A warehouse with several owners' goods: how to run the count

Many warehouses hold more than your own goods. Another company's products stand in leased space, there is cargo in safekeeping, stock accepted on consignment, an order a customer has paid for but not yet collected. If a count does not separate all this from your own stock, two sets of records suffer: yours, and the one you keep for the owner. Here is how to organise a count in such a warehouse.

Decide in advance whose goods they are

Before the count, divide all the goods in the warehouse by owner. Four categories usually occur:

• Your own goods. You are the owner and the one responsible.
• Goods in safekeeping. Another company has handed goods to your warehouse; you store them and keep their records.
• Consignment goods. They are accepted for sale, but until sold the owner does not change.
• Goods that are ordered and paid for but not collected. They may not appear in your books, yet they physically stand in the warehouse.

Add an "owner" column to the book list. Then the counter sees whom each position belongs to, and the result can be split by owner with a simple filter. Ask each owner before the count for their list of balances and compare it with yours: sometimes the owner's data differs from your books, and it is better to find that out in advance.

Count separately, report separately

Give each owner their own report. An owner should see the balance of their own goods, not the data of other owners. This is a matter of protecting commercial secrets, so split the reports by owner after the count.

If the owner wishes, they can send a representative to the count. That usually reduces disputes: the owner sees the process first-hand and confirms the result on the spot. If a representative comes, agree beforehand how they will be admitted and what they may do during the count.

The risk of mixed storage

The biggest risk is goods of several owners standing on one rack or in one bin, or one article belonging to two owners. For example, a product of one kind belongs both to you and to a customer, and the boxes are identical. The counter finds the total but cannot tell whose it is. Say 40 pieces of your goods and 100 of a customer's stand on one rack, and the counter finds 138. If no owner is shown, the difference is a shortage of 2 pieces, but whose shortage it is remains unknown.

The best solution is a separate zone and a separate label colour for each owner. If mixed storage remains, the count list must also record the owner: two rows in one bin, two different owners. Otherwise, when a difference appears, it is unclear whom to charge it to.

Agreements with the owner

The contract or a separate agreement should state:

1. When and how often counts are held.
2. Whether the owner has the right to take part.
3. In what form and by what deadline the result is delivered.
4. What happens if there is a shortage or a surplus.
5. Whether there is an allowance for natural loss (for example, for dried products or loose goods) and how large it is.

Without these points, when a difference appears each side reads the situation its own way, and the dispute costs more than the count itself.

Cut-off, documents and differences

Each owner needs their own cut-off. One owner collected goods today, another brought a new batch: their documents must not mix. On the eve of the count, agree collection and receiving with each owner, and stop these operations during the count. Goods taken away but not covered by a document are here, too, the most common source of differences.

If a difference is found, first establish whose goods they are, then establish responsibility under the contract. Written evidence decides: the count list, the difference row, if needed a photograph of the place and the message sent to the owner. Deliver the result to the owner on time and allow a period for corrections. A surplus may turn up as well: if the owner is unknown, keep it in a separate zone until the owner is established.

Conclusion

The main rule for counting in a multi-owner warehouse is to establish whose goods they are in advance, count separately and report separately to each owner. At such warehouses StockCheck works with a list divided by owner and delivers a separate report to each.