Container Costing

Container Costing

Purpose

Container Costing allows a COSTAR user who imports product from overseas, to easily consolidate all related invoices for a given shipment, and then update the relevant purchase orders with the applicable landed cost factor (LCF). This functionality allows for the value of the in-transit goods to be placed against in-transit suppliers and held in holding GL accounts. Once a shipment is finalised (i.e. been received into stock), these values are moved to the corresponding billing suppliers and offset against the receipted product.

In order to use Container Costing, the following must first be created/configured.

  1. All suppliers used for supplying imported goods and a corresponding "in-transit" supplier for every stock supplier. An in-transit supplier is just a normal supplier in COSTAR, the difference being it is used when processing the in-transit stock invoices.
  2. The Container Costing configuration must be completed.

Container Costing Process Overview

The process flow for Container Costing is as follows.
  1. Enter all related invoices (both stocking and non-stocking).
  2. Create all purchase orders required for the shipment.
  3. Create the relevant shipment.
  4. Allocate the related invoices and purchase orders to the relevant shipment.
  5. Apply the LCF.
  6. Receipt the purchase orders. All Container Costing purchase orders must be receipted on delivery docket.
  7. Finalise the Shipment.

The Containers menu can be found under the Purchasing menu for wholesale branches ONLY.



Financial Impact

The diagram below shows the financial impact of each step in the shipment process, with the final line showing the net affect of the shipment process.

Entering an Invoice

There are two types of invoices to be entered into Container Costing.

  • Stocking Invoices - these are invoices for the physical stock. These invoices may also include rebate and claim values.
  • Non-stocking Invoices - these are invoices for expenses incurred in getting the shipment to the warehouse door. Examples of non-stocking invoices are customs fees and freight charges.

Stock Invoices

To enter a Stock Invoice go to Purchasing => Containers => Stock Invoices and click Add New.


To complete a stock invoice enter the required information.
  1. Branch: Select the branch receiving the shipment.
  2. Supplier: Select the appropriate supplier. If the stock is to be held in-transit, then the in-transit supplier must be selected. Only suppliers configured in the Container Costing settings menu will be displayed.
  3. Invoice #: Enter the relevant invoice number.
  4. Invoice Date: Enter the invoice date.
  5. Due Date: This will be automatically calculated based on the selected supplier's terms. It can be manually overwritten.
  6. Shipment #: Optional field to enter the shipment number if know (optional). If a valid shipment number is entered, the invoice will automatically be assigned to the shipment.
  7. Container #: Optional field to enter the relevant container number if known.
  8. Currency: Select the currency specified on the invoice.
  9. Units/Qty: Enter the number of units invoiced.
  10. Amount ex GST: Enter the ex-GST value of the invoice. If the Currency is set to Australian dollars (AUD), an optional field will be displayed to enter a GST Free amount.
  11. Less Rebate: Option field to enter the rebate value on the invoice.
  12. Less Claims Allowance: Option field to enter the claims value on the invoice.
  13. Claims Comment: Optional field to enter a claims comment. If used, this will be the description in the corresponding financial documents in COSTAR.
  14. FX Rate: Enter the relevant foreign exchange rate. If the currency is set to Australian dollars (AUD), then the FX Rate field will be replaced by the GST value.
  15. Clicking Entries will preview the financial records in COSTAR that will be created once the invoice is complete.
  16. Click Complete to finalise and post the invoice after selecting the written by (the employee completing the invoice) and the posting period.

Completing the invoice will create an AP Invoice batch with the invoice included in the batch posted to the specified period.



Non-Stock Invoices

To enter a Non-Stock Invoice go to Purchasing => Containers => Non-Stock Invoices and click Add New.



To complete a non-stock invoice enter the required information.

  1. Branch: Select the branch receiving the shipment.
  2. Supplier: Select the appropriate no-stock supplier. Only suppliers configured in the Container Costing settings menu will be displayed.
  3. Invoice #: Enter the relevant invoice number.
  4. Invoice Date: Enter the invoice date.
  5. Due Date: This will be automatically calculated based on the selected supplier's terms. It can be manually overwritten.
  6. Shipment #: Optional field to enter the shipment number if know (optional). If a valid shipment number is entered, the invoice will automatically be assigned to the shipment.
  7. Container #: Optional field to enter the relevant container number if known.
  8. Currency: Select the currency specified on the invoice.
  9. Amount ex GST: Enter the ex-GST value of the invoice.
  10. GST Free Amount: If the Currency is set to Australian dollars (AUD), an optional field will be displayed to enter a GST Free amount.
  11. GST Amount: If the currency is set to Australian dollars (AUD), then this field is the GST value. If the currency is a foreign currency, the FX Rate will be displayed instead of GST Amount.

  12. Clicking Entries will display the financial records in COSTAR that will be created once the invoice is complete.

  13. Click Complete to finalise and post the invoice after selecting the written by (the employee completing the invoice) and the posting period.


Completing the invoice will create an AP Invoice batch with the invoice included in the batch posted to the specified period.

Reversing an Invoice

A completed invoice can be reversed by searching the history documents for either a stock or non-stock invoice.

  1. Click the Include History option before searching, and all invoices will be displayed.
  2. Select the invoice to be reversed by double clicking on the invoice in the search results.
  3. Click Reverse. If the invoice has already been included as part of a shipment, it cannot be reversed (i.e. the Reverse button will be disabled).
  4. Enter the relevant reversal/credit note number and click OK.
  5. Click Yes to confirm the document is to be reversed.
  6. Finalise and post the reversal after selecting the written by (the employee completing the reversal) and the posting period.

Whereas an invoice creates an AP Invoice in COSTAR, a reversal creates an AP credit note.

Shipments

A Container Costing shipment is the consolidation of all relevant invoices and purchase orders into one shipment, with the purpose of calculating the appropriate landed cost factor (LCF) and applying the LCF to the included purchase orders.

 

Before a shipment can be finalised, the LCF must have been applied to the included purchase orders and those purchase orders must have been receipted in COSTAR.

Creating a Shipment and Applying the Landed Cost Factor (LCF)

To create a shipment, go to Purchasing => Containers => Shipment - Outstanding and click Add New.


Enter the following information to complete the creation of the shipment.


  1. Branch: Select the branch that is receiving the shipment.
  2. Shipment #: Enter the shipment number.
  3. Shipment Date: Enter the expected date for the shipment.
  4. Comment: Enter a comment for the shipment (optional).
  5. Provision Amount: Enter a provisional expense amount for the shipment (optional).
  6. Selecting the STOCK invoices will display the invoices in the right hand side of the screen indicating the selected invoices will be included in the landed cost calculations. Any invoices completed with the new shipment number will automatically included in the shipment.
  7. Selecting the NON-STOCK invoices will display the invoices in the right hand side of the screen indicating the selected invoices will be included in the landed cost calculations. Any invoices completed with the new shipment number will automatically included in the shipment.
  8. Selecting the relevant purchase order numbers will display the orders in the right hand side. The selected orders will have the calculated landed cost factor applied to all items on the orders.
  9. Click Apply LCF to update the landed cost factor on all selected purchase orders and update the landed cost of all included items.
  10. Select the employee applying the landed cost factor and click OK to update the landed cost factor on all selected purchase orders.

Finalizing a Shipment

Please note that a shipment cannot be finalised until both of the following have been done.
  • The LCF has been applied.
  • All selected purchase orders have been fully receipted.



Find the relevant shipment by going to Purchasing => Containers => Shipment - To be Finalised and double click on the shipment to be finalised.


Once the shipment is open and ready for finalising, clicking Entries will preview the financials that will be created in COSTAR once the shipment has been finalised.


Click Finalise to complete the shipment, enter the employee finalising the shipment and select the period to post the shipment to.


Finalising the shipment in COSTAR will create a posted batch in AP Invoice Entry with the following documents included.

  • A new invoice for every stock invoice posted to an in-transit supplier, moving the values to the corresponding billing suppliers.


  • A single clearance invoice that offsets the holding account values with the receipted purchase orders and expense accounts.


Configuration

This help file details how to set up the Container Costing functionality available in COSTAR. This configuration is used when creating the accounts payable invoices based on the entered invoices.

Supplier Configuration

For all suppliers (includes bill to and in-transit suppliers) that will be sending stock in shipments that are received into COSTAR, the following must be configured.

  1. Payment Terms: These will be used to set the due date of any invoices entered through Container Costing.
  2. Currency: This will be used to determine whether a foreign exchange rate or GST is to be applied to the invoices entered through Container Costing.


Generally, there will need to be at least one stocking supplier, a corresponding in-transit supplier, one non-stocking supplier and a system supplier (required for processing and will not have any balances). An example of a system supplier configuration is below.


Settings

Before configuring Container Costing, the following GL accounts may need to exist.
  1. Provision GL - records the Shipment provision values (optional - expense/revenue).
  2. Stock In Transit GL - holds the value of stock in-transit (mandatory - asset/liability).
  3. Non-stocking Holding GL - holds the value of non-stocking invoices for shipments that are in-transit (mandatory - asset/liability).
  4. Rebate GL - records the stock invoice rebate values (optional - expense/revenue).
  5. Claims GL - records the stock invoice Claim values (optional - expense/revenue).
  6. Import Variance GL - records the Shipment variances (mandatory - expense/revenue).

To configure Container Costing, go to Settings => Order Entry Options => Microhouse Integrations => Container Costing =>Settings.


  1. In Use: tick to enable the Container Costing functionality. This is a database wide setting and it will enable the functionality for all branches in the database.
  2. Transaction Type:Used to classify the supplier as either a stock or freight/duty supplier. If a supplier is both a stock and freight/duty then the supplier should be entered twice and classified accordingly.
  3. Billing Supplier: Select the billing suppliers (i.e. will hold the payable amounts once all invoices are received).
  4. Short Code:Enter a short code (if required) for each supplier. This is used in document and batch descriptions (optional).
  5. InTransit Supplier: For stock suppliers, an InTransit supplier should be entered if the value of the goods is to be held in a dedicated in-transit subledger.
  6. Clearing Supplier: Enter a supplier to be used for the clearance document. This is a system requirement. No value will be posted to this supplier
  7. Provision Supplier: If allocating a provision amount for shipments, enter the supplier that will hold the provision amounts.
  8. Provision GL: Sets the GL account that the provision value (if expensed separately) will be analysed to.
  9. Stock In Transit GL: Sets the GL account that will hold the stocking in-transit values. Once a shipment is finalised, these values are offset by the receipted purchase orders.
  10. Non-stocking Holding GL: Sets the GL account that will hold the non-stocking in-transit values. Once a shipment is finalised, these values are offset by the receipted purchase orders.
  11. Rebate GL: Sets the GL account that the rebate values from stock invoices (if expensed separately) will be analysed to.
  12. Claims GL: Sets the GL account that the claim values from stock invoices (if expensed separately) will be analysed to.
  13. Variance GL: Sets the GL account that will hold any variances between prices in COSTAR and the prices on the stock invoices.
  14. Tax Code: Designates the tax code to be used for the relevant GL account.
  15. Expense Separately: If ticked, the relevant values will NOT be included in the landed cost factor calculations, but will be analysed to the relevant GL account.

Please note that the suppliers and GL accounts shown below are only for illustrative purposes.




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