The Orders transaction is used when a customer commits to purchasing goods that are either not currently available or don't need to be provided immediately. Orders may involve one or more deposits which may be applied either to specific items or to the entire order. When goods are ordered, the item's committed quantities are increased. When orders are sold (invoiced), committed quantities decrease and on-hand is reduced. Credit orders are also allowed. Committed quantities are not affected by credit orders (because it is assumed that you don't have possession of the product at that time).

Orders create a PS Customer Orders document.

Most Point of Sale transactions share the same set of folders. For information regarding folders in the Point of Sale areas, click here.

Selecting an Account

In the Point of Sale Name list, you can either enter the Sort Name (from the Account Maintenance form) or the account ID. Most Point of Sale transactions involve selecting an account and job (when applicable) first. For Sales, you can scan or enter the items into the data grid first, but for other transaction types (Orders, Quotes, Tickets, etc.), you must choose an initial account first. If you know the customer participating in the transaction, there is usually no need to choose an alternate menu, just type either the sort name or the account number/ID.

When a customer has their own account, we recommend that you enter their name in the Name list. You can change it to a different account, if needed, before processing.

There are some additional search options you can use, based on other information you know at the time of your search. You can review these option here

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When the enhanced look up feature is enabled, you have more selection options, but the account's Sort Name field entry is still the primary match field. The application only shows you account number matches if no sort name matches are found. If matches for both the sort name and account number exist, only the entries with the name display.

After you select an account from the list, the account type displays beside the list. There are three types of accounts:

• A Cash account is a customer-specific account that does not allow receivables charges, unless the account has a credit balance.

• A Charge account is also a customer-specific account that allow receivables charges to accumulate.

• A System account is a general-use account that is not customer-specific. A System account does not have a credit limit or allow charges.
  All companies must have a system account named CASH. Except in the case of Tickets* (Advice Notes) and Charge Returns, the default account, "CASH," is the default when no specific account is indicated.

  To select the System account, press TAB . In addition, this type of account requires the entry of a delivery name when used with non-sale type transactions (orders, quotes, etc.). more...

Selecting a Job

Accounts may be linked to one or more jobs; every account has at least one job, known as the master job (0). You can add additional jobs to any account to track account activity separately from the account. You are only prompted to select a job if the account has multiple jobs (more than the required job "zero"); otherwise, all activity is assumed to be for the master job. In Point of Sale, disabled and closed jobs are not included in selection list. You may be able to add new jobs during the transaction processing (on the Delivery tab of the Process (F12) form).*

*Your security settings may prevent you from adding jobs during processing.

If an existing order is modified that holds a deposit, any changes to the account will produce a task list warning (which may be increased to an "error" severity to prevent processing).

Customer Order Document Selection

Orders are assigned either a sequence number or alpha-numeric ID. The same format is used for orders as is used with other types of documents; however, order numbers can be assigned to a specific range and may be assigned a prefix character. A drop down style control is used for selecting an existing order document as well as creating a new order document. Orders are one (1) of a few document types that allow the user to set the document identifier. Each order must have a unique identifier.

Creating a New Order

When creating a new order document from the Orders transaction in Point of Sale, the easiest way to assign a new order ID is to press the TAB key while the "Order #" drop down control is the focus. This will assign the next sequential order number available for use.

Your company may assign a prefix character (or characters) to be used to help identify customer order documents (this is done from the Documents tab found on the Parameters form). If done, the sequence number will be preceded by the designated prefix character(s). Prefix characters decrease the size of the potential "pool" of available sequence numbers. In addition, when manually entering document numbers, if a prefix is used, you must type in the full sequence number including the prefix to find an exact match on an order.

As mentioned, you can also enter your own document identifier. The ID is limited to a maximum of 6-characters in length and should be unique for each order. A date prefix (year-month) is still added when the ID is manually designated.

Choosing an Existing Order

There are three (3) ways to choose an existing order document: manual entry, scanning, and selection (using the drop down). If known and available for the transaction, customer and job selection can help narrow down the number of possible matches and make selection simpler.

•Manual Entry

Manual entry involves entering a full or partial document identifier. Usually, it is only necessary to enter the second half of the document identifier known as the "sequence ID" (to the right of the dash). When a partial sequence is entered and multiple matches are located, a selection listing will be produced. Matching is done alpha-numerically in reading order (from left-to-right).

When prefix characters are not being used (and the sequence number is numeric), you can type just the sequence number without any leading zeros to find an exact match.

The current year-month (2-digit year, 2-digit month) is appended on the left-hand side of each document sequence automatically. This part of the document identifier cannot be set by the user.

•Scanning

If you have a copy of the document and a barcode scanner, you can scan the document's barcode.1 In order to scan bar-coded documents and products, your station must be assigned a scanner (this is done via the Devices maintenance form accessed from the Database menu in Maintenance).

1Document barcodes use the "39 Extended" format.

•Selection

Due to the nature of customer orders, a large number of fields are included for reference in the drop down. These include the following (from left to right): order document, type, account, job number, customer name, job name, date, customer's PO#, order total, order user, original branch (the branch that processed the order), sales branch, and quantity branch (the sales and quantity branches may be designated during processing). The columns displayed can change based upon alternate selection choices in some cases.

Entering a partial document sequence* produces a listing of orders beginning with those characters.

*The sequence portion are the last 6-characters of the document after the year-month digits and dash (-).

The "%" wild card character may be used to designate a match in the middle or end of the sequence instead. For example, if you enter %123% then orders with the digits "123" anywhere in the document sequence will be listed as matches.

Although users can specify a "custom" order sequence (orders are not limited to system generated or sequential numbers), it's suggested that users only assign order sequences that are 6-characters in length. This is especially important when the order sequence begins with a number. This is due to differences in how numeric order numbers are treated as opposed to those beginning with alpha characters (code is in place for handling branch prefix characters and in some cases attempts to adjust numeric values that are shorter than the expected document sequence length).

It's also suggested that users not repeatedly reuse the same order sequences. Special order item numbering uses the order sequence as part of the generated SKU. Using the same sequence for multiple orders can make identifying the items for a particular order more difficult.

For information about alternate selection methods for orders, click here.

Closing or Voiding an Order

The menu marker to the right of the order # field can be used to either (1) mark an order as closed or (2) void an existing order. "Closing" an order leaves the order in the database for reference, but prevents further modification or sale. A "voided" order is permanently removed. There are cases where other documents have dependencies (links, etc.) on the order and "voiding" won't be permitted. Orders with a deposit cannot be closed or voided until any deposit has been refunded (using Payouts). A message is provided in these cases or the "void order" selection will be disabled.

An additional dialog is provided when closing or voiding an order. If a previously saved customer order is selected at the time you choose either "close order" or "void order," it will be the default selection when the dialog is shown; otherwise, you will need to scan, enter, or select the order document.

Just as with the Order # drop down, you can use the context menu to help locate an order document. Alternate selections include Name, Customer PO #, Address, and Select.

ItemSets

An "ItemSet" is a classification tool used for Sales, Orders, and Quotes. This allows the user to assign items to groups, or "sets," which you can may be sort, invoice, or deliver separately. For example, a customer may place a large order, but want specific goods delivered at different times. ItemSets are an excellent way of keeping track of the customer's delivery needs while maintaining a single order at the same time.

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Totals Panel

The upper right-hand area of the form includes a display-only panel showing the transaction's current sub-total, sales tax, and total. The tax location and rate (percentage) are displayed to the left of the panel when enough room is available (the tax location and rate can be viewed in the Process (F12) form otherwise). These figures will automatically update as changes are made. Figures also update to reflect any adjustments (adders/discounts, etc.) applied on the Process (F12) form.

The menu marker (to the right of the totals panel) offers additional options allowing the user to switch to a different transaction type (sale, quote, ticket) or display the current GM% (gross margin percentage) for the entire transaction.

Changing the Transaction Type

You can convert a transaction from one type to another and retain much of the information from the original. When you switch to a new transaction type, the items (and item comments), pricing, account-job selections, PO#, and delivery information move to the new transaction. The application does not maintain other information unless it is permanently associated with the account or job. This includes a number of fields located on the Process form such as Print and Transmit options, Adjustments, and any manually entered information (such as a tax exempt ID or purchase agent).
Note: Making a transaction type change requires specific user permissions that may not be available to all sales personnel. Check your security settings if these menu options are blocked from your view.

To "switch" the current transaction to a new transaction type, click the Menu Marker to the right of the Totals box to display the context menu and select the new transaction type from the list.

Restrictions and Special Cases that can Prevent this Switch

There are a few restrictions that can prevent you from changing transactions. You cannot change a transaction that includes a rental item. If you enable and apply promotion pricing, to a transaction, the promotion pricing is removed when you make the switch and when you invoice an order or quote, these converted promotions are disabled).

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Grid & Item Entry

The grid area is used for specifying the items that are being ordered or returned. The "discountable" column (Disc) can be used to view or set the discountable status of the item or to specify a line-item discount (if the item is discountable).

Primary entry fields include all columns except description, extended amount, and additional information. Primary columns are accessible by TAB navigation in the form. For more detailed information regarding item selection, click here.

One of the most important features of a retail software solution is Item Entry. When the item is physically present, scanning the item's barcode is the easiest and fastest way to enter it into the application. If you don't have a scanner or the item has no barcode, you can always enter a full or partial item number if it's available. When entering text that partially matches existing item codes, the application displays a list of items that match. Items in selection lists are color coded to help distinguish between item numbers and alternate SKUs (in purple). On-hand quantities in a selection list are also color coded when an item has a negative on-hand (red).

There are cases when you may not be working with any physical item, such as when you are building an order or quote, so scanning or manual item entry isn't always a realistic option. For these situations, you can enter the information you want to search for and right-click the Item list icon to display a list of search options.

All of the following alternate selection choices are used to build a selection list matching the criteria you either enter or select. Based upon your selections, you can wind up with a list that contains a few items, many items, or one item. In addition, it's possible for your selection to produce no matches.

Selection listings are assigned a set "page" size. Usually, this initial listing or page is limited to the first 25 records. When more items match the criteria than the page size, a "<<<MORE>>>" option is displayed at the bottom. Clicking "more" populates the selection listing with the next page of items. Previous records (items in this case) remain in the listing and can be viewed by moving the scroll bar on the right-hand side of the listing.

Selecting Items using Group Section

Since all items must be assigned to a group and section, you can use the Group Section settings to find an item. Groups and sections are numbered (1-255), but are also assigned a text description. In almost all cases, the text description is shown along with the numbers. Numbers are used because they take up less space and also makes sorting and searching data more efficient in the database. Each company can choose how it wants to organize its inventory.

Group/Section Selection List

Group and section selection uses an expandable navigation "tree." Each group listed in the tree can be expanded to display the sections within the group. You can make multiple selections. For example, you can create a selection list of all the items in three different groups -- or -- just a few sections within one or more groups.

When all the items in either a group or section are selected, the check box background is displayed in white . If you select some but not all sections within the same group, the group's check box background is changed to gray . Use the Select All button to select all groups and sections. Use the Clear All button to clear all check boxes. Choose Accept to build a selection list based upon the groups and/or sections you have chosen (checked). Or, click Cancel to close the window and not build a selection list.

Selecting Items using a Keyword

Items may be assigned up to five keywords. Keywords are meant to be a common and intuitive word that generally describes the product. It's best to use a word rather than a phrase and to not get overly specific. Keyword matches are not case-sensitive (you can type them using upper and/or lowercase letters). Some examples of good keywords are: TRUSS, PAINT, SINK, DRILL, BRICK, etc. The more specific the keyword, the less intuitive, and less likely that it will be used. Keywords are not required on items. Try using the Description search as an alternative if you are unsuccessful.

There are two ways to use the Keyword selection to find an item you are looking for:

1. In the Item column, type in the word or number you want to search for and right-click the drop-down arrow. Choose the Keyword option to display a list of items that contain the word or number you entered.

2. In the Item column right-click the down arrow and choose the Keyword selection option first (before you type anything in the Item field). The application displays a Keyword Select list where you can specify up to three keywords at the same time. You can choose to match on either ALL or ANY keywords. If you choose "Contains All", only items assigned to all the keywords will be included in the selection list. If you choose "Contains Any", items with any of the keywords specified will be included.

Selecting Items using a Barcode

You can assign up to five different barcodes to each item. You can use these different barcodes to distinguish different units of measure (BOX vs. EACH, for example), so it's important to pay attention to the unit of measure that displays when entering quantities. This selection tool can be used with either a full or partial match on an item's barcode. Partial matches are made beginning with the first non-zero number in the barcode. Leading zeros are not considered.

When using the barcode selection option, products are listed in order of barcode. The "base item" column contains your company's SKU for the item.

Selecting the Item using the Description

Use the Description search to find items using the words or numbers in the item's description. Matches are not cas-sensitive (so it doesn't matter whether you use upper or lower case letters). The text can be located anywhere in the item's description (beginning, end, or middle); however, the entire text is matched together as a phrase, not as independent words. For example, if you type in "FAN KIT" but the item's description is "KIT CEILING FAN BOX," the application would not find the match, despite the fact that both words do exist in the item's description.

You may notice that some items populated in the selection listing don't appear to include the word you typed in the "description" column. Why is this? Items may have very long descriptions (up to 1088-characters, including spaces); however, we use a shorter truncated description for selection lists that is only 32-characters. This is done to keep selection listings a reasonable size and for database performance. The description used for locating matches is a special "search" description that is essentially the item's full description with any sequential spaces between words removed (this description also doesn't include line feed, carriage return, and other non-printing characters that might prohibit matches).

Selecting Items using a Vendor SKU

Use the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) to describe the numbers or identifiers assigned to products. Your company may use its own item numbers (codes), it may use the same codes as a supplier/wholesaler, or a mix of both of these. Each item can be assigned up to three different vendor items (or SKUs). These identifiers are used when ordering products from the vendors (wholesalers, manufacturers, buying group, co-op, etc.).

Enter in the vendor's item number (SKU) in the item drop down and choose Vendor SKU from the alternate menu. If a match is located, the matching item (or items) will display. This option only works if an exact match is located. Partial matches are not returned.

Selecting Items using the Primary Vendor

Each item may be assigned one primary vendor. The primary vendor can be different for each branch (store location). To use this selection option, enter the full vendor code associated with the vendor. This option only accepts an exact match for an existing vendor code. All items in the current branch assigned to the vendor as a primary vendor will be included in the selection listing.

Selecting the Item using the Product ID

You can use the Product ID as a classification tool to either create custom product IDs (groups) for your related items or, if you are a Do it Best® member, you can use them to mirror the Do it Best product departments, categories, sub-categories, and product groups. You can use a combination of both custom and Do it Best product IDs; however, only one ID may be assigned per product. The same product ID may be associated with as many items as you like.

If you want to define your own product IDs, this is done from the Code Definitions form available from the Inventory area's Database menu (select the "Product ID" tab from this form). To use Do it Best product categories, you must first retrieve the classifications using EDI (from the Purchasing area, choose the Vendor EDI transaction, Extras (radio button), and choose "Classification Maint."). Once this information has been populated successfully using EDI. Once completed, a "DIB" check box will appear on the Product ID selection form. This check box is hidden unless the categories table is populated with data.

If checked, the form allows you to choose either a department, category, sub-category, or product group to produce an item selection listing. If you pick a department, all items assigned to the categories, sub-categories, or product groups within that department will be included in the selection listing, for example. Items may be assigned to any level; however, it's usually best if they are assigned to a product group (the lowest level). To choose a level in the tree, double click on the node to select it.

Do it Best is a registered trademark of Do it Best Corp. in the United States and other countries.

Selecting the Item using the Manufacturer SKU

When you search for a particular item and you know the item’s manufacturer's SKU, you can use that SKU to find the item. We call this enhanced search. The enhanced search feature must be set up before you use this feature. We have added the Manufacturer’s SKU to the default enhanced search options as well.

To search by the Manufacturer SKU, enter the SKU in the Item field, select the down arrow beside the item field, and choose the Manufacturer SKU option. The application displays the list of items that match the SKU you entered.

Sale Entry Form with Manufacturer SKU Search Results

Selecting the Item using Inventory Look up

Selecting Inventory Look up will open a Utility that searches for items by Group-Section or Department - Class - Fineline.
Note: This listing includes Disabled Items.

Inventory Lookup : Group-Section

In order to search by Group-Section, all items must be assigned to a group and section. Your company may define between 1 and 255 groups and also between 1 and 255 sections within each group. Groups and sections are numbered (again 1 - 255), but are also assigned a text description. In almost all cases, the text description is shown along with the numbers. Numbers are used because they take up less space and also makes sorting and searching data more efficient in the database. Each company can choose how it wants to organize its inventory.

Select a group to view all item within that group. You may then narrow down the list by selecting the section. Click on an Item to add it to the data grid. The main dialog window will become active as soon as you select an item, at which point you can adjust quantity and price as well as continue adding items. The Inventory Lookup Utility window will remain open in the background, facilitating navigation between the windows.

You may also use the "Filter Description by" field by typing in the item number or Description. The list will narrow down as you type in more characters in the field. Check the "Include Non-Stocked Items" to include all items, included items you don't currently carry.

Inventory Lookup : Department - Class - Fineline

There are three merchandising classes available: class, department, and fineline (sometimes named "subclass"). These can be used as a selection tool. Merchandising codes are typically reserved for codes provided by vendors and may be updated by EDI processing or when adding items using a vendor's catalog.

Select a Department to view all item within that department. You may then narrow down the list by selecting the Class and then the Fineline. Click on an Item to add it to the data grid. The main dialog window will become active as soon as you select an item, at which point you can adjust quantity and price as well as continue adding items. The Inventory Lookup Utility window will remain open in the background, facilitating navigation between the windows.

You may also use the Filter Description by field by typing in the item number or the description. The list will narrow down as you type in more characters in the field. Check the Include Non-Stocked Items box to include all items, included items you don't currently carry.

Selecting Items using the Image List Selection

The Image List feature provides a visual method for item selection. Before using the Image List feature, your company must define an Image List from the Image List Maintenance form available from the database menu in the Inventory area. There is one consolidated image list for your company. This list can have many different categories and sub-lists, however. Up to five layers of organization are permitted from the "start" location. The list should be organized from less to more specific categories and ending with items as the last level. Once a user opens the list, the list remains open in the background and retains the user's last location in the list if they re-open the list again. This is done until the user logs off, closes the application, or changes branch locations.

There are two types of content in the Image List: lists and items. Lists are indicated by either a yellow or an antique-white (light-yellow) background color. Items are indicated by a light or dark green color. The darker colors indicate the current selection. Keyboard navigation can be used as well as the mouse (single click) and touch screen if available.

Along the top of the form, navigation links are provided. Click on these to return to the "start" location or a prior list level.

Selecting Items using SO Lookup

Search for renumbered Special Order (SO) items by entering a full or partial SO item number in the data grid, right-click and select SO Lookup. In the example below, we are searching for an item called "SOWindow". A list of all "SOWindow" items will be returned; click on the <<<MORE>>> link to view additional items of the special order renumbered SKUs. Item are listed in descending order.

Selecting Items using Lost Sales

You can track your Lost Sales using the Inventory > Utilities > Lost Sales utility form as well as from any Item selection grid or Catalog selection control anywhere in the application. Click here to find out more about the Lost Sales search functionality.

Unit of Measure Changes

Quantities and pricing reflect the unit of measure displayed. Changing the unit of measure (U/M) to a measure with some other value (other than 1:1) can optionally modify the related quantity or price. If the "convert" box is checked , the existing quantity or price will be converted to a value equal to the current value (displayed in the drop down). The "convert" option will not change existing extended amounts. If the "convert" option is not checked, the existing quantity or price will not change, and will be used to re-calculate extended amounts.

Pricing Changes

There are a number of ways to affect pricing. Users can modify the price by typing another in, select a reprice option (F6), type a discount, or select an alternate price from the input drop-down. Typed keyboard shortcuts are also available. For example, type L2 in the unit price field to use the level 2 price, or D20 to do a 20% discount.

Discount (Disc)

The "Disc" or "discount" column has two (2) purposes. If an item allows discounts, the column can be used to specify a line item discount by entering a percentage. For items which are not discountable, the column will display the letter "N" (net) and won't allow changes. To mark all items on the transaction as "net," you can use the "Mark as Net" option available from the menu marker found on the right-hand side of the grid (user security can limit your ability to view or utilize menu marker functions).

Ext Amt

This is the resulting total for the item row considering the quantity, price, and unit of measure relationships as well as price rounding. The extended amounts sum up to the subtotal. They don't include tax.

ItemSet

This columns reflects the ItemSet assigned to the item row, if any. Item sets can be used to group parts of an order together. The ItemSet groups may then be selected for invoicing, delivery, etc. independently from the entire order.

+ (Attachments)

The plus () column is used for indicating which item rows have attachments. If so, the plus icon will be displayed. No icon means that there are no item level attachments for that item (row). Attachments can be viewed using the Folders (F4), Entry tab which will also display a "plus" icon ().

Data Grid Context Menu Options

The context menu offers additional options for items being ordered.

Remove Quote

If a Quote document was associated with the current order using the Ordering (F5) function, this menu item will be enabled and can be used to remove the quote (including the items referencing the quote) from the data grid. If done, no linkage will exist between the resulting Order document and the Quote. Note: using the Import (F2) function to copy items from a Quote document creates no link between the transactions.

Mark as Net

This feature marks all items currently associated with the order as "net," and can also be used to clear the "net" (N) discount code from all discountable items on the order if selected again. Items with a default discount code of "net" are not affected in either case. Please note: this does not update individual rows you may select. ALL rows are either set as "net" or cleared.

Merge Items

This option allows you to merge ALL multiple occurrences of the same item within the transaction IF the units of measure and pricing also correspond (match). Any differences in measures or pricing will prevent the merge. Please note: this does not update individual rows you may select. ALL rows are merged if eligible.

Mark Item as Non-Stocked

This selection allows you to treat a normally stocked item like a non-stocked (renumbered) SKU. When the order is processed, a unique tracking SKU will be generated for the item in question. From this point forward, the flow will be the same as other non-stocked generated items would use. The benefit to this is that it easily allows you to use the price structure, vendor, and description from the original item while also permitting the handling of the new renumbered item independently.

This can be used to prevent abnormalities in purchases from affecting the "base" stocked SKU. For example, you might have a customer who has a one-time need to purchase a large quantity of a particular item your company stocks. You don't want the item to affect your purchase history and ordering in the future, so this feature permits you to separate it from the normal stocked item.

To use this feature, select the item row and choose the "Mark Item as Non-stocked" option from the context menu. The non-stock order form will open. Populate the form as you would any other non-stocked product. Since you may not want the "stocked" item's history and sales figures affected later when the item is merged, it's a good idea to specify another non-stocked item as the "Item for Sale Mapping" in the "Order Non-stock Item" form. When the customer's order is saved, a unique tracking SKU is created prefixed with the letters "SO" followed by the Order's document number (less the year-month), and a sequence number will be added ("SOC123456-001" for example).

The tracking SKU is treated like a temporary "stocked" item and will track quantities (on-hand). Once the item is sold fully, the "item type" will change from "renumbered" to "resale" in case of any possible return of the item. Eventually, the item will be merged back into either the original SKU or a different non-stocked SKU specified during ordering. The origin item SKU you specify is saved in the InventoryStore database table in the column named "SOItemNumber."

Returns (Credit Orders)

When a customer is returning an item, specify a negative quantity for the item. With orders, this is sometimes done when your company will be picking up returned materials from a job site, for example. Security preferences can prevent or limit a user's ability to process returns. Mixing returns with items being sold on the same order is never permitted and doing the same during a sale (invoice) can be optionally prohibited or allowed by your company.

*When looking at a customer's account or searching documents, it is far easier to locate and identify returns when the entire transaction is a credit. Mixing positive and negative quantity items together on the same transaction can also make statement discounts more confusing for Receivables customers.

Some items don't allow returns, if this is the case, a warning message appears and the item's quantity will change back to a positive number.

In some or all cases, you may be required to specify additional information during each item's return. Minimally, this is required on non-stocked products and may be optionally required for stocked returns. Returns on a customer order do not immediately affect on-hand quantities and have no effect on the committed quantity. On-hand will be increased once the order is invoiced.

Inventory being sold may be either manually entered or scanned at any time. When scanning, if an item that matches the barcode scanned is not found, you will be prompted to enter the SKU of the item to associate with it. more...

Orders commonly involve non-stocked products. These types of items require additional information, so a special pop-up form is used.

Non-stocked Ordering

This form is used when a non-stocked item is added to an Order in Point of Sale. The easiest way to access information regarding goods you don't stock is to use the Catalog feature in the application. Catalog data provides a way of having a vendor's product information immediately available but still separate from your regular inventory. Catalog information can contain ordering data (multiples, availability, etc.) and even product images.* If you have catalog data for the vendor, use the Catalog drop down to find the item.

*Options and availability depend upon the vendor. In some cases, catalog data can be kept up-to-date via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) processing. In others, this data must be requested from the vendor and loaded from a file by support. Support charges a fee for loading vendor catalog data independently of EDI processing. Catalog data can be manually entered as well.

A catalog isn't required, so this field can be skipped when needed. Specify the manufacturer's (aka. vendor's) SKU (item identifier) for the goods you want to order and the vendor from whom the goods will be ordered. The vendor's item (SKU) is appended to the beginning of the item description automatically.

If pricing is known, it can be entered. Pricing from a catalog may change if the catalog data hasn't been updated recently (again, this depends upon the vendor and whether or not the catalog is being updated automatically via EDI). Here are some more detailed explanations for fields found on this form.

Catalog

This drop down selection contains catalog items. If a vendor was previously selected, only catalog items matching that vendor will be shown. Otherwise, all catalog items are included. Partial entry of an item SKU brings up any catalog items matching the partial entry. In addition, alternate search options include: vendor, description, and bar code.

Mnfr's SKU

This is the vendor's SKU (item identifier) and is the code that the vendor assigns to the item for ordering purposes, etc. Depending upon the structure of your company's inventory, this may or may not match your item codes.

Vendor

This is the vendor from whom the item will be ordered. We allow multiple vendors to be associated with one order. A different Purchase Order must be used for each vendor, however. Vendors with a status of "hold" are no longer included in the listing.

Contact Phone

Displays the contact name and phone number for the selected vendor, if any.

Vendor Notes

Displays notes for the selected vendor, if any. This might be used to pass important information about ordering from the vendor to the user entering the order.

Description

With non-stocked goods, a description is important for identifying the item being ordered because each non-stocked item is assigned a temporary SKU for tracking purposes. If a catalog item is selected, the description defaults to the Catalog SKU and the vendor's default description for the item. It's ok to add more to this description or to change the description as needed, but it's a good idea to keep the vendor SKU for reference.

If the non-stocked item is linked with a comment or catalog list, the description area is replaced by a "tree" list. The non-stocked product's description is automatically generated by your selections in this case. Comment and catalog material lists must be set up prior to use and assigned to the non-stocked product in Item Maintenance (using the CMT/Catalog List field).

Vendor List

This is the price the vendor recommends for the item, but it is not necessarily what the customer would pay for it. The "your price" field (below) is the price the customer would be charged for the item. The Vendor List price can be modified by the user.

Your Price

The "your price" is the default price that the selected customer would pay for the item. In some cases, it may match the vendor list. Unit price is determined by the pricing assigned to the base item, the customer's default pricing, and the vendor list price from the catalog.

Unit Cost

Unit cost is the amount the vendor charges to purchase the item wholesale. Unit cost may be used as a basis for calculating pricing. In some cases, the cost itself may be calculated as a percentage of the vendor's list price; however, this should be used with caution and involves using a feature that was not originally intended for use with non-stocked ordering. Pricing functionality depends upon the base item's configuration in maintenance.

If a cost percentage is used to calculate the cost, manual cost changes are not allowed. In this case, the cost will only initially be calculated from the "vendor list," not the "your price" value. If a "vendor list" price is not specified, the item's cost will be zero. When the item is received, if there is still no "vendor list" price, the "your price" will be used to calculate a cost for the item. If the cost is modified or adjustments are applied during receiving, the new cost will update the order; however, any modifications to the order after this point can revert the order back to either the original cost or a zero cost (depending on the changes and original state of the item). Orders involving non-stocked products that calculate a cost as a percentage of the list price should not be modified (reprocessed) between the time of receiving and invoicing.

Some pricing formats may potentially conflict with the cost percentage feature and cause unexpected consequences when used in combination. Mixing together pricing that calculates based on cost along with costs that calculate based on pricing can cause conflicts.

Print Vendor List

The check box allows users to designate that the "vendor list" be printed in addition to the customer's (your) price. If enabled, the vendor list will appear below the item's description on the order document. Again, this doesn't provide a method for replacing "your" price, it's done so that a customer can see the difference between what they're paying and the list price.

Previous Deposit

Orders may include a deposit. If a previous deposit was placed on this item or the entire order, an amount will be displayed here. Deposits that were not specifically made to a particular item are pro-rated among all non-stocked items for the order. Stocked items don't retain any deposits. This information is provided for reference only and cannot be changed directly.

Deposit to Remit

This is where a new deposit for the item can be specified. The amount applies to the extended total for the item (the deposit amount is not applied to each unit ordered). For this reason, the item deposit amount can exceed the unit price of the item. The total order deposit cannot exceed the total amount of the order, however.

Item level deposits are retained separately and are linked to the specific item. Any deposit applied to the order from the Process (F12) form is divided among all non-stocked goods upon processing.

Add to Purchase Order #

This drop down can be used to specify either an existing purchase order or new purchase order for ordering this item from the vendor. When "NEW" is selected, a new purchase order document will be created during processing. In addition, once a purchase order is selected, that vendor becomes the default for any other items linked to the same vendor on this customer order. If needed, you can create different purchase orders for different products on the order (usually this would only be done if goods are being ordered from different vendors). Purchase orders generated in this fashion are not considered "ordered" until a purchaser reviews and updates the status of the purchase order.

Item for Sale Mapping

This defaults to the base item that initiated this non-stock entry. Once the renumbered tracking item is no longer needed, the generated item can be merged back into this base SKU. For merging to occur, the item's on-hand, on-order, and committed quantities must be zero and must have a last sale date. Parameters affect how long after an item is sold.

Additional Information

Once a transaction involving the "base"' item is processed, a unique generated (renumbered) SKU is created. This item differs from the parent SKU used to create it in a few aspects. The new item will track on-hand and receipts, for example. We now add the generated SKU as a barcode for the item to make printing a barcode on special order labels easier.

For more information on how non-stocked ordering works, please see the Nonstock Ordering section under Special Topics.

Restricted Changes to Existing Orders

It's not unusual to need to make changes to an existing order; however, some changes are restricted. As one example, if a customer order has a deposit linked with it, users are not allowed to modify the customer associated with the order. Orders without deposits, do allow changes to the customer account. If you really do need to modify the customer, refund the deposit first before changing the account.