Production Entry (Item Assembling)

Menu: Production → Item Assembling

A production entry records one production run: what was made, what it used, who worked on it, which machines ran and what else it cost. When it is posted, the components leave stock, the finished item comes in at its book cost, and the costs are recorded in the accounts.

The steps

1. Click Produce on a job order, or open Item Assembling and add an entry.
2. Fill the header: finished item, output quantity, job order, machine, start and end.
3. Check the five tabs: Materials, Labour, Machines, Expenses, Cost summary.
4. Save.
5. Post it from Inventory Tracking → Transactions → Batch Allocation (below).

The header

The job order and finished item of a saved entry can't be changed.

The header of a production entry made on a job order; each tab shows its total

Materials: BOM against actual

The Materials tab lists the components from the bill of materials. Change the Quantity to what was really used. Two columns compare it with the recipe:

• BOM qty = the BOM quantity per unit × Output Qty.
• Difference = Quantity − BOM qty, with the %. It turns red when more was used than the recipe says (wastage). No reason is asked; the Material usage and wastage report collects it.

Lines added by hand have no BOM qty (—). The material cost is quantity × price.

Had 204 PART-A been used instead of the 200 in the recipe, the difference shows in red

Labour

Click Add labour for each person or group. The hours start at the entry's duration.

Amount = Hours × Rate / hr. Monthly pay is the earnings HR Setup pays as additions (basic salary and fixed allowances). The rate is fixed when the line is added and kept on the line, so a later pay rise doesn't change entries already made.

Example: EMP01 is paid 4,800 a month; standard hours 208 → 23.0769 per hour; 7.5 hours → 173.08. Contractor A, lump sum 150.00. Labour total 323.08.

Labour tab, seen by a user who may see labour cost

Users who may not see labour cost

Without the Labour Cost right (see Setup), the Labour tab says Rates of employees and temporary staff are hidden; they are worked out when the entry is saved. They still pick the person and enter the hours; the rate shows Worked out on save and the amount —. Outside labour stays visible. The Cost summary says Labour cost is hidden, so the book and unit cost are too. and shows Labour, Book cost, Unit cost and Full cost as —. The cost itself is worked out and saved exactly as for anyone else.

The same lines for a user without the Labour Cost right

Machines

The header machine fills the first line; click Add machine for others (several machines can be used on one entry). Each line: Machine, Hours (starting at the duration), Rate / hr (the machine's rate, kept on the line), Amount = hours × rate. Only users who may see labour cost can change the rate on the line.

Example: FILLER, rate 20.00 per hour, 7.5 hours → 150.00.

Expenses and Add electricity

The Expenses tab holds costs that belong to this run only: Exp Type (the expense account), Description and Amount — for example a special packing service or water made in-house. They are added to the cost of this entry and credited to their accounts when it is posted.

Add electricity fills an electricity line from a machine's settings:

1. Click Add electricity and pick the Machine (the machines on the entry are offered).
2. Enter the Hours (they start at the duration), or Start kWh and End kWh for a machine with its own meter.
3. The dialog shows kWh × tariff = amount. Click Add: a line is added on the machine's electricity expense account, e.g. Electricity FILLER: 112.50 kWh.

Example: FILLER, 15 kW × 7.5 hours = 112.5 kWh × 0.18 = 20.25.

Add electricity for a machine without a meter

If the machine is missing a setting, the dialog says what to set: Set the electricity tariff on machine FILLER, Set the electricity account on machine FILLER, Set the power (kW) on machine FILLER; for a meter, Enter the start and end meter readings or The end reading cannot be less than the start reading. With no machine on the entry: Choose a machine on the entry first.

Cost summary

The last tab adds it all up as you type (figures are shown to 2 decimals):

Under After posting, a posted entry also shows Posted book cost, Distributed to stock, Report-only share and Full cost — the shares that month-end distributions added to it. Before posting it says Distributed and full cost are shown once the entry is posted.

Cost summary of a posted entry after the month-end distributions

Producing more than ordered

On a job order, an entry that takes the produced quantity above the ordered quantity still saves, with a warning after the save message, e.g. KIT-1: ordered 100, produced 130. A finished item that isn't on the job's sales order is refused: KIT-9 is not on sales order SO-123.

Batches

When batch entry is switched on for Item Assembling in General Settings → Batch Allocation, a Batches chip appears beside the output quantity (the batch the finished item goes into) and a Batches column on the materials (the batches the components are taken from). The chip reads e.g. 0 / 100 and turns green when the batches match the quantity. See Batch Allocation → Batches in Item Assembling.

Posting

1. Open Inventory Tracking → Transactions → Batch Allocation and choose the document type Item assembling.
2. Pick the entry. Enter or check its batches if it has tracked items.
3. Click Post with batches.

Posting does the following:

• Stock: each component leaves the branch's stock; the finished item comes in. Posting is refused if the branch has less of a component than needed (the same item on several lines is counted together).
• Cost: the finished item's average cost takes in the book cost. With nothing on hand: book cost ÷ output. With stock on hand: (on hand × current cost + book cost) ÷ (on hand + output). Example: 20 on hand at 15.00, then 100 made for 1,693.33 → (300 + 1,693.33) ÷ 120 = 16.6111.
• Voucher: when the items have inventory accounts (Item Master accounts), one balanced voucher:

In plain words: the kits now hold everything it took to make them. The parts' value moves into the kits. The electricity line moves the power cost out of the expense account and into stock. Labour and machine time are "absorbed": wages and depreciation are booked as expenses as usual by payroll and fixed assets, and the absorbed accounts take back the part that went into stock, so the profit and loss shows only what wasn't used for production.

• Items without inventory accounts: stock and cost are updated, with no voucher. If some items have an account and others don't, posting is refused and names the item.
• When a voucher is made, the labour absorbed, outside labour and machine absorbed accounts it needs must be set (Production Settings, or the machine).
• A posted entry can't be changed. An entry that isn't posted can be deleted; its labour and machine lines go with it.