Balances and the item card
How much of each item do you have, at what cost, and what is your stock worth right now? This article explains the balances screen, the item card and how cost is computed.
The balances screen
Under Items, then Balances and item card. A table of item by warehouse with columns: Quantity in the base unit, Average cost, Value (quantity times average) and Last movement. Filter by warehouse or group, and show or hide zeros. It needs the Balances and movements permission in the Inventory module; the cost and value columns additionally need Cost and profit visibility from Reports, without which a sales officer sees quantities only.
The item card
Click a row to open the item card: every movement in and out of this warehouse in order, with the balance after and average after each one, and the source (invoice or document number). Movement kinds:
| Kind | Direction | Cost used |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase | In | Supplier invoice cost |
| Purchase return | Out | Original invoice cost, difference to inventory adjustments |
| Sale | Out | Current average |
| Sale return | In | Original invoice cost |
| Transfer out / transfer in | Out, then in | Average at exit, fixed until receipt |
| Adjustment / stocktake | By sign | Increase at entered cost, decrease at average |
| Opening | In | Entered cost |
| Bundle consumption | Out | Average of each component |
| Landed cost | Zero quantity | Raises the average by the expense |
| Reversal | Opposite of original | Original movement cost |
How cost is computed
Sahl uses the moving weighted average per item per warehouse. Every inbound movement recomputes the average: (old quantity times old average plus inbound quantity times its cost) divided by the new quantity. Every outbound movement leaves at the current average and does not change it. So your latest purchase at a higher price lifts the cost of every piece on hand gradually, not just the new ones.
Movements are not accepted with a date earlier than the item's last movement in the warehouse, so that back-dated entries do not corrupt the average. Back-dating needs the Backdate permission and recomputes the average for later movements.
What happens in the books
Every movement of a tracked item generates an entry at the same moment: inbound debits inventory and credits the counterpart (supplier or adjustments), outbound debits cost of goods sold and credits inventory. As a result, the total of the Value column on the balances screen must always equal the inventory account balance in the ledger. The valuation report checks that for you.
Inventory reports
Under Items, then Inventory reports:
- Inventory valuation against the ledger: stock value from the balances, the inventory account balance in the ledger, and the difference. The difference must be zero; if it shows in red the cause is usually a manual entry on the inventory account. See Advanced accounting.
- Below minimum: items whose balance dropped under the minimum set on the item form, with the reorder quantity. Your list for the supplier. See Supplier invoices.
More ready-made reports (slow movers, group movement, best sellers) live in the report builder.
Tip
Open the item card before accusing anyone of theft: a return not posted, a transfer not received at the destination, or a stocktake that treated uncounted items as zero all show up here with date and source.
Frequently asked questions
Why did the cost of pieces I already had change after a new purchase?
Because cost is a weighted average of the whole quantity in the warehouse. A purchase at a different price moves the average for all of it.
Why do I not see cost on the balances screen?
The cost column needs the Cost and profit visibility permission. The sales officer and warehouse keeper templates deny it on purpose.
The difference in the valuation report is not zero. What do I do?
Review manual entries on the inventory account in advanced accounting. If there is none, ask support to run a balance rebuild.