Inventory Troubleshooting Flowchart

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Inventory Troubleshooting Flowchart

SOMETHING LOOKS WRONG IN INVENTORY

What Type Of Problem Are You Seeing?


STOCK COUNTS ARE WRONG

Examples:

quantity too high

quantity too low

negative inventory

missing stock

Check:

Were parts received through Stock Input?

Were parts manually adjusted?

Were workorders edited after posting?

Were returns processed correctly?

Was physical inventory reconciled recently?

Recommended Action

👉 Run:

Stock Balancing

Parts By Location Report

Inventory Sales Summary

Still Incorrect?

👉 Review:

recent Purchase Orders

recent Stock Input sessions

recent Returns Processing

recent Workorder edits


PARTS SHOW “ON ORDER” INCORRECTLY

Check:

Are Purchase Orders still open?

Were all received quantities entered?

Are backorders still active?

Was Stock Input completed?

Recommended Action

👉 Reopen the Purchase Order

Verify:

Ordered quantity

Received quantity

Backorder quantity

If The PO Should Be Closed

👉 Use:

Zero P/O Utility


A PART CANNOT BE FOUND

Check:

Was the correct partnumber entered?

Is the part using a superceded number?

Is the part cross referenced?

Was the manufacturer name correct?

Is the location code accurate?

Recommended Action

👉 Use:

Part Search

Cross Reference lookup

Superceded Part lookup

Location Reports

Still Missing?

👉 Perform physical shelf verification


RETAIL OR WHOLESALE PRICES ARE WRONG

Check:

Is a Pricing Table assigned?

Was the correct markup table used?

Was pricing recalculated?

Is Average Cost accurate?

Were prices manually changed?

Recommended Action

👉 Review:

Inventory Price Management

Pricing Tables

Markup Utilities

Still Incorrect?

👉 Verify:

Average Cost

Last Price Paid

Table assignments


AVERAGE COST LOOKS INCORRECT

Check:

Were parts entered manually instead of Stock Input?

Was Actual Cost entered correctly?

Were quantities received properly?

Was Average Cost edited manually?

Important Warning

⚠️ Average Cost should rarely be edited manually.

Recommended Action

👉 Review:

recent Stock Input processing

vendor invoices

receiving quantities


WORKORDER PARTS DID NOT UPDATE INVENTORY

Check:

Was the workorder invoiced properly?

Was the part added correctly?

Was the part deleted after posting?

Was quantity adjusted manually?

Recommended Action

👉 Review:

workorder history

inventory transaction activity

part quantity records


NON-STOCKING PARTS ARE MISSING

Check:

Was the part added to a workorder?

Was the workorder processed?

Was the partnumber entered consistently?

Recommended Action

👉 Review:

Non-Stocking Parts report

Inventory Search

Workorder history


CORES ARE WRONG

Problem Type?

outstanding customer cores

vendor return credits

incorrect core quantities

missing credits

Recommended Action

👉 Review:

Outstanding Core Report

Core To Return Report

Core Processing records

Check:

Were customer returns processed?

Were vendor returns completed?

Were quantities entered correctly?


REPORTS DO NOT MATCH EXPECTATIONS

Check:

Were filters correct?

Was the proper date range selected?

Are location codes consistent?

Are manufacturer names standardized?

Recommended Action

👉 Re-run reports with:

broader date ranges

corrected filters

verified coding

Still Incorrect?

👉 Perform:

physical reconciliation

inventory balancing

report comparison auditing


IF MULTIPLE INVENTORY PROBLEMS EXIST

Most Common Causes

inconsistent workflow

skipping Purchase Orders

bypassing Stock Input

manual quantity changes

incomplete balancing

inconsistent coding

Best Recovery Method

1.Stop manual inventory edits

2.Print current inventory reports

3.Review recent transactions

4.Reconcile physical inventory

5.Correct workflow procedures

6.Retrain staff if necessary

7.Rebuild inventory accuracy gradually


BEST PRACTICE WORKFLOW

Purchase Order

Stock Input

Inventory Update

Workorder Usage

Reporting

Stock Balancing

Reordering

Following this workflow consistently will prevent the vast majority of inventory problems in MLS 2026.Enter topic text here.