# Why is an item's Last Cost not matching the Supplier's buy price or average cost?

KB386

### Overview

The last cost of an item is a record of the cost of the last transaction that put the item into stock. The last cost is stored per item, as well as per warehouse for the item.

When an item is transacted INTO stock through a Receive, Work order, Stock Adjustment, or any other transaction, it increases the quantity. Importantly, if the most recent transaction that changed the last cost is deleted, the last cost will not be changed. It is therefore true that the last cost is "the most recent known cost" even if that transaction was subsequently deleted.

### Why the last cost may not match the current average cost

The last cost and the current cost are completely different. The last cost is like an audit record; it’s a record of the most recent change. The average cost is a mathematical calculation that takes the total inventory quality and costs into account and uses a division to arrive at the average cost.

### How to find differences between last cost and current cost

1. Go to the item.
   1. Confirm the current last cost and current average cost.
   2. If they match, then ask the customer to confirm.
2. Check the Supplier's cost
   1. See if this matches the last cost.
3. Review the Inventory transactions for the part, in order of the transaction ID descending.

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Last edit: 25/09/23