Field notes · 17 March 2026
Inventory Observation Notes for Trading Firms with Multiple Warehouses
What to expect when auditors attend stock counts across several storage sites in the same closing week.
When goods sit in three or four rented warehouses, count timing matters as much as count accuracy. We ask for cut-off instructions that freeze shipping at each site for a defined window.
Provide floor plans, last cycle-count results, and the names of staff who own each location. Auditors attending one site while your team counts another still need a way to reconcile inter-warehouse transfers on the count date.
Slow-moving lots and consignment stock deserve separate tags. Misclassified consignments create both overstated inventory and understated liabilities—errors that appear late if no one walks the aisle with the listing.
After observation, we compare count sheets to the perpetual records and discuss roll-forward procedures to the balance-sheet date. Keeping shipping documents for the roll-forward period in one binder saves hours of later searching.