CenterPoint® Accounting - Sales Order Work Flow Steps

Related Help

Enter a Sales Order or Quote Video - Duration: 22 min 12 sec

Sales Order Quick Entry Video - Duration: 15 min 14 sec

Convert a Quote to a Sales Order Video- Duration: 9 min 52 sec

Fill and Unfill Sales Orders Video - Duration: 13 min 12 sec

Invoice Filled Sales Orders Video - Duration: 15 min 18 sec

Print or Email Sales Orders Video - Duration: 24 min 18 sec

View or Print as PDF


The Sales Order module allows a business to track quotes and orders that are placed by customers. An order differs from an invoice in that the products/services have not been provided to the customer yet. When the products/services are provided, the order is then "filled". A filled order can then be invoiced. Invoicing an order deducts the quantities from inventory and also increases the customers balance for the amount of the unpaid order.

The order of the steps outlined below are just a suggestion. The order that works for your business may differ from these suggestions.

Prerequisite

You must have the Sales Order module purchased, installed and registered in the module configuration manager (File > Administration > Module Configuration Manager) prior to proceeding with the processes outlined below.


Work Flow Steps

  1. Enter a Quote: If a customer requests a quote it would be entered in Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (or Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Select Quote as the Type of . A quote has no affect on inventory. It is simply used to provide a price quote to a customer. A quote can be copied or turned into an order if the customer decides to proceed with the transaction.
  2. Enter an Order: An Order is used to track items and services that have been sold to a customer but have not yet been supplied. When an order is entered for an inventory item, it increases the Quantity Committed and decreases the Available Quantity. There are three ways to enter an order for a customer. Refer to the Enter a Quote or Sales Order document for step-by-step instructions.
  1. Start with a new blank order form by selecting Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (or Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). A Type of Order should be assigned to the transaction. Include all items & services that were sold to the customer. If a deposit was already received for this order, it can be applied at this time. Refer to the Enter a Quote or Order document for step by step instructions
  2. Create a new sales order by copying from an existing order or quote. If you know that this customer or another customer ordered the same product/services, you can create a new order by copying from that existing order. From within Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice), select the original order and click copy. Any needed modifications to the new order can then be made. If a quote is copied to an order, the original quote will remain in CenterPoint as an open quote.
  3. If a quote was created for this customer, the quote can be converted to a sales order. Select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Find the original quote and click Edit. Change the Type to Order. Converting a quote to an order removes the original quote from the system. Refer to the Convert a Quote to an Order document for step by step instructions.
  1. Printing Orders and Quotes: Orders are normally printed on an individual basis when the order is saved. Be sure to.click the Print button. (An image of a printer displays on the button. A green check mark means the order will be printed and a red X means the order will not be printed.) The selections set in File > Preferences > Sales Orders > Printing will display and can be changed. Select whether the order should be printed when it is created. To set your default for the Print button, right-click on the button and select Set As Default. To override the Print button default, click the Print button and change the settings on the Print Settings screen.
  2. Filling an Order: When an order has been shipped/provided to the customer, it must be filled in CenterPoint. The fill process simply supplies numbers in the Shipped Quantity fields. Orders can be filled individually or with a group. Refer to the Fill Sales Orders document for step-by-step directions on each of the options mentioned below.
    1. Fill a Single Order: Select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Select the order and click on the Fill Single Order button. This process will copy the ordered quantity to the Shipped Quantity based on the selections made in File > Preferences > Sales Orders > General > Fill Sales Item Lines.
    2. Manually Fill a Single Order: Select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Select the Order and click on the Edit button. Manually fill in the appropriate Shipped Quantities for items that were provided to the customer.
    3. Fill Multiple Orders: Select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Select the orders to be filled and click on the Fill Orders button.

    Once an order has shipped quantities for at least one item, the Status will automatically change from Open to Filled or Partially Filled.

  3. Creating Invoices: Orders that have been shipped/filled are then ready to be invoiced. This step can be done as often as you'd like (even after each order is filled) but it's most commonly done once a day for all orders that have been filled/shipped since the last invoicing process. Only orders with a status of Filled or Partially Filled can be invoiced. Once an order is invoiced, the Status will automatically change to Invoiced. When an order with a Status of Partially Filled is invoiced, the invoice will include all shipped items/quantities and a new Back Order (with the same order number) will be created for the remaining items unless you select the Shipped Quantity Only check box on the Create Invoices Post & Print screen. If the Shipped Quantity check box is selected, the invoices will include only shipped items/quantities and will not create a Back Order if a line on the sales order was partially filled. Commissions are calculated and copied to customer invoices on a prorata basis shipped vs ordered during the invoicing process.
  1. Invoice an Individual Order: Select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Select the order and click on the Create Invoices button and follow the onscreen prompts. Note: When using Step a or b above to fill an order, you can also click on the Create Invoices button within the transaction (after shipped quantities have been entered/updated).
  2. Invoice Multiple Orders: Select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Select all of the orders to be invoiced and click on the Create Invoices button. Note: Instead of manually selecting each of the Filled or Partially Filled orders, you can also setup a Filter so the List screen displays only Filled or Partially Filled Orders. Refer to the Fill Sales Order document for information on setting up filters.

Packing slips can also be printed during the invoicing step.

Miscellaneous Processes

  • Orders can be edited at anytime prior to being invoiced. Select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Select the Order and click on the Edit button.
  • If a customer cancels an order you can either change the Status to Canceled on the Order, or if you prefer, the entire order can be deleted. If an invoice created by a sales order is deleted from Transaction Search, the status of the sales order will be changed to cancelled.
  • An Inventory Pick List (Reports > Reports > Transaction Reports > Sales Orders) can be used to communicate with the shipping department what orders need to be shipped. The printed report includes a place for the shipping dept to hand write what quantities were actually shipped. This can then be used to accurately fill the orders in CenterPoint.
  • A Sales Orders report (Summary or Detail) can be used to review orders at anytime. Normally this report is processed with the Status filter set to Open, thus supplying a report listing all unshipped orders.
  • To unfill an order, select Processes > Sales > Sales Orders (Edit/Fill/Invoice). Find the order to be unfilled and click Unfill Orders. All Shipped Quantities in the order will revert back to zero and the status will change back to Open.

Document: 3178

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