SyteLine Physical Inventory Procedures and Best Practices
Physical inventory in SyteLine provides a complete wall-to-wall count of all warehouse inventory at a point in time. While cycle counting handles ongoing accuracy, physical inventory is often required for annual financial audits, new system go-lives, or warehouse relocations. SyteLine's physical inventory process includes freezing on-hand quantities, generating count sheets, entering counts, and posting adjustments.
Inventory Freeze and Count Sheet Generation
The physical inventory process begins with an inventory freeze that snapshots current on-hand quantities in the SLPhysInv IDO. The Freeze Inventory utility captures item, warehouse, location, lot, and quantity data at the moment of freeze. Count sheets generated from frozen data can be printed or exported for distribution to counting teams. During the freeze period, normal inventory transactions should be suspended to maintain count integrity.
- Run Freeze Inventory from the Physical Inventory menu to snapshot all on-hand quantities by location
- The freeze captures item, whse, loc, lot, serial, and qty_on_hand from the item-location records
- Generate printed count sheets sorted by location sequence for efficient warehouse walk-through
- Tag-based counting is supported by printing individual tags for each location-item combination
- Schedule the freeze during a production shutdown window to prevent transaction conflicts
Count Entry and Recount Processing
The Physical Inventory Count Entry form accepts physical counts against the frozen snapshot. Counters enter quantities by item-location, and the system calculates variances against frozen on-hand values. SyteLine supports multiple count passes: an initial count, a recount for high-variance items, and an optional third count for resolution. The physical_inv_count table stores all count entries with timestamps and counter identification.
- Enter physical counts on the Physical Inventory Count Entry form by scanning or manual location-item entry
- First-pass counts populate the count_qty1 field; recounts populate count_qty2 and count_qty3
- Recount thresholds trigger automatically when variance between frozen and counted exceeds tolerance
- Blind count entry hides frozen quantities to prevent counters from defaulting to system values
- Multiple count teams can work simultaneously across different warehouse zones
Variance Reconciliation and Posting
The Physical Inventory Variance Report highlights discrepancies between frozen and counted quantities. Finance and warehouse management review variances before posting. The Post Physical Inventory utility applies count results to inventory records, creating adjustment transactions in the matltran table with a physical_inventory transaction type. GL journal entries debit or credit the inventory adjustment account configured in Inventory Parameters.
- Review the Variance Report sorted by dollar value to focus investigation on high-impact discrepancies
- Require management sign-off on variances exceeding dollar thresholds before allowing post
- Post Physical Inventory creates matltran adjustment records and updates item-location on-hand quantities
- GL impact flows through the inventory adjustment account defined in the Inventory GL posting setup
- After posting, unfreeze inventory and resume normal transaction processing
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Related Resources
SyteLine Cycle Counting Setup Guide
Set up cycle counting in Infor SyteLine with ABC classification, count scheduling, variance thresholds, and approval workflows for inventory accuracy.
Infor SyteLineSyteLine Inventory Adjustment Workflows
Configure inventory adjustment transactions in Infor SyteLine including reason codes, approval workflows, GL posting, and audit controls for corrections.
Infor SyteLineSyteLine Warehouse Location Setup Guide
Design and configure warehouse locations in Infor SyteLine including zones, aisles, bins, and location types for optimized inventory storage and retrieval.