How do you check in deliveries so inventory counts stay honest all week?

Why receiving is where inventory numbers go wrong

A weekly count captures what is on the shelf at one moment. Everything between counts, the on-hand number your ordering relies on, is math: last count plus deliveries minus usage. If deliveries are logged wrong, that math is wrong for the whole week, and reorder suggestions built on it will be wrong too. A case that was invoiced but never arrived, a short that was signed for, or a substitution nobody wrote down each quietly shifts your numbers until the next count exposes the gap and nobody can explain it. Related: What is the fastest way to run accurate weekly inventory counts in a kitchen?

The back door is also where the money leaks. A driver who is in a hurry and a cook who is prepping at the same time is the standard setup for signing a delivery slip without opening a box. Weights on meat and seafood are the usual problem, since a case invoiced at a certain weight can arrive lighter and still look full. None of this requires bad intent to cost you. It just requires nobody checking.

Keep reading: How do you set par levels for restaurant inventory that actually hold up?, What is the fastest way to run accurate weekly inventory counts in a kitchen?, How do reorder alerts prevent stockouts before they hit the line?. See how ParLevelr helps you restaurant inventory par levels and reorder alerts.

A five minute receiving routine that actually gets done

The routine has to be short or it will be skipped on a busy morning. Pull the purchase order or the order sheet you sent, and check three things per line: the item is the one you ordered (not a substitution), the quantity matches, and the condition is acceptable. For weighted items, put them on the scale. For produce, open the top of the case and look for damage. Mark each line with a check, a short, or a note, and sign only after the walk-through is done. That is the whole routine, and it takes about five minutes for a normal delivery.

Temperature is the one addition worth the extra minute. Check that refrigerated and frozen items arrive cold with a probe thermometer, and reject anything outside your safe range. This is a food safety issue first, but it also matters to inventory, because a case you accept and then throw out two days later shows up as unexplained shrink. The point is that everything you accept at the door should be something you would count and use. Related: How can better inventory control cut food waste without risking stockouts?

Logging deliveries so the on-hand number moves correctly

The delivery needs to hit your inventory record the same day, ideally before the next service, and it needs to reflect what arrived, not what was invoiced. If the invoice says twelve cases and ten showed up, log ten and note the short. If a vendor substituted a different pack size, log it in the unit your inventory actually uses, converting the case to the counting unit right then rather than letting someone guess later. This is where a lot of kitchens fail, because the invoice gets stapled to a clipboard and entered a week later from memory. Related: How do reorder alerts prevent stockouts before they hit the line?

Whoever logs the delivery should also flag anything that will affect ordering. A short means you may need a fill-in order from another vendor. A substitution with a different yield means your par might be off for that item until the next regular delivery. If your system supports it, attaching a photo of the delivery slip with the notes written on it saves a lot of arguing with the vendor later, and it lets the person ordering see exactly what happened without a phone call. Related: What is the best way to organize vendor order sheets across several suppliers?

Reconciling invoices and closing the loop with vendors

Shorts and rejections only help you if they turn into credits. Keep a simple running list of every discrepancy by vendor, with the date, item, quantity, and invoice number. Send it to the vendor rep at least weekly, and check the next invoice for the credit. Vendors are generally responsive to this when it is documented and consistent, and much less so when it comes as an angry phone call a month later with no paperwork.

Over time, the discrepancy list tells you something about each vendor. One that shorts you regularly on a specific item is either having sourcing problems or has a picking issue in the warehouse, and either way you may want a backup source for that item. The same list is also a good sanity check on your counts. If shrink on an item is high but the receiving record is clean, the problem is inside the building, not at the door, and that narrows where to look.