V9 - Item analysis report
Use case
The Item analysis report (Operations > Reports > Inventory > Inventory analysis) shows for each item the overall costs, the average sales price, the net profit margin, and the return percentage during the reporting period. This helps you make purchasing decisions, control costs, and improve your cash flow and profitability.
While the basics for running any report in SOS Inventory are covered in Reporting introduction and Running a report, the filters, options, and columns specific to the Item analysis report are explained below.
Filters
From date and To date.
- Relative/Absolute toggle. Used for customized and scheduled reports.
- Relative automatically recalculates the date whenever the report is reopened or run. It must be used in tandem with the Quick date selector, which assigns a general time frame (e.g., Today, Yesterday, Start of last week, End of last month, etc.) instead of a specific date.
- Absolute, the default, keeps the exact date.
- The system automatically populates the current date in the date field by default. You can change specific dates manually according to the Date format established in your User settings (either MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY), or by using the Calendar (event).
- Even if you are not creating or running a customized or scheduled report, you may find it more convenient to use the Quick date selector, which assigns a general time frame (e.g., Today, Yesterday, Start of last week, End of last month, etc.) instead of a specific date.
Location. Select All locations or a single location. All, the default, displays only the total quantities for item(s) across all locations.
Categories. Select All or individual categories. All is the default. Multiple categories can be selected. To use this filter, categories must be defined in SOS Inventory.
Vendor. Select one from the dropdown. The vendors listed are the preferred vendors from item definitions.
Item name contains. Type all or part of an item name to display matching items.
Options
Hide rows with no sales or shipments. If you have items with no sales or shipments, check this option to prevent them from being displayed in the report.
Use standard sales prices. Values each item according to its sales price in the item definition.
Use standard costs. Values each item according to its purchase cost, as listed in the item definition.
Include archived items. SOS Inventory does not include archived items in reports by default. Check this option if you want archived items to be included when you run the report.
Show "from" and "to" dates. If checked, shows the at the top of the report, based on your From date and To date filters. The date range appears when Display is selected under Retrieve your report. If the report is retrieved by Email or Download, the date range will appear only if you print your spreadsheet. If a header is also entered for the report, the date range will be displayed below the header.
Group by. A set of options that allows you to group data on the report. The options include None, Category, or Vendor. The default is None, which displays items in alphabetical order. If your Group by option is set to Category, any item that has not been assigned to a category will be included in the first grouping displayed on the report, under the heading <no category>. The same principle applies when the Group by option is set to Vendor. Items with no preferred vendor defined will be listed first on the report, under the heading <no vendor>.
Header. Enter header text for the report, if desired. The header appears when Display is selected under Retrieve your report. If the report is retrieved by Email or Download, the header will appear only if you print your spreadsheet.
Footer. Enter footer text for the report, if desired. The footer appears when Display is selected under Retrieve your report. If the report is retrieved by Email or Download, the footer will appear only if you print your spreadsheet and will display above the system-generated text, Report Generated [date] [timestamp].
Columns
The default columns for the Inventory stock status report are Name and Description. A name links to the item record on the Items list.
Fifteen additional SOS column options are available, as well as any custom fields you have defined for items.
Sample Item analysis report
The date range for the sample Item analysis report below is from January 1, 2026, to August 14, 2026. The default columns, Name and Description, are selected. Built into the report are the columns Cost Per Unit, Sales Price, Margin, and Return Rate. The values displayed in the Cost Per Unit and Sales Price columns are in the home currency.
The Margin value is a percentage, calculated using the following formula:
Margin = ( Sales Price - Cost Per Unit Sales Price ) × 100
The Return Rate is the percentage of a shipped item that has been returned by customers.
A light red highlight in the Cost per Unit or Sales Price column means that the item was not sold or shipped during the reporting period, so the standard purchase cost or the standard sales price is used. The Return Rate column for an item with a highlighted Cost per Unit value will be blank, while the Return Rate for an item with a highlighted Sales Price value will be 0.00.
The Average row at the bottom of the report shows the simple average for each column across all items included in the report. A column's average reflects the sum of the values in that column, divided by the number of items.
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Notes
How the Return Rate is calculated. None of the standard or built-in columns on the Item analysis report can be used to show how the return rate was derived. However, the Shipped and Returned columns on an Item movement report (Operations > Reports > Inventory > Item movement) for the 20 ft - Round Steel Tube can be used to explain how the return rate was calculated.
The Item movement report shows that, of the 5 steel tubes that were shipped to customers, 2 were returned. For this item, it means the return rate was 40 percent. This matches the percentage listed in the Return rate column for the 20 ft - Round Steel Tube in the Item analysis report screenshot shown above.
Kits (item groups) do not display in this report. The item analysis looks at items that are on sales forms (sales orders, invoices, sales receipts) and items that are on shipments to come up with the sales price and cost. Because kits will never be on a shipment, they will not display on an Item analysis report. The components appear individually.