If your circuit handles large volumes of stock or high-value inventory, you can monitor stock levels for each cinema from your head office.

Enabling stocktake monitoring

To enable stocktake monitoring, configure these system settings in Cinema Manager:

Set STOCK.EnforceHOStocktakeReview to Yes.
Set STOCK.StocktakeCloseDateIsUpdateDate to No. This setting ensures that stock movements made between submitting the stocktake for review and finalising the stocktake are accounted for in the following stocktake.

Monitoring inventory loss

You can define an acceptable range of variance for each item so that any inventory loss is highlighted in the stocktake.

Defining acceptable stocktake variances for individual items

Set an Acceptable Stocktake Variance for each item to define the accepted range of inventory loss. If the variance between actual stock and expected stock exceeds this value, the cinema manager must provide a reason for the difference.

For example: ABC Cinemas sells Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars 60g across their circuit. As this is a popular item, Janice wants to closely monitor stock levels at each cinema from head office. She sets the Acceptable Stocktake Variance for the chocolate bar to 2.5%. On stocktake day, the South City Cinema reports that their actual stock of chocolate bars is 5% less than their expected stock, and gives the reason that a box of chocolates was damaged while in transit from the supplier. East Village Cinema reports that their actual stock of chocolate bars is 1.5% less than their expected stock, and do not have to provide a reason.

If you work with a large inventory, you may wish to set an acceptable stocktake variance for combined items. Alternatively, opt to keep track of just your best-selling or high-value items by defining acceptable stocktake variances for each.

Navigate to Items or Bulk Items.
Open the desired item record.
In the Stock Details tab, specify an Acceptable Stocktake Variance for the item.
Click Save.

Defining acceptable stocktake variances for combined items

In the Item Hierarchy Manager, you can combine items so that they are treated as a set when defining the acceptable stocktake variance.

This can be useful when you wish to see differences between actual stock levels and expected stock levels for similar items (with the same base UOM) overall.

For example: ABC Cinemas sells 5 flavours of ice cream across their circuit. At head office, Janice wants to compare actual stock levels to expected stock levels for ice cream. Because she only wants to see figures for ice cream stock overall and not for each individual flavour, Janice groups the 5 flavours together as a set.

Navigate to Item Hierarchy Manager.
Select Define Items in Hierarchy to show item classes and items.
For each item class and sub-class, check that the correct items have been included.
Select Combine Items for Stocktake Variance. Items that share the same Vendor, UOM, Cost Price, and Retail Price are grouped together as a set.
Specify an Acceptable Stocktake Variance. If the variance between actual stock and expected stock exceeds this value, the cinema manager must provide a reason for the difference.
Click Save.

Monitoring inventory gain

You do not need to set an acceptable range does for inventory gain. However, you can set up stocktake reasons to apply to all items that have inventory gain in a stocktake by default.

Viewing the stocktake variance report

After a stocktake is approved, auditors can review the details of that stocktake through the Stocktake Variance Report at Head Office.

See also:

Monitoring stocktakes from Head Office