If you’ve been using Sage ERP MAS 90 or MAS 200 Inventory since prior to release 4.4 then you may know (or should know) about a release enhancement that impacts anyone making changes to the standard cost of an Inventory item.

In prior releases (v4.3 and earlier) this standard cost field on the Inventory Maintenance field was modifiable. You could change it at will (whether that is the right way to make the change for accounting purposes is between you and your accountant).

With the release of 4.4 Sage changed (corrected?) this feature.

Now instead of seeing a field for standard cost which you can edit at will – you must follow a specific posting procedure to change the cost.

This procedure has always been there – Sage is just now forcing you to use a more formal method for making the change.

Here’s the description of how Sage would allow you to make a standard cost change prior to 4.4:

For Standard Cost items, although the standard cost can be manually changed within Inventory Maintenance, this change will not update the inventory value in General Ledger. Using an adjustment to bring the total quantity (for all warehouses) to 0 at the current (incorrect) standard cost will bring the total quantity and total value in inventory to 0. At that time, you can manually change the standard cost within the Inventory Masterfile and adjust the total quantity back in at the new standard cost. This transaction will update General Ledger with the new inventory value.

The Automatic Cost/Price Change utility can also be used to update the standard cost for ranges of items. This utility does not update the general ledger. A Journal Entry will need to be made for the difference in inventory value. The Inventory Valuation Report should be printed before and after the change and then used to make adjustments in General Ledger.

If the item has a bill of material, the ‘Cost Roll up Register’ can also be used to change the Standard cost.

 

Here’s Sage’s knowledgebase entry on the issue that exists with 4.4+:
Unable to change the standard cost field. The standard cost is grayed out in Inventory Maintenance

Along with their recommended workaround of using Standard Cost Adjustment Entry:
How to enter Standard Cost Adjustments for an inventory item

What you should know is that making this standard cost adjustment will require exclusive access to your MAS 90 or MAS 200 inventory. This means people working within integrated modules (think Sales Order, Purchase Order, Inventory, etc) will need to exit the software for the period of time when the update is running. This can be a potential issue for any company where cost adjustments were entered manually several times per day. Be sure you consider this impact on your workflow during your MAS90 or MAS200 upgrade to version 4.4 planning.