Fabric stock mismatch: why the books and the godown disagree, and how to close the gap

The register says 6,200 meters; the godown has less. The usual reasons, each traced to an entry that was missed or made in the wrong unit, and a monthly routine that keeps the two together.

Every textile business has had the conversation: the books say there is cloth that nobody can find, or there is cloth on the shelf the books have never heard of. A mismatch is rarely theft and rarely a mystery. Nearly always an entry was not made, or was made in a different unit from the one the cloth was counted in.

Where the gap usually comes from

  • Shortage at the mill or job worker not written down, so the books expect meters that never came back.
  • Goods lying at a mill or job worker counted as missing, because the register does not show where they are.
  • Sales billed before the purchase was entered, so the stock dips below nil for a while.
  • Goods returned by a customer and put back on the shelf without a credit note.
  • Cloth moved from one godown to another with no transfer entry.
  • Mixed units: a quality bought in meters and sold in pieces, with no fixed cut to convert one into the other.
  • Damage, samples and cut pieces taken out without any entry at all.

Fix the cause, not the figure

Changing the stock figure to match the shelf hides the reason, and the gap returns next month. Find which of the causes above it was, enter what was missed, and adjust only what truly cannot be explained, with the reason written on the adjustment.

A monthly routine

CheckHow
Count five qualitiesTakas or pieces on the shelf against the register
Pending at mills and job workersOld lots followed up, shortage entered
Negative stockAny item below nil means a purchase is not entered yet
Returns and transfersEvery return has its note, every move its transfer
Whatever is leftAn adjustment with the reason, and nothing hidden in it

In GintiDesk

Stock Summary shows pieces, meters and kilos side by side, godown by godown, and Grey and Finished Goods stock apart. Goods at a mill or job worker are shown as such, not missing. A bill that would take stock below nil asks before it saves. Stock Transfer moves goods between godowns, and Stock Adjustment records a count, damage or wastage with a reason. The Stock Ledger shows every in and out of an item with the voucher behind it.

See it in GintiDesk

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