Setup

If you are using the data file supplied with the Enterprise 6 system, no setup is required to follow this Tutorial. Before you do so, however, you should study the Core Functions chapter, and ensure that you have read the Companies, products and sales orders tutorial chapters before you set out to follow the Purchase order Tutorial itself. You may miss some important fundamentals if you do not complete the Tutorial in logical sequence.

Creating a purchase order from a sales order

Please remember that you should have run through the sales order processing Tutorial before starting this section, and should have access to the sales order processing volume.

From the sales orders menu in the sales order processing volume select 'Enter sales orders'.

Complete a sales order (one you have received from a customer)

Don't forget you must have confirmed the sales order before you can start processing it. Click on the small upward arrow to the left of the words 'Unconfirmed order' to promote it to Confirmed status.

If you are using the Tutorial data, the system will of course automatically pull in the details of appropriate suppliers.

Stock allocation

The standard 'next move' in handling a sales order, if stock control is present, is to check how much of the order can be satisfied from existing stocks, and to allocate stock accordingly.

Allocation is the process whereby the system reserves certain items in stock for the fulfilment of specific items on an order. Until stock is allocated, it sits in your stock room as free stock, available for allocation. Once it is allocated, it has an 'electronic label' attaching it to a particular customer's order - and after this stage is usually not available for allocation to any other order (although Enterprise 6 will allow overrides, where necessary).

In Enterprise 6, allocation of stock to a given order can take place at any stage in the process. You can even preallocate stock before it arrives in your stores, so that it already has its attachment to a particular order from the moment the Goods In Movement is recorded.

Allocation is possible from numerous places in the system (see later for additional examples).

Allocation from the sales order screen

With the cursor flashing in the second sales order Item line (for product code PIEAPT004), select 'Allocate stock' from the Functions menu.

If there is any stock available to allocate (there is in the Tutorial data supplied), the Allocation screen appears:

In this example you can see two previous stock movements, with stock allocated to the stock company. In other words, this is free stock. If you click the 'Show Allocated Items' check box, a second stock movement, which is allocated to a customer, appears. However, because you are listing items of stock Type P (ie Physical stock), you know that these allocated items have not yet been delivered.

Allocations already made are shown in detail, with: order code, company code and Company Name.

The orders' stock Allocation screen has a pop-up menu to choose another stock Type (you can instantly see what you have on back order, what on loan to customers, or any units outside your main stockroom). When you next come back to the Allocation screen, the system remembers the stock Type you looked at the last time you were allocating (rather than always defaulting to the stock Type representing Physical stock (P, in the example data) set up in Preferences). At the bottom of the list of the pop-up menu is 'ALL', which allows you to see stock across all stock Types. You can Sort the list by stock Type (using the [Sort] button on the palette) if there are a large number of records displayed.

In cases where you have unallocated stock, you can simply click on the line from which you wish to allocate, and then to click the [Allocate] button at the foot of the page. This is the case in the example data. However, as is the case here, if you are using the full capabilities of the stock control volume (in order to have a complete stock History), you will have your 'free' stock allocated to a stock company. If so, you will have to highlight the appropriate line(s), click [Unallocate] to unallocate it from the stock company and then [Allocate] to allocate it to the sales order. In this situation, when listing stock, Enterprise 6 will still treat stock allocated to the stock company as 'free' stock. Follow this procedure now for the two items currently allocated to the stock company. You use the key to highlight both items, so it is only necessary to click the [Unallocate] and [Allocate] buttons once.

Note that you can also use the [Unallocate] button to unallocate stock from a low priority order and transfer it to one of a higher priority.

When you have finished your allocation, you will see that the totals at the top of the page have been adjusted accordingly, and that there is a red dot beside the item(s) that have been allocated to this specific order.

Click the [Ã] button on the palette to return to the main order screen, and note that the Qty field now has an Allocated quantity underneath it.

Usually, you would repeat the allocation process for every item on the sales order. Once you have completed the process you would then create a purchase order for any items not in stock and Enterprise 6 would automatically compare the order quantities to the allocated quantities and create a purchase order for the balance. For this Tutorial, however, we will assume that there is no stock of PIEAPT001 (the product of the first order Item).

Printing a purchase order

From the Print menu, select 'Items by Purch ord No' in the purchase order section.

Enterprise 6 will ask you:

Leave this blank and click [OK] - or just hit . Enterprise 6 will automatically pick all the items that have not been purchased.

You will next see the message:

Click [Yes] or hit the key.

The system specifies one purchase order, because Enterprise 6 detects that our example sales order has one product out of stock. If there were several items required, from different Suppliers, Enterprise 6 would ask if it should create the appropriate number of purchase orders.

Checking the purchase order

You are now asked whether you want to check the order. Because we need to understand the processes involved, click [Check]. When you come to use the system live, you may wish to skip the extra check, and [Print] the order straight away.

The system generates a purchase order addressed to the supplier specified in the sales order. Remember that when creating the sales order Items, Enterprise 6 defaults to the lowest cost Suppliers. You will see a screen much like this:

You have just seen the direct integration between the Sales and purchase order processing functions. You received an order from a client who wishes to purchase items you do not have in stock, and Enterprise 6 allowed you to generate an instant 'back-to-back' purchase order for those items. Add any further information you need, such as a Contact name, finance method, a Supplier Reference (if they are given to quoting such a reference when you place the order verbally) and any comments.

Deliver to company

Note also the Del to Comp field. This allows you to specify a direct Delivery to a customer (without the goods passing through your hands first). The system will add an extra box to the printed purchase order, giving the full address of the Company and Contact you specify.

If you are now ready to print the purchase order, select 'Print purchase order' from the Functions menu. Note that the purchase order is of Unconfirmed status, so Enterprise 6 asks:

Click [Yes]. Preview the order on screen if you are not connected to a printer.

If you do preview, do not click the [Stop Printing] button at the foot of the screen or you will cancel the process. You should instead click [Next Page]. To Enterprise 6, this means that the document has been correctly printed, and it will move on to the next stage.

If the stock control volume is present, Enterprise 6 will ask:

Click [Yes] and read on before continuing. (Note that if you click [No], you cannot batch the purchase order for later posting, so if you want to post it later you will have to print it again.)

Creating a stock movement from a purchase order

Next comes the all-important integration between purchase order processing and stock control. Remember that Enterprise 6 will allow you to specify an unlimited number of different stock types. In this instance, we are going to tell our stock control system the details of this purchase order.

If you pass the information to the stock system straight away, Enterprise 6 can always exactly calculate the total quantity you have on back order.

If you have carried out the Tutorial above and moved onto this section uninterrupted, you should see the following dialogue:

Once again, you could ask the system to go ahead and post the information without checking - but for the purposes of the Tutorial, it's best to see every element of the process.

Click [View] or hit the key.

You are immediately transferred to the stock movements window, with the purchase order (and sales order) windows behind, showing the full path of the information. You will see that Enterprise 6 has pulled through all the information it needs from the purchase order:

Note that there must be a stock movement Type set up for use by the mechanism that creates stock movements from purchase orders. These are set up in the Data Manager and the Tutorial data does contain such a Type.

At this stage, you should merely accept the movement by clicking [Ã] or clicking the close box and the [Save] button. There is no reason to print any forms at this stage. Enterprise 6 will ask:

Click [Post it] and Enterprise 6 will save the stock movement. Future searching of the Current stock will show that you have 25 x PIEAPT001 on order which are already allocated to London Pride Ventures. It will then drop you back through the path you have just followed - click [Ã] to save the purchase order.

If you have any further purchase orders 'queued up' in the system you will be asked if you would like to view the next purchase order and the cycle would repeat.

If you selected to check the stock movement, click [Ã] to save the record, again to save the purchase order (and once again to save the sales order if you started at that stage). If you just posted automatically, the system will drop you straight back to your starting place.

Creating a purchase order for stock

If you are using the three volumes sales order processing, purchase order processing and stock control, it is important that stocking orders are created from the sales order volume. This is to ensure that the stock control can keep track of the items in question. When the orders are created, they are assigned to a stock Company which has been created for this purpose. The purchase orders are raised in the fashion described above and a stock movement created. When the Items arrive in stock, they are allocated to the stock Company and remain in that state until they are sold. When this happens, they are unallocated from the stock Company and allocated to the client. It is important that this procedure is followed because you should not have any items in stock which are not allocated to any Company. If this were the case, the stock History of that item would not be complete and the stock control volume may not treat the item as being available for sale. Additionally, remember that the sales order screen will default to the cheapest Supplier of a particular product. The purchase order screen does not offer this service.

If the stock control volume is not present, it is not so important to follow this procedure, although you may still do so for reasons of consistency and to take advantage of the cheapest Supplier facility and the 'Batch purchase orders' function. If you choose not to do so, you may create purchase orders using the ad hoc method described in the next section.

The first thing to do is confirm that a stock Company has been created. Ideally, its company code should something fairly simple and easy to remember, such as 'stock'. The Tutorial data does already contain this Company, and the automatic setting up process includes it as part of every Business Template. If you are setting up your own data file from scratch you will need to create it.

Next, you need to ensure that the stock control section of Enterprise 6 has been informed that your 'stock' company exists and that it is aware of its company code. This is done in the stock control section of Preferences in the Data Manager. If you do not have the necessary clearance, check with your System Administrator that this has been done.

Now, it is time to enter the order. Simply select 'Enter sales order' in the sales order processing volume and repeat the process described above, but using your 'stock' company as the Client. Create and print the purchase order as described above and ensure you post the ensuing stock movement.

Creating an ad hoc purchase order

If you do not have access to the stock control volume, you can either enter your stocking orders through sales order processing as described above (without the stock movement posting) or you can enter them directly to purchase order processing. Even in this situation, there is still a slight advantage to be gained by going through sales orders as the sales order Items efficiently link the products with their Suppliers and there is a default to the cheapest Supplier. Also, you can enter many products to be purchased from many Suppliers to a single sales order and Enterprise 6 will create the appropriate number of purchase orders automatically. However, if you wish to raise a one-off purchase order for a product that you have not entered to Enterprise 6 and do not need to, then it is preferable to go through purchase ordering.

Go to the purchase order processing volume and select 'Enter purchase orders'. The following screen appears:

The fields should be completed as follows:

Order status

Click the small up arrow to the left of the title bar across the top of the screen. This will register your purchase order as Confirmed. If you forget to do this, Enterprise 6 will do it for you when you print the purchase order.

Supplier comp

Type here the company code of the supplier involved. Enter the first four letters of a Company (or Surname for private individuals). If there is only one Company in your database starting with the name, the details will be brought up; if there is more than one you will need to choose from a selection on the right of the screen; and if there are none you will be prompted to 'Create it'.

Contact

Either after or before entering the Company, you can specify the Contact name for the purchase order. If you have put in the Company and enter an @ sign and there is only one Contact at that Company, his/her full name will be confirmed immediately. If more than one exists, you can select from a list that appears, or 'Add' it. You may also enter a Surname or Forename into the box and the system will search by these.

If no company code has been entered, you can enter a Contact code or part of their first or surname. Selecting a Contact from the resulting list will cause the appropriate company code to be brought in as well.

Purch ord no

This number will be created sequentially by the system, so should usually be left alone. If you do want to change the sequence, don't do it here, but in the 'Unique File Nos' list within Preferences in the Data Manager volume. You may change the code manually to match your own method if required, but do so before order Items have been entered. Do not change it if you are using the screen to view purchase orders created automatically.

Purch ord date

The date of the order will be assumed to be the current date, but can be changed.

Supply by date

Enter here the date by which you wish to be supplied. The date will appear on the purchase order.

Finance method

Enter here the terms on which you expect to pay for the Items on the purchase order. These terms will appear on the purchase order.

Supplier ref

If the Supplier has given you a reference (such as a quotation reference) to quote when placing this order, or in correspondence, enter that here.

Del to comp

If you would like the Items on the order to be delivered direct to your Client, you can specify that in this field. The wildcard (@) can be used if necessary to bring up a selection list, from which you can choose the Client. The address will appear on the purchase order.

Contact

In the event of needing to have these Items delivered direct to your Client, you can specify a Contact at the Client company. Once you have entered a Client company, use of the wildcard (@) will produce a list of Contacts at that company.

Comments

Any length of comments can be made about the order.

To obtain a larger version of this field, ensure your cursor is within it and use the 'Expand Text' item on the Functions menu.

Posted

This non-enterable field records when the stock movement created by this purchase order was posted to the General Ledger. This, of course, assumes both the stock control volume and General Ledger are present.

Items

The Items box contains a list of all the goods and services ordered. To create a new line, click the [+] button or use the (Macintosh) or keyboard short-cut. The information stored within the list is as follows:

Product

Type in all or part of the product code in conjunction with the @ sign, and the name of the product will be confirmed underneath. The product code is in fact optional: you can also go straight to this second product box and type any text to give a full description of a product without reference to a product code.

Qty

Enter the quantity required. Cost

The Cost Price defaults from the Actual Cost Price in this Supplier's line in the products file. If this Supplier is not a recognised supplier of the product, the Cost Price will remain at zero.

If you change the figure and you have the appropriate clearance entered as part of your Personnel record and the product is one which permits such changes, you will be asked if you want to update the price stored for this Supplier in the product record.

Amount

The Amount figure is calculated as Quantity x Cost, or, if changed, will update the Cost backwards.

Tax

The VAT code of the product is brought in here. The wildcard (@) can be used if it necessary to alter it.

Order item

If you are viewing a purchase order created either from the sales order screen or using the 'Batch purchase orders' function, this field will record the unique order Item number of the Sales Item that this Purchase Item is created to fulfil. This will facilitate the allocation of the Item back to the sales order when it arrives in stock.

To print the purchase order, simply go to the Functions menu and select 'Print purchase order'. Enterprise 6 asks if you would like to Confirm and Print the purchase order. Click [Yes]. For the purposes of this tutorial, you only need to Preview on Screen, which you specify on the second of the Print Settings dialogue boxes. Once you have previewed, unless you want a hard copy, ensure you click [Next Page], rather than [Stop Printing].

If you have stock control installed, after printing you will be asked if you would like to post a stock movement.

You have now finished entering the purchase order. Click [Ã] or press to return to the main menu.

Creating batch purchase orders

This is a very useful time-saving function. Although supplied as part of purchase order processing, it can be accessed from both that volume and sales order processing. If you have entered several sales orders, selecting this function will cause Enterprise 6 to search through those orders for Items to order and to create the appropriate number of purchase orders. These can then be batch printed. If you have two or more sales orders for the same item, or for items from the same Supplier, these will be placed on the same purchase order, possibly gaining you some quantity discount. If you have stock control, the function will compare quantity ordered with quantity allocated for each order Item and create purchase orders for the discrepant quantities. If you do not have stock control, you will need to control this function yourself with purchase order Numbers. When creating sales orders, you should use the purchase order Number for each sales order Item in one of two ways. You can either enter the letter ÒNÓ as a purchase order Number for every Item you wish to order, or you can enter a manually generated purchase order Number for these Items. Unless you are going to generate a purchase order directly from the sales order screen, you should not leave this field blank.

The tutorial data is supplied with some sales orders requiring Items to be ordered. Select the 'batch purchase order' function and enter the range of purchase order Numbers that you wish to create to the two dialogue boxes. If using the Tutorial data, simply enter the letter ÒNÓ to both dialogue boxes. Enterprise 6 finds the appropriate order Items and sorts them according by Supplier. If you have entered a range of purchase order Numbers, some of which represent purchase orders already created, these will be ignored. This prevents duplication. Enterprise 6 then works out how many purchase orders it is about to create and asks you to confirm that it should create them. You are then given the opportunity to view the purchase orders before printing. If you take this opportunity, you can, of course, modify the purchase order(s) before finally printing them. Once you have finished examining the purchase orders, click [Ã] in the list layout and Enterprise 6 will print the purchase orders. For now, preview them on screen and click [Next Page] until they have all been printed. Do not click [Stop Printing] as this will cause Enterprise 6 to abandon the whole function.

After printing, if you have the stock control volume, you will be asked if you would like to post stock movements for the purchase order(s) just created. Currently, it is desirable that you do so as there is no function to batch Post stock movements. Doing so will enable you to connect the items ordered to their corresponding sales orders, and this will simplify the task of allocating and delivering these items when they arrive in stock.