Both of us haven’t had a thorough stocktake at the office for the longest time but no a single at the management level seemed to stress out so damn much about it, however, a recent asset audit revealed a worrying trend at the office, then our supplier trades in household component so options of mangle, theft, and inventory misappropriation is high; When the external audit team arrived, they started with the most sensitive department of the company – the store, and as big part of the internal audit team, I was tasked with overseeing that the audit of the heating and cooling component went on smoothly.
When I presented the audit team with the inventory register, they started by identifying each and every item a single by a single.
I had to be on standby to give an explanation about stock changes for most items such as the washable filter, wireless thermostat, hot water boiler, and whole-home air purifier… Larger items like the oil gas furnace and propane boiler were only supplied when it was needed. All seemed well documented except for new Heating, Ventilation, and A/C systems that were supplied a few months back. When the air conditioner serviceman could not explain the stock movement for items and parts he uses for air conditioner repair service, Heating, Ventilation, and A/C repair and HVAC duct cleaning, the audit traced gaps all the way to the air conditioner contractor… The severity of the matter caught the attention of the supervisors who recommended an explanation of how internal controls are implemented to capture movement of most incoming and outgoing equipment. When the final audit revealed that at least parts of the quality a/c went missing with every requisition, both the serviceman and the storekeeper were dismissed. All other controls have since been tightened and measures taken have resulted in better inventory management.