Stock conventions determine at what point of the day an inventory is recorded in Inpulse.
This setting is essential to ensure consistency in:
Cost of goods sold (COGS) analyses
Purchase order recommendations
Multi-location analyses
1/ What is a stock convention?
A stock convention defines how Inpulse interprets the date of an inventory.
There are two options:
Morning before opening
An inventory recorded in the morning of day J represents the stock from the previous evening (J-1).
Evening after closing
An inventory recorded in the evening of day J represents the stock at the end of day J.
2/ Setting stock conventions
The convention is defined per location
It is not tied to individual inventories
It can only be changed by an Inpulse user
⚠️ Any modification affects historical analyses and should be done with caution.
3/ Impact on analyses and green dots
Stock conventions directly affect:
The display of green dots 🟢 in analyses
The periods usable for calculating real COGS
The consistency of comparisons between locations
4/ Impact on inventory points
Convention = Morning before opening
Example:
Inventory recorded on 31/12/2025
Next inventory recorded on 31/01/2026
The period usable for analyses will be 31/12/2025 to 30/01/2026.
The system calculates:
Stock on 31/12/2025 in the morning (actual stock from 30/12/2025 evening)
Up to stock on 30/01/2026 in the evening
Convention = Evening after closing
Example:
Inventory recorded on 31/12/2025
Next inventory recorded on 31/01/2026
The period usable for analyses will be 01/01/2026 to 31/01/2026.
The system calculates:
Stock on 01/01/2026 in the morning (stock recorded on 31/12/2025 evening)
Up to stock on 31/01/2026 in the evening
5/ Best practices for stock conventions
Use the same convention across all locations
Do not change the convention mid-period
Check the convention before any network-level analysis
Key takeaways
Stock conventions determine how inventories are interpreted
They directly affect real COGS calculations
Inconsistent conventions can distort analyses, even if inventories are correct