There are several things to consider when looking at inventory costs.
The first is, what is the normal price you expect to pay for the item
versus what have you actually paid for the items. These two are similar
but quite different. In very simple systems, you enter one cost price
and that's it. If only it were so easy.
The price you expect to pay is stored with the main inventory record.
In addition to the raw inventory cost, you can also add frieght,
duty or other charges such as insurance. These numbers are added
together to give you your landed cost at your door step. When pricing
goods for resale, it's important to know the landed costs with all
the hidden charges included.
To add to complexity, if you normally buy the item(s) from a different
country, you can enter the cost in that foreign currency such as
German Marks or Japanese Yen. In the system setup, you can change
the currency conversion factors as often as needed, even daily.
Then, when you view an inventory item you'll see the foreign cost
you need to pay and then the real cost in Dollars.
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Click Here to See the Full Inventory Costing Screen ]
If you can buy the same item from different suppliers, you can
enter the Alternate Supplier information including the cost from
each. Before you purchase from a different supplier, you'll be able
to view their cost that was charged the last time you purchased
from them.
On your actual costs, once you land the inventory at your doorstep
and add the items into inventory, the system will create a record
showing the actual cost in Dollars, not the foreign currency. This
is the cost that will be used when costing invoices as they are
entered into the system. The inventory is removed on a first in,
first out basis, which is the most accurate.
When you print an inventory report, you'll be able to view your
actual cost based on a wieghted average of what is actually left
in stock. So even though the system is costing on a first in, first
out basis, the inventory remaining on hand is properly calculated
for report and inventory valuation purposes.
The expection to costing on a first in, first out method is when
dealing with serial numbers. Each serial number is stored with it's
own unique cost and that is what is used on the invoices.
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