As the name implies, the Receivable Invoices or Sales screen’s main purpose is to generate invoices for your customers, so that you can receive payment for goods sold.
That makes it brief and simple. In the helps following, however, you will learn not only how to create invoices efficiently, but also how to apply a credit, deal with customer returns, apply discounts and charges, print subtotals, change quotes or orders to invoices, process standing orders, and set up sales tax.
So dig in and enjoy.
Helps Accessed From the Invoices (R) Screen
File Help (R)
Ctrl+N—clears the screen, without saving or un-saving the current record, and set the reference number to the next available number.
Ctrl+P—prints an Invoice or Work Order.
F5—exits lookup.
Shift+F5—closes all lookups.
F6—opens lookup. (Pressing F6 the after the Lookup has opened toggles between a list of All Vendors and Active Vendors.) Example: F6 on the Vendor Code field displays a list of all your vendors. The Search field at the top of the F6 Lookup window allows you to search for a specific vendor.
Shift+F6—opens alternate lookup. Example: Shift+F6 on the Vendor Name field displays a list of bills from this vendor.
F9—saves record.
Shift+F9—deletes record
F10—goes to the Selection Screen.
Shift+F10—goes to the Menu Bar.
Esc—exits one level.
Alt+F4—exits ABC.
Load Help (R)
Ctrl+D—Duplicates. An invoice can be copied to a new invoice or to a new order or quote. An order or quote can be copied to a new order or quote or to an invoice. You need to know the reference # of the invoice, order or quote that you want to copy. Go to the screen where you want to duplicate the invoice, order or quote. On a blank screen, press Ctrl+D. You are given the message "Enter Order/Quote Ref#, or Invoice Ref# & R, or Enter to cancel." If you are copying an order or quote, simply type its reference # and press Enter. If you are copying an invoice, type its reference # and the letter R, then press Enter.
At this point you may be given some additional choices. Up to 3 options will be available, if applicable. A C will Clear ship quantities on the new record, along with serial numbers if there are any. A D will Delete the original record (after confirmation. The delete option is not available if the original record is an invoice outside of the current period.) The third option, no special action, is selected by pressing Enter. Under this option, the computer will still clear any serial numbers, with their corresponding ship quantities, and notify you when this happens. (Because serial numbers can never be repeated, or their usefulness in tracking inventory would become invalid.)
After the duplicate is created, you may make any changes you wish; then save the record. (The new record is already saved if you chose to delete the old one.)
Ctrl+L—Loads the last customer loaded on the Customer (C) screen, Deposit (D) screen, Quote (Q) screen, or Invoices (R) screen.
Alt+N—loads the Next customer or the next inventory item, in alphabetical code order. The location of the cursor determines the operation. If it is on an item line, the next item is loaded; otherwise the next customer loads.
Alt+P—loads the Previous customer or inventory item, in alphabetical code order. The location of the cursor determines the operation. If it is on an item line, the previous item is loaded; otherwise the previous customer is loaded.
F7—opens/loads previous record.
F8—opens/loads next record.
Shift+F7—searches back for previous invoice for currently loaded customer. Cursor must be on the Customer Code field. Shift+F7 may be used on many other indexable fields as well.
Shift+F8—searches forward for the next invoice for the currently loaded customer (with cursor on Customer Code). Shift+F8 also works on many other indexable fields.
Edit Help (R)
Ctrl+A—Adds a blank line at the cursor, pushing down any lines that are below. This only works in repeating fields.
Ctrl+C—Copies highlighted line.
Ctrl+E—Erases the line where the cursor is and move up any lines that are below. This only works in the repeating fields.
Ctrl+V—pastes items that were previously copied or cut. You can paste repeatedly.
Ctrl+X—cuts marked items.
Ctrl+Z—Zap! Undoes latest changes to the line the cursor is on.
Shift+F2—marks or unmarks lines so that multiple lines can be cut, copied, and pasted. An asterisk (*) is thrown into the Tax field so you know which lines you have marked. After you have marked all the lines you want to cut or copy, press Ctrl+X or Ctrl+C. Ctrl+V pastes the lines wherever you place your cursor.
Alt+D—places cursor in date field. WARNING: The date should not be changed to a different accounting period or DISCREPANCY may occur between periods.
Alt+I—jumps the cursor to the Order# or Quote# field from any place on the screen.
Alt+M—goes to Slip # field from anywhere on the invoice, order or quote.
Alt+U—goes to Serial Number screen. (Cursor must be on the line with the serial number item). On a serial number line it displays the serial number entry screen or a line with BL in unit will display entry lookup for associated items.
Shift+Right arrow—moves the cursor from anywhere on the screen to the Due Date field.
Shift+Left arrow—moves the cursor from anywhere on the screen to the Reference Number.
Shift+Up arrow—moves the cursor to the first item and description line.
Shift+Down arrow—moves the cursor to the line just below the last line used on the invoice, order, or quote. If the invoice is blank, it places the cursor on the top line.
Tools Help (R)
Ctrl+G—Gets or jumps to the address of a certain field. When you press Ctrl+G, a message box appears telling you the address of the field your cursor is on. You are also given opportunity to jump to another address. Enter the location number of the field you want to jump to, or enter F and the field number of the field you want to jump to.
Ctrl+J—accesses a Journal to record anything that you want to remember about this invoice. To see previous notes, press Ctrl+J. When you are done, press F9. The notes will be saved with the date and time.
Ctrl+K—accesses a second journal. It is similar to the Ctrl+J journal, but saves your notes with only the date.
Ctrl+T—Telephone dialing. This option allows you to dial the phone # for the person or business currently on your screen. Press Ctrl+T. You will be given a choice of numbers if more than one number on record. Press Enter on the correct number and the number is dialed. (A TAPI driver must be installed on your computer to run this feature. Contact your ABC Accounting representative for further information.)
Ctrl+W—saves the reference # to a Word Processor list. To see the list, press F10, W, Ctrl+N (to clear the screen); then type RLIST. Ctrl+W
Shift+F3—brings up an accountant's* calculator when your press it the first time. The second time you press it, the final calculations showing are entered into the field the cursor was on.
+ adds or totals - subtracts / divides
* multiplies ) clears ( exits calculator
= totals or equals
*If you are not familiar with an accountant’s calculator, you may want to take a little time to familiarize yourself with the differences in usage here. Figures are entered as positive or negative: i.e. 100+50-75= would be entered as 100+; 50+; 75- The answer calculates each time you press the positive or negative sign. The = sign or Enter key seldom need be used unless you are multiplying or dividing.
Alt+1—If you press Alt+1, when the cursor is on an inventory item line, you are taken to the Inventory (I) screen, with the item loaded on the screen. This is useful for changing price or description if you want to. Pressing F9 on the Inventory screen returns you to the invoice, quote or order.
NOTE: If you run a screen report such as Alt+S, Sales History, or Alt+B, Purchase History, while you are on the Inventory screen, F9 will not return you to the invoice. You must press F10 and R and then reload your invoice, order or quote. Anything that had not been saved on the invoice, order or quote will be lost.
Another NOTE: If you changed a price on the Inventory screen, and you want that price to take effect on the current invoice, order or quote, you should either press Alt+R to re-price all the invoice items, or you should reload the item that has a new price. One way to reload an item is to press Alt+N and then Alt+P.
Alt+4—opens the cash drawer if your system is set up with one this.
Alt+=—changes cost of the item on the line where the cursor is. This will not change the Cost field on the Inventory (I) screen, but it does affect the posted Sell Cost on the Inventory screen.
Alt+C—re-prices all items. This command recalculates the prices based on the List price in the Inventory (I) screen and any discounts this customer receives.
Alt+H—calculates quantity based on entered Amount and the selling price. This only works in the Order or Ship field. For example, if the selling price is $50.00 and you know the total bill is $775.00 but don't know what the quantity is. Type 775 in the Order or Ship field and press Alt+H before you press Enter. The Amount field will read $775.00, and the Quantity will read 15.50. (This example would be based on price per pound, or something similar where partial amounts could make sense.)
ALT+K—allows operator to change job class.
Alt+L—When you press Alt+L it will take the item from the R screen to the ORDERLIST record on the W screen. Cursor must be on item line. If item is a remark, it will create an item with open bracket, incremented numerically in the Inventory screen and then place it on the ORDERLIST. The ORDERLIST may be changed as desired by running the following macro from the R screen:
{Ctrl+R}pointer3=1023+1049-1023/"6"=1070&"'"&0=0&"O"=1003& "OO111"gotoP18{Enter}
(For help on setting up macros, see the helps on Macros.)
This macro is normally run by pressing F4; then O. An order on the Purchase Order (O) screen can be created from the ORDERLIST with the cursor on a chosen line. Items with that vendor and anything below the chosen line without an asterisk will be placed on the Purchase ORDERLIST. (It uses Report # 1-11.)
Alt+O—Overrides automatic back ordering. If the cursor is on or after the Ship Quantity you want to override, and before the Ship Quantity of the next line, Alt+O will place the quantity from the Order Quantity field into Ship Quantity. If the cursor is on the Order Quantity field, Alt+O will ship the entered number unless it is zero.
Alt+R—re-prices all items that need to be updated. This is used when the prices have been updated in the Inventory Items screen and you want to see those new prices carried over to this invoice.
Alt+Q—creates an invoice with all Quoted Prices for this customer. WARNING: This will erase any lines already entered on this invoice.
Alt+S—goes to Serial Number screen. (Cursor must be on the line with the serial number item). On a serial number line it displays the serial number entry screen or a line with BL in unit will display entry lookup for associated items.
Alt+W—(Invoice mode only.) When an order # is entered in the Order # field, the order is copied to the invoice. Use Alt+W to copy the amounts in the Order field into the Ship field. It does not check to see if the items are in stock.
Alt+X—Imports parts from other Windows lookup programs, such as Part Smart or All Data.
Your ABC Accounting software and the other program must be loaded on the same computer, so you can use Alt+Tab to switch back and forth from the R screen to the alternate program’s lookup screen.
From the alternate program, you select the parts you want and post or export them to a list on a DOS file. Press Alt+Tab to return to ABC Accounting. Press Alt+X to automatically enter the parts into the invoice or order screen. Unless your cursor is on the line item, the part is automatically appended to the bottom of the invoice.
The Alt+X function must be set up for each individual program you wish to import data from. Talk to your ABC Accounting representative to get this function set up properly for you.
Reports Help (R)
(The F11 hot key takes you straight to the Report Menu. Then you can just press the letter of the report you wish to run. Of course, using your mouse works too.)
TO SCREEN:
Y—views paYment information for invoice. (From Report 3-23.)
C—gives Customer order detail on item your cursor is on (indexes work orders).
S—shows Sales history (indexes invoices).
V—shows what Vendors you ordered this item from (indexes purchase orders.)
B—shows what Bills include this item.
TO PRINTER:
P—prints the invoice. This command can be used for any saved invoice, paid or unpaid, from any time period.
K—prints packing list (shipping ticket). This resembles an invoice on plain paper except there are no prices listed and Location is specified if it was specified on the Inventory (I) screen for that item.
L—prints a receipt for Layaway.
TO FAX:
F—Faxes Invoice or Order with prices.
W—faxes Invoice or Order Without any prices.
Customer Invoice # (R.0)
This reference number is automatically generated. You can view previously entered invoices by paging back and forth with F7 or F8, looking it up with F6, or simply entering the number of the invoice.
Since Customer Invoice/Order/Quote # is used to sequence the invoices, orders or quotes on the customer statements and other reports, it should be in chronological order by date of entry. Invoice numbers from a later financial period must all have a larger number than those from a previous period.
This code references the Customer (C) screen. All pertinent information about this customer is loaded once you enter the Customer’s code.
This is an information field. It may be used to record the manual invoice numbers when entering manual invoices. This number appears on the Customer Statement.
Salesman (R.3)
This is carried across from the Customer (C) screen, but may be changed here. By entering a salesman code here, the total of the sale will be posted to the Salesman (S) screen when the invoice is saved.
Entry Date (R.4)
This is the invoice date. It is automatically set to the system date at the time the invoice is entered. Customer aging and finance charge calculations are based on this date, as well as some sales reports. If you post sales to General Ledger with Report # 3-27, A/R SALES BY G/L #, the Entry Date determines to which G/L period the invoice is posted.
This is automatically loaded from the Tax field on the Customer (C) screen but may be changed on this particular invoice or order. Placing a forward slash after any tax code negates that tax.
If you collect tax or track sales for more than one tax jurisdiction, you can enter multiple codes in this field. For more information, see the C screen Multiple Tax Codes as well as the I screen Multiple Tax Codes in this manual.
Shortcut: if this field already has one or more tax codes, you can make the order/invoice tax-exempt by just entering a forward slash. This will attach a slash to each tax code.
This is set from the Customer (C) screen but may be changed here. Enter the shipping method for this invoice.
Customer Purchase Order # (R.7)
This is an information field. It will appear on the printed invoice/order.
In the event of a long order number, just keep typing. The field will scroll and allow you to enter quite a lot here. To view it later, click on the little curved arrow icon. A box opens up for viewing whatever was entered here in its entirety
This field is used in the Invoice mode.
If an Order was entered for this customer, the Order number may be entered here and the items will be carried across with quantities in the Order field. Then you only need to enter the Ship quantities and save the invoice. Use Alt+W to copy the Order quantity to Ship quantity for all the lines on the invoice at once.
If you are in Order Check mode, enter the Order # here for the order you are checking. The order is brought up, and you can enter Item #’s and Ship Quantities.
This is set from the Terms field on the Customer (C) screen but may be changed on the invoice/order. It is used to calculate Due Date, Discount Date and Discount Amount, and will appear on the printed invoice/order.
This date is printed on the invoice and on some A/R reports. It may be calculated from Terms or entered manually. Finance charges are calculated from the Due Date.
The Due Date affects finance charge calculation. It can be used to increase the Days Till Charge or to decrease the Free Days.
This field prints on the invoice and on some A/R reports. It may be calculated from Terms or entered manually.
This field is used to set Discount Earned on the Deposit (D) screen when the invoice is paid.
This field prints on the invoice and on some A/R reports. It may be calculated from Terms or entered manually.
This field is used to set Discount Earned on the Deposit (D) screen when the invoice is paid.
Notice that Due Date and Discount Date are set as soon as Terms are entered, but Discount Amount is not set until the invoice is saved. For this reason, you can enter the discount amount manually only if the terms do not specify it.
This code references the Names (N) screen. Ship-To names and addresses should be set up in the Names (N) screen and the Ship-To code should be entered on the Customer (C) screen. It is automatically carried across from the Customer (C) screen but may be changed here.
Enter any information you want printed on the invoice/order and on the customer's statement where this invoice is listed.
In the event of a long remark, just keep typing. The field will scroll and allow you to enter quite a lot here. To view it later, click on the little curved arrow icon. A box opens up for viewing whatever was entered here in its entirety
Enter the date the items will be delivered to the customer.
ABC SCHEDULING MODULE—Entering or clearing this date can trigger or suspend automatic scheduling.
ABC JOB COSTING MODULE—This code references the Job (J) screen. If you are using Job Costing, enter the Job # to which this invoice applies.
Note that any documentation referring to the Job Costing Module (Material, Job, or Job Detail screens) does not apply to most users. It is a custom feature.
Enter an N if you do Not want finance charges to apply to this invoice. If the Late Charge field in the Customer (C) screen already contains an N, or if you don't use Report # 3-20, GENERATE FINANCE CHARGES, you don't need to enter anything here.
This is carried across from the Customer (C) screen, but may be changed here. It may restrict or allow access to restricted Inventory items.
H—Holds Order till all items are in stock.
Q—Quoted prices remain when ship quantities are entered (on order or invoice).
B—Combines the function of both H and Q above.
E—Estimate. Quantities do not post to (C) or (I) screens. JOB COSTING: If order has a Job Number, it posts into Estimated Information on the ('D) screen.
C—won't post quantities to Inventory or item costs to Job Costing.
+—retains order when invoiced, also 1-16 skips order.
Any other codes or combination of codes can be used to identify orders and perform multiple functions.
Here are a few rules on combinations:
Examples: +1, 1+, E+, +Q, E+Q.
1. The Plus sign in these example means that the order shall be saved when the invoice is generated. Notice that it can be placed anywhere—right, left, or middle.
2. Any numbers or letters you choose to use besides those explained above are your choice and mean whatever you want them to mean. The 1 used in the first 2 examples can logically mean that you will bill them in 1 month. Or it could mean anything else of your choice.
3. Notice that the E used in the above examples always comes first, at the left of the code. That is the only proper way to use E in a code.
4. The Q, on the other hand, must come last, or to the right of the code—always.
Here are some pointers on reports that are affected by Bill Codes:
1. REPORT # 1-16: Bill codes B, H, and Q are used on regular Orders that are invoiced with this report, INVOICE ORDERS FROM STOCK.
2. REPORT # 5-36: JOB ESTIMATES. Use this report to print job estimates.
3. REPORT # 3-32: With this report, GENERATE INVOICES FROM ORDERS, you may use any letter other than B, H, Q, E, or C. This can be useful for monthly or other periodic billings of rentals, services, etc.
a. You should have a + in the Bill Code field if you want to keep the order instead of deleting it when an invoice is made. Although does not delete the order, if you invoice manually it will be deleted unless you have a + in the Bill Code.
b. When you run the 3-32 report, you will be asked to enter the auto-invoice code for orders to bill. Enter the Bill Code exactly as you entered it in this field.
c. If you wish to enter a different special description on the invoice each billing, enter a remark on the order, with a hyphen (-) at the point you want the message to be attached. You must also have a hyphen (-) in the Unit field on the same line.
For example, the remark could be "THIS IS YOUR RENT BILL FOR -" and the Special Description could be "October, 1997". The invoice would print "THIS IS YOUR RENT BILL FOR—October, 1997".
This feature is normally used for stating time periods and is entered every time Report # 3-32, GENERATE INVOICES FROM ORDERS, is run.
ABC JOB COSTING MODULE—You may enter the Reference # here from the Material Entry screen that you want to invoice, and the items from the Material Entry screen will be carried across with all the quantities and prices. You will then only need to enter the Customer Code to whom the invoice is being made, and all this information will be carried across from the Customer (C) screen.
When the invoice is saved, the Invoice # is automatically placed back on the Material Entry screen. If a C is entered in the B)ill or C)ontract field on the Material screen, the posting to the Inventory (I) screen is not changed. B is entered automatically if there is not a C in B)ill or C)ontract on the Material screen, and cleared when there is a C in Bill Code on the Invoices (R) screen.
Note that any documentation referring to the Job Costing Module (Material, Job, or Job Detail screens) does not apply to most users. It is a custom feature.
The operator may enter his initials here. This will identify the one who prepared the invoice, work order or order.
Item Code & Description (R.30)
Enter an inventory item code. All pertinent information about this item for this invoice will be loaded from the Inventory files.
You may also enter a remark here, with a period at the end. A period indicates that the program doesn’t need to search the Inventory files for this information.
If the item code is not found on the Inventory (I) screen, the Lookup screen pops up so you can search for the correct item. If you want to set up a new item with the code you entered, press Alt+A. You will be taken to the Inventory screen where you should enter the description, G/L account number, and whatever other information you want. When you press F9 to save the record, you will be taken back to the Invoice with your new item displayed.
Or you may use the Up and Down arrow keys and the Page Up or Page Down keys to find the right code on the Lookup screen. When the right code is found, highlight that item and press Enter to load that item instead of the code which you had entered first.
If you don't wish to set up an item on the Inventory screen, simply press Enter after the Lookup screen is displayed. Your code is treated as a remark, and a period is added to the end of it by default.
If you press F5 while the Lookup screen is displayed, it disappears and the cursor is back at the Item Code field ready to try again.
Ship Quantity (R)
Enter the quantity to ship to the customer. The total amount for multiples of an item will not show. However, the total bill amount is updated as you enter items and quantities.
If you enter a ship quantity that is larger than the stock quantity of this item, and Automatic Ordering on the Company Setup (#) screen is set to A, the program will automatically enter the Stock Quantity in the Ship field and the remaining quantity in the Order field. Then when you save the invoice, you will be asked if you want to back order unshipped items.
(When Automatic Ordering on the Company Setup (#) screen is set to O for Optional, the Order quantities must be entered manually. If it is set to N, you cannot do back orders from invoices.)
If Automatic Ordering is enabled, a special case occurs when you sell a superseded item (an item having the New # field filled in on the Inventory screen). If only a partial quantity of the old item is in stock, the computer will split the quantity between the old and new item(s) to fill out the order.
Here's how you use this feature.
1. Enter the item #.
2. Press O to indicate you want to sell the Old item.
3. Enter the ship quantity.
4. If the ship quantity exceeds the stock quantity, the program automatically adds replacement item(s), if available, to fill the total quantity.
5. Any quantity left over will be back ordered on the last replacement item used.
ABC SCHEDULING MODULE—Press F6 to view the schedule for this item.
Order Quantity (R)
The quantity the customer ordered may be entered here.
ABC SCHEDULING MODULE—Enter load to allocate for this item. Press F6 to view the schedule for this item.
Unit (R)
The Unit is set from the Inventory (I) screen but may be changed manually. It is normally used to determine the unit upon which the list price is based. This field can be used to label your quantity field with any 2 or 3 letter code such as: yd, in, ton, bu, ft, lb. (Any code that has a specially programmed function, such as BK or BN, may not be used).
There are 3 ways to enter a Unit Code.
Unit Pricing (R)
Following is a list of special codes and an explanation of their functions:
C—Priced per 100
M—Priced per 1000
G—Priced per 100 gallon
T—Priced per ton
You may also combine a number and a letter. For example, 5C means priced per 500. You may also use a number only, such as 3.
D—Used for egg pricing. Enter the number of dozen per case, followed by D. Enter list price per dozen in cents, not dollars. Sell quantity is number of cases.
O—Priced per ton and doesn't print this line on invoices or orders but includes the amount in the invoice total.
NOTE: Ton price (T or O) assumes Cost field in I screen is cost per ton, unlike other units, which assume cost each.
#—For items priced per each but stocked and sold by case, enter the case quantity followed by a #. Cost is then cost per case.
S, SF and SY work similarly to # for pricing. However, it takes figure in the Quantity field times the figure in the Unit field and prints that as the quantity on the Invoice. Also on the invoice, the Case Quantity number in the Unit field does not show.
%—Means the List Price is a percent. An item with % in Unit can be used to put a percentage charge or discount on an invoice. Example: For a discount of 25%, enter % in Unit and -25.00 in List Price.
/—Print N/C (No Charge) instead of the Sell Price on the Invoice or Order.
U—Underline the amount by printing hyphens in the amount column.
=—Places weight in order and ship fields.
- (minus)—If the minus sign is used between 2 numbers in the unit field, the two numbers are recognized as inches and multiplied times each other to calculate square footage. For example, with 2 as quantity, 24-24 in Unit field and a price of 4.50, the total would be $36.00 because 24" x 24" is 4 sq. ft. and 2 (quantity) x 4 (sq. ft.) x 4.50 (price) =36.
Unit Discounts & Sales Tax (R)
F—Specify this line as freight or other adjustment. It won't figure this amount in when calculating a cash discount.
$—For special cash discounts, $1=discount of 1%. This overrides the cash discount set in the Terms field that applies to the rest of the invoice. The special discount is only for the item(s) on the same invoice line as the special discount. $0 in this field means no discount on this item.
NOTE: This ONLY works if there is a cash discount set in the Terms field. For example, it will NOT work if the terms are Net 30 with NO cash discount.
&—Means mix and match discounts, &A means that this item will be totaled with any other &A item on the invoice for a discount based on quantity. Other letters or numbers may be used in place of the A, such as &1 or &D. Discounts calculate when the invoice is saved.
<—Line item discount level, overrides any discount level from other screens, such as Customer. For example, <B10 means 10% off Level B price; <E30 means 30% above cost. See further help on Discount Level in this manual.
@—When @ is used instead of % for Sales Tax calculation, you may have some non-taxable items or remarks below the sales tax line on an invoice. When you re-save the invoice, the sales tax line won't move down to the bottom.
Unit Options (R)
J—Print a job total; that is, a subtotal of all items printed since the previous subtotal or job total.
N—Do not print this line, but include the amount in a total which will be printed by an H command (below).
Q—Do not print quantity or price on this line.
W—Do not print the price or amount on this line, but include the amount in the total which will be printed by an H command (below).
H—Print a total of hidden amounts. This command must follow any item or sequence of items in which printing amounts is suppressed.
*—Print a subtotal of all items above this point.
^—Skip printing, include amount in total. This must be used in conjunction with an H command. (See H command explanation above.)
'—Skip printing, add amount to previous line.
Note that subtotals calculate when transaction is saved.
>—indicates a Major Component with Service Tracking. You must also have a Y in the Track Serial # field on the I screen. (See the helps for Report # 1-34, SERIAL NUMBER SALES AND SERVICE DETAIL.)
#—Do not print item # on this line. (A # by itself has this function; a number followed by # is used for case pricing.)
S0-S9—ABC SCHEDULING MODULE—Identifies schedule item. May be followed by # of working days allowed in schedule.
Unit Messages (R)
H0 to H9—When you put H and a single digit in the Unit field of a SAVED invoice, you are taken to the Word Processor where you can enter a message which will be printed on the invoice when the invoice is printed. One limitation; this may not be on the last line of the invoice unless there is an inventory item or remark also on the last line. (The message is not displayed on the screen invoice.)
- (Dash)—This allows you to enter a special description when you run Report # 3-32, GENERATE INVOICES FROM ORDERS. The description must include a dash (-) also.
HW—HW in the Unit code means a message from the Word Processor will print on invoices, work orders or quotes. Here are the steps for using this feature.
1. Enter a code on the Inventory (I) screen, using a description that indicates what the message is about. Put an HW in the Unit field. Save with F9.
2. Enter the same code on the Word Processor (W) screen. Starting on the third line, enter the message that you want to print. You may need to use margins so that it looks right on the printed invoice. Save with F9.
3. On an Invoice (or work order or quote), where you want the message to print, enter the code that was set up in steps 1 and 2. The message will not appear on the screen, but it will be on the printed invoice. The item code, description, and the HW in the Unit field show on the screen but will not print on the invoice.
4. You may set up as many messages as you want, using steps 1 and 2. We suggest using similar codes so that they are listed together on the Inventory screen and on the Lookup screen.
Unit Assemblies (R)
B—indicates an Assembly. Each item is listed on the invoice with its price. Total price is determined by the totals of the items.
BK—indicates an Assembly. The price is manually set on the I screen. Each item lists without a price on the Invoice.
BN—indicates Assembly. Price set manually. Items are Not listed on Invoice.
BL—Displays a lookup for entry of associated Items when entered on the R screen. A W screen record with a }Item# code defines the display.
Unit—ABC JOB COSTING MODULE (R)
L1, L2, L3—These codes are used with Estimating and Job Costing. They specify whether Quantity on this line is posted to the Hours 1, Hours 2, or Hours 3 field on the Job Detail ('D) screen. Cost Extension (Cost x Quantity = Cost Extension) posts to the Labor Cost field. This is calculated but not shown on the screen. You can look at or change this by pressing Alt+=. If these codes are used on an Estimate Order, this line posts into Estimated in the Labor Cost and Hours fields. If this is an invoice, Quantity and Amount posts into the other Labor Cost and Hours fields. NOTE: This will NOT work if this invoice is a Contract.
K—Post this line into Subcontract on the Job Detail ('D) screen. If this is used on an Estimate Order it posts into Estimated. If it is used on an Invoice it posts into the other Subcontract fields. NOTE: This will NOT work if this invoice is a Contract.
X—Post cost for this line from the Assembly (A) screen to the Estimated Material Cost field on Job Detail ('D) screen. This only works with an Estimate Order.
:—This is used by Report #s 5-30 and 5-31.
Note that any documentation referring to the Job Costing Module (Material, Job, or Job Detail screens) does not apply to most users. It is a custom feature.
The Inventory List Price appears here unless Sell Price is equal or greater. The Price must always be positive unless the Item # ends with * or the Unit is %.
This is set from the List Price on the Inventory (I) screen unless there are discounts specified on the Quoted Prices (Q) screen, Inventory (I) screen, or Customer (C) screen. Discounts listed in the Quoted Prices screen take precedence over the others.
A message will appear if the calculated Sell Price is below your desired minimum markup (calculated from the Cost field on the Inventory screen plus the Inventory Markup percentage on the Company Setup screen). If this message occurs, press Enter to accept the suggested minimum price, or press C to force entry of the original price.
Do not enter a negative price unless the Item # ends with an asterisk (*) or the Unit code is %. If you want a negative amount, you should negate the quantity, not the price. The item will then be added back into Stock Quantity in the Inventory (I) screen.
G/L # (R.38)
When an inventory item is entered, the General Ledger account number listed on the Inventory (I) screen is automatically carried across to this field.
If the invoice has a customer type entered and there is a G/L Adder set up for this type of customer on the Customer Type (Y) screen it is added to the G/L number. If the G/L number on the Inventory screen is not set up, the G/L number from the Customer Type screen is used. If neither is set up, then the G/L number from the Default Sales Account # in the Company Setup (#) screen is used.
If none of the above is set up, the G/L number field will remain blank, and you will need to enter it manually.
You may change a G/L account number on an invoice, but you will be asked for verification.
Enter E if you want to mark this line tax-Exempt. Tax will be calculated on all lines not marked with an E if a Tax Code is specified in the top of the screen.
An X is used to specify that this line is used to calculate and add sales tax to the invoice.
An M may be entered when the sales tax is entered and calculated Manually.
Digitizer Pad (R.60)
This is used only with specialized programming.
Applying a Credit from the Invoice Screen (R)
When an invoice is entered for a customer with a non-invoiced amount (credit), you will be notified and asked if you want to apply the credit to that invoice.
Example:
1. Customer XYZ has -25.00 in the NIA field of his Customer screen record.
2. XYZ walks into your store and purchases $30 worth of whole wheat flour.
3. You enter an invoice for him and press F9 to save.
4. The POS screen comes up with -25.00 in the Prior Credit field and 30.00 in the Invoice Total field.
5. Press Enter rather than pressing one of the character options given.
6. A message pops up saying, “Customer has a credit NIA. Do you wish to apply it to this invoice?”
7. Press Y if you do wish to do so.
8. The money that the customer has credited to him is applied to this invoice, and any remaining sum is billed.
Customer Returns (R)
Customer returns are entered on the R screen much like an invoice.
1. Enter the customer return just like an invoice, but use negative quantities.
2. If the item was taxed when you sold it, it should also have tax applied on the customer return. The proper tax code should be entered in the tax field.
3. Save as normal. (Pressing F9 also calculates the tax to refund.)
4. On the deposit (D) screen you have several options.
A. Refund cash to the customer.
1. If this is chosen, you may need to bring cash back from the bank instead of depositing cash with this deposit.
2. Enter Cash in Pay Type.
3. Enter a negative amount in Pay Amount for the customer return invoice..
4. Enter a negative amount in Payment Applied for the customer return invoice.
B. Refund by credit card. (This requires you to get an authorization number from your credit card clearing company.)
1. Enter the credit card type in Pay Type.
2. Enter a negative amount in Pay Amount for the customer return invoice.
3. Enter a negative amount in Payment Applied for the customer return invoice.
C. Refund by check. This requires a G/L # for customer transfers. (ABC's standard is 10 for customer transfers.)
1. Leave the Pay Type and Pay Amount fields blank.
2. Enter the customer transfer G/L # in the Apply to G/L field.
3. Enter amount of return in the G/L Amount field.
4. Enter a negative amount in payment applied field for the customer return invoice.
5. You will then need to issue a G/L check to the customer in the amount of the return. Use the customer transfer G/L # used on the Deposit (D) screen.
6. After the deposit is made and all entries are finished the customer transfer account should be zero.
7. (Hint: use Alt+Y to transfer a customer to the Vendor screen.)
Charges & Discounts Setup (R)
Charges and discounts that are a percentage of the invoice need to be set up in the Inventory (I) screen, following the steps below.
1. Enter a code to reference the discount or charge.
2. Enter the description the way you want it to appear on the invoice.
3. Enter % in the Unit field.
4. Enter an N in the Minimum field to disable stock error messages and to prevent auto-ordering.
5. If the item is to be tax-Exempt, enter E in the Tax field.
6. For the List Price, enter the percentage of the invoice subtotal that the charge or discount should be. Use a positive number for a charge, or a negative number for a discount.
7. For the Cost, enter the percentage of the charge that is allocated for cost.
8. Before you save the record, you must have a Sale G/L # specified. This can be your sales account, (ABC's standard sales account # is 5000) or it can be a special account set up for the discount or charge. Normally, it should be a number in the sales part of your General Ledger.
9. Press F9 to save.
To apply a charge or discount on the invoice screen, simply enter the appropriate code under Item #. The percentage will be based on the invoice subtotal at that point. In other words, it will apply to all the lines above, but not to the lines below that point.
The amount will not be calculated until the invoice is saved.
If the charge or discount is tax-exempt, the amount is excluded from the taxable subtotal, as with any other tax-exempt item. However, if it is taxable, the amount is pro-rated by applying the charge or discount percentage to the taxable subtotal at that point.
Error Messages (R)
Sometimes when you press a key to do something, you are confronted with an error message. Some explanation of those messages is given here.
Note that any documentation referring to the Material screen does not apply to most users. It is a custom feature.
Invoice—How to Make (R)
1. To create an Invoice, press R from the F10 screen.
2. Enter the Customer Code of the person the Invoice is for.
(If you are not sure what their code is, press the F6 key and you'll see a Lookup screen of Customers that have been entered into your files. Use the Up or Down arrows to place the cursor on the Customer that you want and press Enter to load him on the screen. If the Customer has not been entered yet, press Alt+A on the Lookup screen. This takes you to the Customer screen. Press Ctrl+N for a new record. Use the steps explained in “Setting up a New Customer.” After you have saved the new customer, return to the Invoice screen by pressing F10 and then R. You are ready for Step # 2 again.)
3. Press Enter to take you through the fields that you want to fill such as Order #, Slip # or Salesman.
4. When you are ready to enter the invoice items, press Shift+Up arrow or Page Up to take you to the first item line.
5. Type the Code of the first invoice item and press Enter.
6. If you typed a Code that wasn't in your files, a Lookup screen of Items appears. Use the Up or Down arrows and press Enter on the correct code.
A. If you do not find the right code, and you wish to set up a new code, press Alt+A on the Lookup screen. This takes you to the Inventory screen with the new code already entered. Use the steps in “How to Set Up Inventory Items”. When you save the new Inventory item by pressing F9, it takes you back to the screen that you were working on with the Item entered. You're ready for Step # 7.
B. If you do not find the right code, and you do NOT wish to set up a new code, press Enter. The Lookup screen disappears and a period is appended to what you had typed, marking this item as a remark or message, rather than an item. You're ready for Step # 7.
C. If you do not find the right code, and you want to start over, press F5. The Lookup screen and the typed code disappear. You're ready for Step # 5 again.
7. Type the quantity. Press Enter.
8. If necessary, type the Sell Price and press Enter.
9. When the cursor is at the beginning of the second line, you are ready for the second invoice item.
10. If you do not want to use a code from the Inventory screen, simply type a description of the item you are selling, using a period at the end of each line of description. The period prevents the Lookup screen from appearing.
11. When you are finished entering Invoice items, press F9 to save the invoice.
12. The POS (Point of Sale) window pops up with these payment options:
0—Back to Invoice
1—Pay Cash
3—Pay Check #
4—Pay Credit Card Type
5—Layaway Sale
P—Print and Save Invoice
M—Multiple Invoices
R—Receipt Print
S—Save/No Print
D—Deposit Entry
B—Deposit Entry and Print
A. If the customer gave the exact change, press Enter. Press Enter again to print a receipt.
B. If the customer did not give exact change, type the amount the customer gave in the Amount Tendered field and press Enter. The correct amount of change to be returned to the customer appears in the Change field. Pay the change and press Enter to print a receipt.
13. Once the invoice is saved, you are ready to enter another one.
Printing Subtotals & Hiding Information (R)
You can change the printing of an invoice by entering a command line which contains a special code in the Unit field. These codes are listed below.
/—Print N/C (for no charge) instead of the Sell Price.
Q—Do not print quantity or price on this line.
U—Underline the amount by printing hyphens in the amount column.
O—Priced per ton and hide print, but include the total at the end.
N—Do not print this line, but include the amount in a total which will be printed by an H command (below).
W—Do not print the price or amount on this line, but include the amount in the total which will be printed by an H command (below).
H—Print a total of hidden amounts. This command must follow any item # or sequence of items in which printing amounts is suppressed.
*—Print a subtotal of all items above this point.
J—Print a job total; that is, a subtotal of all items listed since the previous subtotal or job total. Subtotals are calculated whenever the invoice is saved.
There are two ways to enter a command. You can set up a special inventory item with the Unit you want to use, or you can enter a remark instead of an item code on the invoice and enter the Unit directly.
Revision Maintenance and Auto-Ordering (R)
Revision here speaks of a “revised version or edition,” which makes this field very useful for publishers.
Revision and auto-ordering information is set up in the Inventory (I) screen. The program can maintain revisions on up to 5100 items on a per-customer basis.
To do this, it uses a revision cross-reference screen. This screen consists of a matrix with rows lettered from A to T, and columns from 1 to 255.
To track revisions for a certain item, you need to assign it a position in this matrix. This position may be anything from A1 to T255 and is called the activity location.
On the Inventory (I) screen in the *Core/Revision field, enter a single character to specify the current revision of that item. In the Activity Location field, enter the matrix location described above.
Below the Activity Location on the Inventory screen is a field labeled Code. This is the auto-order item number. Use this field if you want the purchase of this item to trigger the automatic ordering of the latest revision of another item.
For example, if you're selling student textbooks and the teacher’s keys, you could set up your system so that when the customer orders a textbook, the latest version of the corresponding teacher’s key is added to the invoice (prompting the sales person to mention the teacher’s key to the customer) unless another record indicates that this customer has purchased the teacher’s key before.
To set this up, load the inventory record for the student textbook, go to the Code field below Activity Location, and enter the item number for the teacher’s key. Save this. Then load the record for the teacher’s key. Go to the *Core/Revision field and enter the revision # of the teacher’s key as well as the Activity Location. Save this record.
Notice that the revisions are tracked on the auto-ordered item rather than the item that triggered the auto-order. In the example above, we tracked the revision of the teacher’s key (in Core/Revision field) rather than the revision of the student textbook.
The first time the program encounters an auto-order condition on a particular order or invoice, you will be asked, "Do you want to auto-order all, some, or no revision changes?" Respond with A, S or N.
If you respond with an S for some, you will get asked the same question each time you encounter an auto-order condition.
When you save an order or an invoice, all the auto-ordered items are displayed.
Changing Orders to Invoices (R)
To change orders to invoices, go to the % screen (F10, %) and select either I for Invoice or C for Check Order.
Select C if you want to check the invoice to be sure the item numbers and quantities match the printed work order. The cursor will be in the Order field. Enter the number of the order you are checking, and it will be loaded to the screen as an invoice. All you need to do now is fill in the ship quantities.
Select I if you simply want to change a work order into an invoice without checking. Enter the customer’s code. Once the order is loaded, enter the ship quantities and save.
Changing Quotes to Invoices (R)
To change a quote to an invoice, go to a blank invoice and type the reference number of the quote in the Quote # field. Press Enter. The information from the quote will automatically be transferred to the invoice screen.
You may make changes if you desire. When you are done, save it. When you save the invoice, the quote will be automatically deleted unless it had a Bill Code other than B, C, E, H or Q.
Restrictions are set up in two different places: in the Restriction field on the Inventory (I) screen, and in the Privilege Code field on the Customer Type (Y) screen.
If the Restriction Code in the Inventory (I) screen is blank, all customers will have access to that item. If an item which is restricted for a certain customer is entered on an order or invoice, an error message pops up, "Item Is Restricted for the Customer."
In the Privilege Codes field you may enter a series of restriction codes. This indicates that customers with that particular type may purchase any inventory items having any of those restriction codes.
Sales Tax Setup & Usage (R)
A state tax code must be set up in the Inventory (I) screen following the steps below.
1. Use an Item # of 3 characters or less. We recommend using the 2-letter postal service abbreviation for the state, preceded by a period. For example .NY for New York state sales tax or .PA for Pennsylvania state sales tax.
2. Enter the Description the way you want it to appear on invoices. (If it starts with PA, the program will recognize the tax code and calculate taxes according to PA charts, but % must still be specified in the Unit field.)
4. Enter N in the Minimum field to disable stock error messages and auto-ordering.
5. For the List Price, enter the rate expressed as a percentage. For example, enter 6.00 for a rate of 6%.
6. Leave the Multiplier blank if you want normal sales tax calculation, which rounds fractions of cents up to the next cent. If you want to round to the NEAREST cent instead, enter R in Multiplier.
7. Enter a Sales Tax G/L #. (ABC's standard Sales Tax G/L # is 3120.)
8. Enter X in the Tax field.
9. Press F9 to save.
In the Customer (C) screen, if a customer is normally taxable, enter the item code for the sales tax into the Tax Status field.
If the customer is tax exempt, leave Tax Status blank, or enter a tax code followed by a forward slash (/), as in PA/. Then enter the State Tax # or a reason for the exemption, such as, Out of State. If nothing is in the Tax Status field or in the Tax # field, a message alerting you to the fact appears when entering the customer on the Invoices (R) screen.
In the Invoices (R) screen, the Tax Code in the top section of the screen specifies whether the invoice is taxable. This field is automatically loaded from the Tax Status field in the Customer (C) screen.
If you want to tax a customer who is not normally taxable, enter the sales tax code, such as PA or NY into the Tax field in the top part of the invoice. If you do not want to tax a customer who is normally taxable, simply clear out the Tax field in the top part of the invoice, or enter / there, which will attach a forward slash to the tax code(s).
If you collect tax or track sales for more than one tax jurisdiction, you can enter multiple codes in Tax Status (C) or Tax (R). See the section on Multiple Tax Codes or tax code set up on the Inventory screen for further help on that.
If you want to enter the tax manually, set up an item in the Inventory (I) screen with an M in the Tax field. Then enter that item code as a line on the invoice. Put 1 in the Ship or Quantity field and the amount of the tax in the Sell or Amount column. The tax reports do not report any amount from the invoice as being taxable, although they will report the amount of the tax. WARNING: This is unconventional. The Tax field in the upper part of the invoice must have the State Tax code filled in so that tax reports calculate properly. Doing it this way, the tax reports show the taxable amount and the total tax for the invoice.
When you save an invoice that has a tax code, taxes are calculated automatically and attached to the end of the invoice. If you are editing an invoice on which the tax has already been calculated, you do not need to recalculate the tax manually. It is updated automatically when you save the invoice.
Use Tax (R)
The items to be tracked for Use Tax must be listed on separate Customer Invoices. (No other items but Use Tax items should be on the invoice). Use the Use Tax Code, (for example PAU) in the Tax field (located beside the Terms field) on the invoice.
The Use Tax is NOT added to the invoice.