Pending Sub ledger

The Pending sub ledger consists of the inventory items and quantities which are owned by your company, but which are not included in the Inventory or Work in Process sub-ledgers.   The Pending file is used to track items that are still owned by your company, but that are not physically present at one of your warehouses or in the “shop”.  The Pending file is used to track items like samples loaned to reps or customers, items returned to vendors (for which replacement goods or a credit have not been received), and items which have been sent to customers but not invoiced to the customer.  

The Pending sub ledger report is produced using the open records that are stored in the Pending file.  Pending records are created when items are shipped out of inventory at no charge using what are called “loaner” or “shipper” transactions.  When a loaner transaction is processed for an item, the item cost and quantity is removed from inventory sub-ledger and moved into the pending sub-ledger.  A Pending record is created for each item.  The Pending record stores the company the item was shipped to, the quantity shipped, and the cost of the item (from inventory) at the time the item was shipped.   A sale is not recorded when a shipper invoice is processed as the inventory is merely being moved from one sub ledger to another. 

Pending records are used to record items that are out on loan to customers or sales reps, or items that are being returned to vendors.  Pending records are also used to track inventory that is being transferred between two physical inventory locations using the IFT (Inter-Facility Transfer) system.

The quantities and costs of the items are stored in the pending file until the items are “cleared” or removed from pending.  Options for removing an item from Pending include

•      Returning the item to the inventory sub ledger (if replacement goods or samples are returned).

•      Invoicing the pending item to the customer (if the customer decides to purchase the item or the pending records were used to consolidate multiple shipments into one invoice).

•      Creating an AP credit memo for items returned to a vendor.

•      Writing off the pending record (for free samples you wish to charge to samples expense, warranty expense items, etc).

The Pending sub-ledger balance is the total un-cleared quantity of each open Pending record multiplied by the cost stored in the record.  If an item is returned to Inventory from Pending, the Pending record is closed and the system increases the quantity of the item in the Inventory sub-ledger.  If the cost of the Inventory and Pending records are different when the return to inventory is processed, the system posts the difference to a gain or loss account automatically.  The logic is to use the inventory cost as this cost is updated each time the item is received into inventory or built using the Shop Order system.

A complete listing of the transactions that affect the Pending sub-ledger is presented in the Reference Information section of this document.

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Inventory Costs