How to Adjust Average Cost with Invoice Price Variances (IPV)

If you want to get your inventory cost, and ultimately your cost of goods, to reflect the actual cost you paid for your items, then you will want to interface the Invoice Price Variance (IPV) from Oracle Payables to Oracle Inventory/Cost Management.  The ability to perform this update of inventory cost is only for inventory organizations using the average cost costing method.  To understand this process, let’s look at the flow of cost from PO receipt to Transfer of Invoice Variances.  Here’s an overview of each step:

1.       Create and approve a PO

2.       Receive the item

3.       Enter and match an AP invoice (release any holds if necessary)

4.       Generate accounting for the AP invoice

5.       Transfer invoice variances to Inventory

Step 2 in the process (PO receipt) sets the initial average cost.  This cost will be used on all issues or shipments out of inventory.  Remember in average costing, we receive at PO price and issue out at average.

Once steps 3 (enter and match an AP invoice) and 4 (generate accounting) are complete, we are ready to run the Transfer Invoice Variance to Inventory program.  You can run the program from Cost Management for one inventory organization at a time.  This program will sum the difference between the invoice price and the PO price for each item/organization combination and then create an average cost update transaction.  This transaction will have an amount but not a quantity.  This amount is then applied to the remaining inventory on-hand.  So let’s look at a couple of examples and how your average cost will change.

Example 1:

• PO Price $10
• Receipt Quantity 100
• Invoice Price $12
• On-Hand 100
• Beginning Average Cost $10
• Ending Average Cost $12

In this example, we will apply the IPV of $2 to all 100 units in inventory.  So the average cost before the IPV transfer is $10 and the average cost after the IPV transfer is $12.  This would correctly value our inventory at actual cost.

Example 2:

• PO Price $10
• Receipt Quantity 100
• Invoice Price $12
• On-Hand 10 (sold 90 units)
• Beginning Average Cost $10
• Ending Average Cost $30  (($200/10) + $10 = $30

In this example, we will apply the IPV of $2 to remaining 20 units in inventory.  So the average cost before the IPV transfer is $10 and the average cost after the IPV transfer is $30.  This would result in lower margins the next time we sell and ship this item.

Example 3:

• PO Price $10
• Receipt Quantity 100
• Invoice Price $12
• On-Hand 0 (sold 100 units)
• Beginning Average Cost $10
• Ending Average Cost $10

In this example, we wouldn’t apply the IPV of $2 because the on-hand quantity is zero.  So the average cost before the IPV transfer is $10 and the average cost after the IPV transfer would also be $10.