Using Product Packages

Product Packages are ways to group products for quick entry onto sales.

To create a new Product Package:

• Go to the Sales screen and click the Product Packages link in the top-left corner of your sales list.
• Click New Package
• Add a short description for your Package (e.g. Spring Cleaning Kit)
• Click the New Item link to select a product to add to your package
• Set the quantity per package for that product and the unit pricing
• Click the green checkmark to save that line.
• Repeat the item selection process until your package is complete.
• Click the Save button to complete the operation (good job!)

Packages will appear with a small parcel icon beside them on the item selector in sales.  Simply select the package, set the quantity and applicable sales taxes, then click the green checkmark to save.  Items in the package will be added as items on the sale.

Confused? Want more help? Just email us at support@officebooks.com We like to help.

Sales - Creating/Editing

A sale and a quote are the same type of record in OfficeBooks.  A quote you develop for a customer is a potential sale that can be converted to an actual sale with a quick mouse click.

To create a new quote or sale your customer should already be added as a contact. Ensure you select ‘customer’ as a contact type. You also need to add your products as items.

Create a Quote or Sale

 

Click on Sales from the main toolbar to display the Sales list.

 Click New Sale to display the Sales form.

Select your customer's name from the bill-to and ship-to lists. Clicking Use Bill to will use the same customer address for billing and shipping. These addresses are required before you can save a Sales order. After a customer is selected, OfficeBooks fills in the addresses, credit limit and currency from your Contact record.

ü      If applicable, enter the customer's purchase order number, the terms of sale (INCO terms), and payment terms.

ü      Click Save to start adding parts to this sale.

ü      In the lower section of the form, click New Item.  This pops up the Select Item form containing a list of items you sell. 

ü      Select the appropriate item from the list by clicking anywhere on the item row.

ü      The form closes automatically and adds a new record to the sale. 

ü      Initial values include the item number, order quantity of 1, item description and price; these fields can be edited as required. 

ü      Enter the lead time if desired.

ü      Click the Calendar icon to select a commit date if desired.

ü      Select the applicable tax from the tax list.

ü       Click the checkmark to save this item to the sales form.  To cancel this item, click the X.

ü      Repeat the item selection steps to add more items to your sale.

ü      Click Update to ensure all your changes have been saved.

Now you can perform the following:

·         Sales Quote: When you have finished adding items to your sale, you can click Quote to indicate that this is a Sales quote.  To generate a PDF quote document to send to your customer, click PDF Quote.

·         Release a Sale: If you have an order from your customer, click on Release.  This makes the sale "real" and will trigger any necessary activity through the dashboard alerts for shipping, purchasing, and manufacturing.  You can also acknowledge a sale to release it.

·         Acknowledge a Sale: Acknowledging the sale gives your customer a chance to correct any errors. To generate an Order Acknowledgment PDF file to send to your customer, click PDF Acknowledge.

Edit a Quote or Sale

 

ü      Click on Sales from the main toolbar to display the Sales list.

ü      Click on the Sale # to edit the selected Sales order.

Product Packages

One of our early observations during beta testing was that users were trying to bundle products using bills of material.

The concept is straightforward, but BOMs (bills of material) need to be cycled through a work order to complete the associated inventory transactions.

So, we've introduced a Product Package feature.

The approach will be somewhat similar to BOMs.  You can create a new package, and build a list of products in that package, specifying quantities and pricing that will be unique to the bundle.  In this way, you can sell product X by itself at $10, and at $8.50 when it is sold as part of a bundle.

Let's look at an example.

A Tree Trimming Kit Product package

Let's say you sell equipment and supplies to the landscaping industry.  You have a standard set of products you sell for small tree trimming operations.  It consists of 6 different products - everything from saws to first aid kits.    Creating a sale record for this group of products would require you to cycle through the item selector 6 times.  But if you set up the kit as a standard Product Package, you only need to select the package from the item selector.  What a time saver!

You can spot the Product Package in the Item Selector thanks to the little icon.

More detailed "how to" on Product Packages


Leave a comment if you have thoughts on how this could be optimized for your business.

Confused? Want more help? Just email us at support@officebooks.com We like to help.

Getting started with custom record numbers

If you would prefer to use your own numbers for purchase orders, sales orders (quotes), and invoices follow these instructions to make us of the Reference # fields as an alternative to the OfficeBooks assigned record numbers.

Under the Business Profile section in your settings menu, you have check boxes in each of your document setup tabs.

When these checkboxes are checked, OfficeBooks will generate PDF reports (like Purchase Orders, Quotations, and Invoices) using whatever number you choose to enter in the "Reference #" field on that record.

Given the broad range of user requirements and situations, we've opted to allow the Reference # field to contain anything.  Duplicates are okay, it can be empty, etc.

We plan to add some (optional) automation to support this.  So if you want the Reference # field to auto-increment, or have a standard prefix or suffix - that will (eventually) be possible.

Comments?  Send us an email to let us know!

Shipping

When you are ready to deliver a product to a customer:

1. Select the associated sale from the sales grid.
2. Click the Ship-Now button.  OfficeBooks will warn you if there is insufficient stock.  If this is the case, and you still want to make a shipment, click the Ship-Now Anyway button.
3. On the shipment detail screen, use the Pencil icon(s) to adjust shipped quantities as necessary, 
4. Add tracking details and freight charges as applicable
5. Click the PDF Packing Slip button to generate a packing slip.
6. Click the Save button to save your work.

Creating a Sale

To create a Sale in OfficeBooks:

1. Click the Sales option on the main menu bar.
2. Click the New Sale link
3. Select your customer from the Bill-to and Ship-to drop-down menus
4. Click the New Item link and then select the product you would like to quote.
5. Enter a commit date using the calendar icon.  This is the date you plan to ship this product to your customer.
6. Update the pricing and quantities.
7. Use the drop-down to select applicable taxes (these are defined in your business settings)
8. Click the check mark to save that line.  
9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 until you have finished adding items.
10. Click the Release button to activate the sale.  Clicking the Acknowledge also activates the sale.  It is an optional step that helps you keep track of orders you have acknowledged.
11. To generate an order acknowledgment click the PDF Acknowledge button.

Quotations

Creating a Quotation in OfficeBooks is the basically the same process as creating a sale.

1. Click the Sales option on the main menu bar.
2. Click the New Sale link
3. Select your customer from the Bill-to and Ship-to drop-down menus
4. Click the New Item link and then select the product you would like to quote.
5. Enter a lead time.  This is a text field, so you can write something sensible like "3 weeks ARO" instead of guessing at a date.
6. Update the pricing and quantities.
7. Use the drop-down to select applicable taxes (these are defined in your business settings)
8. Click the check mark to save that line.  
9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 until you have finished adding items.
10. Click the PDF Quote button to generate a quotation.

When your customer places an order, turning this quotation into a sale is easy.  Just review the sale to ensure it matches your customer's actual order details, then click the Release button.