Re: Thoughts on Voiding Invoices

[David Tangye <..hidden..>]

On Mon, 2006-09-25 at 19:11 -0700, Chris Travers wrote:
> Just a thought-- if you are relying on stock numbers, that is implying
> that the products are indeed comparable and more properly handled by
> the standard bulk inventory handling.
No, they are uniquely identifiable and the user wants to track them
uniquely, but at the time of entering them into the system there is no
known serial number, so you generate your own. At that time, you do not
necessarily have access to the stock to physically attach the stock
number and/or read its serial number if there is one.
> 
> Why is this important?  The reason is that it is generally desirable
> to have a standard way that financial statements are prepared.  If we
> are picking out COGS values based on random customer selection even
> where this substitution is possible, then your inventory values and
> COGS will not be comparable to other companies in your industry.  As
> businesses attempt to attract investors, it is *very important* that
> the numbers can be compared directly.
I am a bit lost about what you are stating here. If its to do with the
issue of 'stock numbers': they are generally only of value to the
company assigning them and the downstream customer. They are a business
operational consideration, not really an accounting consideration.