A count represents an actual physical inventory taken within a store on a given date for a supplier's products. Suppliers usually take physical counts, although partnerships exist where the retailer does the counting. The counting process is performed by the employees of the supplier or the retailer physically counting the product at the location. This process can be expensive and time consuming; having a direct impact on how often counts are performed.
Chains with a large number of stores are usually counted on a schedule that guarantees every store of the chain is counted once a year, and at the same time evenly distributing the work load. Some stores of the chain can be counted repeatedly if the shrink values produced by the count are out of a tolerance or a correction to the data-flow process has been made.
When the retailer performs the counts, usually all of his suppliers and their products are counted for a sub set of the retailer’s stores. When the supplier performs the counts, a subset of all of the retailers’ stores in the area is counted.
Not only is a count a physical inventory of items, and it is also used to set the beginning (and ending) inventory of a settlement period. The following briefly describes working with counts and how counts are processed in Park City Group.
Working with Counts online (View, Update, Add)
"Count Error" Processing in Park City Group
About being the "Provider of Counts"
About Full, Partial, and Snapshot Counts
Use Manage Counts to Find, Display, Report, and Work with counts. When counts are displayed online, they are listed by:
Store ID - The ID of the store at which the count was taken.
Store - The name of the store at which the count was taken.
Route ID - Any route associated with the store.
Count Date - The date the count was taken.
Method - How the count was taken, by group or by item. Some suppliers or retailers take counts by SBT Item Group.
Inventory Type - Whether the count was a full item count or partial. Partial counts are used for reporting purposes only, can cannot be used to settle shrink.
Status - Pending review, reviewed, or settled.
Comment - Any comments entered with the count.
Use these procedures to work with your counts. Click a link for the steps.
Manage Counts (Use to Find, Display, Report, and Work with counts)
Update a count (Provider of Counts only)
Add a full or partial count (Provider of Counts only)
Add a snapshot count (Provider of Counts only)
Request a count form you can print and use to take a physical count.
Delete an incorrect count (Provider of Counts only).
"Count Error" Processing in Park City Group
The following describes how Park City Group handles errors for count files received in batch. In the past, errors on a single item could stop the entire count from processing. Today, errors are handled as follows. These rules should help both you and your trading partner by streamlining the settlement process, and avoiding delays arising from simple errors.
Item Authorization errors. These errors occur when an item has not been offered to or accepted by the Retailer. Item rejects and rescinds can also cause this error. Under today's rules, unauthorized items sent in a count are excluded, with the remaining items processing normally.
No Cost in Effect errors. To be included in invoices and other SBT transactions, each item must have a cost in effect on the date it was counted. This is critical if the count will be used to settle. Therefore, items with no effective cost are excluded, and the remaining items are processed normally.
Multiple occurrences of the same item. If the same line item is included more than once in a single count file, it will not cause an error. Instead, the counts for that item will be summed.
For example, Item A with a count of 3 and Item A with a count of 4 will produce a total for Item A of 7. Even if it truly is a duplicate, such as two counts of 3, each count will still be summed.
Items with errors are placed in the Store Count Errors report. This report lists the items in error by product code or other Identifier, and can be sent on a scheduled basis or immediately following receipt of a store-count file.
About being the "Provider of Counts"
The “provider of counts” is the trading partner that inputs the count data to Inventory & Shrink – either by online entry or by batch transaction.
The “provider of counts” is typically the supplier, but can be the retailer. This partner is the one who determines when shrink is reviewed (calculated).
Your company must be designated as the "provider of counts" in the partnership before you can add, update, or delete counts. This authorization is also required for Reviewing and Settling shrink.
A buyback zeros-out the retailer's ownership of supplier items in a store. This is required to begin Scan Based Trading (SBT). When a buyback is posted in Park City Group, it sets a Beginning Inventory and Buyback Date from which shrink and invoices are calculated.
important: Counts cannot be posted for a store unless a Buyback has been set.
About Full, Partial, and Snapshot Counts
When all of a supplier’s products sold in the store are counted, the count is a “Full Count.” Counting only a subset of products is a “Partial Count.” Within Park City Group, a temporary count called a “Snapshot Count” is the default for partial counts.
Full Counts
A Full Count is a complete count of a supplier’s inventory within a store. These are used for shrink settlement. Note that counts must be settled within 120 days of the Count Date.
Partial Counts
Sometimes called “Cycle Counts,” Partial Counts include only a subset of the supplier’s inventory at a given time and location. They are quick “as of” counts used for route adjustment and other between-settlement needs. The resulting math can be used to forecast what the shrink will be at the end of a settlement period.
Partials may also be taken on representative items within a category as a tool for reviewing high-selling items, or perhaps items with high shrink. Overall store performance can be sampled using Partial Counts.
For example, a Partial Count is taken on a few sets of trading cards in a retailer’s store. If these sets show a high proportion of shrink, it can be assumed that other trading card sets have high shrink. If this occurs at one location only, perhaps the display at that store should be investigated. If it occurs at all stores, another look at the product packaging may be required.
Partial Counts can be viewed online and in reports, and are stored in the database for later recall. (Data retention time limits apply.) They cannot be used for shrink settlement.
Snapshot Counts
Like Partial Counts, Snapshots are used for route adjustment, interim reporting, and trend analysis. When received by Park City Group, the count is processed against the book inventory and exported as a shrink report. However, after the report runs the count is deleted and cannot be recalled.
Snapshot Counts are single-use only, and cannot be viewed online. In most client setups, this is the default form of Partial Count. Snapshot counts cannot be used to settle shrink. A sample Snapshot report can be found here.
Updated 12/16/2008