Summary:
This FAQ article answers common questions about processing manufacturer price reductions and price increases in the Price Protection Tool. It explains how to review cost adjustments, update open purchase orders, create claims, manage approvals, and process average cost (AVG) adjustments.
Table of Contents:
What is the objective of the Price Protection Process?
Where is the Price Protection Tool located?
What information is available on the Cost Adjustment screen?
Which filters can I use on the Cost Adjustment screen?
What do the red lines on the Cost Adjustment screen indicate?
What do the main cost fields represent?
How are Cost Adjustment lines processed?
What is the Pending Avg Cost Upload screen used for?
Why must open purchase orders be adjusted?
How can I review open purchase orders?
What does the Cost Increase/Decrease filter do?
Can purchase order adjustments be approved in bulk?
What is the Claim Definition screen?
Can claims be split into multiple claims?
What is the VendorClaimReference field?
How are price increases handled?
Where are price increase adjustments processed?
What must be reviewed on the Finance Approval Cost Adjustment screen?
What can be entered in the CostComments field during a price increase?
Can multiple price increase lines be approved at once?
What should I do if the ProposedAvgCost is incorrect?
Does a manually adjusted AVG during a price increase require additional approval?
Question #1: What is the objective of the Price Protection Process?
Answer: The objective is to accurately utilize price reductions/increases resulting from changes to a manufacturer’s price list to mark down/mark up inventory and reduce/increase open purchase orders, and to correctly record the associated costs/profits in accordance with the Price Protection Agreement with the manufacturers.
Question #2: Where is the Price Protection Tool located?
Answer: The Price Protection Tool is located in the MMDM section under IM Tools: https://imtools.corporate.ingrammicro.com/IngramMicro.WebApps
Question #3: What information is available on the Cost Adjustment screen?
Answer: On the Cost Adjustment screen, you can see all cost lines that need to be processed due to a price change. These arise when a manufacturer changes its price list. After the SKU Management Team imports the new base costs, the system calculates the differences based on inventory levels.
Question #4: Which filters can I use on the Cost Adjustment screen?
Answer: It is helpful to apply filters here to make the data clearer and more relevant for employees. Master Vendor, Vendor, Buyer, Status, and Devaluation/Revaluation can be used for this purpose.
Question #5: What do the red lines on the Cost Adjustment screen indicate?
Answer: Items marked in red are duplicate lines (SKUs that have been marked down multiple times).
These lines contain important information that must be verified for accuracy. After verification, the lines can be approved or rejected.
Question #6: What do the main cost fields represent?
Answer:
PrevBaseCost, AdjustedPrevBaseCost, NewBaseCost, and NewReplacementCost show the changes between the previous and current price lists.
BaseCostChange shows the current difference for the item.
CurrentAvgCost and ProposedAvgCost show the current average cost calculated by the system.
NewAvgCost is the average cost that will be imported into Impulse with this line. This value can be overwritten. Caution! If the value is overwritten, this line is forwarded to the Purchase Approval Cost Adjustment screen and must be approved by the Purchasing Supervisor.
You can enter a comment in the Cost Comments field.
BOHAtValidFromDate, InventoryDate, and InventoryImpact display the inventory data and the effect of the price protection write-down.
Finally, the ClaimAmount is displayed, showing both protected and unprotected values. These are calculated based on the settings configured for the manufacturer.
Question #7: How are Cost Adjustment lines processed?
Answer: Lines/items can be selected individually or in bulk for approval or rejection. Approved lines are grouped based on the payee vendor and transmitted to Impulse for AVG adjustment, as well as transferred to the Claim Definition screen for further processing.
Question #8: What is the Pending Avg Cost Upload screen used for?
Answer: The Pending Avg Cost Upload screen displays the lines that are currently being processed by the system for AVG adjustment in Impulse.
Question #9: Why must open purchase orders be adjusted?
Answer: Open PO lines that are still in transit from the manufacturer should also be adjusted according to the new base cost to avoid invoice discrepancies. These are displayed on the PO Lines screen.
Question #10: How can I review open purchase orders?
Answer: Here, the data can also be filtered according to various criteria. Individual SKUs or POs, as well as specific CRC codes, can be selected here to make the data easier to review.
Question #11: What does the Cost Increase/Decrease filter do?
Answer: In the “Cost Increase/Decrease” filter, you can also search for lines where the current PO cost already matches the new base cost. For these order lines, no adjustments are needed, and they can be deleted.
Question #12: Can purchase order adjustments be approved in bulk?
Answer: On this screen, POs are grouped by SKU. These groups can be expanded or collapsed. Approval does not have to be done on a per-SKU and per-PO basis here; instead, they can be approved in bulk as needed.
Question #13: What is the Claim Definition screen?
Answer: This screen displays the approved, grouped lines from the Cost Adjustment screen, which can be edited here. The claims can be expanded to select or deselect the items they contain.
Question #14: Can claims be split into multiple claims?
Answer: If you do not need all of these lines together in a single claim, you can also split the lines into multiple claims as needed. However, the payee grouping cannot be changed; it is predefined.
Question #15: What is the VendorClaimReference field?
Answer: After reviewing the lines, the VendorClaimReference—which is specified by the manufacturer for price protection—must or may be entered. The employee then approves the lines, and the claim is transmitted to ClaimIT.
Question #16: How are price increases handled?
Answer: In the event of a price increase in the manufacturer’s price list, the AVGs and open PO lines for the products must also be increased. This results in a profit for the company and does not generate a claim against the manufacturer, since we are not making any demands here.
Accordingly, there are no costs that need to appear in Cost Adjustment. For this reason, price increases are set to “Auto” by default in the settings.
Question #17: Where are price increase adjustments processed?
Answer: The lines to be processed appear on the Finance Approval Cost Adjustment screen.
This screen also features various filters that allow you to organize the lines clearly (e.g., Payee Vendor, Buyer, SKU, VPN, etc.).
Question #18: What must be reviewed on the Finance Approval Cost Adjustment screen?
Answer: The data must be checked for accuracy. The various cost values are also displayed here, as well as the ProposedAvgCost, which was calculated by the system.
On this screen, you must verify the ProposedAvgCost and enter the BAZ number against which the profit is to be posted.
Question #19: What can be entered in the CostComments field during a price increase?
Answer: Only the BAZ number (without “BA”) may be entered in the CostComments field—no other text!
Question #20: Can multiple price increase lines be approved at once?
Answer: After entering the BAZ number, the line can be approved. It is then transmitted to Impulse for adjustment and forwarded to ClaimIT for posting. For multiple lines, a bulk approval can be performed here as well; however, the BAZ number must be entered line by line.
Question #21: What should I do if the ProposedAvgCost is incorrect?
Answer: If you do not agree with the ProposedAvgCost and wish to manually override it, you must reject the line on this screen. Rejecting the line returns it to the Cost Adjustment screen, where the ProposedAvgCost can be edited. As with a price reduction, the line can be approved after editing and will return to the Finance Approval Cost Adjustment screen accordingly.
Question #22: Does a manually adjusted AVG during a price increase require additional approval?
Answer: ATTENTION! If the AVG is changed in the Cost Adjustment screen during a price increase, the employee can no longer approve the line in the Finance Approval Cost Adjustment screen after approval. This must be approved by their Purchasing Supervisor.