What are Item Types?
Overview:
COGS-Well has several different types of items that can be set up in your system. When these items are given certain attributes, they are referenced by these attributes. It can be helpful to understand the names and definitions of these different item types before you get started setting up and using your system.
The below diagram lists the three primary types of items that are set up in COGS-Well:
Inventory Items:
An "Inventory Item" is created in COGS-Well for any item that you receive on an invoice that is imported from a vendor or an invoice automation system. For your Initial Setup, Inventory Items can also be imported from a vendor if they can provide an order guide in spreadsheet format. You can also manually add an inventory item via Inventory>Setup>Inventory Items.
COGS-Well gets the Item Name, Item Code, Vendor Pack Size, and Cost for an inventory item from the vendor. We refer to an item from a vendor as a "Vendor Item". Any Vendor Item (an item with a unique Item Code) will create a new Inventory Item in COGS-Well.
When COGS-Well imports a Vendor Item, the Vendor's item name, and Item Code (Product ID) are used to create a new Inventory Item. Next, we cross-reference the vendor's pack size for the item to our Standard Packaging Definitions to assign a Standard Pack Size, configure Count Units, and configure Recipe Units for the new Inventory Item automatically. We also assign a Category and Department.
Combined Items:
"Combined items" should be created when you purchase the same inventory item from more than one vendor, or when you buy from a vendor that uses more than one pack size for the same inventory item (or both), and you use these items interchangeably as an ingredient in Recipe Items. Combined Items keep your theoretical usage and recipe cost accurate regardless of which inventory item is used.
An example of when you may want to create a Combined Item is when All-Purpose Flour is delivered in 25-pound and 50-pound packs by the same vendor, and you use whichever flour you have on hand as the ingredient for recipes that require flour. The same situation exists if you buy flour from two different vendors. Any unique Vendor Item becomes a unique Inventory Item in COGS-Well.
Using the above example, if each flour inventory item is assigned to a common combined item, and the flour combined item is used as the ingredient for your recipe items that use flour, it won't matter which flour inventory item is being purchased or used. Please see the diagram below and for a more detailed discussion of combined items please click this link to Combined Item FAQs:
Recipe Items:
In COGS-Well, "Recipe Items" are items that you sell or prepare using ingredients. A Recipe Item that is sold is referred to in COGS-Well as a "Sales Item". Sales Items are imported directly from your POS system and automatically added to your database (the Sales Item name, Category, and Retail Price). All you need to set up for Sales Items are the ingredients and modeling targets (optional).
"Prepared or Prep Items" are Recipe Items that are not sold. Prep Items are typically made in batches and later used as an ingredient. An example is Blue Cheese Salad Dressing made in a 5-gallon batch, or Bar-B-Que Sauce made in-house.
"Production Items" are Recipe Items that you have flagged to track Production for. Production is an optional way to track the quantity or "batches" being made for a Recipe Item. COGS-Well can calculate actual and theoretical usage for a Production Item. For a more detailed discussion of Production Items, please click this link to Production Items - FAQs
You can also select to count a Recipe Item when you count inventory. You can, optionally, add Preparation Instructions to Recipe Items. COGS-Well also has a unique feature called "Recipe Versioning" that can be used to remember and accurately track costs and usage when you make changes to ingredients.
Summary:
The three primary item types in COGS-Welll are Inventory Items, Combined Items, and Recipe Items. COGS-Well uses added item names to identify Recipe Items that have different attributes such as being sold (Sales Items), prepared in batches (Prepared Items), or produced (Production Items).
Inventory Items are added and assigned standard packaging definitions automatically so you don't have to add or configure them manually. Sales Items are imported from your POS system and are also added automatically. Combined Items, Prep Items, and the ingredients for a Recipe Item will need to be created by your team.