Receiving
If you are using your stock table to keep a
running inventory of the merchandise in your store, you will have to
update your inventory whenever merchandise shipments arrive. To do this
run the RECEIVE.EXE program. This program allows you to create a file of
the received merchandise that can then be added into your POS stock
table. NOTE: If you are entering your initial shop's inventory use the INVENTOR.BAT program described below.
RECEIVE.EXE does not have to be run on the same computer as the POS program. You may run the RECEIVE.EXE program from a "back room" computer and then only when you bring the received merchandise to the sales floor or stock room, load the receiving file into the cash register.
This program assumes that the merchandise that is being received in your store is coming in packing cases that are accompanied by packing slips. In other words you have a piece of paper (or several) that has a list of what is being received into your store. This program allows you to enter the pieces of merchandise that is on that piece of paper.
If the merchandise being received in your store does not have a packing slip, just make one up. A packing slip is just a list of items that are being received and how may of each one you are receiving.
"Why not just punch it into the computer and skip the paper", you ask? Because at some point you may wonder if the numbers you have punched in are correct. If you have placed the items in stock, or just moved them around, and don't have that piece of paper you will not later be able to verify the counts. Plus a piece of paper is much easier to carry around when unpacking the boxes than a computer.
When you enter a page into this program you will be asked for the vendor's name, invoice number, and page number, (page 4 of invoice 256854 from XYZ Corp.). These three things plus the date and time will make up the "Page name" of the page you are entering. If later you need to correct the counts for a page you will be able to find the correct page by this name. You may skip entering a "Page name" for a page by just pressing [TAB] when asked for this information but why would you want to? How are you going to find that page again? You cannot use the date / time because if you correct a page the date / time will be changed to the time of the correction.
The maximum number of lines on one packing slip page is 60.
The first thing you must do with the packing slip is make sure that the merchandise listed on it is actually in the packing cases. Are you receiving what you are supposed to, is all that stuff REALLY in those boxes?
Once you have confirmed the counts you must write your store's stock number for each item on the packing slip. It does not help to have the vendor's stock number of DFG9800KA42 on the packing slip if the stock number for that item in your register is 425892. You may use the "Search stock table" option in this program to help you find the correct stock number for an item.
Now that you have a packing list with the correct stock numbers for each item, with the correct pieces of each item, with a document name for each page, you may enter the data into this program.
To enter items into this program the stock table from your cash register must be accessible to this program. If you are running this program on the same computer as your cash register then there will be no problem. If you are running it on a different computer then you may use the cash register's "File maintenance" / "Copy files" feature to copy the stock table to a floppy disk. This program will then read / write data to the floppy. Or copy the stock table to that computer's hard drive. NOTE: if you are using different computers then whenever new items are added or deleted from the stock table you MUST copy the stock table to the computer running this program.
From the main menu press [3] to enter your packing slip page into the file. First enter the document name. Now begin entering the items on the page by entering the stock number for the first item. If the program can find the stock number listed in the stock table, it will print a description of the item on the screen. If the description matches the actual item, enter the pieces, if the description does not match, press [left arrow] to return to enter the correct stock number. When you have finished entering a page press [F3] to save the information into the file. You may now enter another page.
If a correct stock number cannot be found for an item, or the correct stock number is not in the stock table, then you cannot enter the item into this file. To enter an item into the cash register program that cannot be entered into this program (because there is no valid stock number for that item) you must run the cash register program, (or POSCONFG.EXE) and use the "Stock table" function to create a new item, and then manually enter the inventory pieces. Circle any item without a valid stock number on the packing list so that you will know that it has to be entered manually.
If you have the same merchandise on different pages, or even the same page, do not add it together, enter each line separately. For example, if you entered 24 of item 123456 and then later have 16 more of 123456, DO NOT enter 40, just enter the 16 more. The cash register program will add them when the file is read. Remember, you want the computer file to match the paper document as closely as possible.
If you believe that you have entered the counts from a page incorrectly or have found additional merchandise, you may press [3] from the main menu to call up an existing page to correct it.
Once you have entered all of the pages from all of the packing slips into this program you must load the file created by this program into the cash register program to update the cash register's inventory. Just entering the items into this program WILL NOT update your store's inventory.
If you are running this program from the same computer as the cash register program just run the cash register program and from "File maintenance" choose "Read receiving file." If you set a stock table password you must enter it before reading the receiving file.
If you are running this program from a different computer than the cash register program is running on, then you must copy the file to a floppy disk, if it is not already there, and then insert the floppy into the computer running the cash register program and then from "File maintenance" / "Read receiving file." choose the floppy drive.
AFTER READING THE FILE INTO THE CASH REGISTER PROGRAM YOU MUST ERASE IT FROM THE FLOPPY DRIVE AND THE COMPUTER RUNNING THIS PROGRAM SO THAT THE DATA ON IT CANNOT BE ENTERED INTO THE CASH REGISTER PROGRAM AGAIN!
ORGANIZING YOUR INVENTORY
What could be simpler than taking an inventory? Count it up, write it
down, your done. If you believe this, you are very wrong. There are
graduate level college courses in inventory science. The problem with
inventory is not with counting everything, but being able to verify that
everything has been counted. Here are some horror stories.
After inventory is done an employee finds some merchandise in a little used stock room. Has it been counted? If you add it to your inventory will you have counted it twice?
After inventory one employee says that he counted rack X, another says that he counted rack X too. Did they both count rack X? Did anyone count rack X?
You counted everything yourself and it took you 2 days to do it. As you leave for home you spy the display next to the cash register and say to yourself, "As I was going to count that I had a phone call, did I count that or not?"
As you can see, the secret to inventory is verification. If there is any question, you must be able to pick up a particular piece of paper that will tell you if you inventoried that particular location and if the counts are correct. The secret to varification is preparation.
You will need to make up two forms, count slips and count slip logs. Both of these forms come with this program. They are in two text files, COUNTSLP.TXT and COUNTLOG.TXT. These files can be loaded into any word processing program and printed out. Since I do not know the capabilities of you printer these are generic versions of these forms. It will probably be better if you create your own. You may even wish to print the forms on both side of a page, ie 1 to 30 on one side 31 to 60 on the other.
COUNT SLIP #_________ LOCATION_______________________________________
STOCK # PCS DESCRIPTION STOCK # PCS DESCRIPTION
1 _________ ____ ________________ 31 _________ ____ ________________
2 _________ ____ ________________ 32 _________ ____ ________________
3 _________ ____ ________________ 33 _________ ____ ________________
4 _________ ____ ________________ 34 _________ ____ ________________
5 _________ ____ ________________ 35 _________ ____ ________________
6 _________ ____ ________________ 36 _________ ____ ________________
7 _________ ____ ________________ 37 _________ ____ ________________
8 _________ ____ ________________ 38 _________ ____ ________________
9 _________ ____ ________________ 39 _________ ____ ________________
10 _________ ____ ________________ 40 _________ ____ ________________
11 _________ ____ ________________ 41 _________ ____ ________________
12 _________ ____ ________________ 42 _________ ____ ________________
13 _________ ____ ________________ 43 _________ ____ ________________
14 _________ ____ ________________ 44 _________ ____ ________________
15 _________ ____ ________________ 45 _________ ____ ________________
16 _________ ____ ________________ 46 _________ ____ ________________
17 _________ ____ ________________ 47 _________ ____ ________________
18 _________ ____ ________________ 48 _________ ____ ________________
19 _________ ____ ________________ 48 _________ ____ ________________
20 _________ ____ ________________ 50 _________ ____ ________________
21 _________ ____ ________________ 51 _________ ____ ________________
22 _________ ____ ________________ 52 _________ ____ ________________
23 _________ ____ ________________ 53 _________ ____ ________________
24 _________ ____ ________________ 54 _________ ____ ________________
25 _________ ____ ________________ 55 _________ ____ ________________
26 _________ ____ ________________ 56 _________ ____ ________________
27 _________ ____ ________________ 57 _________ ____ ________________
28 _________ ____ ________________ 58 _________ ____ ________________
29 _________ ____ ________________ 59 _________ ____ ________________
30 _________ ____ ________________ 60 _________ ____ ________________
COLUMN TOTAL ____ COLUMN TOTAL ____ PAGE TOTAL _____ |
COUNT SLIP LOG FROM ___201__ TO ___300___
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
1 ______________________ 35______________________ 69______________________
2 ______________________ 36______________________ 70______________________
3 ______________________ 37______________________ 71______________________
4 ______________________ 38______________________ 72______________________
5 ______________________ 39______________________ 73______________________
6 ______________________ 40______________________ 74______________________
7 ______________________ 41______________________ 75______________________
8 ______________________ 42______________________ 76______________________
9 ______________________ 43______________________ 77______________________
10 ______________________ 44______________________ 78______________________
11 ______________________ 45______________________ 79______________________
12 ______________________ 46______________________ 80______________________
13 ______________________ 47______________________ 81______________________
14 ______________________ 48______________________ 82______________________
15 ______________________ 48______________________ 83______________________
16 ______________________ 50______________________ 84______________________
17 ______________________ 51______________________ 85______________________
18 ______________________ 52______________________ 86______________________
19 ______________________ 53______________________ 87______________________
20 ______________________ 54______________________ 88______________________
21 ______________________ 55______________________ 89______________________
22 ______________________ 56______________________ 90______________________
23 ______________________ 57______________________ 91______________________
24 ______________________ 58______________________ 92______________________
25 ______________________ 59______________________ 93______________________
26 ______________________ 60______________________ 94______________________
27 ______________________ 61______________________ 95______________________
28 ______________________ 62______________________ 96______________________
29 ______________________ 63______________________ 97______________________
30 ______________________ 64______________________ 98______________________
31 ______________________ 65______________________ 99______________________
32 ______________________ 66______________________ 100______________________
33 ______________________ 67______________________
34 ______________________ 68______________________ |
When doing an inventory you do not count by merchandise. In other words you do not take the first item on your stock list and then try to find every piece in your store and then repeat the process for the next item, and so on. Instead you count locations. Once you are sure that every item in every location in your store has been counted you may be sure that everything has been counted. So, you end up with the same item from different locations on different count slips, how do you add them up? Simple, you punch each count slip into this program and it will add them up for you.
Step #1. Label every location in your store. I write on masking tape and stick to the area to do this. Don't just label each counter or rack. Label every drawer, every shelf, every bin, every box. For example; "cabinet #4, drawer #2".
Step #2. Place a count slip in every labeled area. A count slip has 60 lines, if your area has more that 60 different items in it, the area is too big. Break it down into smaller parts and assign more slips. All count slips must have a unique number (1 to 910). On each slip write the assigned location (from the label in step #1) of the slip in case it gets moved.
Step#3. As you place each count slip write its number and location on the count slip log. At the end of the inventory if you have 125 count slips, but the log has 126 slips assigned, you can easily find out where the missing slip was from. Assign a new slip with the old number, and recount the location. If you have two count slips #89, you know to only enter one of them.
Step#4. Count each area and write it on the assigned count slip. You do not have to group things. If you have some of your 2565's on one slip and some more 2565's on another slip that's fine. You may even have two lines on the same slip with the same stock number. Just make sure that you didn't count the same pieces twice.
Step#5. Using the count slip log, retrieve each slip in the order they are on the log. Check them off on the log as you collect them. Keep the slips in numerical order so that you can easily tell if one is missing or you have two with the same number.
Step#6. Check the log and your store to make sure that you have collected every slip and that no area was uncounted.
Step#7. Add up the page total for each count slip.
Step#8. You are now ready to enter your inventory into this program.
ENTERING YOUR INVENTORY
If you are using your stock table to keep a
running inventory of the merchandise in your store, you will have to
enter your initial inventory into the stock table. Also at least every
year you will have to do another inventory and enter that into the stock
table. To do this run the INVENTOR.BAT program. This program allows you
to create a file of the merchandise in your store that can then be
entered into your POS stock table.
INVENTOR.BAT does not have to be run on the same computer as the POS program. You may run the INVENTOR.BAT program from a "back room" computer and then only when you bring the received merchandise to the sales floor or stock room, load the receiving file into the cash register.
NOTE: INVENTOR.BAT works in conjunction with the RECEIVE.EXE program and requires that the RECEIVE.EXE file be available on the drive.
If you have not read "Organizing your inventory" do so now.
You now have a pile of count slips that you need to enter into this program. If you are running this program from the same computer as your register you are all ready. To run this program from a different computer you must have a current copy of the stock table and the inventory software on the other computer. From the POS program use the 'File maintenance' option to copy the files to a floppy. Then copy the files to the other computer's hard drive or run the program from the floppy.
If there is already an inventory file on the computer you must erase it before entering this inventory.
When you run the inventory program select the option 'Enter pieces into file.' You will now see a large, light blue square. This is a map of all 910 possible count slips that you can enter. When you enter data from a count slip the small area that represents that count slip will turn purple. This way you can see at a glance if you have not entered a count slip. Use the arrow keys to scan through the large square and the count slip page number will change under the square. When you see the slip number you want press [ENTER]
You may now enter the stock numbers and pieces for each line on your count slip. Any stock number that is not in the stock table CANNOT be entered into the inventory file. You must circle any item that cannot be entered to be manually entered into the stock table from the POS program after inventory.
Press [F4] to get a page total of the pieces. If the page total does not match the one on the count slip you have either entered something wrong or the count slip is added wrong, find out which. Press [F3] to write the information to the file. You may now select and enter another slip.
You may return to view or correct any count slip at any time.
If a count slip has no pieces on it, it will not be counted as having been entered and it's location on the big square will remain blue.
When you have entered all of the count slips you are not done. Until you load the inventory file into the POS program your actual inventory will not change.
If you are using a different computer to enter your inventory you may use the inventory program to copy the inventory file to a floppy to carry it to your POS computer.
IMPORTANT! When loading the inventory file the first thing the POS program will do is to TOTALLY ERASE the current inventory. You may want to back up your .TBL file first. This also means that you cannot do a partial inventory because not only are the new items that you counted erased but the count on EVERY item is erased.
To load the inventory file into the POS program load the POS program and from "File maintenance" select "Read inventory file." If you set a stock table password you must enter it before reading the receiving file. Now select the drive that the inventory file is on and load the file.
Since the current counts are erased every time an inventory file is loaded by the POS program you may load it multiple times.