The Category Report in MarginEdge shows your purchases for a selected date range, broken down by Invoice and by Category. Use the Category Report to see how much you spent in each Category, check how each invoice was coded, and view or download invoice images. The Category Report is also referred to as “spend by category,” “purchases by category,” or the “invoice coding” report.
Category Report vs. the P&L
The Category Report shows purchases. The Controllable P&L shows Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). The two reports are not expected to match, because COGS accounts for inventory:
- Starting Inventory + Purchases − Ending Inventory = COGS
Example: A restaurant tracks one period of wine purchases.
- Starting inventory: 5 bottles, worth $50 total
- Purchases: one case of 12 bottles, costing $120
- Ending inventory: 10 bottles, worth $100 total
- COGS: 50 + 120 − 100 = $70
The Category Report shows purchases of $120.
The P&L shows COGS of $70.
How to open the Category Report
- From the main menu, select Performance.
- Select Category Report.
Category Report options
The Category Report has these settings at the top of the page:
- Date Range: Choose Current Period, Previous Period, Current Year, Previous Year, or a custom date range. The preset ranges follow the accounting periods set for your restaurant unit.
- Invoices / Categories: Choose Invoices to show each invoice as a row with Categories as columns, which is easiest to read on screen. Choose Categories to show each Category as a row, which is easiest to export and work with in a spreadsheet.
- Only Complete Invoices / All Invoices: Only Complete Invoices is the default and shows invoices in Closed and Pending Approval status. All Invoices also includes invoices still in processing: Image Pending, EDI Pending, In Reconciliation, Final Review, and AM Review. Coding on invoices still in processing may change.
- Vendor: The default is All vendors. Choose one vendor to show only that vendor's invoices.
- MarginEdge Categories / Accounting Categories: MarginEdge Categories is the default. Accounting Categories shows the accounting system account instead. This option appears only when an accounting system is connected and Categories are mapped.
- View Invoices: Opens the invoice images for the invoices in the report.
- Export As: Exports the report as a CSV file. The export uses the filters and settings currently applied.
The Category Report remembers your settings the next time you open it.
How to read the Category Report
With the default settings, each row of the Category Report is one invoice. Each row shows:
- Invoice number and vendor name
- Processing status
- Accounting system sync status
- Invoice total
- The amount coded to each Category
The bottom row shows the total for each Category across the date range. A few things to know about the totals:
- Only Categories with balances in the date range will appear as columns. There will be no $0 columns.
- If a Product is split across more than one Category (for example, 75% Beer and 25% Produce), its cost is split across those Categories using the same percentages.
- Credits and invoice adjustments appear as their own rows.
- If an invoice is edited after it closes, the Category totals update.
How to see the line-item coding for an invoice
- On the Category Report, select an invoice row. The invoice's Category breakdown opens.
- Review each line item and the Category it was coded to. The breakdown also shows how taxes, delivery, other charges, and credits were distributed across Categories.
- To open the full order, select the link to the Order page.
- To see the original invoice, select the invoice image.
How to view or download invoice images from the Category Report
- Set the date range and any filters for the invoices you want.
- Select View Invoices. The invoice images open in a viewer.
- To save the images, select Download PDF.
If an invoice's image was deleted, the viewer shows "No Image Available." For more detail, see How to download PDFs of Invoice Images.
How to export the Category Report
- Set the date range, layout, and filters you want in the export.
- Select Export As, then choose CSV.
Common questions about the Category Report
Why doesn't my Category Report match my P&L?
The Category Report shows purchases, and the P&L shows Cost of Goods Sold. Items bought in one period may be sold in another, and some items purchased are still in inventory. See Category Report vs. the P&L above.
Why isn't an invoice showing on the Category Report?
An invoice may not appear on the Category Report for these reasons:
- It's still processing. The default Only Complete Invoices filter shows only Closed and Pending Approval invoices. Switch to All Invoices to include invoices still in processing.
- The invoice date is outside the date range. Widen the date range to include the invoice date.
- A Vendor filter is on. Set the Vendor filter to All.
- The invoice has no invoice date. Only invoices with a date appear on the Category Report.
Why did my Category totals change?
Category totals change when invoices finish processing or when a closed invoice is edited. When All Invoices is selected, totals include invoices whose coding isn't final yet.
Why don't I see the Accounting Categories option?
The Accounting Categories option appears only when your restaurant unit has an accounting system connected and its Categories are mapped to accounting system accounts.
Who can see the Category Report?
All users have the ability to see the Category Report in the Performance section.
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