Computers don't implement anything in general...and neither do programmers. But we business folk tend to think in generalities. Someone might say, "Put the cost in column 3." Seems simple enough. Until you start to try to calculate cost. Which cost? Last cost? Average cost? FIFO cost? Cost including freight or not? Cost including handling and warehousing charges? What cost? There are a lot of costs.
When I ask these questions of some clients, they get frustrated. It's as if I'm trying to pin them down. So the typical answer is something that evaluates to, "I don't care, just pick one." So we do. And then....
It is terribly important when you talk to computer folk that you think in specific. Computers have to think in specific. Over the years, I've worked with perhaps a dozen or so off-the-shelf computer software programs that dealt with inventory. Pehaps a dozen or so more that were custom written. Most of these implemented the details of inventory cost differently. Many of them differed in how they made the General Ledger entries. Some of them reported different numbers on financial statements than they did on management reports (for very good, well-thought-out reasons). But all of them implemented very specific processes for determining cost. And it was important (ultimately) to understand the details in order to figure out what they were doing.
Let me say that as a CPA and a programmer, I have trouble saying that some of these were right and some were wrong. They were different. I could argue for all but a few being appropriate. But I had to understand the details to understand what I was seeing in reporting and on financial statements.
When we ask detailed questions or seem to bog down in meaningless drivel, keep in mind that we're just trying to get to the best result for everyone. And try to think specifics...
