Import Sales Orders with Line Items

The ability to import Sales Orders with Line Items, which can be converted to Invoices at the click of a button in Big Business, would enable several useful facilities.

You could potentially generate transactions in a Single-User copy of Big Business on your portable (laptop) and then upload the Sales Orders to your working copy of Big Business when you returned to the office.

You might also directly import sales from another database or application that you use. Many Big Business Users have custom solutions for generating complex quotes. Others have web based storefronts. These Big Business Users now enter these Sales manually. (3019)

Big Business lets you import Sales Orders with Line Items. The clearest example is importing orders exported from a copy of your data file--for a tradeshow or similar--then imported into your 'live' data file on return. Or, you might import orders from a custom database, web store, or shopping cart.

To Import Sales Orders with Line Items:
1. Create a Customer Card whose name begins with "Default".
2. Create an Item Card whose Code begins with "Default".
3. Create a tab-delimited text file to import. For example, use the Sales Order QuickSearch to find a group of orders and Save To Disk, Including Line Item Detail.
4. From the Maintenance toolbar, select the Import tool.
5. Open your import file and choose to import as, "Sales Order Line Items."
6. At the minimum, you need to import the following fields:
- Customer Name, will find a Customer (or Default) and automatically enter the Customer's addresses, Terms, Sales Tax, Ship Method and so on.
- Item Code, will find an Item (or Default) and enter Descriptions, Price, Cost, and so on.
- Quantity
Any additional fields overwrite automatic entries. Importing a price, for example, will overwrite the price loaded from an Item Card.
7. Click Do Not Import Header if your import file includes a header record.
8. Click the OK button to proceed with the import.

The Sales Order QuickSearch will open and display any orders that were successfully created. Double-click to review each order, check for Default entries (no match found), and convert it from On Hold to Placed. Or, click Batch Delete to delete imported orders.


  Ability to Change Fiscal Year End Month

When you create your Data File, Big Business warns you to check the Start Date and Year End Month carefully because once Setup is complete they cannot be changed. This does not prevent the IRS or your Board of Directors insisting that you change your Fiscal Year End Month. (3021)

One remedy is to create a new Data File. You can retain most information, except historical transaction data, by using exports (Save to Disk, in the various QuickSearch tools) to create your new data file. This is a good option when a change like incorporating changes your accounting, too.

If needed, we can email a solution to change the month, and nothing else. This disrupts Budget reporting, but is otherwise quick and painless. Contact support@ bigbusiness.com for details.


  Option to Copy the Detail Description to a Purchase Order Line Item

Big Business has long had an option to copy the Vendor Part Number from the Item Card into the Purchase Order Line Item Comment. The option of copying the Detail Description would help with ordering special orders.

Big Business 4.2.3 adds the option to copy the Detail Description from the Item Card to the Line Item Comments on a Purchase Order. (3033)

Big Business includes the option to automatically copy the Detail Description from the Item Card to the Line Item Comments on a Purchase Order.

To have the Detail Description automatically loaded in a Purchase Order:

1. Open the Vendor Prefs
2. Check the box, Load Detail Desc. in L.I..
3. Save the Vendor Prefs

Now all Items will automatically have their Detail Description copied to the Line Item Comment in a Purchase Order.

When printing a Purchase Order, to include the Line Item Comments, choose one of the forms, "with Comments."


  Show Print Dialogs

To save time, Big Business lets you skip the Page Setup and Print dialogs. This allows for automatic printing of transactions and batch printing of numerous transactions.

To access the Page Setup or Print dialog, you can choose Show Print Dialogs. (3035)

To access the Page Setup and Print Dialog when printing:

1. Select the Show Print Dialogs checkbox.

2. Select the forms to print .

3. Click the OK button.


  Require Unique Customer Codes

Big Business 2.0 includes the option to require unique Item Codes in the form of a checkbox on the Item Preferences (Item Prefs) card. This is very valuable for data integrity. When users are not forced to use unique codes it is possible to create two items with the same code. Requiring unique codes prevents accidents such as putting the wrong item on a transaction or double entering the item (e.g. creating two identical cards).

Why not have the same feature in the Customer Prefs and require unique Customer Codes? (3038)

Big Business 2.5 adds the option to require unique Customer Codes.

To Require Unique Customer Codes:
1. Open the Customer Prefs.
2. Click on the check box for Unique Codes.
3. Click the OK button.

Big Business will now alert you when you are attempting to save a Customer Card using a Customer Code which is already in use by another card. The message, "Customer Codes must be unique." will appear and you will not be able to save the Customer Card until you enter a Unique Code.

Keep the following issues in mind when using the Unique Customer Code option. If you already have Customers Cards with Duplicate Customer Codes, Big Business will alert you of the duplication the next time you save changes to one of the cards with a duplicate Customer Code.

To gain maximum benefit from the duplicate checking, you should consider a standardized method for assigning Customer Codes, such as Zip Code plus a few letters of the Company Name, or using a unique identifier like a phone number. To help you assign Unique Customer Codes, Big Business 2.5 also includes the option to Auto-Generate Customer Codes.


  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.


  Out of Stock Items on Sales Orders

When saving a Sales Order it would be helpful to be warned if any of the Items on the Sales Order are out of stock or if the order exceeds current available stock. (3042)

Big Business 2.5 includes the option to Warn the User or Allow Sales Orders which include Items whose Quantity on Hand is insufficient to fill the Order.

To change this setting:
1. Open the Customer Prefs.
2. Click the Sales Order Preferences button.
3. Use the Pull-Down menu in the Sell Into Negative Quantity selection.
4. Select “Warn User” or "Allow."
5. Click the OK button on Sales Order Preferences to save changes.
6. Click the OK button on Customer Preferences to save changes.

If Warn User is selected, and the Quantity on Hand of an Item is insufficient to fill the Sales Order, Big Business will show a warning when:

• the Item is added to the Sales Order
• the Quantity for the Item is modified
• Saving the Sales Order

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
All warnings are based on Quantity on Hand, not Quantity Available. To determine whether previous open orders for the same item mean that the item is unavailable, refer to the Sales Order with Extended Line Items Tab and the displayed Quantity Available.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––


  Viewing Inventory Availability on Sales Order

When you are placing a Sales Order for a customer it is convenient to know the status of your inventory. (3043)

Big Business 2.5 allows you check at a glance the inventory status of all Items on a Sales Order!

Click to the new Order with Ext. Line Items Tab on the Sales Order

Here you will find listed for each Item:
-Quantity Available (Quantity on Hand minus Quantity Allocated)
-Quantity On Hand
-Quantity Allocated (to other Open orders)
-Quantity on Order (from Vendors)

Now you can determine that Items need to be Ordered, Built, etc. before you save the Order and confirm availability to your Customer without leaving the Sales Order.


  Big Business Checks for Duplicates

It’s hard to imagine that other applications don’t check for something as simple as a duplicate Bill (Invoice from a Vendor). The impact can be serious when you get an invoice with a shipment and duplicate by mail. But we do get asked this question periodically. Rest assured, it is extremely difficult to double pay a vendor. (3044)

Get Big Business!


  Customer Code on Customer Transactions

“Please make it so that account numbers are printed on the invoices,
orders, statements, etc. Customers would greatly appreciate it.” (3045)

Good News!

Big Business 2.5 includes the option of an Automatic Comment on Customer transactions. Pictured above is the new Invoice Preference screen which adds several new options including the inclusion of the Customer Code in the Notes field of a New Invoice.


  Exporting from Big Business

Export options in Big Business can be very handy.

For any Search (i.e. Customer, Quote, Order, Invoice, Receive Money, Vendor, PO, Bill, Item, Item Adjustment, Bank Account, Bank Transaction, Note, Contact, Employee, Category, Account, General Journal, Posting, etc.) click Export to save a Tab-Text file which you can use in a spreasheet or other program. (3048)

Export options in Big Business can be very handy.

For any Search, such as the Customer Search pictured, click Export to save a Tab-Text file with the entries found. You can click All on the Search dialog to find all entries or use the search options to narrow the results.

Follow the prompts to Save the export file to a convenient location.


  Using Budgets in Big Business

Big Business has built in Budgeting and Budget Reporting with the following features:

-Establish Budgets by Category by Period (Categories are all Accounts except Special Status Accounts: A/P, A/R, Bank Accounts, Inventory, Current Year Earnings, and Retained Earnings)

-Import Budgets

-Report Budgeted vs. Actual for a range of periods for a selection of Categories (3056)

Use the Category Card on the Category toolbar for manually inputting Budget Amounts.

Use the Category Group field on the Category Card to create groups of Categories to simplify reporting. Use the QuickChange tool on the Category QuickSearch to assign Category Groups to a set of Categories.

Use the Report tool on the InfoCenter toolbar (or from the File menu) to run a Budget Report. Switch to the Bookkeeper Reports and select Budget Report. In the first dialog, specify the Categories to be included in the Report (e.g. All, or “Category Type is Expense”)

Use the Import tool on the Maintenance toolbar to import a tab-delimited text file saved from a spreadsheet. Using an Export from the Category Search gives you a head start on this operation by creating a spreadsheet with correct Account Codes. Use the QuickSearch to narrow your export to desired Accounts (i.e. Expense Accounts only using an "Account Type Is Expense" search). Excel's powerful AutoFill options (i.e. you can readily turn the column heading "Period 1" into column headings "Period 1, Period 2, etc.") may be useful for creating your import spreadsheet.


  Entering Foreign Addresses in Big Business

“The name and address fields are not set up for international customers. Many foreign countries don't use the city, state, and zip code format this country uses.”

While this is true, Big Business does allows ample room for most sorts of addresses. If you run into a difficult address use the guidelines below to achieve best results.

(3057)

Using a Customer Card as an example for an address record, and an Invoice as an example of transaction record, the following tips will help achieve better results with difficult addresses:

The Billing Name and Address consists of:
Three (3) lines of 32 characters
A City field of 16 characters
A State field of 3 letters
A Zip field of 10 characters
A Country field of 16 characters

The Bill To address field on an invoice will hold 32,000 characters

The Bill To address field on a printed Invoice (Plain Paper) is four (4) lines of 32 characters.

Working within these limitations, here are some examples:

Four Seasons Hotel (leaves the state blank)
10-8, Sekguchi 2-chome
Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo, 112 Japan

The Box Office Manager (uses the three letter state)
Sydney Opera House
PO Box R1225 Royal Exchange
Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia

U. S. Information Service (skips city, state and zip)
2 rue Saint-Florentin
75832 Paris codex 08
France

Keep in mind that the limitation is on the Customer Card in what is “pastes” into the shipping or billing address. These fields are really 32k on an Invoice, for example. Some creative Users, who use Custom Forms with larger text blocks, use tricks such as keeping half an address in one of the Additional Contacts and concatenate with a cut and paste.


  Customer Features

Changes to Customer Features
Big Business includes a number of Customer features and enhancements:
• You can choose from multiple customer shipping and billing addresses on quotes, sales order, and invoices.
• Long comments can be included with quotes, sales orders, and invoices.
• The Other Charges field includes calculations.
• You can adjust the price level for individual quotes, sales orders, and invoices.
• Quotes, sales orders, and invoices include a field for shipping weights.
• VAT taxes are supported.
• You can place customers on credit hold.
• You can determine the consequences of a customer exceeding their credit limit.
• You can control printing preferences separately for quotes, sales orders, and invoices.
• You can determine how many days of transactions to display in the History view of Customer Cards.
See Chapter 3 of the Big Business User’s Guide for detailed instructions about existing Customer features. (3069)

Here are some of the advanced Customer Features covered here:

• Using multiple Shipping and Billing addresses
• Including Long Comments with Line Items
• Using Other Charges
• Changing the price level for individual transactions
• Including shipping weights
• Defining complex Sales Taxes
• Placing customers on Credit Hold
• Setting Credit Checking on Sales Orders and Invoices
• Setting printing preferences for Quotes, Sales Orders, and Invoices
• Changing how many days of History to view on Customer Cards
• Auto-Generating Customer Codes
• Requiring Unique Customer Codes
• Batch Deleting Customers and Customer Transactions
• Changing the Tax Status of Items on Sales Transactions
• Adding Automatic Notes to Sales Transactions
• Setting to Warn or Prevent Save of Sales Transactions with out-of-stock Items
• Viewing Inventory Status from Sales Orders and Invoices
• Performing Credit Verification on Sales Orders
• Printing Backorders on Invoices
• Using Standardized Labels

See Chapter 3 of the Big Business User’s Guide for detailed instructions about normal Customer features, such as creating a Customer Card or Invoice.


  Choose Other Charges

On each quote, sales order, and invoice, you can choose from the Other Charges fields that have been defined. If you change the Other Charges field when dollar amounts have already been entered, Big Business recalculates the total if necessary.

To choose an Other Charges field:
• Choose the item you want from the Other Charges QuickPop list. (3074)

On each quote, sales order, and invoice, you can choose from the Other Charges fields that have been defined. If you change the Other Charges field when dollar amounts have already been entered, Big Business recalculates the total if necessary.

To choose an Other Charges field:
• Choose the item you want from the Other Charges QuickPop list.

To create a new item or edit and existing item:
• Choose Show List from the Other Charges QuickPop list.


  Access Privileges

The Access tab on Employee card lets you limit access to specific tools and privileges.

• Export - needed to export from searches and reports
• Terms - needed to change customer or vendor terms or credit
• Update - needed to use Update in searches to change multiple entries
• Delete - needed to use Delete in searches to delete multiple entries
• Profit - needed to view Profit tab on transactions
• History - needed to view History tab on cards
• Category - needed to view Category tab on transactions
• Duplicate - needed to use Duplicate in searches to duplicate multiple entries
• Status - needed to change Status on transactions
• Inactive - needed to change Inactive status of Customer, Items, etc.

These features apply throughout Big Business. (3103)

To assign privileges and access to differentfFeatures in Big Business, first turn OFF the All Access setting:

1. Open the Employee Card
2. Go to the Access tab
3. Click to uncheck All Access

You can then turn ON access to Tools by:
• Selecting a Toolbar - Customer, Vendor, Item,...
• Selecting a Tool - Customer Card, Customer Search, Quote,...

You can also turn ON Privileges such as:
• Export - needed to export from searches and reports
• Terms - needed to change customer or vendor terms or credit
• Update - needed to use Update in searches to change multiple entries
• Delete - needed to use Delete in searches to delete multiple entries
• Profit - needed to view Profit tab on transactions
• History - needed to view History tab on cards
• Category - needed to view Category tab on transactions
• Duplicate - needed to use Duplicate in searches to duplicate multiple entries
• Status - needed to change Status on transactions

Click OK to Save changes to the Employee Card and OK the dialog, that changes do not take effect until the user signs in again.


  Access to Customer Ship To’s from Purchase Order for Drop Shipping

It would be convenient to have access to Customer Shipping Addresses and additional Ship To’s from the Shipping Address selection on a Purchase Order (3120)



There are 58 searchable fields for Items in Big Business. Use the Item QuickSearch to find items by:

Item Code Taxable Customer Listing on Order
Description 1 Item Type Customer Listing on Invoice
Description 2 Vendor Listing Vendor Listing on P.O.
Price Level 1 Vendor Part # Vendor Listing on Bill
Margin Level 1 Item Cost Note Title
Price Level 2 Average Cost Tag
Margin Level 2 Total Cost Custom 1
Price Level 3 Quantity on Hand Custom 2
Margin Level 3 Quantity Allocated Custom 3
Price Level 4 Quantity Available Custom 4
Margin Level 4 Last Bought Date Custom 5
Price Level 4 Last Sold Date Custom 6
Margin Level 5 Order at Least... Custom 7
Buy Item ...When Below Custom 8
Sell Item Qty on Order Custom 9
Inventory Item Qty Needed Custom 10
Obsolete Item ETA Date Custom 11
Expense Category Ship Weight Custom 12
Asset Category Build/Bundle Item
Cost of Goods Category Customer Listing on Quote


  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.


There are 24 fields that can be changed on set of found Items in the Item QuickSearch using the QuickChange tool:

Vendor Part # Custom 1
Item Type Custom 2
Ship Weight Custom 3
Cost Custom 4
Price Level 1 Custom 5
Price Level 2 Custom 6
Price Level 3 Custom 7
Price Level 4 Custom 8
Price Level 5 Custom 9
Royalty Rate Custom 10
Royalty Amount Per Item Custom 11
Tags Custom 12

To use Item QuickChange:
1. Use Item QuickSearch to find the Items you wish to change.
2. Click the QuickChange tool.
3. Specify the field to change, and the information to be entered.
4. Click the OK button.

NOTE: There is no Undo option for QuickChange. Exercise caution in its use, that you do not write over valuable information


  Batch Delete of Quotes

The ability to delete old Quotes en masse has long been requested by Big Business Users who generate numerous Quotes. Many companies have a high Quote to Sales Order ratio. In the end, they may only convert a few Quotes to Sales Orders.

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.

Quote Batch Delete (and Item Batch Delete, link below) facilitate this process. (3132)

Big Business 2.5 adds the ability to Batch Delete Quotes. Because this Delete is permanent, you should exercise proper caution in its use. 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 Quotes you are attempting to Delete, prior to deleting them.

To Batch Delete Quotes, from the Quote QuickSearch:
1. Find those Quotes whose "Expiration Date Is on or before Today," for example.
2. Click the Batch Delete tool to Delete all Quotes in the current Quote List.
Big Business will display a confirmation dialogue offering to Continue or Cancel.
3. Select Continue to permanently Delete all Quotes in the list.

If you select one Quote in the List and click Batch Delete, Big Business will display a dialogue with a choice of Deleting the selected Quote, Deleting all Quotes in the List, or Canceling.

Quote Batch Delete is particularly useful if you produce a large number of Quotes. Customers and Items contained in a Quote are linked to the Quote and cannot be deleted until the Quote is deleted. By cleaning up old or expired Quotes, you will then be able to delete Customers and Items that were entered only for quotation purposes.


  Credit Verification on Sales Orders

Version 2.5 of Big Business expands the Customer Credit Verification options to include Sales Orders. Earlier versions of Big Business would Warn the User or Prevent Saving of Invoices for those Customers who had been placed on Credit Hold or had exceeded their Credit Limit.

Big Business 2.5 adds the option to Warn the User or Prevent Saving of Sales Orders for Customers who have been placed on Credit Hold or have exceeded their Credit Limit. (3153)

Big Business 2.5 adds the option to perform Credit Verification on all new Sales Orders. You can Warn or Prevent the Save of Sales Orders for Customers who have been placed on Credit Hold or have exceeded their established Credit Limit.

To enable Credit Verification on Sales Orders:
1. Open the Customer Prefs from the Customer toolbar.
2. Open the Sales Order Preferences.
3. Select "Warn User" to warn the user whenever a Sales Order is created or modified for a Customer who has exceeded their Credit Limit or is on Credit Hold.
4. Select "Prevent save of Sales Order" to prevent users from saving Sales Orders for Customers who have exceeded their Credit Limit or who are on Credit Hold.
5. Click the OK button on Sales Order Preferences to save changes.
6. Click the OK button on Customer Preferences to save changes.


  Automatic Notes on Customer Quotes

Use the new Quote Preferences found in the Cust Prefs tool to automatically add any or all of the following Automatic Notes when printing built-in Quote forms:

Customer Code
Customer Listing
Total Quantity (total count of all Items on the Quote)
Boilerplate Text

Read the instructions below for maximizing the benefit of these options. (3178)

Big Business 2.5 includes the option to automatically fill in the Notes on a Customer Quote. All of these items are added during printing and work only with Built-In forms (not Custom Forms).

The following can be automatically added:
• Customer Code
• Customer Listing
• Total Quantity (total count of all Items on the Quote)
• Boilerplate Text

To enable this feature:
1. Open the Customer Prefs.
2. Click on the Quote Preferences button.
3. Click the checkbox for each item you wish to add.
4. Fill in any Boilerplate text you wish to add.
5. Click the OK button.


Big Business 2.5 allows you to Batch Delete Customer Cards which have no transactions. Because this Delete is permanent, you should exercise proper caution in its use. Customers with any transaction history 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 Customer Cards you are attempting to Delete, prior to deleting them.

To Batch Delete Customers, using the Customer QuickSearch:
1. Find the selection of Customer Cards to Delete.
2. Click the Batch Delete tool to Delete all Customer Cards in the current Customer List.
Big Business will display a confirmation dialogue offering to Continue or Cancel.
3. Select Continue to attempt to permanently Delete all Customers in the selection.
Big Business will display those Customers who could not be deleted.

If you select one Customer in the List and click Batch Delete, Big Business will display a dialogue with a choice of Deleting the selected Customer, Deleting all Customers in the List, or Canceling.

If there are Customers in your selection which could not be Deleted because they are used in related transactions, Big Business will provide you a list of those Customers which could not be Deleted.

This feature is designed to clean up erroneous imports of Customers and Customers who have no transactions. Using the Import Tag feature in Big Business (e.g. "Imported 3/22/99") you can find all Customers in an import with a Customer QuickSearch.