Square for Retail: How can I remove items that are returned to wholesaler from inventory?

[PrezziesSL]

I need to adjust stock for items that are returned to the wholesaler.  I only see loss, damage, recount which don't apply.  I need them removed from my inventory and COGS/reports.

Thanks.

[Helen · Accepted solution]

Hello @PrezziesSL! You can edit the historical adjustment that you set when you received the stock.

To record items that were returned - but were not a loss - go to the Items section of your online Dashboard > then click Inventory Management > and click History. For the date you received this stock, edit the original received amount as needed (deduct the amount you returned to the wholesaler from the amount you entered as received ). When you save your changes these items will no long be part of your Square inventory. 

I hope this helps! If you have any questions reply here to let me know. 

[SeminolePool]

This seems like a very ponderous method for returning inventory. Other inventory management systems I've used have allow for negative quantities to be put on a purchase order to the vendor, effectively removing the inventory for credit. Is that something that can be added to Square?

As it stands, I'm supposed to change the quantity received on the original purchase order, which if I'm understanding correctly, will also change the dollar amount total for the purchase order, which will mean the bill and payments in our accounting won't match that purchase order anymore. It seems like this is going to create a major headache on the accounting end when we try to reconcile purchases and returns at the end of the year. Am I missing something vital, or does this sound accurate?

[nestnbower]

We have lots of vendors wherein we return merchandise for various reasons.  We've been doing a recount in these situations and it has screwed up of COG report.  How can we correct the items wherein a recount was done?

[JJ_]

This sounds like a good question for our Retail team, @nestnbower

They can take a look at your situation to help shine a light here, as they are able to look at your account alongside you in order to pinpoint what's the best way to help here. Please reach out by phone or email when you have a moment by logging into your Square account and heading here.

P.S. Welcome to the Seller Community ✨

[emtemt]

yes there need to be an RMA/ returns manager to return defective and or bad items to the vendor. this is a big miststep for square retail. we are trying to get rid of another system (repairshopr) which has this feature built is as do most retail software.

[JJ_]

This is a great idea @emtemt  I recommend you visit our Ideate boards to see if it has been requested and if it hasn't, please submit a Feature Request here. This will help our product team get visibility and track other Sellers' interest in your request. 

Important: When submitting a request, make sure to include the desired feature, and provide the details of how this feature will help your business succeed (how would you use it and what you expect from it).

[nestnbower]

I did this and they were not able to shine a light on this issue. 

[JLSGLG]

YES! IT MESSES UP EVERYTHING! 

We have always been able to change stock received to zero until recently. I need to go back in time to edit historical data so my COGS is correct. Recounts do their own weird math to determine the cost of the items you are reducing or adding. Unless your item is the exact same price every single time, which doesn’t happen for anyone, all recounts do is mess up your COGS. There are very large implications of not being able to edit inventory in the way need. 

Here is an example for Square:  

I received (1) unit of a particular item three times this year. The first and second unit  both cost $15.50. The third unit cost $9. Each time these were entered as (1) item received. One of the first $15.50 units was accidently entered twice. We sold all three items. Our COGS now says three items were sold with a $15.50 cost and we have (1) remaining at $9. I need to change the stock received for one of those $15.50 items to ZERO so both my COGS and in stock amount is correct. A recount will either remove the $9 item or give the removed item some random cost Square auto-calculates. In either case, my COGS is currently, and will continue to be incorrect.

Now multiply that problem by thousands of items and thousands of dollars for various reasons. This is not a minor problem. (I shouldn’t have to explain why there are so many problems with our inventory and why we need a recount. But so that you and Square can get a sense of  our reality, 90% of our items do not come with SKUs. We have to create them on our own and sticker each item individually. This can get very confusing. We also have reorganized and had a lot of problems with shipments, so items were returned or not received.)

My burning question to Square is why they made this change. Why are you restraining my ability to edit my inventory in the way I need to? You know nothing about my business's unique needs and it's not your job to police my inventory. I pay you for the ability to manage my own inventory on a useful platform that gives me an accurate picture of my revenue, taxes, and COGS. You are failing to do ALL of those things by not letting me change my inventory received to zero. My COGS are totally screwed up because of your arbitrary rules.

CHANGE THIS BACK SO I CAN MANAGE MY INVENTORY IS THE WAY I NEED TO! (God I'm so PO'd about this. It's one ridiculous thing after another with this POS.)

[247ChristianFam]

I have this exact same problem. I know my COGS is wrong, but I don’t even know where the problem is. I recently just did a full inventory and, right now my inventory numbers are correct. But I am trying to figure out why I am showing a $16k loss for the year of 2022 when I know that didn’t happen? Is it because when I return items to the vendor I adjust the inventory by choosing “Inventory Recount” on the item returned? 

[nestnbower]

This action worked until a few weeks ago.  Now, Square will not let me adjust stock received to zero (in History).  I called Square for assistance and they told me to use the "Return" option.  That will add to my inventory which is not what I want to do.  What happened?  Why can't I I adjust my stock number in History?

[JLSGLG]

I noticed this problem about two weeks ago. I kept thinking it was a glitch but I see you had this problem many months ago. Square - what's going on? I have a couple dozen items that I cannot edit and it's coming into the holidays. I need this fixed ASAP.

Note: I will NOT do a recount as it is permanent. I also will NOT upload an inventory spreadsheet because it becomes a recount, not inventory received.

(Why can't you edit recounts? It defies logic. Hundreds and hundreds of my inventory items have been completely screwed up for over four years because I didn't fill an inventory spreadsheet correctly. I also didn't know inventory spreadsheet quantities become a recount, not inventory received (something the tutorial REALLY needs to make extremely explicit) and recounts can't be edited. Truly looking for an answer because I have asked about recounts a few times over the last four years and I have been ignored every single time.

[HauntedBookShop]

I run a bookstore and it's a regular part of our business  model to return unsold books to our publishers/vendors. There doesn't seem to be a good choice, however, in the inventory reason drop-down for adjusting the stock numbers? What does everyone do?

[grove121]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: inventory edit of returned to vendor items

How do I adjust inventory for items I returned to the vendor? I do not see that option in the drop down menu of reasons for adjusted inventory?

Thanks

[Helen]

Hello @grove121, I'm so sorry that your post hasn't been answered! I've merged your question to this thread where you can read the currentworkaround to manage items returned to vendor with Square for Retail.

Apologies again! 

[SeminolePool]

Is there an actual solution to this issue yet that doesn't involve altering past purchase orders? Or are we still using the "workaround" from over two years ago?

[GLG]

Helen-

We don't need a "workaround." We need to be able to adjust our inventory received to ZERO. We used to be able to, why can't we anymore? I have nearly 100 items with positive inventory that we don't actually have and 100 items with negative inventory because we sold it. I NEED to move ALL of my stock received (and not all but one item) from the positive items to the negative items so everything is accurate. Not being able to change stock received to zero means I have 100 items with (1) item in stock and 100 items with (-1) items in stock. What good is that!?

More importantly Square is making it IMPOSSIBLE to file my taxes correctly. My inventory count is messed up which means I will over or under report COGS and that will effect my deductions and profit margin and if I owe the government tax money or not. Ultimately, my taxes WILL be messed up (it's just a matter of how messed up) and Square seems to not give a crap. 

This is a big deal and it needs to be dealt with RIGHT NOW. All of Square's customers need to be able to edit their inventory history without limitations. We've been able to change inventory received to zero for years and years. What possible reason could Square have for taking away such a vital feature? How am I supposed to run my business properly?

[inletwoodshole]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: How do you adjust inventory for stock returned to the vendor?

I was wondering the same thing.  Have not found a good answer yet.

[Helen]

I'm so sorry that we missed your post @HauntedBookShip and thanks for the 'bump' @intelwoodshold!

You're right that there isn't a specific inventory reason for stock returned that is returned to the vendor - that is a feature request that the Retail team is tracking. 

In the meantime, I shared a workaround in another thread - How can I remove items that are returned to the wholesaler from inventory?

I hope this helps!

[JLSGLG]

A workaround is not acceptable. Why can't we change our inventory history to zero anymore? It has always worked until sometime this year. It makes no sense that you would limit my ability to manage my inventory and then tell me to use a workaround. UNACCEPTABLE! 

Seriously, why was this changed and when are you going to put it back in place?

[OOTHOON]

I, too, need this feature added. Hopefully if enough of us ask for it, we will get it. Square< please add a menu choice to remove times from inventory that doesn't involve adjusting the original purchase order. It really is a different thing and would accounting problems to do it that way.