Consignment cut-off without the fog
Consignment inventory sits where your customer’s operations live, which means your cut-off story depends on someone else’s warehouse clock. Teams often collect a stock report and hope title language in the contract is enough. It rarely is when quantities move on the last day of the period.
Separate physical presence from title
List every consignment location, the counterparty, and the contractual trigger for sale. Auditors need to see that you understand when risk transfers — not only where boxes sit.
Agree the ASN timestamp
Pick one system timestamp that both parties treat as authoritative for goods movement. Document why that timestamp wins when WMS and ERP disagree. Ambiguity here is the root of most year-end consignment disputes we see in Korea’s export manufacturers.
Evidence packs that travel
Bundle the period-end consignment report, a sample of shipping notices around the cut-off, and confirmation of quantities from the counterparty. If the customer will not confirm, note the limitation early and adjust the audit approach — do not discover the silence after fieldwork ends.
Train the language
Plant and finance teams should use the same phrases for “ours until billed” versus “theirs upon delivery.” Module 5 of Inventory Audit Mastery drills this vocabulary so emails stop contradicting the memo.