New Inventory Item Validation

Overview:

Your COGS-Well system imports invoices, including the inventory item details, so you don't have to add new inventory items manually. "Inventory Item Validation" is the process of ensuring that newly imported inventory item information is correct. 

COGS-Well provides a free audit service (a team of auditors) that provides Inventory Item Validation for you. Unless you opt out of using this service, you will not need to know how to perform New Item Validation.

Things to know!

• COGS-Well typically does Item Validation for you as part of our Receiving Audit service. This article only applies to customers doing Item Validation on their own.
• New Inventory Items are automatically added to your database when they are encountered during the import of invoices from your vendor or AP Automation system. 
• What triggers an Inventory Item to be new in COGS-Well is an item with a vendor item code that does not already exist. 
• What is unique in COGS-Well to other inventory control systems is that a new item will not interfere with receiving an invoice or taking an inventory count. Even if a new item has not been validated, COGS-Well allows the Item to be received on an invoice and counted in an inventory count.  
• New Items that need validation will be listed in the Validate New Inventory Items function and the Key Metrics display on the COGS-Well dashboard if you have access to the Validate New Inventory Items feature. 
• Validation consists of ensuring the new Inventory Item's name, packaging, count unit, and recipe unit information are correct and adding attributes to the item such as a Combined Item assignment. 
• Storage Location, Ordering, and Inventory Group assignments will also need to be made for new Inventory Items. 
• Once a new Inventory Item has been validated, it will no longer be displayed on the Dashboard or in the Validate New Inventory Items function.
• Once you have selected a new Inventory Item for validation, the process for validation is identical to the function for Inventory Item setup (Inventory>Setup>Items). If you would like more information on the Inventory Item setup then please click this link: Inventory Item Setup link.
• Inventory Item information imported from an AP Automation solution such as PIQ can require additional validation work.  This is because a scan or photograph of a paper record is not always accurately converted to digital data. In some cases, information may be missing from the paper record. If a vendor item code from a paper invoice scan is missed or misread, it may create a new Item for an Item that already exists (a duplicate Item). 
• If you are validating multiple Inventory Items, and you want to concurrently assign them to Storage Locations, the best approach is to open the feature for Assign Items to Site at the same time the New Item Validation feature is open and "tab" back and forth for each Item after you validate it.   

New Item Validation:

To Validate New Inventory Items, navigate to Inventory>Maintenance>Validate New Inventory Items.  Upon selection, a screen similar to the one below will display a listing of all of your new Inventory Items. 

Only new Items that have not yet been validated will be displayed. The vendor Item Name, the vendor, the vendor's item code, the vendor's pack size, the last received date, and the item status will be displayed in columns for each item. Each column in the above display has a search function that enables you to search within that field. A global search option is at the top of the display.

Dashboard Alert of New Inventory Items:

In addition to providing a function for New Inventory Item Validation in the Inventory menu, COGS-Well will also alert you of any new Inventory Items that require Validation via the Alerts area of the main dashboard. An example is shown below:

Alerts display any new validation requirements (vendor, inventory item, GL account, or sales item) along with a value. The value represents the number of new records within each metric that require validation.  Any metric displayed in red has at least one new record. In the example above, 5 new inventory items require validation.  

Clicking on the jump button ( “>”) for New Inventory Items will take you to this New Item Validation feature and will display the new inventory items that require validation. An example is below: 

Validating a New Inventory Item:

To Validate a New Inventory Item, click the "Edit" key in the row of the new Inventory Item name you wish to Validate (or double-click on the item). To delete a New Item, click the "Delete" key in the row of the Item Name that you wish to delete.

For the example below, we have selected a "Mushroom Button" Inventory Item that requires new item validation: 

Above we are viewing a new inventory item "Mushroom Button" that requires validation to make sure the information is complete and correct. The above display is the same one utilized when an inventory item is viewed or added using the Inventory Setup Feature. Please click this link if you would like more detailed information on the Inventory Item Setup feature. 

Vendor Pack Description: COGS-Well imports the Vendor name, Vendor Item Name, Vendor's Pack Description, and Pack Cost for a new inventory item from the associated invoice. This information is primarily informational, but you can change the vendor or the vendor item name in the event it is missing or imported incorrectly from the invoice. 

Vendor Item Code: COGS-Well also imports the Vendor Item Code from an invoice for a new inventory item. COGS-Well utilizes the Vendor Item Code as the unique identifier for each inventory item so it is very important to make sure the item code is imported and is correct.  

Inventory Item Name: The Inventory Item Name will default to be the Vendor's Item Name for an item. If you would like to modify or change the name then you can do it in this field. Data entry displays, listings, and reports will use the Inventory Item Name. 

Pack Size: The Pack Size should reflect how the vendor prices the item (by the pound, gallon, etc.). Pack sizes for a new item are assigned automatically by the COGS-Well system based on the vendor's pack size description on the invoice. The drop-down can be used to select a different pack size in the event the pack size is not correct. When a pack size is initially assigned, or when a pack size is changed, the names and configurations for Count Units and Recipe Units are automatically configured. For more information on this process, please click this link to Standard Packaging Definitions. 

Count When: There are three options in the drop-down selection. Count When "Active" means the item should always be included in an inventory count unless a zero count is entered and the item is not received again. Count "Always" means the item will always be included in the Inventory Count entry. Count "Never" means the Item will never be included in the Inventory Count entry. Examples of count never items are items that are included on invoices, but you do not count the item in inventory such as paper items or cleaning supplies. 

Category: Inventory Categories will roll up the usage, costs, or on-hand values for the items assigned to that Category. A Category is linked to one of your GL Accounts. Inventory Categories can also be used to sort items for inventory counts (if you don't use storage locations). COGS-Well initially sets up your Inventory Categories for you based on your Chart of Accounts. Examples of common Inventory Categories are Meat, Poultry, Seafood, Dairy, Produce, Grocery, Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Liquor, Beer, and Wine. Categories for new items are assigned by the COGS-Well system automatically based on the GL Account number for the new item that is imported from an invoice. Please note that Categories are not assigned to items that are flagged as Count Never. Categories can be edited. 

Count Unit: As mentioned above, the Count Unit name and configuration for an item are defined automatically by COGS-Well when a pack size is selected from the Standard Packaging Definitions. If you want to use a more specific Count Unit name, it can be changed using the drop-down in the Count Unit Name cell to search and select a new Count Unit name from the library. An example would be changing the Count Unit name of "Each" for a bottle of olive oil to "Bottle".  

Count Units Per Pack: The Count Units per Pack are also defined automatically by COGS-Well when a pack size is selected from the Standard Packaging Definitions Library.  The Count Units Per Pack can be changed. Count Units are used to provide a smaller unit of measure for counting an inventory item that includes "partial or sub-packs" such as a pack size of 6/3 Gallons or 24 Cans. A count unit is not required.   

Used In Recipes: The COGS-Well system defaults any item that is flagged as Count When "Active" as "Yes" for Used in Recipes. It also defaults any item flagged "Never" for Count When " to "No" for Used in Recipes. Any item flagged to be used in recipes requires a Primary Measure Class and at least one Recipe Unit type to be configured. 

Primary Measure Class: The Primary Measure Class options are Count, Volume, or Weight. The Primary Measure Class for an item is defined automatically by COGS-Well when a pack size is selected from the Standard Packaging Definitions Library. The Primary Measure Class should reflect how an item is priced by your vendor (by volume, weight, or count) to ensure that you have an accurate cost allocation to recipe units. You can assign additional Measure Classes to an Item to create additional recipe unit types (an example = onions that you purchase by the pound (Weight = Primary Measure Class), but also use by the cup (Volume = Measure Class), and by each (Count = Measure Class). For more information on adding Measure Classes, please click this link to Recipe Unit Configuration - FAQ. 

Volume, Weight, or Count Recipe Unit Types: A Recipe Unit Type must be configured for the Primary Measure Class and it will default to the Recipe unit type that is assigned by the Standard Packaging Definitions library. Each Recipe Unit requires a name and a quantity for the # of Recipe Units per Pack. In the example above for Button Mushroom, the Primary Measure Class is Weight, and the Recipe Unit Type is "Wz" (Weighted Ounce). Once a Recipe Unit is defined and configured, COGS-Well provides a Recipe Unit Library to enable you to utilize different Recipe Unit Types in different Recipe Items. 

Other Measure Classes: Recipe Unit Types can, optionally, be added for other Measure Classes. If the primary class for Button Mushrooms is Weight, but you also use them by volume (a cup for example), then you can define additional measure classes during the validation process. Please click this link please click this link to Recipe Unit Configuration - FAQ for more information. 

Snippets:

Snippets: Please notice that if you use Plate IQ, there is an Invoice Snippet image for the item that has been highlighted on the grid (in the below example it is Buttermilk) at the bottom of the grid. A Snippet is an image from the vendor's invoice that only includes the item highlighted on the grid. Plate IQ is inconsistent with providing item snippets so you may or may not see one for every item if you use Plate IQ. Invoice interfaces via Invoice+, Fintech, and directly to vendors (Sysco, US Foods, etc.) do not provide Snippets so you will need to use the "Show Last Image" button to see the invoice as explained directly below.

Other Buttons: 

Show Last Image Button: The Show Last Image button is at the bottom of the display. Plate IQ, Invoice+, and Fintech provide images of the full invoice. Highlight the item on the grid that you wish to see the invoice for and then click the "Show Last Image" button. An image (or images) that show the entire detail for the invoice will open on another tab(s) in your browser. An example of an image is below:

Delete: You can delete an item, but doing so will likely put your invoice out of balance. We do not recommend using this option unless you fully understand its impact. Please contact COGS-Well support if you would like assistance. 

Remove from this Site:  We do not recommend using this option unless you fully understand its impact. Please contact COGS-Well support if you would like assistance. 

Merge Into an Existing Item: If you discover a new item is a duplicate of an item that already exists, then you can merge the new item into the existing item.  Detailed help on merging inventory items is available from COGS-Well Support and if you would like more information then please click on this link: Merge Inventory Items. Please do not use this option unless you fully understand the impact. 

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