Date Created:    April 15, 2024   Last Updated: Click here to enter a date.

Overview: 

Cornell Dining maintains a significant inventory of food and supplies across all dining locations of approximately $800K, with annual food cost of approximately $22M.  Inventory is tracked in the Cbord Food Service Suite system (FSS) and physical counts are performed on a monthly basis.  Inventory control is important to maintain the right balance of stock for accurate food production in all units in Dining. Cornell Dining conducts inventory using Cbord FSS Inventory Module as the tools to assist in the inventory process and ensure inventory accuracy.  Accurate Inventory figures are necessary to track cost of goods and assess food cost for each unit within Dining. Inventories are essential for applying measures to prevent the theft, abuse, misallocation, and mismanagement of goods throughout the department. For meaningful metrics to be derived from inventory values, counting, and recording protocols followed in Dining operations must consistently align with financial processes and timelines. The accuracy and integrity of this data is maintained by defining a separation of duties for key inventory responsibilities and following a review process to mitigate the risk of making errors or misstatements.  Processes and controls for ordering, storage, and access are in place to protect inventory and to prevent opportunities for fraud or theft.

Monthly inventory counts are taken on the 4th Wednesday and must be completed before the start of the business on the following day, Thursday. The count is intended to consist of all food items that are on hand as of the end-of-day Wednesday. Food earmarked for production on Wednesday should not be included in the inventory totals. Food earmarked for production that was not used as of end-of-day Wednesday should be entered back into the inventory before it is finalized.

Criticality:   High

Frequency:   Monthly

Turnaround:   Next Day

SCL Purchasing:  Responsible for vendor management, product sourcing, issuing requests for proposal and bids, and vendor on-boarding.  Addresses daily performance issues of vendors, including on-time delivery, product quality and compliance with Dining standards and requirements.  Reviews any pricing or delivery discrepancies with the FTC as needed. 

Material Handler:  Places orders in FSS using custom ordering templates.  Receives product at the receiving docks and verifies product and counts to receiving worksheets printed from FSS.  Adjusts invoice as needed for damaged goods or rejected product and codes according to FSS Manual guidelines, signs invoice to indicate reviewed with corrections noted if applicable.  Places product in stockrooms and coolers as labeled and identified in SOP #003. Fulfills product transfer requests requisitions as needed. Completes independent inventory on a quarterly basis with the Chef/Manager or lead as a verification.

Chef/Manager/Supervisor:  Reviews/approves orders in FSS and sends electronic PO to vendor.  will print inventory tally sheets from the FSS Inventory Module or if equipped will use the Mobile 

Inventory app on an approved Pad or other electronic device.  May participate in the counting process and will be the person that conducts the data entry process if using paper tally sheets in FSS, therefore the final inventory counts must be approved by that Manager’s supervisor overseeing that dining unit.  Chef/Manager/Lead completes an independent inventory with the Material Handler on a quarterly basis.  Will also spot check progress during physical counts to ensure compliance with the established SOP #003.  Supervisor will review inventory tally sheets for reasonableness and sign off.  Chef/Manager enters inventory into FSS for units not using the mobile app.

Operations Manager: Responsible for ensuring that all employees counting inventory have completed a standard training program provided by the Manager of Food Service Systems & approved by the Director for Dining. Ensures security of building and physical inventory when unit is closed.  Reviews, approves and sets the Inventory to Final in FSS for submitting to the FTC. Operations Manager is responsible for the accuracy of the financial reporting of each Dining Unit.

Trained Staff: Staff trained in inventory counting perform inventory on the 4th Wednesday of every month in accordance with the FSS Policy & Procedure Manual and the SOP #003 on Conducting Inventory. Staff will use the sheets or the MI app to conduct the physical taking of the inventory. Counts must be done by employees trained on the inventory process that do not authorize or approve the final inventory counts. Inventory counts may be taken individually by any classified or professional dining employee, or student staff.

Dining Account Rep:  Scans invoices to the FTC for processing and receiving in FSS.  Scans tally sheets from inventories to FTC.

Manager of Finance and Business Performance:  Monitors financial statement activity for fluctuations in any food category and/or unit and investigates discrepancies to understand underlying cause.

Financial Transaction Center (FTC):  Responsible for processing vendor invoices and credits timely. Identifies issues with pricing, quantities or product and raises issue to purchasing team.  Verifies and records inventory adjustment entries every month.

  • Dining Inventory SOP#003
  • FSS Policy & Procedures Manual
  • Kuali Financial System
  • Invoices, credits, returns from vendors
  • Sharepoint (location of dining manuals and SOPs)
  • Food Service Suite (FSS)
  • Kuali Financial System (KFS)
  • OAS Reporting Dashboard (KDW)
  • Credits and returns can make tracking and reconciliation challenging.
  • Physical inventory counts could contain errors.
  • Substitutions of contracted products may not get counted and costed appropriately.

Key Risks

Key Controls

Risk of the same individual ordering and receiving product, allowing opportunity for fraud

1.       All FSS orders are initiated by the Material Handlers but reviewed and approved by the Chef/Manager before the order is issued.  Material Handler receives all product.

2.       FTC enters and receives product electronically in the FSS system.

3.       See separation of duties roster FSS Cornell Dining Operations Separation of Ordering Receiving Inventory Duties.xlsx | Powered by Box

Risk of individuals having too much control in the inventory process.

1.       A series of verifications are in place in the inventory process to ensure no one individual has full control.

Risk of inventory misappropriation

1.       Physical inventories are done on a monthly basis by trained staff.

2.       Counts are verified and reviewed by both a chef/manager and the FTC.

3.       Quarterly verification counts are performed by Material Handler with Chef/Manager/lead.

4.       GM/Dining Manger or Chef will spot check inventory process to ensure compliance with SOP.

Value of inventory could be incorrect due to product substitutions.

1.       Inventory valuation is calculated in FSS based on last price paid. 

2.       One-time items or substitutions are not entered under the contracted item.

Returns may not be processed timely for credit

1.       In most cases the invoices are adjusted at time of product receipt and the netted invoice is paid to the vendor.

Cornell Finance Staff

  • Monitor inventory values, adjustments, and fluctuations to identify possible fraud.
  • Monitor inventory value on hand to ensure inventory is being managed appropriately (is value on-hand consistent with best practices).
  • Monitor inventory turns to identify slow moving merchandise that may need to be eliminated from the inventory portfolio.
  • Monitor profit margins on individual inventory items to identify pricing issues.
  • KFS – Kuali Financial System
  • OAS – Oracle Analytics Server, financial reporting tool (formerly known as OBIEE)
  • GL – General Ledger
  • FTC – Student and Campus Life Financial Transaction Center that processes financial transactions for Cornell Dining.

Dining Inventory Process Flow Chart