Our general manager is responsible for determining which items to sell and the price for each
item. Every Friday, he reviews 20 percent of the inventory using the Gross Sales by Item report
to verify that the price charged is still appropriate (i.e., still accurate and consistent with current
market conditions). The report lists the current price, quantity sold in the last month, current
cost, and the profit margin. The general manager reviews the list and notes on the report any
changes. If there are any items that should be discontinued, he marks those out on the sheet of
paper. The general manager then gives the marked up list to his assistant to key the changes
into the system. After the assistant keys the changes into the system, an Inventory Change
Report is generated. The Change Report is compared to the general manager’s notes by the
store manager to verify that all changes were captured. The store manager also reviews the
changes for reasonableness (i.e., no negative profit margins). The store manager signs the
Change Report and returns it to the assistant. The Change Report and Sales by Item report are
retained for audit purposes by the assistant.
When a new item is added to the inventory by the inventory personnel, the general manager
determines the appropriate price based on the price of similar items. The general manager
must price the item prior to it being available for purchase so pricing is completed when the
new inventory item is added. Most items are sold at a 10-15% markup. If no price is entered
into the system, it will sell the item at a 10% markup over cost. Once a price is set, the store
manager reviews and approves the price via email to the assistant. The owner must approve
any items that are sold at a profit margin of 5% or less. The owner’s approval is communicated
via email. Once this approval is obtained, the general manager’s assistant then enters the price
into the master price listing that is used by both the FastChecker and FFD systems. A Master File
change report is produced monthly listing all changes made and is reviewed by the store
manager. The assistant maintains documentation of all price approvals for new items for audit
purposes.
The master list of items is stored in the FastChecker system. A list of changes is automatically
imported into the FFD system overnight. The IT technician monitors the batch processing of
price changes and new prices being entered for completion. Any errors are investigated and
resolved in a timely manner.