Items on a Purchase Order

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The items for a purchase order appear on a list in the Items section of the purchase order. To add new items to this list, you click the Add Item button of this section; to edit existing items, you click the item you want to edit, then click Edit Item. In both cases, MainBoss opens a window where you can specify information about items. This window contains the following:

• P/O Number: The identification number of this purchase order.
• Vendor: The vendor associated with this purchase order. If you haven't specified a vendor yet, you can do so by dropping down the list and choosing from the Vendor table. For more about the Vendor table, see Vendors.
• Inv. Item: The item you want to add to the purchase order. The items that appear in this drop-down list are affected by options in the Pick Item section of the window.
• Order: This section is used to specify ordering information.
  • Date (darkened): The effective date and time of the purchase order. This will be blank if you haven't yet filled in a date/time.
  • On Hand (darkened): Once you specify an item in the "Inv. Item" field, the "On Hand" field shows the current quantity of that item in your inventory.
  • Unit Cost (darkened): Once you specify an item in the "Inv. Item" field, the "Unit Cost" field shows the current per-item cost for that item.
  • Total Cost (darkened): Once you specify an item in the "Inv. Item" field, the "Total Cost" field shows the total cost of all the units of that item in your inventory.

    Note: The "Unit Cost" and "Total Cost" above are solely based on previous purchases or price quotes. They are not based on the actual valuations of your inventory. Therefore, if MainBoss has no records of previous purchases or price quotes, the "Unit Cost" and "Total Cost" shown will be zero, even if you have specified a non-zero value for your inventory of those items.

  • On Order: The quantity of this item currently on order.
  • On Reserve: The quantity of this item currently on reserve for use in work orders.
  • Stock Available: The quantity of this item that is available for use (actual amount on hand minus the amount on reserve).
  • Minimum: The minimum quantity of this item that you always want to keep on hand.
  • Maximum: The maximum quantity of this item that you ever want to have on hand.
  • Order Quantity: The quantity of the specified item that you want to order.
  • Unit Cost: The per-unit cost of the item charged by this vendor.
  • Total Cost: The total cost of the items you want to order. MainBoss calculates this automatically by multiplying "Order Quantity" by "Unit Cost". If you type a value directly into "Total Cost", MainBoss adjusts "Unit Cost" to be "Total Cost" divided by "Order Quantity".
  • Cat. No.: The vendor's catalog number for the specified item.
  • Use Item Code: If you click this button, MainBoss places the item's identification code into the "Cat. No." field. This is useful if your identification codes are based on the vendor's catalog numbers.
  • On arrival store in: This section is used to specify where the item should be stored when it is received.
    • Building: The building where the item should be stored.
    • Storeroom: The storeroom where the item should be stored within the given building.
    • Storeroom On Hand: The current quantity of the item in the specified storeroom.
    • Location: The location within the storeroom. For example, if storeroom shelves are numbered, you could enter the appropriate shelf number.
• Pick Item: Options in this section make it easier to fill in the "Inv. Item" field. Essentially, the options restrict the drop-down list for "Selected Items". Once you have found the item you want in the "Selected Items" list, you click Pick This Item to fill in the "Inv. Item" field at the top of the window.
  • Show items only if On Hand is: This group of options controls what items appear in the drop-down list of the "Selected Items" field, based on the current on-hand quantities of the items.
    • below minimum: If this is selected, the list only shows items whose on-hand quantity is below their specified minimum. (You specify this minimum in the inventory record itself; for more information, see Describing Items.)
      This option is the one most commonly used. Since the specified minimum is the smallest quantity you want to have on hand at all times, any item below this minimum should be re-ordered.
    • below maximum: If this is selected, the list only shows items whose on-hand quantity is below their specified maximum. (You specify this maximum in the inventory record itself.)
      Since the specified maximum is the largest quantity you want to have on hand at any time, any item above the maximum normally should not be re-ordered.
    • any amount: If this is selected, the list shows items regardless of their on-hand quantity.
  • Show items only if: This group of options controls what items appear in the drop-down list of the "Selected Items" field, based on the vendor associated with this purchase order. (If you have not yet specified a vendor, these options may be disabled.)
    • Vendor was last supplier: If this is selected, the list only shows items that were most recently purchased from the specified vendor.
    • Vendor has previously supplied: If this is selected, the list only shows items that have been purchased from this vendor previously, even if the most recent purchase was from someone else.
    • regardless of vendor: If this is selected, the list shows items whether or not they have ever been purchased from this particular vendor.
  • Inventoried Items: Checkmark this if you want the drop-down list of the "Selected Items" field to include inventory items. This is the default.
  • Non-inventoried Items: Checkmark this if you want the drop-down list of "Selected Items" to include non-inventory items that you have purchased in the past.
  • Inv. Cat.: If you specify an inventory category in this field, the drop-down list of the "Selected Items" field will only show items belonging to that category.
  • Selected Items: A list of inventory items. The contents of this list are controlled by the options under "Show items only if On Hand is", "Show items only if", and "Inv. Cat.", as well as the Inventoried Items and Non-inventoried Items checkboxes.
  • Pick This Item: When you have found the appropriate item in the "Selected Items" list, clicking Pick This Item will set the "Inv. Item" field to the selected item.
  • Pick New Item: While you are preparing the purchase order, you may discover that a particular item you want to order is not currently in your Inventory Items table. The Pick New Item button makes it easy to add this item to your table, without having to close the purchase order first.
    Clicking Pick New Item opens a window where you can describe the new inventory item. For more information about this window, see Describing Items.
  • Price History List: This list displays price information about the selected item. This includes all price quotes on the item, as well as actual prices paid in previous purchase orders.
  • Use vendor: Sets the "Vendor" field in this window to the vendor of the price quote currently selected in the price history list.
  • Use Catalog Number: Sets the "Cat. No." field in the Order section of this window to the catalog number in the price quote currently selected in the price history list.
  • Use Price: Sets the "Unit Cost" field in the Order section of this window to the unit cost of the price quote currently selected in the price history list.
  • Use Block Price: Sets the "Total Cost" field in the Order section of this window to the total cost of the price quote currently selected in the price history list. Note that MainBoss automatically adjusts "Order Quantity" so that "Order Quantity" multiplied by "Unit Cost" equals "Total Cost".
• Save & New: Saves the current record and clears fields in the window so you can enter a new record.
• Clone: Copies information from the current window and creates a new window containing the copied information. This lets you avoid retyping all the information in the Order section.
• Delete: Deletes this item from the list of items in the original purchase order.
• Save: Saves the current record, but leaves all data as is. You can then continue to edit the same record.
• Cancel: Closes the window. MainBoss discards any information that has not already been saved.

For more information on editing purchase orders, see Creating a New Purchase Order.

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