Preparing for Year-End Physical Inventories

How to prepare for year-end physical inventories in the weeks leading up to the count date, including best practices and reports to review. 

IN THIS TOPIC

• General Warehouse Prep
• Inventory & Locations Prep
• Day of the Count Prep

Year-End Physical Inventories typically occur on a set number of days at the end of the year. During this process, all fulfillment operations (inbounds and outbounds) should be paused, so that a full count of the shipper's inventory can be completed in Flexe. 

To make sure year-end physical inventories are as smooth and efficient as possible, there are a number of best practices and steps your warehouse should take to prepare.  

Note: These steps can also be used to help you prep for other types of physical inventories, including quarterly or tri-annual physical inventories.  

General Warehouse Prep (4 Weeks) 

Here are some essential details and preparations that should be coordinated well in advance of the count, ideally within four weeks. 

Timelines

Your Flexe Logistics Analyst(s) will help coordinate the timeline and other key details for year-end physical inventories. This typically includes email outreach to confirm date(s), as well as any special requirements from the shipper.

As a best practice, you should try to have these details confirmed within four weeks of the confirmed count date(s). 

Labor & Equipment

You'll also want to make sure that you have the labor and equipment you'll need to complete year-end physical inventories well in advance of the count date(s). 

Work with your Flexe Logistics Analyst(s) to confirm that: 

• You have enough labor secured for the count date(s)
• You have any machine-handling equipment (MHE) you might need to perform the count
• You have enough working Flexe mobile devices for users who will be working on the count

Incomplete Inbounds & Outbounds

In the weeks leading up to the count date(s), also make sure to check for inbounds or outbound orders not completed in Flexe. Any outstanding inbounds or outbounds should be completed in the system as soon as possible. 

To learn more about receiving inbounds, go to Inbound Deliveries for Warehouses. 

To learn more about picking and completing shipments, go to Outbounds. 

Inventory & Locations Prep (Weekly)

Here are tasks and preparations you should complete once per week in the weeks leading up to the count, to make sure the warehouse is ready for a smooth count both physically and systemically.  

Inventory Consolidation 

To streamline and simplify the counting process, consolidate inventory storage wherever possible. As a best practice, each SKU should have its own location (i.e. one SKU per location), and partial pallets should be combined into full pallets. 

You can use the Warehouse Operator Dashboard in Looker to create SKU Consolidation Reports that will help you regularly check SKUs across locations, and look for opportunities to consolidate storage. To learn more about creating and using these reports, go to Creating SKU Consolidation Reports. 

Ideally, these reports should be run once a week leading up to the count date, to make sure SKU placement remains consolidated and optimized for the physical inventory process.  

If you find SKUs that can be consolidated from multiple locations, use the Move Items feature on Flexe mobile devices to move them both physically and in the Flexe system. To learn more, go to Putaway. 

Note: If you need help creating and/or using SKU Consolidation reports, reach out to your Flexe Logistics Analyst. 

Locations Prep

To make sure locations at your warehouse are ready for the count, here are some maintenance tasks you should try to complete each week: 

• Confirm Locations - Make sure all locations at your warehouse are captured in the Flexe system. To learn more go to Creating & Managing Locations.
• Confirm Inventory - Make sure all inventory is captured in the Flexe system. To learn more, go to Reviewing Inventory for Warehouses. 
• Check Location Barcodes - Make sure all locations have a barcode, and that the barcode is easy to find/scan. 
• Check Location Access -  Make sure all locations can be accessed by warehouse staff who will be participating in the count. 
• Cleaning & Clearing Physical Locations - Make sure all inbound and outbound staging locations are clear and tidy; also make sure Quality Audit (QA) is clear. 
• Cleaning/Clearing Transitional Locations - Check the Movements page in Flexe to make sure that all mobile moves and tasks are completed in the system. To learn more, go to Movements & Tasks. 

Day of the Count Prep 

On the day that your warehouse will be performing the physical inventory count, there are some additional actions and prep work to complete prior to getting started.  

Run Pre-Cycle Count Reports

To provide a snapshot of current inventory for the shipper and/or any auditors who might be present, generate an Inventory On Hand Report in Flexe:  

1. Go to the Reports section in the left menu and select Inventory. 

2. Select your warehouse and relevant reservations, as needed. 

Use the Select Warehouse(s) text box to select your warehouse(s). Then use the Select Reservation(s) text box enter specific reservation(s) with the shipper. This will filter the report to only show inventory for that shipper. 

3. Select Generate CSV. 

The report will then be sent to you via email in a ZIP file. Use the link in the email to open the file (you may first need to unzip the file from your Downloads folder). 

Print the file for your records if needed. The report will include details relevant to the count, including locations, SKUs and expected quantities in the Flexe system. 

Inbound & Outbound Reports

The shipper and/or any third-party auditors present may also request reports on recent inbound and outbound activity. Typically this will be to review the last five inbounds and outbounds completed before and after the count. 

For more information about generating these reports, go to Inbounds Reports and Outbounds Reports. 

Returns Processing 

Before the count, make sure all returns in QA or storage locations have been fully processed and added back into the inventory. For more information, go to Inbound Returns Processing.

Note: Locations with unprocessed returned SKUs mixed in should not be part of the count; make sure any outstanding returns have been processed back into the system, so they can be included. 

Inbounds Processing  

Any inbound deliveries that have been unloaded onto the floor need to be completed in the system prior to the count. 

Unable to Complete Receiving? 

If you won’t be able to complete receiving before the count, do not unload the containers/deliveries. Plan to start the unload process after the count is complete. Also, notify your Flexe Logistics Analyst and the shipper (if requested) that these inbounds will not be included in the count.

If you only completed the receiving process in the Flexe system, but have yet to physically put away the inbound goods, make sure to include inbound staging locations when creating the physical inventory count.  

Outbound Processing 

During the count, all fulfillment activity at the warehouse will be temporarily suspended. The specific stop and start times for fulfillment will be something you agree upon with the shipper as part of initial coordination with your Flexe Logistics Analyst. Make sure you’re clear on this timeframe, and that is shared and/or documented for warehouse staff.   

This means that all outbound order fulfillment must be completed prior to starting the count. You cannot have any active or in progress outbounds (batches, picking, etc.) during the count–they will either need to be completed or canceled. Orders can be processed after the count is complete.

Completed Outbounds Not Shipped? 

For outbound orders completed in Flexe but not yet picked up by the carrier, make sure:

• They have a shipping label applied. 
• They are segregated from the rest of the inventory, so they are not included in the count. Move them to a designated location/space, with signage that says “DO NOT COUNT.” 

Clearing Non-Storage Locations

After you’ve checked returns, inbounds, and outbounds, all non-storage locations at the warehouse should be physically empty. 

To make sure these locations are also clear in the Flexe system, download a Locations Inventory report in Flexe: 

1. Select Locations from the left menu

2. Select Download Locations Inventory CSV

To generate the report in a CSV file, select Download Locations Inventory CSV at the top of the page.

Open the report once it downloads through your web browser. You can then filter by Category to make sure all non-storage locations are clear in the system: 

• Inbound Staging
• Pack
• Outbound Staging
• Transitional 

If the system shows any inventory in these non-storage locations, but there is nothing physically stored in the locations, reach out to your Flexe Logistics Analyst immediately. DO NOT start the year-end physical inventory count until these locations can be systemically cleared.