Loaded Wholesale Cost

As a business owner, I prioritize protecting margins. To protect margins, I am required to present a loaded cost to our salespeople and customer service representatives for pricing and commission calculations. Simultaneously, I need to maintain accurate item cost.

Options we currently have:

• Wholesalers provide loaded cost files which are used to update our item database. Items are purchased and acknowledged from the wholesaler with the loaded cost.

• Adjust cost using DDMSPLUS application (various methods)

Problems with these methods:

• True purchase cost is not available in DDMSPLUS

• Cash flow is affected waiting on rebates for purchases approximately 45 days.

• The absence of true purchase cost complicates cost reporting and margin analysis

The load percentage varies based on the type of items and the vendors from whom we make purchases. For instance, certain items come with deeply discounted costs from specific vendors, and we are obligated not to disclose these costs to our sales team or customer service representatives. Additionally, shipping and handling costs may necessitate unique load percentages for specific item types, regardless of the purchase source.

To address the issues presented, I propose having a way of assigning a load percent to groups of items we purchase from wholesalers (similar to what we have for direct buy items). This loaded cost is presented in order entry for pricing, margin and commission purposes, while the true item cost is hidden but maintained in sales orders and purchasing for reporting and analysis. We’ll need a way to categorize items for applying load percentages by creating a unique field that we can assign per item (or in mass). While DDMS provides various item identifiers (such as SIC category or class), these fields may not align with our specific load percentage needs. I will also need a table to designate the load percentage per category of items (specified by the new field) or per category and the vendor from whom it’s purchased. So, a load percentage may be per category, or the load assigned may be per category and vendor.