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Consignment vs principal

Every car has a sourcing mode:

Principal — you bought it. The capital risk is yours. The car hits your inventory account.
Consignment — the supplier (consignor) still owns it. You hold it on their behalf, recover your costs, and earn a commission on sale. The car never hits inventory.

The two Add car buttons on the Cars page (+ Principal and + Consigned) choose the mode. They open the same form with a sourcing toggle; you can also flip the toggle inside the form.

Detection

cars.consignorCounterpartyId IS NOT NULL is the canonical signal — every server check branches on this column directly. The form sets it when sourcing = consignment + you pick a consignor counterparty.

GL footprint

Principal car

Purchase:
  Dr 1100 Inventory of Cars         <purchase + landed cost in home>
     Cr Vault    (cash mode)        OR
     Cr 2000 Accounts Payable       (credit mode, tagged to supplier)

Each cost row (auction fee, freight, duty, repair):
  Dr 1100 Inventory of Cars         <cost in home>
     Cr Vault / 2000

Sale (via invoice):
  Dr 1050 AR / Vault                <sale price + tax in home>
     Cr 4000 Revenue
     Cr 2100 Tax Payable
  AND
  Dr 5000 Purchase Cost             <original purchase in home>
  Dr 5020 Landed Cost               <sum of landed cost rows>
     Cr 1100 Inventory of Cars      <total>

Consignment car

Purchase: NOTHING POSTS to inventory or vault.

Each cost row (the costs you advanced on behalf of the consignor):
  Dr 1300 Due from Consignors       <cost in home, tagged to consignor>
     Cr Vault / 2000

Sale (via invoice):
  Dr 1050 AR / Vault                <sale price + tax in home>
     Cr 4xxx Commission Income      <your margin>
     Cr 2100 Tax Payable
     Cr 1300 Due from Consignors    <reverse the costs>
     Cr 2050 Payable to Consignor   <net owed to supplier>

No COGS, no inventory derecognition. The consignor gets paid the net of “sale price minus your costs minus your commission” through 2050.

Operational differences

Aspect	Principal	Consignment
Counterparty	Supplier (optional, in AP if credit)	Consignor (required)
Inventory account	1100 carries landed cost	Never touched
Cost rows	Capitalize into 1100	Capitalize into 1300
Sale GL	Revenue + COGS split	Commission only
Sold-status flips	Yes (sold_locally / sold_import)	Yes (same logic)
Cancelled with “returned to supplier” reason	Allowed	Rejected (consignor IS the supplier)

When to use which