A standard cost model you can price against, WIP valued monthly, and variances that show exactly where margin is leaking.
Manufacturing margin is a costing problem before it is a sales problem. Without standard costs and variance analysis, a plant can run at capacity all quarter and nobody can say which products paid for themselves.
We run the accounting function for manufacturers who need real cost per unit, not an allocation that was set once and never revisited.
Pricing off gut feel works until volume or input costs move. Material, labor, and overhead variances are what tell you where cost is actually running away.
Work in process sits between raw materials and finished goods. If it isn't valued monthly against stage of completion, both inventory and COGS are wrong.
Fixed overhead applied on a rate set two years ago distorts every job's profitability, and the distortion grows as volume shifts.
Equipment, tooling, and inventory builds all spend cash before a single unit ships.
We build a standard cost model with documented overhead rates, value WIP monthly against production records, and report material, labor, and overhead variances so cost problems surface while they can still be fixed. Capex and inventory builds get modeled against a 13-week cash forecast.
Material, labor, and overhead, reported monthly.
Stage of completion tied to production data.
Built, documented, and revisited as volume changes.
Which lines carry the business, and which don't.
Equipment and tooling decisions modeled before commitment.
Section 263A uniform capitalization requires certain indirect production costs to be capitalized into inventory rather than expensed. Section 179 and bonus depreciation on equipment are timing decisions with real cash impact and should be modeled, not defaulted. Process improvement, tooling development, and first-article work often qualify for the R&D credit — it is not limited to laboratories.
Not necessarily. QuickBooks Enterprise plus a real inventory system handles a great deal of manufacturing. We'd rather fix costing than run a migration you don't need.
Yes, including the overhead rate build and the variance reporting that keeps it honest as volume changes.
By stage of completion against the standard cost model, reconciled to production records every month.
Tell us where you are today. We will follow up within one business day with a view on what is worth fixing first.
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