6 ways you can use Store Operations to protect your inventory
Updated: June 14, 2005
By Lori Penor
The Store Operations component of Microsoft Retail Management System includes several configuration options and reporting tools you can use to help protect your inventory from being lost, stolen, or misplaced. This page describes six of these features.
In addition, you can help prevent unwanted inventory loss by educating employees, tightening store security, and implementing store policies and procedures. Learn how Microsoft Retail Management System can assist you with these.
Force cashiers to log on
The Force logon each sale configuration option requires cashiers to enter their Store Operations credentials each time they perform a sale. This is a very effective way to prevent inventory loss: It allows you to almost completely monitor who accesses the cash register—and when. It also prevents customers from accessing an unstaffed till.
Journal transaction receipts
Using a journaling tool also can give you more detailed information about the transactions performed at a cash register. Journaling maintains an electronic copy of the receipts in the POS database, allowing for easy review of information about returns and cancelled transactions. The Journal receipts from this printer option is found on the Receipt Printer tabs in the Register Properties dialog box in Store Operations Manager.
Rely on reporting
A number of reports can be helpful when investigating a till shortage. For example, the Cashier Log report shows when each cashier logged in or out of a register. It also shows which employees were working at a certain time.
Tip The Cashier Log report is especially beneficial if you use the Force logon each sale configuration option in Store Operations.
In addition, the Register Analysis report, a Crystal Report included with Store Operations, displays a summarized Z report for each register. The merchant can scan this report each day for suspicious numbers of No Sale or aborted transactions, returns, and the like.
For more information about the reporting features in Store Operations, see the "Generating Reports," "Reports Menu," and "Crystal Reports Option" entries in Store Operations Online Help.
Apply cashier limits and rights
The Cashier Properties dialog box contains several settings you can use to prevent inventory loss. For instance, instituting return limits can prevent cashiers from processing large returns. Furthermore, over and short limits prevent a cashier from closing batches with large discrepancies. Of course, several cashier rights can limit employee access to sensitive information or prevent cashiers from performing unauthorized functions. For more information, see "Cashiers Option" in Store Operations Online Help.
Take advantage of security features
Microsoft Retail Management System has a powerful security engine that can deny access to most of the menus, controls, and grids within Store Operations Manager and POS. Microsoft strongly recommends the use of this feature to prevent both manipulation of the system by dishonest employees and accidental misuse. For more information about application security, see "Setting Up a Security Level" in Store Operations Online Help.
Further modify your configuration
In addition to the options described earlier on this page, Store Operations Manager features more than 60 configuration options you can use to protect your inventory from unwarranted loss. Here are two popular configuration options you may want to use:
| • | Force open/close amounts. This configuration option requires your cashiers to enter the opening and closing amounts before running a Z report, which will assist in monitoring cash register shortages. |
| • | Do not allow sale of items when out of stock. This option will prevent cashiers from entering invalid item lookup codes and will assist in keeping item counts accurate. |
For more information on modifying Store Operations Manager, see "Configuration Options" in Store Operations Online Help.
Lori Penor has been with Microsoft for eight years and with the Microsoft Retail Management System team for the past two. As a program manager, Lori is responsible for the design and implementation of requirements in new product releases. She has contributed to the release of the Microsoft Retail Management System Implementation Guide.
