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Spreadsheet Retail Inventory

Action: INVIMPORT

This form is used to by ProfitSystem to import inventory into ProfitSystem. This is a great tool for NEW users to quickly add their store's inventory.

Create your vendor list and category file list in the ProfitSystem system before starting to import inventory. This is not required but recommended. When creating categories within ProfitSystem (product departments) accounting classes are automatically created and given the identical code as the category.

Data may be keyed directly into the Import Inventory grid OR loaded from an 5.0/95 excel spreadsheet, (ProfitSystem Version 12 & newer supports CSV file formats) . Inventory imports may be performed as often as needed. Each import is appended to existing inventory.

The import, when processing via the Add to Inventory function looks carefully at the vendor style code. QOH of the items being imported is added to existing QOH of items in inventory with the same vendor style code.

The minimum data required is the Vendor Style, Vendor code and Category. However we recommend the minimum being Vendor Style, Category, Color, Size, Description, Price 1, QOH & Vendor Code/ID

If size or color are not entered, ProfitSystem will auto-create a sized named NA. (short for non applicable). If a accounting class is not specified, ProfitSystem will attempt to locate the matching class for the category and if it cannot, it will auto create a matching category account class (meaning it will create one with the same name as the category).

New vendors, categories and accounting classes are created with default settings. Each newly created item's settings should be reviewed.

Our preferred import method, is to enter items for a single category and vendor for each Import leaving the category & vendor code columns blank. ProfitSystem will prompt for for the category & Vendor when the ADD to Inventory form button is clicked . Once the category & vendor are selected ProfitSystem will import each row. It will automatically add the vendor & category codes to each inventory item as it is inserted into the inventory file. After the import you can run a inventory listing report by category and/or vendor to check the data. This approach is optional, but we find superior for reduced manual errors. You may instead enter vendor & category code for each item and enter the whole store's inventory if you prefer.

During Add to inventory processing ProfitSystem will create a store style for each row in the grid and if the same vendor style appears twice with different colors, sizes or widths it will simply add the additional colors/sizes quantity to the same store style code. When a vendor code or category is entered within the import that does not exist in ProfitSystem, it will prompt for confirmation to add the new vendor or category codes to the appropriate file.

Click the ADD to Inventory button when completed entering / importing rows of styles, colors & widths. ProfitSystem will prompt for for the category & Vendor Code/ID/ Once the category & vendor are selected ProfitSystem will import each row. It will create a store style (if a store style was not entered/imported) for each row in the grid.

The retail factor and plus for new items will be set from the Vendor and Category of each imported style, and if none is found there, then from the Category for the imported style. If the price column is not filled it, it will computed using the reorder cost * retail factor + plus.

Note on Store Style Numbers

When entering your own style numbers the Store style numbers should be unique for different vendor style / vendor code/id combinations per row. For example you have 3 different size / color combinations for the same vendor style and vendor. Each of these should ideally have the same store style, otherwise the Add to Inventory processing will create multiple inventory entries. This works but would require the operator to view multiple inventory entries for analysis of the same vendor and vendor style.

Using a eXcel spreadsheet to add inventory to the grid for import

All rows of the spreadsheet will be added during the load. Delete any unwanted rows such as the column headings. Once a Spreadsheet is imported the Import Grid column headings should be modified to match the data within the newly added column. Select ignore to skip any un-wanted columns.

Review the Quick Inventory Add learning Video for more information.

Note:

For multi-store installations, ProfitSystem will prompt for the store to add the item's quantity on hand to.

Best Practice

The best way to import inventory is to create a separate spreadsheet for each vendor and category. So, you'd have one spreadsheet for Amsale bridal, and a separate spreadsheet for Amsale bridesmaids, for example. When you import each spreadsheet, it will detect that the spreadsheet has no category or vendor and prompt for both when you click Add to Inventory. Make sure the spreadsheet has these columns, in this order:

  • Vendor style (the Vendor's Style Number for the item)
  • Size (size of item)
  • Color (the color of the item)
  • Description
  • Price #1 (retail selling price #1)
  • QOH (quantity-on-hand of item)

  • Reorder Cost (the per-unit cost of the item)

  • Click Load Excel File and select your spreadsheet. It will loaded into the grid.

  • You can use the Delete Selected Row button to remove any bad rows.
  • Make sure everything looks Ok, and click Add to Inventory. It will prompt for the Category and Vendor, and then add the inventory to the system.
  • You can then repeat the process for the other spreadsheets.

Buttons

Delete Selected Row... Highlight any row of data within the grid. Clicking this button will delete it permanently from the grid.

Load Excel File... Allows a user to import data into an empty grid from an Excel spreadsheet file. Once the data is loaded the user should select the proper column headings for the data by using the column name drop downs above each grid field column. If the a field does not exist that matches the data, just select the IGNORE column name and the system will skip that column's data during the insert. Data within the spreadsheet that is longer than the maximum allowed will be truncated.

The spreadsheet file MUST be saved as an 'Excel 5.0/95 Workbook' file format. You can easily do this by loading your spreadsheet into Excel, selecting 'Save as...', then selecting 'Excel 5.0/95 Workbook (*.xls)' as the file format.

The Color field in ProfitSystem is 10 characters long. If the name of the Color in your spreadsheet is longer than 10 characters, the name will be truncated upon import. You may wish to abbreviate your longer Color names in your spreadsheet prior to importing.

Load CSV File... Allows a user to import data from a comma delimited text file. The rows in the file should look like the following: 'ABC', 12.00,'Description'

Add to Inventory... Takes the data within the grid and inserts it into the inventory file, then DELETEs the data within the grid. Once clicked ProfitSystem will check the data and if it identifies any issues it will display a message and stop the import and allow the entered data issues to be corrected within the grid by the operator. Once corrected, simply click he Add to Inventory button again and repeat the process until all issues are corrected and the import completes.

Close... This exits the form, saving the data within the grid. The data will re-appear the next time the form is opened.

If you are using the ProfitSystem Online, you can still import from Excel or CSV files

To setup your local RDS/RDC software just start it and 1. Click Show Options to let all the options appear
2. Click Local Resouces tab 3. Under Local devices and resources, click More 5. Make sure Drives is checked 6. Click Ok 7. Click Connect to connect

Once you're connected, click Load CSV File or Load Excel File. In the File selection dialog, choose 'C on [computer]' and navigate to the file you'd like to load Click Ok to load the file.

Now, within the ProfitSystem, when you ask to import a excel file for the Inventory Import the Windows file browser will appear and allow you to navigate to your local drive and to choose the file to import.