Summary
Every catalog upload has an effective date. When A2X calculates COGS for a settlement, it uses the catalog that was in effect at the start of each period in that settlement. This means your COGS reflects what your products cost at the time you sold them, and refreshing an older settlement won’t overwrite it with today’s costs.
Applying costs to an earlier period
When you upload a CSV, the Apply from date controls when the new costs start. It defaults to today and can’t be set in the future. The upload applies to every period starting on or after that date, until the next upload’s effective date.
To correct costs for a past period, upload a CSV with an Apply from date on or before the start of that period, then refresh the affected settlements.
If you upload twice with the same effective date, the newer upload replaces the earlier one.
Merge into current catalog always applies from today.
If you sync from Google Sheets or Dropbox
Each sync, scheduled or via Sync now, applies from the date it runs. To apply costs to an earlier period, download your sheet as a CSV, upload it with the Apply from date you need, then paste your sheet URL back in so automatic syncing continues.
Seeing which costs a settlement used
Open a settlement to see which catalog upload its costs came from, along with that upload’s Effective from date. If refreshing would move the settlement to a different catalog (for example, after you’ve uploaded backdated costs), you’ll see a note on the settlement before you refresh.
To see all your uploads in one place, check your Import history. It lists every upload with its Effective from date, which you can sort by, and marks the catalog currently in effect as Active.
Adding missing costs to an older settlement
If a settlement is missing costs because a SKU wasn’t in the catalog for that period:
Go to your Product Catalog History and open the catalog upload the settlement used.
Review the list of SKUs missing a cost. Where a later upload has a cost for that SKU, it’s filled in for you, and you can change it.
Click Add costs. A2X creates a corrected version of that catalog with the same effective date.
Refresh the affected settlements from your Settlements list.
If you sync from Google Sheets or Dropbox, add missing costs for the current period to your sheet instead. Add costs isn’t available for the catalog that’s currently in effect on a synced sheet.
Archiving an upload
If an upload was made in error, you can archive it from Import history. Archived uploads are no longer used for new calculations, but settlements already using one keep those costs until you refresh them. You can’t archive your only remaining upload. Archived uploads can’t be restored, so to bring those costs back, upload the file again with its original Apply from date.
Inventory reports
If you use A2X inventory reporting, each month’s report values stock using the catalog in effect for that month.
Troubleshooting
I updated a cost but my settlement didn’t change: check that you’ve refreshed the settlement, and that the update applies to its period. Open the settlement to see which catalog it used and that catalog’s effective date.
I added a cost but an older settlement still shows it as missing: the settlement uses the catalog that was in effect for its period, so a cost added in a newer upload won’t apply to it. Open that catalog from your History and use Add costs, or upload a CSV with an earlier Apply from date, then refresh the settlement.
Add costs isn’t available: the catalog is archived, has been replaced by a newer upload with the same date, or is the catalog currently in effect on a synced sheet. For a synced sheet, add the cost to your sheet instead.
If costs still aren’t applying the way you expect, our support team is happy to take a look with you.