Reviewing and updating your animal values
Reviewing and updating your animal values
The inventory valuation page is where you review and update what each of your animals is worth for management, all in one table. It feeds the Estimated value on your finance dashboard and the management balance sheet, and it is strictly a planning view: a banner reads "Management view only," and updating values here does not change your accounting records or tax basis.
Open it
From your dashboard's Estimated value panel, select Review current values (it reads Add animal values when some of your animals have no value yet). The page lives at /finance/inventory-valuation. If you keep more than one set of records, a Record set switcher at the top lets you choose which one you are looking at.
The columns
Each row is one animal, with four value columns:
- Book value: what you paid or recorded as a starting value (the animal's cost basis). This is your accounting figure.
- Crestimate: the latest data-driven market estimate for the animal, with its confidence. If there is not enough comparable data, it shows an early estimate with a caveat, or says there are no comparable sales yet. If the animal is missing details a Crestimate needs, the cell tells you what to add. See What is a Crestimate?.
- Manual value: a value you set by hand, if any.
- Used for management: the single value Creatures is actually using, and where it came from. A manual value wins; if there is none, a usable Crestimate is used; if neither, it falls back to book value; otherwise it is "Not set."
Estimate current values for everyone
The Estimate current values button runs a fresh Crestimate for the animals in the table at once. A progress bar appears and fills as the estimates come in, so you can watch it work, and rows update in place as each finishes (no page reload needed). The button shows "Estimating..." while the run is going.
Creatures is sensible about what it runs: animals that already have a very recent estimate, or that are missing the details a Crestimate needs, are skipped, and an animal that already has a run in progress is not queued twice. When everything finishes you get a short summary, including how many updated and how many could not be finished.
Per-row Crestimate states
You can also refresh one animal with the Crestimate button on its row. As a Crestimate runs, the row reports its state:
- Queued: waiting to start.
- Estimating: the estimate is running.
- Updated: it finished and the row now shows the new figure.
- Failed: it could not be completed; you can try that one again.
If a row is missing required details, its Crestimate button is disabled and tells you what to add first.
Filters
Two chips above the table narrow what you see:
- 20%+ from estimate: shows only animals whose manual value is more than 20% away from the latest eligible Crestimate, so you can find and fix the values that have drifted. When this filter is on, a line tells you how many of your animals it is showing.
- Show inactive: includes deceased animals and animals you no longer own that still have finance history, which are hidden by default.
Editing values inline
If you can keep the books for these records, you can edit without leaving the table:
- Manual value: use the pencil in the Manual value column to set or change a by-hand value, or Use as value in the Crestimate cell to adopt the Crestimate figure. A drift chip marks any manual value that is more than 20% from the Crestimate.
- Book value: the owner can use the pencil in the Book value column to set or correct cost basis in place: the amount, whether the animal was Purchased or Raised, and the date acquired. See Animal cost basis and starting values.
This does not change your accounting
The closing reminder is the important part: estimated market values here are for management decisions only. They do not change your accounting records, inventory lots, depreciation schedules, or tax basis. Use this page to keep a realistic picture of what your animals are worth today, and keep your books as your books.
Related information
Updated on: 07/07/2026
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