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Cost Price & Margin Tracking
Selling Price vs Cost Price
| Field | What It Is | Who Sets It |
|---|---|---|
| Selling price | What the customer pays at checkout | Admin |
| Cost price | What you paid per unit for current stock | Set automatically on PO receive; editable by Admin |
The POS always charges the selling price. Cost price is for your margin awareness; cashiers never see it.
Cost Price for Products With Variants
If a product has variants, each variant can carry its own cost price and its own weighted average, instead of sharing one figure with the rest of the product. Variants you paid different amounts for can each keep an accurate cost and margin.
A variant that has no cost of its own simply uses the product's cost, so nothing changes until you set or receive a cost for that variant. See Product Variants for where to set it.
Viewing Cost and Margin (Admin Only)
- Go to Products.
- Click the column-visibility icon (gear) on the table header.
- Enable Cost Price and/or Margin.
- Margin is colour-coded: green = positive, red = selling below cost.
- For a product with variants, the Cost Price and Margin columns show the Average cost across its variants, weighted by how much stock each one holds. This is the whole-product figure to look at when deciding whether to restock or drop a product. Open its Variants panel to see and edit the cost and margin of each variant on its own.
What Is Weighted Average Cost (WAC)?
WAC blends old and new stock costs proportionally every time new stock arrives.
Example: 10 units at 80 LKR + 100 units at 90 LKR → WAC = (10×80 + 100×90) / 110 = 89.09 LKR
This is the standard cost method for retail. It smooths price fluctuations over time.
When You Receive a Purchase Order
When a new batch arrives at a different supplier cost, the system:
- Recalculates the WAC. If the purchase order line is for a specific variant, only that variant's own WAC is recalculated. The product and its other variants are untouched.
- If the WAC changed significantly, ClarityPOS pauses before finishing and opens the Update selling price and receive goods step, with one row per affected product or variant, showing:
- Old cost to new cost, and the percentage change
- The current selling price and the resulting margin change
- A suggested price that would preserve the existing margin
The goods are not received yet at this point. You decide what happens next, one row at a time:
- Click Skip all to receive the goods without changing any selling prices.
- Click Apply to receive the goods and save the new selling prices you accepted or typed.
If you close this step without choosing Skip all or Apply, nothing is received. The purchase order stays exactly as it was, so you can review the change with your team and receive it again when you are ready.
Example: Product A: 10 units at 80 LKR cost, selling at 100 LKR (20% margin). New PO received: 100 units at 90 LKR.
- New WAC: (10×80 + 100×90) / 110 = 89.09 LKR
- Margin at 100 LKR: now 10.91% (down from 20%)
- Suggested price: 111.36 LKR (restores 20%)
FAQ
Q: A supplier raised their price. Do I have to update my selling price?
A: No, it is your choice. The system shows the margin impact and suggests a price. Your selling price only changes if you explicitly apply an update.
Q: I have old stock at a different cost and just received new stock. Which price does the customer pay?
A: The customer pays your current selling price. The POS cannot distinguish which physical batch a unit came from. Update the selling price as you see fit, or run a short clearance on old stock first.
Q: Can a Manager see cost prices?
A: No. Cost price and margin columns are Admin-only.
Q: My cost price was never set. What happens when I receive a PO?
A: The PO unit cost becomes the cost price directly. No WAC calculation on the first entry. From the second receive onward, WAC applies normally.
Q: Does WAC change when I record damage or wastage?
A: No. Negative adjustments (Damage, Wastage, Correction reducing stock) never update WAC. Only incoming stock (Receive adjustments and PO receives) changes the average.
Q: Does this affect the cashier or POS experience?
A: No. Cashiers see no cost or margin information. The checkout flow is completely unchanged.
Q: Does each variant of a product have its own cost price?
A: Yes. Each variant can carry its own cost and its own weighted average, separate from the product and from its other variants. A variant with no cost of its own uses the product's cost.
Q: I have not set any variant costs. Will my existing figures change?
A: No. Your numbers stay exactly as they are until you set a cost on a variant or receive stock against one.
Q: Where do I see profit broken down by variant instead of by product?
A: Run the Profit and Margin report and choose Group by: Variant. Each variant gets its own row with revenue, cost, and margin.
Q: My product has variants. What single cost does the Products page show for it?
A: It shows the Average cost: each variant's cost, weighted by how much stock that variant holds, combined into one figure. Use it to judge the product as a whole when deciding whether to restock or drop it. To see each variant on its own, open the product's Variants panel or run the Profit and Margin report grouped by variant.