Store keeper guide, part 4: counting, wastage and keeping it honest

This is part 4 of 4 of the Xenia store keeper guide: 1. Your role, the store and your stock list · 2. Buying and receiving stock · 3. Moving stock to the bar and kitchen · 4. Counting, wastage and keeping it honest.

Count the store

A count checks the shelves against the system. Do one at least once a month, and any time something looks wrong. Choose Count stock, choose the Store, add a Note such as "Month-end count", and choose Start counting.

The count sheet lists every item in the store with a box labelled Found. It does not show what the system expects. That is on purpose: you count what is on the shelf, not what you are told should be there. Enter a number for every item, and zero where the shelf is empty. Every item has to be counted before you can submit.

Choose Save figures as you go, so you can stop and come back. When you are done, choose Submit count. If any figure differs from the system, Xenia stops and says which: Say why these differ from the system. Type a short, honest reason for each ("Four bottles broke when the delivery was unloaded").

Submit again. If the differences add up to ₦50,000 or less (shortages and extras both counted as plus), the count is posted to the ledger straight away. If they add up to more than ₦50,000, it waits for someone else, a General Manager or the Inventory role, to approve it before it is posted. The result lists every item with what was expected, what you found, the difference and its value, and your reason, and says how it was written into the ledger (here ADJ-000001).

Missing stock

The Missing stock tab adds up what counts have found short or extra, for a period you choose: what was Missing, what was Found extra, the Net, and each item. It is where the owner and the manager look, because stock that goes missing between counts is money that left the hotel.

Wastage

Things spoil, break and get spilt. That is normal, but it has to be written down, or it looks like theft. Choose Log wastage.

1. Choose the store it came From, then the item.

2. Enter How much was lost and its unit.

3. Choose Why: Spoilage, Expired, Breakage, Spillage, Kitchen error, Staff meal, Sampling or Other.

4. Add More detail if it helps, for example "Chiller failed overnight".

5. Choose Log it.

The stock comes off the shelf at the cost it stands at today, and the loss is recorded in your name. Wastage worth more than ₦20,000 waits for someone else to approve it before the stock comes off. Up to ₦20,000, logging it writes it off at once. Choosing Other as the reason needs a few words of detail. The limit is lower than for orders and counts because wastage is the easiest loss to disguise. The Wastage tab lists each one with its number, what was lost, why, and its value.

The ledger

The Ledger tab shows every movement in the chosen store, newest first: when, which item, what kind of movement (a receipt, an issue, a transfer, a wastage, a count adjustment) with its document number, how many, and who.

Whatever the question, the answer is here. If a number looks wrong, find the item in the ledger and read down it: it shows every time the stock went up or down, and by whom.

A weekly checklist

• Look at Items to reorder and raise a purchase order for what is low.

• Receive each delivery against its order, with the invoice number, the day it arrives.

• Answer every request, and issue exactly what was granted.

• Log wastage the same day it happens.

• Count the stores you worry about most, and the whole store each month.

• Read Missing stock, and be ready to explain every line.

If you get stuck at any point, ask your manager first, and the Xenia support team after that.