How a P&L behaves
Effective dating
A cost that applies from a date forward and leaves history alone.
Where it lives in nouz
Every cost rule in the product.
An effective-dated cost carries the day it takes effect. Saving a new value closes the previous one the day before and opens a new one, so every order stays priced by the rule that was true when it was placed.
Without it, changing a supplier price rewrites last quarter's profit, and any report you ran before the change stops reconciling.
Backdating stays possible, but it is a deliberate act: it reprices the days from that date forward and nothing earlier.
A cost field that holds one value instead of a history is the root of Shopify's COGS report limitations.
Related terms