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EL34
Level 4

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

At the end of December 2019, I condensed a company file that was started in 2006
So it had 13 years of data and was very large
All items, Customers, Vendors were kept
Only all the transactions were eliminated in the condense

So now I see a huge problem with items average cost because it showed up in the P&L report for January
Way back in 2006 when Quickbooks was originally set up, the on hand quantities were not entered correctly for all the items. 
This never showed up on the P & L as a problem prior to 2020
But now, that all transactions are gone I am seeing items that cost $0.20 showing and average cost of $29.28.
This item is sold by the foot and a lot of this items is sold every day
This is causing a huge issue in this months P&L because the average cost of $29 is showing a loss on every sales receipt.
The items are always paid for with the correct cost in the Write Checks section of QB
The invoice amount has to match the check amount.
So purchasing items has never been the problem.
The quantities and cost are always entered correctly when paying vendors
But, the on hand quantities being sold are very negative on many items

After reading lots of info about this Average Cost issue here, I see no way to correct the average cost.
What I did as a test is change the name of the item and then add a new item with the original name, the cost and the correct on hand.
Name changed from Cable to Cable_old
New item set up as Cable and this item will be sold from now on
Now this new item shows the correct average cost as $0.20 and it is coming up correctly in sales receipts.

I can't wait around for these items to get transactions and hope the average cost gets fixed
Can anyone tell my why this is not something I should do?

Here's some screen shots
Screen shot of Sales receipt with the Cable_old and New Cable sold with qty one each
Screen shot of old and new item
Screen shot of Transaction detail showing wrong Average cost of $29.29 on old item
And showing correct average cost on new item
AverageCost.pngAverageCost2.pngAverageCost3.png

12 Comments 12
GraceC
QuickBooks Team

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

 

Hello there, @EL34.

 

The Condense Data utility helps streamline your company data file. If you are having performance issues, the Condense Data utility should help you improve your QuickBooks performance.

 

However, before condensing, make sure it's the best option for your company. Condensing cannot be undone at a later point. 

 

Here are some valid reasons to Condense:

  • You have a large data file.
  • You are nearing a list limit.
  • You have upgraded all your hardware.
  • Your accountant and your technical support have discussed other options and are willing to proceed with Condensing.

Please check out this article for your reference to learn more about this process, p: Use the Condense Data utility.

 

If there's anything else that I can help you with, please let me know in the comment section down below. 

EL34
Level 4

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

What are you talking about?
Did you read my post?

I condensed my company file at the end of 2019?

Fiat Lux - ASIA
Level 15

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

@EL34 

We had a few client with similar issues like yours. We had them purchased a 3rd party supercondense service. You may make a deal with the vendor that you will only pay the service if you don't find any similar issue with the condensed data file.

EL34
Level 4

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

I would rather have some sort of utility that can set the average cost to whatever the current cost is.

Then Quickbooks can do it's average cost calculations going forward from today

I use the QB SDK and QBXML to do all sorts of things, but you can't get access to the average cost through QBXML

 

BettyJaneB
QuickBooks Team

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

Thanks for keeping me updated about this, @EL34.

 

To verify why you're unable to access the average cost through the QBXML, I recommend reaching out to our Intuit Developer. This team is the best resource for such concern as they have the tool to check your software libraries. 

 

You can visit them through this site: Intuit Developer

 

I'm also adding here a link about using the QBXML in QuickBooks Desktop for reference: qbXML Message structure

 

In the event that you have any other questions with QuickBooks, let me know. I'd be happy to help. Have a great day!

EL34
Level 4

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

I can read average cost via QBXML

But you cannot change the average cost via QBXML

Michael K
Moderator

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

Hey there, @EL34.

 

Thanks for updating us. A QBXML file cannot be directly edited, you must use the QB SDK as outlined on our Intuit Developer site. As @BettyJaneB mentioned, I'd recommend reaching out to their Support Team for further assistance editing the values in that file.

 

I'd also recommend contacting our QuickBooks Desktop Customer Support Team so that they can determine if a request to repair the file with our Data Services department might be necessary.

 

Wishing you and your business continued success in all that you do.

EL34
Level 4

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

No one is doing that
I have been using the SDK for 15 years and QBXML

I swear, that answers I get here are answered by robots

EL34
Level 4

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

I ended up setting up new items for all the items with the crazy Average cost
First I renamed the original item adding _old to the end ot each item
Then a new item was set up using the original name

The new items were all created by QB with the same average cost as the real cost figure
What a pain this was
Quickbooks has no idea how to manage Inventory
I also agree with everything Rustler had to say about this inventory bug on his web site here.
http://onsale-apparel.com/Rustler/warning-inventory-bug

 

Rustler seems to be the only person I have found that know how screwed up the average costing practice is in Quickbooks

liten
Level 1

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

has the same issue,

to solve it you need to the Item Receipt and Delete the receipt of item that the average cost start to change.

( you don't need to delete the PO)

 

the simplest way to do it is going to the purchase order and clicking CTRL+H it will show the item receipt 

and delete that item in the receipt or delete the entire receipt.

 

... and then save everything should balance.

 

Don't forget to create a new item receipt.

 

 

liten
Level 1

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

Sorry the rabbit hole goes a bit deeper.

so there are 3 that changes the item "average cost"

 

A) when you create a PO and the item is not received yet ( new items)

C) when you receive the item. --> secondery use the PO price 

B) when you create a BILL for PO --> this one seem to the that quickbook use the most if created

 

still digging in but people who have advance inventory might have an option with "landed cost" 

if the average cost is faulty see if it is when you created a BILL and you did not add the correct value, 

if you are sure it is an error I'd delete the BILL +  Item receipt... it will then balance out

 

 

 

 

 

EL34
Level 4

Average Item Cost is wrong - Company file condensed

I don't use PO's

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