CP0000 Customer Order Processing Overview
Overview
How To Use This Manual
When most people receive a new product, they want to use it right away. Unfortunately, this is not quite possible when dealing with computer hardware and software. This manual is intended to serve as a reference guide in describing the functionality and the application of the Customer Order Processing package.
The first few sections of this manual are intended to introduce the user to the Customer Order Processing Package (COP) and help get started. The latter sections are for reference when the user has specific questions about each of the Customer Order Processing applications. These applications are described later in this section under COP Menu Bar Selections and Definitions.
It is suggested that the user first read the System Manager manual. The Package Overview section of this manual gives an overview of the Customer Order Processing package. The General Operator Instructions in the System Manager manual explains how to enter and edit data and the use of special keys on the keyboard. The Startup section gives step‑by‑step instructions on how to load the programs, create the data files, and enter the initial data. The Processing Procedures section gives direction in daily, period and year ending procedures.
The user should then scan each of the COP sections to understand how each of the COP applications work. A very basic description of each of these applications is also contained under the heading COP Menu Bar Selections and Definitions which is part of this Package Overview.
Data Load Sheets are included in the manual under many of the applications. These sheets may be used to manually fill out the data that must be entered at the computer. They may be helpful in easing data entry.
Sample screens and reports are also included under each of the appropriate COP applications. These are a guide to show the user the type of screens and reports that may be obtained from the system.
There are certain terms and concepts with which you should become familiar before reading this manual. This overview deals with that and also introduces you to important functions of the Customer Order Processing package.
COP Menu Bar Selections And Definitions
There are many Customer Order Processing functions, which can be performed by this COP package.
Maintenance
Sales Hist Period File
This is where you define your period file for sales history data.
Price Code File
This application allows you to define up to eight types of price break tables.
Ship-To File
Allows you to define multiple shipping addresses for your customers.
Prod Cat/Loc Acct File
This assigns sales and cost of goods sold account numbers to specific product categories. This application will be used if the questions Post Cost of Goods Sold ? is set to Yes and Profit Center Usage in COP Setup is set to Product category.
Customer Item File
Allows you to define and cross-reference customer item numbers for billing and shipping purposes.
User Defined Code File
Allows you to define Reason Codes for returned goods, credit memo’s.
Yearly User Defined Codes
Allows you to define a Year to track reason codes monthly.
Yearly Customer Defined Code
Allows you to defined Customers that you want to track reasons codes for.
Commission Structure
Allows you to define 5 additional commission structures that supercede the standard COP and I/M defaults.
Future Price Maintenance
Order Serial Lot File
Inquiry
Order Inquiry
Allows you to quickly display on the screen any open or posted (but not purged) orders on file for a customer.
Customer Account Inquiry
Allows you to inquire on customer open and history items with access to customer credit history and open item notes.
Stock Status Inquiry
Allows you to view key stock status data by customer with the ability to inquire on price breaks, component availability, available to promise quantity, customer information and credit history.
Available to Promise Inquiry
Allows inquiry into future quantity available based on purchase orders, customer orders and shop floor orders.
Invoice History
Provides 5 choices to inquire on invoice history.
Freight Calculation
Allows you to perform freight calculations for orders and non-existing orders
Newly Received Items Inquiry
Allows you to view inventory receivings by date.
Line Item Auditing Inquiry
Processing
Order Entry
Allows the entry of customer orders.
Order Billing
Allows you to select and enter billing information for orders.
Sales History Trx Processing
Allows you to enter and edit transactions to the sales history transaction file.
Post Invoices To A/R
Allows you to post all transactions created in Order Entry into the A/R and I/M files.
Purge Posted Invoices
Allows you to remove invoices through a specified date from the system.
Post/Purge Sales History Trx
Allows you to post sales history transaction records to the sales history file. You may also purge these
transaction records from the Sales History Transaction file.
Consolidate/Close Customer Orders
Allows you to merge old orders into a new order. Also allows you to close partially posted orders.
Activate Blanket Orders
This process generates regular orders from previously entered blanket orders.
Fill Backorders
Allows you to manually or automatically fill existing backorders for an item at a specific location.
Sales Desk
Allows fast processing of orders and creating quotes for price and stock availability inquires, and could
be considered a sub-module for salesmen and a customer service department.
Sales History Processing
Allows you to perform the period and year-end procedures for sales history as well as purge sales
history records with a zero balance in the amount fields.
Clear I/M & A/R Accumulators
Allows you to clear period and year-to-date fields for both A/R and I/M.
Issue Serial/Lot Component Items
Allows for the issue of Serial/Lot components for non-stocked parent.
Print Invoices
Allows you to print Invoices.
Print Pick/Pack Tickets & Ship Labels (Includes Shipping Verification)
Allows you to print picking tickets, packing lists, shipping labels, shipping acknowledgements via e-mail, and Bill of Lading.
Bar Code Options
Allows you to access the Elliott bar code system, if it is installed.
Copy Orders
Allows copying an order by all items or product category. Useful for multiple “Ship-To” orders.
Release Held Orders
Selective release of orders put on hold by the Elliott Credit Check and Release feature.
Print Duplicate Invoices
Provides the ability to reprint an invoice.
Reports
Sales History Reports
Allows you to print six sales history reports that will help in analyzing your sales.
Sales Analysis Reports
Allows you to print three sales analysis reports to help in analyzing your sales and inventory.
Order Status Reports
Allows you to print five reports on open order status.
Backorder Audit Trail Report
A report showing all transactions for filling backorders.
Price List Report
Allows you to print the prices by price code, item number and product category.
Invoice History Reports
Provides seven different report types for printing invoice history.
Line Item Auditing Report
Prints item transaction history with selective Auditing dates. This feature provides five different types of reports.
Print RMA Acknowledgement
Prints RMA Acknowledgement for RMA orders.
Open Order by Salesman Report
Prints report with 8 different criteria selections.
Util Setup
COP Setup
Allows you to tailor the Customer Order Processing package to the way you do accounting in your company.
Invoice Form Setup
Allows you to customize form layout so invoices can be printed on any continuous or laser form designed by your art department or acquired through an outside vendor.
Print Spooled Reports
Allows you to print reports that were previously spooled to a disk file.
Generate P/O Reference
Reset customer Sales/Cost
Design Your Own Order
Purge Invoice History
Void Invoice
Cancel Order
Cancel Printing Ticket
Mass Price Change
Sales Order Export
Sales Order Import
Contract Pricing
A General Explanation Of Customer Order Processing
Major Functions
Three major functions of Customer Order Processing can be identified.
First, the customer sends in a purchase order and you respond by transferring the information on the purchase order into an order. This order stores a great deal of general information about the customer, the shipping destination, the terms of sale, the responsible salesperson, etc. The order also contains specific information about what was ordered, how much, at what price, and when the merchandise should be shipped. Orders are entered through the Order Entry module. This module has other capabilities, but what you are basically concerned with is logging the customer's purchase request so that merchandise can be shipped to fill the order.
The second major function is the printing of a picking ticket so that the shipping department will know what to send to the customer. All or part of the order may be shipped at one time, depending upon the customer's desires and stock availability. The shipping clerk will mark on the picking ticket the actual quantities shipped, then forward the document to the Billing Department.
The third major function is the printing of invoices that bill the customer for the merchandise that was shipped. The billing clerk must identify those items on the order that were shipped and those that were back ordered and will be shipped later, those that are out of stock and will not be shipped, and those that were not shipped because the customer did not wish to received them yet. The invoice shows quantities shipped, quantities back ordered, and quantities out of stock. Once the invoice has been printed, Accounts Receivable files may be updated to show the customer's debt, the salesperson's commission amount due, etc., and Inventory Management files may be updated to show the reduced stock on hand.
To reiterate, the major functions are the entry of the order, the printing of the picking ticket and the printing of the invoice. There are also a great many supporting functions that make the major functions easier. These functions are discussed briefly below.
Supporting Functions
Orders, once entered, must provide you the ability to modify or delete them. The Order Entry module allows for both of these functions. After orders have been copied into another package for production, your ability to change or delete them will depend on where in the production process they stand. Refer to the Order Entry section of this manual and to the Overview section of the BOMP manual for details.
A separate processing application allows orders to be consolidated (merged) to facilitate shipping and billing. A list of orders on file may be printed for editing reference. Customer‑oriented order acknowledgments may be printed so that the customer can review your interpretation of his purchase order before merchandise is shipped. Another application exists to allow you to automatically convert back ordered items on orders to shippable items, providing there is an adequate quantity of the item available. This function makes it unnecessary for you to manually change the status of each and every back ordered line item once stocks have been replenished.
Order Status reports enable you to list open (unshipped) orders by item or by customer to assist with stock allocation decisions. These reports may also show back ordered items exclusively, which can be a great help when using the automatic back order filling module discussed above.
Other Functions
There are many other functions in Customer Order Processing. Chief among these are those that assist with customer relations and those that provide important management reports.
In the first category, the Order Inquiry module enables you to quickly review orders on file for a customer. If the customer calls in with a question, you may review the relevant orders, without leaving the phone as long as there is a terminal nearby. Also, the Inquiry section includes a comprehensive list of customer service tools that can answer and resolve most customer service related questions.
The Sales Desk module allows you to enter orders, quotes, and item inquiries as well as save them for later review. In addition, Sales Desk enables you to answer pricing information, quantities available by location, future quantity, price breaks, component availability, credit and customer information, update customer data and calculate freight without having to leave the Sales Desk menu.
The Price List incorporates the pricing strategies that are unique to Customer Order Processing to show all of the relevant prices for an item. Prices for the same item may be different, depending upon who orders it and how much is ordered. This report is very useful for quoting prices to customers as well as for keeping track of what prices are being charged.
In the second category, the Sales History module is sufficiently comprehensive to be considered a package by itself. Sales history information is available in a variety of formats and configurations to assist management in evaluating what happened during the sales period or the year, compared to what happened last year.
The information can be analyzed for products, product categories, customers, and salespersons so that you can determine your areas of strength and weakness as well as those areas that are generally improving and those that are weakening.
Customer Order Processing provides many powerful tools for improving customer relations and strengthening your financial statements, as well as enabling you to accomplish the standard actions necessary for processing customer orders and RMA’s.
General Overview of Customer Order Processing
The Customer Order Processing package for the small to medium manufacturer/distributor is used in performing the basic and standard functions necessary for a company to record, track, verify and generally handle its customer orders.
First, here is a brief statement on the scope and basic functions of the COP package.
The typical manufacturer/distributor selling products will have an established and expanding customer base. These customers request certain of the company's products and these requests are entered in the form of customer orders. These orders will cause products to be sent to customers along with (or followed by) an invoice (bill).
So, the basic functions of any Customer Order Processing package would be to:
1. Record the customer orders
2. Modify customer orders
3. Allow for credit management
4. Provide customer service tools
5. Centralized Cash Processing
3. Print Picking Tickets
4. Print Invoices
Customer Order Processing is designed to process customer orders from the time they are entered until they are billed. Processing a customer order in a retail store is not terribly complex and does not normally require a computer; if there is one there, it is probably for inventory/sales analysis. As products become harder to find, it usually means the product is more complex to make, contains materials not readily available or is restricted by the product's owner. Whatever the reason, the usual means of getting this harder to find product to the market is via a distributor. A distributor normally buys all his goods from vendors, stocks those goods in one or more warehouses and sells/delivers those goods off the shelf. A distributor exists basically because he is a convenience, a source for many differing items in a particular segment of the distribution industry, e.g., sporting goods. Some distributors add value beyond convenience to their goods for sale by packaging or maybe doing some light final assembly work. Customer Order Processing (COP) and Inventory Management (I/M) handle the computer side of the above distribution functions except for those distributors who do assembly work to create their final products. For that you will also need Bill of Material Processor (BOMP).
BOMP allows you to set up bill of material structures as well as feature/option configurations (modular bills and regular manufactured items). COP orders for feature items may be copied into BOMP for production. For information on production of COP orders, see the Package Overview section of the BOMP manual.
Allocation of Stocked Items
When an order contains a stocked item (either as a line item or a component of a line item), the Elliott system automatically allocates (or reserves) the correct quantity of the item in inventory to make sure it will be there when the order is filled. How and when this allocation occurs depends on the type of item, which packages you are using, and how your system is configured. For specific information on different allocation scenarios, see the Package Overview section of the I/M manual.
Serialized Items
Serial numbers for items are supported by the Inventory Management, Customer Order Processing, Purchase Order and Receiving, Bill of Materials, and Shop Floor Control packages. The user has the flexibility of stocking serial numbers for items or only assigning serial numbers to the item when it is sold or issued. The exception to this is the Shop Floor Control package. A serial number must exist before a quantity can be issued. If a non-stock inventory item is sold to a customer and the item has serial components, the user can enter serial numbers after invoices are posted to Accounts Receivable using the Issue Serial/Lot Component Items application under the COP Processing menu.
A further explanation on implementation of serialized inventory is contained under Order Entry and Billing, and Invoice Printing in COP and Inventory Transaction Processing and Serial/Lot Processing in I/M.
Lot Number Items
Lots are supported by the Inventory Management, Customer Order Processing, Purchase Order and Receiving, Bill of Materials, and Shop Floor Control packages. Unlimited lots may be maintained for each item. Each lot contains quantity on hand, quantity allocated and expiration date by month and year. If a non-stock inventory item is sold to a customer and the item has lot components, the user can enter lot numbers after invoices are posted to Accounts Receivable using the Issue Serial/Lot Component Items application under the COP Processing menu.
A further explanation on implementation of Lot Tracking is contained under Order Entry and Billing and Invoice Printing in COP and Inventory Transaction Processing and Serial/Lot Processing in I/M.
Credit Management
Refer to Credit Check and Release section
Customer Service
Refer to Sales Desk section.
Centralized Cash Processing
Refer to Deposit Handling section.
Normal Mode Of Operation Of Customer Order Processing
Startup
You will want to transfer data from your open orders to the COP Order files. You may accomplish this through the Order Entry application. Refer to the Startup procedure in this manual for more information on the subject.
There is other preliminary work required also, such as integrating your pricing policies with the pricing capabilities available in COP. You will need to set up shipping addresses for each of your customer's shipping destinations. You will also need to make decisions about the options offered in the COP Setup file and enter the sales account numbers that are to be associated with specific product categories.
Both the Accounts Receivable and Inventory Management packages are necessary prerequisites. They must be installed and fully functional before COP can be installed.
Daily
Once the COP package has been installed, you will probably enter orders on a more or less daily basis. Picking tickets will be printed for those orders due for shipment. Invoices will be printed for those orders that have been shipped. Invoice data may be posted once a day (depending upon volume of invoices) to update A/R, I/M files and Issue Serial/Lot Component Items if this is applicable to your business.
Monthly
Before closing the period, run any necessary reports from the Sales History Reports and Sales Analysis Reports applications. One application that is routinely run on a monthly basis is thePeriod End Procedure in Sales History Processing. The Sales History Reports may only be printed for the current period, which is designated in the Period End Procedure. Refer to the Sales History Processing section and the Period End Processing Checklist section for more information on this application. Another application is the Clear I/M and A/R Accumulators. This process sets the period to date fields to zero. Refer to the Clear I/M and A/R Accumulators section for more information.
Yearly
The Year End Procedure in Sales History Processing is run annually. Refer to the Sales History Processing section for specifics.
On‑Request
Most of the applications of Customer Order Processing can be done whenever the need arises. You may:
a) do price code file maintenance
b) do mass price changes
c) print a price list
d) maintain product category by location, by account
e) print sales history reports
f) post/purge sales history transactions
g) purge sales history file
h) maintain ship‑to addresses
i) fill backorders
j) print order status reports
k) inquire into orders
l) activate blanket orders
m) consolidate orders
n) copy orders
o) maintain and update future pricing
p) release held orders
q) shipment verification
Startup
Application Overview
Before proceeding with this section, you must have already created all directories and loaded the Elliott Programs. This is a fairly automated process. For further instructions, please refer to the installation section of the System Manager manual.
Setup Procedures
In order to begin using the Customer Order Processing system, the following steps must be completed.
1. Both the A/R and I/M packages are necessary prerequisites. They must be installed and fully functional before COP can be installed.
2. Select COP Setup application in the Util_setup pull down window. Enter the data requested on the screen. For setup fields that do not require a “Y” or “N” answer, the system will prompt you for your choice at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select Invoice Form Setup application in the Util_setup pull down window and select the Reset option from the menu bar.
4. Enter data for the following applications in any order in the Maintenance section of the COP main menu:
Ship‑To File
Price Code File
Prod Cat/Loc Acct File
Sales Hist Period File
The above steps are required to load the system with the basic necessary information necessary to process future transactions.
The application sections in this manual may be used to obtain specific information on each application. The file load sheets contained in each of these sections may assist in accumulating and loading data.
Global Setup
Application Overview
Elliot COP is a feature rich module with many features and options that do not apply to all companies. To help you get up and running faster, we have elected not to install these features and options as part of our standard system. Instead, we allow you to Pick and Choose that which can improve your functionality and meet your specific needs.
Run Applications
The following are documented in the global Setup section of this document and must be set up prior to using their features and functions.
Bill of Lading
Copy Order
Customer Item Reference
Freight Calculation
Order Inquiry
Price By Whole Order
Price List By Customer
Print COD Tags
Credit Check and Release
Sales Commission Control
User Defined Codes
Stock Status Inquiry
Sales Desk
Sales Desk Screen Layout
Change Customer Data Window
Change Quote To Order
Invoice Printing
Order Acknowledgement
Order Entry Billing Screen
Deposit Handling
Order Entry Header Screen
Order entry Line Item Screen
Pick Ticket/Ship Labels
Post Invoice To A/R
Purge Posted Invoice
Future Price Screen
Starship Manifest Report
Processing Procedures
Daily Processing
The following checklist is for basic COP functions only and designed to help you formulated your Policies and Procedures that reflect all the features and functions of Elliott COP that you are planning to or have already implemented.
In performing this checklist, complete each step before moving on to the next step.
Step 1 Enter orders, invoices, credit memos, or blanket orders for customers
- Select Order Entry - Add application
Step 2 Verify transaction entry by printing the edit list
- Select Order Entry - List application
Step 3 (optional) Print pick/pack tickets and shipping labels
- Select Print Pick/Pack Tickets & Ship Labels - Picking Tickets application
Step 4 Select orders for billing
- Select Order Billing - Select application
Step 5 Verify orders by printing the edit list for selected orders
- Select Order Billing - List application
Step 6 Print invoices
- Select Print Invoices - Print application
Step 7 Print packing lists
- Select Print Pic/Pack Tickets & Ship Labels - Packing List application
Step 8 Verify invoices by printing the pre-posting edit list
- Select Post Invoices to A/R - Pre-Post Edit application
Step 9 (optional) Perform a backup of your Elliott Data Directories. Label and date this backup "Before Posting Backup ___/___/___"
Step 10 Post invoices
- Select Post Invoices to A/R - Post application
Step 11 (optional) Print order status reports
- Select Order Status Reports application
tep 12 (optional) Fill existing backorders
- Select Fill Backorders - Manual or Automatic application
Step 13 (optional) Issue Serial or Lot Component Items
- Select Issue Serial/Lot Component Items - Issue application
Period End Processing
The following checklist is for basic COP functions only and designed to help you formulated your Policies and Procedures that reflect all the features and functions of Elliott COP that you are planning to or have already implemented.
In performing this checklist, complete each step before moving on to the next step.
Step 1 Perform Daily Processing Checklist (Detailed in its entirety on the preceding page - Step 1 through Step 13)
Note: The Customer Order Processing package allows the user to continue entering orders for the next period before closing the current period (ie. clearing I/M and A/R accumulators). The only step that should not be executed is Post Invoices to A/R application until the current period is closed.
- Enter and post all invoices for the current period using the Daily Processing Checklist
- All reports should be spooled to disk to allow for backup retention
Step 2 Print sales history transaction listings
- Select Sales History Trx Processing - Cust/Invoice List and Loc/Item List application
Step 3 Change history period date to the current period you are closing
- Select Sales History Processing - Period End Procedure application
Note: Manually changing the Period in the Period File Maintenance application will produce unpredicted results. Use the Period End Procedure only.
Note: If you are in the first period of your Fiscal Year, use the Sales History Processing - Year End Procedure to change to the current period
Step 4 Post sales transactions to master history file for this period
- Select Post/Purge Sales History Trx - Post application
Step 5 (optional) Print the sales history reports
- Select Sales History Reports application
Step 6 (optional) Print the sales analysis reports
- Select Sales Analysis Reports application
Step 7 Perform Period End Checklists in both the Accounts Receivable and Inventory Management packages.
- See A/R and I/M Period End Processing Checklists
Step 8 Perform a backup
- Make a period end backup of your ENTIRE Elliott system to keep for auditing purposes. Label and date this backup "Period ___/___/___ End Backup"
Step 9 Empty the period buckets in A/R and I/M to prepare for the next period
- Select Clear I/M & A/R Accumulators application and enter Y to "Clear Period To Date Fields" option
Note: If you wish to Recalculate Reorder Fields in I/M, the Recalculate Reorder Fields application in I/M should be done prior to clearing the I/M accumulators
Step 10 Perform a backup
- Make a backup of the data files. Label and date this backup "Beginning Of Period ___/___/___ Backup"
Year End Processing
The following checklist is for basic COP functions only and designed to help you formulated your Policies and Procedures that reflect all the features and functions of Elliott COP that you are planning to or have already implemented.
In performing this checklist, complete each step before moving on to the next step.
Step 1 Perform Period End Processing Checklist (Detailed in its entirety on the preceding page - Step 1 through Step 10)
- Save the backup labeled "Period End Backup" with your other period end backups
- Backup labeled "Beginning Of Period Backup" from Step 13 is optional for Year End Checklist
Step 2 Perform Year End Processing Checklists in both the Accounts Receivable and Inventory Management packages
Step 3 Perform a backup
- Make a final year-end backup and keep for auditing purposes. Label this backup "Final Year 20___ End Backup"
Step 4 Empty the year end buckets in A/R and I/M to prepare for the new year
- Select Clear I/M & A/R Accumulators application and enter Y to "Clear Year To Date Fields" option
Step 5 Perform a backup
- Make a beginning of the year backup and label it "Beginning Of The Year 20___ Backup"
COP Main Menu
Application Overview
This application presents the menu of Customer Order Processing that are available to the user. The menu consists of six pull down windows.
The Maintenance window contains applications to maintain the COP package.
The Inquiry window allows you to view information without the ability to change any fields.
The Processing window is where most all of your activity will take place. Entering transactions and posting/updating this information to other files.
The Reports window presents a wide selection of management and analysis reports that will assist you in making company decisions.
The Util_setup window accesses files that need to be set up in order to tailor the software to meet your company's needs.
After the application has been run to completion, the COP menu bar will display once again and allow entry of another application.