Mirror of Oracle documentation
Converted for search and offline reading. Authoritative source: Oracle. Diagrams and some complex tables are simplified — check the PDF when in doubt.
8 Stock Counts
Inventory accuracy is a critical and highly sensitive area affecting retailers. Inventory record accuracy has a significant impact on increasing levels of customer service, reducing costs, and increasing productivity. Stock counts verify the inventory figures kept within Merchandising, which makes reporting, planning, and ordering more accurate.
In order to reconcile inventory levels in the system with actual inventory on-hand, retailers perform physical inventory stock counts, which also serve to make stock ledger adjustments. These stock counts assist retailers in budgeting and accounting for shrinkage.
Merchandising system plays an active role in freezing inventory in a manner that allows counts to be accurate by considering activities that take place while the count is under way, such as receipts in the back room while stock is being counted in the display areas. Physical stock counts are integrated with the stock ledger to bring book stock into agreement with actual stock. You can request stock counts as needed by creating a stock count request or create a series of count request using the stock count schedule functionality.
There are two types of stock counts supported in Merchandising:
-
Unit
-
Unit and Value
Unit
A Unit type stock count is performed when the retailer wants to keep the stock on hand in line with the actual on hand. It can be ad hoc or a scheduled process. The unit type of stock count can be set up in Merchandising using an item list or by selecting one or more departments, classes or subclasses. Unit only counts can also be created for all departments. The ensuing adjustments affect inventory similar to an inventory adjustment - stock on hand quantities are updated and stock adjustments are written to the stock ledger.
Unit and Value
A Unit and Value stock count is often an annual count that can be used to adjust the stock ledger, in addition to updating inventory positions. Unit & Value type stock counts are done either for an entire location or by product hierarchy (such as department, class or subclass level). Unlike Unit counts, Unit & Value counts have a two-step approval process whereby first stock on hand is adjusted based on the count results and then shrinkage is calculated based on the difference between the expected value of inventory in the stock ledger and the value of the count.
For both types of counts, Merchandising assumes that the stock count date is as of the close of business of the location. Therefore the physical count can be done anytime between the last transactions for the stock count date until the next day’s transactions start.
One or more locations can be added to both types of stock counts, but a stock count can only contain stores or warehouses, not both. Additionally, for warehouses, counting is done at a physical warehouse level, so all stockholding virtual warehouses within a physical warehouse, including internal finishers, must be added to a count together.
All counts are assumed to occur when a location is closed for all inventory transactions on the end of the business day on which the count is scheduled. That night, a snapshot of inventory
Note
If the cycle is every day, all of the days are automatically selected. If the frequency is every week, you can select more than one day.
8. Then choose one of the following options.
-
Click OK to add the stock count schedule to the table and close the pop-up.
-
Click OK and Add Another to add additional stock count schedules.
-
Click Cancel to reject all entries and close the pop-up.
Edit Stock Count Schedule
To edit a stock count schedule, follow the steps below.
1. Select the stock count schedule you want to edit.
2. From the Actions menu, click Edit or click the Edit icon . The Edit Schedule pop-up appears.
3. Edit the enabled fields as necessary.
4. Then choose one of the following options.
-
Click OK to add your changes to the table and close the pop-up.
-
Click Cancel to reject all entries and close the pop-up.
Request a Stock Count
The Create Stock Count Request option opens the Stock Count Request page. In the Stock Count Request page you can request stock counts. You can create unit counts by item list level or product group level (all departments, department, class, or subclass) and unit & value counts by product group level. If a department, class or subclass is selected for either of the count types, one or more departments, classes or subclasses can be added to the count.
Note
For unit counts, you can only select the option All Departments for the product group level for warehouse.
Locations are added to the count individually or by selecting a group of locations, such as a location list or all stores. A count can be for either stores or warehouses, but not both. Any stockholding store can be added to a count, including both company and franchise stores. If multiple locations are added to the count, then the count will only be able to be finalized once the counts for all locations are completed.
To request a stock count:
1. From the Task menu, select Inventory > Stock Counts > Create Stock Count Request . The Stock Count Request page appears.
2. In the Description field, enter a description for the stock count. This field is a required field.
Table 8-1 Stock Count Header - Fields and Description
| Fields | Description |
|---|---|
| Description | Enter the description for the stock count request. |
| Type | Select a stock count type from the list. The options are: Unit, Unit & Value. |
| Select Item By | Select the item by either one of the following options: Item List, Merchandise Hierarchy. |
| Date | Enter the beginning date for the stock count, or use the Calendar icon to select a date. |
Add a Merchandise Hierarchy
To add a merchandise hierarchy to the stock count request, follow the steps below.
1. In the Merchandise Hierarchy section, select Actions > Add , or use the Add icon . The Add Merchandise Hierarchy pop-up appears.
2. In the Department field, enter, select or search for the department. If you select the hierarchy level Department, Class, or Subclass, this field is a required field.
3. In the Class field, enter, select or search for the class. If you select the hierarchy level Class, or Subclass, this field is a required field.
4. In the Subclass field, enter, select or search for the subclass. If you select the hierarchy level Subclass, this field is a required field.
5. Then choose one of the following sections.
-
Click OK to add the merchandise hierarchy and close the pop-up.
-
Click OK and Add Another to add additional merchandise hierarchy levels.
-
Click Cancel to reject all entries and close the pop-up.
Add Locations
To add locations to the stock count request, follow the steps listed below.
1. In the Locations section, select Actions > Add , or use the Add icon . The Add Locations pop-up appears.
2. In the Location field, select a location type from the list. Then enter, select or search for the location. This field is a required field.
3. Then choose one of the following sections.
-
Click OK to add the location to the table and close the pop-up.
-
Click OK and Add Another to add additional locations to the stock count request.
Note
Stores, Warehouses and External Finishers cannot be added to the same Count.
Table 8-2 (Cont.) Stock Count Search - Basic Search Criteria
| Fields | Description |
|---|---|
| Stock Count | Enter the ID of the unprocessed stock count. |
| Description | Enter the description of the unprocessed stock count. |
| Type | Select the type of the stock count. The options are: Unit, Unit & Value. |
| Date | Enter the date or click the Calendar icon to select a date. |
| Item | Enter the item number or search for the item. |
| Location | Enter, select or search for the location. |
Note
For more information about searches, see Search Screens in the Oracle® Retail Merchandising Do the Basics User Guide (Classic View) .
2. Click Search . The stock counts that match the search criteria are displayed in the Results section.
3. Click Reset to execute the saved search.
4. Click Done to close the page.
Search for a Stock Through Advanced Search Criteria
To search for a stock count using advanced search criteria:
1. To search using advanced search criteria, enter or select one or all of the advanced search criteria.
Note
For more information about searches, see Search Screens in the Oracle® Retail Merchandising Do the Basics User Guide (Classic View) .
2. To narrow down the search, use the list next to the search fields. For example, determine if the entered value should equal or not equal the search result.
3. Click Search . The stock counts that match the search criteria are displayed in the Results section.
4. Click Reset to clear the search section and results.
5. Click Add Fields to add more fields for the advanced search. To remove the field from the search, click the x right next to the field.
6. Click Reorder to change the order of the available search fields. The Reorder Search Fields page appears.
-
Select the desired search field and use the up and down arrows to rearrange the order of the fields.
-
Click OK to confirm the new order of the fields and close the page.
-
Click Cancel to reject any changes and close the page.
Note
You can also access the Stock Count Results page through the Unit Variance and Adjustment page.
The stock count ID, description, type, date, location type and location of the selected stock count are displayed. In addition all of the items at the location appear in the tables by default.
For more information about this page, see the Review Unit Variances and Accepting Unit Counts section.
6. The stock count ID, description, type and date are displayed. The location type defaults to either Store or Warehouse. Enter, select or search for the location.
7. In the items section select an item. The count locations and counts for the selected item are displayed in the Count Locations section.
8. In the Count column, update the count quantity as necessary.
9. Save your changes.
Add Count Locations
To add count locations for an item, follow the steps below.
1. In the Count Locations section, select Actions > Add , or use the Add icon . The Add Count Location pop-up appears.
2. In the Count Location field, enter the location. This is a required field.
3. In the Quantity field, enter the quantity. This field is a required field.
4. Then choose one of the following options.
-
Click OK to add the count location to the table and close the pop-up.
-
Click OK and Add Another to add additional count locations.
-
Click Cancel to reject your entries and close the pop-up.
5. In the Stock Count Results pop-up, save your entries.
Review Unit Variances and Accepting Unit Counts
The Stock Count Variance page will allow you to view variances between the stock on hand and the stock count, and allows you to create stock Adjustments.
Virtual Warehouses
The Virtual Warehouses section displays all virtual warehouses associated to the physical warehouse that is selected in the Physical Warehouse/Items section, and displays a snapshot of the inventory when the count occurred.
You can distribute the on-hand inventory at the physical warehouse into the virtual warehouse inventory.
Redistributing Stock within a Physical Warehouse
To adjust the distribution, follow the steps below.
1. From the Tasks menu, select Inventory > Stock Counts > Manage Stock Counts . The Stock Count Search page appears.
2. Restrict your search to stock counts for warehouse.
3. Click Search . The stock counts that match the search criteria are displayed in the Results section.
4. Select a stock count in the table.
5. Then select Actions > Virtual WH Distribution . The Virtual WH Distribution page appears.
6. In the Physical Warehouse/Item section, select a physical warehouse. All virtual warehouses associated with the selected physical warehouse are displayed in the Virtual Warehouses section.
7. In the Virtual Warehouses section select Actions > Edit , or use the Edit icon . The Edit Distribution pop-up appears.
8. The table displays all of the virtual warehouses for the selected physical warehouse. The snapshot on hand and current distribution quantity are displayed for each virtual warehouse. The new distribution quantity column defaults to the current distribution quantities.
9. In the New column, update the new distribution quantity, if necessary.
10. Then choose one of the following options.
-
Click OK to add your changes to the table and close the pop-up.
-
Click Cancel to reject all entries and close the pop-up.
11. In the Virtual WH Distribution pop-up, save your entries.
Review Value Variances and Accept Value Counts
A Unit & Value stock count is often an annual count that can be used to adjust the financial systems in a corporate merchandising system, in addition to updating inventory positions. Unit & Value stock counts are carried out either for an entire location or by product hierarchy, that is department, class or subclass level.
Once the units have been accepted for Unit & Value counts, the value of the count must also be reviewed and accepted.
The page displays the total cost and total retail as calculated in the stock count and the total adjusted cost and retail, if any adjustments have been made, for each department/class/ subclass at a location.
@ Save Save andClose Cancel
7. Select one or more records in the table.
8. Then select Actions > Create Adjustment , or use the Create Adjustment button.
9. You are prompted, if you want to create adjustments for the selected location(s). Confirm with Yes .
10. The adjustment are made during the nightly batch process.
11. Save your entries.
In this guide
- Guide: Inventory Management User Guide
- Previous: 7 Inventory Adjustments