Inventory Departments

Overview:

Inventory Departments are at the top of the inventory item organization and reporting hierarchy. Each Inventory Item is assigned to an Inventory Category and each Inventory Category is assigned to an Inventory Department. The cost, value on hand, and usage for each Inventory Item will roll up to its assigned Inventory Category, and each Category then rolls up to its assigned Inventory Department. Inventory Categories and Departments are typically summarized in Inventory Reports. 

Things to know!

• This feature will only be accessible and visible to users who are given access to it.
• As part of your initial setup, COGS-Well support will set up your Inventory Categories and Departments using your chart of accounts as a guide. You can review and make any desired changes to Departments via this function. 
• An Inventory Item can be assigned to only one Inventory Category and an Inventory Category can be assigned to only one Inventory Department. 
• Departments can be given General Ledger Asset and Expense Account assignments if you want to post purchases and/or inventory valuation adjustments by Department to your accounting system. 
• Even if you are not posting purchases or ending inventory valuations to your accounting system, Inventory Departments can be useful for COGS-Well reporting purposes.

Add or Edit Inventory Departments

An example of the hierarchical relationship between Inventory Items, Categories, and Departments is below:

To add, review, edit, or delete Inventory Departments, navigate to Inventory>Setup>Inventory Departments.  Upon selection, a "Find Grid" similar to the one below will display a listing of all of your Inventory Departments.

Add, Export, and Search Options:

• The blue "+ Add" button is used to add a new Group (versus to view or edit an existing Group).
• The "XLSX" button will export the row information on the grid to a spreadsheet.
• The search option can be used to find any part of a word or date on the grid. Type in your search criteria to initiate the search. 

Special Column Tools:

• Magnifying Glass Only Icon: The magnifying glass at the top of each column in the above grid has a search function that enables you to search within that field. If you hover your mouse over the magnifying class you will see options to use to refine your search.
• Magnifying Glass and Calendar Icon: If a column has a magnifying glass and a calendar at the top of the column, the calendar can be used to select a date, and if you hover over the magnifying glass after you select a date, you will have options to refine the filter (such as equal to or greater than the selected date).
• All Incon: Columns that display "All" have a drop-down arrow on the right that can be used to select and filter for a specific status. For example, the Active column can be filtered for "Yes" items only.
• Grid Tools - FAQs: Please click this link for more information on Grid Tools - FAQs.

Edit/Delete: Click the button to the right of the Department that you wish to edit or delete.

Add or Edit a Department:

If you select to add or edit an Inventory Department, a screen like below will display:

Department Name: Enter a name for this Department (required field).

GL Asset Account: Select a GL Asset Account if you plan to post an ending inventory adjustment from this Department to your accounting system. 

GL Expense Account: Select a GL Expense Account if you plan to post invoice expenses from this Department to your accounts payable system.

Associated Sales and Cost Class: This is an optional field. Classes are used to control the reporting format on the Actual Cost of Sales Report. For more information on the Actual Cost of Sales Report and the use of Classes please see this link Actual Cost of Sales Report link.

Cost Alert Trigger Percentage: Cost Alerts are generated by a change in the cost of an inventory item. Cost Alerts are based on "Trigger Percentages".  A Trigger Percentage is the percentage change amount in an item's cost that you have flagged to receive an Alert. A default Trigger Percentage for all items is set up in Company Settings. Only enter a value in this field if you do not want to use the default value which is displayed beside this field. For more information on Cost Alerts please click this link: Cost Alerts.

Report Unit: There are four Inventory Reports (Extension, Usage Variance, Theoretical On-Hand, and Actual Cost of Sales) that can be modified from reporting values by an item's Pack Size to reporting by an item's Count Unit.

If you use the drop-down to change to Count Unit then all of the inventory items associated with this Inventory Department will report using Count Units on the above four reports.  An example could be a Department for Wine and you want the above reports to use the Count Unit (bottle) versus the Pack Size (case).  Report Units can also be configured at the Category or the Inventory Item level. 

Number of Pricing History Days: This field is only relevant if you are using or are going to use the Order by Item feature and you wish COGS-Well to assist you in vendor selection.  It represents how many days from the current date COGS-Well will look back at a vendor's pricing for an item. 

The default is set up in your Company Settings, on the Ordering Tab (in this example it is 365 days).  You can override the default for a specific department by entering an override. 

Sort Order: If you have a desired order that you prefer your Departments to report in, then enter a numeric value for the Sort order (the lower the number the higher the order). If a sort order is not entered then the Departments will print alphabetically.

Exclude From Inventory Adjustment: If you are counting items in an Inventory Department such as Supplies or Paper, but you do not want this Department's value to be exported to your accounting system's general ledger, then you can check this box.

Active: The system default is to check the Active setting.  To make a Department inactive, click the box to remove the checkmark.  An inactive Department can be made active again.

Save, Delete, and Exit

At the bottom of the screen are the Save, Delete, and Exit buttons.

Save - Saves the entry or entries without exiting.

Delete - Deletes the department you are viewing.

Exit -  Exits without saving any new entries or edits.