Inventory Costing & Purchase History Reports

The Purchasing & Costing reports help you understand what you are paying for your inventory, how those costs have changed over time, and how different vendors compare on price. Accurate cost tracking is fundamental to maintaining healthy profit margins, and these three reports give you full visibility into the cost side of your inventory.

Accessing These Reports

From the main menu bar, navigate to:

Reports > Inventory > Purchasing & Costing

You will see three report options:

1. Purchase History by Item
2. Cost Changes
3. Vendor Price List

All three are presets within the Inventory Costing Report form. When you select one from the menu, the report opens with the corresponding preset already applied.

Permission Required

All three reports require the RPT_VIEW_INV_COSTING permission. Super Admins and Location Admins have this permission by default. Other roles need it explicitly assigned.

Common Filters

• Location — Filter data to a specific location or view all locations
• Date Range — Set the From and To dates to control the reporting period

Purchase History by Item

The Purchase History by Item report provides a chronological record of every purchase you have made for each inventory item. It shows when you bought it, from whom, how much you paid, and the running average cost.

Columns

Understanding Average Cost

The Avg Cost column shows the weighted average cost of the item after each purchase. This is calculated by taking the total value of existing stock plus the value of the new receipt, divided by the total quantity. For example, if you had 20 units at $5.00 ($100 total) and received 30 more at $6.00 ($180 total), the new average cost would be $280 divided by 50 units, which is $5.60.

Average cost is the basis for your inventory valuation and cost of goods sold calculations. Tracking it over time helps you understand whether your costs are trending upward or downward.

Tips

• Use this report to verify that purchase order receipts have been recorded correctly
• Compare Unit Cost across different purchase dates to spot price trends from a specific vendor
• If the Avg Cost is trending upward, consider negotiating with your vendors or finding alternative suppliers
• Export to CSV to build cost trend charts in a spreadsheet application

Cost Changes

The Cost Changes report tracks every modification to an item's cost price, whether the change came from receiving a purchase order at a different price or from a manual cost adjustment. This is your audit trail for pricing at the cost level.

Columns

Why Cost Changes Matter

Cost changes directly affect your profitability. When the cost of an item increases but the retail price stays the same, your margin shrinks. Conversely, cost decreases improve your margin. By monitoring cost changes, you can:

• Identify items where margins are eroding due to rising supplier prices
• Decide whether to pass cost increases on to customers through retail price adjustments
• Catch data entry errors where a cost was entered incorrectly during receiving
• Verify that negotiated pricing agreements with vendors are being honored

Tips

• Sort by Change % descending to find the largest cost swings first
• Filter by a specific date range around a vendor price increase to see which items were affected
• Items with frequent cost changes from manual adjustments may need their purchasing workflow reviewed
• Cross-reference large cost increases with the Inventory Movement & Control Reports to see the receiving details

Vendor Price List

The Vendor Price List report shows the current and previous prices from each vendor for every item they supply. This is your comparison shopping tool for evaluating vendor pricing.

Columns

Using the Vendor Price List Effectively

This report is most useful when you purchase the same item from multiple vendors. By comparing Current Price across vendors for the same item, you can identify which vendor offers the best deal. The Change % column also reveals which vendors are raising prices most aggressively.

Keep in mind that the lowest price is not always the best choice. Consider factors like delivery reliability, minimum order quantities, and payment terms. Use this report in conjunction with the Vendor Analysis Reports for a complete picture.

Tips

• Review this report before placing large purchase orders to ensure you are buying from the most cost-effective vendor
• Items with a high positive Change % may need alternate vendor sourcing
• The Last Updated column helps you identify stale pricing data; if a vendor's price has not been updated in months, their actual current price may differ from what the report shows
• Export this report and share it with your purchasing team as a reference guide

How Cost Tracking Affects Profitability Reporting

The data in these costing reports feeds directly into other areas of AccuArk:

• Inventory Valuation — The Inventory On-Hand & Valuation Reports use the current cost per item to calculate your total inventory value
• Gross Margin — Sales reports calculate gross margin by comparing the selling price to the cost of goods sold, which is derived from your average cost
• Financial Statements — The Profit and Loss statement uses cost of goods sold figures that depend on accurate cost tracking

Keeping your costs accurate ensures that every other report in the system produces reliable numbers. If you notice discrepancies in margin reports or financial statements, the Cost Changes report is a good place to start investigating.

Related Articles

• Inventory Movement & Control Reports — Track stock changes and receiving detail
• Purchasing Analysis Reports — Purchase order summaries and backorders
• Vendor Analysis Reports — Vendor performance and payment history