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Item - ABC Analysis (report)

INTRODUCED IN: Business Central 2026 release wave 1.

The Item - ABC Analysis report ranks your inventory items into A, B, and C categories based on their sales amounts in local currency (LCY). Use the report to decide which items to always keep in stock and where you can afford occasional stock-outs. That way, you divert your supply chain resources to the items that matter the most.

The report calculates each item's share of total sales and classifies items by the percentage thresholds you define:

  • Category A items have small volume and high value. These items drive the most revenue and should always be in stock.
  • Category B items have medium volume and medium value.
  • Category C items have high volume and small value. You might accept occasional stock-outs for these items.

Default category thresholds come from the ABC Analysis Setup page. Learn more at Set up ABC Analysis defaults. The same thresholds are also used by the ABC Analysis (Power BI Report), so the classification is consistent across both reports. You can override the thresholds on the request page each time you run the report.

Available layouts

The report includes an Excel layout with worksheets designed for print and for analysis.

You can export the layout from the Report Layouts, edit it in Excel to cater for your needs, and import it back to Business Central. To learn more, go to Creating your own report layouts.

The Excel layout includes three worksheets:

  • Print: A printable version of the report with item details and ABC classifications.
  • Structure: A summary of cumulative values for each ABC class.
  • Analysis: A worksheet with slicers for ABC class and inventory posting group, so you can slice and dice the data further.

Use cases

Rank inventory items into A, B, and C categories based on their sales amounts (LCY) to identify high-value items and support purchasing and replenishment decisions.

Inventory managers use the report to:

  • Identify the items that contribute the most to revenue and prioritize their availability.
  • Review which items fall into each category and adjust purchasing strategies accordingly.
  • Spot items with zero sales that might be candidates for phase-out or promotion.

Purchasing agents use the report to:

  • Focus negotiations and supplier relationships on high-value Category A items.
  • Adjust reorder quantities and safety stock levels based on item classification.
  • Identify Category C items where you can reduce inventory investment.

Controllers use the report to:

  • Analyze the distribution of inventory value across categories.
  • Support decisions about inventory write-downs or obsolescence provisions for low-value items.
  • Validate that inventory investment aligns with sales performance.

Set up ABC Analysis defaults

Before you run the report, you must set default category thresholds on the ABC Analysis Setup page. The three category percentages must add up to 100%.

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter ABC Analysis Setup, and then choose the related link.
  2. Enter the percentage for Category A, Category B, and Category C. The values must total 100%.
  3. Close the page.

The report uses these values as defaults. You can override them on the request page each time you run the report.

Report options

The following table describes the fields on the Item - ABC Analysis request page.

Option Description
Ratio Cat. A/B/C Set the percentage thresholds for each category. The three values must total 100%. For example, A = 50, B = 30, C = 20 means that items contributing to the top 50% of total sales value are Category A.
Show Category A/B/C Choose which categories to include in the report output.
Print Lines with 0 Include items with zero sales amounts. These lines are often excluded from the analysis.

On the Item FastTab, you can apply filters to control the data that the report includes. For example, you might add filters such as No. (which is the item number), Inventory Posting Group, Date Filter, and Location Filter.

Use the fields on the Advanced FastTab to control the size of the report, and the country/region and language formats.

Try the report

Try the report here: Item - ABC Analysis

Tip

If you hold down the CTRL key while you select the report link, the report opens on a new browser tab. The new tab lets you stay on the current page while you explore the report on the other browser tab.

Alternative reports

There are several other ways to analyze your inventory. To learn more, go to:

Inventory and warehouse report overview
Ad hoc analysis of inventory data
Inventory analytics overview

Find free e-learning modules for Business Central here

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