Sales Orders

Sales | Orders

The Sales Orders screen displays orders and quotes in a list showing summary info including order date, requested ship date, customer, order number, amount, and order status (on order, completed, or cancelled).

Sales orders may be entered as "quotes" and printed for customer approval. When approved, the order status is changed to "On Order". Or the orders may be entered directly as "On Order" if no quote is required.

Picking slips may then be printed and sent to the shipping department. Either the shipper enters details of the shipments to the computer, or writes on a copy of the picking slip for subsequent entry by a data entry clerk. Bills of lading may be printed to go with the goods. AR invoices are automatically created from the shipment data. AR invoices can also be entered manually without the need to enter an order and shipment, which is the method for entering credit notes and returns.

Multiple shipments are allowed for each order. If an order has been partially shipped and some items are on backorder, you can reprint the picking slip and it will show the backorder quantities on order.

When an order has been fully shipped (or partially shipped and the customer doesn’t allow backorders or the items aren’t backorderable), the order status is automatically changed to “completed”. You can also change the status yourself if there are to be no more shipments. Also you can mark specific items on the order as completed if no more is to be shipped.

To add a new order or quote: click the New button.

To edit an order or quote: double-click the order. Or select the order and press Enter or click the Edit button.

To delete an order or quote: select the order and click the Delete button.

You can select an order with the mouse or by the keyboard via the Page Up/Down and arrow keys. Or click the Find button, then enter the customer no. or select the customer name from the drop down list, and/or enter the order no. Selecting the customer only will find the 1st order for that customer. Selecting the order only will find the 1st order with that order number. Selecting customer and order no. will search on both.

The menu has options to

Tip: To phone the customer, or send e-mail (via your e-mail program), or display shipments for an order, or display the customer: select the order, then right-click to display a pop-up menu. You can also print or reprint a quote or picking slip (for a selected order) from the pop-up menu or from the main menu, but to print all unprinted picking slips in one step you must use the main menu.

To print quotes use menu File | Print Selected Quote. Or right-click on an order and choose Print Quote from the pop-up menu.

To print picking slips use menu File | Print Selected Picking Slip or menu File | Print All Unprinted Picking Slips. Or right-click on an order and choose Print Picking Slip from the pop-up menu.

To view only “outstanding” (on order) orders, toggle the outstanding option on the View menu or use the shortcut Ctrl+O. Similarly to view only quotes, toggle the quotes option on the View menu or use the shortcut Ctrl+Q.

Order no.

When entering a new order, the program assigns a default order number which you can then change if desired.

Picking Slip Printed

If the order has already been shipped, or for some other reason you don’t want a picking slip to print, then check this checkbox to tell the program that a picking slip has already been printed for this order. Otherwise leave it unchecked and the program will check it automatically after printing the picking slip.

Order Status

Select the appropriate order status from the list: Quote, On Order, Completed, or Cancelled. The order status defaults to On Order. When an order has been fully shipped (or partially shipped and the customer doesn’t allow backorders or the items aren’t backorderable), the order status is automatically changed to “completed”. You can also change the status yourself if there are to be no more shipments.

Customer

A pop-up screen displays if you type into the customer number, click, or by the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Enter. On the Customer pop-up screen: you can select the customer by typing the customer number in the 1st entry box or by typing the name in the 2nd box, or by selecting the customer with the mouse or up/down arrow keys. Click on the selected customer or press Enter when the selected customer is highlighted. Or Esc to leave a previously entered customer unchanged.

Typing the customer number in the 1st entry box sorts the list by number and selects the first customer number matching the characters entered. Typing the customer name in the 2nd entry box sorts the list by name and selects the first customer name matching the characters entered.

On the Customer pop-up screen you can select Customer Type via the combobox at the right, so that only customers of the selected type show. To deselect a customer type and show all types, press Delete.

If this is a new customer, click the 3-dots button to display the customers screen, so the customer can be added.

Purchase Order no.

Enter the customer’s purchase order number (if desired).

Amount

The order amount is calculated by the program (rather than keyed) based on the item totals and any taxes.

Order Date

The order date defaults to today’s date.

Tip: You can use the + or - keys to increase or decrease the date, or click the 3-dots button to select the date from a calendar.

Requested Ship Date

The customer’s requested ship date defaults to today’s date.

Tip: You can use the + or - keys to increase or decrease the date, or click the 3-dots button to select the date from a calendar.

Description

Enter a description for this order (if desired). This prints on the invoice and on the AR statements. You can override the description later when entering the shipment(s).

Carrier

This is the transportation company who will deliver the goods. If you know who the carrier will be, you can enter it here, or you can enter it (or change it) later when entering the shipment(s). If customers come to you to pick up their orders you should set up a carrier for that, such as “Pick-up”

Tip: You can enter a few characters of the carrier name, then use the down or up arrow keys if required.

Freight Payment Method

Select the method for paying the freight charges. You can override this later when entering the shipment(s).

Tip: You can enter the 1st letter or use the down or up arrow keys to select.

Items, Quantity Ordered, and Prices

Enter the quantity ordered and unit price (in the customer’s currency) for each item. Items can be inventory items, services, or miscellaneous charges such as freight. The price defaults to the price on the prices table (converted to the customer’s currency if foreign) for this item, using the price list specified for the customer. You can type over this if desired. Also you can override the item description to be printed on the invoice (tab, press Enter, or scroll to go this field or maximize the order window). This allows you to have a generic description on the items table and enter a more specific description on the order and invoice. This is particularly suitable for labor. You can override the prices and item descriptions later when entering the shipment(s).

Taxes are calculated automatically.

Tip: You can display a pop-up menu with options for New (line) and Delete (line) by right-clicking on the grid.

Item numbers or descriptions are not entered directly on the order screen, but instead selected on a pop-up screen which displays if you type into the item number or description column, or by clicking on the “3 dots” button in the column, double-clicking in the column, or by the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Enter.

On the Item pop-up screen: you can select the item by typing the item number in the 1st entry box or by typing the description in the 2nd box, or by selecting the item with the mouse or up/down arrow keys. Click on the selected item or press Enter when the selected item is highlighted. Or Esc to leave a previously entered item unchanged.

Typing the item number in the 1st entry box sorts the list by number and selects the first item number matching the characters entered.

Typing the item description in the 2nd entry box sorts the list by description and selects the first item description matching the characters entered.

On the Item pop-up screen you can select Item Type via the combobox at the right, so that only items of the selected type show. To deselect an item type and show all types, press Delete.

Quantity Shipped and Quantity on BackOrder

Any quantity already shipped (from posted shipments) and resulting quantity on backorder, if any, are displayed. (Tab, press Enter, or scroll to see these fields or maximize the order window).

Completed (override)

To prevent further shipments of an order item, you can mark it as completed by entering y, spacebar, or double-click. To reset to “not completed” enter n, spacebar, or double-click.

Keyboard and mouse shortcuts