thread Re: How does deleting an item affect cogs? in Orders, Menu Items, Catalog & Fulfilment

How does deleting an item affect cogs?

caninodc — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 10:10:10 GMT

I have a dog supply store and got a shipment of collars/leashes two months ago. Initially, I created an item for each size of each product. I recently decided it was better to list the sizes as variations under a single item instead. So instead of multiple individual items representing my inventory, I deleted all except one and consolidated all the sizes as variations under that one overall item. The initially individual items all had the correct prices and unit costs.

Now, the system shows the correct prices, but the unit cost is missing. My question is do I need to input the unit cost again for each item? Was the unit cost history erased when I deleted the items, or is it still counted from when I initially received the products and entered them into the system?

My main concern is ensuring that the value of my inventory is accurate in the overall reports. If the system has already accounted for the costs, I don't want to double-count by updating the unit cost. Alternatively, if the unit cost was nulled when I deleted items, I would need to input it again to ensure accurate accounting.

Re: How does deleting an item affect cogs?

MayaP — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 12:37:02 GMT

Hey @caninodc- I see this is your first post in the Seller Community so I'd like to officially welcome you! 🎉👏

I am tagging some amazing super-sellers who can provide more insight on this! Thank you @Candlestore @LocavoreStore for you help!

Feel free to reach out to me or any of our Seller Community moderators if we can help with anything else 😊

Re: How does deleting an item affect cogs?

Candlestore — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 17:46:38 GMT

@caninodc ;

From what I have read in your question, you deleted an Item and then created a Variation of a different Item.

When You delete an Item the previous sales data will apply to the previous sales up to the date of the deleted item. Square does not use Item names to connect the dots between categories and sales data but uses what it calls a Token. This can be seen when you Export your categories as a csv.

Now you will have to put in all your costs associated with the Cariations in your catalog. To do this quickly I suggest exporting this Item and its variations and the use a Spreadsheet to update all the costs quickly. Just add 1 of these in Square Dash board or to a variation so you know which column needs the price change.

Your reports will most end up with 2 items of the samething. Meaning Tshirt Blue (got Deleted) but now you sell T-shirts with Variation of Blue. So end of your would be you sold 25 T-shirts Blue..... and 50 T-shirts of Blue Variation. If both Items have the Same SKU or GTIN you could filter by that in a csv for Tax reporting later. So Sku (or GTIN) of buetshirt you sold 75 of with a cost of $5 since they should still both be the same cost unless prices change through the year. This is why I normally do this in my Accounting software compared to square. I use Squares COGS as a quick refrence on how I am currently doing.

I only saw this after @MayaP tagged me in your question, I hope it helps.