Chapter 18 Warehouses

Chapter 18 Warehouses (5564)

The Warehouse option for Big Business Server:

- tracks all Quantities: On Hand, Available, Allocated, On Order, Needed

- for any Inventory items

- across any number of Warehouses

- without changing any of the Accounting


This chapter covers Big Business Warehouse:

• Requirements

• Registration

• Setup

This chapter explains how to set up Warehouses. After you finish this chapter, you’ll be ready to start working.


  Warehouses: Registering

This Solution describes Registering the Warehouses Add-On, permanently or in Trial Mode, with your existing data file or the Demo Data File. (5941)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

To Register the Warehouses Add-On:

1. Check that you are running Big Business Server. The Warehouses Add-On requires Server and will not operate properly in Big Business Single-User.

2. Go to the Maintenance toolbar, to the Company Card, and click the Upgrade button.

3. Click the Warehouses button and the Registration dialog, pictured, will open.

4. For the Demo Data File enter the Registration code, 54. Contact Big Business Support for a Registration Code for your Data File.

5. Click Continue and a validation dialog will appear. If this dialog confirms that the code is correct, click OK to dismiss the dialog, and click OK to Save the Company Card.

6. Restart Big Business Server. The Warehouses Add-On will be loaded when the Server Engine is restarted.




  Warehouses: Warehouse Card

This Solution describes the Warehouse Card. (5942)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

The Warehouse Card tool, which appears on the Item toolbar, is used to:

• Create Locations (Default, Alternate, Returns/Defects, Warehouse1, etc.)
• Assign a three-letter Code for brevity (DEF, ALT, RET, WH1)
• Enter the Shipping Address to be included on Purchase Orders and Transfers
• View Inventory for this Warehouse
• Add the Warehouse to a Group for combined Purchase Orders
• Assign a Sort Order for display on the Item Card
• Set Auto-Create to track Quantities for the Warehouse for all new Item Cards



  Warehouses: Settings

This Solution describes the Settings found on the Company Card, when the Warehouses Add-On is enabled. (5943)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

The Warehouses Add-On is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Locations or warehouses. The Company Card displays the following Settings for the Warehouses Add-On when it is enabled:

• Populate Default: select a default Location and click Populate to put the current inventory into your default warehouse. After doing this once, you might do it again to put an difference into a Warehouse (Err) for the the purpose.
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• Name: enter a name such as Warehouse, Location, Store, etc., for the warehouses being tracked.

• Entry Verification: set to Allow, Warn User, or Prevent Save of transactions that have not been assigned a Location.

• Sell Neg. SO: select whether to Allow or Warn User when Sales Orders would overdraw the Qty On Hand for the selected Warehouse.

• Sell Neg. Invoice: select whether to Allow, Warn User or Prevent Save of Invoices that would overdraw the Qty On Hand for the selected Warehouse.




  Warehouses: Populate Default

This Solution describes the Populate Default function found on the Company Card. (5975)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

The Company Card displays Settings for the Warehouses Add-On. Populate Default is a function for syncronizing your inventory to a default Warehouse. This function is used for starting Warehouse tracking with an existing inventory and correcting discrepancies from new transactions without a Warehouse or old transactions that have a Warehouse added accidentally.

To Syncronize:
1. Enter a Warehouse Code or click the Pop-Up to select the target Warehouse.
2. Click the Populate buttton.
3. Wait for the completion dialog.
4. Save the Company Card (or Cancel to discard the changes).

Populate Default syncronizes your total inventory as tracked on the Item Card to your Warehouses and changes the quantities in the selected Warehouse as needed.

For example, if you have been running Big Business without the Warehouses features and then turn them on, you can use Populate Default to put all of your inventory into your main Warehouse. If you then edit an old transaction and add a Warehouse or enter a new transaction and omit the Warehouse there will be a discrepancy. You can run Populate Default to synchronize them again.


  Warehouses: Show Warehouses

This Solution describes a feature for displaying the quantities for each Warehouse on an Item Card. (5913)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

To display the quantities for each Warehouse on an Item Card, click the arrow button between the Qty Needed and Qty On Hand.

The Warehouse Code appears in the column under the button. Warehouse quantities appear in columns under the corresponding quantity for the item.

Order At Least and When Below can be entered for each Warehouse.




  Warehouses: Auto-Complete PO

This Solution describes a feature for automatically completing a Purchase Order using the Qty Needed and Order At Least quantities for a Warehouse. (5910)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

When you select a Vendor on a new Purchase Order, Big Business checks the Quantity Needed for all Items that specify this Vendor and offers to automatically create the Purchase Order if any needed Items are found.

If a Warehouse is specified for the Purchase Order, Big Business checks the Quantity Needed by Warehouse for all Items that specify this Vendor and offers to automatically create the Purchase Order if any needed Items are found for this Warehouse.

When ordering for a specified Warehouse, Big Business will automatically insert the address from the Warehouse Card.

Entering a New Purchase Order to Auto-Complete:

• Choose the Vendor first to have the normal Auto-Complete function to find all Items for that Vendor and using the address on your Company Card.

• Choose the Warehouse first, then choose the Vendor, to have the Auto-Complete function look only for Items needed for the selected Warehouse.

Finding Vendors you need to purchase from:

• In the Q&A for Vendors you will find entries for each Warehouse, such as:
Which Vendors do I need to purchase Items from for Warehouse DEF?


  Warehouses: Sort Order

This Solution describes the Sort Order field found on the Warehouse Card. (6116)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

The Warehouse Card tool, which appears on the Item toolbar, includes a field for Sort Order. This field is used for sorting the Warehouses when displayed on the Item Card. If you enter a number on each Warehouse Card, they will be displayed in numerical order.


  Warehouses: Auto-Create

This Solution describes the Auto-Create checkbox found on the Warehouse Card. (6117)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

The Warehouse Card tool, which appears on the Item toolbar, includes a checkbox for Auto-Create. Clicking this checkbox will automatically create a Warehouse entry for each new Item Card created.

Clicking the checkbox overrides the default behavior, which is to create the Warehouse-Item as needed--the first time you buy, sell, adjust, or transfer the Item using this Warehouse.

By automatically creating Warehouse entires for new Items, you can immediately set Order At Least and When Below values for your Warehouses.


  Warehouses: Warehouse Group

This Solution describes the Warehouse Group field found on the Warehouse Card. (6118)

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses.

The Warehouse Card tool, which appears on the Item toolbar, includes a field for Warehouse Group. This field is used for grouping Warehouses when creating Purchase Orders using Auto-Complete.


  Warehouses: Changes

Warehouses features for tracking Qty's at multiple locations get continual changes.

This Solution lists the current features and can be used as a starting point. (6828)

Big Business Pro can track your stock at multiple Warehouses.

Big Business 11.15 updates these reports to include Allocations (from open Orders):
- Inventory Sales Analysis
- Inventory Sales Analysis by Warehouse


  Warehouses: Warehouse Qty's

The Warehouse Quantities Search includes quantity values from Warehouse Quantities, as described below.

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses. (6128)

Big Business 13.65 and 14.22 fix the Show button and add new Warehouse Counts for the MRP Add-On.

Big Business 10.15 updates Warehouse Qtys for instant display. Big Business 10.19 automatically deletes Warehouse Qty's for Obsolete Items.

The Warehouse Quantity Search includes quantity values from Warehouse Quantities:

Warehouse Qty On Hand
Warehouse Qty Allocated
Warehouse Qty Available
Warehouse Order At Least
Warehouse When Below
Warehouse Qty On Order
Warehouse Qty Needed

It is important to understand that the Warehouse Quantities work in lockstep with the accounting for Items. The search criterion, Quantity On Hand, refers to the value on the Item Card, and your total inventory of the Item, while the Warehouse Qty On Hand refers to the quantity in an individual warehouse.


  Warehouses: Transfer

The Warehouse Transfer tool simplifies moving inventory from one Warehouse to another.

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses. (6132)

Features of the Warehouse Transfer include:

• settings for the From warehouse and To warehouse to appy to all line items

• enterable From and To on each line item for quicker data entry

• the option to copy all items from a Sales Order by entering its number

• a print option for a Packing List for shipping between warehouses

• a Transfer QuickSearch for finding past entries


  Warehouses: Q&A

Big Business includes a Q&A for Warehouses to find Items whose Warehouse Quantites are out of sync with their total Qty On Hand.

This feature is part of the Warehouses Add-On, which is an additional module for Big Business Server that tracks inventory at multiple Warehouses. (6134)

Use the Warehouse Q&A


  Warehouses: Don't Copy Warehouses

Don't Copy Warehouses is a preference in Sales Order Preferences that clears Warehouses when Orders are Duplicated. This feature is a customization for a company that uses Duplicate to save time entering repeat orders, for the same items from different warehouses. (6191)



  Warehouses: Deleted Warehouse

Big Business automatically creates a Warehouse Quantity record for tracking an Item in a Warehouse. For Warehouses with Auto-Create checked this is done when new Items are created. Otherwise this is done as neeeded the first time you buy, sell, or adjust an Item for a Warehouse. (6624)