In plain words
A cost view is a choice about which costs to apply to past orders. The as-recorded view uses the costs that were on file when each order came in. The current view uses the costs as they stand now, with every later correction applied.
Both are true, and they answer different questions. As recorded tells you what you believed when you made a decision. Current tells you what really happened. The two differ only for orders whose costs were corrected after the fact, and that difference is the size of the correction.
Formula
- As-recorded profit = revenue − cost with the entries on file at the order's arrival
- Current profit = revenue − cost with the entries on file today
Worked example
An order of the coffee bag arrives on 10 February, when the unit cost on file is $12.00. As recorded, it realizes $17.36.
On 5 April a late invoice shows the cost was $13.50 from 1 February. Given the ledger as it stands after that entry, the engine picks the corrected cost for the same order, and the current view shows $15.86.
The example order
A $40.00 bag of coffee, shipped free, every cost counted
2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option
| Step | Grain | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | – | $40.00 |
| Cost of goods | per unit | −$12.00 |
| Pick and pack | per order | −$1.18 |
| Packaging | per parcel | −$0.50 |
| Shipping label | per parcel | −$7.50 |
| Card fee per order | per order | −$0.30 |
| Refunds | percent | −$2.00 |
| Card processing | percent | −$1.16 |
| Contribution margin | – | $15.36 |
| 2 kinds costing nothing | – | $0.00 |
Computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from a $40.00 bag of coffee with a $12.00 unit cost.
The current view is not today's cost applied to old orders
It still costs each order at its own date. An order from February takes February's cost, as that cost is now known to have been. Only corrections that reach back to the order's date change it. A price rise that starts next month leaves it alone.
Using it
Use the current view for decisions: which offer earned more, which product to push. Use the as-recorded view to explain a number someone saw earlier, and to judge a past decision by what was known then. When the two views disagree by a lot for one offer, look at what was corrected. That cost was probably wrong for a while.
In Offer Suite
Offer Suite keeps every realized figure in two cost views: as recorded, with the costs each order was booked with, and current, with the ledger as it stands now. Experiments are decided in the current view.
Source: Offer Suite's cost ledger.