This text is a brief introductory orientation to inventory systems.
One of the main situations that each company or organization goes through, to maintain and increase its competitiveness, in the face of constant demand in quality margins, are the losses of money in the different departments that are available and that avoid supporting and maintain an optimal level. What has led to their closure due to the lack of knowledge in their administration. Despite being a fundamental part of the operations that take place within each one of them.
The product, as a final result of the elaboration of raw materials, of a series of processes carried out, by the hand of man or under a systematized and automatic process under its control, must have a record that will set the before and after of the product. From the requirement of the materials for its elaboration to the means that will carry it out.
The inventory as the main control tool, to fix both the inputs and outputs of materials and products, which will establish a detailed, ordered and valued relationship within its storage, in order to reduce costs for orders, costs for missing material and acquisition costs of companies.
The costs of any company are a fundamental part of its profitability. That is, it is said that a company is profitable when it generates sufficient profit or profit, when its income is greater than its expenses, and the difference between them is considered acceptable.
For this to be possible, companies that keep inventories must know what type of inventory system will be useful, to know and satisfy the production level of each order from their customers. For this there are primary systems, such as: The perpetual system and the periodic system.
Perpetual inventory system
It is a method for the control of purchase and sale of merchandise, which will allow us to properly manage them and a constant and immediate record of each of them, so that the inventory value can be known at any time. As much as its final value without the need for physical inventories. Providing the discovery of loss, theft or errors during the handling of goods, since the value of the goods that should be there is known exactly, as well as the value of the cost of what is sold or lost.
Although it is not easy to detect specific movements, such as expenses on purchases, returns, discounts or on purchases and sales, not being able to identify each movement quickly.
Periodic inventory system
As its name indicates, it performs a control every certain period of time, and for that it is necessary to do a physical count; in order to accurately determine the amount of inventory available on a given date.
With the use of this system, the company cannot know at a certain moment how many are its merchandise, nor how much is the cost of the products sold.
The company can only know the exact inventory of cost of sale, at the time of doing a physical count, usually it is done at the end of a period, which can be monthly, semi-annual or annually.
To determine the cost of sales made in a period, it is necessary to carry out what we call Inventory Game, which consists of taking the initial inventory, adding the purchases, subtracting the returns on purchases and the final inventory; the result is the cost of sales for the period.
