Inter-branch transfers: why the receiving store's figure differs

The Tashkent branch sent 30 sets to Samarkand; the issue slip was written on Monday. The goods reached Samarkand on Wednesday and the receipt was posted that day. In a stock report taken on Tuesday, these 30 sets show up neither in Tashkent nor in Samarkand. Head office may look at the figure and conclude that 30 sets are "lost". Most differences in inter-branch transfers are not losses; they come from goods in transit that belong to nobody in the records.

Whose are the goods in transit?

If the transfer slip is written in one step, the goods leave the sending branch's record but do not enter the receiving branch's; until the receipt is posted they belong to nobody inside the company. One of two bad results follows: either the stock shows in both branches or in neither. Either way, the sum of the branches does not reflect physical reality. Head office often tries to close this gap by asking each branch manager for separate figures, but the problem lies not in the honesty of the branches but in the structure of the record.

A two-step transfer

1. Dispatch. The sending branch posts the issue and the goods move to an "in transit" warehouse or status. The slip carries the item, quantity, loading time and vehicle or carrier. Having a second person at the sending branch count what is loaded catches a difference at its source.
2. Receipt. The receiving branch counts the goods and posts the receipt. If the counted quantity differs from the quantity sent, the difference goes on a separate "transfer difference" line and is reported to the sending branch.

If your record system does not support two steps, a simple "transfers in transit" table in Excel will do: slip number, date, quantity and status (in transit, received, differs).

The receipt deadline

Set a deadline for receipt: for example 24 hours after arrival for goods going from Tashkent to Samarkand, 48 hours for more distant branches. When the deadline passes, the transfers still showing "in transit" are listed and sent to the person responsible. Do not let goods count as accepted automatically once the deadline is exceeded; silent acceptance hides the difference and blurs responsibility. A fifteen-minute "goods in transit" check once a week prevents a big argument months later.

Example: Tuesday's figure

An illustrative case: the Tashkent branch holds 100 sets of a sofa model and the Samarkand branch 40. On Monday 30 sets leave Tashkent and the issue slip is written the same day. On Tuesday the records show Tashkent 100 − 30 = 70 and Samarkand 40. That is 110 sets, while the company really has 140, with 30 on the road. A head-office report saying "30 sets missing" would be misleading.

On Wednesday Samarkand counts 28 sets at receipt. The records: Samarkand 40 + 28 = 68, Tashkent 70, a total of 138. The missing 2 sets stay on a separate "transfer difference" line and are investigated: at loading, on the road or at receipt? 70 + 68 + 2 = 140, and the table is complete again. Of the 30 sets that left, only two need explaining, and they sit on a single line with their evidence. The same logic tests the sending branch's record too: if 30 sets left, 70 should be on the shelf in Tashkent; if the count finds 70, the sender's record is right.

Transfers on count day

• At the cut-off time a list of goods in transit is drawn up; these goods enter no branch's count.
• Goods standing at the receiving branch's door but not yet received are counted separately and noted.
• For goods sent but not received, officials of both branches sign the same table.
• Goods arriving after the count do not change its result; they are a movement of the new period.

The same rule must apply when branches are compared. A report that shows one branch's goods in transit as a variance singles that branch out unfairly.

In short

A transfer difference usually comes from document timing and the goods-in-transit rule; once the rule is written, the solution is clear. In store and branch stock audits StockSystem reviews inter-branch transfer slips, returns and damage records to find which movement caused the gap between a store and the head-office records.