Questions 2021 R2 - Video on Project Specific Inventory Tracking - Well done, Tim!

BUMP! 

For some reason I do not show the the "Project-Specific Inventory" feature on my Enable/Disable Features? ... and I am on the 2012 R2! 

Any ideas?

Try the Apply Updates screen. Is the feature listed there? It might be that you aren't licensed for it.

I'm not sure that this new feature is going to help you. You might be able to accomplish what you're looking for though using existing functionality by putting the Inventory account in an Account Group.

Tim and Forum -

It was some issue on the Acumatica end, which they fixed and the license was assigned and check-boxed the next day. 

"Inventory account in an Account Group" --> This is interesting! Are you suggesting if I put a B/S account (inventory) in an Account Group, that upon "PO Receipt" of a Stock Item that it would both (1) Debit inventory and be reported on and managed through subsequent issuance to a Project, and (2) hit the 'Actual Cost' field of the Cost Budget with the cost of the material procurement upon PO Receipt? ... I don't see how the debits/credits would work. I don't see how you ensure the subsequent IN Issue to the job does not result in double-count of the costs to the Project? 

*In any event* Since my OP, I've decided that we don't need the cost to hit the Project at Purchase Receipt. So, the above 'gymnastics' can be avoided. For revenue recognition, it would be more appropriate and conservative to apply the cost to the Project upon IN Issue to the Project which represents the practical use of the material (typically 1-3 months after receipt). 

So, we've decided to configure the journal transactions as follows. We're testing this week, so we'll see if it actually works as planned ... 

Step 1. Purchase Receipt: 

Dr. (A) Inventory          $xx (PO unit rate x qty)

Cr. (L) PO Accrual         $xx 

Step 2. AP Bill Received 

Dr. (L) PO Accrual         $xx

Dr. (A) Inventory, PPV    $zz = [vv-xx] < In this case, I'm using "Inventory" method for PPV, and the AP Bill $ > expected PO $  

Cr. (A) A/P for Vendor   $vv = [xx+zz]

Step 3: Inventory Issue to Project

Dr. (E) COGS-Material   $vv

Cr. (A) Inventory          $xx 

Cr. (A) Inventory, PPV   $zz

Impact: Yes, this will delay the costs being applied to the Project, COGS while held up in Inventory. Yes, this will slow, relatively, the realization of contract revenue since we're using a cost-to-cost basis for Rule 606. But, that is appropriate. And, in this instance, it fits the existing structure for how the Inventory module works. 

*PPV treatment* I'm curious in opinions and experiences using the Purchase Price Variance Allocation setting in Purchase Orders. Specifically, the 'Inventory Account' vs. the 'Purchase Price Variance Account' ... The above is intended to be how we would use the 'Inventory Account' method, but testing will tell. 

... should the Chart of Accounts have a 2ndary inventory account for PPV, or would it flow through the same Inventory account? 

*separate realization* 

In terms of why I want "project-specific inventory" enabled: I think we do need this feature for the reasons outlined below, so please let me know what you think ... 

- We run ~10-15 active projects; all custom contract work that is heavily reliant upon the timely and complete procurement of project materials for off-site mfg

- All materials are project specific so they need to be tracked and reported by project 

- All materials are held at the same single, central warehouse in the same set of master inventory bins/locations

- I'd like to avoid creating individual "virtual" warehouses for each project. Don't want to need to manage master bin/location list within each of the virtual warehouses 

Is there a better way to achieve this? Or is the project-specific inventory the right feature. 

John 

Regarding the idea to put the Inventory account in an Account Group, it's been a while since I looked at it, but I think it worked something like this:

PO Receipt:
Dr. Inventory (Increase Cost on Project)
Cr. PO Accrual

IN Issue:
Dr. COGS (Increase Cost on Project)
Cr. Inventory (Increase Cost on Project)
The next effect is Zero, especially if you put Inventory and COGS in the same Account Group

Regarding PPV, it should be an Income Statement account. Acumatica will try to increase/decrease the value of Inventory if the Inventory is still there. But, if the Inventory is gone, then the cost difference will get booked to PPV.

If you're just doing Average Costing, you could probably get away with using existing functionality to store everything in a regular Warehouse, then issue the inventory to Projects when it goes out. If you need to protect Inventory from getting stolen on other Projects, that's where the new 2021 R2 feature would probably help you.