Use Preliminary Steps to Improve Physical Inventory

One weekend a year, you and a small army of employees-and maybe even a few friends and family members-gather in your parts department with clipboards, count sheets, and even handheld computers to go through every piece of parts inventory you have.

To improve the process, make sure you're getting the most out of POWER's physical inventory software in the weeks leading up to the audit.

• Run preliminary count sheets several weeks before your inventory date. Complete these sheets and use them to correct parts quantities and update bin locations in the inventory records. Performing and recording the preliminary counts will save you a lot of aggravation during the actual physical inventory.

• At the start of physical inventory, run the new, final counts sheets you'll use to record accurate on-hand quantities for each part. Be sure not to use the preliminary sheets for physical inventory. Once inventory starts, the system will lock your on-hand quantities to make sure new transactions don't throw off your results.

There's no magic formula that will give you a perfect physical inventory, but that doesn't mean it has to be a nightmare. By following these steps, you should reduce the number of headaches you'll run into when the big weekend arrives.