Most distributors spend a lot of time developing sales projections and budgets for expenses.
Each month these forecasts are compared to actual sales and expenses. If sales are lower, or expenses higher than what was projected, management will usually take corrective action to ensure that the company remains profitable. Budgets are good management tools. Unfortunately, few distributors maintain budgets and projections for what is probably their largest asset, inventory. It is critical to the success of your inventory management system, and your business in general, to develop a budget for the value of stocked inventory maintained in each warehouse.