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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-05-30
Setup Considerations: Inventory

Setup Considerations: Inventory

You can use this topic to help make decisions when planning your configuration and use of Workday Inventory functionality. It explains:
  • Why to set it up.
  • How it fits into the rest of Workday.
  • Downstream impacts and cross-product interactions.
  • Security requirements and business process configurations.
  • Questions and limitations to consider before implementation.
Refer to other setup considerations for details on specific inventory features, and task instructions for specific configuration details.

What It Is

When you set up Workday Inventory as part of your Workday Procurement setup, you can manage the entire supply chain process from requisition to replenishment.
You can configure these functionalities with Workday Inventory:
  • Put-away.
  • Fulfillment.
  • Deliveries.
  • Returns.
  • Counting.
  • Replenishment.
  • Recalls.
  • Label printing.
  • Par inventory.

Business Benefits

With Workday Inventory, you can:
  • Improve productivity by enabling workers to perform inventory tasks on mobile.
  • Increase accuracy and reduce manual entry by calculating inventory transaction data automatically.
  • Minimize operational risk by automating inventory processes, such as put-away and replenishment.
  • Use reporting and analytics to understand how sites consume inventory so you can control costs, limit waste, and plan for future orders.

Use Cases

You can use Workday Inventory to:
  • Count items to reconcile stock levels at sites.
  • Ensure compliance through a full audit trail of your inventory accounting.
  • Generate stock requests and fulfill them with picking lists and shipment documents.
  • Maintain par inventory at par locations, such as carts within hospitals.
  • Quick-issue urgent orders without stock requests.
  • Print labels to attach on delivery tickets and inventory locations.
  • Process returns for damaged and unused items.
  • Replenish stock automatically when levels fall below defined thresholds.
  • Track delivery items with lot and serial control.

Questions to Consider

Questions
Considerations
How do you plan to set up your inventory locations?
You can set up these inventory location types and organize them into location hierarchies to store inventory:
  • Sites: Enable you to add stocking locations and zones within a location chain.
  • Stocking locations: Use to store owned or consigned goods.
  • Zones: Use to subdivide stocking locations and help multiple workers pick in tandem.
Example: You set up a warehouse as an inventory site and designate a large aisle as a stocking location to store goods. You then split the aisle into zones, enabling multiple workers to pick from multiple locations at the same time.
You can manage space at your inventory locations by:
  • Configuring stocking units of measure (UOMs) to store items according to their shape and size. Examples:
    Bag
    ,
    Bottle
    , and
    Case
    .
  • Converting existing UOMs to accommodate physical changes at inventory locations. Example: To accommodate large orders, you convert the UOM for exam gloves from
    Box
     to
    Pack
    .
How do you plan to track your inventory?
You can track your inventory from the point of stock request through to picking, shipment, and final delivery.
You can track:
  • Delivery attempts and confirmations.
  • Groups of deliveries you send to a single location.
  • Items using lot and serial control. Example: You can assign serial numbers to high-value items such as pacemakers to monitor their delivery.
  • Recalled items, including the responses and reactions to recalls.
How do you plan to manage fulfillment?
You can create and fulfill stock requests:
  • On an ad hoc basis.
  • Through inventory replenishment.
  • Using requisition sourcing in Workday Procurement.
  • With third-party integrations.
You can also:
  • Assign types to stock requests, enabling you to categorize and include them in your custom reports.
  • Backorder unfulfilled items on stock requests once the items become available.
You can enable workers to:
  • Complete stock requests using picking lists.
  • Ship picked items using shipment documents.
How do you plan to count inventory?
You can perform these types of inventory counts:
  • Ad hoc: Use to verify quantities. Example: You want to verify stock levels when you receive large deliveries.
  • Cycle: Count inventory at specific locations within a site.
  • Physical: Count all inventory within a site.
You can also configure Workday to generate count sheets automatically to help you plan for upcoming counts.
How do you plan to replenish inventory?
You can replenish items and consigned goods using:
  • Requisitions, to order from suppliers.
  • Stock requests, to order from other inventory sites.
You can use historical data to determine reorder points for inventory items, based on:
  • Average daily usage.
  • Preferred supplier lead time.
You can schedule replenishment:
  • For inventory that falls below specified thresholds.
  • With or without calculated item reorder points.
Do you want to print labels for your inventory?
You can use integration templates to export data to third-party applications to print labels for:
  • Outgoing deliveries.
  • Received goods, such as boxes, pallets, and totes.
  • Stocking locations, such as aisles, bins, and shelves.
How do you plan to manage par locations?
You can set up par locations, such as cabinets, carts, and supply rooms, to store par inventory.
You can:
  • Maintain par items and par locations in bulk.
  • Print count sheets for par items.
You can also replenish par locations using:
  • Count quantities.
  • Kanban.
  • Order quantities.

Recommendations

We recommend that you:
  • Include expiration dates on lot numbers to enable workers to identify which items to pick first.
  • Perform a complete physical inventory count before importing inventory balances into Workday to ensure accurate stock levels.
  • Review existing purchase items to determine whether you need to create additional purchase items for Workday Inventory.

Requirements

Organize the equipment that workers need to perform inventory tasks. Examples:
  • Handheld devices to scan items during picking.
  • Third-party hardware and software for label printing.
Set up Workday Procurement.

Limitations

We don't support:
  • Cross docking.
  • Wave picking.
You can't use Workday Inventory:
  • To sell inventory to customers outside your company.
  • With accounting methods other than the average cost method.

Tenant Setup

You can use the
Edit Tenant Setup - Financials
 task to set ID sequence generators for inventory transactions.

Security

Access the
Domain Security Policies for Functional Area
 report to view all security domains for Workday Inventory. As you configure security, consider:
Domains
Considerations
Manage: Inventory
 domain in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to manage and route:
  • Consignment usage requisitions.
  • Inventory replenishments.
  • Inventory reservations.
  • Pick line allocation removals.
You can also use this report to view related reporting.
Manage: Item Inventory Site Attributes
 domain in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to secure access to the inventory site attributes of your purchase items, without having access to purchase item tasks.
Manage: Location
 domain in the Organizations and Roles functional area.
Enables you to create locations and location hierarchies.
Process: Goods Delivery
 domain in the Inventory and Procurement functional areas.
Enables you to:
  • Create, edit, and close goods delivery tickets.
  • Manage goods delivery groups.
  • Print delivery tickets.
You secure goods delivery rules under the
Set Up: Inventory
 domain.
Process: Inventory
 in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to access most inventory transactions. You can manage access to your on-hand inventory and view related reporting.
Process: Inventory Count
 in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to secure access to information on inventory counts and related reporting. You can configure security groups based on reports within a single company or location and assign those security groups to the
Reports: Inventory Count
 subdomain.
Process: Inventory Pick List
 in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to secure access to information on inventory picking lists and related reporting. You can configure security groups based on reports within a single company or location and assign those security groups to the
Reports: Inventory Pick List
 subdomain.
Process: Inventory Shipment
 in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to secure access to information on inventory shipments and related reporting. You can configure security groups based on reports within a single company or location and assign those security groups to the
Reports: Inventory Shipment
 subdomain.
Process: Inventory Stock Request
 in the Inventory functional area.
Enables users to prevent workers from running inventory reports within a single company or location.
Reports: Inventory
 in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to view inventory reports.
Set Up: Inventory
 in the Inventory and Procurement functional area.
Enables you to perform inventory tasks and view related reporting.
Set up: Inventory Accounting
 in the Inventory functional area.
Enables you to:
  • Edit inventory accounting options.
  • Maintain inventory markups.
  • View related reporting.
Set Up: Tenant Setup - Financials
 in the System functional area.
Enables you to configure tenant-wide options for Workday Inventory.
Set Up: Unit of Measure
 in the Common Financial Management functional area.
Enables you to maintain UOMs for inventory transactions and view related reporting.

Business Processes

Business Processes
Considerations
Change Conversion Factor Request Event
Enables you to:
  • Change your conversion factor between an item's stocking UOM and base UOM.
  • Route conversion factor change requests for approval.
Change Item Spend Category Request
Enables you to route notifications for spend category change request approval.
Inventory Adjustment Event
Inventory Cost Adjustment Event
These business processes enable you to adjust item:
  • Amounts.
  • Costs.
Inventory Count Event
Enables you to perform inventory item counts.
Goods Delivery Event
Goods Delivery Group
Goods Delivery Run
These business processes enable you to:
  • Create delivery tickets.
  • Group multiple delivery tickets that you send to the same location.
  • Capture successful and unsuccessful delivery attempts.
Inventory Pick List Event
Inventory Shipment Event
Inventory Stock Request Event
These business processes enable you to:
  • Create and submit stock requests.
  • Generate and complete picking lists.
  • Ship picked inventory.
Inventory Move Event
Enables you to move inventory items between locations within a site.
Quick Issue
Enables you to send items without stock requests.
Inventory Par Count Event
Inventory Par Removal
These business processes enable you to count or remove par items from par locations.
Inventory Put-Away Adjustment Event
Inventory Put-Away Event
Inventory Receipt Put-Away Event
These business processes enable you to:
  • Adjust put-away quantities.
  • Put away received items.
Inventory Return Event
Inventory Return to Supplier Event
These business processes enable you to:
  • Process returns between sites.
  • Return inventory to suppliers.
Purchase Item Event
Use to create and route new purchase item requests for approval. You can add attribute values to purchase items when you have review and edit security permissions.
With this business process, you can specify steps to:
  • Create a purchase item and corresponding purchase item event.
  • Edit a purchase item event.
  • Route new items to a specific step to add patient charge information.
The business process doesn't control these updates made from the
View Purchase Item
 report:
  • Item inventory site attributes
  • Patient charge information
  • Sourcing rules
  • Price updates

Reporting

You can use the
Workday Standard Reports
 report to view all inventory reports, including:
Reports
Considerations
Accrual Balance for Inventory Receipts
You can use this report to identify where your balances are in:
  • Receipt accrual
  • Receipt liability
The report displays purchase order lines and their associated:
  • Invoice lines
  • Put-aways
  • Receipt lines
Inventory Spend Category Change Accounting Impact
Workday captures credit and debit worktags and amounts on this report. Use the report to assist with any necessary journal entries.
Find Change Purchase Item Spend Category Requests
Enables you to view your submitted spend category change requests.
Deliveries Needing Attention
Inventory Pick Lists Needing Attention
Stock Requests Needing Attention
View outstanding:
  • Delivery tickets.
  • Picking lists.
  • Stock requests.
Example: You can identify whether there's a bottleneck at inventory sites to prioritize urgent stock requests.
Find Inventory Balance
View inventory and lot item balances, including:
  • Allocated quantities.
  • Available quantities.
  • Average item cost.
  • On-hand quantities.
  • Quantities in picking.
Find Inventory Count Sheet
Find Inventory Return Orders
Find Inventory Shipments
Find Inventory Stock Request
View inventory transaction data to make informed decisions for:
  • Count sheets.
  • Returns.
  • Shipments.
  • Stock requests.
Example: View count sheets to identify the remaining inventory balances that you want to count.
In-Transit Shipments
In-Transit Inventory Returns
View information on in-transit items from shipments and returns, such as:
  • Associated stock request lines.
  • Quantities.
  • Their monetary value.
You can create custom reports using report data sources, such as:
  • Inventory Stock Request Line
    , which enables you to view data for stock request lines.
  • Inventory Transactions
    , which enables you to view all inventory transactions for a company.

Integrations

You can use web services to upload data for inventory transactions, such as:
  • Put Inventory Location
  • Put Inventory Location Attributes
  • Put Inventory Par Bin
  • Put Inventory Par Location
  • Put Inventory Put-Away Rule
  • Put Purchase Item
  • Put Unit of Measure Set
Refer to Workday Community for a more comprehensive list of inventory web services.
You can use Workday-delivered integration templates to export inventory label data to third-party applications, enabling you to print and attach labels on:
  • Goods delivery groups.
  • Goods delivery tickets.
  • Inventory locations.
  • Locations.
  • Par locations.
  • Receipts.

Connections and Touchpoints

Features
Considerations
Financial Accounting
You can:
  • Generate inventory transaction accounting.
  • Audit accounting for inventory transactions.
  • Create account posting rules, such as:
    • Cost adjustments.
    • Markups.
    • Spend transactions.
Human Capital Management
When you configure locations, you can enable workers to:
  • Maintain inventory locations.
  • Order goods.
Mobile
You can perform these inventory tasks on Android, iPad, and iPhone:
  • Counting.
  • Goods delivery.
  • Quick issue.
  • Par counting.
  • Par removal.
  • Picking.
  • Put-away.
Procurement
You can update these procurement configurations to use with Workday Inventory:
  • Purchase items.
  • Receipts.
  • Requisition sourcing rules.
  • Spend categories.
You can also:
  • Create stock requests using requisition sourcing.
  • Organize consignment orders with suppliers so you can store goods in inventory at zero cost.
  • Recall inventory items.
Supplier Accounts
You can account for invoice price variances and how they impact the average cost inventory items.
Workday offers a Touchpoints Kit with resources to help you understand configuration relationships in your tenant. Learn more about the Workday Touchpoints Kit on Workday Community.