The Inventory general product information screen allows the display and entry of general information pertaining to inventory products. A picture of this screen is shown below.
This screen is displayed when the Inventory data entry form is first selected from the Select, Inventory menu or after the pricing screen is processed. A description of the fields on this screen follows.
Product
required
This is a unique product code. It can be up to fifteen characters long. Once this code has been assigned to a particular inventory product, it cannot be used for any other inventory product. This code is used whenever a transaction involving an inventory product is entered.
Input to this field is required.
Product Description
required
This is the descriptive name of the product. It can be up to 35 characters long and appears on purchase orders, invoices, statements, and reports.
Input to this field is required.
Category
required
This field is used to organize the inventory items into groups. When a report is printed, the inventory items are listed by category. A partial inventory listing can be obtained by selecting the category of the items to be printed. The category name or code can be up to ten characters long.
Input to this field is required.
General Ledger Accounts
The next three fields on this screen are General Ledger accounts; each is used for various purposes throughout the accounting system. The content of each of these fields is validated against the General Ledger master file. The account numbers entered in these fields must have be in the General Ledger master file.
A validation screen is provide for each of the General Ledger account fields to examine the General Ledger master file. This feature is useful to search for unknown / forgotten account numbers.
When a valid General Ledger account is entered into one of the account fields, the name of the account, as it appears in the General Ledger master file, is displayed to the right of the account.
The next three sections describe the use of the General Ledger account fields.
Cost of Goods Sold Account
required, validated
This is the General Ledger account to be used for cost of goods sold. The cost of the inventory item is posted to this account when it is sold. This account number is used only by the Accounts Receivable system.
Input to this field is required. (See previous section, General Ledger Accounts, for more information on accounts.)
Controlling Account
required, validated
This is the General Ledger account used to create the inventory subsidiary ledger. Because this account is specified for each inventory item, multiple controlling accounts are permitted.
Input to this field is required. (See previous section, General Ledger Accounts, for more information on accounts.)
Sales Account
required, validated
This is the General Ledger account used to accrue sales revenue. Since this account is specified for each inventory item, multiple sales accounts are permitted.
Input to this field is required. (See previous section, General Ledger Accounts, for more information on accounts.)
Unit Cost
display
This field represents the average unit cost of the item. The amount in this field is calculated when the process, Reprice Inventory Using Margins, is run. The reprice process rounds any amount over nine cents to the nearest penny.
This is a display only field.
Qty on Hand
display
This field is updated every time the quantity of the inventory product is increased or decreased. For example, if a shipment for 100 units of the inventory product is received, 100 units are added to to this field. When an invoice for 50 units of product is entered, this field is decreased by 50.
This is a display only field.
Outstanding Orders
display
This field represents the number of units ordered by a customer but not yet shipped. This includes sales orders entered for future shipment. This field is increased when an sales order for the product is entered. It is decreased when a packing slip is created for the product, or when an sales order is cancelled.
This field is display only.
Qty Committed
display
This field indicates the number of units in the Qty on Hand field that are committed to a customer shipment but are still in the packing stage (the sales order is being physically filled in the warehouse for later shipment). As packing slips are created by the Order Entry system, this field is increased; the Qty on Hand field remains the same. When the packing slip has been shipped, an invoice is created which decreases this field and decreases the Qty on Hand field.
This field is display only.
Value
display
This field is updated each time the quantity of the inventory product is increased or decreased. The value is calculated in terms of cost per unit.
This is a display only field.
Reorder Point
optional
The automated restocking process uses the value in this field to determine when to reorder the product. This field is also used in printing the Reorder Report. The report shows that the product should be reordered if one or more of the following situations is true:
The amount in the Qty on Hand field is less than or equal to the amount in the Re-order Point field.
The amount in the Qty on Hand field is less than or equal to the amount in the Outstanding Orders field.
The amount in the Qty on Hand field is less than or equal to the sum of the amounts in the Outstanding Orders and Qty Committed fields.
Input into this field is optional.
Order Quantity
optional
Enter the quantity of the item to order. The automated restocking process uses this value in determining the products to reorder. This quantity also appears on the Reorder Report.
Input into this field is optional.
Pricing Structure
required
This field describes how the product is priced. There are three different categories of price structures that can be entered: none, customer, or quantity.
None means there is only one price for the product. When the price structure is none, the price for the product is entered into the Price field on this screen. The margin for this product is entered on this screen in the Margin field.
A customer price structure means the price is based on the type of customer purchasing the product. Examples of types of customers are: retail, wholesale, and discount. The customers type is stored in the Customer Master file. It is entered into the Codes field on the customer screen. The customer screen can be accessed through either the Order Entry system or the Accounts Receivable system. If a product has a customer price structure, the prices and margins for the product are entered on the next screen, the price structure screen. The Price and Margin fields on this screen should be zero or left blank.
A quantity price structure means the price depends on the number of units purchased. If a product has a quantity price structure, the prices and margins for the product are entered on the next screen, the price structure screen. The Price and Margin fields on this screen should be either zero or left blank.
Input to this field is required.
Margin
optional
This is the percentage of the price that becomes gross profit. For example, if the price of an item is $2.00 and the margin is 50%, the gross profit is $1.00. The Margin field should only be filled if the price structure is none. The margin percentages for customer and quantity price structures are entered on the next screen.
This field is used to recalculate the price during the repricing process, Reprice Inventory Using Margins.
Input to this field is optional.
Price
optional
The price entered here appears as the default price for the product when an sales order or invoice is entered. This field should be zero or left blank if the price structure is either customer or quantity. The price for either of these price structures is entered on the next screen.
The reprice process, Reprice Inventory using Margins, calculates the price using the percentage entered in the Margin field.
Input to this field is optional.
Discount?
optional, default=no
Enter a y or Y for yes if a customer can get a customer discount on this product. The default discount rate for a customer is stored in the customer master file. The default value for this field is no.
Input to this field is optional.
Taxable?
optional
Enter a y or Y for yes if the product is taxable. This field is used as the default value for the Tax field on the sales order and Accounts Receivable invoice screens.
Input to this field is optional.
Commission?
optional, default=no
Enter y or Y for yes if the sales reps can earn commission on this product. The default value for this field is no.
Input to this field is optional.
Location Code
optional, validated
The Purchase Order system allows multiple receiving points for a company. Often, inventory products are received at only one of these multiple points. When this is true, the location code can be entered in this field. All reordered products with the same vendor, lead time, and location code are combined into one purchase order. If all products are shipped to a central receiving station, this field can be left blank.
The location codes entered are validated against entries in the Company Receiving Addresses master file.
Input into this field is optional.