agMIS - Managing production costs

agMIS Managing production costs

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The universal equation for cost of production is 'dollars divided by quantities', and the agMIS system has improvised a unique generic method for tracking unit costs of anything a user can quantify.

Key generic terms (see example) are Site, Sub-site and Product.

A Site might be a farm or landlord, feedlot, dairy, and/or a fleet of equipment, etc. Or maybe also an orchard and a greenhouse too. In the example here, the Site is a 'CowHerd', and in this example, it has 7 unique lots, or 'Sub-sites'.

A Site can have any number of Sub-sites, and for cost purposes, a Sub-site must have a size, a yield or output, and a Product.

Typically, the Product identifies the marketable end-product, but it might also be the product of an hour, acre or mile of output from a truck, tractor, combine, or other piece of equipment.

But innovation in agMIS doesn't end there.

Do you recall the bottom lines in the check transaction record illustrated earlier? And the budgeted expense too? They link transaction dollars there, to quantities here, to complete the product cost equation. And entire suites of product cost reports, too, of course.

But there's more!

The agMIS system also acknowledges that not all costs are incurred via current-period checks, by offering yet another special transaction type (see right).

And once again, note how these 'Costs only' records can not, even accidentally, invade or corrupt checkbook or tax records or reports.

And because individual users have their own preferences as to what's important -- beyond the realm of purely 'costs' -- to their permanent production history records, the agMIS system adds yet another unique transaction type, labeled 'Notes'.

In the example here, the death record will be permanently attached to January's milk production history. It doesn't change product costs, but it might well provide an important explanation.

There's much that's new and unique here, so take time to review. Ponder how these agMIS features can enrich your cost-of-production recordkeeping -- in logical and easy-to-use ways. And remember this: they're beyond the scope of even the most expensive 'cost accounting' programs!