Inventory (Incoming)

Incoming

This is the default Inventory screen (i.e. it is displayed when Inventory is selected in the main CommTrak menu).

Inventory Control

When viewing any Inventory screen, the main Inventory options can be selected in this section. The other main Inventory options displayed in this section are documented in separate Support Centre articles:

Inventory Items - Incoming

This section contains the tabs that provide access to the views available on the Incoming screen:

Pressing on one of the above tabs will update the lower section of the Incoming Inventory screen accordingly.

Pending Items to Order

This tab displays a list of items that require ordering as a result of a successful Lead. New orders can also be created from this tab.

Items will only be listed in this tab if a Supplier has been specified for at least one of the line items in the related Quote.

Pending items can be filtered by:

  • Lead ID - Enter the Lead ID into the Search field, and press Find
  • Supplier name - Select the Supplier from the dropdown list
  • Quote date range - Enter the start and end dates for the range, using the date selection fields

For each item in the orders list, the related Lead and the Order Summary can be viewed by pressing the Lead ID or the information (i) icon respectively. If the Lead ID is pressed, the Lead will be displayed in a new tab. The Order Summary is displayed in a pop-up window.

To add a new purchase order for pending items:

  • Tick the box in the left-most column for the required item(s), and press New Order (located at the bottom of the screen). To select all displayed items, tick the box at the top of the left-most column
  • Review the Quantities column to determine the number of Required, In Stock, Reserved, Dispatched, and Ordered items
  • Specify a Required By date as appropriate
  • Select the quantity (Qty) to order
  • Press  - the Create new purchase order section will be displayed:

Supplier Catalogue Items

Quoted Supplier Catalogue items are listed in this section, and can be added as Inventory Item Types.

For more information, see Support Centre article: Supplier Catalogue Item to Inventory Item Type.

Add New Purchase Order

This tab enables the user to create a new purchase order for a single Supplier.

This view can be accessed by pressing on the Add new purchase order tab, or by selecting items in the Pending items to order tab and pressing the New Order button, as detailed in the section above.

Multiple Suppliers may have been selected in the Pending items to order tab, but only a single purchase order will be created. A warning is displayed if multiple Suppliers have been selected.

The following fields are available:

The fields below marked with a * will be populated automatically if   was pressed in the Pending items to order tab.

  • Date (default today) - The date to appear on the purchase order.
  • Supplier* - Select the Supplier name from the dropdown list.
  • Lines* - Select the number of line items for the order. The number of lines specified in this field will be reflected in the number of Item Type fields displayed, so multiple items can be added to the order.
  • Supplier Note - An optional note for the Supplier.
  • Ship To - The delivery address. This defaults to the address specified in General Settings > Company Details, but can be edited if required.
  • Item Type* - The number of Item Type lines depends on the Lines field (see above). A link to the related Quote is presented in the field label, which will open in a new tab if pressed. See below for details about the additional fields in this row.
  • Freight ex-tax - An ex-tax value can be specified for the freight, and this can be specified as taxable (GST) or tax-free (FRE) by selecting the required option from the dropdown list.
  • Insurance ex-tax - An ex-tax value can be specified for the freight insurance, and this can be specified as taxable (GST) or tax-free (FRE) by selecting the required option from the dropdown list.
  • Other ex-tax - Enter a label in the text box, and specify an ex-tax value. This value can be specified as taxable (GST) or tax-free (FRE) by selecting the required option from the dropdown list.
  • Total ex-tax (read-only) - The total order value including the optional Freight, Insurance and Other values.

Press to create the purchase order.

During the creation of the purchase order, the order in which line items are displayed cannot be modified; they are saved in the order in which they were added. Once saved, the purchase order can be reopened and the sort-order can be specified, as described in the section Sort Order of Purchase Order Line Items, in this article.

The ability for users to add an order is restricted by the Inventory Purchase Order Limit value in their User Settings (see Support Centre article Users, Settings). If the user does not have a sufficient value set, they will be presented with a dialogue box enabling the user to select the name of a user who is authorised to place the order (i.e. users with a high enough order limit value). The selected user will receive an email containing a CommTrak link, enabling them to confirm or decline the order.

A purchase order can be viewed or edited in the Purchase orders tab...

Purchase Orders

By default, this tab lists Active Orders (i.e. unfulfilled purchase orders) for all Suppliers.

Purchase orders can be viewed or edited in from this tab.

Orders can be filtered by:

  • Order status - select either Active Orders or All Orders from the dropdown list. By default, Active Orders are listed.
  • Supplier - select the Supplier from the dropdown list. By default, all Suppliers are listed.

The section header for the orders list changes to Active purchase orders or All purchase orders depending upon on the selected filter.

The Purchase Orders list displays the following columns:

  • Date created
  • Order No - E.g. PO123
  • Created By - The name of the user who created the purchase order
  • Supplier
  • Fulfilled - The percentage of the order that has been received (calculated as a percentage of the quantity ordered)

To display an order, press anywhere on the row.

The purchase order fields are displayed as described in the above section, Add new purchase order, with the inclusion of three additional fields: 

  • Details - Details... 
  • New Note - Details...
  • Sort By - Select the Inventory Item field by which the PO items should be sorted (see below section, Sort Order of Purchase Order Line Items, for further information on this feature).
Adding Line Items

To add a line item to the order, select the total number of lines in the Lines dropdown list. For example, if there are currently two lines, and an additional line is required, select 3 in the dropdown list.

Existing line items cannot be removed, other than removing items from the end of the list by reducing the number in the Lines field. For example, changing the Lines field from 6 to 4, would remove the last two of the existing 6 line items.

Sort Order of Purchase Order Line Items

Once a purchase order has been saved (i.e. once the PO number has been generated), the line items in a purchase order can be sorted as required. The sort options are:

  • Default - line items are listed in the order they were added at the time the PO was created
  • Sorting by selected field - select the Inventory Item field by which the PO items should be sorted
  • Manual sorting - Choose the position of each item in the list

Once sorted, the default order (the order in which the items were added) cannot be restored automatically.

Sorting by Selected Field

To select a sort-order for the items, choose the required Inventory Item field from the Sort By dropdown list:

Manual Sorting
Line items can be sorted manually by specifying the new position for the item from the dropdown list in the Position column:

The selected item will be repositioned immediately.

Save Button

Saves changes to the current order and returns to the Purchase Orders list.

Deliver Button

Displays the formatted purchase order form on-screen.

The formatted purchase order form can be exported to a file, or emailed to the Supplier using the buttons displayed at the bottom of the purchase order.

When exporting or emailing, the following options are available by making the required selection from the Output Format dropdown list:

  • Pdf - a PDF file is generated
  • Spreadsheet - an Excel-compatible spreadsheet (xlsx) file is generated
  • Pdf and Spreadsheet - both a PDF and Excel (xlsx) file are generated

When emailing, the standard CommTrak email pop-up window is displayed, and the selected file(s) are automatically attached to the email.

When exporting, the generated files are saved using the web browser's standard download feature. If the Pdf and Spreadsheet option was selected, a zip file containing both files is saved.

Receive button

The Receive button is a shortcut to the main Receive items view described below.

Finalise Button

Pressing the Finalise button confirms that no further items are to be received for this purchase order, and the order is no longer active.

Delete Button

Pressing the Delete button will delete the purchase order (after confirmation). The purchase order will no longer appear in the Purchase orders list.

Receive Items

The following fields are available:

  • Date - The date upon which the item will be recorded as being added into inventory; defaults to today's date
  • Supplier - Select the supplier from which the goods are being received in this delivery
  • Purchase Order - Select the purchase order from which you wish to receive the items from
  • Lines - The number of line items that are being received in this delivery. For practical purposes, a maximum of 200 items can be added at one time. To receive more than 200 items, add the first 200 items, then repeat the process.
  • Comments - A free-form text field for this delivery receipt. For example, information from the delivery note (if any) can be provided
  • Going To - The inventory location into which the items are being placed. For information relating to managing inventory locations, see Settings > Inventory Settings > Inventory Locations
  • Update Average Buy Price (Yes / No) - Default is Yes. Will the average buy price for inventory items of this type be updated based on the incoming inventory
  • Item Type - The type of item being added to the inventory. An Item Type line will be displayed for the number of lines specified in the above-mentioned Lines field. Further information about the Item Type field is detailed below:
Item Type Selection

The Item Type can be selected by one of the following methods, presented in the Item Type dropdown list:

  • Search - Enter a minimum of any three consecutive characters (including spaces) into the search box; matching items will be listed in a dropdown box, together with the Unit Sale Price. Pressing an item in the list will select it.
  • Select - Select the required item from the dropdown list. Items in the list are categorised alphabetically by manufacturer, and then by item type.

For information relating to managing Inventory Item Types, see Settings > Inventory Settings > Inventory Items.

Item Type Details

This field is populated automatically, based on the Item Type Selection (described above).

Buy Price

The Unit Buy Price (as specified in the Inventory Item Settings). This can be updated if required.

Qty

The quantity of the line item being received.

Serial Number #

The serial number of each item should be entered here; one serial number per field.

The number of Serial Number # fields adjusts automatically based on the number specified in the Qty field.

If an item is specified in the Inventory Settings as mandatorily requiring a serial number, it is not possible to continue without entering a serial number. See the Support Centre section, Settings > Inventory Settings > Inventory Items > Serial Required, for further information.

Add Button

Confirms receipt of the incoming inventory items.

Upon pressing the button, the items are added to the inventory, and the Purchase orders view is displayed.