Your maintenance supervisor just called. The HVAC filters you ordered last week haven’t arrived, and three units have scheduled filter changes today. Meanwhile, you discover that another property has six months’ worth of the exact same filters sitting in their supply closet because someone forgot they were there and ordered more.
This scenario plays out constantly in property management. Supplies get ordered when they’re already in stock. Items run out because nobody tracked consumption. Parts purchased for specific repairs sit unused for years. Money disappears into inventory that provides zero value.
The Yardi Inventory Control module exists specifically to solve these problems. It brings visibility and control to the supplies, parts, and materials that keep your properties operating. When implemented effectively, it reduces emergency orders, minimizes waste, and gives you actual data about what inventory management costs across your portfolio.
At ND Consulting, we help property management companies implement and optimize Yardi Inventory Control. The results consistently surprise clients who didn’t realize how much money was tied up in poorly managed inventory. Here’s what you need to know about making this module work for your operations.
The Hidden Cost of Inventory Chaos
Before exploring the solution, let’s quantify the problem. Most property management companies significantly underestimate what poor inventory management costs them.
Duplicate purchases happen when nobody knows what’s already on hand. Without visibility into current stock levels across locations, purchasing decisions rely on memory and assumption. Both are unreliable.
Obsolete inventory accumulates when parts purchased for specific equipment outlast the equipment itself. HVAC components for systems that have been replaced. Appliance parts for models no longer in service. Materials for projects that never happened. This dead inventory ties up capital and storage space.
Emergency orders cost premiums. When you run out of critical supplies, expedited shipping and supplier premiums eat into margins. Proper inventory management anticipates needs and orders at optimal times and quantities.
Theft and shrinkage go undetected without inventory tracking. Supplies walk off job sites. Parts disappear from storage rooms. Without systematic counting and reconciliation, you can’t even quantify the losses, much less prevent them.
What Yardi Inventory Control Delivers
The module provides end-to-end inventory lifecycle management integrated with Yardi’s maintenance and accounting functions.
Item master management creates a catalog of all inventory items you stock. Each item includes specifications, vendor information, reorder parameters, costing method, and location assignments. This master list becomes the foundation for all inventory transactions.
Location tracking monitors where inventory sits across your portfolio. You might have a central warehouse, individual property supply rooms, maintenance vehicles, or some combination. The system tracks quantities by location and facilitates transfers between locations.
Receipt processing records inventory arrivals, updates quantities on hand, and can tie back to purchase orders for three-way matching with accounts payable.
Issue processing tracks inventory consumption. When maintenance technicians use parts to complete work orders, those issues deduct from on-hand quantities and can charge the costs to appropriate properties and expense accounts.
Reorder management monitors stock levels against configured minimums and generates purchase recommendations or automatic orders when thresholds are reached.
Implementation Strategy That Works
Inventory Control implementation requires balancing comprehensiveness with practicality. Not every item needs tracking, and overcomplicating the system undermines adoption.
Start by categorizing your inventory. High-value items like appliances and HVAC components warrant individual tracking. High-velocity items like filters and basic hardware need quantity management but perhaps not serial number tracking. Low-value consumables might not need formal inventory tracking at all.
Physical inventory baseline establishes your starting point. You can’t manage what you haven’t counted. Plan a comprehensive physical inventory before go-live, reconcile counts to any existing records, and load accurate opening balances.
Workflow design determines how inventory transactions will flow in daily operations. Who can receive items? Who can issue them? What approvals are required for transfers? What documentation supports transactions? These process decisions drive system configuration.
Integration with maintenance ensures that work order completion triggers appropriate inventory issues. This connection provides accurate consumption data without requiring separate inventory transactions.
Making Inventory Control Stick: Adoption Strategies
The best inventory system fails if people don’t use it. Field adoption is the most common challenge in Inventory Control implementations.
Keep transactions simple. If recording an inventory issue takes longer than just grabbing the part and going, technicians will skip the system. Mobile access, barcode scanning, and streamlined workflows encourage compliance.
Show the value to users. When technicians can quickly check if a part is in stock before driving to a supplier, or when supervisors can demonstrate cost savings to ownership, the system sells itself.
Conduct regular cycle counts. Periodic counting of portions of inventory maintains accuracy without the disruption of complete physical inventories. It also catches compliance issues early.
Hold people accountable. Inventory variances should be investigated and explained. When the system shows 10 filters but the shelf holds 3, someone needs to determine what happened.
Integration Points That Multiply Value
Inventory Control becomes more powerful when connected to other Yardi modules and operational processes.
Maintenance integration links work orders to inventory consumption. When a technician closes a work order, associated parts automatically issue from inventory and charge to the property. This eliminates duplicate entry and ensures accurate maintenance costing.
Purchasing integration creates purchase orders for inventory replenishment that flow through your standard approval and payment processes. Receipts update inventory quantities when goods arrive.
General ledger integration posts inventory transactions to appropriate accounts. Purchases increase inventory assets. Issues decrease inventory and increase expense. The accounting follows automatically.
How ND Consulting Supports Inventory Control
Our Inventory Control practice addresses the full lifecycle from implementation through ongoing optimization.
Implementation services include process assessment, system configuration, data migration, integration setup, and user training. We design solutions scaled to your actual needs—comprehensive enough to provide value but not so complex that adoption suffers.
Optimization engagements help organizations that implemented Inventory Control but aren’t seeing expected results. We diagnose issues, recommend improvements, and implement solutions.
Help desk support answers day-to-day questions and resolves issues quickly so operations continue smoothly.
Frequently Asked Questions About Yardi Inventory Control
Is Yardi Inventory Control worth it for smaller portfolios?
The value depends more on inventory complexity than portfolio size. If you maintain significant parts inventory, experience frequent stockouts or waste, or struggle to control maintenance supply costs, Inventory Control can deliver ROI regardless of portfolio size.
How do we handle inventory on maintenance vehicles?
Each vehicle can be configured as an inventory location. When technicians stock their trucks from the warehouse, transfers move inventory between locations. When they use parts on jobs, issues deduct from vehicle inventory and charge to properties.
What costing methods does the system support?
Yardi Inventory Control supports standard costing, average costing, and FIFO methods. The appropriate choice depends on your inventory characteristics and accounting requirements.
Stop the Inventory Bleeding
Every dollar tied up in excess inventory or lost to poor tracking is a dollar not available for property improvements, investor returns, or operational growth. Yardi Inventory Control puts you back in command.
Contact ND Consulting LLC at 404-590-8547 or info@ndconsultingllc.com to discuss how Inventory Control can work for your portfolio.
