Salesforce - Inventory Events
- Carrie Felton
All Assets need to have inventory taken at least once per year. Moving forward, now that Assets are being managed within Salesforce, inventory will be tracked within Salesforce using Inventory Events.
What is an Inventory Event?
Annual inventory will be recorded and tracked on Inventory Events. Each event is a snapshot in time of the information about that particular round of inventory.
Details
Each Inventory Event will be named in the same way: “[Asset #] [Event Type] FY[Year]”
(This naming convention is created by automation on the backend, regardless of the name given.)
Event Type indicates why the inventory was taken. For UCL’s round of annual inventory, each Inventory Event record will have the type “Annual”.
Asset Information
Each event will be connected to the associated Asset and reflect the status of that Asset at the time of the Inventory Event being created.
The Asset Serial Number and Make/Model, as well as the assigned Group will be visible directly on the Inventory Event record for you.
You can click on the Asset number on the Inventory Event and see the full Asset record and all of the information found there.
If you hover over the number, you can see the status and type of the Asset, as well as whether it is Capital Equipment.
Inventory Information
At the beginning an inventory cycle, when the Inventory Events are created, the Condition and Facility fields will be populated based on the current status of the related Asset.
As you complete the inventory for a given Asset, update any changes to the Condition and Facility fields, and document the changes in the Inventory Notes. Once those fields have been updated and any notes recorded, you will check off that the Inventory Event has been completed. The date and time, and the user who completed that Inventory Event will populate on the Inventory Event record for future reference.
Inventory Event History
At the bottom of each Inventory Event, you can find the history of that event. You will see any changes to Condition, Completion, or Asset. The information available for each change will be when the change occurred, who made the change, and the before and after values of that change.
Finding my Inventory Events
From anywhere in Salesforce, click on the waffle in the top left corner of any page, below the logo.
In the search bar, where it says “Search apps and items…”, search “Inventory” and click on Inventory Management under apps.
Click on the Inventory Events tab.
You will see your recent Assets by default. If you have not viewed any Asset records recently, this page will be blank.
If you would prefer to default to a different list view, navigate to that list view and then click on the pin (yellow) to make that list view your new default.
Inventory Events have already been created and filtered into list views by the assigned group.
Taking Inventory for a single Asset
Open your Inventory Event for the Asset. You can do this from the Inventory Event list view or from the related list on the Asset itself.
From the Inventory Event, you can click the pencil to the right of Condition or Facility to start editing the event. You will want to pay attention to four fields.
Condition: document the current condition of the Asset
Facility: document where the Asset is located
Inventory Notes: make any notes for yourself or anyone reviewing the Inventory Event
Completed?: check this box once you are finished with other changes.
Once you have updated the Inventory Information fields satisfactorily and marked the event as Completed, be sure to click Save at the bottom of the page.
Once you click Save, the Inventory Event will be completed and you can move on.
Taking Inventory for multiple Assets
When you are completing a single Inventory Event, you can easily do that on the Inventory Event record itself. However, if you need to make take inventory of all Assets in a given facility, for example, you can do that without going into the individual records. Find the Inventory Events in question by going to the list view for your group, following the instructions listed above.
Once you are there, you will be able to see the incomplete assets assigned to your group. You can sort by Facility by clicking on the heading titled “Facility”. Search for or scroll to the Facility that is in question and you can complete the inventory for that facility in one batch.
Select all of the records you would like to edit by clicking the boxes on the left side. Click on the pencil on any field, such as Facility or Condition, to make updates as needed.
You can edit the Facility, Condition, Inventory Notes, and Completed? fields with this method. When you have multiple records selected on the left side before making edits, you will have the option to update more than one record with the changes you are making.
When you have completed your updates, recorded your notes, and marked the event as completed, at the bottom of the screen, you will see a Save button. Click the Save button before navigating away from the page to finish the changes.
After an Inventory Event is completed
Once you have completed your inventory and saved the Inventory Event, you should have no reason to go back into that event.
From the Asset itself, the Inventory Information will be updated. Any changes to Facility or Condition, as well as any notes, will be recorded on the Asset for future reference. The user who completed the inventory and when they did it will also be there. If you do have a need to revisit the entire Inventory Event, you can also click on the Last Inventory field, and you will be able to see the entire record, including the field history.
Tips and Tricks/FAQs
Creating your own list view
For each object, certain list views will be provided for you. However, if you would like to customize the information you see, you can create your own list views. Find out how to clone or modify list views here: https://ceceuofu.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CPD/pages/2479259649
If there are changes that would be applicable for everyone, let the Systems and Data team know and we can make that change on the main list view.
Saving an Inventory Event list view outside of Salesforce
If you need to get the list of Inventory Events out of Salesforce, you can do so from a list view. Navigate to the list view with the info you need.
You will not be able to make changes to the data displayed after you have entered the printable view, so make sure everything you want to save is on the list view, including any filters, fields, and sorting preferences.
In the top right corner of any list view, you will see a “Printable View” button.
Click on that button to open a new tab. Click on the tab to view a list of the information from your list view.
At the top of the page, you can see a note of how many records you are viewing and whether there are more available from your list view. From the top right of this page, you can choose the number of records you want to view
Once you have all of the information you want to save displayed, you can click “Print this Page” in the very top right to open the print dialogue on your browser.
Select whether you want to Save as PDF or print on paper to a given printer and whether you want the information in a portrait or landscape layout. Both of these settings may change depending on your use case.
Once you have printed or saved your information, you can close the tab to return to your list view in Salesforce.
Keep in mind that you will need to enter any inventory or notes taken outside of Salesforce must be entered into the system before the Inventory Event will be updated or completed.