Supplies Inventorying

Depending on the number of individuals or departments for whom you are responsible to order office equipment and supplies, the inventory process may vary. Supplies inventorying may be as simple as periodically reviewing the amount of supplies on hand, then re-ordering needed items when the inventory becomes low; or, an actual, formal periodic inventory may be taken on a weekly or monthly basis to determine exact inventory counts, per inventory item, after which a replenishment order may be processed.

Strict inventories of supplies and equipment are put in place in cases where organisations are striving to minimize overuse or misuse of these items, because office supplies are often a large expense to organisations. The careful tracking of supplies use, and supplies inventories, may be useful in determining if pilferage is taking place. It is incumbent on administrative professionals that they work to encourage the careful and honest use of business assets.

Equipment Inventorying

Inventory control considerations for office equipment include:

Maintaining an accurate equipment inventory listing including the following information:

• Equipment make, model, serial number and related details
• Assigned inventory control or ID number (if a number different than the equipment serial number)
• Location
• Date of purchase, lease, or rental
• Equipment cost
• Annual depreciation amount
• Expected life expectancy (or lease period)
• Book value
• Servicing cost

Instituting an inventory control system with equipment ID labelling (including company name, location, identifying numbers, etc.)

Stock Inventorying

In businesses where products are sold, inventories must be kept of these items (referred to as stock inventories). Support personnel may be involved in these inventories. This involves the processing of receipt and delivery of items to and from the stockroom.

Inventory duties in this area also include:

• Verify that items received have been ordered, that the items received are the same specific items and that the count received matches with the number ordered and fulfilled by the shipper.
• Sign for items delivered.
• Input of receipt of inventory (including specific items, quantities, date of stocking, etc.).
• Input of items taken from inventory (when items contain bar codes, they are scanned so that they are removed from the computer inventory. Items may also be manually selected on a computer system input as removed from Typically, the name of the person obtaining the items, the number of items taken, and the date of removal from inventory are included in the database update).
• Physical counting of inventory (on a periodic basis) is done and compared against the computer inventory of items counted.
• Shipping orders, purchase orders, and invoices are carefully compared to be sure that no errors are made in filling orders or in billing.