INVENTORY VALUE

[queenbee]

My countermen don't understand that the parts inventory value that we see is supposed to match what accounting sees for a value on their side. I consistently find parts that we sold at the wrong cost, parts we sold that we didn't even purchase (found in a dark corner somewhere or had charged to the shop when we bought them), parts we returned but never got credit for... I fix whatever I find by using the 687 account, but I just cant' find and fix everything. Can anybody dumb this down for me so that I can try to get them on board with trying to keep inventory value to match accounting value?

[Zep33]

Threaten them with finding someone that will get it if they don't. Sometimes it needs to get that far

[dbuck]

I've seen managers who didn't know how that worked, they figured if they took it out of inventory it was gone and then wondered why the GL was off.

[vtecmanager]

I like Zeps idea, however some of these issues look to be paperwork/tracking related. If you pay commissions based on gross (687 included) before expenses this may motivate them wallet wise to pay more attention during the year.

[partsguy99]

I've seen managers who didn't know how that worked, they figured if they took it out of inventory it was gone and then wondered why the GL was off.

You can try something similar to what I did with my kid a looong time ago. Hand them some monopoly money and have some invoices ready as well as some small parts. These can all be pretend or real, whatever you want. Proclaim yourself the warehouse and them the owner. Sell them the parts, hand them invoices. Oops, there is a return, take a part back but don't credit them. Toss one of their parts into the trash. Then tell them it is inventory time and ask them the value of their parts inventory vs the total of their invoices that they paid for and ask them where the money is and what they are going to do about it.

Waaay too much work. I have much better things to do than play games. We are dealing with adults here. It's not that hard to understand. It's NOT brain surgery. Explain and then ask if they understand.
I agree with zep33. Sometimes you need to make an example of someone to make the remaining employees understand.

[LOKI1]

It sounds to me like they do not care. This is basic stuff.

[dbuck]

Ah, but he is having a problem and I assume he has already tried educating them by talking. It may be grade school level but sometimes people need a tactile education. Five minutes of this may save you thousands. Firing one person won't educate the remainder if they don't understand the concept, but if they are ignoring the concept than it may. It depends on the people involved.

[partsguy99]

Firing one person won't educate the remainder if they don't understand the concept, but if they are ignoring the concept than it may. It depends on the people involved.

That's why in my post I said to explain it to them and ask if they understand. Again, when you break it down , it is really pretty SIMPLE.

[RLWOLF]

queenbee,
how are you correcting your inventory using Acct#687?

[queenbee]

I think it's a combination of not caring and not understanding. They have all worked in the business longer than me, so they take what I say with a grain of salt. I may be overcomplicating it, since I am quite involved with the accounting office so I understand parts and accounting and maybe I get in too deep with my explanations. They claim they can't balance a checkbook, and I say this is the company's checkbook so they need to learn.