Cost Tracking

Track product cost changes over time to understand margin trends and distributor pricing.

Overview

Cost Tracking helps you:

• Monitor price changes from your distributors
• See cost history for any product
• Identify trends with visual indicators
• Understand margins based on actual costs

Perfect for managing costs across multiple distributors and catching unexpected price increases.

Cost History Popover

Click the clock icon next to any product's cost to see its complete price history.

What You'll See

The cost history popover shows:

• Timeline of changes - All recorded cost changes
• Date of each change - When the cost was recorded
• Cost at each point - The unit cost value
• Delta percentage - Change from previous cost
• Distributor - Which distributor supplied at that cost

Visual Indicators

Cost changes are color-coded for quick scanning:

Color	Meaning
Red	Cost increased (negative for margins)
Green	Cost decreased (positive for margins)
Gray	First recorded cost (no comparison)

Example Timeline

Today        $12.50  +4.2%  Red    Sysco
30 days ago  $12.00  -2.4%  Green  US Foods
60 days ago  $12.30  --     Gray   Sysco

How Costs Are Recorded

Costs are captured automatically from several sources:

Source	When Recorded
Receiving	When you log received inventory with a cost
PO generation	When creating purchase orders
Distributor import	When syncing distributor catalogs
Manual entry	When editing product costs directly

Best Practice

Record costs at receiving for the most accurate history. This captures actual paid prices rather than quoted costs.

Distributor Attribution

Each cost entry is linked to the distributor who provided that price:

• Compare pricing across distributors over time
• Identify trends - which distributors raise prices most often
• Make informed decisions about preferred suppliers

Multi-Distributor View

For products available from multiple distributors, the cost history shows all suppliers' pricing in one timeline, making it easy to see:

• Who has the best current price
• Whose prices are stable vs. volatile
• Historical comparison across all sources

Using Cost Data

In Order Day

The Order Day page uses your most recent recorded cost to:

• Calculate line totals
• Show potential order value
• Compare distributor pricing

In Reports

Cost history feeds into reporting for:

• Margin analysis over time
• Cost trend identification
• Distributor price comparison

In Order Builder

When building orders, you'll see:

• Current unit cost
• Cost indicator (trending up, down, or stable)
• Quick access to full history

Settings

Configure cost tracking behavior in Settings > Products:

Setting	Description
Record costs at receiving	Enable/disable cost capture during receiving
Show cost history icon	Display the clock icon in product lists
Cost change alerts	Notify when costs change significantly
Alert threshold	Percentage change that triggers alerts

Best Practices

1. Record costs consistently - Enter cost at every receiving for accurate history
2. Review monthly - Check for unexpected price increases
3. Compare distributors - Use history to negotiate better pricing
4. Set alerts - Catch significant changes automatically
5. Note the source - Different distributors = different cost trends

FAQ

Q: How far back does cost history go?

A: Cost history is stored indefinitely. You'll see all recorded costs since you started using OrderDay.

Q: Can I manually edit historical costs?

A: You can add missed cost entries with historical dates, but existing entries cannot be modified to preserve accuracy.

Q: What if I don't record costs at receiving?

A: The system uses your most recent recorded cost. Without regular cost entry, history will have gaps and may not reflect current pricing.

Q: Does this affect my Shopify product costs?

A: OrderDay cost tracking is separate from Shopify's cost field. They don't sync automatically, but you can use OrderDay data to update Shopify manually.

Q: How is delta percentage calculated?

A: Delta shows the change from the immediately previous recorded cost: ((new - old) / old) * 100

Related

• Mobile Receiving - Record costs when receiving
• Suppliers - Manage distributor pricing
• Order Day - See costs in your ordering workflow