Each User in The Business Edge has a wide variety of options available. These options are designed to help you configure The Business Edge to match the way you work. It is important to note that these are YOUR special options and you may change them at any time. They will not affect other users on the System. If you don’t like what you have set, just go in and change it.
There are User Flags for each of the Main Menu Options. Today we will cover the Order Entry Flags. The Order Entry process can also be affected by some of the Inventory User Flags, but we will cover that later.
HOW DO I GET TO THE FLAGS?
-At the top of The Business Edge under Edit/Order Entry Flags
The Flags are listed as follows:
ENTER & EDIT ORDERS
Skip Order Type? * Yes
If you are normally entering only one type of Order, it is convenient to skip this field. You might not want to skip it if each Order that you enter is a different Type. E.g. If you enter a Quote this time and an Order next time and an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) next time, it would be more convenient to stop at this field and select the Order Type on each Order.
Default Order Type? * Order
Whether or not you choose to skip the Order Type Field, you must select a Default Order Type so that the most common Order Type will be filled in for you. The Order Type Choices are, Quote, Work Order, Order and RMA. These are generally used as follows.
A Quote is not an Order yet. It does not commit any Inventory. You can enter a Quote and send a printed or faxed copy of the Quote to your Customer. When the Customer calls up to order, you can easily change that Quote to an Order or Work Order by changing the Order Type. Once it is changed to an Order, the Inventory is committed.
A Work Order and an Order are the same from the standpoint of the System. Your Company may have assigned a special use for Work Orders though. It may be used for a delivery to a construction site when you know some of the merchandise will be returned before Invoicing. It could also be used to indicate that this Order has to be assembled before shipment. The System doesn’t handle it any differently, it is strictly a matter of your Company policies.
An RMA is a Returned Merchandise Authorization. This is designed to control your receipt of Returned Goods. You enter an RMA just like you would a regular Order, except that you change the Order Type to RMA and you enter negative quantities.
You can give your customer the RMA Number and when the product is returned, you know exactly where it came from. You also know that the return has been authorized and you can Allocate this RMA to create a Credit Memo for the Customer. You can even add Restocking Charges to the RMA.
*Skip Salesperson in Order Entry? * Yes
If you have Salespersons assigned to Customers and they don’t change, you would want to skip this field. If you change the Salesperson on each Order, you would want to stop at this Field in order to remind yourself to decide which Salesperson should get credit for this Order. E.g. Some of our Clients repair equipment and they change the Salesperson to Maintenance Department for those Sales because the Salesperson doesn’t get Commission on Repair Sales.
*Skip Order Date in Order Entry? * Yes
Most of our Clients do a day’s work in a day’s time, so the Order Date is always Today. If that is the case, you would answer this Yes. If you are entering Orders from previous Dates, you would want to stop at this field so you would answer No.
*Show Last Document Numbers? * Yes
The Last Document Numbers are the highest numeric Order Number and the highest Alpha Order Number. If you show these, you have to give up some room on the screen. The information that you don’t get to see is the Customer Bill to Address. If you don’t need to see the Customer Bill to Address, I would suggest that you leave this at Yes. If you have a single Customer with many locations, it may be better to show the Bill to Address on the first screen in Order Entry so that you are sure that you have the correct Customer.
*Show Single Line Address Selection? * Yes
This is a fairly new Flag. If you say yes to this, the Bill and Ship Addresses that you select in the Final Screen of Order Entry are presented in a single line format. This lets you see more of them on a single screen. It also means that the Find feature works, so if you have to search through a long list of Ship or Bill to’s, it is a snap.
ALLOCATING ORDERS
*Allocating Detail Line * Stop at Quantity Ordered? * No
This is normally answered No. If you frequently change the Ordered Quantity to match the Shipped Quantity, you would answer Yes.
*Create Invoice after Allocating? * No
If you answer this Yes, the Allocating Screen goes directly in to the Invoicing Screen as soon as you hit Escape or answer the last question on the Screen. If the same person that Allocates the Orders is responsible for Billing, this is very convenient. If separate people handle these responsibilities, you should answer No.
*Skip Allocation Final Screen? * No
The Final Screen in Allocation allows you to change Shipping Addresses, Print Packing Slips, etc. If all of those things are taken care of during Order Entry, you would want to skip this Screen to save time. If not, it is really handy to be able to change anything that you like at this time.
*Show Tracking Cost in Scroll Box? * No
If you show the Tracking Cost, you will know the precise cost that will be applied to this Order. If you elect not to see the Tracking Cost, you will see the Lot and Location Comment. Each Lot and Location combination can have its own Comment for each Part.
REPORTS & INQUIRIES
*Scheduling Report - Expanded Info? * Yes
If you ask for Expanded Info on the Scheduling Report, it shows the information on each item as a two line report and it includes a number of additional fields of information.
*Order Detail Line [F4] Inquiry * Availability Inquiry
F4 can be set to be a Purchase Order Inquiry or an Availability Inquiry. If it is set for Purchase Orders it shows all the Open Purchase Orders and when they are due in.
If it is set as an Availability Inquiry, it becomes a Crystal Ball, it not only shows the open PO’s and when they are coming in, but it also shows the open Sales Orders and when they are going to go out. These are shown in chronological order so that it is easy to see when you will be able to ship something.
Information
*Show Zero Qty, Zero $ Orders? * No
The normal setting for Zero Quantity, Zero $ Orders is No, but if you are researching old Orders for any reason, you can easily change this here.