Inventory is the module where a bad start is paid for over months. Two decisions at the beginning avoid almost everything.
Decision 1: what counts as an item
If you sell the same thing in two presentations, decide whether they are two items or one with two units of measure. Changing the criterion halfway forces you to redo the movement history.
Decision 2: how many warehouses
Create one warehouse per real physical location, not per company area. A warehouse that cannot be visited is a warehouse nobody will reconcile.
Load the opening balance
The starting stock enters as an inbound movement with its cost. It is not written over the balance: it is recorded, so the history starts at a verifiable point.
- A single opening movement per warehouse, with the cutoff date.
- With real cost if you have it, with the last purchase cost if not.
- Write the minimum stock of each item from the start: it is what lets replenishment propose itself.
How it moves from there
A sale deducts, a purchase receipt adds, and a transfer moves between warehouses leaving a trace in both. There is nothing to record separately: inventory is the result of the operation, not a report somebody updates.
The physical count
Count per warehouse and record the difference as an adjustment, with its reason. The difference is not erased: it stays in the history and explains the period's cost.
