Cycle counts

Cycle counting checks a slice of inventory at a time instead of shutting down for a full physical count. Epicor runs both through the same set of screens: define when, choose which parts, print tags, count, review variances and post. The postings are quantity adjustments that correct on-hand to what was counted.

The standard flow

All screens are under Material Management > Inventory Management.

Step	Screen	What happens
1. Define the period	Setup > Cycle Count Period Definition	A numbered period (01 to 99 per year) with start and end dates
2. Schedule the count	General Operations > Cycle Count Schedule Maintenance	A schedule for one warehouse and period. Perform Part Selection picks parts using the warehouse’s count method (random or repetitive) and ABC codes
3. Adjust the selection (optional)	General Operations > Cycle Count Part Selection Update	Add or remove parts on a cycle
4. Generate and print tags	Count Cycle Maintenance, Generate Tags and Print Tags	One tag per part/bin, plus blank tags for stock found in unexpected places
5. Start the count	Count Cycle Maintenance, Start Count Sequence	Freezes each part’s unit cost and pre-count on-hand quantity, and sets the cycle to Count Started
6. Count	General Operations > Count Tag Entry	Enter the counted quantity and mark each tag Returned
7. Review variances	Count Cycle Maintenance, Count Variance Calculation/Report	Compares counted with frozen quantities and flags parts outside tolerance
8. Explain out-of-tolerance parts	General Operations > Count Discrepancy Reason	A reason code for each out-of-tolerance part
9. Post	Count Cycle Maintenance, Post Counts	Adjusts on-hand and completes the cycle

For a full physical inventory, skip steps 1 to 3 and start from Initialize Physical Inventory instead. The rest is the same.

Tip

Run Start Count Sequence when nobody is transacting in that warehouse. It briefly blocks inventory activity while the snapshot is taken, and any movement between the snapshot and the count shows up as a variance.

Why Post Counts posts nothing

Post Counts skips a part when:

• any of its tags hasn’t been marked Returned;
• the variance report hasn’t been run since the counts were entered;
• it’s out of tolerance and has no discrepancy reason code.

Fix whichever applies, run the variance report again, and post.

Counting a single part

Sometimes you need to count one or two parts right now without a full selection run. You can build a cycle by hand:

1. Cycle Count Period Definition: create a period whose start and end are today.
2. Cycle Count Schedule Maintenance: create a schedule for the warehouse and that period. Save, but don’t run Perform Part Selection.
3. Cycle Count Part Selection Update: open the new cycle, add a line for each part to count, and save.
4. Count Cycle Maintenance: open the cycle, Generate Tags, Print Tags, then Start Count Sequence.
5. Count Tag Entry: select all tags for the cycle, enter quantities, tick Returned, enter who counted, and save.
6. Count Cycle Maintenance: run Count Variance Calculation/Report, then Post Counts.
7. If posting reports no parts, enter a reason code in Count Discrepancy Reason and post again.

Caution

Period numbers run from 01 to 99 per year. Each ad-hoc single-part count uses one, so practising this in production can exhaust the year’s periods, after which you can’t create new cycles until the next year. Rehearse in a test copy of the database.

In recent versions the part selection screen is labelled Cycle Count Part / PCID Selection Update.

Fixing a fractional quantity in a whole-number UOM

Symptom: a part stocked in a whole-number UOM (for example EA) shows a fractional on-hand such as 20.5, and Quantity Adjustment won’t let you remove the 0.5 because the UOM doesn’t allow decimals.

Cause: a conversion or an old transaction left a fraction in the bin. The quantity adjustment screen validates the adjustment quantity against the UOM’s rounding, so it can’t enter the fraction needed.

Fix: use a single-part cycle count as above and count the bin as 0. Posting the count writes an adjustment for the full on-hand, fraction included. Then add the correct whole quantity back with a normal quantity adjustment (or count the real quantity directly if you’re confident in it).

Related pages

• Negative inventory and on-hand problems
• Inventory transaction types