Track plan vs actual

Once a season starts, check how sales and receipts compare with the plan, and keep purchasing inside the budget.

Before you begin

• Build an open-to-buy plan for a season that has started.

Steps

1. Go to Inventory → Merchandise Planning and pick the season under Period.
2. Tick Plan vs Actual. Each month shows actual sales and receipts beside the plan, with the difference as a percentage.
3. Read Remaining to buy for each row. Purchase orders due in the season count as On-Order and reduce what's left.
4. To hold purchasing to the budget, go to Budget on buys & overrides and turn on Enforce on buys. Demand plans and purchase orders that would take a category over budget are held back.
5. To let one product through anyway, add an override with the quantity to Keep up to and a Reason. Every override is logged.
6. If a row turns red, rebalance it: lower planned sales or ending stock, or move budget from another month.

Next steps

• How open-to-buy works
• Rank the plan by cash