Access Accounts Stock control module provides you with a comprehensive way of optimising your stock levels, re-ordering product lines and efficiently distributing deliveries. The module is used to record movements of products in and out, so that detailed information of product value and availability is always up to date.

Finding a specific stock record is fast and easy, whether you have 10 product lines or 100,000. The system will guide you in the handling of superseded and out of stock items and assist in the rapid selection of bundled items. It will also forecast stock re-order requirements days, weeks or months ahead, and generate the corresponding purchase requests. Four methods of valuation are maintained (FIFO, Latest, Average and Weighted Average) and full movement analysis is available for 39 periods, giving you unprecedented control over your inventory.

Chapter contents

The Stock module can be fully integrated to the Sales and Purchase Ledgers through Sales and Purchase Order Processing. Stock movements can be analysed to multiple Sales and Purchase analysis headings automatically, through the order processing modules. The system handles multiple buying and selling prices.

You can update the Nominal Ledger with the value of your Stock by preparing reports from the Stock Module and creating Nominal Ledger journals periodically, or automatically using Update Stock to Nominal feature. If you select to update automatically, the value of Stock shown in the Balance Sheet will be maintained by the Stock Movements in the Sales and Purchase Ledgers and the Stock module.

This feature enables you to 'reserve out' specific items of stock at the time a sales order is raised (or subsequently, if required). It can be used to prioritise stock allocation in any way that suits your business, from ensuring that your oldest stock is used first to guaranteeing that orders for your most important customers are shipped first. The advantages of this system extend to every department: for example, stock allocations can be searched and consolidated by post-code, enabling your dispatch team to plan cost-effective delivery routes.

This optional facility automatically updates your Nominal Ledger every time an item of stock is bought, sold or moved. Details of all relevant transactions are transferred (in real time) straight from your Purchase Ledger, Sales Ledger and stock module. This data can be used for effortless maintenance of your stock valuation, cost of sales and accruals/pre-payments.

Also: Contra/MDD/Accrual Examples

Each stock record stores its own commodity code, country of origin and net mass. These details are used when generating Intrastat reports which can be submitted to HM Customs & Excise in CSV and EDI formats. There are two types of recognised Commodity Codes, 8-digit for exports and Intrastat reporting, and 10-digit for Importing.

Dimensions

only uses the 8-digit Commodity Code. See www.gov.uk for further information.

Access Accounts enables you to track serial numbers by Stock record, Customer and Supplier. It will accept data directly from bar code readers and features include 'auto-stepping' for rapid input of bulk serial numbers.

The initial level of manufacturing and assembly provided is Bill of Materials. This facility enables you to see at a glance if there are sufficient materials to build an order.

With a single command, you can build assemblies from any number of component stock records or price lines. Complex builds are made possible by nesting one assembly inside another, to create full multi-level product build.

All the necessary stock adjustments are tracked automatically, giving you full traceability of components. Because the cost of each component is easily maintained, you can ensure that changes in raw material pricing are accurately reflected in your margin decisions on the finished product. This helps to optimise profitability, even in a rapidly fluctuating marketplace.

Stock records can be sub-analysed using a hierarchical structure up to six levels deep; you can analyse by warehouse, shelf and size, and still have three levels remaining. Quantity and value is tracked and consolidated for each record, at every level of sub-analysis. Each level can be described using the terminology that best suits your business, to provide an intuitive system for pinpointing stock availability and reporting on stock holdings of any size and complexity.

In Dimensions Lite this feature has only one level.

Stock records can be sub-analysed; this enables you to split the stock item between several warehouse locations or by colour or other attribute. Quantity and value is tracked and consolidated for each record. (Note: in Dimensions, this functionality is extended to six levels.)

Dimensions offers a range of options for tracking charges such as shipping, storage and customs duty, and for applying these costs to the corresponding stock items. You can record costs on a fixed rate or percentage basis, and allocate purchase invoices (or selected lines of purchase invoices) across multiple shipments. This helps you to protect your margins and your pricing structure, by ensuring that landed costs are not absorbed unknowingly.

This facility greatly simplifies the selection of the correct price for your stock, by enabling you to store an individual price for every possible combination of customer and stock item. You can also apply unique customer discounts, based on product type, and give quantity discounts up to 10 levels deep.

The system settings for the Stock Control module can be found in Stock Options. Please read the topic covering these options before starting to use the Stock Control module. The options selected here will affect the stock records and transactions involving stock.