knowledge base

It is an unfortunate reality that from time to time we have things returned to us because they were damaged.  If it is a return from a customer it is easily dealt with but if you discover that something has been damaged in your warehouse and you cannot return it to your vendor, you may need to have inFlow track the damaged item for you.  There are a number of ways this can be done so please have a look below as we take you through a few common scenarios.


My customer returned something I cannot re-sell, what do I do?
This is by far the easiest case to deal with as it is a part of the action you would normally be completing anyway.  When a customer returns an item to your store, you will need to run through a return in advanced mode in order to credit them the amount of the item.  The details can be found here: http://www.inflowinventory.com/KnowledgeBase/questions/29/ however, if you cannot restock the item, what is to be done?  Actually, nothing.  Once you've clicked "refund in full" you are all finished and you will simply skip the stage where you would restock the item.  inFlow will take into account that the item was not restocked and work that loss into your profit margin when you pull your reports.

My vendor has sent me something which was broken when it arrived, how will inFlow track that?
Return to the purchase order and navigate (in advanced mode) to the return tab.  The details can be found in this article: http://www.inflowinventory.com/KnowledgeBase/questions/40/ however essentially you will return and unstock the item you've received.  This will remove it from your inventory and adjust your payment so that you are not including this item in the original purchase order.  If the vendor intends to send you a replacement item you can always choose not to unstock it, or you can re-open the order and receive all but the item you're waiting for.  Though keep in mind that your order dates will change if it is a past order which you've re-opened and are completing today.

I have discovered something in my warehouse which has been damaged but for which I will not be able to get my money back, what should I do?
Open a purchase order and choose the vendor that sells the product you've discovered.  Complete the order in simple mode without entering any products or additional info and then click the "advanced" tab and move to the "return" tab.  Add the damaged item, then change the unit price to zero and save the order (note this will cause the "return in full" button to disappear but the return tab will change to green).  Complete the "unstocking" stage and you are done.

You've unstocked the item and your item's profit levels will be adjusted based upon the adjustment you've made.  If you were to check your product cost you will see that it has now been increased since the program has split the cost of the item which is damaged over the remaining stock.

I have received a return from a customer for whom I did not initially make a sale, how do I return the item without a sales order for it?
When a customer returns an item to your store for which you do not have an initial sales order, you will need to run through a return in advanced mode in order to credit them the amount of the item.   That said, since you don't have an initial sales order to speak of you will need to complete a blank one (as above with the purchase order).  To do so enter your customer information and do not enter any products but in simple mode click "complete and pay", then hit the "advanced" tab.  You will now be able to complete the return as described above and in the return for advanced workflow article.  Simply skip the restock stage in order to ensure that damaged product is not re-stocked.

Recording Damaged items if you don't use the purchase/sales modules
If you do not use the purchasing or sales modules for some reason but need to mark an item as damaged there is one more way it can be done.  Open the product record in your inventory and reduce your item quantity by one by highlighting the quantity available in your inventory and changing it manually.  Once you've changed it, right click directly on the number and choose "verify stock changes" from the list you see. 



This will open a stock adjustment window for you in which you can enter notes on why you're making this adjustment such as "Damaged goods removed from inventory (Qty 1)".



Click adjust and you the window will close.  Now if you go to the movement history tab you will see the reduction and a note which states why your stock was reduced.



The most important thing to remember when deciding how you'd like to handle your damaged goods is to BE CONSISTENT!  Don't have some employees registering your damaged goods in the sales module while others are simply doing stock adjustments.  While the program will still calculate the cost properly you will likely have trouble tracking all your damages.