Units of Measure

The following Unit of Measure settings can be configured for each item in Bulk Items:

• Base UOM the unit of measure all items are tracked in and recorded for all stock movement. Changing this will mean all old transactions will be incorrectly reported when a report is run for prior dates.
• Selling UOM the unit of measure used when the item is sold (if the item can be sold).
• Stocking UOM 1 is the default unit of measure used when recording any stock movement e.g. stock receipts and stock takes. It is also the unit of measure used by all stock reports. For items that may have large numbers for quantities, it is recommended that stocking UOM 1 is selected where numbers do not become too large e.g. Litres (or even a 20 Litre UOM) rather than milli-litres when dealing with coke syrup.
• Stocking UOM 2–4 are additional units of measure that can be used when performing stock movements such as stock receipts. These can also be used when entering stock counts. These UOM and/or their conversions can be changed fairly easily, but not recommended until after a stocktake has been complete.
• Cost Price is based on the Base UOM, so if the Base UOM is ever changed, then the cost price needs to be changed.
• Retail Price is based on the Selling UOM, so if the Selling UOM is ever changed, then the retail price needs to be changed, in addition to any prices stored within all price books and promotions.

Stock on hand is tracked in Vista to 4 decimal places and all stock movement transactions to 6 decimal places.

Possible consequences of changing a Unit of Measure

We recommend that an item's unit of measure remains unchanged. This is due to various issues that can manifest as errors and can be difficult to detect. A few examples of symptoms of having changed a unit of measure are:

• Conversion problems when selling the item in POS. When attempting to convert a cost price based on the time the stock was received then it can cause an overflow error if the previous stocking unit of measurement price multiplied by the quantity sold is a very large number.
• Running Costing reports for dates prior to a unit of measure changing causes unexpected results.
• When Base UOM or Selling UOM (and its conversion) are changed while stock is present in the system, the cost pricing will be incorrect after the UOM is changed.
• If any stocking UOM are changed during a stocktake, the quantity of items entered will be incorrect when there is a new conversion rate for the latest stocking UOM.

Changing a Base Unit of Measure

This is not recommended. Once a base unit of measure is changed there are implications for weighted goods and also historical reporting if the rate of conversion to your selling unit of measurement is changed. If this is done then the historical reporting of Concession item sales will not reflect the Sales Value accurately.

Process for changing a Stocking Unit of Measure

The unit of measure can be changed if it is carefully managed.

• At the end of the period complete and finalise a Stocktake.
• Run all necessary reports for the period.
• Using the Stock Adjustment screen, transfer all the existing stock out of the Cinema for the item that needs a unit of measurement change. Note that just reducing the stock will not force a change in the costing of the item.
• Change the Stocking UOM of the item.
• If the Base UOM was changed, update the Cost Price.
• If the Selling UOM or the Selling UOM conversion was changed, update the Retail Price and the price in any price book or promotions.
• In Stock Adjustment, transfer all the stock for the item back into the Cinema at the correct cost price.