What this guide covers: the three connected screens under Livestock Finance in the left navigation — Bridge Intelligence (where you create links), Livestock Profitability (where you read the results), and the Valuation Workbench (a separate, formal herd-valuation tool).
Part ABridge Intelligence — creating links
Found at Livestock Finance → Bridge Intelligence. This is the only place a finance record actually gets connected to a livestock record — the Profitability page only displays what's already been linked here.
The header shows Bridge Links, Cost Allocations, Unlinked Finance, and Unlinked LITS counts. Tabs: Workflows (guided link creation), Review Links (everything linked so far), Allocations (the cost splits generated from your links), Unlinked Finance and Unlinked LITS (records waiting to be connected), and Advanced (manual/raw linking).
A.1 The Smart Link Wizard
- Click Smart Link Wizard (or Link next to a specific unlinked record, which pre-fills and skips ahead).
- Link Type — choose what kind of financial event this is (see the list below).
- Finance Record — search and select the compatible invoice, bill, expense claim, or stock record.
- LITS Record — search and select the compatible animal, group, holding, or movement record.
- Cost & Allocation Details — optionally enter an amount, currency and effective date, and choose how it should be split: Single record (the full amount to one animal or group), Equal split (divided evenly across a group's members), or Head count (divided by active member count).
- Review Before Linking — confirms the link and, if you gave an amount, shows the allocation breakdown. Click Create Link.
Cost allocations are generated automatically the moment a link with an amount is created — you don't create allocations separately.
A.2 Link types
| Workflow | Connects |
|---|---|
| Animal Purchase | A purchase bill or expense claim to newly acquired animals or a herd group. |
| Animal Sale | A sales invoice to the animals or group that were sold. |
| Treatment Stock | Veterinary stock movements to the animals or group treated. |
| Transport | Transport bills to animals, a group, or a specific movement record. |
| Feed Cost | Feed stock consumption to animals or a herd. |
| Holding Overhead | Rent, utilities, security or site costs to a holding, camp or farm site. |
| Vaccination | Vaccination bills or stock usage to the animals receiving treatment. |
| Permit Cost | Movement permit fees to the corresponding movement record. |
| Custom Link | A freeform link between any finance and LITS record — the fallback when nothing above fits. |
Agribantu will suggest a likely link type based on what you pre-select — an invoice suggests Animal Sale, a holding suggests Holding Overhead, and so on — but you can always override it.
Livestock Profitability — reading the results
Found at Livestock Finance → Livestock Profitability (it also appears under the LITS module's Reports group — same page either way). This is a read-only report: profitability is calculated automatically from the links you've created on the Bridge Intelligence page.
Header KPIs: Total Cost, Total Revenue, Net Profit, Margin, Linked Records, Unallocated Costs, Unlinked Revenue, Data Confidence. Tabs: By Herd / Group, By Animal, By Holding / Farm, Treatment Costs, Movement Costs, Feed Costs. Click any row for a detail drawer with a cost breakdown and a Create Missing Link shortcut back to the wizard.
An "Improve profitability accuracy" panel surfaces specific gaps — e.g. "3 supplier bills not linked to any LITS record" — each with a Link now button that takes you straight to that record in the wizard. The more you link, the more accurate this report gets — it starts empty until your first links exist.
Part CValuation Workbench
Found at Livestock Finance → Valuations. A separate tool from the bridge — this builds formal, point-in-time valuation snapshots of your herd (for management, board, accountant, insurance, loan-collateral or sale purposes), rather than ongoing cost/revenue tracking.
C.1 Building a valuation
Click Build Valuation Snapshot to open a 7-step wizard:
- Scope — what you're valuing: Entire Organisation, a Holding/Farm, a Camp, a Group/Herd/Mob, a Species, a Breed, an Animal Class, Individual Animals, a Sale Lot, or an Insurance Group.
- Method — Cost Basis, Market Value per Head, Market Value per kg, Market Value per Class, Net Realisable Value, Manual Appraisal, Insurance Value, Conservative Board Value, or Accountant-adjusted Value.
- Price Book — pick a saved price book, or proceed with a manual estimate; also set the Valuation Purpose (Management, Board, Accountant, Insurance, Loan / Collateral, Sale / Offtake) and an optional title.
- Preview — scope, method, animal count, estimated value, average per head, confidence, and any warnings.
- Exceptions — review anything flagged in the preview.
- Create Draft Snapshot — saves it as a draft.
- Finalise — informational; finalising itself happens afterward from the Snapshots list.
From the Snapshots tab, a draft can be moved through Mark Under Review → Approve → Finalise (Immutable) — once finalised, a snapshot can no longer be changed — or Archive at any point. Click a snapshot to open its detail drawer: Summary, Lines, Compare (variance against prior snapshots), Audit (its finalisation/approval history), and Actions.
The Price Books & Assumptions tab lets you maintain reusable pricing rules by species, breed, sex, age band and class — click New Price Book, then Add Rule per price point.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
My Profitability report is empty.
It only shows data once you've created at least one bridge link with an amount — start with the Smart Link Wizard on the Bridge Intelligence page.
I created a link but the cost isn't showing anywhere.
Cost allocations are only generated for links that include an amount — a link created without one connects the records for reference but won't appear in the profitability totals.
Can I edit a finalised valuation snapshot?
No — finalising is deliberately immutable. Create a new snapshot if you need updated numbers.
Where do I compare two valuation snapshots?
Open the newer snapshot's detail drawer and use its Compare tab — the top-level "Variance Analysis" tab is just a pointer to this, not a separate comparison tool.