How should I value the sizing and custom inventory in a uniform shop?

A uniform shop holds more than one kind of inventory. Plain garments in common sizes are the easy part. They can be sold to many customers and reordered from suppliers. Split them out in your count, by style and size, and check how old they are.

Custom stock is harder. Shirts with a company logo, or garments in unusual sizes made for one employer, are useful only if that customer comes back. Ask for a list of branded items, the customer attached to each, and whether the customer has agreed to buy them. Find out who owns the stock if the account ends.

Check for gaps in sizing. Some shops hold a lot of the middle sizes and too few at the ends, or the reverse. Compare stock with recent orders to see where it is out of balance. Ask how the shop treated slow items in the past. Did it discount, donate or write off? Do not accept a single total figure from the books. Ask your accountant and, where it matters, a professional appraiser how each category should be handled in the price. Photographs of the storage areas can help.

Key takeaways

• Split stock into standard garments and customer-branded or special-size items.
• Ask which customers stand behind branded stock and whether they will take it.
• Let your accountant decide how each group is counted instead of using one total.