Is there a better way to transfer stock between locations

[csa2]

We just recently switched to square after managing our inventory on Excel for years.  I was excited about this upgrade and there are lots of things we really like about Square but there are some key things that we are finding challenging about the switch.  

We ship anywhere from 1-15 boxes of stock each week from our HQ to our different locations.  We have to keep track of how much stock is in each box and the total cost of product for each box.  This is necessary both for our tracking purposes and it also lets us know the amount we need to insure each box. 

We have tried to use the inventory transfer method which works fine but it is quite tedious to search and find each product and add it to the transfer.  In addition, it is hard to track and easily access each location transfer if we need to go back and reference. 

The biggest issue is it doesn't tell us how much money each transfer represents.  We are finding ourselves still over in Excel spreadsheets to calculate all of this and it takes a lot of time to import that data.  

I have also tried the import data feature using the spreadsheet method to add in all of the inventory changes but again it doesn't tell us how much is in each box and the total value amount.

I have done a bunch of research in the help section, and I really have not found anything that touches on this.  Is there another method to track this that I am unaware of?  

[BernadetteA]

Thanks for reaching out, @csa2

I'm going to try to tag some Super Sellers that are proficient with inventory management since this is something that I'm not super familiar with. 

Does anyone have any suggestions here? As always, thanks in advance to anyone that has the time to help out! 🙏🏼

@wajiha

@homeprogreen

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@saydad

@TCSlaguna

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@ReginaRMT

@perkits

@GourmetOnWheels

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@PartyManiaMD

[csa2]

@BernadetteA This is a little late.... but thanks so much for your help on this! 😄

[homeprogreen]

Personally I would use the Purchase order function. Set up HQ as a vendor at each location, then create a PO from each location with the stock they’re getting in each transfer. Once they actually receive the product then it’s a simple process of opening the PO and hitting the receive all button to update the inventory for that location. It also adjusts the COG’s report so you have a true record of ongoing inventory costs for each location 

[TwinkleToes]

Utilizing the Purchase Order functionality is a great suggestion to streamline the receiving end of the stock transfer.

The following only applies if you are tracking inventory at HQ...

To keep your total company inventory value accurate, a critical step will be to determine the correct Unit Costs to use on the Purchase Order. The inventory will be decremented at HQ using the FIFO methodology. You'll want the purchase order to receive the inventory using the same Unit Cost that was decremented so that the total inventory value does not change when processing stock transfers.

The key will be reducing the inventory from HQ first. Once the HQ inventory has been reduced, utilize the Inventory History transactions (Item > Inventory Management > History) to identify the Unit Cost that was used. This will be the same unit cost that the receiving purchase order should use so that the total net inventory value is zero after receiving.

Instead of processing a Manage Stock transaction one item at a time, you might be able to use a customer sales order to reduce the inventory from HQ (especially if you can scan barcodes as you are loading the boxes). Using the Sales on the shipping side and Purchase Orders on the receiving side will provide you with a good audit trail for each box.

• Set up a customer for each location
• Create a 100% Discount for "Stock Transfer"
• For each box, add the items to the sale, issue the discount and complete the sale

By having all the items for a single box on a single sales order, the inventory history transactions will be grouped together with the same date/time stamp, which might help simplify identifying all the costs for a single box. (Items > Inventory Management > History).

One thing to note is that the history transactions will show the total cost for an item on the sale or stock management transactions. So if you are shipping more than one in a single box and based on FIFO it represents more than one unit cost, you'll need to make sure the purchase order handles it by either using an average (if the math works out) or splitting the line.

[homeprogreen]

Easiest way to adjust inventory at the HQ would be to create invoice or order for each location that matches the PO. PO comes in from the location, convert to invoice or order, items, quantities, prices are already set and HQ inventory is automatically updated once it’s marked fulfilled. Of course this does require that HQ has all of the items setup in Square with prices but that should already be done anyway if they’re using the inventory functionality 

[csa2]

Hi Steve!  I have successfully created a test PO and it worked to update the inventory at the location that I am sending to, but as you mentioned it hasn't taken the stock out to the location that the stock came from.

So I am currently attempting to convert the Purchase Order to an invoice or order as you suggested.  I have tried to find information in the help section about how this is done but can't seem to find anything.  How is this done?  If you had a minute to explain I would really appreciate it!   

[homeprogreen]

As far as I know there isn’t a way to automatically create a sales order or invoice from a PO in Square which is weird since it does have the ability to create an invoice from an estimate. In order for it to work correctly you would receive the PO from the location, then you have to manually create the sales order/ invoice to match the PO. It’s an extra step but honestly only takes a few minutes and is much faster than going in and manually adjusting inventory for each location and getting the costs correct 

[csa2]

Ok awesome!  Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to explain this!  

[csa2]

@TwinkleToes I am finally getting back around to figuring this out! Thanks for this information!

[csa2]

@homeprogreen I know this is a little late Steve!  But thank you so much for offering this solution!  Things have been so crazy I am finally able to turn my attention back to figuring this out. 

[homeprogreen]

You’re welcome. Glad I was able to help 

[GourmetOnWheels]

Think @homeprogreen just gave you the best solution.

René

[TCSlaguna]

I agree. Purchase Order is how I would do it.