Stores Inventory

Introduction

In broad terms, inventory represents the value of assets held for future use. The Stores Inventory (SI) system is designed to account for assets purchased by an organization which are being held in inventory until needed by a sub-unit of the organization, or until the assets are sold to outside third parties. The SI system accounts for the assets from the time they are received until they are disbursed.
To accomplish this task, the SI system has been separated into three major functions:

The receiving function
The inventory control function
The order processing function

The SI system includes an optional, automatic interface to the Purchasing, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and General Ledger systems. The SI system makes use of the BusinessPlus Person/Entity database; therefore, a separate entry of Vendor/Customer and product information into the Stores Inventory database is not required.

Features

Interactive update from the Purchasing system for assets received which have been defined as being "Stocked" items.
Supports FIFO, LIFO, and Average Cost inventory valuation methods automatically as assets are received and disbursed.
Supports the calculation of Safety Stock and Reorder points.
Allows for multiple types of Pricing calculations using various system-generated variables such as carrying cost, warehouse overhead, ordering cost, or any of the inventory costing methods.
Unlimited amount of free-form text available regarding any product held in inventory.
System maintains all events in the life of a Product.
Supports "Classes" of products for the purpose of Cycle Counts and Reorder points.
Automatically calculates and updates Last Order date, Last Order Quantity, Last Unit Price, etc.
Supports multiple warehouses.
Includes search hierarchy for ordering purposes.
Supports last and next physical counts and cycle counts by Class, per warehouse.
Contains online Customer information, including Contact Person, Discount terms, and Price calculations.
Optional user-defined postings to the General Ledger for receiving, demand, and inventory control functions.
Optional Order encumbering process. Upon creation of a new SI order the GL account(s) will be encumbered. Once the order is filled, the GL account(s) will be disencumbered.
System-generated Pick tickets with items listed in the order of location within the warehouse.
Allows for exceptions to be entered with the option of automatic backordering.
Extensive on-line INQUIRY provides access to Product, Vendor, Customer, Inventory, Ware and Transaction information.
Various reports including: Product Catalog; Warehouse Catalog; Product Activity File List Inventory Item File Listing; Transaction File Listing; and, Warehouse File Listing.
Custom-designed Pick Tickets and Packing Slips.
Budget checking during receiving and order entry processes.
User-level security and, optional, higher level approval security features for order entry processes.

Concept Topics

The following is an overview of Stores Inventory's three major functions:

Receiving Functions: The Stores Inventory database can be directly updated from the Purchasing system when assets, previously defined as "stocked items," are recorded as being received in the Purchasing system. The Purchasing system updates the Stores Inventory database with the quantity, dollar amount, and warehouse location of the assets received. If the Purchasing system is not being utilized, then the assets are entered in Stores Inventory through a batch process. The assets received are then updated with information such as the type of inventory valuation method to use (LIFO, FIFO, or Average Cost), the exact location in the warehouse, safety stock required, etc.

Inventory Control Functions: The Stores Inventory control functions are used to perform inventory count functions or to calculate reorder points. Inventory count functions include last and next physical counts, cycle counts by class for each warehouse, and automatic calculation and update of Last Order Date, Last Order Quantity and Last Unit Price. The system also supports the calculation of safety stock and reorder points for each inventory item for single or multiple warehouses.

Order Entry Processing: Stores Inventory provides for a user-defined search hierarchy in the specified order by warehouse. The Order Entry Processing function is used to create orders for items to be taken out of inventory and charged to the appropriate cost account in the GL. The Order Processing function produces Pick Tickets that list the items to be extracted from inventory, provides for order exceptions to be entered, and distributes the order information to the Stores Inventory database and, optionally, to the General Ledger database.