Do you find yourself dreading inventory count day because you’re afraid of what you’ll find? For example, product that is supposed to exist right there in front of you on the shelf, but it doesn’t?
Inventory loss decreases your profits and increases your tax bill. So of course figuring out where that product went is important, but is that possible with your current system? A better method of going about inventory loss is here!
At Cheers POS, we specialize in solving POS and inventory-related problems for liquor stores. As Midwestern liquor store owners, we’ve experienced our fair share of frustrations until one day, we vowed to solve the very problems that caused these frustrations.
Our solution? An easy-to-use POS system that allows you to focus on your customers instead of your inventory discrepancies.
Let us be your guide to loss prevention for liquor stores. You’re going to need it this tax season.
Inventory management system
It all begins with a great point-of-sale system to keep all sales and inventory data in one accessible place. At Cheers POS, we guarantee that we will reduce your loss.
With our system you’ll have:
- Advanced reporting for daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly sales reports
- A live view at your markups and margins
- The ability to see your total inventory value
- Detailed inventory loss reporting and documenting
- Built-in purchase order creation
- A sophisticated keg management system
With our inventory management system, you can count on your inventory loss to decrease. The system automatically updates your inventory directly from your POS, meaning that any returns, exchanges, and purchases are accounted for.
Our system allows you to see reports and monitor loss trends so that you can further investigate problem areas.
Sure, you still need to perform physical counts, but as long as you’re doing that as frequently as your business demands, you’re on the right track. Think of it like a computer program running in the background of your business keeping track of everything for you. You’ll have to check on it and update the program, but for the most part it runs independently.
If you would rather not perform the physical counts or you feel like your inventory losses are an endless web of confusing data, our partners at Monarch Inventory Services can help. Monarch can regularly count your inventory or redo your entire inventory process based on your liquor store’s goals. With both of our services, you will be able to investigate losses when they happen.
Loss due to human error
The goal of our system is to eliminate as much human error as possible. The automation process is designed to achieve this.
To aid our system, figure out what policies you and your employees need to live by. These could be specific steps to follow when you receive deliveries, when you move product from backstock to floor, and when you sell product to a customer. Streamlining your processes will help reduce human error.
Loss due to theft
If you’re experiencing internal or external theft, consider putting more security measures into place. Measures could include cameras, alarms, tag sensors, internal theft policies, or reorganization of the space to improve visibility of customers.
Loss due to damage
Accidents happen. Glass is breakable. Not a lot can be done about this one except a reminder to yourself and your employees to slow down and be careful.
If the product came damaged from the distributors, then contact them for replacements or a refund.
Writing off loss
Our ultimate goal is to help you prevent loss. After all, if you’re losing product you’re losing money. Who wants that?
Inventory loss may be inevitable, but it doesn’t have to swallow your liquor store profits up and increase capital gain. You have the ability to claim these losses as expenses or deductions.
Yep, losses can lower your tax bill.
All you have to do is:
- Calculate your losses by multiplying the cost-per-unit by the number of items missing or damaged
- Set up an inventory write-off expense account to record the value of damaged inventory
- Debit your cost of goods sold account and credit the inventory loss write-off expense account
We know this feels like a lot, it’s because it is. As owners ourselves, we had to figure out loss prevention for liquor stores and inventory write-offs the hard way. We hope our tips can help your liquor store thrive.
And remember, our customer service knows no limits. We are here to answer your questions at any time. Call us, chat with us, or email us and we will get you where you need to be.
If you need more help with taxes, read our 5-Step Guide to Small Business Tax Preparation for Liquor Store Owners.
Ready to put inventory problems to rest once and for all?
At the end of the day, we are two Midwestern liquor store owners who experienced the problems that come with running a liquor store firsthand. We know what works and what doesn’t. That’s why we designed an all-in-one POS system in order to save you time and headaches. You deserve to use the best resources there are for loss prevention for liquor stores.
Your customers and store deserve your full attention, not your POS system. Tell us more about your business so we can book your free demo.