How to use CostBeacon: a simple 5-step guide

Open Upload. CostBeacon gives you two modes, and the distinction matters:

• Many invoices at once means each PDF becomes its own invoice in the queue.
• One combined invoice means several pages or photos belong to one invoice and will be submitted as a single PDF.

If you have a folder of separate supplier bills, use the first mode. If one long invoice arrived as several scans, use the second. Before uploading, check that the supplier name, invoice date, invoice number, totals, and line items are readable.

Upload invoices

That queued file only proves the handoff. CostBeacon extracts line items and matches the supplier after you upload, so the review screens later in this guide come from invoices that have already finished processing. Keep the supplier name, invoice date, invoice number, totals, and line items readable. Use Many invoices at once for a stack of separate bills. Use One combined invoice only when several pages or photos belong to one bill and you need to put them in order first.

After processing, go to Latest results and choose Invoice products. Start at the top of the page: confirm the supplier, invoice number, date, item count, and total. Then scan the extracted line items.

Focus on four fields: product name, unit price, unit of measure, and the change from the prior recorded price. A movement can be mathematically correct but commercially misleading if a case became a pack, a weight changed, or the product was matched to the wrong recurring line. Use Edit prices when an extracted value needs correction and Price history when a change needs context.

In the tutorial workspace, the selected Grand & Toy invoice is 11-10-3863, dated October 5, 2026. The header shows six items, a $1,257.69 total, and six price changes versus the prior period. Quick insights summarize the direction mix and the largest unit moves. Treat those highlights as a map, then read the line table: filter to Price increase or Price decrease when the bill is long, and confirm each unit before you trust the percentage.

Latest results

This is the quality-control step. Do not jump straight from upload to a supplier call. A quick review here protects the rest of the analysis from a wrong unit, duplicate product, or unusual one-off line.

The Dashboard is not a replacement for the invoice. It is the place to decide which invoice evidence deserves your attention first. Set the Date range, then read the four summary cards:

Projected cost risk

A priority estimate built from recent positive price changes—not a predicted bill or guaranteed saving.

Products at risk

The count of products that currently meet CostBeacon’s risk rules in the selected range.

Invoice activity

The processed invoices, line items, and suppliers represented in the current view.

Avg. margin gap

The average per-unit gap to the CostBeacon suggested retail price on applicable lines.

Dashboard · Last 90 days

The tutorial’s Last 90 days view shows what a filled-in workspace looks like: projected cost risk of $4,275, 46 products at risk, 40 invoices, 215 line items across 12 suppliers, and an average margin gap of $20. Those amounts are fictional. Your first week will be quieter until repeated products have a history. CostBeacon builds projected cost risk from recent increases, the last known order quantity, and the impact horizon in Settings, then shows a monthly equivalent so lines stay comparable. It is a priority score, not a forecasted bill and not guaranteed savings.

In Top cost risks, begin with the largest monthly impact, read the percentage movement beside it, and choose Investigate for product-level evidence or Review supplier for the relationship-level view. For more on choosing thresholds, see the guide to supplier price increase alerts.

A single “price increase” badge tells you direction, not the whole story. Open Products to search by product or supplier, narrow the catalog with Supplier and Price activity, then open the relevant price history.

In Product details, read the dated invoice sequence. Check whether the change appeared once or persisted, whether the unit of measure stayed consistent, and which invoice first introduced the new price. This is also where the current unit cost, latest movement, last invoice, margin setting, and recommended CostBeacon sticker price sit together.

The tutorial’s Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse, supplied by Amazon Business Canada, is a clear example. It shows a unit price of $43.53 per set, up $0.52 (1%) from the prior recorded price, on invoice 06-10-3363 dated October 4, 2026. The history holds 10 price points—nine increases and no decreases—and a recommended sticker of $58.77 at the workspace’s inherited 35% margin. None of those prices are a current quote. The useful habit is the same on your own data: open the sequence, and do not stop at the latest badge.

Product details

Remember that a CostBeacon product is the system’s best match for a recurring invoice line. If a supplier renames an item or changes its pack size, verify the match before treating the history as like-for-like. The manual workflow guide explains why unit consistency matters when tracking supplier prices.

Go to Results → Suppliers. Search for the supplier or use Trending Up, then review its risk level, estimated monthly impact, last invoice date, and effective margin. Select View to open the invoice history.

Amazon Business Canada in the tutorial lists 10 invoices, 6 tracked products, a last invoice on October 4, 2026, and an estimated spend impact of +$119.70 per month, marked Low risk in this fixture. The invoice table shows payment status and how many lines changed on each bill. A relationship total is only useful once you open the month you want to discuss and read the line items behind it.

Supplier invoice history

Before contacting a supplier, write down five facts:

1. 1
   Product and pack sizeMake the item unambiguous.
2. 2
   Previous and current unit priceCompare like-for-like units.
3. 3
   First invoice with the changeAnchor the discussion to a date and document.
4. 4
   Estimated monthly impactExplain why the line deserves attention.
5. 5
   Your requested next stepClarification, correction, credit, alternative, or new terms.

If the movement needs a formal response, use the evidence-led supplier price increase guide to structure the conversation.