How do I check a uniform rental company’s lost-garment write-offs?

In a uniform rental business, garments are the inventory, and they walk away. Some loss is normal. What you need to know is whether the company tracks it honestly and recovers what it can.

Ask for the written process. When a customer returns fewer garments than were delivered, what happens next? Who decides whether it is a billable loss, a normal wearing out or a counting error? Look at a handful of write-off entries and trace each one to a delivery record and a customer account.

Then look at patterns. Compare losses across customers and across routes. A single account with heavy losses may be underbilled, while a route with unusual numbers may point to a driver or counting problem. Ask whether the company has ever changed how it counts garments, because a new method can quietly lower or raise reported losses. Finally, connect the write-offs to the books. Ask your accountant how garments are carried as assets, how they are depreciated and whether write-offs are recorded consistently. Request garment counts from a recent physical inventory and compare them with the numbers the seller gives you. If the two do not agree, ask for the explanation in writing.

Key takeaways

• Trace a handful of write-offs to delivery records and customer accounts.
• Compare losses by customer and by route to find unusual concentrations.
• Ask whether the garment counting method has changed and compare the books to a physical count.