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Inventory

Inventory...the one part of our job that is actually tangible, literally. How does it work? Well, we usually send out a staff associate to do a "sample count", i.e. counting a sample of the company's inventory and matching it to what the company has a listed in its count sheet. And then we look at their count sheet, select a sample, and make sure that it actually exists on the floor. Obviously, the procedures differ by firm. But man, do we count some weird shit sometimes. People have counted gold bars, sushi, oil, massage chairs, semiconductors, vegetables, dangerous biochemicals, gym equipment..shit, I can go on. We've walked into warehouses, freezers, shipyards, etc. etc. etc. It's fascinating, and I kinda like it, just because you get to see what exactly the company sells and how the whole inventory process works.

This is also a complex audit account, one that the senior auditor usually works on (not the count), and boy, it is a pain to audit. I'd rather count than audit inventory.
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jaycee05 said…
My prof's favorite story of inventory counting was at a time when she was sent out to count caskets at a funeral home. lol. We did an audit spoof video as a project for her class and our imaginary client was a sperm bank. We used vanilla flavoured yogurt for our "samples" XD
July 15, 2008 at 6:11 PM
notfordisplay said…
that's funny, ah the stuff you can pull in college. Miss those days.
July 15, 2008 at 7:08 PM
Anonymous said…
I counted false teeth a couple of years ago for a company that made them for dentures and bridges. They had "standard" issue teeth in all shapes, sizes, and yes colors and then they did customized teeth if you wanted to pay more.

Another fun one was Kroger (the grocery store). I was counting food on the shelf while people shopped. It was quite frustrating to count the item and then compare to the sheet and find out you were off and it was because someone just put a can in their shopping cart.
January 13, 2009 at 9:22 PM
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