Posts by Jessica Grant56

Anyway, ladies—(is anyone even still reading this??)—I feel like I’ve been suffocating you all with my mundane, amateurish, and honestly kind of pointless material management headaches.

So, here’s the latest puzzle I’ve stumbled upon—of course, once again involving the inventory side of Oracle. If you recall, the government forced us to update our sales tax back at the end of February. (Kudos to them, I guess, though they really could have just waited until January 1st, right??) I thought we handled it pretty smoothly over at Pupilla; I just voided the stock and then re-entered it with the updated tax rates. Everything seemed fine, but I had no idea that doing that would trigger a discrepancy of—you guessed it—$0.00. My balance is positive. Now, sitting on my wholesale cost of goods sold, I’ve got this extra $0.00 just hanging there. It keeps looping through my year-end closing processes, trying to roll over into next year—but I don't need it to. And that account goes straight into my retirement fund.

It doesn't seem worth it, and honestly, it looks like I can't even fix it by messing with the debits and credits—meaning I can't get rid of that dollar.

So I’m asking you—because you guys definitely know this, even if I don't: if I use a journal entry to clear out that amount from account 710, where on earth do I dump the offset?? Dealing with inventory math is driving me insane...

Richard Howard55 said:Maybe that works, but probably not for Jessica Grant56.

Come on, Jessica Grant56, since everyone’s already gathered here to hang out with you, just be specific. Stop using vague terms like MP or VP or "services"...

What are you actually using for billing?
A POS system?
Cash receipts?
An Invoice Document?
A Delivery Note?
Approvals?
A prepayment invoice?
A voided prepayment invoice?

Something else? ........

Just list exactly what you use so we can "construct" an internal workflow. I mean, from the physical locations down to the payment devices and the processors. 🙂

The POS terminal?
Cash receipt? Well, obviously the one issued by the Clover system
An invoice?
A Delivery Note?
Approval?
A deposit invoice?
A voided deposit invoice?

I think that covers it.

Though, I was digging through the Oracle manual and noticed you can actually mix goods and services on an Invoice Document—which makes sense, really, since Oracle just pulls the product data from the Delivery Note attached to the invoice, so it doesn't actually care what the invoice itself says. But—for me, it matters where the revenue from goods goes versus service revenue, so I still need to double-check that part.

That said, it’s definitely faster and easier to just write up a Delivery Note, but I’m worried that if I do, the stuff I mentioned above won't work properly? I really need to test that out.

I know accountants don't usually deal with this level of detail—most of them probably wouldn't even know how—and honestly, invoices and delivery notes are just a physical headache. But anyway, I'm throwing these questions out there because I think it helps you see where users actually get stuck. For me, it's like this: I've learned enough bookkeeping to manage everything pretty well with a little help here and there, and I KNOW what I'm doing. But the actual paperwork? That's three times more of a struggle for me!!

And man, customers ask the wildest things! Like: "I carry silicone products, and the expiration date passed... How and WHEN do I write that off??" Is it an extraordinary inventory adjustment at any point during the year, or does the end-of-year audit just tally it all up? I assume it's the latter...

Hey there, kind soul—I’ll definitely pay this favor back one day once I actually figure out a bit more about this stuff...

Regarding the retail side, it's pretty straightforward: just the Square terminal, tax filing, and 1/1/1. So, the first hurdle is cleared.

Now, I have a VP, and specifically the type where we pull inventory from the shop floor (which came in via the NBA) and sell it through the VP. To be clear—assuming you guys are using Oracle—I pull the stock from Retail II into Salesforce and generate the invoice right there in Oracle, not at the actual storefront. For instance, if we're talking about invoice #1, it would look like this:

Is it 1/2/1??

Next up: the VP handling standard wholesale. For certain items—pretty niche stuff like maintenance parts that are strictly bank transfers—we record the warehouse intake upon receipt, and again, I write the invoice through Oracle. It looks like this:

Maybe 1/3/1???

Then there are my service jobs, which are also handled solely via bank transfer. Would that fall under 1/4/1??

That’s how I’ve been running things so far, though Oracle tends to act up sometimes because of all the different inventory movements—it occasionally gets its wires crossed. Like, it might book an invoice incorrectly. I just spot it, fix it, and move on. No biggie.

If that's the way it works, fine—but it honestly trips me out a little that one physical space and one computer are basically acting as three different locations (and three different "payment terminals"?). Though, from what I can see, there isn't anyone else involved! So, does that mean for you, every single user counts as a separate location and a separate payment device?? It’s a bit confusing, but I guess it makes sense and is probably the only way to do it. At least for us. But what about them?? There are clearly a lot of unanswered questions here; everything feels a bit rushed and lacks the specific details of my setup—or yours, for that matter. But hey, that's why we have this forum—if the standard way doesn't work, we'll just keep posting until we find our own way.

Richard Howard55 said:You define the spaces however you want. The only rule is that you have to assign a different business space number to any satellite locations.
If I have multiple business activities at the exact same location, I don't need to split up the business spaces; it’s enough that the payment devices have different ID numbers (which is why Oracle "won't listen" to you).

You enter the actual stock levels, the machine runs the inventory, and it shows the surpluses and shortages...
Then it analyzes the deficit. It takes into account all the adjustments you made throughout the year, calculates the potential shrinkage, and subtracts what was already accounted for (though it won't count anything that an IRS agent witnessed).
Whatever is left over is considered an unauthorized shortage and is taxable.
The whole calculation is based on quantities. It takes the shortage (qty) compared to the sales outflow (qty) for every single item.
( 🙂 please don't start with me about what constitutes shrinkage, or I'm done talking. 🙂🙂 )

Thanks, you're a lifesaver. But look—here's the deal: I actually did enter that (see my previous post), using 1/1/1 for Retail II, and then 1/2/2 for VP. But now, I have services under 1/2/2 too, because they’re processed on the SAME register as the VP in the Oracle software. When I tried to set it up, it wouldn't work—it won't recognize 1/2/2 twice since it's the SAME terminal and the SAME space. And now you're saying I should put every terminal under its own number? So the same Oracle setup would be terminal 1, 2, and 3?? I'm honestly not sure if I should do that. Even though it's just one single terminal (Oracle), it acts as multiple warehouses—all within the same room!

Forget about regular versus extraordinary shrinkage for a second; I get that part, it's clear, and I'm not asking for help with it. (Just a side note: the machine doesn't actually calculate the surplus or shortage; you enter those manually during inventory, and the machine just spits out the totals based on what you typed in).

But how on earth am I supposed to record shrinkage when I have those famous 3,000 individual items, and shrinkage has to be entered manually? How am I meant to log: shrinkage of 1 screw, shrinkage of 3 screws, shrinkage of 2 screws?? And then there are the tiny bits: shrinkage of 0.3 of a screw, or 0.4 of a screw... This might sound specific, but it’s reality. It's a maddening way to work. If I have to go item by item, I'm looking at roughly 2,500 different products... By all accounts, this feels like a mission impossible.
There's one more thing: even though there are thousands of shortages, there are just as many surpluses. It's almost entirely just sales errors, which makes total sense for items where the difference might only be, say, 0.5mm. When I looked at the total surplus versus the total shortage, they nearly cancel each other out—with just a tiny adjustment, they'd be identical. So technically, there isn't a net shortage because the surplus covers it, but... will the program even see that? It'll just dump the shortage into the shrinkage category, while I'm left trying to justify the surplus... Maybe with this kind of inventory, shrinkage just isn't practical, even though it definitely happens (due to breakage and waste)!

Am I making more sense now??

Are you ladies actually pulling my leg here?? Because I am honestly struggling so much over here—everything feels like such a massive headache right now...

Richard Howard55 said:As for the in-kind pay, they said it can still stay on one single pay stub, and they're talking in circles about the new forms. April 1st, July 1st, January 1st, 2014... then the IMF starts being vague again. It feels like maybe that retroactive thing is actually on the table.

For now, I’ve decided to sit tight for another two weeks, until the deadline for the regulation in the Federal Register.
It seems obvious that consulting firms have had eyes on this for ages and are probably suggesting improvements while things are being drafted, but apparently, there's a strict gag order until the official announcement. I get the feeling they already know plenty and are just keeping their mouths shut.

I'll be issuing invoices on behalf of clients—basically acting as their separate business entity, payment terminal, and operator using their company's SSN. That's how they explained it at the seminar.

And when I'm working for myself, there will definitely be a separate payment terminal (a completely different sequence of invoices).

Is that really what they told you?? It sounds like a recipe for trouble once the first IRS audit hits and they start asking, "Who exactly gave you that advice?" But honestly, I'm leaning toward that same conclusion. Every other interpretation just feels like overcomplicating things and stripping away someone's right to run a business. And since you brought it up—what about the managing director? Are they allowed to issue invoices, and if so, what kind??

So, here's the thing... I tried setting up four different warehouses, but it's just not working. What I actually attempted was assigning a specific payment terminal to each warehouse—essentially saying they "share a virtual business space." In reality, though, it's all running off one single PC—the same one used for all the VPs and service invoices, which aren't subject to fiscalization.

When I asked Oracle to process that data—it just won't work. It simply refuses to accept the numbering logic, like having 1/1/1, then 1/2/1, then 1/2/1 again and so on. In practice, there are really only two billing spaces: one for Retail II where everything is fiscalized (that's Space 1, Register 1), and the second one for bookkeeping covers everything else. So, how do you think you're supposed to issue invoices from the exact SAME space? I don't think it's possible.

I know we were trying to bend the rules a little, but I'm still stuck... I'm probably going to have to take a hit on margins again. Dealing with so many low-cost items is a nightmare—it's almost an impossible mission. Anyway, tell me, what was the final takeaway if you remember? My memory is a bit fuzzy on this one...

I think I just lost my mind.

Not a single soul checking in... either everyone is slammed with work, or there’s just nothing to say. Man, this is quiet.

placidlynx92 said:If it were that simple—just shaving off 1% of gross sales and calling it a day—we’d all be sitting pretty. But it doesn't work like that here, because then you and I would both be getting rich off shrinkage 😉 without ever breaking a sweat.
It seems to me that meat wholesalers probably account for this right at the point of entry, though I don't know the specifics of their books. For retail sectors like clothing or footwear, where you're juggling thousands of different SKUs, these IRS guidelines are such a bureaucratic nightmare that most people probably just ignore them entirely.
To be honest, I'm past the point of caring. I'll be closing up my shop soon—definitely before the next round of digital tax reporting hits, though not because of those regulations specifically—after 22 years in the game. Right now, I'm just focused on liquidating inventory as efficiently as possible, trying to minimize losses while this whole agonizing process winds down... 😢

It really breaks my heart to hear that. It just goes to show how right I was when I said we were played so hard that everything just went down the drain. Last year, our merger sort of pulled through (well, kind of...), but the way this current one is starting tells you everything you need to know about where things stand. But here’s the thing—closing a storefront in a shopping mall doesn't mean you're free; you're still stuck paying rent and maintenance fees because they won't let you out of that vicious cycle. They have your signature on the contract, and you're trapped. It was a total setup—we were just relieved we managed to pay it all off over 15 years (with 12 good ones, anyway)... but then everything just started falling apart. Now, the kids can't find work, and unemployment is through the roof. At least they managed to scrape together a little something for themselves in the end.

As for inventory shrinkage, I hate fighting with the IRS so much that I usually just cover the difference myself—mostly out of my own pocket. Honestly, about 80% of what's marked as missing ends up being found elsewhere; it's just inevitable errors when you're managing 2,500 different items. We cut our stock by over 1,000 last year, though (and we're still sliding...). It's not that there isn't shrinkage—it's a real loss, obviously—but how are you supposed to account for it when it's just a couple of screws, five nuts, or 12 washers? On items that small? You can't track it per unit; that would be absolute madness. I usually just skip that headache and write it off rather than dealing with the mess. But things have gotten so tight that I'm thinking about cutting the office phone line, too... so if there is $167, I might as well make use of it. That's why I'm trying to make sense of what the lawmakers were actually thinking—if they were even thinking about people like me at all...

I think I’ve managed to dig myself into an even deeper hole here... It’s not surprising, really—we’re dealing with so many tiny little items that there’s just no way to apply a flat 1% rule to every single one. (I mean, if something costs $0.30 and we sell 50 units, how does that even work??) Let’s walk through this step-by-step using the Synesis software:

- The shrinkage and loss will be recorded under accounts 663, 664, and 668. That part makes perfect sense to me.

- We have to reduce the inventory levels for those specific quantities of lost stock, and that’s where the headache starts! See, the instructions say that a physical inventory has already been completed, and all the discrepancies—the shortages and the surpluses—have already been entered. So, according to the books, the counts should be exact. (Well, I hope so...) If I start adding everything to the loss and breakage list now, it feels like it's going to throw the whole system out of whack. Does anyone know a way to handle this without having to manually fix every single line item?

placidlynx92 said:I went through the exact same struggle a few years back. After a lot of trial and error, I settled on creating a list of sold goods (using retail value) categorized by item groups for the allowable shrinkage—for example:
- clothing qty x price = amount
- footwear qty x price = amount
- women's socks qty x price = amount
etc.
following all the standard accounting guidelines.
For each category list, I'd subtract 1%, 1.5%, or 1.8% depending on the specific group, then record the deficit in the ledger and attach the corresponding inventory list.
Now, I’m certainly no professional CPA, so I can't say for sure if this is the textbook way to do it, 😉
but I believe it satisfies the regulatory requirements. At the end of the day, the key is having clear records of sold goods broken down by item type.

Thanks—that’s how I’m looking at it too. Honestly, even if the list gets long—like, over 1,000 items—it doesn't really bother me. My actual headache is that I have tons of individual items with very low values. Up until now, I’ve been handling shrinkage—you know, waste and breakage—in pretty modest amounts, but since the IRS is tightening the screws more and more lately, it actually matters. But if they allow a 1% allowance for shrinkage, what does that actually mean? Does it mean I can write off 1% of my total turnover (net sales?) as loss?

And I really feel like there's this massive gap in this industry between the bookkeepers—and how things actually work in practice! To be blunt: none of them get involved with the physical inventory, so nobody seems to have a concrete, reliable answer. It makes sense, I guess—why would they care about the actual stock? But it leaves this huge gray area that an entrepreneur has to navigate alone, armed with nothing but vague hints like "1%" or some IRS regulations that, frankly, make zero sense to me. I haven't even figured out *what* that 1% is based on. I'm assuming it's 1% of the net sales price of the goods sold?

So, any ladies (or maybe Vlad?) out there have some firsthand knowledge? I'd love to stop guessing around...

If any of my fellow accounting pros out there have figured this one out, please, help a girl out—I feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels for years now!!

It's about inventory shrinkage. We're allowed a 1% margin for loss—but how does that calculation actually work?!? Do I take all the items sold and apply 1% (to the cost price?), or is it based on the retail value? Or is there some other way to do it?

The "little" issue here is that I'm dealing with 1,444 different SKUs, though honestly, I don't care. I can pull subsets if the total sales for a specific item are low enough.

Look, obviously I'm going to hunt down every single penny we can save. Things are so tight at our company right now that we're basically breathing through a straw. And don't even get me started on those extra state income tax hikes—it really killed what little faith I had left in the government. It's why I clipped this headline from the news:

Belgians, Greeks, and Americans face some of the highest labor taxes in the world! DISGRACEFUL!!!!!

It looks like Belgians, Greeks, and Americans are stuck with some of the highest payroll taxes on the planet!

So, let me see if I'm getting this right... Is the surcharge applied only to that 12% tax portion?

1000 VAT 25% 200
800 Sales Tax 20% 160
640 Tax minus 2% = 12% 76.8
563.2 Surcharge 10% 7.68
555.52

Does that actually mean they're stripping away a total of 44.45% from the gross amount?? Or maybe even more than that?

ruggedcyclist74 said:You're mixing up your apples and oranges here... Sales tax is applied to the base, and for that, this formula works fine, but payroll tax is pulled directly from the base, so there's really no need to recalculate the rates.
The 20% payroll tax on $333 comes out to $67, leaving $267 in take-home pay....

I think you might have gotten turned around somewhere... or perhaps I simply misunderstood your initial question... 🤷

Let's just talk layman's terms for a second—that's usually how I make sense of things!! So, basically: HOW MUCH DO I ACTUALLY KEEP if I bill a service for $0.33 gross, after you strip away the sales tax, federal tax, the tax on that payout, and then that extra 10% withholding?? I know that by the time everything is settled, it ends up being half—or sometimes even less than half—of that initial number... I just want a solid figure so when a client looks at me like I'm crazy, I can explain that half goes to me and the other half goes straight to Uncle Sam...

ruggedcyclist74 said:Haha, well, here is the answer from the very person you aren't naming. 😂😂😂
(In my case, my boss handles that part—but that’s a whole other story)

So, if you want to strip the tax out of a total price, it's actually quite straightforward: just divide the total amount by 1.25 (or 1.10, or 1.05... basically, just put the tax percentage after the decimal point) and you'll be left with the pre-tax value.

I am familiar with that other method involving more complex arithmetic you mentioned, but I’d need to sit down and refresh my memory, and frankly, that sounds far too taxing; I much prefer simplifying everything in my life whenever possible.🤣

So, does this mean I can use this logic to figure out what's left of a bill based on the $333 gross amount?

type tax base
1000
-sales tax 7% 70 930
-income tax 20% 186 744
-state tax 12% 89.28 654.72
-service fee 10% 65.47 589.25

First off: can someone please explain how you calculate a 20% tax versus a 12% one? If it helps, show me the math for a 10% jump too... I swear, I’ve lost track of this at least fourteen times now—I try to memorize the decimals (like 18.699187...), but then the formula just flies right out of my head.

Second thing: someone mentioned—and I won't say who—that they don't really bother using the Synesis tool. But that is such a CRITICAL area!! It handles data compression AND it's how we trigger new updates. How else are we supposed to run an update? (Right now, the current Syn setup is 4312—it feels like Pupilla pushes out a new version every three days, whether they're constant fixes or just adding stuff. Or maybe they're messing with us? I literally just ran 4309 a few days ago! Let's just hope it's all improvements and not just bug fixes.

And if you aren't running it through the tool, and it takes forever to update all the books, does that mean every single time you open a book you have to sit there waiting for it to chew through everything it needs to process??

Thirdly: are you guys regularly running your antivirus and Spy software?? Or do you just leave it on autostart? I'd hate to end up hacking into someone's PC just to avoid being locked out myself! Spy programs are dangerous, and viruses are just as bad—there is plenty of junk on the internet, but actual security is hard to find. Especially during a crisis like this, proprietary data from a competitor could be worth a fortune to the wrong person. So—stay sharp!

amberbadger17 said:How often does an owner actually get hauled in just because they’re swapping out a sick employee—especially if you’re like me, stay on top of things and don't mess around with the IRS???? I mean, they basically survive off people like us, dammit. Not every inspector is a total moron. Now, when I really think about it—even though I still get those little jitters (I hate it when they start counting my blood cells; you always end up with too many or too few white blood cells 🙂)—I’ve actually had pretty decent experiences. Seriously.

Besides, if you can't find a way to make it crystal clear that you're doing everything by the book, what's the point?

Of course they aren't all idiots!! Honestly, plenty of them are reasonable and understand that you're barely keeping your head above water. But—there’s always a few idiots in every group. And if you get stuck with one of them, and they hammer you for some stupid rule in the books—it could genuinely ruin you. I honestly don't know where I'd find the money for a massive fine when I'm already struggling to break even at the retail shop!

And I'm not asking for much: I just want them to respect a note saying an employee is on disability (though my guy loves to split things up into five or six different chunks—like building bridges and stuff...) or a doctor's note. If that happens multiple times, I'll take whatever penalty comes my way. It's simple: I just need about 30 days a year to be able to swap staff around. I can even list them out in writing by December 31st and hand it over... Is that really too much to ask from the government??

ruggedcyclist74 said:Hehe, the main thing is that it’s all sorted out now, allowing you to finally head to bed with a sense of peace and equilibrium... 😉
🤣 🤣 🤣

Does she seem a little off to you too?? Just generally speaking—especially over the last couple of weeks.

Honestly, it’s no wonder people are acting out when they have to wade through all the garbage being posted about these new tax compliance laws!! Everything is hanging by a thread right now, and I’m pretty sure the entire business sector everyone is fighting over isn't even 5% of the total economy! It all boils down to one thing: how to steal, how to cheat.

If anyone actually has an answer, please let me know: when my employee (and myself, since I'm the director) goes on vacation, what am I supposed to do as a business owner who is also a retiree and a sole proprietor? I can close up shop—or find someone to cover the register—but under which Tax ID?? That’s my actual dilemma, not some scheme to swipe twenty beers and fourteen cappuccinos. As far as I can tell, there’s no solution yet, but they’re going to have to figure something out—who is going to shut down for 20 or 30 days?? For me, that’s the difference between breaking even and going into the red; right now, at least we're sitting at zero. (It's just our space, one payroll.) Trying to hire someone or rent a college student for 20 days is a pipe dream, because nobody knows their way around 3,000 different items except us "locals." I'm worried I might be forced to take a risk, and if I get hit with a fine—well, I'll see them in human rights court. (?!) I'll sue the government for making it impossible to survive on $0.77 my Social Security, while they keep trying to screw me over.

P.S. I just saw news today that another small fast-food joint closed its doors... it’s just awful, truly awful! And through all this misery, they keep coming up with these total idi... idiot-level tasks for us...

Richard Howard55 said:I'd highly recommend running data compaction regularly. I usually trigger the process for all books (using the F3 tool) and just head home, letting the computer "work" in peace without getting in its way.
Or, when I'm installing a new version, I'll start the full book upgrade and head out for the day too. 😍

See? Told you! I’m totally on board with that suggestion.

And it doesn't even take long—you don't have to do everything she suggested all at once, which would basically make the system chew through every single book in one go. It's enough to just take five minutes whenever you have a breather to say, "hey, compact this book," and just chip away at it. If you're making lunch, you could pretty much stir the pot every time a compaction finishes so nothing burns.

But seriously, I have to wonder: Access databases actually *ask* to be tidied up occasionally, and you guys just... don't? You're leaving them dirty, unwashed, and uncombed?? No wonder a document gets lost in that absolute jungle.

Speaking of which—what kind of gear are you all running? My little Sync needs a CPU with at least a 3GHz dual-core and 4GB of RAM. It's not exactly a Ford, but it holds its own. Trying to run Sync on a weaker setup is enough to drive you crazy. At the end of the day: a CPU around $167, that much RAM, and maybe a decent 500-$200 MB drive. It's not terrible, and you can always upgrade to something faster and better every couple of years. Or... maybe you could. Honestly, I'm not even sure anymore.