SO-E  Release Sales Orders

Purpose of Program

Use this program to release line items for invoicing or for selective printing on packing lists.  When doing so the program will check stock and will automatically backorder items that are not available to ship.  Order quantities and backorder quantities can be overridden.

When items are released, the Ready to Invoice? flag in the sales order header is set to Y and each of the released line item's Release? flag is set to Y.  Any items flagged in this manner will be included in packing slips and invoices.  (Packing slips can be specified to ignore release flags if you want to print all items on the sales order)  You can accomplish the same thing by making these changes directly within the sales order.

General Program Operation

Enter the number of the sales order you want to release, or press F2 (or click on the Lookup button) to choose from a list of open sales orders.  The header information pertaining to that sales order will be automatically displayed.  A Ship To button will be displayed and if you click it, you can review and edit the Ship To address which can be useful if an order has multiple shipments to different destinations.  You are next asked Release all Lines?  If you indicate yes, the cursor will move to the Include Backorders? prompt.  If you want backorder amounts moved into the Ship Qty field and therefore included in the release, enter a Y.  If backorder amounts are not to be released, enter N.  The cursor then moves to the Release thru Est Date field.  If you want to release items up through a specific Estimated Ship Date, enter the appropriate date.  This date range feature is useful when releasing scheduled or blanket orders.

You are next asked Display Comment Lines?  If you indicate yes, comment lines will be displayed in both the entry area and in the display window.  If you don't want the comment lines displayed, enter N.

If you want any comment lines following a released line item to be automatically released with it, enter Y to Auto Release Comments?  If you want to see line items that have been completely shipped, answer Y to Display Shipped Lines?  Otherwise, completely shipped lines will not be included in the display window.

Line Item Entry Area

The cursor now moves to the entry area in the middle of the screen.  The first line item within the data range selected is displayed.  Type a Y in the Release? field to change the line item ready-to-ship flag to Y.   Enter the quantity to be shipped in the Ship Qty field.  Any remaining items on the line will be moved to the Backorder.  Depending on the Release Qtys Greater than On Hand setting in SD-M  Sales Orders Defaults, the system will check available stock and warn or prohibit release and move parts to backorder accordingly.

If you had answered N to Auto Release Comments?, any comment lines following each line item will be presented for release.

Each line item will be presented in sequence in the above manner until all lines within the date range selected have been processed.  You can move backward and forward through the lines by using your up and down arrows (or clicking on the Roll Up or Roll Down buttons).  Any time you want to leave the entry area and move on to the Ship Via field, press <Esc>.

Display Window

While you are in the line item entry area you can bring up the display window at any time by pressing F2 (or clicking on the Lookup button).  The display window shows the status of all line items within the date range selected.  You can highlight any line item, press <Enter> or click on it, and it will be brought into the line item entry area.

Rather than individually release each line item, a good short cut is to release all the lines by answering Y to Release all Lines? and then, via the display window, highlight and change only those lines that are not to be released complete.

Entering Shipping Information

The cursor moves to the Ship Via field.  If the method of shipment has changed since the sales order was originally entered, enter the correct shipping method, which prints on packing slips and invoices.  The Shipper Number is automatically assigned by the system, but can be overridden.  You can set the next shipper number in SD-M  Sales Orders Defaults.  If the Set Invoice same as Pack Slip is set to Y in SD-Q IS Tech Support Defaults, the next invoice number will automatically be assigned as both the invoice and Shipper number.

Enter the Ship Date (optional).  If left blank, invoices will still be assigned a ship date when printed through SO-F, Print Invoices.  Enter any Freight, if applicable.  The screen will then clear and the cursor returns to the SO# field.  If the Enter Ship Tracking # in SO-E? is set to Y in SD-Q IS Tech Support Defaults you will be prompted for a tracking number (up to 30 characters) and freight carrier which can print on the pack slip and invoice.

To exit this program, press <Esc> while in the blank SO# field and you will be returned to the Sales Orders menu.  You can now print and post invoices for any items on hand that you have released or you can print packing slips limited to just the items that are released.

Features & Options

If you are using the Features & Options module, you can release a partial quantity on a  parent product without having to individually release all its options.

When you release a partial quantity, you are asked if you want to change all the options proportionately.  If you indicate yes, all the option quantities will be changed in succession in direct proportion to the change made to the parent product.

Selling Kits

If the order includes a type K Selling Kit, you can release a partial quantity on a  parent product without having to individually release all its components.

When you release a partial quantity, you are asked if you want to change all the components proportionately.  If you indicate yes, all the component quantities will be changed in succession in direct proportion to the change made to the parent product.

Retention Billing

The system supports the automatic creation of retention invoices for industries such as construction where this is a common requirement.

First you must set the Prompt for Retention Billing? to Y in SD-M  Sales Orders Defaults.  In the same program you must enter a item number for retention that provides a standard item number and description for retention invoices.  Set the item number up first in IN-B, Enter Inventory, as a non-inventory item.  Also in AD-A enter a GL asset account for Retention.  This GL account would be located adjacent to your Accounts Receivable GL account.

After a sales order is released and saved, you will be asked Do you wish to bill for retention? If Y, you will be asked to enter a retention percentage.  Fifteen percent would be entered as "15.00."

After entering the percentage, you are asked if you want to invoice the retention immediately.  If you indicate yes, the program will create a sales order for the retention amount with the Ready to Invoice? flag set to Y so that it could be printed and invoiced immediately.  If you indicate no, a sales order for the retention amount will be created with its Ready to Invoice? flag set to N so that it could be released and invoiced at a later time.

The originating sales order, when released and printed, will include an amount in the bottom section next to sales tax and freight which says Less Retention.  The amount of retention will be deducted from the invoice amount.

The newly created sales order for the retention amount uses the default retention item number defined in SD-M  Sales Orders Defaults as its one line item, followed by a comment line which says Retention from Invoice (number) as a cross reference.  The header area is a repeat of the originating sales order's header.

When the originating sales order gets invoiced, it gets two postings in addition to the standard postings.  The default Accounts Receivable account gets credited by the retention amount, and the default Retention GL account (as specified in SD-M  Sales Orders Defaults) gets debited by the retention amount.

When the retention sales order gets invoiced, Accounts Receivable gets debited, and the Retention account gets credited, bringing it back down to zero.