Expiration date at stock count

Items with an expiration date must be counted per lot, and the expiration date must be right when the count is posted. Even so, it is not obvious where you enter the date in BC, and it depends on how the warehouse is set up. The article shows what standard does in journals and in physical inventory orders, and what you should check yourself. Here is a short guide. You also get a checklist.

Journal or document

BC can count stock in two ways. One is the Phys. Inventory Journal and, for locations with directed put-away and pick, the Whse. Phys. Inventory Journal. The other is documents: the Physical Inventory Order with its recordings. The documents give more control and can be split between several employees, but they cannot be used if the warehouse uses zones.

Expiration date in journals

According to Microsoft Learn, the fields for lot, serial number, warranty date and expiration date are available in the Whse. Phys. Inventory Journal on locations with directed put-away and pick when item tracking is switched on. The entry is registered, and afterwards you synchronise with the item ledger entries.

In an ordinary Item Journal you can switch on Item Tracking on Lines on the journal batch. Then the fields Lot No., Serial No., Expiration Date and Warranty Date are available on the line. This can also be done through Edit in Excel.

Expiration date in physical inventory orders

On a Physical Inventory Order, the field Use Item Tracking is switched on automatically if the item has an item tracking code. There is then one line per lot number or serial number on the recording, and you use Copy Line to create them. The expected quantity per lot can be seen under the item tracking lines.

Learn's description of recording documents mentions lot, serial number and package number. Expiration date is not mentioned for the recording lines. That does not mean the field is missing, but we have not been able to confirm it. Check it yourself on a recording line in a test environment.

Correcting the expiration date afterwards

If the expiration date is wrong on a lot, it can be corrected in the Reclassification Journal. Select the lot number, and enter the new expiration date in the New Expiration Date field. Read the rules carefully:

If you correct the expiration date on the same lot number, the whole lot must be reclassified on one journal line.
If several lots are combined into one new lot, they must all get the same new expiration date.
If a lot is moved to an existing lot with a different expiration date, you must use the existing lot's date.
If the New Expiration Date field is empty, the lot is reclassified with an empty expiration date.

Checklist before counting perishable items

Make sure every item has an item tracking code with lot and expiration date. Test whether your counting flow shows the expiration date for the lots being counted. Decide who may correct dates. And be aware that differences in a lot can also be caused by incorrect receiving and not by the count.

Why the date matters

The expiration date controls which lots are suggested first on outbound transactions. Learn mentions that items with the earliest expiration date are suggested first when you reclassify, and there is a method called picking by FEFO. A wrong date can therefore lead to scrapped goods, wrong deliveries or an incorrect valuation. That is why it is worth getting the date right already at the count and not only when the customer complains. Take a spot check of lots with close dates before each close, and compare the physical label with the date in BC.

The idea on our list

The idea of registering the expiration date directly on count orders and recordings has 235 votes at Microsoft. At Addverk we collect ideas for small apps that could close gaps like this. They are ideas we are considering, not something you can download or buy today. The list of 30 ideas is on the Coming up page, and you can see which of them look like what you are missing yourselves.