Wine Making Software / Service

[dmcquade]

Hello everyone!


You may not remember, but some time ago I started working on a tracking system for home wine makers. It's a bit behind, but it's coming along very nicely.


I do have a question for everyone to see if you had an opinion on expense tracking.


I have added a way for users to track expenses invested for each batch of wine. Direct expenses are pretty much a no brainer. This includes expenses that are only used for a specific batch. However, multi-use expesnse are a bit more complicated.


For example, let's say you purchase a carboy for $30. Since that carboy can be used on multiple batches, it is difficult to do an accurate per-bottle expense without adjusting previous batches. Here are some alternatives ... do any of you perfer one over the other?


Total Adjustment: The purchase of new equipment will be automatically applied to all bottles / batches, past and future.


Assuming $30 carboy / 30 bottles per batch


Prior to Purchase:
Batch #1 (Bottled)Avg Bottle Cost: $4.00

Batch #2 (Bottled) Avg Bottle Cost: $5.00
Batch #3 (Fermenting) Avg Bottle Cost: $2.00



After Purchase:
Batch #1 (Bottled)Avg Bottle Cost: $4.33 (+ $0.33)

Batch #2 (Bottled) Avg Bottle Cost: $5.33 (+ $0.33)
Batch #3 (Fermenting) Avg Bottle Cost: $2.33 (+ $0.33)


Forward Adjustment: The purchase of new equipment will only affect current and future bottles / batches.



Assuming $30 carboy / 30 bottles per batch


Prior to Purchase:
Batch #1 (Bottled)Avg Bottle Cost: $4.00

Batch #2 (Bottled) Avg Bottle Cost: $5.00
Batch #3 (Fermenting) Avg Bottle Cost: $2.00



After Purchase:
Batch #1 (Bottled)Avg Bottle Cost: $4.00

Batch #2 (Bottled) Avg Bottle Cost: $5.00
Batch #3 (Fermenting) Avg Bottle Cost: $3.00 (+ $1.00)

 

[PeterZ]

DJ, that is a really tough question. We've talked that over here in the context of convincing the significant other that equipment purchases are a good investment. To keep it simple we amortize the equipment over a single batch. Thus $200 spent for an equipment kit + $100 for a wine kit = 30 bottles of good quality wine at $10/bottle. The next kit will then be (theoretically - we always buy more gear) $3.33/bottle.

If we start with your system at the beginning of our journey into wine making it is easy. Simply maintain 2 ledgers - equipment and consumables. Consumables' costs are applied to the batch, and equipment costs are amortized across all batches.

I think what you have to do is determine a lifespan for each class of equipment. For example, and Itailian floor corker should last a lifetime, but a primary bucket might last 10 batches until it needs to be discarded.

Since I don't think you want to put that level of research into the lifespan of each piece of equipment, you might want to code into the calculations the ability for the buyer to specify how many batches a particular piece of equipment is good for and apply it across that many future batches, already amortized across that many future batches. That's how industry does it.

 

[MLawrence]

Maybe my outlook is a little different, but I would never think of allocating the costs of my equipment across batches to calculate the cost per bottle. These things are critical in a commercial setting where pricing decisions are based on the total cost to produce a bottle, but I wonder how many home winemakers are as concerned with this since most bottles are going to be consumed in the home or given away to friends? For me this is a hobby and I wouldn't track costs of equipment and spread it across batches any more than I would spread the cost of my golf clubs across rounds played.


Again, maybe my view is different from others, but I would suspect your efforts would be better spent adding cool features in other areas of your software.


Matt

 

[NorthernWinos]

Being a farmer we depriciate all our equipment, most 7 or 10 years...buildings 20, etc....As for wine making equipment we just call them toys....the cost is just absorbed and will be in inventory, if ever sold will be capital gains...The wine is the cost of inputs only.Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Wade E]

Peter, I hope you are just throwing out #s and not discarding primaries after 10 batches! Please say this isnt so. I know they will need replacing but I am way beyond 10 and they are still in very good condition as I dont use abrasives on them.

 

[dmcquade]

Thanks for the input guys! My father-in-law has been making wine for about 15 years and he has detailed per-bottle costs for the entire time. I'm kind of glad to hear that most of you don't care, because it's definately more difficult to setup. I will initially go with an average cost and if people want to do some fancy depreciation later they can.


Cheers!

 

[smokegrub]

Wine-making is for me a hobby and, although I think my homemade wine costs less than commercial, that is not what would govern my decision-making. Lord knows, I don't want to know what fishing costs me either!

 

[PeterZ]

MLawrence, I think what DJ is trying to do is create a system that makes it a no-brainer to do those kind of calculations. Maybe it's me. I'm incredibly anal. You should see the spreadsheets I have set up to track my checking account, the household budget, and our cars' mileage.

Wade, having used my primary for a total of 3 batches, I have no idea how long it will last. Since the only thing I scrub it with is water and the palm of my right hand (no wedding ring to cause scratches) I expect it will last a long time.

And, yes, winemaking is a hobby for me also, so I don't track per-bottle cost. I do have a line item in my budget for each of my hobbies (winemaking, woodworking, wood turning, model railroading), just to see how much I am spending.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Wine-making is for me a hobby and, although I think my homemade wine costs less than commercial, that is not what would govern my decision-making. Lord knows, I don't want to know what fishing costs me either!

I was also thinking about our fishing hobby costs...wouldn't that be some expensive viddles...