We are fairly new to Manager and still becoming familiar with it. From what I understand Inventory on hand is an asset and does not show on the P&L statement. In our invoices that are for parts and are recorded as inventory on hand I have included a tracking number that relates to each job (we make trailers) the inventory is for. We were really wanting to get a costing on all inventory on hand relating to each separate job (or tracking code).
What is the easiest way to pull this amount up? I hope I’ve made sense.
You are correct: Inventory on hand is an asset, something you can use to produce future revenue. Thus, purchases of inventory do not immediately show up as expenses. When you sell the inventory, its purchase cost is transferred automatically to the expense account Inventory - cost. At that point, it will appear on the P&L. Tracking codes don’t apply to balance sheet accounts, only to income and expense accounts.
You should also understand that Manager considers every unit of a given inventory item to be interchangeable with others. Stock is not segregated according to what you plan to use it for. After all, if you purchase wheels and can use them on various model trailers, who is to say that what you have on hand won’t end up on a different trailer than planned for some business reason?
Thanks for your additional help. Yes we had originally thought we could work out the total cost of our trailers through the production order. As someone who has no accounting experience I may be completely missing something in the program so apologies in advance if I am sounding unaware.
I’ve had a look at the guide but still unable to see any costs. The production order only shows 2 columns – bill of materials (the number of the items and the item description). I seem to be missing the step where I can get the cost. Is there a way of adding another column that shows the item cost?
Ideally I would have a column as follows:
Bill of materials
1 x
Item
Cost
Perhaps I’m simplifying things too much and need a more solid accounting outlook!
You are not missing anything, @Reception. Production orders do not calculate or present cost to the user. The cost goes into the Inventory on hand account for the output inventory item, where it is rolled into average cost for that inventory item. The value of the input inventory items is subtracted from appropriate subaccounts in Inventory on hand.
Now, if you were to include all input inventory items and all non-inventory costs in a production order for the final trailer, the value of that rolled-up inventory item would be the total cost you are looking for. That may, in fact, be the easiest way to do things. You could even have intermediate inventory items, such as for axle assemblies or wiring harnesses, if they are used on several trailer models. Then, the final production order would list those intermediate assemblies as input items.
Another question on the same track, why when we pull a Profit and loss report can’t we see the inventory – cost.
Would it have anything to do with the reconciliation? Have we left something out ? We have gone back into inventory items to click on custom expense account, but this still isn’t working for us.
With any purchase we make in relation to parts for our trailers we create a new inventory item where necessary, complete a purchase order, copy to the invoice. When we do it this way the item automatically goes to inventory on hand. We have clicked on custom expense account, so technically we should now be able to see it as inventory – cost – or do we need to do something in the payment/reconciliation process?
Easy answer. The cost of inventory is posted to Inventory on hand until the item is sold. Only then does it transfer to Inventory - cost, or wherever you assigned it. Until sold, inventory is an asset that can produce future revenue. When sold, the sale price becomes revenue. And the cost is the offsetting expense. The difference is profit.