Managing Inventory

When a company purchases materials, Aspire allows you to purchase those items directly to a job or a job inventory.

Alternatively, Aspire will allow you to purchase items to inventory locations for later job allocation. Aspire tracks the quantity and dollar value of items based on purchases to inventory locations. This inventory value is based on the standard catalog item cost and quantity. 

Aspire provides the following capabilities that will automatically make inventory value adjustments to account for events that change the value of inventory recorded in Aspire:

• The cost of a catalog item increases in the marketplace, raising or lowering the value of each item stored in inventory.
• The amount the company pays for an item when purchased into inventory differs from the standard cost maintained in the item catalog.

The Inventory tab on the End of Month Report summarizes inventory variances for inventory at the inventory locations and for job inventory.

Initial Inventory Setup

The article Creating Inventory Locations explains how to establish inventory during the implementation of Aspire, or when a company decides to begin tracking inventory in Aspire.

Inventory Tab on End of Month Report

For each branch, the Inventory tab on the End of Month Report has four subsections representing specific types of changes to inventory value.

• Inventory Quantity Changes – This subsection shows the inventory cost (value) impact during the specified period caused by adjustments to inventory quantities on the Inventory Location screen in Admin.
• Item Catalog Cost Change – This subsection shows the inventory cost (value) impact during the specified period caused by changing the purchase unit cost of items on the Item screen in Admin.
• Purchase Cost Differs from Catalog – This subsection shows the inventory cost (value) impact during the specified time periods caused by the approval of materials on purchase receipts for which the purchase cost differs from the cost for the item in the item catalog. The purchase cost is specified on the Purchase Receipt screen.
• Job Inventory Materials – Job inventory differs from the standard inventory. Job inventory represents materials that are allocated to a job but have not yet been installed. This report subsection identifies the cost of materials that entered job inventory (purchases received into job inventory) or left job inventory (materials recorded as installed on jobs) before the end date of the period specified on the End of Month Report.

The image below depicts an Inventory tab section for one branch.

Inventory Drill-down

The Inventory tab allows you to drill down into the values shown in each branch's different subsections or the report's All Branches section. Drilling into a value displays that subsection's appropriate search list screen, as summarized in the following table.

Inventory Adjustments Search List Screen

The Inventory Adjustments Search List screen displays a list of adjustments that have been made to inventory quantities on the Inventory Location screen in Admin during the period specified on the End of Month Report.

Inventory Cost Adjustments Search List Screen

The Inventory Cost Adjustments Search List screen displays a list of variance adjustments that Aspire has made during the period specified on the End of Month Report in the following two situations:

1. A user changes the purchase unit cost of items on the Item screen in Admin.
2. A user approves materials on purchase receipts for which the purchase cost differs from the cost for the item in the item catalog. Purchase cost is specified on the Purchase Receipt screen.

When you drill into this screen from the Inventory tab of the End of Month Report, only records that comprise the number you selected will be available for viewing.

Inventory Job Materials Search List Screen

The Inventory Job Materials Search List screen displays a list of materials that have entered job inventory or been removed from job inventory before the end date specified at the End of Month Report (the start date of the range is not considered). Materials enter job inventory when their purchase receipt that has been flagged as Job Inventory is marked as received. Materials leave job inventory when they are recorded as installed on the job, either by a crew member from the Crew Mobile App or by office staff on the Time Entry screen.

Additional Inventory Management Resources

It is important to regularly review inventory to ensure inventory on hand aligns with inventory item balances in Aspire. 

For information on how to Sync up Inventory using QuickBooks, see the article QuickBooks Online Setup with Aspire. This article provides the steps to set up a new Aspire System integrated with QuickBooks Online, the cloud-based version of QuickBooks.