you need to use the «Document Change Log» mode, which is located in the «File» main menu item. This section is intended specifically for tracking and recording changes in various warehouse and financial documents (such as purchase invoices, sales, returns, and so on). Please note that for this item to appear in the menu and for recording information about user actions to begin, you must first enable the «Keep a document change log» switch located at «Settings — Parameters — Access tab».

— Yes, a sales assistant's actions during inventory counting can be tracked in detail using a special program tool. To do this, directly in the open inventory sheet, click the «Log» button, after which the «Inventory Log» window will appear, where the history of all actions with products is stored. This log contains an «Author» column, where the name of the employee (or program user) who performed the specific operation is recorded, allowing the owner or administrator to easily check who made changes to the sheet and when during stocktaking.

— To view general staff actions, use the «File» – «User Action Protocol» menu, where all major events, warnings, and errors are automatically recorded. To check the editing history of invoices and other warehouse or financial documents, go to «File» — «Document Change Log» (this function must be enabled beforehand in the access settings). The fact, time, and author of a manual change to the product selling price can be tracked in bulk through the «Warehouse» — «Sales Price Change» mode, or individually for a specific item directly in the warehouse status form by using the «Product Sales Conditions» button and selecting «Price and Discount Change History».

II. Requests related to directory management and locking names

Users often ask for help configuring rules so that product names are formed according to a single standard and cannot be broken.

— Yes, in the program it is possible to lock the name for an entire product group in bulk to prevent further changes. To do this, go to the «Merchandising» — «Full list of products and services» mode, use multi-row selection to select all the required products in the group, and then use the function for setting the product name lock attribute (the «Fixed product name» button), after which the name for all selected items will be locked as unchangeable, although other fields in their cards will remain available for editing.

— To remove the article number, season, or another characteristic from product names in bulk, you need to edit the global name generation rule. To do this, go to the «Settings — Parameters — Product tab — Naming» menu, click the «Configure» button, and in the form that opens, turn off the switches opposite the characteristics that should no longer appear in the description. For this new rule to be applied in bulk to existing product items in the database, their names must be updated; this can be done, for example, by using the «Update product name» action on the «Product» tab in the «Merchandising — Error diagnostics» mode.

— The situation when, after clearing the «Participates in the name» mark directly in the product type card, the item names did not update automatically is most often related to a disabled system setting. The program automatically changes names after editing directories only if the «Automatically change product name» switch is enabled at «Settings — Parameters — Accounting». Please note that this option becomes active and available for enabling only when, in the same parameters on the «Retail chain» tab, the field «Product search when receiving packets» is set to «By product barcode»

Many questions concern correcting incorrect classification: 

— Yes, in the program you can move a list of products from one folder (branch of the product type tree) to another in bulk. To do this, directly in the product type directory settings, you need to select the branch whose products are being moved, click the «Move product» button, and then specify the target branch where the nomenclature should be moved. In addition, if you need to move not the entire category as a whole but only individual items, or correct incorrect classification, the most convenient way is to use the «Merchandising — Error diagnostics» mode (the «Directory assignments» tab): there you can filter the list, select the required products, and change their link to a new product type in bulk. These are exactly the tools that technical support specialists recommend using for quick copying or moving of products to another catalog branch.

— To fix an incorrect move of a product to another directory branch, you need to use the «Merchandising — Error diagnostics» mode and go to the «Directory definitions» tab. In the upper filters for product type and manufacturer, select the values «Does not matter», and in the lower «Product type» filter specify the category where the product ended up by mistake so that the program displays the list of the corresponding nomenclature. After that, select the required products using multi-row selection, click the «Change» button on the toolbar, and in the window that opens specify the correct product type, making sure to enable the «Allow information overwrite» switch to the right of the field. After saving the data by clicking the «Save» button, all selected items will be assigned a new, correct catalog branch in bulk and automatically.

— To avoid chaos and product duplication with the appearance of «asterisks» in names during import from Excel, you need to carefully configure the product search parameters (for example, giving priority to barcode search and then to name search) so that the program correctly recognizes the existing nomenclature and updates its quantity instead of creating new items. The appearance of «asterisks» itself is most often the result of duplicate names or incorrect configuration of the product model generation rule, when the model name lacks unique characteristics that distinguish it from the product itself. If errors have already occurred and the directories are confused, the problem can be quickly solved through the «Merchandising — Error diagnostics» mode: on the «Product errors» tab, duplicates can be selected and merged into one reference record, and on the «Directory assignments» tab, — unclassified «hanging» items can be linked in bulk to the correct product type, manufacturer, or season. In the future, to maintain standardization, you should carefully approach import settings: control the «Update product parameters» switch (so that import does not overwrite your existing descriptions) and specify the «parent nodes» for product types and manufacturers in advance so that the program automatically distributes new items across the required hierarchy branches.

III. Questions about access restrictions (Roles)

Business owners often ask how to correctly configure roles for frontline staff by restricting their ability to make destructive changes.

— To restrict the visibility of specific product groups or accounting centers for certain employees, you need to configure their access rights through the «Settings — Users» menu item (or by using the «Access Rights Setup Wizard» directly in the user card). After opening the settings of the relevant account, enable the «Restrict access to product types» and «Restrict access to accounting centers» switches. After setting these marks, you need to click the corresponding configuration buttons (for example, «Set available accounting centers for the user») and in the windows that open, mark with checkboxes only those product categories and those stores or warehouses that this employee is allowed to work with. As a result of this setup, the system will physically hide from the employee any information, documents, or stock balances that belong to accounting centers unavailable to them or to unselected branches of the product directory.

— To hide purchase prices from frontline staff, you need to make changes in the access rights settings of a specific user. To do this, go to the «Settings» — «Users» menu, select the required account, click «Edit», and clear the checkbox for the «Allowed to see purchase prices» parameter. After saving these settings, the employee will no longer be able to view the purchase cost of a product in the product card, in warehouse status, or during receipt posting, which will protect your commercial information from unauthorized access and disclosure.

— A flexible system of role and access rights settings is used to restrict access to changing selling prices. In the user's access settings, you need to clear the checkboxes for the items «Allowed to change the selling price in sales» and «Allowed to change the price according to the price list in sales». This prevents a situation where a sales assistant arbitrarily changes the set price during a sale to give an unauthorized discount or appropriate the difference. Additionally, it is worth removing the «Allowed to edit Product Types» permission so that the employee cannot change prices or markups directly in the base product directories through carelessness or malicious intent.

— To completely prohibit write-off operations, the employee must be deprived of access to the relevant forms and program modes. To do this, go to «Settings» — «Role settings», select the employee's role (for example, «Sales assistant»), click the «Resources» button, and on the «Main form» tab (as well as on the «Edit forms» tab) clear the checkbox next to items related to write-offs, such as «Write-off of goods from warehouse». After that, the corresponding section will disappear from the sales assistant's workspace, and they will physically be unable to open this form and create stock write-off documents without the owner's or administrator's knowledge.