For business owners in the retail sector, errors in recording inventory or transactions often occur. For example, incomplete or inaccurate records can result in incorrect stock levels. In this case, stock opname is one of the most effective solutions to help address these issues.
Stock opname helps ensure that the stock quantities recorded in the system accurately reflect the actual inventory levels.
By conducting regular stock opname, errors in data recording as well as stock theft that could impact operations and profitability can be effectively prevented.
What Is Stock Opname?
In essence, stock opname is the process of counting and verifying the availability of goods in a warehouse before they are sold or distributed to potential customers.
This recording process requires a high level of accuracy to prevent counting or recording errors in the inventory.
Recording inventory manually can be time-consuming and exhausting, especially if you have a large and diverse range of products in your warehouse.
However, with advancements in technology and the availability of barcodes and inventory management applications, this process has become much easier to manage.
As a result, errors in recording and counting inventory can be minimized. In addition, the stock opname process becomes more efficient and faster.
Why Is Stock Opname Important?
Stock opname is a crucial business practice that should not be overlooked, as it ensures that the physical inventory in the warehouse matches the records in your system.
This is because if discrepancies arise—such as the warehouse stock being higher than recorded you will need to perform additional checks and recounts.
These discrepancies can occur for various reasons, such as errors in recording warehouse inventory or transactions that were not properly logged in the system.
On the other hand, if the warehouse stock is found to be lower than recorded, one of the actions you should take is to adjust the shortage by creating an adjustment journal.
However, some companies have different solutions or policies to address this issue. In some cases, the person responsible for conducting the stock opname may be held accountable for any discrepancies.
Purpose of Stock Opname
Conducting stock opname is an essential practice for any business managing a large number of products. The main objectives of performing stock opname are:
- To ensure that all inventory records are accurate and consistent, allowing them to serve as an Internal Control System (ICS).
- To prevent discrepancies between the records in the books and the actual condition of the inventory in the warehouse.
- To help determine the company’s accounts receivable, accounts payable, cash, and assets more accurately.
However, stock opname is not only useful for recording and verifying warehouse inventory or monitoring the company’s cash flow. For example, in the manufacturing industry, stock opname is conducted to check the quantities of raw materials for production, work-in-progress items, and finished goods.
So, who is responsible for conducting stock opname? Generally, it is the audit department—not the team responsible for recording inventory—that carries out this task.
Knowing that stocktaking is crucial for your business, you shouldn’t be lazy about it. There are many benefits to stocktaking that you may not be aware of, including:
- Avoid errors or storage of stock that causes the quantity to be more or less.
- It can identify low or missing items more quickly. This way, solutions can be found quickly and inventory levels are maintained.
- It can serve as a reference and evaluation for the business you’ve been running for several years now. You can also create a better business plan with stocktaking.
- The process of managing and monitoring incoming and outgoing stock flows is easier because there is data that can be used as a guideline.
- It is easier to monitor the condition of stock available in the warehouse so that goods can still be sold with the best quality.
How to Do Stock Taking
In business applications, stocktaking is divided into several stages. Each stage must be carefully considered to ensure the process complies with established procedures. What are the stages?
1. First stage
At this stage, you should prepare at least seven days before implementation. Furthermore, ensure effective and well-monitored communication with the warehouse team. Here are some important aspects you need to prepare in the initial stages:
- Marking or labeling counted products. This activity can be performed by the team in the warehouse.
- Arrange items according to the installed code.
- Guarantee that all stock items have a code or sign so they are easy to count.
- Mark not counted for all products that are not included in the calculation.
2. Stage two
After completing all the tasks in the initial stage, you can proceed to the next stage. This stage is generally carried out one day before the stocktake. The following preparations are required:
- Conduct a briefing that must be attended by all parties involved in the stocktaking process. You must also ensure that each party fully understands their responsibilities.
- Complete all data on goods movement and operational hours from the warehouse team.
- Ensure that there is no input activity for stock transfers the day before inventory checks outside of operational hours.
3. Stage three
The third and final stage is implementing the stocktaking process. This stage also has several crucial elements you shouldn’t miss:
- Ensure all transactions are recorded in each program.
- Print the recording results and provide them to the accounting and audit departments to guide the stocktaking process. However, these printouts should not be given to the warehouse team.
- Stocktaking can begin, make sure to mark the products that have been checked or counted.
- All printed sheets containing stock take results are compared with the stock amount recorded in the program.
- Double check to avoid miscalculations.
- Next, the stock take results are given to the accounting department to be adjusted with the data in the program.
So, stocktaking is one aspect that significantly impacts business operations. Make sure you don’t forget to do it regularly! To make it easier, use the Labamu app to calculate and manage stock levels.
Not only that, you can also use Labamu to create product catalogs, create reports, billing, and transactions through various available features.
You can access the Labamu website for the latest information. Record all your business activities more conveniently with Labamu!
