An inventory auditor monitors inventory, checks for losses, develops organizational strategies, and works with personnel to ensure goods are handled properly. They may cover multiple facilities and need a bachelor’s degree or relevant experience. The job requires physical counting, loss control, and familiarity with a company’s inventory and management system. Good ethics are essential, and employers carefully vet auditors to ensure integrity.
An inventory auditor monitors inventory in a warehouse, store or similar facility. This includes checking for losses, developing organizational strategies and working with a company’s personnel to ensure that goods are handled properly. Employers can assign an inventory auditor to cover multiple facilities, such as a chain of convenience stores in a given region. A bachelor’s degree in business or relevant experience in inventory control and development may be required. Industry-specific training can be very helpful.
Part of the job requires physically counting inventory and updating numbers. The inventory auditor checks daily sales and delivery reports along with statements about product movement and reconciles them with the actual contents of the facility. If there are disparities, it may be necessary to investigate to find out why. A laptop or tablet computer can be used for this purpose to allow for quick data entry and updating.
Loss control can be another aspect of the job. This includes better organization to make items easier to find, as well as proactive measures to prevent theft. Small items can be easy targets, requiring careful monitoring and positioning to keep theft levels low. For example, a retailer can easily place pocket-sized products on the register to make it difficult for customers to notice. In a large warehouse visited only by company personnel, other measures can be implemented to limit opportunities for theft.
Incoming items can be entered by an inventory auditor, who can also perform random checks on shipping and receiving. These checks determine that all products are being registered, registered properly, and routed to the correct location. They also confirm that shipments contain the right products, are properly packaged, and include documentation to record inventory movement. An inventory auditor can review the statements for signs of abnormalities that might indicate fraud or other questionable activity.
This job requires familiarity with a company’s inventory, knowledge of the management system, and good ethics. The inventory auditor is one of the people in the chain charged with protecting the financial interests of a company. If that person has a conflict of interest, that could be a concern, potentially resulting in a situation like covering up or actively activating the theft. Employers carefully vet their auditors and may periodically rotate or check in with them to ensure they are still behaving with integrity on the job. Partnering with other auditors and double-checking work independently can also help preserve the integrity of audit reports.
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