Sales orders are created from the sales order main menu or can be created by copying an existing order. When entering a sales order it is necessary to specify both line and header information, but the order in which this is done is unimportant. While the sales order is being created it has a status of ‘Under Construction’ during which time data that is entered is saved but not checked for validity. When the sales order is ‘Activated’ then the validity and completeness of the data is checked, the sales order number is allocated and the sales order is scheduled into the resource planning system. (Depending on the complexity of the sales order and factory operations, a sales order may need from a few seconds to several minutes to be activated.)
If selected partner information is set up with all required fields completed, it is very easy to enter the sales order header details. Only the customer number is required then all default values will be copied automatically to the header. If this is done before the lines are entered then this has the advantage that the price list for the customer will already be known so that line prices will be filled in automatically when entering the lines.
It is also possible to create new sales orders directly from the sales forecast system by converting tentative orders to sales orders. Also a sales order can be created from an active sales quotation.
Licensing
The following optional license modules affect sales orders (See the Admin->Licensing section for more details):
| Sales/Purchase advance invoicing | Advance payments can be specified for sales order lines. |
| Item dimensions | A manufactured item on a sales order line with a dedicated work order can have a product structure that is related to its dimensions. |
| Multilocation inventory | Allows the sale of items from more than one location. Supports drop shipment (also called triangular shipping) |
| Sales order tracking details | Permits the customer to see details of their sales orders, instead of just basic delivery details. Customers use the ordertracking web site for this. |
| Projects | Can group multiple sales orders under one project. |
| Sales Quotations | A quotation can be converted to a sales order |
| Multicurrency | For foreign currency orders |
| Lot requester | If using lot control, enter requested lots for the warehouse and production staff |
Creating a new sales order
There are multiple ways that a new sales order can be created. Read the article specific for this:
The sales order order screen
The following buttons appear on a sales order. Depending on the status of the order, not all buttons may be present.
| Save | Saves current changes. |
| New sales order | Creates a new sales order and opens it on the screen. |
| Copy order | Copies the current order and opens the new order on the screen. |
| Activate | Activates the sales order (see later in the chapter). |
| Shortages | Opens a new window to show the possible shortages of products or materials needed to manufacture the products. The shortage button is only shown if the status is ‘under construction’. |
| Delete | Deletes the order. This is only possible if the order is ‘under construction’ and has not been allocated a number. |
| New version | Only shown when activated. This makes a new version of the sales order which has a status of Under construction. The necessary changes to the order must be made and then the sales order must be activated again. Do not leave new versions of sales orders as under construction as this will cause inconsistency in material planning. |
| Close order | This will cancel an order that has been activated. If some shipments have been made against the order, then a new version will be made to reflect these shipments and the rest of the order deleted. |
When a new sales order is entered, it is recommended (but not required) that the customer is selected first, as many other fields will be completed automatically from the default information associated with this company in the Partner card.
If the order has already been activated, information cannot be changed before new version is made.
Customer addresses
To retrieve an address, press the action button [-] next to the Customer field. This leads to the ‘Choose Company’ page (partner selector). Select the address type and press [Retrieve]. If the list is too long, set more criteria and press [Retrieve]. Then click to select the address. You return to sales order header information, where the selected company ID will appear.
If you need a new partner address that hasn’t been recorded in the system, click on the blue text ‘Create New’ on the top of the page. A new company ID will be created and you can proceed to enter its general data. Enter the company name and address and give it a new and unique short name. You will return to the sales order summary page when you save the changes - the new company ID and short name have appeared there.
If the customer has several addresses, enter separate addresses for confirmation, delivery and invoicing. Delivery and invoice addresses will be printed on the sales order acknowledgement. Addresses must be created before use, but can be created on the fly from the button on the top of the address selector. If the customer has only one address (which is always the main address), it can be used in all address fields. Optionally the person can be specified for each address.
Note that several delivery and confirm addresses can be created for one company (or one main address).
If one of the recorded contact persons is defined to be the default contact person in the partner’s data, this person will automatically appear on the sales order. If you want to use a different contact person, you can change it. Alternatively the name of a person can be written directly into the field.
If your customer has several locations, it is possible to specify separately delivery, invoice and confirmation addresses. These addresses are created in the partner section or on-the-fly during sales order entry. If only one address is in use then this will be used for all of these items. Each address can also have a person specified to it.
Sales order header
The sales order header is normally completed by default values set on the customer's partner card. If the company number is entered to the field without going to the selector, press save to update the fields with their default values. If the correct values are available by default it will only be necessary to fill in the customer’s PO number and reference.
| Sales order id | If blank when the order is activated, it will get the next order number. (The next number can be set in system settings) |
| Version number | Once an order has been activated, it can not be edited until a new version is created. The version histories are available in a report. |
| Status | Under construction, Active, Part delivered or Complete |
| Customer | Select from the pop up, or type in the customer id and press Save. This will retrieve the customer's default values to the order. |
| Order date | If blank this will be filled automatically with today's date when the order is activated. |
| Customer PO | This is the customer’s purchase order number |
| Tracking ID | This is a randomly generated code that can be used by the customer (together with the sales order number) to track the status of the sales order on the optional sales order tracking web site. This number is also a link that will open this web site for the current system user. This number is created when the sales order is activated |
| Customer ref. | Free text shown on the sales order acknowledgement in addition to the customer PO |
| Payment terms | The payment terms to be printed on the order. Default set from partner card. |
| Standard text | Standard texts are recorded in ‘Company’ information. The specified text block is printed on documents when selected. In a sales order acknowledgement the text will be printed after the total sum and comments. |
| Currency | Currency of the order. The selected price list must be of the same currency. |
| Rate | The currency rate, set automatically when the order is activated. |
| Delivery terms | Delivery terms as specified in company settings. Normally Incoterms but user may specify alternatives in company settings. |
| Delivery terms location | The location for the above delivery terms. Terms may be for example "ex-works Chicago", then Chicago is the location. |
| Delivery methods | Delivery method. Default from partner card, list of choices from company settings. |
| Freight paid by | Shipper or receiver. This information goes through to the dispatch. |
| Use payment schedule | Shows the payment schedule tab, if this feature is in use. |
| Payment schedule as percent | If advance payment is in use, then the values there are as a percent of the total order value instead of absolute monetary values |
| Hide line values from sales order acknowledgement | So as not to show prices on the sales order acknowledgement |
| Hide discounts | Hides discounted prices from the sales order acknowledgement report. This is used when confirming to retailers where the invoices (including the discount) are routed through an importer or distributor. |
| Other terms | Other terms can be specified by default in the Partners section on the customer page. Other terms are copied to the order automatically and can be edited. The text is printed on the order confirmation, shipping papers and invoice. Maximum length is 250 characters. |
| Comments | Comments which print on order acknowledgement. |
| Comfirmation printed | The date/time that the Sales order acknowledgement report has been taken. Of course there is no guarantee that it has been sent to the customer. |
| Commission company/person | Allocates the commission. The rate is set on the sales order line. Commission calculations are available in a report. |
| Sales price list | The default price list for this order. Default from partner card, list of choices from company settings. This should be set before any lines are entered if the system is to enter prices automatically as lines are entered. |
| Deliver from address/person | If multilocation is in use, select the stock location from which the order will ship. If left blank, it will be from the default location. |
| Project | Joins this sales order to the specified project. See explanation of projects in a separate chapter. |
| Allow partial ship | If this box is not ticked, all the sold quantities have to be delivered in one dispatch. The default value is that partial deliveries are allowed. |
| Back to back purchase | This will cause a new purchase order to be automatically created when the sales order is activated. The new purchase order will have the same products and quantities. It will be created as Under construction, so it will need to be activated and sent to the supplier before the whole process is completed. |
| Drop shipment | This is only used in the case of a back to back purchase. If this is set then the delivery address on the purchase order will be set as the delivery address of the sales order. |
Sales order lines - Lines and Line details tabs
There are three ways to add sales order lines:
- From the Lines tab by entering lines one at a time to the entry fields
- From the Line details tab by pressing the New button
- By pressing the Add lines button on the Lines tab. This will allow you to enter multiple lines in a "shopping basket" style.
To delete a line, mark the check box beside the line on the Lines tab and press the Delete button. The line can only be deleted if the order is "under construction". If the order is being revised, the line cannot be deleted if the line has been delivered either partially or completely.
Sales order line buttons (pressing any button will also save the line data):
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Previous line |
| >> | Next line |
| Create work order | Creates a draft work order for this sales order line so that the product structure and routing can be edited before the order is submitted to production. This only applies to manufactured products of the type "Make to order" See later in this chapter for full explanation. |
| New | New line |
| Configure | Opens the configuration screen where it is possible to choose from alternative configurations for the product. The different configurations available should be established for the product in the item card |
Selecting a product
There are three ways to enter a product to the sales order on the lines tab:
- Type the item id directly to the field on the screen
- Click the [-] button next to the item id field. This will open a popup where an individual item can be selected.
- Click the Add lines button. This will open a popup where it is possible to add multiple items in a "shopping basket" style.
To enter an item to the Line details tab, press the [-] button next to the item id and use the popup to select the correct item.
The following fields are related to a sales order line (and can be found in the Line and Line details tabs):
| Line number | Line numbers will be set automatically but can be edited, typically if this is needed to match a customer's purchase order. |
| Hide line | The line will be hidden on the sales order confirmation. This is used to enter product deliveries on a sales orders but not show them on the sales order acknowledgment report. Normally a "total" line would be entered that is visible. |
| Item description | The description that you use on the product is recorded with the actual item name. When you select the item id, the description will come with it automatically. |
| Customer item ID and description | The descriptions that your customer uses can be written here. Both customer item name and customer item description are printed on the sales order acknowledgement. They can be set on the item card for each customer so that they are retrieved automatically. |
| Quantity | Press the Rnd button to round up to the package size |
| Unit price | Will appear automatically if the price list is specified on the header and this item is on the price list. Press the action button to update the price if it has not appeared automatically. |
| Item pop-up | On this screen, press the question mark to open the item pop-up that is normally accessed by clicking the hyperlink on the item id. |
| Required date | Specified by the customer. If this is left blank, it will be filled in with the promised date when the order is activated. |
| Promised date | The promised date that you will supply to the customer. Check the shortages button on the header or capacity considerations before specifying a promised delivery date. This date is used to set all scheduling for this delivery. |
| Agreed promise date | Sometimes it is necessary to set an agreed data for the delivery that is different from the promise date used in scheduling. |
| Tax code | Select the correct tax code for this product. The default value will normally come from that of the default sales account set on the partner card for the selected customer. However for "reduced rate" items, the item card can have an override value for the tax code. This is set on the item card commercial tab. |
| Tax rate | The tax rate will be displayed for the selected tax code. |
| Cost centre | The cost centre will be passed to the invoice for this order when that is created. |
| Commission rate | Choose from the list the appropriate commission rate. The rates are created in the Company section. The company and person who is entitled to commission is specified on the sales header. |
| Package size | Shows the standard package size for this item. Press the Rnd (Round) button next to the quantity field to update the quantity to a multiple of the package size. |
| Dedicated work order | If the product's manufacturing template has the dedicated work order bit set, it will be set here as well. It will prevent allocating existing inventory to this order. A new work order will open automatically if this is specified in the template’s properties. |
| Work order number | Override the default (i.e. next) work order number |
| Production instructions | If the dedicated work order feature is in use, it is possible to set text instructions that will be seen on the work order traveller and on the cell screen. |
Pricing subtab
By default the price on a new line will be taken from the pricelist set on the sales order header. In turn this will have defaulted from the partner that was selected.
To review price history for this product from this or other customers, go the pricing subtab. Selecting a price record from this grid will use it on this line, replacing the default. It is also possible to see prices from other price lists.
If this product is using the dedicated work order feature, the pricing can also be done at a sub assembly or component level. The price list must be set up with the items that make up the product rather than the product itself. Pressing Update unit price will sum the prices by planned quantity and set the line price with this.
Line status tab
The line status tab shows quantities ordered, delivered and returned. Also for an undelivered line it shows if items have been possible to allocate from stock, from purchasing or from manufacturing (the latter depending on whether it is a manufactured or purchased product).
There is also more information on sales margin. Margin is revenue minus the cost. Revenue is always the same but it is possible to calculate sales margin against many different cost basis, and this shows them. For margin calculations, all costs and revenues are converted to the home currency.
| Delivery cost | The cost of the actual delivery for this line. This is the FIFO of the stock transaction recorded at the time of delivery. This number is only shown after the line has been delivered. |
| Specified cost | After delivery it is possible to manually update the delivery value so that it can include any external costs which are needed particularly if margin is used for commission calculation. The specified cost can be entered in the dispatches tab of the sales order after a dispatch has been made. |
| Current stock value | The current stock value of this stock item. If the item is not in stock it is the long term average value. |
| Last stock value | The cost recorded positive stock transaction (purchase receipt landed cost or manufacturing work order). |
| Budgeted cost | The budgeted cost entered in the item card using the default budget. Additionally if the item is a resold item (i.e. not manufactured) the following margin fields are displayed: |
| Best supplier quotation | The lowest cost item in open supplier quotations in the Purchase section. Note that this looks at the lowest price regardless of quantity. |
| Next purchase | The expected landed cost of the next open purchase for this item |
| Linked purchase | If the sales order has a back-to-back purchase order, the expected or actual landed cost of the linked purchase order line. |