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.
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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.
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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
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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).