thanks steve.
i just set up a blank company and was fiddling with the program at home. I noticed this. if you have an inventory item at Dec 1 with nothing in it...receive 500 units dec 2 and then dec 3 you sell 250 units.....if you do not do day end and print the item valuation you will see that dec 1 the item has -250 units....although you shipped this product on dec 3rd. this means that the item valuation report does not catch a moment in time. once you start posting invoices against inventory you can never get that one moment in time back. once you do day end...the cost will show negative as well.

i don't understand why a sale from 2 days in the future would affect the inventory item valuation report.