What Does This Feature Do?
When using the Manually Mark Line Item(s) as Returned feature in the Return Screen of a Manifest, you will encounter the following confirmation message:
“This does NOT scan the item(s) back in. You are only marking the manifest lines as returned, nothing else. No inventory quantities will be journaled back in. Are you sure you want to manually mark the line item(s) returned?”
So, if this feature doesn’t actually scan items back into inventory, what is its purpose? The primary function is reconciliation—helping to clean up old Manifests rather than serving as a routine inventory management tool. By manually marking line items as returned, you’re updating the status of individual items on a Manifest for the purpose of closing it. Once marked, these items will no longer appear on the Unreturned Items Report.
How Should You Use It?
The key question to ask before using this feature is: Which items have not been returned from previous jobs?
Step 1: Run the Unreturned Items Report
This report provides a list of all items that have not been returned, categorized by the last Manifest for which they were scanned out.
Step 2: Open the Return Screen
To analyze a specific Manifest, right-click on the Manifest Number hyperlink and open it in a new tab. This keeps the Unreturned Items Report open for quick reference. Then, navigate to the Return Screen, use the dropdown menu to select Hide Completed, and review the list of items that remain unreturned for that job.
Step 3: Choose an Action
At this point, you have two options:
Physically Verify Inventory Counts
Conduct a manual check to confirm whether the items have actually been returned and then scan them in.Use the Manually Mark Line Items as Returned Feature
If physical counts are unknown and there’s no way to confirm that items returned from a particular Manifest, select the checkboxes for the unreturned items and then use this option to mark the line
items as returned to close out the Manifest.
Best Practice: Follow Up with Scheduled Inventory Counts
If you choose to manually mark items as returned, it’s a good idea to use the Scheduled Inventory Counts feature afterward. This helps ensure your inventory count remains accurate and catches any discrepancies that may have resulted from unscanned returns.
Since Serialized Units are tracked with more precision, items that undergo Prep Scans after being scanned out will be recovered and marked as returned. Unreturned items are typically Non-Serialized Models, which require manual verification and benefit from routine inventory counts to maintain accurate quantities.
Final Thoughts
The Manually Mark Line Items as Returned feature is a valuable tool for closing out old Manifests and maintaining cleaner records. However, it should be used strategically—primarily for reconciliation purposes rather than as a regular inventory management practice. By incorporating it into a broader inventory auditing process, you can improve efficiency and maintain accurate stock levels in your warehouse.
