Show TOC

 Continuous Inventory

Purpose

There are laws that require you to perform a physical inventory at least once during each fiscal year for each storage bin.

In continuous inventory, you distribute the physical inventory for all storage bins over the course of the fiscal year, and can carry out inventories at different times as you require. This means that you can include the warehouse stock by material type and material quantity that exists on the closing key date, even without a simultaneous physical inventory (annual inventory) from the records in the Warehouse Management system (WMS).

For this reason, continuous inventory has the following advantages over annual inventory, which takes place on a key date at the end of the fiscal year:

  • The effort and costs for the inventory is not concentrated on a certain day or days but is distributed over the entire year. You can carry out the inventory at idle times in the warehouse.

  • Because of the lower inventory efforts at the end of the fiscal year, you can concentrate on creating year-end closing reports.

  • Because of the lower inventory efforts at the end of the fiscal year, you can concentrate on creating year-end closing reports.

Prerequisites

You have specified that you want to perform continuous inventory in a certain storage type. For more information, see the Implementation Guide (IMG) for Warehouse Management under Start of the navigation path Activities Next navigation step Physical Inventory Next navigation step Define Types per Storage Type End of the navigation path.

You have made settings for printing the warehouse inventory list in Customizing for Warehouse Management under Start of the navigation path Activities Next navigation step Physical Inventory Next navigation step Define Default Values End of the navigation path.

Process Flow

The procedure for continuous inventory is independent from the inventory procedure that you have chosen for carrying out continuous inventory:

  1. Plan the inventory by selecting the storage bins for which you want to perform the inventory at a certain time.

  2. In the SAP Menu, choose Start of the navigation path Logistics Next navigation step Logistics Execution Next navigation step Internal Whse Processes Next navigation step Physical Inventory Next navigation step In Warehouse Management Next navigation step Physical Inventory Document Next navigation step Create End of the navigation path

    Inventory Procedure

    Menu Path

    Continuous Inventory

    Continuous Inventory

    Cycle Counting

    Cycle Counting

    Quant inventory

    Cycle Counting per Quant

    You can control the scope of the inventory using selection criteria.

    Note Note

    When selecting storage bins for inventory, you can only select storage bins for which there are no open transfer orders.

    End of the note.
  3. Create a system inventory record.

  4. On the screen displaying the list of storage bins selected for inventory, choose Physical Inventory DocumentPost.

    The system creates the system inventory record and sets the Inventory planned indicator for the selected storage bins. At this point the storage bin is not yet blocked.

    In the inventory document header, the Inv.Status indicator has the value N (Not counted).

  5. Activate the system inventory record.

Caution Caution

You can only activate an inventory document if all transfer orders for the selected storage bins have been confirmed.

End of the caution.
  1. In the SAP Menu, choose Start of the navigation path Logistics Next navigation step Logistics Execution Next navigation step Internal Whse Processes Next navigation step Physical Inventory Next navigation step In Warehouse Management Next navigation step Physical Inventory Document Next navigation step Change End of the navigation path.

  2. Enter the inventory record number and choose Enter.

  3. Before you activate the inventory document, you can add new storage bins for which you want to perform an inventory. You can also delete items from the inventory document.

  4. Choose Physical Inventory DocumentActivate.

Note Note

You can create and activate the inventory document in a single step. In this case, from the list of selected storage bins choose Start of the navigation path Physical Inventory Document Next navigation step Activate End of the navigation path.

End of the note.

The system sets the Inventory Activeindicator for the selected storage bins and in the physical inventory document.

The system blocks the storage bins that you have selected for physical inventory for other stock movements.

  1. Print the warehouse inventory list.

  1. In the SAP Menu, choose Start of the navigation path Logistics Next navigation step Logistics Execution Next navigation step Internal Whse Processes Next navigation step Physical Inventory Next navigation step In Warehouse Management Next navigation step Physical Inventory Document Next navigation step Print Warehouse Inventory List End of the navigation path.

  2. Enter data as required..

    If you only want to display the inventory document on the screen, deselect the Print List indicator.

  1. Carry out the physical inventory in the warehouse for the selected storage bins.

  2. Enter the count results in the system.

  1. In the SAP Menu, choose Start of the navigation path Logistics Next navigation step Logistics Execution Next navigation step Internal Whse Processes Next navigation step Physical Inventory Next navigation step In Warehouse Management Next navigation step Physical Inventory Document Next navigation step Count Results Next navigation step Enter End of the navigation path.

  2. Enter data as required.

  3. Choose Enter.

  4. Enter the inventory count results in the Counted Quantity column.

  5. You can adjust the layout of the screen for entering inventory counts in the Customizing for Warehouse Management underStart of the navigation path Activities Next navigation step Physical Inventory Next navigation step Define Default Values End of the navigation path.

    Book Inventory Balance

    Physical Inventory

    Enter Count Result

    The storage bin is an empty storage bin.

    You count zero stock

    Select the Zero column for this item.

    The storage bin is an empty storage bin.

    You count an existing quantity.

    Enter the material and the quantity counted.

    The storage bin contains material stock.

    You count more quants than have been entered in the system.

    Choose Start of the navigation path Goto Next navigation step New Item Next navigation step List or Next navigation step Single End of the navigation path, in order to add the material and the quantity counted.

    The storage bin contains material stock.

    You count fewer quants than have been entered in the system.

    Enter the quantity counted.

  6. If you enter a difference in the book inventory balance, the system issues a message according to the size of the difference.

  7. Save your entries.

The system sets the Inv. Status indicator to Z (counted) in the system inventory record. The physical inventory count is complete.

  1. Process the Inventory Differences in the WMS.

  2. Post the differences to the interim record for differences. In the standard system, storage type 999 is set up as the interim storage area for differences.

    The system removes the blocks from the storage bins, because the inventory is now complete for these bins.

  3. Clear the inventory differences in Inventory Management.

  4. After the physical inventory is complete for the fiscal year, you reset the inventory data for storage bins and storage quants using the RLREOLPQ report. In the next inventory period, you can then perform a new physical inventory for these storage bins or quants.