|
Quantum VS Help: Sales Desk |
Completing a Sales Order - and the allocation of stock to one or more Sales Order lines - initiates the Picking, Despatch and Invoicing cycle for the Sales Order. This is sometimes referred to as the 'Sales Order Processing (SOP) cycle'. The various stages and settings involved are described below.
Whether the Picking, Delivery Assembly and Despatch stages are automated (i.e. bypassed) or require manual processing for Collected and/or Delivered Sales Orders depend on the Order Flags settings in your User record (Quantum User Fields tab).
Note: 'Collected' refers to orders where the Customer 'collects' and takes away the goods themselves, whereas 'Delivered' refers to orders where the goods are delivered. For further details of order types see Defining The Sale Type (Payment/Delivery Type).
For example:
A user in a warehouse-type environment - where goods are manually picked and/or despatched - will typically have some or all of their Order Flags unset, to enable the manual procedures described below.
A user in a retail-type environment, where Customers pick and take the goods away themselves, will typically have all of their Order Flags set, to automate the Picking/Delivery Assembly/Despatch procedure following Sales Order Completion. This is often referred to as 'Fast Track Ordering', whereby an order is 'fast-tracked' through the Sales Order Processing cycle after Completion, so that it is invoiceable straight away.
These Order Flags are set by the System Administrator in User Maintenance. See Entering Quantum User Fields Details.
Note: The SOP Document Type drop-down in the Sales Order header enables the Sales Clerk to manually override their default SOP settings for the current order only by selecting an alternative option. See Completing The Sales Order Header Fields.
Note: For details on how 'Forward' Sales Order lines may be held and subsequently released for Picking/Despatch see Forward Order Lines: Allocating Stock And Releasing Lines For Picking/Despatch.
A Picking Note is a document listing product lines and quantities which are being picked for a Sales Order. See Working With Picking Notes.
A Picking Note is created on the system for a Sales Order automatically when the Sales Order is Completed and stock is allocated to one or more Sales Order lines. A Sales Order may potentially have one or multiple Picking Notes, depending on when Sales Order lines are picked.
Note: A Picking Note is not created for Direct Sales Orders.
The stages involved in Picking are:
Picking Note Print may be:
Automated: Whereby the 'Unprinted' Picking Note, once generated following Sales Order Completion and allocation of stock to one or more lines, is automatically given 'Printed' status on the system.
OR:
Manual: Whereby the user will retrieve the 'Unprinted' Picking Note and 'print' it so that it can be used as a hard copy to be used as a checklist when goods are picked in the warehouse, for recording the quantities, variance and Batch/Serial Number/Bin details of the product lines picked. See Printing A Picking Note Manually.
Note: This is controlled by the Automated Picking Note Print field in the User record > Quantum User Fields tab (for Collected and/or Delivered Sales Orders). Checked = Automated; Unchecked = Manual.
When the Picking Note has been printed it will have 'Printed' status and the Sales Order/order line may proceed to the next stage:
Picking Note Confirmation may be:
Automated: Whereby the 'Printed' Picking Note, once confirmed as 'Printed', is automatically given 'Confirmed' status on the system.
OR:
Manual: Whereby the user will retrieve the 'Printed' Picking Note and confirm that the lines were picked in the stated quantities. See Confirming A Picking Note Manually. Before doing so it may be necessary to manually enter variance if the picked quantity does not match the allocated quantity. If goods are 'batch traceable' there is the option to edit the system-assigned batch allocation (i.e. when items are picked from different Batches/Bins/Serial Numbers to those displayed). A bar code scanner may be used to scan goods and enter quantities as they are picked. See Confirming Lines And Recording Variance On Picking Notes.
Note: This is controlled by the Automated Confirm Picking field in the User record > Quantum User Fields tab (for Collected and/or Delivered Sales Orders). Checked = Automated; Unchecked = Manual.
When the Picking Note has been confirmed it will have 'Picked' status and the Sales Order/order line may proceed to the next stage:
Delivery Assembly Confirmation may be:
Automated: Whereby the Delivery Assembly procedure is bypassed and the 'Confirmed' Picking Note may proceed to the next stage - Despatch 'Print'.
OR:
Manual: Whereby the user may manually 'add to a delivery' goods which have been picked for a Sales Order. This feature is useful when dealing with large orders when many lines are back ordered and end up being received into stock at different times, resulting in the Sales Order having multiple Picking Notes. As order lines are picked, and each Picking Note is Confirmed, they can be manually added to a delivery in the Delivery Assembly tab. This minimises the number of Despatch Notes - and hence Sales Invoices - generated from the Sales Order. See Delivery Assembly.
Note: This is controlled by the Automated Assemble Delivery field in the User record > Quantum User Fields tab (for Collected and/or Delivered Sales Orders). Checked = Automated; Unchecked = Manual. Delivery Assembly will typically be automated for the majority of users (i.e. manual Delivery Assembly is not enabled), meaning after Picking Note Confirmation the Despatch Assembly stage is bypassed and the order/line will progress straight to Despatch Note Print.
Following Picking (see above), after multiple Picking Notes for a Sales Order have been collated into a single 'Confirmed' Picking Note if manual Delivery Assembly - if enabled - has been Confirmed, the Picking Note will have 'Picked' status and the Sales Order/order line may proceed to the next stage:
A Despatch Note - also known as a Delivery Note - is a document listing product lines and quantities which are being despatched for a Sales Order. See Working With Despatch Notes.
A Despatch Note is created on the system automatically once the Sales Order/order line has progressed beyond Picking Note Confirmation and Delivery Assembly Confirmation.
The stages involved in Despatch are:
Despatch Note Print may be:
Automated: Whereby the 'Unprinted' Despatch Note, once generated, is automatically given 'Printed' status on the system.
OR:
Manual: Whereby the user will retrieve the 'Unprinted' Despatch Note and 'print' it so that it may be used as a checklist when goods are physically packed and loaded onto a delivery vehicle, for recording the quantities, variance and Batch/Serial Number/Bin details of the product lines. See Printing A Despatch Note Manually.
Note: This is controlled by the Automated Delivery Note Print field in the User record > Quantum User Fields tab (for Collected and/or Delivered Sales Orders). Checked = Automated; Unchecked = Manual.
When the Despatch Note has been printed it will have 'Printed' status and the Sales Order/order line may proceed to the next stage:
Despatch Note Confirmation may be:
Automated: Whereby the 'Printed' Despatch Note, once confirmed as 'Printed', is automatically given 'Confirmed' status on the system.
OR:
Manual: Whereby the user will retrieve the 'Printed' Despatch Note and confirm that the lines were packed and loaded for delivery in the stated quantities. See Confirming A Despatch Note Manually. Before doing so it may be necessary to manually enter variance if the quantity recorded for despatch does not match the allocated quantity. If goods are 'batch traceable' there is the option to edit the system-assigned batch allocation (i.e. when despatched items are from different Batches/Bins/Serial Numbers to those displayed). A bar code scanner may then be used to scan goods and enter quantities as they are loaded for despatch. See Confirming Lines And Recording Variance On Despatch Notes.
Note: This is controlled by the Automated Confirm Delivery field in the User record > Quantum User Fields tab (for Collected and/or Delivered Sales Orders). Checked = Automated; Unchecked = Manual.
When the Despatch Note has been confirmed it will have 'Despatched' status and the Sales Order/order line may proceed to the next stage:
If you are working with Carrier companies to deliver goods it may be necessary to manually Print/Confirm a Consignment Note, providing the Carrier with details of goods to be transported. See Working With Consignment Notes.
Note: This step is optional and required only when you are working with one or more Carrier companies to fulfill delivery/shipping of goods ordered by your customers. This is controlled by the Automated Consignment Note Print field in the User record > Quantum User Fields tab (for Collected and/or Delivered Sales Orders). Checked = Automated; Unchecked = Manual.
Once the Despatch Note has been Confirmed and the Customer has taken delivery of the goods, a Sales Invoice may be created and issued. This is the final stage of the Picking, Despatch and Invoicing (Sales Order Processing) cycle. See Working With Sales Invoices.
The standard method is to run the Sales Invoice Update Process, which generates Sales Invoices for orders on which there are Confirmed Despatch Notes. For certain order types, such as 'Cash' Directs, the system may be configured so that a Sales Invoice is raised automatically following Sales Order Completion and payment by the Customer.
It is possible - subject to certain system settings - to have a Sales Order with multiple Picking Notes (where lines have been confirmed as picked at different times) and/or multiple Despatch Notes (where lines have been confirmed for despatch at different times). Hence, it is also possible to raise multiple Sales Invoices for a Sales Order (where lines have been confirmed for despatch at different times). For further details see Despatch Note Confirmation And Partial Invoicing, as well as the other topics mentioned in this section.
Once a Sales Invoice has been issued against a Sales Order, a Credit Note may potentially be raised and a Sales Invoice (Credit) generated to offer the Customer a full or partial refund. See Working With Credit Notes.
With standard 'stock' Sales Orders and Products, purchasing/stock ordering is handled separately. However, with Back-To-Back Orders and Direct Orders, and Sales Orders with (non-'dump code') Special Products, the User may be required to work with Purchase Orders and Purchase Invoices.