Create Purchase Orders

This dialog is accessed through the main menu: P.O.S. / Purchase Orders / Create Purchase Orders.

Here you will create a list of line-items that you need to order.  This is usually for items in your inventory database, but you can also add any non-inventory items you need to.

Each line item can be ordered from a different vendor, and they can be all mixed up.  When the orders are printed, it will group all items for a given vendor into a single order, assign an appropriate P.O. # to all of the items for that vendor/order (unless you enter P.O. #'s manually), and print out one order form for each vendor represented.  If there are 10 line items from 3 different vendors, it will gather those items into 3 orders, one for each vendor.  (Technically it groups them by P.O. number, but those are generated automatically to be different for each vendor so it's the same thing if you're leaving those as "automatic" -- see below for more information.)

The order of the items does not matter as far as vendors, but the order is preserved for the items of a single vendor.  Therefore you should make sure that additional items like shipping charges are added at the bottom (and be careful about re-sorting them, which could move items around in the list).

Order Date

You can specify the actual date of the order by setting the date at the top of the dialog.  Normally it's the current day, of course, but you may have a reason to change the date, for instance if you need to keep it consistent with the date of the check.

P.O. Numbers

Unless you already have a P.O. # system that you maintain, you'll probably want to let Campground Master automatically assign P.O. numbers.  The numbers are created based on a format that you specify in Maintenance / Printing Options / Purchase Orders.  Until you actually create the orders, the number will be shown in this list as "(automatic)".

If you prefer to assign specific P.O. numbers, simply click on that field and type the P.O. number you want.  Be aware that if you enter your own P.O. numbers, then it will print separate orders based on those, not based on the vendors.  For instance,  If you enter different P.O. numbers for two items from the same vendor, two different orders will be printed.  Likewise, it will combine any with the same number -- so if you enter the same number for items from different vendors, they will be printed on the same order anyway!

Adding Items to an Order

There are a few different ways you can add items to your order, described below.  Remember that none of this is saved until you click the Create & Print Orders button at the bottom, so you can add and delete order items as needed until you get it the way you want, or cancel it altogether by closing the dialog without creating them.

Any time an item is added from inventory, the Qty (to order) will be set to the item's re-order minimum value, if it has one.  The Cost will also be filled in with the cost value in the database, and the vendor information will be filled in.  Note that the Vendor's Stock # and Vendor's Description may default to the Item Code and Item Description if those fields are blank for the inventory item, depending on the Printing Option settings.

Once an item is added, you're free to edit some of its details -- the Qty and Each values can be changed, you can select a different vendor, and change the Vendor's Stock # and Vendor's Description if needed.  The P.O. Number can be set also, if necessary (see above).

If you hold the mouse cursor over the Inventory Item field of any item, the description and quantity on hand will be shown in a pop-up window.  Note that if an item does not have an item code, its record number will be shown instead, like "<#4>".  This doesn't matter to the order (the Vendor's stock #/description will be used), and you can see the description by holding the mouse over it.  However we generally discourage entering items without an inventory code of some kind, even if it's a just word like "shirt".

If you need to see the Inventory Details or Vendor details for any item, click on the row once to highlight a field, then click the corresponding View button at the bottom.  You can edit the inventory or vendor record if needed.  Note that changing the item's cost or re-order minimum will not change the order cost or qty for line items already added.  Changing vendor information will affect the corresponding information printed on the orders, however.

The four different ways to add items to an order are described below:

Auto-Add all items below threshold

For "automatic" ordering, just click this button.  It will add all inventory items that show a current on-hand quantity equal to or less than the re-order threshold for that item.  Of course this must be used with care -- it won't know if items have already been ordered, so it could result in duplicate ordering.

•Adjusting the filter -- You can also adjust the criteria for this auto-add function, for instance if you only want to include items of a certain class, or items that have less than a certain quantity (regardless of the re-order threshold).  This is done by changing the filtering -- click Adjust Filter for items to auto-add.  After the filter is changed, the Auto-add button will change to "Auto-add all filtered items" to indicate that it's not just items below the re-order threshold anymore.  Note that any changes to the filter will be saved, and used next time also.  

•Resetting the filter -- If you want to reset this filter to just be items below the re-order threshold, then open the filter (Adjust Filter) and click Reset Filtering (include all), and uncheck the box for Include if qty <= re-order threshold.

Find Inventory Item to Order

Use this function to locate and add a particular item to the order.  This will open the Find Inventory dialog, where you can scan an item or enter a search term, or list items according to a filter specification.  (Or show all inventory items by unchecking both check-boxes.)  Once the desired item is located, double-click on that row (or select it with the keyboard arrows or mouse, and press Enter or click Use).  It will be added to the order with the cost, re-order minimum, and vendor information from the inventory record.

Find Previously Ordered Item

Use this function to locate a previous order and add an item to a new order, with the same quantity, price, and vendor as before.  The Find Purchase Order dialog will be shown, where you can use various search methods to locate the item you want.

Add a Non-Inventory Item

Use this function to add any miscellaneous items to an order, such as products not in the inventory database, shipping charges, fees, etc.  It will add a blank line to the order, and you simply fill in the information for each field.  These will appear on the order like any other items.

Creating the Orders

Once you've added all of the items you want to order, click the Create & Print Order button.  If there are any errors (missing information), you will be prompted to correct the errors and try again.  When everything is validated, all of the order items will be saved and it will open them in the Print Purchase Orders window (see that section for details).  The list there will be nearly identical, except that the real P.O. number will be filled in for any that were automatic, and the items cannot be edited.