COGS accounts, splits and reconciliation
Lesson 21 of 24 8 min read
Which COGS account Unleashed uses, how to split COGS by product or customer, the Supply Lens settings that shape accounting, and what to check when Xero and Unleashed disagree.
Finance teams rarely want a single COGS figure. They want margin by product line or by channel. This lesson shows how Unleashed chooses the COGS account, what splits are possible, which Supply Lens settings influence accounting, and a checklist for when the numbers disagree.
Which COGS account?
Unleashed picks the COGS account in this order:
- Product, if a COGS account is set on the product.
- Customer, if a COGS account is set on the customer.
- Default, from the Xero integration configuration in Unleashed.
Product group is not supported as a level.
What the journal looks like
With a different COGS account on each of three products:
| Description | Account | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Stock Movement | 322 - COGS Electronics | £20.00 |
| Stock Movement | 323 - COGS Freight | £20.00 |
| Stock Movement | 321 - COGS Consumable | £20.00 |
| Stock on Hand | 602 - Stock on Hand | -£60.00 |
Without product-level accounts, everything falls back to the default:
| Description | Account | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Stock Movement | 300 - COGS (Default) | £60.00 |
| Stock on Hand | 602 - Stock on Hand | -£60.00 |
Either way, the journal always balances to zero.
Splitting COGS
| Split by | Use case | Supported? |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Detailed margin analysis | Yes: set COGS on the product |
| Customer | Channel or customer profitability | Yes: set COGS on the customer |
| Product group | Category P&L | No |
| Warehouse | Location reporting | No |
Channel profitability with a shared customer
If a channel's orders all go to one shared customer account in Unleashed (for example a single "Web Sales" customer), setting a COGS account on that customer gives you channel-level COGS. Remember that a product-level account takes priority.
Account types in Xero
| Unleashed account | Xero account type |
|---|---|
| Stock on Hand | Current Asset |
| Cost of Goods Sold | Direct Costs or Expense |
| Sales | Revenue |
Supply Lens settings that shape accounting
These live in the Unleashed order configuration:
| sendAccountingJournalOnly | Only an accounting journal is sent to Xero or QuickBooks Online; the invoice is not passed through. Use it when the financial impact should be recorded without a customer-facing invoice in the accounting system, for example when the channel already invoices the customer. |
|---|---|
| sendAccountingJournalOnlyBySourceIntegration | Journal-only for specific stores, while others send full invoices. |
| sendAccountingJournalOnlyByTag | Journal-only for orders carrying a matching tag. |
| shippingLineXeroSalesAccount | The Xero sales account on shipping lines. |
| adjustmentXeroSalesAccountMap | The Xero sales account on discount and charge lines. |
When Unleashed and Xero disagree
Stock on hand does not match:
- Check for failed exports in Unleashed's Xero queue.
- Make sure all transactions are approved in Xero.
- Look for manual changes made directly in Xero.
COGS is going to the wrong account:
- Walk the hierarchy: product, then customer, then default.
- Check the product record has the right account.
The journal value differs from the invoice: that is expected. The invoice is price, the journal is cost.
Hilltop wants margin by channel
Hilltop's accountant wants separate COGS for web and café sales. Web orders all sit on one shared Unleashed customer, Shopify Web, while each café is its own customer. Priya sets a COGS - Web account on the Shopify Web customer and leaves cafés on the default. She checks that no products have their own COGS account, since that would override the customer level. The following month's journals split as expected.
Recap
- COGS account priority: product, then customer, then the default; product group is not supported.
- Split COGS by product or customer; not by product group or warehouse.
- Journal-only settings send a journal instead of an invoice, globally, per store or per tag.
- Xero sales accounts can be set for shipping and adjustment lines.
- For SOH mismatches, check failed exports, unapproved transactions and manual Xero edits.
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