Sales Activity and Inventory Report Screen

The Sales Activity and Inventory Report Screen appears whenever you do an inventory. To begin the inventory process, go to the Inventory Options Screen (reached by selecting PRODUCT TOOLS from the Menu Bar and INVENTORY FUNCTIONS). On the Inventory Options Screen, click on either "Current Inventory" or "Choose Start and End Dates."

Just a note: the name "Sales Activity and Inventory Report Screen" is often shortened to "Inventory Report Screen" to help make things a bit more readable

When the Inventory Report Screen appears, you can move from product to product by pressing Page Up or Page Down. Ctrl+Page Down takes you to the last product. Ctrl+Page Up takes you to the first product. You can also move from product to product by using the navigation buttons (which resemble VCR or CD buttons) on the bottom right of the screen.

Select any of the following for more information on the Inventory Report Screen:

At the top right of the screen, a small yellow "L" will appear if one or more products in the inventory have dropped below the level that you've indicated the Product Information Database. You can find what products have reached low inventory status in one of two ways:

1) You can page to the product. The product which has the low inventory will have the words "LOW INVENTORY" overlaid on a bright orange background on the top right of the screen. If the product has also been placed at consignment sites -- and the non-consignment inventory is low -- the message will read "N/C Inventory Low" on an orange background.

2) Or, if you have a lot of products, you can select TOOLS >> LOW INVENTORY / OUT-OF-STOCK TOOLS from the menu on top of the screen. A spreadsheet will appear which list all of the products which have dropped below the critical level that you've established in the Product Information Database. (More about the Low Inventory Tool is found below.)

Inventory (Available). (Starting Inventory Plus Additions). This figure is the amount of inventory available for the product named on top of the page. The figure comes from the appropriate Inventory File which is updated every time you enter inventory levels in Product Information. (You can also enter inventory levels directly to the Inventory File). The amount of inventory available is the inventory level at the end of the previous year plus any additions during the inventory year. If you have not been entering any inventory levels, the blank will be empty. The blank will show a "NA" (for Not Applicable) when you are displaying information for one selected customer. It will also show a "NA" when displaying a cash-based inventory.

Cost of Inventory. (Cost of "Available" Inventory) This figure is arrived at by taking the amount of "Available" inventory times the cost per item. If you haven't entered any cost figures, this blank will show zero (0). For more information on how AnyOrder calculates cost, see Inventory Cost.

Number Sold. This figure is the number of individual units sold of the product named on top of the screen. (The Number Sold includes all sales recorded on the invoice with an "S" as the S-Code or Sale Type Code.)

Invoiced Amount. The total dollar amount charged (after discounting) for the number of individual units sold (Number Sold).

Average Discount on Number Sold. This is the discount averaged among all of your customers for all individual units sold (Number Sold). Average discount calculations may not take in account early payment discounts, see "Gross Profit and Early Payment Discounts" (below) for more information.

Inventory (N/C). (Non-consigned Inventory - End of Period) This figure appears only if some of the product's inventory has been placed on consignment. What this figure tells you is the amount of non-consigned (N/C) inventory. Non-consigned inventory is almost always your local inventory, and it's important to know what's available in your local warehouse. Inventory (N/C) is the amount of local inventory that remains at the end of the inventory period.

Number Returned. The number of individual units returned for a credit. (The "Number Returned" figure includes all sales recorded on the invoice with an "R" as the S-Code or Sale Type Code.) Returned items are placed back into Inventory.

Invoiced Credit. The total amount of credit that you have issued for returned or damaged items.

Number Damaged. Damaged items are those products which have been sold, but have been damaged in transit. Or they may be returned items which no longer saleable. Damaged items are indicated on the invoice with a "D" as the S-CodeS_Column or Sale Type Code. Since the customer is credited for the damaged item, it reduces Net Copies Sold (see next). Note that the number of damaged units is not removed from the Ending Inventory figure. Since damaged items have already been sold, they've already been accounted for in the "Number Sold" figure above.

Net Copies Sold. (Net Units Sold). The net number of individual units sold. This is "Number Sold" minus returns and damages. Here's what the formula looks like: Net Units Sold = Units Sold - (Returns + Damages). Thus, "Net Copies Sold" is the actual number that you've sold. (Note that there is slight but important difference between "net copies sold" and "net change" in inventory which uses the following formula: Net Change in Inventory = Returns - (Units Sold + Promos). Net change is taken in account when ending inventory is calculated.)

Promotional Copies Sent. The number of free promotional copies you've sent out. The "Promotional Copies Sent" figure includes all sales recorded on the invoice with a "P" as the S-Code or Sale Type Code.) Promotional copies are removed from inventory.

Inventory (End of Period). This is the ending inventory of the product. It is calculated by taking the Inventory Available, adding returns--and removing the number sold and given away. Here's what the formula looks like: End Inventory = (Inventory Available + Returns) - (Units Sold + Promos). Notice that damages, while important in figuring Net Copies Sold (above), are not involved when calculating ending inventory. That's because damaged units have already been sold and are included in the "Units Sold" figure. Also note that if you have consignment inventory (summarized on the bottom of the screen), the amount of inventory that you actually have in your warehouse is this figure ("Inventory - Ending of Period") minus the "Number Remaining at Consignment Sites" (see below).

Cost of Inventory. (Cost of Inventory - End of Period) This is the cost of the ending inventory times the cost per item. For more information on how AnyOrder calculates cost, see Inventory Cost.

Revenues. Revenues are the total dollar amount that you've billed for the product (with returns and damages removed)

Cost. Cost is the cost of the "Net Copies Sold," often referred to as "cost of goods sold."

Gross Profit. Gross Profit is the amount of revenue minus the cost for that product. Gross Profit, as well as all of the figures on the page, is reported for the product named on top of the page and for indicated time period. Gross Profit calculations may not take in account early payment discounts, see "Profit and Early Payment Discounts" (below) for more information.

Fees. If you have made out invoices using the "F" sales code for (fees) -- and, in addition, if you have entered a catalog number -- the total amount of fees associated with that product will appear on the Inventory Report screen. Otherwise, the "Fees" heading will not be shown. More information on fees, see S-Codes

Credit Card Fees. Two prerequisites are required to obtain credit card data. First of all, you need to indicate a credit card discount rate in Basic Set-up. Secondly, a credit card number should have been entered in the Card # field on the Main Invoice Screen. You can either type the full credit number or the last 4-digits of the customer's card number. As long as there is a number, AnyOrder will interpret the invoice as a credit card sale. That provides AnyOrder with the necessary information to make the Card Fee calculation. AnyOrder totals up the amount paid for the product (if paid by credit card). It multiples this figure by the discount rate that you have entered in Basic Set-up and enters the result in the Credit Card Fee field.

Sales Commissions Not Calculated and Calculate Button. By default, the Sales Commission Calculate Button will appear in the middle right of the screen. (If you don't have sales representatives, you can turn this feature off and remove the button. The feature is turned off in Basic Set-up.) Because sales representative calculations vis a vis product are time consuming, the Inventory Generator doesn't do them automatically. It's specialized data and for most report purposes, it isn't needed. On occasion, however, when you need the information, click on the "Calculate" button.

Sales Commissions. If you have sales representatives, the amount that you have paid (or will be paying) in commissions will appear in this blank. This figure is that portion of the commission that is allocated to the product. This blank is normally covered by the "Calculate" button (see above), but the button disappears once commissions have been calculated.

Adjusted Gross Profit. This figure removes invoiced fees, credit card fees, and sales commissions from Gross Profit.

Unacceptable Returns. This is the number of returns that you've received which have are so damaged that you will not be crediting the customer. "Unacceptable Returns" includes all sales recorded on the invoice with an "U" as the S-Code or Sale Type Code. Unaccepted returns create no net change to the inventory. They've already been removed from the inventory when they were originally sold. Since they are no longer saleable, they will not be returned to the inventory. Thus, there's no net change.

No Royalty. This is the number of books invoiced for which you've checked the box "No Royalty." In other words, no royalty will be paid to the author for these books. The next field is the amount received for the no-royalty books. (Oftentimes, no-royalty books are promos and the amount received is quite low as a result.)

Consigned items are those products that you place with distributors or retail outlets which do not pay you until the item is sold. If you do not have consigned items, you don't have to worry about the bottom half of the screen. If you do have consigned items, this part of the report will help you keep track of your inventory activity at consignment locations. Here are some other helpful links on consigned items:

Start. This is the starting number of individual units (for the product named on top of the page) that have been placed at consignment sites. Consignment sites are any businesses that do not pay you until they report the item sold. You may have more than one location where you place consignment items, and this figure is the sum total of all those sites.

Additions. This figure reflects the number of additional units placed at consignment locations. (In other words, this figure includes all units with a "C" as the S-Code or Sales Code.)

Take-Backs. This is the number of items that you have removed from consignment locations. (In other words, this figure includes all units with a "T" as the S-Code or Sales Code.

Inventory Available at Consignment Sites. This is the starting consignment inventory (Start), plus any Additions and minus any Take-backs.

Number Sold at Consignment Sites. The number of individual units which have been sold at consignment sites are reported here. (In other words, all units with an "S" as the S-Code and have Consignment Item checked on the Invoice Screen). The blank just to the right, reports the total dollar amount of those sales. Note that the number of consignment units sold is a part of the "Number Sold" figure on top of the page.

Average Discount on Number Sold. This is the average discount on all the units sold at consignment sites.

Number of Returns at Consignment Sites. If you have consignment sites--such as a book wholesaler--which accepts returns, the total number of returns is reported here. The returns are added back into the consignment inventory. The total dollar amount of those returns is indicated just to the right.

Number of Damages (on Sales) at Sites. This is the number of units which were damaged at consignment sites. This category has a specific meaning. These are items that were originally sold to a customer. The customer, however, was credited because the items were damaged or defective. Unlike returns above, no adjustment is made to the consigned inventory. The total dollar amount of the damages is indicated just to the right. See also: How to Record Damage Consigned Items on Invoices

Number of Promos Removed at Consignment Sites. This is the number of units given-away--reported by consignment sites. The amount of the promos, based on the item's cost, is indicated just to the right.

Number Remaining at Consignment Sites. This is the Inventory Available plus returns and minus sales and promos.

Gross Profit and Early Payment Discounts. You'll want to keep in mind that early payment discounts may not be figured into the "Gross Profit" figure. They also may not be figured into the "Average Discount" figure. Early payment discounts are the discounts that you offer to customer who pay before a certain date. If you use early payment discounts, be aware of the following:

1. Gross Profit calculations take in account early payment discounts if: (a) the customer pays off their invoices one at a time; and (b) you use the Mark Paid feature. In particular, you'll need to use "One Invoice, One payment WITH Discount Adjustment" option found on the Mark Paid dialog box. When you use this feature, the total amount on the invoice is reduced according the discount afforded to the customer. Thus, the Gross Profit (or Average Discount) figure which appears in the Inventory Report will be accurate.

2. Gross Profit calculations do not take in account early payments if: (a) the customer pays a lump sum for a group of invoices; and/or (b) you issue a credit invoice to the customer to compensate for the early payment. Unlike the situation described above, in this case, the amounts on the invoices stay the same and credit is issued on a separate invoice. AnyOrder carries out its calculations in a normal manner, but profit will be figured on the unadjusted totals found on the invoices. Thus, Gross Profit (or Average Discount), as it appears on the inventory report will be higher than had the early payment discount been included. To summarize: The profit (or average discount) figure will be accurate if you don't use early payment discounts. It also will be accurate if you use method #1 above to account for early payments. However, it will be higher than it should if you have lots of customers that pay on a lump sum basis.

Cash-based Inventories. One of the special report options available on the Inventory Options Screen enables you to do an inventory on a cash basis. The quantities shown on cash-based inventory reports are for items for which you have received payment. It you've used the Mark Paid feature, it will include all paid sales during the requested inventory period.

Because of a number of variables, cash-based inventories are never perfect affairs, and it's for that reason that tax accounting requires end-of-year inventories to be done on an accrual basis. It is very difficult to establish an end-of-year inventory since you can't simply count what is in stock at the end of year. You have to count what's in stock and then remove any items which have been shipped and not yet paid. Returned items complicate things even more. For this reason, AnyOrder does not provide starting and ending inventories when you select the cash option. It just provides a count of what's been paid for during the selected time period.

For cash-based counts, a major question arises concerning credited items (such as returns and damages), and that is when should the credit be applied? Should it be applied during the same time period in which the original sale occurred? Should it be applied when the return occurred? Or should it be applied when the customer makes a lump sum payment in which the amount of the return has been subtracted?

In order to provide consistency in preparing cash-based counts, AnyOrder uses the following rule: returns or damages are credited at the time the invoice is issued. It doesn't matter when the invoice is paid or when the credit on the invoice is applied against the customer's account. What matters is the invoice date. Thus, any returns with an invoice date which fits within the designated time period will be counted for a cash-based inventory.

Other Information: Appearance of a "NO PRODUCTS" Record. If, among your inventory records, you find one that has "NO PRODUCTS" in the Item Name, the Inventory File which was used for the report's starting values is empty. If you started out the year with no products in your inventory, then you're fine. But, if you had products, you should do an automatic update of the Inventory File.

To do so, first re-check the name of the file by returning to the Inventory Options Screen, and clicking on the appropriate button to start the inventory over again. Just before the Inventory Process starts, a dialog box will appear which gives you the name of the Inventory File. If you select "View Inventory File," you'll be able to confirm that it's empty.

To fill the file with records, choose the "Automatic Inventory Update" option from the Inventory Functions Screen. Enter starting and ending dates. The ending date should match the ending year of the Inventory File. Once the file has been updated, it will contain the necessary starting values to complete the inventory.

Changing the Order of Products. By default the products are ordered by their catalog number. If desired, you may also order them by the Item Name, Net Copies Sold, the number of Returns, or Ending Inventory. To do so, select TOOLS from the Menu bar and indicate the desired order.

Search Inventory Records. To help find specific inventory records, a search feature is available. To reach it, select GO TO and SEARCH INVENTORY RECORDS from the Menu Bar. You can search for the item's name, catalog number or other identifier.

Low Inventory / Out-of-Stock Tools. Level 4 or Higher. The low inventory tools are reached by selecting TOOLS >> LOW INVENTORY / OUT-OF-STOCK TOOLS from the menu. Use this feature if one or more products in the inventory have dropped below the level that you've indicated the Product Information Database.

Note: If you have the Level 5 (or higher) program Low Inventory and Out-of-stock tools (described next) are not necessary when Real Time Inventory Processing is turned on. Real Time Processing will notify you while entering products on the invoice if inventory levels are low.

When you first run an inventory, look for the low inventory indicator. The low inventory indicator is a small yellow "L" which appears on the top right corner of the screen. The indicator means that you have one or more products with low inventories.

To find low inventory products, select TOOLS >> LOW INVENTORY / OUT-OF-STOCK TOOLS from the menu on top of the screen. A spreadsheet will appear with a list of the products.

If inventories of some of the products listed have reached zero, you may wish to transfer this information to the Product Information Database. The Product Information Database has two fields which deal with this situation: "Temporarily Out-of-stock" and "Permanently Out-of-stock." (These appear as checkboxes on the Product Information screen.) If either one of these boxes are checked, a notation appears on the Product Pop-up List. "Temporarily Out-of-Stock" appears as a "B" and "Permanently Out-of-Stock" appears as "N" on the pop-up list.

The Product Pop-up List is used to enter products on the Main Invoice Screen. Both of the indicators (the "B" and "N") provide a visual reminder of the product's stock status while you are doing order entry. Additionally, when the product is entered on the invoice, the product will be automatically be assigned a sales code of "B" (for backordered) or "N" (for no longer in stock). And, lastly, the "B" or "N" will appear on the invoice with an explanatory message to the customer.

You can direct AnyOrder to automatically check either box, by using the Low Inventory tool. To do so, place the highlight on the desired product and clicking either the "Permanently Out" or "Temporarily Out" buttons. To help you keep track past activity, products which already have a box checked will be indicated in the one of the two rightmost columns.

If you have placed some of the inventory of this product at one or more consignment sites, you can also review non-consigned inventory levels. Non-consigned inventory is almost always your locally warehoused inventory--and it's important to keep tabs on it. To check low levels of non-consigned inventory, click the "Non-consigned Inventory" button. You can make the same adjustments to the Product Information Database by clicking on the "Permanently Out" or "Temporarily Out" buttons.

Grand Totals. This feature, which is accessed by selecting TOOLS >> GRAND TOTALS, provides sum totals of all products listed in the report. One caveat: all products mean all products as long as they have a per-item cost and a starting inventory cost. If the product has a cost per item of zero (0) or if the starting inventory cost is zero (0), it will not be included in the grand total figures. That's because a zero cost can negatively impact the totals. A message will warn you if one or products have a zero cost.

Here's what each of the totals represent. (Just to repeat: zero cost items will not be included in the following totals):

"Total Available Inventory" is the total inventory of all products at the start of the inventory period plus any inventory added during the period.

"Total Units in Inventory (End of Period)" is the total inventory of all products at the end of the inventory period.

"Total Net Units Sold" is the total quantity of products sold during the inventory period.

"Total Cost of Goods Sold" is the total of the cost of the products sold during the inventory period.

Removing Unwanted Products from the Report. If you find products that should not appear on the inventory report, do the following. First make sure the product has been deleted from the Product Information Database. Once it's been eliminated do one of the following:

First, some background, the Sales Activity & Inventory Report uses an Inventory File for all of the starting values. Any items that you don't want and show up on the report will be found in the Inventory File. The program tells you what inventory file is using before it starts the inventory process (or you can click the "More Options" button in Inventory Functions and then "Inventory File Information" to get the name of the file). So any unwanted books come from the inventory file.

2. Once you know the name of the file, click the "Manually Update Inventory" button in Inventory Functions.

4. You'll be looking at the file that AnyOrder uses for starting inventory values whenever you run an inventory.

There's another - and easier way, but we wanted to explain the above method so you can understand what's going on internally in AnyOrder. Here's the easier way:

1. Run an inventory (PRODUCT TOOLS >> INVENTORY FUNCTIONS >> "Current Inventory")

2. Page through the records (or use search or look-up) and find one of the products that you don't want.

3. Select from the menu on top of the report screen TOOLS >> DELETE DISCONTINUED ITEMS FROM REPORT.

This works because you have deleted the books from the Product Database. If they were still in the Product Database, you wouldn't be able to use this function. This function is what you would use once you discontinue a product. The product will continue to show up on the reports (because AnyOrder doesn't know that you have discontinued it). If you have removed it from the Product Database, then you can use this function to remove it from all future reports.

Delete Discontinued Items from Report. This process has been discussed immediately above, but let's look specifically at this menu choice. It is accessed by selecting TOOLS >> DELETE DISCONTINUED ITEM FROM REPORT. Discontinued items are products that are still listed in the inventory file but have been removed from the Product Information Database. (The Inventory File holds the starting inventories of the product.) Even if a product has been deleted from the Product Information Database, it will remain in past Inventory Files. That's good because it allows you to run an inventory for a past period of time, but it will also show on newer inventory files and continue to appear on the inventory report. This process will remove the item from the Inventory file. Before starting the process, make sure the item that you want to delete shows on the screen. A message will come up explaining the process and asking if you would you like to continue. Select "Yes" to continue with the process.

More Data (Internal Use Code). This provides you with a count of how many products have been coded with the Internal Use Code (see S-codes). It is reached by selecting TOOLS >> MORE DATA (INTERNAL USE CODE). Just reminder that the Internal Use Code is a temporary code and should not be used on a permanent basis.

Remove Not Applicables (NA's) & Obtaining Additional Consignment Data for a Selected Customer. Normally, any blank with an 'N/A' means that the value in the blank is not applicable to the type of inventory selected. However, there is one situation in which you may want to remove the N/A's so you can see the underlying values. This option is primarily used for running a consignment inventory for a selected customer. If the range of dates selected includes all invoices created this year and all invoices created in the past, then consignment, take-backs and ending values will be valid. Note that the starting and ending inventory, however, will not be valid since those figures always include all customers.

The reason for "N/A" is that inventory data for a selected customer is not available in the Inventory File. (Information stored in an Inventory File is accumulative data for all customers.) However, if you select a period of time which covers all possible invoices issued to that customer, then AnyOrder can provide valid data. In order to obtain reliable data, the range of dates selected should include all invoices issued in the current year and all invoices issued in past years. Note: that this feature will not provide accurate figures if you have moved invoices to storage and the invoices in storage include relevant consignment activity.

It's easiest to select this option from the Inventory Functions screen by clicking on "Choose Start and End Dates" and placing a checkmark beside "Remove Non-applicables." When you place a checkmark in this box, AnyOrder will automatically insert dates which will cover all possible invoices. In almost all cases, you can accept these figures and continue the process.

Printing. You have three printing options. You can print each product record individually by selecting FILE and PRINT THIS RECORD from the Menu Bar. Secondly, you can include all the records in one summary report by selecting FILE and PRINT SUMMARY OF ALL RECORDS.

If you select PRINT SUMMARY OF ALL RECORDS, a print dialog will appear. On the dialog box, you have the choice of including or not including consignment activity on the summary report. If you have books on consignment, then you'll want to place a checkmark on: "Include Consignment Activity on Report." Leave it unchecked if you don't have books on consignment. AnyOrder will remember your choice for future sessions.

View/Print from Spreadsheet. Level 4 or higher. You can also print (or view) the data found in the Inventory Report by selecting FILE >> VIEW/PRINT FROM SPREADSHEET. AnyOrder automatically starts Excel (or a spreadsheet of your choice) with the data in place. Inventories are a complex affair and the Inventory report contains a large amount of data.

•	Details. FILE >> VIEW/PRINT FROM SPREADSHEET (DETAILS) provides you with a complete set of data on your products. To help understand what each of the column headings mean see Inventory Report Column Headings.

•	Simple. FILE >> VIEW/PRINT FROM SPREADSHEET (SIMPLE) The "Simple" choice provides basic data including inventory available (starting inventory), net number sold, ending inventory and ending cost.

Note that "net sold" is the number of units sold minus returns and damages. Here's what the formula looks like:

That's different than "net change" in inventory which uses the following formula:

•	By Category. FILE >> VIEW/PRINT FROM SPREADSHEET (BY CATEGORY) allows you to track sales and inventory as related to your product categories. More information is found here: Sales & Inventory Report By Product Category