Help with inventory price discrepancies while inputting C/Card transactions

Hello guys,

This is my first real input of data into manager as i have just registered as a sole trader and have received my first credit card statement. I am only dealing with purchase transactions of assets, consumables and stock as no sales have taken place to date and will not for the next few weeks.

The problem i am currently facing is that i am inputting my credit card transactions but some of them need to be broken down from their whole amounts in order for me to input them into their correct accounts. ie inventory, assets, consumables and other expenses. However in some cases the broken down amounts are not equal to the total amount on my statement and i am not sure how to account for it.

Please let me explain an example. (there are many like this but this is the simplest to explain)

Ordered 6 different items x2 of each, lets call the items A-F and on statement and Aliexpress transaction it shows as a single payment of £10.75

Individual prices of items show on my Aliexprees account are
Item A @ £1.05 x 2 = £2.10
Item B @ £1.05 x 2 = £2.10
Item C @ £0.83 x 2 = £1.66
Item D @ £0.83 x 2 = £1.66
Item E @ £0.83 x 2 = £1.66
Item F @ £0.83 x 2 = £1.66

                                       total = £10.84  meaning i received a discount of 9p with no trace of why?

I have been creating individual inventory items (A-F) before entering transactions and using the unit price from my aliexprees account. Obviously when doing this the statement does not balance.

This is definitely a problem with aliexprees and not manager but none the less i cant get my head around it!

There is a £700 and a £500 transaction on my credit card statement that are also made up of stock, assets and consumables that i need to separate and correctly value into their specific accounts.

As i am trying to use manager as inventory control i need a correct representation of inventory value, asset value and other expenses. Yet when i break them down to input them the figures don’t add up because of aliexpress’s awkwardness and incorrect calculations.

What is the correct approach for this situation?

Should i contact every aliexpress seller and request an accurate invoice?

or

would it be acceptable to create a discount received account to offset the differences?

or

I am approaching this in the wrong way or aliexpress figures are really screwing with me! either way i need advice.

All other (multi) transactions from other suppliers are all correct and calculate as one would expect but aliexpress transactions are the ones i cant get my head around! If i ordered single items this would not be a problem for me but this is not the case unfortunately.

I would suggest that their invoice calculation rounding process is at play.

Yes, the amounts aren’t significant enough to get your head worked up over.

It isn’t clear from this statement where you are referring to using the unit price. If you mean you are entering the the prices from the first screenshot breakout as purchase prices under the Inventory Items tab, remember that those prices are only for convenience. Whatever is in that field (if anything) will prepopulate a purchase order, purchase invoice, or payment form. But you can and should edit those unit prices to reflect what you actually pay. Consider those numbers as estimates of prices. They have no effect on actual transactions. Only the numbers on the transaction forms at the moment you create/update them matter.

While it is aggravating, you need to adjust prices to match what you actually pay. There is a Guide about a similar, though not identical, problem here: Manager Guides. The point is that your records must match what you actually pay. If you must, add a line for adjustments and post to an appropriate account. These adjustments might always be discounts, but you may eventually see a slight increase, too.

One possible explanation is exchange rate fluctuation. The transaction may initially be reported in your account on the basis of your currency using single-transaction rates. Then, the credit card payment may go through at a more favorable bulk bank rate. Frequently, overseas suppliers show us prices in our currency for convenience. But they actually do business in their own currency.

As for adjusting purchase cost of individual inventory items, also remember that you can enter lines with blank quantities but still include monetary unit prices for adjustment amounts. Such entries will adjust the average cost of the inventory item without affecting Manager’s count. So even if the actual unit price comes out to a fraction of a penny, you can adjust the purchase invoice to force the total for an item to equal what you paid (the closest you can get with unit price on the line with the quantity plus another zero-quantity line with the adjustment). All you can do is apportion the actual amount paid the best you can. Over time, pennies added and subtracted should tend to even out.

Thanks guys, very helpful.

Brucanna I wasn’t worried at first as like you say the amounts was not significant enough, however on larger value purchases the amounts soon start adding up.

I thought the discount received account would be a good way to handle this but after reading the guide posted by Tut im going try that method today.

Tut thank you for taking the the time to explain. Very helpful and informative breakdown. I believe i should be ok now but will post back soon either way.

Cheers guys