Guides and ideas for running a shop: point of sale, stock and the numbers that matter.
Stock at cost divided by net sales, worked for a Kampala minimarket in shillings, read in months of sales and set against the US Census Bureau's ratios by kind of store.
Inventory is a current asset, never a liability. Where it sits on the balance sheet, worked in rand, why lenders discount it, and the goods on your shelves that are not your asset at all.
What counts as merchandise inventory, what goes into its cost, the month's formula worked for a Lagos electronics shop in naira, and the retail method that values a supermarket's stock from its shelf prices.
Days Sales of Inventory (DSI) measures how long a company takes to sell its stock. It helps businesses understand how efficiently they manage
The same rice, the same cash, two profits: FIFO and LIFO worked through a quarter of rising prices in Lagos, the quarter the gap reverses, and who may use LIFO at all.
Stock isn't depreciated in the books, but it does lose value: at an expiry date, a season's end or a new model. The four kinds, a Johannesburg worked example in rand, the tax rule, and how to cut the loss.
In research, an inventory is a kind of questionnaire: published, tested and scored by a fixed rule. What sets the two apart, and when to use each.
The move-in report that settles a deposit: a template to copy, condition codes, a wear-and-tear table, a UGX deposit example, and what the law says in Washington State, South Africa and Uganda.
The same fridge can be inventory or a fixed asset: intention decides. The IAS 2 and IAS 16 test, a table of shop items that land on either side, and a UGX example with the tax effect.
A stock take counts everything; a stock check counts a few lines. A count schedule by type of shop, a seven-step stock take, and the count sheet in ArmPOS.
How to find the few products that tie up most of your stock money: ABC analysis on a 12-product Kampala mini-market, with spreadsheet formulas you can copy.
The word on the invoice does not decide it; the use does. The IFRS test, ten everyday items sorted, and a Nairobi salon example in KES showing what the usual shortcut gets wrong.
