Overview

NorthScope allows users to enter new sales invoices or convert sales orders to invoices. NorthScope sales invoices allow the user to allocate items, edit logistics information, assign items to contracts, adjust brokerage, freight accruals, promotions, and on invoice charges amounts, and more. In addition, users have the option of integrating sales invoices with the host system.

Prerequisites

Required Prerequisites

• Carriers
• Customers
• Inventory Items
• Order Transaction class
• Sites
• Workflow

Optional Prerequisites

• Sales Contracts
• Sales Programs
• Set the Sales Order preference for “Do Sales Orders become Invoices in NorthScope” to ‘Yes’
• Set the Sales Order preference for “Enable Real Time Transaction Integration” to ‘Yes’
  • This user guide assumes the preference is set to “Yes”. If the preference is set to “No”, then the components described in Steps 9 and 10 will not occur.
  • Status Setup
  • User-Defined Attributes for Sales Orders

Understanding the data flow

Once sales invoices are set to ‘Ready To Post’ in NorthScope, they appear in the host system’s Sales module as a Sales Transaction Entry in the Sales Batch titled “READY TO POST” when the Sales Order preference for “Enable Real Time Transaction Integration” is set to ‘Yes.’

Step 1: Creating the Sales Invoice.

If the invoice was created from an order, then the invoice information will default from the order and the status will be ‘Approved.’ If the user is creating a new invoice, follow the steps below.

From either the Sales Order Transactions or Transaction Items list view, click the New toolbar icon and select Invoice from the drop-down menu. Or, from the navigation menu, click New Transaction and select Invoice from the drop-down menu.

This will open the Sales Order: New Invoice window, which will open with a list view of all customer addresses that are active and have an Address Type of ‘Shipping’ or ‘Both’ for customers that are not on hold with the Address ID, Address, Attention To, City, Customer Name, Customer, State, and Zip information.

In the header, the following fields will appear for data entry:

• Doc Type: Displays a drop-down menu of all ‘Invoice’ transaction classes for the user to select the document type for the new invoice. This field defaults to the document type set by the “Default Invoice ID” preference.
• Purch. Order: Displays a text box for the user to enter the purchase order number associated with the invoice.
• Ship by: Displays a text box for the user to enter the ship by date for the invoice. This is a required field.

Once the header fields have been completed, select the customer for the sales invoice and click the Catalog Items toolbar icon. This will open the Sales Order: Transactions window, which will open with the customer’s name as a hyperlink to the customer record view, the address type as a hyperlink to the address record view, the shipping date, the transaction type of ‘Invoice’, and the site selection, which will default from the address and will be selected from the Site drop-down menu.

The Sales Order: Transactions grid will open with the customer’s favorite items listed. If the customer does not have favorite items, the list will appear blank with “No records to display.” However, available items can be searched for using the search field in the toolbar. Available items are those that are included in the customer’s Catalog Items and/or Item Favorites or, if the customer has full item access, all items will be available. Once search criteria has been entered, the items within the criteria parameters will appear with the following fields:

• Extended Price: Displays the product of the line item’s price per unit of measure and number of units invoiced. This field auto-populates upon entering the units and price.
• Item Description: Displays the description of the line item corresponding to the item number.
• Item: Displays the item number.
• Price: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the price per unit of measure for the line item. If the item is on one of the customer’s assigned price lists the price will default but can be overwritten if price variances are allowed, per the Sales Order preferences. Once the price is entered, select the price unit of measure from the drop-down menu, which will default from the price list if the line item is assigned to a price list.
• Units: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the number of units invoiced. A drop-down menu is also displayed for the user to select the units unit of measure, which will default from the price list if the line item is assigned to a price list.
• Weight: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the amount of weight invoiced and a drop-down menu for the user to select the weight unit of measure, both of which will default after units have been entered if the information is known.  

Once the item information for the invoice has been entered, click the Save toolbar icon. This will open the Invoice record view with all known information defaulted.

Step 2: Editing the ‘Home’ tab.

The Invoice record view opens with four tabs and a grid. The first tab is the Home tab, which opens with the Doc Date, Ship By date, Site, Status, Workflow, Carrier, and Ship to address fields defaulted from the previously entered information. However, each of these fields is editable and appear along with the rest of the header fields, all of which include:

• Actual Ship: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the date the invoiced items were shipped, as opposed to when it was “supposed to” ship. This field is required to save the invoice as a status of ‘Shipped’ or higher.
• Carrier: Displays a drop-down menu of all active carriers for the user to select the shipment method for the invoiced items. If the address being shipped to has a carrier assigned to it, this field will default to select the assigned carrier. Or, if there is no carrier assigned to the address but there is a carrier selected for the “Default Carrier” Sales preference, this field will default to select the preference carrier.
• Deliver On: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the date on which the invoiced items need to be delivered.
• Doc Date: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the date the invoice was made. This field defaults to today’s date.
• PO: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the purchase order associated with the invoice. If the Purch. Order field on the New Invoice window was completed, the PO field will auto-populate to reflect the same entry.
• Ship By: Displays a text box field for the user to enter the date by which the invoiced items must be shipped. This field defaults to the date selected for the Ship by field on the New Invoice window.
• Ship to: Displays a drop-down menu of the available shipping addresses for the customer by ID. The address of the selected address ID is populated as read-only beneath the selection. This field’s title displays a hyperlink that, when clicked, opens the Edit ship-to address window, which allows the user to edit the “Ship Attention To” name, the address, and the phone number without affecting the address or customer record.
• Site: Displays a drop-down menu of all the sites assigned to the workflow group for the address. These sites are determined in the Workflow setup in the System module.
• Status: Displays a drop-down menu of the status options for the invoice. This field defaults to ‘New’ but all available statuses include New, Approved, and Ready to Post.
• Workflow: Displays a drop-down menu of the workflow options for the invoice. These workflow options are determined in the Workflow setup in the System module.

Along with these fields, the first 4 user-defined fields will also appear on the home tab header. All of the user-defined fields can be found on the User-Defined tab and are determined in the User-Defined Attributes setup in the System module.

Once all the home tab information has been entered, click the Save toolbar icon.

Step 3: Editing the grid contents and allocating items.

Editing the grid contents.

The Invoice record view grid will open with the items selected on the New Invoice window displaying as individual line items with the following information:

• Alloc. Units: Displays the number of units allocated of the line item. This field is only editable in Allocate View or the Alloc. Details window.
• Alloc. Weight: Displays the amount of weight allocated of the line item. This field is only editable in Allocate View or the Alloc. Details window.
• Carrier: Displays the name of the Carrier that will ship the item(s). This field defaults from the Carrier header field.
• Contract: Displays a drop-down menu for the user to select the contract to which to apply the line item(s). The available contracts will be those in the Sales Contracts module that are assigned to the customer for the specified line item with remaining quantities.
• Extended Price: Displays the product of the line item’s price per unit of measure and number of units invoiced. This field is read-only.
• Item Description: Displays the description of the line item. This field is read-only.
• Item: Displays the line item’s number. This field is read-only.
• Load: Displays the load the line item’s shipment will be on. This field auto-populates and is read-only.
• Ord. Units: Displays the amount of invoiced units of the line item.
• Ord. Weight: Displays the amount of invoiced weight of the line item.
• Price UOM: Displays the unit of measure the price is contingent upon.
• Price: Displays the price per unit of measure.
• Ship By: Displays the date by which the line item(s) must be shipped. This field defaults from the Ship By header field.
• Site: Displays the name of the site to which the line item(s) are being shipped. This field defaults from the header Site field.
• Status: Displays the status of the line item(s). This field defaults from the header Status field.
• Units UOM: Displays the unit of measure in which the units are displayed.
• Weight UOM: Displays the unit of measure in which the weight is displayed.

New items can be added by clicking the Catalog Items grid toolbar icon, which will open the Select Items window with the ordered items and amounts appearing at the top. Follow the same steps as selecting new items to add items.

Allocating items.

To allocate items to the invoice, click the Allocate View grid toolbar icon. This will open the grid in allocate view, opening the Alloc. Units field for edits. Enter the amount of units allocated for each line item.

To select the specific lot and/or bin the allocated items will be pulled from, select the line item and click the Alloc. Details grid toolbar icon. The Alloc. Details window will open with the Site, Item, Ordered quantity, and Allocated quantity in the header. The Item field displays a drop-down with the ordered line item(s) for selecting. The line items that appear are those lots and/or bins that contain the ordered line item with the following details: Allocate Item, Site, Lot, Bin, Owner, Hold, On Hand Units, Allocated Units, Available Units, Allocate Units, Units UOM, Allocate Weight, Weight UOM, On Hand Weight, Allocated Weight, Available Weight, Manufactured date, Days Since Manufactured, Received date, Days Since Received, Expiration Date, Days Until Expiration, Unit Cost, and the User-Defined Attributes setup in the System module for lots. The only editable field is Allocate Units. Enter the number of units to allocate from the line item lot and/or bin in this field.

To view where else the lot’s and/or bin’s units have been allocated, click the Allocated Units hyperlink. This will open the SO Allocation Details window, which will display the Alloc Type, Trans Number, To, Lot, Bin, Ship By, Actual Ship, Alloc. Units, and Alloc. Weight of the previously allocated items. The Alloc. Units and Alloc. Weight fields are available for edit.

Once all allocations are complete, click the Save toolbar icon. If the user would like to allocate other ordered line items, select the next item from the Item drop-down menu and follow the same steps as above.  

Step 4: Editing the ‘Logistics’ tab.

The Logistics tab opens with a line item for each shipment. Shipments are determined by the line items’ Carrier, Site, and Ship By date and appear with the following information:

• # Items: Displays the number of items on the shipment.
• Actual Ship: Displays the date the shipment was actually shipped.
• Alloc. Units: Displays the number of allocated units on the shipment.
• BOL: Displays the Bill of Lading number for the shipment.
• Carrier: Displays the carrier transporting the shipment.
• Deliver On: Displays the date on which the shipment is to be delivered.
• Details: Displays a hyperlink that, when clicked, opens the Sales Order: Shipment Details window with the following fields: Truck, Driver, Vessel, Destination, Container, Total Units, Total Weight, Base Rate, Sales Amount, and Comment. The values entered in the Truck and Driver fields will auto-populate the corresponding fields on the Logistics line item and vice versa.
• Driver: Displays the name of the driver transporting the shipment.
• Freight Amount: Displays the cost of the freight.
• Freight Rate Type: Displays a drop-down menu of freight rate types for the user to select the freight rate type for the shipment.
• Freight Rate: Displays the freight rate.
• Freight Terms: Displays a drop-down menu of freight terms for the user to select the freight terms for the shipment.
• Load Status: Displays the status of the shipment’s load.
• Net Alloc. Lbs.: Displays the total weight of allocated units on the shipment.
• Net Ord. Lbs.: Displays the total weight of units ordered.
• Ord. Units: Displays the number of units ordered.
• Ship By: Displays the date by which the shipment is to be shipped.
• Shipment: Displays the shipment number.
• Site: Displays the name of the site to which the shipment is being made.
• Tracking #: Displays the shipment’s tracking number.
• Truck: Displays the name of the truck transporting the shipment.
• Waybill: Displays the waybill number for the shipment.

Before the invoiced items have been assigned a shipment, the only fields that can be edited are the Freight Rate Type and the Freight Rate.

Once the invoiced items have been assigned a shipment, the Deliver On, Freight Terms, BOL, Waybill, Tracking #, Truck, Driver, and Details can also be edited.  

Step 5: Editing the ‘User-Defined’ tab.

The User-Defined tab opens with all the fields that were created in the User-Defined Attributes setup in the System module for Sales Order - Invoice. The first four of these fields will appear on the Home tab header and the values entered in these fields on either the Home tab or User-Defined tab will auto-populate the same entry in the corresponding field on the opposite tab.

Step 6: Editing the ‘More Info’ tab.

The More Info tab opens with the previous transaction number, if applicable, the currency, and the bill to address as read-only values. In addition, there is a Trade Discount %, a Terms, a Salesperson, and a Credit Hold field for data entry. The Trade Discount % field defaults to 0% and the Terms field defaults to the customer’s pre-determined payment terms, however, both fields can be edited.

Step 7: Editing the Program Details.

Program Details include Brokerage and Freight Accruals and Promotions and On Invoice Charges. To edit this information, click the Program Details toolbar icon. This will open the Program Details window to the Brokerage & Freight Accruals tab.

Adjusting brokerage and freight accruals.

The Brokerage & Freight Accruals tab will open with each line item’s brokerage and freight accrual information. The values for each line item will be calculated based on the Brokerage and Freight Accrual Sales Programs assigned to the customer’s address in the customer’s Sales Program tab. The only editable field will be the Adj. Rate column where the user can enter the new brokerage and/or freight accrual rate for each line item. These amounts will not appear on the invoice but will affect the general ledger.

Once the rates have been adjusted, click the Save toolbar icon.

Adjusting promotions and on invoice charges.

Open the Promotions & On Invoice Charges tab to view each line item’s promotions and other charges that will appear on the invoice. The values for each line item will be calculated based on the Promotions Sales Program assigned to the customer’s address in the customer’s Sales Program tab. The only editable field will be the Adj. Rate column where the user can enter the new promotions rate for each line item. These amounts will appear on the invoice and will affect the general ledger.

Once the rates have been adjusted, click the Save toolbar icon.

Step 8: Finalizing the transaction in NorthScope.

Changes can be made to a transaction until it is finalized. To finalize a transaction, the user will need to change the status to “Ready to Post”. In some companies, posting is a two-step process where the transaction(s) are approved by one person, and posted by another.

Approving the transaction

This step is optional and is used for companies that require a two-step process where the person who approves the transaction cannot be the same person that posts the transaction.

To approve a transaction, open it from the list view, change the status to “Approved”, and click the “Save” icon on the header toolbar. In addition to the validations performed each time the “Save” icon is clicked, the following validations are also performed:

• Ensures there is at least one valid line item on the transaction.

Once the status has been successfully updated to “Approved”, all editable fields, with the exception of Status, Workflow, and PO will be disabled.

Finalizing the transaction

When the transaction is ready to be finalized, open it and change the status to “Ready to Post” and save the transaction. Setting the transaction to “Ready to Post” does the following:

• Validates the same conditions as the approval status
• Locks down all editable fields, including Status
• Creates an un-posted Transaction Entry in the Host System’s Sales Module

Prior to this, the host system does not know about the transaction.

Step 9: Posting the invoice in the host system.

For every sales invoice posted in NorthScope, a Sales Transaction Entry will be created in the host system if the Sales Order preference for “Enable Real Time Transaction Integration” is set to ‘Yes.’ This transaction entry will appear in the Sales module as an unposted entry in the Sales Batch titled “READY TO POST.”

Once the user is satisfied the transaction entry is correct, the user can post the batch in the host system.

Note: Although this step is required, it does not need to be done for each transaction. Posting can be done nightly or as needed.

Step 10: Reviewing in NorthScope.

Once Step 9 is completed, the following will occur in NorthScope:

• The posted invoice will automatically update from “Ready to Post” to “Posted” and will no longer be visible in the Transactions list view.