Shipments

Sales | Shipments

The Shipments screen displays order shipments in a list showing summary info including shipment date, order number, invoice number, customer, and warehouse.

The source document for entry of shipment data is typically the picking slip. Picking slips are printed for sales orders 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.

To add a new shipment: click the New button.

To edit a shipment: double-click the shipment. Or select the shipment and press Enter or click the Edit button.

To delete a shipment: select the shipment and click the Delete button.

You can select a shipment with the mouse or by the keyboard via the Page Up/Down and arrow keys. To view only shipments for a selected customer, carrier, warehouse, or order, use the filter option.

The menu has options to

Tip: To phone the customer, or send e-mail (via your e-mail program), or display the customer: select the shipment, then right-click to display a pop-up menu. You can also print or reprint a bill of lading (for a selected shipment) from the pop-up menu or from the main menu, but to print all unprinted bills of lading in one step you must use the main menu.

To print bills of lading use menu File | Print Selected Bill of Lading or menu File | Print All Unprinted Bills of Lading. Or right-click on an order and choose Print Bill of Lading from the pop-up menu.

Shipments are entered, then posted. Prior to posting, they may be edited or deleted. To undo a shipment after posting, you must “reverse” it (enter it again with the opposite amount). Posting updates the quantity shipped on the order detail lines, and changes the order status to “completed” if the order was fully shipped or the customer doesn’t allow backorders or the items weren’t backorderable. You can also change the status yourself if there are to be no more shipments, or you can mark specific items on the order as completed if no more is to be shipped. Posting shipments also updates inventory quantity available as shown on the Quantity Available report and Inventory Totals screen (inventory quantity on hand as shown on the inventory value reports and perpetual inventory reports isn’t updated until the invoices are posted, so as to keep the inventory value in synch with the accounts receivable), and creates AR invoices, which you then print and post to update customer and inventory balances and create general ledger journal vouchers to update the GL account totals and GL history. To post shipments use menu Records | Post or choose the Post option when closing the shipments screen.

To view only “outstanding” (not invoiced) invoices, toggle the outstanding option on the View menu or use the shortcut Ctrl+O.

Order no.

Enter the order number from the picking slip or click the 3 dots button to display a pop-up screen showing all the outstanding (on order) orders. You can select a customer so that only orders for that customer will show. To deselect the customer press the delete key. To choose an order from the list, click on it or select it and press Enter.

When you enter the order number, data from the order will display, such as customer name and address. Some order data will be used as defaults for the shipment, such as order description, quantities shipped and unit prices.

Bill of Lading Printed

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

Customer

The customer bill-to and ship-to info for the selected order is displayed. Verify that this matches the data on the picking slip, to help verify that the correct order no. was entered.

Warehouse

This is the warehouse where the goods were shipped from. The warehouse defaults to the 1st warehouse on file. Select the warehouse from the list if it should be changed. Note: Even if this invoice is for services only, the warehouse must be specified.

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

Shipment Date

The shipment date defaults to today’s date. This will be used for the invoice date when the AR invoice is created.

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.

Period

This is the fiscal period and year for the AR invoice, the period to which the revenue should be applied. This defaults to the current calendar month, or the default period on Your Company if specified there. If your fiscal year doesn’t end in December or your fiscal periods are not calendar months, you should set the default period regularly to help prevent data entry errors. Note: The year is entered as 2 digits and displayed as 4.

Example: 11 2001 entered as 11 01

Description

Enter a description for this shipment (if desired). This prints on the invoice and on the AR statements. This defaults to what was entered on the order.

Carrier

This is the transportation company who will deliver the goods. This defaults to what was entered on the order. 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. This defaults to what was entered on the order.

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

Items, Quantities, Lot Numbers, and Prices

The quantity shipped defaults to the quantity on order for each item. Make changes if required. The resulting quantity on order after this shipment is displayed in the “Qty on Order” column. The unit prices (in the customer’s currency) and item override descriptions also default to what was entered on the order, and you can override these here too.

Lot number is optional. This prints on the bill of lading. Enter lot number if you want to track which customer received which lot.

Taxes are calculated automatically.

Tip: You can display a pop-up menu by right-clicking on the grid.

Keyboard and mouse shortcuts