Knowledge Base
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
A SKU (stock keeping unit) is the unique identifier a supplier assigns to one specific product in one specific configuration, making it the only reliable unit for comparing prices between suppliers.
Why SKUs matter more than product names
"Condenser fan motor" is a description. A SKU is a commitment: one manufacturer, one model, one spec, one package size. Two suppliers can sell the identical motor under different SKUs, and one supplier can sell a dozen motors that all match the same loose description at very different prices. Any price comparison built on descriptions can be argued with — the vendor will say the items were not equivalent. A comparison built on the exact SKU, or a verified cross-reference to it, cannot. That is why serious purchasing work starts by resolving every invoice line to a specific SKU.
How SKU-level pricing works in multifamily
Multifamily properties buy thousands of distinct SKUs a year across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, appliance, and janitorial categories. Supply-house invoices usually print the SKU on each line, which means the raw material for item-level price checking already exists in every property's paid invoices. The work is matching each SKU to the same or equivalent item at other verified suppliers and comparing the delivered price — see how supplier price comparison works. This is the method behind The Benchmark, which prices every invoice line a property paid at the SKU level each quarter.
The common mistake: comparing categories instead of items
Operators often compare suppliers at the category level — which supply house is cheaper "on plumbing." Category comparisons hide the detail that matters, because every supplier is cheap on some SKUs and expensive on others, and the mix of what a property actually buys determines which supplier wins. The honest question is never which vendor is cheaper in general; it is which vendor is cheaper on the specific items this property bought last quarter, at the quantities it bought them. That question can only be answered SKU by SKU — a full quarter's answer is what a multifamily invoice audit produces.
Related terms
Start with one property and one quarter
Send us a quarter of invoices and we will show you what it should have cost. If there is nothing there, we will tell you that too.
