If you look at major suppliers, you will see that they inevitably look at their sales over a few years by month. As such, they will compare sales last year with this year. So what you will get is monthly sales comparisons with this and the previous year. This is partly as most accountancy is monthly and yearly. But also because this gets over much of the problem of seasonal fluxations. In a typical year, it is expected that March last year, for example, sales, should be comparable to March this year.
What people in business generally know is what is happening now. What they are principally interested in is what will happen. So they will ask why last year in March, you sold X, and this year in March, you sold less. Any idea what is to find what is happening, because they want to know what has changed.
One common problem here is that your supplier generally knows what you ordered but not what you sold. So must have the sales figures if you wish to discuss on equal terms with the suppliers. Maybe you ordered more in March, not because of sales in March but because you sold out in February. With your POS Software, you can do this instantly.
How to do this:
Go to reports>Sales - Stock - "Stock Sales Details 24 Month Trend."
And avoid for now many of the extra details here. Let us keep it simple for this exercise.
Exclude inactive stock
Now I find it easier to work by department, so I usually select this, but you often need a supplier.
Now out pops the report above.
Now, look at the green arrows. You can see that the stock does sell about two a month and does not seem affected by the seasons. Its greatest sales are four a month, but can it justify the stock holding of 6 in red? It is about a two month supply. If the product can be ordered weekly, it is too much.
If that one is a bit tough to determine, look at the stock item, marked with a blue arrow. It sells like one every two months, but there are sixteen in stock, so we are looking at a three year supply.
What you will find, is that now having access to this information allows you to gain a clearer picture of inventory trends and seasonal patterns.
This gives you more insights into your stock sales.
