Show Boxes
Show Boxes displays a column for Box in the Bill Of Materials Components window.
On an Item, you click the BOM tool to open the Component list and add components. The Components window shows Items and Qty's needed to Build or Bundle this item.
Box is an additional column for you to create packaging options to help with assembly. Click Show Boxes in Item Prefs and when you click the BOM tool it will Show Boxes.
Vendor Name
Vendor Name is now available in Add Columns in Items Search to help view and sort. Here's a way to find all Items that have a Vendor assigned--useful for automatic PO's.
Go to Items Search, Find All, click Add (+) on header row, and choose Vendor Name. This will add Vendor Name as a Column. Click Vendor Name column header to sort.
Right-click the Filter box above Vendor Name and choose # Not Equal To and Tab out. This will reduce the Items Search results to those "not equal to" blank for this Column.
Super-Turbo Mode
Super-Turbo boosts inventory to handle instant cost updates across thousands of kits.
Big Business uses a new purchase to update Cost, Landed Cost, and Margins for kits.
Bundle Price
Bundle Price is a custom, calculated Column for Items Search.
This Solution describes using this option. (6751)
Bundle Price is a custom, calculated Column for Items Search. Here are tips for use.
Bundle Price calculates the sum of the prices of Components for a Bundle Item. This lets you see a Bundle Price for a kit, which is useful when it is set to Use Component Pricing.
To Add (+) the Bundle Price as a Column, click the Add (+) button on the right of the column header and choose Bundle Price in the popup. You can then Sort by clicking the new column header for Bundle Price. Or move or resize the column as needed.
Bundle Price relies on Big Business Server to provide on-the-fly calculations.
Chapter 205 Item Admin
Item Admin describes the item tools to help you manage purchasing, builds, and more.
By automating more of your purchasing and build functions, you speed up operations.
Add Order At Least
Add Order At Least combines Order At Least and When Below to determine a Target Quantity when using the feature to Auto-Complete a Purchase Order. (6194)
To use Add Order At Least:
1. Go to the Vendor toolbar to Vendor Prefs.
2. Click the checkbox for Add Order At Least
3. Click OK to Save Vendor Prefs.
Changes take effect the next time you Sign In.
Without Add Order At Least, an automatically complete PO for the pictured Item would order 18. With Add Order At Least, it would order 30.
Setting the History View Duration
Setting the History View Duration
You can determine how many days of transaction information are displayed in the History view of Item Cards. The default is to show all transactions, but you can enter a specific number of days if you prefer.
If you set a specific number of days, all open transactions are displayed, even if they are outside the time period you specify. Similarly, transactions dated in the future (after the current time and date maintained by the computer) are always displayed.
To set the History view duration:
• In the Item Preferences window, enter a number of days in the Display History field. (3091)
Selling an Item into a Negative Quantity
Selling an Item into a Negative Quantity on Hand in Big Business Version 2.0 may result in incorrect values in the Item's Average Cost and Total Cost.
See Solution#3052 (Adjusting for Incorrect Item Average Costs) for details and a fix. (3025)
Big Business 2.5 improves your ability to sell Items into negative Quantities on Hand. Item Preference settings, also found in the Customer Prefs, enable warnings or prevent the save of transactions which overdraw your inventory. If your operation requires the ability to sell inventory not yet received on a Bill, though, Big Business 2.5 provides new features to minimize problems.
• New Prompts help keep your Cost for an Item current, even on Built Items.
• Selling Items into negative quantities on hand use appropriate costs.
• If replenishing the Item yields a cost difference a correction is made automatically.
• This correction no longer locks the purchase transaction
• The correction is available for editing as an Item Adjustment.
Auto Generate Item Codes
Big Business includes the option to Auto-Generate an Item Code in the form of a serial or sequential number. (3039)
To Auto-Generate Item Codes:
1. Open the Item Prefs.
2. Click on the Auto-Generate Item Code check box.
3. Enter a starting number in the Next Item Code field.
4. Save your changes by clicking the OK button.
Big Business will now assign an Item Code, in the form of a serial number, starting with the number you specified, to each new Item Card.
Line Item Comments
If you enter long descriptions in Item cards, these descriptions can appear as comments for line items. See “Including Long Item Descriptions as Comments” in Chapter 5 for more information.
You can read or edit comments by clicking the small document icon in the rightmost column.
This Solution describes using this features. (3072)
In Big Business, Line Item Comments are displayed in a separate window and can hold as much as 32,000 characters.
If you enter Detail Descriptions in Item cards, these descriptions can appear as comments for line items. This preference is set in the Item Prefs by checking the box marked, "Load Detail Desc. into L.I. Comments."
You read comments by placing the cursor in a line that has a comment and clicking the Comment button. The presence of a small document icon in the rightmost column indicates that a line has a comment.
To add a comment:
1. With the cursor in the line to which you want to add comments, then click the Comment button.
2. Enter the comment text in the dialog box that appears, then click the OK button.
To print Line Item Comments you must select one of the forms, "with Comments." You might print one form for the recipient, "with Comments," and another for the accounting department without the comments.
Item Batch Delete
The ability to delete unused Items en masse has long been requested by Big Business Users who generate numerous Quotes. Many companies want to be able to Quote from an imported catalog of Items. In the end, they may only end up selling a fraction of the Items they imported for Quotes.
The Items that are sold contain historical transaction information and can not be deleted. The Items that have only been used in Quotes can be deleted by first deleting the expired Quotes, then the Item Card.
Item Batch Delete (and Quote Batch Delete) facilitate this process.
In the picture above is the dialog for the Batch Delete, but notice also the Item List behind. The Batch Delete has already been run on the entire list, leaving the 65 Items that contain transaction histories. All other Items were deleted. (3126)
Big Business 2.5 allows you to Batch Delete Item Cards which have no transaction history. Because this Delete is permanent, you should exercise proper caution in its use. Items which have been used in any transaction cannot be deleted. Refer to the section on Employee Access Privileges for restricting Access to the Batch Delete tool. You may also want to Back Up your Company data file, or export the selection of Item Cards you are attempting to Delete, prior to deleting them.
To Batch Delete Items, using the Item QuickSearch:
1. Find the selection of Item Cards to Delete.
2. Click the Batch Delete tool to Delete all Item Cards in the current List.
Big Business will display a confirmation dialogue offering to Continue or Cancel.
3. Select Continue to attempt to permanently delete all Items in the List.
Big Business will provide you a list of those Items which could not be Deleted.
If you select one Item in the List and click Batch Delete, Big Business will display a dialogue with a choice of Deleting the selected Item, Deleting all Items in the List, or Canceling.
This feature is designed to clean up after erroneous imports of Items or if you have a number of Item Cards that were never used. In addition to Bills and Invoices, which display on the Item history; Quotes, Sales Orders, and Purchase Orders which include an Item will prevent its being Deleted, as will its being a component in a Built Item. You may use the Batch Delete tools for these transactions to eradicate an old Item.
Commenting Decription1 and Description2
Big Business lets edit the Description 1 and 2 fields on Line Items. Type the Comment character and Big Business will not look for a matching item and instead keep the changes.
This Solution describes this functionality.
(5655)
Big Business includes the ability to Comment the Description 1 and 2 fields on Line Items on transactions with Items.
To Add a Comment to Description 1 or 2:
1. Insert your cursor in the Description to change.
2. Type the Comment Character, `, using the key above Tab (with tilde).
3. Type your comment or changes to the description.
4. Hit the Tab key.
The Comment Character is automatically removed and your comment remains without prompting an Item lookup. If you do not type the comment character, a lookup is triggered and another Item is selected or the Item Listing appears, sorted by the relevant column (Description1 or Description2) with the closest match highlighted. Cancel to restore the previous Item and carefuly type the comment character (` above the Tab key).
Update Items as Obsolete
Big Business 7 adds the option to Update Items as Obsolete. (6127)
Marking Items as Obsolete:
• tests that the Item can be marked Obsolete including checking that all inventory quantities (On Hand, On Order, etc.) are zero and Total Cost is zero
• suppresses Obsolete Items from the Item Listing
• includes Obsolete Items in reports and searches unless they are excluded using the Obsolete or other (Qty On Hand, etc.) search criteria
To Update Items as Obsolete:
1. On the Item toolbar, click Find Item and find Items you want to mark Obsolete.
2. On the resulting Item List window click Update.
3. In the Apply To Selection dialog choose Obsolete and Yes.
4. Click the OK button.
5. Click Continue on the confirmation dialog.
If there are Items in the selection that cannot be marked Obsolete, because they have quantities, the result list will tell you that some Items could not be Updated.
In other words, it is safe to attempt to Update Items as Obsolete. If they are not ready, they will not be marked Obsolete.
One approach to consider is to add a Tag to Items that you plan to mark as Obsolete once they are depleted. You can Add a Tag on the Folder tab of the Item Card, using the Update Item Import, or using the Update button on the Item List window as above. Then Find Items with the Tag in the first step above.
Consignment Options
This Solution provides a procedure for tracking Consignments from Vendors.
By definition, consigned product is valued in the consignor's inventory. As the consignee you do not value consigned product in your inventory, nor do you record any liability to the Vendor until you have sold the product. This Solution assumes that you, not your Vendor, will be invoicing your customer. When you are ready to ship an order of consigned product, you will first "purchase" the product from the Vendor.
The following issues are addressed:
-Providing the Vendor a receipt for consigned product
-Tracking quantities and availability of consigned product
-Determining which "purchases" need to be made to fill orders for consigned products
-Keeping complete histories to facilitate reporting
Please read this Solution in its entirety before implementation. Direct any technical questions to support@bigbusiness.com. For accounting questions, consult your CPA. If you are creating a new data file, you should consider any modifications you might make to your import files (in a spreadsheet) to avoid having to modify Cards one at a time.
(3195)
1) It is recommended that you create an additional Inventory Account for consigned Items. This Account should clear to zero and can therefore be used to spot any discrepancies. After Setup, you can add the Account using the Account Card tool on the Bookkeeper toolbar. Name the Account appropriately (e.g. 1350-Consigned Inventory) and specify the Account Type as "Current Asset." NOTE: You must add your new account as an Inventory Account before you can select it from the Item Card. Go to the Item toolbar, open Item Prefs, click the Accounting tab, and in the Inventory Categories click the Add button. Select your new Account to make it available as an Inventory Account.
2) Create Item Cards for consigned product using the following criteria:
• Bought (as appropriate, you will be buying the consigned product you are selling)
• Inventoried (enables quantity tracking)
• Sold
•(Recommended) Specify an Item Type of "Consigned."
Use the Show List option in the Item Type field and Add an Item Type of "Consigned." This will help tremendously when reporting on consigned Items.
•(Recommended) Select your "Consigned Inventory" Account as the Asset Account.
• Specify a Cost (if you "overdraw" your Inventory, the Cost is used for the COGS posting; however, it is recommended that you avoid selling into a negative Quantity on Hand by keeping current on your "purchases.")
• Royalty Percentage Rate/Amount Per Item is not necessary for this Solution
• Specify a primary Vendor for the Item
3) Set ETA Days on the Vendor's Card to a number other than zero. This Solution relies on Big Business's ability to calculate an ETA date on a Sales Order. If Vendor ETA Days is zero, this calculation is useless. NOTE: You can use QuickChange in the Vendor QuickSearch tool to assign ETA Days to a found set (or all) Vendors.
4) If you need to provide your Vendor with a Consignment Receipt, you can create one using the Custom Form/Report tool. On the InfoCenter toolbar select the Custom Form/Report Tool. Click New and select the Purchase Order template. Double-click on the "Purchase Order" text box and enter "Consignment Receipt." Add your logo or company information. From the small File menu, open the Page Setup and confirm the settings. From the small File menu, select Save As and name your form (e.g. Consignment Receipt).
5) When you receive consigned product from your Vendor, create a Purchase Order for the Items received. Set the ETA for each Line Item to the date received. Print a receipt for the Vendor using the form created in Step 3. This Purchase Order will track your stock of the consigned Items. Before Invoicing a Sales Order for a consigned Item, you will "purchase" the necessary quantity from the Vendor by creating a partial Bill for this Purchase Order.
6) To determine stock levels for a particular consigned Item, refer to the Qty On Order field on the Item Card. This field is a running total of the sum of Open Purchase Orders for the Item. This field can be verified at any time (see Solution #3117).
7) Don't fall asleep yet. We're just getting to the important parts.
8) When creating new Sales Orders you can rely upon the ETA Date for a consigned Line Item to determine availability (without checking the Qty On Order on the Item Card). When you add a Line Item, Big Business fills in the ETA Date according to the following:
-If the Quantity Available is positive, today, otherwise...
-If covered by an Open Purchase Order, the ETA Date of the Line Item on the P.O.
-Otherwise, today plus Vendor ETA Days.
Since your consigned Items that are in stock are Inventoried, have Open P.O.'s, and have the received date as the Line Item ETA on the P.O. the Line Item ETA on a new Sales Order will be TODAY if you have available stock. Since you have set Vendor ETA Days to a number other than zero, the ETA Date will show a date later than today if you do not have available stock.
9) Before Invoicing a Sales Order for consigned Items, create the Bill to "purchase" the Item from the Vendor. Use the Reports and Q&A's listed below to facilitate creating "batch" purchases to cover multiple orders.
10) If you return consigned Items to the Vendor, modify the Purchase Order to reflect the change in quantities. If all Items are returned (or the entire balance on a Partial P.O.) click the Closed box on the Purchase Order. NOTE: Never delete a Purchase Order.
11) If you accept Returns from Customers, you can create Vendor Bills with negative quantities, or simply "purchase" net quantities on your next Bill. You can verify that you are in sync by checking the balance on the Consignment Inventory account.
Useful Reports:
[Items] Open Items on Orders, sorted by Item (Summary)
-Search: Item Type is Consigned
-Use: shows "batch" totals for consigned Items that need to be "purchased" to cover open Sales Orders.
[Vendors] Open Items on Purchase Orders, sorted by Vendor (Summary)
-Search: Item Type is Consigned
-Search: All (Vendors)
-Use: summarizes consigned Item stock levels by Vendor
Useful Q&A's: NOTE: Q&A results can be double-clicked to go to individual records.
[Customers] Which Orders can be fully shipped?
-Use: includes all Sales Orders with consigned Items that have been "purchased" and are therefore ready to ship.
[Customers] Which Orders are waiting for Items to arrive?
-Use: includes all Sales Orders with consigned Items that need to be "purchased" before they can be shipped.
[Vendors] Which PO's have open Items past their E.T.A. date?
-Use: includes all Purchase Orders with consigned Items if you entered the received date as the ETA Date for each Line Item (unless received on the same day).
[Vendors] Which PO's have open Items needed to fill Customer Orders?
-Use: includes all Purchase Orders with consigned Items that need to be "purchased" to fill Open Sales Orders.
Update Items Import
The Update Items Import provides a convenient means to:
• update prices--from a spreadsheet, emailed pricelist, etc.
• create new price levels--using values calculated in Excel, etc.
• update descriptions including Detail Description and Custom Fields
• import a new Item Code for part number changes
(5688)
The Update Item Import lets you import changes to existing Item Cards. It works by using the Item Code in the import file to find the matching Item in Big Business, then overwriting the other fields selected for import. In the pictured import mapping, Item Code will find the matching Item, and Level 1 Price on the Item Card will be replaced with the 1-Retail Price being imported. The Update Item Import will only work properly if you have unique Item Codes for the Items to be updated.
Before using the Update Item import option, it is recommended that you create a backup of your data file. Not only will you have a backup in case of disaster, by shutting down Big Business you will free any locked records (e.g. open on users' screens) which otherwise might not update.
To Update Items:
1. Create a tab-delimited text file of item updates including Item Code and any fields to be updated. Exporting from an Item QuickSearch, editing the export file in a spreadsheet, and re-saving as Tab-Text is a convenient method.
2. From the Maintenance toolbar, select the Import tool.
3. In the dialog, select your import file, then the Update Items import option.
4. Map the lookup field, Item Code, and the fields to be updated.
5. If your import file has headers (e.g. 'Item Code', 'Desc1') select the "Do Not Import Header' option.
6. Edit the Import Tag as necessary so you can easily find the Items which were updated in this import.
7. Click OK to proceed with the import.
When the import is complete, a list of updated Items will be displayed.
Imported Item Codes that do not find a match are skipped, so you can import a vendor's complete list, when you only carry a portion. Imported Item Codes that find more than one match modify the first Item found, only, and report the problem in the error log. If error log entries are created, at the end of the import, a dialog will ask if you want to save the error log for reference.
Avg. Qty Sold
Items Search can show calculations for the average quantity sold (for last twelve months and last three months) named:
• Avg. Qty Sold 12-Mos.
• Avg. Qty Sold 3-Mos.
This Solution describes using these entries. (6667)
On the Items Search you can click the Add (+) button on the column header to add new columns. Among the choices are calculations named:
• Avg. Qty Sold 12-Mos.
• Avg. Qty Sold 3-Mos.
These calculate the average quantity sold for the prior twelve months, or three months.
In specific, if you are viewing the results mid-April then the choice Avg. Qty Sold 3-Mos. will calculate total units sold in January, February, and March, and divide by three.
These calculations are performed on-the-fly on the Server, so should be quick, even when running Client remotely. Sorting as in the picture can take extra time if you have a lot of items or invoices (30 sec. for 30,000 items on 50,000 invoices in our tests).