Introduction to Stock Historical
The “stock historical” applet will allow the user to select a date and time and produce an on-screen report to show what the stock levels were at that time.
The applet can be found under Analysis and select ‘Stock Levels Retrospective’ (Screenshot 1.1).
(Screenshot 1.1)
When you access this applet which will open as follows (Screenshot 1.2).
(Screenshot 1.2)
The screen works by using a wizard to go through the various criteria needed to produce the report. Having stepped through the wizard, the applet will then produce a report (grid) on-screen, showing what the stock should have been at the time.
The figure for the stock at the time is not exact, it is calculated from the current stock level now, and effectively “rolls back” the transactions back to the date specified. If a stocktake has been done between now and the date specified, and a product has a variance, then the report would show a different quantity to a report produced on that original date.
For Example:-
On the 4th January, we run a stock historical for the 1st January. It will show 95 as being the stock level for the 1st because the last stocktake said it had 90 in stock, it will then “rollback” the 5 sales from the 2nd (90+5) = 95.
If you click ‘Start Wizard’.
The first page of the wizard asks the user which fields they would like to see in the final results table (Screenshot 1.3).
(Screenshot 1.3)
The report will always show the product code and description regardless of any selection in here. However, you can select to show quantities in units or SKUs (Packs), as well as cost price at the time, or cost price now, stock valuation at the time, or stock valuation now.
Click ‘Next’ to move to the next page (Screenshot 1.4).
(Screenshot 1.4)
The next page defines when you want to check the historical stock figures for. Click the down arrow at the end of the box to display a calendar, otherwise click the day, month, year, or time and use the up/down cursor keys to alter the date/time (Screenshot 1.4).
(Screenshot 1.5)
The next page allows the user to define a starting and ending product code. This would only be required for systems using sequential product codes. For example, if you only wanted product codes between 100 and 200.You do not have to set a starting/ending product code, you can leave both blank (all products), or only set one. For example, if you leave the “From” code as blank, but set the “To” to 100, then it will list all product code up to 100 (Screenshot 1.5).
To select a product, click the browse button (Clicking the Dots as Screenshot 1.6), and use the general search screen to find and filter to the correct product. Once complete, click ‘Next’ to move to the next page. The next page allows the user to choose the selected major groups. Just tick the major groups you want to see in the report, and leave the rest un-ticked.
(Screenshot 1.6)
Note: Leaving all major groups un-ticked will not filter the major groups (it will be all major groups). Click ‘Next’ to move to the next page (Screenshot 1.7).
(Screenshot 1.7)
The next page allows the user to choose the selected groups. Just tick the groups you want to see in the report, and leave the rest un-ticked.
Note: Leaving all groups un-ticked will not filter the groups (it will be all groups).
(Screenshot 1.8)
(Screenshot 1.9)
The next page shows the suppliers. This relates to the default supplier setting for each product (Screenshot 1.9).
The next few pages are all about ranges, e.g. current stock range. On each screen specify the lower and upper limit to filter products to within those limits. The final questions page on the wizard asks what is the maximum number of products to you want to show on the report.
Click ‘Next’ to show the results.
For Example, Showing the “current stock now” and the “current stock then” (Screenshot 1.10).
(Screenshot 1.10)
Category | Subsection | Title | Description |
Stock Options | Historical Stock | Abort Time (In Seconds) | This is the amount of time the system will wait when trying to get the information from the SQL database. On a large and busy system, retrieving historical stock levels can take some time. |
Stock Options | Historical Stock | Size of Chunk | To reduce the stress on the database, and on the network, the system retrieves the information in chunks. A larger “chunk” will get more data each time, and so is quicker, but puts more stress on the system. A lower value reduces stress on the system but takes longer to show the information |
Stock Options | Historical Stock | Size of Delay | The size of the delay between chunks should not need altering, but reducing it will speed up data retrieval, but increase the stress in the system. |
Note: If the system becomes too stressed, it may prevent other users from completing their tasks. For example, if another user is doing a delivery, this may fail to save whilst you are retrieving historical data. It is recommended for large systems, not to use the stock historical applet during peak hours.