When a storekeeper or director changes: a handover audit

A storekeeper leaves and a new one arrives. The stock is handed over "as per the system", signatures are put on paper and everyone relaxes. Three months later a shortage appears and the question arises: does it belong to the old storekeeper or to the new one? The documents give no answer. When a director changes, it is the same: the problems of "the previous period" may land on the newcomer's shoulders. A handover audit removes this uncertainty: it records the real position at the moment of transfer, with an independent party present.

Why handing over "as per the system" is risky

The balance in the system shows not the goods that exist but the documents that were entered. If it differs from reality, both sides lose. The departing storekeeper may be blamed for a shortage found later, while the incoming one takes responsibility for a gap he or she did not create. The owner cannot prove when and in whose period it arose. An independent count and a signed certificate protect all three.

The handover procedure

1. Set the date and notify both employees and management in writing. Handovers usually take place at the end of a working day or at a weekend. Until then, movement in the warehouse is stopped or restricted.
2. Close the documents. By the date, all receipts, issues and returns must be entered in the system. That date becomes the boundary between periods.
3. Form a commission: the person handing over, the person receiving, a representative of management and an independent party (an internal control specialist or an external auditor).
4. Run the count with two teams. The outgoing and incoming people take part in the count, but the independent party, not they, answers for the result.
5. Prepare a reconciliation statement: for each item the system balance and the actual balance, with the quantity and value of the difference.
6. Review the differences. Those that can be explained are documented; the others are recorded precisely.
7. Sign the certificate: who handed over and who received which balance, and on what date. If there are differences, the incoming employee has the right to write "accepted with reservations".

If the employee left without handing over

Sometimes a storekeeper leaves without warning. Even then, do not postpone the count: send a written notice with the date and time and give the person a chance to attend. If he or she does not come, the commission still carries out the count and the absence is noted in the certificate.

When a director or chief accountant changes

Unlike a change of storekeeper, a change at the top also changes systems and permissions. Check these separately:

• System permissions: block the leaver's account the same day and give the new person only the rights the role needs.
• Signing authority: rewrite who approves write-offs, stock adjustments and payments.
• Keys, codes and access to surveillance records: change them, or record who holds them.
• Supplier arrangements: verbal terms, deferred payments, consignment and a list of open orders should be passed to the new manager.

What the certificate should contain

The certificate should be short but complete: the date and time of the handover, the commission members and their positions, the counting method (two teams, a barcode scanner or by hand), a reference to the reconciliation statement, totals for explained and unexplained differences, the receiver's reservation and the signatures of all members. Keep it in the same folder as the system's stock statement, so nobody later asks which balance the handover was based on.

A hypothetical example

At a pharmacy chain the manager of the central warehouse changed. The system shows 640 million so'm. An independent count gives 612 million, a difference of 28 million. The document analysis explains 11 million: two delivery notes were entered late. The remaining 17 million is recorded in the certificate as an "unexplained difference" and attributed to the previous period. What happens next, an extra investigation or other measures, is for management and a lawyer to decide. The new manager starts with an exact opening balance. A shortage next quarter can then be assigned to the right period.

Conclusion

A handover audit takes from a few hours to a few days depending on size, yet it prevents most later disputes. The certificate exists for trust, not for blame. Questions of liability depend on labour and civil law, so agree them with a lawyer. OmborAudit takes part in the count as an independent party, prepares the reconciliation statement and gets the certificate ready for the commission to sign.