The warehouse is intended for storing the material reserves of the enterprise. Properly organized warehouse accounting in production and sales of goods allows you to avoid losses of commodity items, as well as theft of material assets.
Accounting procedures vary depending on how materials are stored and on other factors, such as, for example, the frequency of receipt of materials into the warehouse.
Let's say a word about documentation
When keeping inventory of goods, it is necessary to ensure careful recording of all product movements that occur in the warehouse. Primary documentation provides significant assistance in this matter. It is this that is operated by the storekeeper, who is responsible for the safety of material assets in the warehouse. Actually, he provides it to the accounting department as part of the reporting. Primary documentation includes all papers that accompany commodity units during their movement along the chain: supplier – warehouse – consumer.
Typical errors and their descriptions
Mistake #1. The company does not have an agreement on financial liability with the warehouse employee who accepts and releases goods.
An agreement with a financially responsible person must certainly be concluded and signed by an employee, otherwise there will be no one to file claims for errors when paying for goods or filling out documentation, and the company will suffer losses.
Mistake #2. No inventory is taken.
Inventory must be included in the work plan of the enterprise and must be carried out regularly, otherwise it is impossible to understand during what period surpluses or shortages of goods were identified in the warehouse.
Mistake #3. A warehouse employee unreasonably writes off inventories.
For the write-off of materials there must be grounds supported by documents, including write-off acts drawn up in the prescribed manner.
Mistake #4. Drawing up primary documentation in a single copy for the supplier of goods.
Any primary documentation must be compiled in several copies, and in any case, one of them must be transferred to the accounting department for study and storage.
What kind of papers do you have to deal with?
Products arrive from the supplier with shipping documents. That is, the rules of cargo transportation are fully complied with. Examples of documents include invoices and invoices. Although some details may differ here.
For example, if delivery is carried out using a car, then a consignment note is issued. It consists of two parts. Actually, transport and commodity. Additional documentation may also be included.
If transportation is carried out by railway, then the delivery is accompanied by a railway consignment note. Sometimes it may be accompanied by additional descriptions of the ordered goods and other commercial documents. If the quantity of products ordered is small, invoices are issued. They may well be used by the supplier as a basis for making payment for the cargo. All these are primary documents for warehouse accounting of goods.
Not with papers alone
Warehouse accounting of goods in trade and production is not limited to only the mentioned documents. Additionally, a materials accounting book is also used. This is common in cases where the movement of goods is active. Sometimes replacements in the form of warehouse cards are also possible. They are filled by the storekeeper in cases where it is necessary to work in a large warehouse.
Also, do not forget about programs. Warehouse accounting of goods using computer technology allows you to organize an adequate analytical and synthetic electronic document, easy for orientation and transfer to other departments.
Also, competent selection of employees plays an important role in warehouse management. They must have appropriate qualifications. Automation of work processes plays a significant role in this matter. So, if such a provision was successfully implemented, then machine programs will be able to perform part of the activities. Essentially, they are used in the same way as maps and books. But working with them is carried out much more quickly and efficiently.
Warehouse accounting: what is it and why is it needed?
Warehouse accounting is a set of procedures aimed at documenting various warehouse operations. The main ones include:
- acceptance of goods (raw materials, materials) from the supplier;
- product placement;
- movement of goods between warehouses (and other related departments);
- release of goods from the warehouse for one purpose or another (for shipment, for production).
These operations can be detailed in various ways. For example, goods acceptance usually includes:
- receipt of goods (raw materials, material) from the supplier;
- acceptance of goods for accounting;
- checking the goods to ensure that the actual delivery characteristics correspond to those stated in the accompanying documentation.
Video - warehouse accounting and product distribution in the SUBTOTAL service (LINK):
Thanks to accounting for warehouse operations, a business entity gets the opportunity to:
- Exercise control:
- over the current inventory (knowing what, where and in what quantity it is);
- over significant consumer statuses of the product (for example, its expiration dates);
- over the movement of goods to the warehouse, within the warehouse, between the warehouse and other departments (knowing what, where and in what quantity was received or released).
- Optimize (using data reflected in the accounting documentation for such operations):
- completeness of inventory in warehouses, on the sales floor (in production);
- sales volumes;
- schemes for organizing the storage of goods;
- procedures for interaction with suppliers;
- turnover of goods.
Accounting also helps to increase the transparency of operations - from the point of view of their adaptability to monitoring for unauthorized actions of employees, identifying and correcting mistakes they make.
Warehouse accounting can be:
- nomenclature (when the object of accounting is a separate commodity item);
- varietal (when various categories (“grades”) become additional accounting objects, into which goods of different positions can be combined;
- batch (when even larger units (“batch”) are introduced into accounting, combining several categories of goods).
Of course, these accounting options can be applied alternately depending on the specific area of warehouse management (and thus complement each other). A small enterprise is characterized by areas with predominantly nomenclature accounting. The larger the business, the more plots appear with varietal and batch accounting.
Video - features of maintaining and organizing warehouse accounting at an enterprise:
Regardless of the type of accounting, enterprises use unified forms of documentation of warehouse operations. Their use is determined not only by the solution of the above tasks, which are related to the control and optimization of the warehouse, but also by the requirements regarding accounting (which all business entities in the status of legal entities are required to maintain).
Operating procedure
First, materially responsible persons (MROs) are determined. Inventory inventory and reporting should always be carried out by those who have the appropriate authority and trust from management.
It is also necessary to document the processing of incoming papers. After all, they are the ones used to check the registered goods. Work rules and regulations should also be well explained. For example, you cannot release products from a warehouse if the list of documents provided is not complete. To avoid temptations, responsibility for this matter should be assigned to the manager so that he can monitor the process efficiently.
He, most often, is the financially responsible person. Also, when touching on issues of third-party departments, namely accounting audits, it is necessary to establish the authenticity of the documentation provided. In addition, it is also necessary to pay attention to the correctness of filling out reports and the consistency of the data. If errors are found, the accountant must make corrections and report this to the storekeeper.
Warehouse accounting for retail trade
A retail warehouse is designed to store and accumulate commodity assets in order to increase the range of products. The main purpose of maintaining such a warehouse is to be able to replenish the stocks of a retail outlet in a timely manner. This explains the need for special warehouse equipment, such as to ensure easy accessibility of the entire product range and prevent the products from affecting each other.
The retail warehouse also provides for the completion of the TORG-29 report, which reflects the movement of goods and is filled out by the financially responsible person according to the same rules that apply in wholesale warehouses.
Transportation of products from a warehouse to a retail store is issued with a TORG-13 consignment note, containing information about the sender of the goods, its recipient, the number of units of the goods, its cost and nomenclature. It is necessary to make two copies, one to leave with the sender (he will attach it to the receipt papers), the second to give to the recipient (he will attach the document to the receipt papers). Invoice TORG-13 is an integral appendix of the report in form TORG-29.
It often happens that a retail store does not have a separate warehouse, and in such cases the products are delivered directly to the point of sale, where the financially responsible employee (represented by the store manager or seller) submits the TORG-29 report to the accountant as reporting on the flow of goods. He also attaches all the primary documentation required in this situation. The report displays retail prices. The expense part of the document will include not only information about shrinkage, shaking, write-off and other cases of disposal, but also information about revenue for each reporting day separately.
Proof of receipt of income will be cash or sales receipts attached to the TORG-29 consumable every day. They are the basis for the execution of an oral purchase and sale agreement with the buyer, which ends with the deposit of money into the cash register and the transfer of rights to the purchased product. A retail store is required to maintain cash reports, which will reflect information about incoming and outgoing transactions that took place during the reporting period. They must certainly be accompanied by documents confirming the commodity transaction.
Equipment used
Warehouse accounting of goods can be optimized with high-quality equipment of the farm. The equipment used greatly influences how rationally the goods will be distributed and how correctly they will be stored.
First of all, it is necessary to note the fact that proper arrangement allows you to hide the acceptance of goods from unnecessary eyes. This applies to both unpacking and documentation. The consumer simply receives already neatly laid out product units.
Proper installation of loading, handling and unloading areas is essential. As a rule, they are made in the form of a space-platform where all the necessary manipulations are performed, and the accompanying documentation is also received on it.
An important element for successful long-term storage of most goods is adequate temperature. That is, such an environmental value that ensures the preservation of material assets in the warehouse. This, by the way, can also be solved by selecting equipment.
Other methods of warehouse accounting of goods
In addition to the above accounting methods, which are considered basic, there are also general recommendations that can be used when accounting for material assets in a warehouse, automating and speeding up the selection and placement of goods.
For example, a product that is in high demand should be located closer to the aisle. Based on this location, you can choose a place to place certain products. It is also better to provide the most rational location for goods that are stored for a long time, and for products that have a short shelf life.
Products can be placed according to their name, and in case of small wholesale or retail - grouped based on the size of the product. In this case, a section is allocated for each size: small goods, medium and large. Based on existing or expected trade turnover, you can calculate the ratio of the number of small, medium and large cells.
The introduction of electronic reporting into the work of the Pension Fund can significantly reduce the time required for preparing, submitting and processing reports.
From the moment the Pension Fund specialists discover erroneous, unreliable, incomplete, etc. information in the report, the accountant has 2 weeks to correct everything. Find out about corrective reporting to the Pension Fund here.
There is also the possibility of automating warehouse accounting using special computer programs and web services that quickly and accurately systematize data on quantitative accounting, on goods receipts and shipments, on incoming and outgoing documents.
Thus, when keeping records of goods in a warehouse, a fairly large number of methods and techniques are used. The principle of warehouse management depends on the profile of the enterprise, as well as on the specific conditions existing in the warehouse itself.
Internal order device
The issue of ordering is important. This is often solved by using shelving units. These universal designs are widely used to ensure the safety of goods. They can be arranged in separate rows and sections, distributing goods by variety and type.
When shelving is used, the available space is managed rationally, regardless of how it is arranged. Which technical solution will be chosen depends on the product that will be stored.
So, for long or large product units, cantilever racks are used. There may also be an emphasis on preserving perishable products. Separate solutions have been developed for manual laying and removal, as well as for working with machines.
Conventional solutions are not always enough. Especially when it comes to storing non-standard products. The solution is to equip racks that have additional elements, supports, and hanging structures. All this helps to properly organize warehouse accounting of goods.
Optimization issues
Availability and correct distribution must always be taken into account. This allows you to organize comfortable and convenient work. Someone uses a goods warehouse card for this purpose. It allows you to keep records of the receipt and issue of products, noting who and when, and how much was transferred.
Some people think that a goods inventory card is a thing of the past and an outdated solution. And it is better to use available computer technologies, where the documents created can simply be supported by an electronic digital signature. We should also not forget about quality equipment. Thus, scales and other measuring instruments must be regularly checked for accuracy and be well calibrated.
About the changes being carried out
When is optimization needed? And also what should its measure be? Very often, enterprises are not limited to having only one warehouse. Industrial companies may own several of these facilities. Often warehouses are located nearby. In this case, it is important to ensure organic and continuous communication.
Also, in such cases it is very difficult to do without specialized software. A popular approach is to allocate a central warehouse. If you need something that is not very often used, then you need to turn to other objects. And/or they number the storage facilities in which the bulk of the necessary materials or products are located.
Very often, separate storage facilities are provided for workshops. They house everything that is necessary for production. This is done in order to prevent the complete consumption of the necessary resources and not to stop the process. Intermediate warehouses can also be set up. They are used for short-term storage of products or materials.
Basic principles of product accounting in a warehouse
So, in order to briefly summarize, it is worth highlighting the main thing that needs to be done to properly organize the accounting of goods in the warehouse:
- Conduct a competent analysis of the warehouse operation, allowing you to identify the main problems.
- Achieve full or partial automation of processes (depending on the size of the business). In this way, you can completely save all information about warehouse processes, quickly find information about balances, eliminate the influence of the human factor and optimize the workload of workers.
- Control staff: divide workers according to responsibility and strictly defined functions, select the right management personnel, organize all work in the most convenient way.
- Optimize space. If a successful combination of circumstances occurs, the warehouse should be located in close proximity to production or stores.
- Carry out inventory regularly, as this is the most powerful tool for measuring the success of all warehouse processes.
- Use the most suitable software, working with which will allow you to keep track of goods in the warehouse as efficiently as possible.
One of the main principles is the organization of space. Often, large production facilities are forced to increase warehouse space by renting new premises at a considerable distance from the old one. In our complex you can organize all the necessary business processes in one place: we provide for rent both warehouse space and industrial buildings, refrigeration rooms and offices.
Basic moments
So, warehouse accounting of goods in wholesale trade and industry is carried out taking into account three main factors:
- First of all, maintaining all documentation should be aimed at confirming the movement of commodity units. The reliability of the data provided in them determines whether the enterprise will be profitable or not.
- Then it is important to ensure that you have the necessary equipment. It should be selected and installed so that the goods can be stored in such a way that they do not deteriorate, are easily loaded and removed, and, if necessary, can be checked without problems during accounting.
- And finally: if there are several warehouses, it is necessary to ensure their interaction in order to adequately support the production or sales process. In addition, it is necessary to estimate the amount of work. It may also be that one person is not enough to run a warehouse.
Legislative acts on the topic
You should study the acts and documents:
Document | Name |
Methodological recommendations for accounting and registration of operations for receiving, storing and releasing goods in trade organizations (approved by Letter of the RF Committee on Trade dated July 10, 1996 No. 1-794/32-5) | On the procedure for recording acceptance, release and storage of goods |
Law of the Russian Federation of February 7, 1992 No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 19, 1998 No. 55 | Rules for the sale of certain types of goods, the procedure for interaction with buyers |
Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation of October 30, 1997 No. 71a | Approval of a unified form of power of attorney issued to a materially authorized person when he accepts goods on behalf of the company at the supplier’s territory |
PBU 5/01 “Accounting for inventories” (approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 06/09/2001 No. 44n), PBU 6/01 “Accounting for fixed assets” (approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 03/30/2001 No. 26n) | Rules for using information on materials |
Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated July 30, 1997 No. 71a | Approval of unified forms for monitoring the availability and movement of inventories |
Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ | The fact that it is not necessary to use unified forms of accounting for materials (request invoice, invoice for the release of materials to the third party, receipt order, limit card), starting from 2013 |
Is it necessary to use expensive software and hardware systems?
If you are tired of preparing warehouse cards for goods and want to automate some of the work, then it is better to turn to computer technology. Many people are horrified by the prices of the most famous programs. After all, for some of them you have to pay quite large sums. For large companies this is not a problem, but what about smaller objects? In this case, you can use simpler solutions.
For example, a program like Excel. Warehouse accounting in it can be organized for any production or trading organization where it is important to ensure accounting of the quantity of materials, raw materials and finished products. Of course, if we are talking about a very significant scale, then Excel may not be so convenient. But for small and medium-sized companies its functionality is sufficient. In particular, if you fill out documents as accurately and in detail as possible, enter data in both quantitative and monetary terms, follow the chronology of recording transactions, and do not disdain additional information. In this case there should be no problems. That is, you just need to think through the process of working with this software.
The need for accounting
Each employee must follow the job description and keep records of goods in the warehouse. Without it, the enterprise will collapse.
Working with materials
In order for the process to be automated, it is necessary to identify the main positions and keep records of them:
- Goods for sale.
- Future and finished products.
- Consumables.
- Costs for employee uniforms.
- Accounting for inventory items.
The accounting process is controlled by the warehouse manager, but ordinary employees can enter data into the system if they have access. Inventory management is directly affected by the scale of the production process.
On a note! If the organization is large, then each department creates its own accounts, which are then processed by the chief accountant.
Control is carried out in the following areas:
- Incoming and outgoing goods.
- Reception of products and verification of documentation.
- Entering data into the program: write-off, registration.
- Shipment of products to the supplier or issue of goods from the warehouse: sales, consumables for employees.
- Accounting for inventory items.
- Resetting information to an accountant for reporting.
- Transferring information to the purchasing department about the write-off of components.
- Inventory.
- Inventory monitoring
- Maintaining statistics: production, sales.
Most often, these operations are carried out by storekeepers, but control checks are carried out by the accounting department. Employees working in the warehouse are financially responsible for the products and consumables located on the workshop premises.
Inventory accounting