Alternate cost

Article05/30/20244 min read

Alternate cost is crucial for businesses, enabling the adjustment of item prices based on diverse market conditions, extending flexibility in pricing strategies beyond the standard methods. It ensures adaptability to market shifts, facilitating accurate price calculations according to varying cost structures for items.
This feature enables the configuration of different costing methods for items using market prices calculating self-prices via the price matrix. The following procedures describe how to perform this activity.

Select the Search icon , enter Alternate Costs, and then choose the related link.
The Alternate Costs page opens.
On the action bar, select New.
The system populates a line.
Fill in the following fields:

Field	Description
Code	Specify the unique identifier of the alternate cost.
Description	Specify a default text to describe the alternate cost on related documents such as item card or customer card page. You can translate the descriptions so that they show up in the language of the customer or vendor.
Cost Period	Specify the period until which the defined alternate cost will be valid. After the defined timeline, you need to update the cost period and future date.
Future Date	Specify the date when this cost period will be applied to the associated document. This will be updated automatically based on the defined cost period, but you can change it manually.

The Alternate cost code is created.

Item Alternate Cost

You can create and assign alternate cost code for specific items. The following procedure describes how to perform this activity.

Select the Search icon , enter Items and then choose the related link.
The Items list page opens.
Select the required No.
The Item Card page opens.
On the action bar, select Actions > Item Alternate Cost.
The Item Alternate Cost page opens.
On the header, the Item No. and Item Description are non-editable fields and the values are inherited from the associated Item Card page.
On the action bar, select New.
The system populates a new line.
Fill in the below fields:

Field	Description
Alternate Cost Code	Define the unique identifier of the alternate cost that you select from the dropdown.
Alternate Cost Description	Specify a default text to describe the alternate cost on related documents such as item card or customer card page. You can translate the descriptions so that they show up in the language of the customer or vendor. It is inherited from the alternate costs page.
Cost	Specify the original cost of the defined item.
Future Cost	Define the cost that would be applied based on the alternate cost code for the defined item.
Future Start Date	Specify the date from when the future cost will be applied to the defined item and associated documents. This value is inherited from the alternate costs page.

The Alternate Cost code is assigned to the defined item.

On the action bar, select Functions > Cost History, to view all the changes that has been made to a specific alternate cost code.
The Item Alternate Cost History page opens.
You can view the detailed overview of the selected alternate cost code. To know more, see Item Alternate Cost History.

Alternate Cost Worksheet

You can filter the items based on the Item Category, the Alternate Cost Code assigned to it and the associated inventory activities. The Alternate Cost Worksheet will give you detailed information regarding certain item(s) based on the set filters. The following procedure describes how to perform this activity.

Select the Search icon , enter Alternate Cost Worksheet, and then choose the related link.
The Alternate Cost Worksheet page opens.
On the header, set up the following filters:

Field	Description
Alternate Cost	Specify the alternate cost code for which you need to filter the list.
Item Category	Specify the item category for which you need to filter the list.
Item	Specify the item number for which you need to filter the list.
Available Inventory Only	Specify whether you want to generate the list of entries for which associated inventory activities exist.
Current Cost Is Editable	Specify whether the current cost field can be edited on this page.

After setting up the filters, the system displays the entries with the associated details.

You can filter the entries based on certain item parameters by selecting Actions > Item Availability by on the action bar. You can select the parameter from the dropdown. You can select the Inventory Overview on the action bar to view the inventory and warehouse details for the selected entry.

On the action bar, select Cost History.
The Item Alternate Cost History page opens.
You can view all the changes that have been made to the alternate cost code on the Item Alternate Cost History page. To know more, see Item Alternate Cost History.
On the action bar, select Alternate Cost Change.
The Alternate Cost Change report opens.
You can generate a detailed report of the cost changes. For more information, see Alternate Cost Change.

Note
On the Alternate Cost Worksheet page, the Alternate Cost Statistics FactBox fetches the details associated with the selected entry for the specified Cost Calculation Period defined on the Pricing Matrix Setup page.