The Costing Analysis Report provides detailed visibility into how each transaction impacts your product's Average Landed Cost (ALC). This powerful analytical tool tracks the complete cost evolution of your products by showing exactly when, why, and by how much your product costs have changed over time. By analyzing this data, you can make informed pricing decisions, identify cost volatility patterns, and maintain accurate profitability margins.
The report displays a chronological record of all transactions that have modified a product's ALC, creating an audit trail that helps you understand cost fluctuations and their underlying causes. This is particularly valuable for businesses dealing with volatile supplier pricing, currency fluctuations, or seasonal cost variations.
Navigate to Reports > Purchases > Costing Analysis Report from the main menu. Click the Run button in the top-right corner to generate a basic report with all cost analysis data, or apply filters first to focus on specific information.
Use the Export dropdown menu in the top right corner to download your analysis in PDF format for presentations, CSV for spreadsheet analysis, or XLSX for advanced Excel manipulation and further data processing.
Understanding the Costing Analysis Report
The report includes Product Code and Description filtering capabilities to help you focus on specific products or timeframes. After setting your desired filters, click the Run button to generate the report with your selected criteria applied.
The report presents transaction data in a comprehensive grid format, with each row representing a single transaction that affected your product's ALC. The columns, described in the table below, provide both transaction details and cost impact analysis.
Costing Analysis Report grid column | Description |
Transaction Date | Displays the date the transaction affected the product's ALC. |
Product Code | Displays the product's code. |
Product Description | Displays the product description. |
Transaction Type | Displays the type of transaction that updated the product's ALC, e.g., Purchase Order, Stock Adjustment, or Assembly. |
Transaction Ref | Displays the transaction's number. |
Trans Qty | Displays the total number of stock units that were included in the transaction. |
Trans Unit Cost | Displays the transaction's product's unit cost. |
Pre Avg Cost | Displays the product's ALC before the transaction is completed. |
Post Avg Cost | Displays the product's ALC after the transaction is completed. |
Customising your view
Drag any column header into the grey area above the grid to group your data by that field. Add multiple grouping levels and use the +/- icons to expand or collapse sections. This is particularly useful for analyzing data by product, product group, or period.
Reorder columns by dragging headers, resize columns by dragging borders, and sort data by clicking column headers - first click for descending order, second click for ascending order.
To add a Hidden Column to the Costing Analysis Report's grid:
Go to Reports > Purchase > Costing Analysis Report.
Click Show Toolbar.
Click Hidden Columns.
Drag a column header from the Hidden Columns list and drop it into the grid.
To remove a Hidden Column from the Costing Analysis Report's grid:
Go to Reports > Purchase > Costing Analysis Report.
Click Show Toolbar.
Click Hidden Columns.
Drag a column header from the grid into the Hidden Columns list.
Grid Layouts
After customising your column layout, save it for future use:
Click on the Show Toolbar tab.
Select New.
Enter a unique name for the new layout.
Click Add.
The layout will now be saved to your user profile, only available to select from the Show Toolbar's Grid Layout drop-down menu.
Edits can be made to your custom grid layout at any time; just click Save in the Show Toolbar options after you've made the necessary adjustments. Similarly, custom grid layouts can be removed by clicking Delete in the Show Toolbar tab.
Default grid layouts
Initially, whenever you navigate to the Costing Analysis Report, the default grid layout "None" will be displayed.
To make one of your custom grid layouts the default view:
Click on the Show Toolbar tab.
Select the layout from the Grid Layout drop-down menu
Tick the Default checkbox.
Click Save.
Share grid layouts
If you've created a grid layout that other users in your account would benefit from using, you can make it available to their user profiles too:
Click on the Show Toolbar tab.
Select the layout from the Grid Layout drop-down menu
Tick the Shared checkbox.
Click Save.
The layout will then be available to select from the Show Toolbar > Grid Layout menu when other users open the Costing Analysis Report page.
Shared layouts cannot be a default for another user's profile, but they can save the shared layout as a new layout in their own profile, then set that as their default. Any edits you make to your shared layout will not apply to their saved default version.