Retail and distribution
Inventory Control Guide for Ghanaian Retailers
A practical look at the stock controls that keep a growing retailer or distributor from running out, or overordering.
The two failure modes of inventory
Most stock problems fall into one of two categories: running out of a fast-moving item because nobody noticed it was low, or tying up cash in slow-moving stock that was reordered out of habit rather than need. Both are visibility problems, not purchasing problems.
Controls worth putting in place
- A reorder point per item, so low stock is visible before it becomes a lost sale.
- One live total across every warehouse, so a transfer between locations does not create a blind spot.
- An approval step between a purchase request and an actual order, so spending stays controlled.
- Stock movements tied to the business activity that caused them, not entered separately after the fact.
How Rock Frost Inventory and Procurement handles this
On-hand quantity is totalled live across every warehouse and compared against each item's reorder point automatically. Purchase requests move through an approval workflow before becoming purchase orders, and transfers that exceed available stock, or that are sent to the same warehouse, are rejected automatically. Inventory also reads tax codes directly from Accounting, so purchases and stock movements use the same tax treatment as the rest of your books.
Frequently asked questions
Can Rock Frost manage more than one warehouse?
Yes. Stock is tracked per warehouse, with transfers between locations and one live total across all of them.
Do purchases require approval before they are placed?
Yes. Purchase requests go through an approval workflow before becoming purchase orders.