# Fishbowl: "Average part cost must be positive"

> A part's average cost is zero or invalid and cannot be used for costing operations.

## What it means

Fishbowl cannot complete the operation because the part's average cost is not positive. This typically happens with parts that have zero cost, negative cost, or no cost entered. Fishbowl uses average cost to value inventory and track part expenses.

## What to check

- Look at the part's cost in its master record—it must be greater than zero
- If the cost is zero or blank, enter a valid positive cost value
- Check whether the part is newly created; parts without assigned costs trigger this error
- Verify you're working with the correct part and revision

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*From Israel Lopez Consulting (ILC). Custom Fishbowl Inventory integrations and software, and Fishbowl experts since 2015. Written by Israel Lopez. Questions about this topic, or want to reach the people who wrote it? Visit https://israellopezconsulting.com/contact*