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Finish a batch and read its cost
Record what came out, add the labour and charges you attribute, and see what one unit really cost.
- Steps
- 4 · About 3 min
- Who can do this
- Owner · Manager · Team member
- Needs the module
- Production
Before you start
Finishing a batch does two things: it puts the finished goods into the store, and it decides what they are worth. That second part is the reason the module exists.
Say what came out
Open the batch under Production and use the finishing form.
Good units made — how many are usable and sellable.
Unusable units — what came out spoiled. Count it honestly; the next section explains why it costs you nothing to admit and something to hide.
Labour and Other charges — what you want this batch to carry beyond its materials. Leave them at zero if you do not attribute them per batch.
Date — the day it finished.
Finish the batch records it.
How the cost is worked out
Materials taken, plus labour, plus other charges, divided by the good units.
Waste is counted, not costed separately. If five hundred were planned and twelve came out unusable, the four hundred and eighty-eight good units carry the whole cost of the batch and the cost per unit rises. That is what actually happened to the business: the materials were consumed either way. Sending the twelve to a loss account instead would make what is now on your shelf look cheaper than it was.
This is why honest waste figures matter more than tidy ones. Understating waste understates your unit cost, and a unit cost you do not believe is no use when you are setting a price.
What it did to stock and to the books
The finished goods are in the store at that unit cost, so they will leave again at it — a sale of what you made carries the cost of making it.
Only the labour and charges you added need an accounting entry, because the materials simply changed shape inside stock. Horizon213 posts that added value to production stockée (account 72 under the SCF): the wages and bills were already recorded as expenses when they were paid, and this recognises that part of that money is now sitting on a shelf rather than gone.
You can see the entry from the journal with the batch number as its reference.
Check the batch before you rely on it
The batch line shows materials, labour and charges, and the cost per unit. Print the job sheet again after finishing and it now carries what came out and what it cost, which is the version worth keeping.
Compare the cost per unit with your selling price. It is the first number in the system that can tell you a product is being sold at a loss.