Transfers (UG)

Owned by Tatum Hohl (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Mar 08, 2019 by Emma Greenwood
13 min read

Overview

The NorthScope Inventory module Transfer transaction allows the user to record the transfer of inventory items from one site to another. In addition, the user can record the transfer of inventory items via an in transit site using the same transaction. The transfer of items using this transaction also allows the user to track warehouse lots and product ownership. Before the transaction is posted, it will updated the available lot balance of the item(s). Once the transaction is posted, it will update the on-hand lot balance of the item(s). Once the transaction is posted, it integrates to the host system as an Inventory Transfer transaction if the inventory transaction integration in the Company module is set to immediate or timed. 

Prerequisites

Required Prerequisites

  • Site Setup
  • Item Setup

Optional Prerequisites

  • Set the Inventory Preference for "Default Owner"
  • Carrier Setup
  • Production Lot Setup
  • Attributes Setup for Inventory - Transfer Transaction

Understanding the data flow

An Inventory Transfer transaction can be used to transfer inventory items' balance from one site to another. If the item is lot tracked and the production lot entered does not already exist, a new production lot will be created by the transaction. If the site is warehouse lot tracked and the warehouse lot entered does not already exist, a new warehouse lot will be created by the transaction. When the transaction is saved in a status less than Ready to Post, it will reduce the available balance of the From Site and will increase the available balance of the To Site. If a Ship  Via site is selected, making this a two-part transfer, the Ship Via site will act as the To Site until the transaction is posted. Once the transaction is posted, the From Site's On Hand balance will decrease and the To Site's On Hand balance will increase. If a Ship Via site is selected, making this a two-part transfer, a second transfer will be created to account for the transfer between the via site and the to site. This second transfer will be open, causing the Via Site's On Hand balance to increase and the Ship Via site's Available balance to decrease while the To Site's Available balance will increase. Once the second transfer is posted, the Ship Via site's On Hand Balance will decrease and the To Site's On Hand balance will increase. Once the transaction is posted, it will be sent to the host system as a Transfer transaction if the integration is turned on. 

Step 1: Entering the Transaction in NorthScope

To create a new Transfer transaction in NorthScope, first expand the Inventory module. Then, click Transactions. This will open the Transactions list view. From the Transactions list view, click the New toolbar icon. This opens a drop-down menu, which displays all active inventory transaction classes for the user to select the transaction class for the transaction. Select any of the transfer transaction classes to open a blank Transfer type record view.  

Completing the header fields

To view the description of each of the Transfer's header fields, click here. 

  • BOL: This text field allows users to enter a BOL ID for the transaction. It defaults to the transaction ID if an alternative BOL ID hasn't been entered.  Note: The maximum character limit for this field is 100 characters.
  • Carrier: Allows users to select the carrier for the transfer transaction. This field is not required.
  • Corrected From: This field displays the Transaction ID of the source transaction the correction is being made from. This field is only displayed when the transaction was corrected.  This field is for information only.
  • From Site: This is the site from which the items are being transferred. Therefore, select the site where you would like inventory to decrease. 
  • Received On: This field is only displayed when Ship Via site has been selected. Enter a date the transfer is reaching the final destination.
  • Ship Via: This is the site via which the items are being transferred. This site acts as the transporter of the items. Therefore, if this site is selected the transfer becomes a two part transfer that will initially transfer the items from the From Site to the Ship Via site and then a second transfer will be created upon the posting of the first transfer that will transfer the items from the Ship Via site to the To Site. 
  • Status
    • New - This is the default.
    • Approved - Used when there is a two-step process for finalizing transactions. Setting the status to “Approved” disables all editable fields except Status and Carrier. 
    • Ready to Post - Used when the user is ready to post the transaction. Setting the status to “Ready to Post” disables all editable fields.

  • Note: Status can also be updated from the transactions List View via the Mass Update toolbar icon.

  • To Site: This is the site to which the items are being transferred. Therefore, select the site where you would like inventory to increase. 
  • Transferred On: This field defaults to today's date but can be edited. The date must reside within the most recently closed fiscal year or a later date. E.g. If Fiscal Year 2015 is the most recently closed year, then the date can be MM.DD.2015 or a later date, but it cannot be MM.DD.2014.

Adding line items

Once the header values have been entered, click Save. Saving will populate the grid for data entry. By default, twenty blank line items will open. However, more than five items can be added. Enter the information for each item being transferred.

To view the description of each Transfer transaction grid field, click here.

  • Owner: This is the owner of the lot from which the item is being transferred. Therefore, this field is only editable when the corresponding item is lot tracked. 
  • Production Batch: This is the production batch from which the item is being transferred. Therefore, enter the production batch where you would like inventory to decrease. This field is only editable when the corresponding item is lot tracked. 
  • Warehouse Lot: This is the warehouse lot from which the item is being transferred. Therefore, enter the warehouse lot where you would like inventory to decrease. This field is only editable when the From Site is warehouse lot tracked. 
  • Item: Description: This is the item being transferred. If the item selected is managed by units only, the Weight and Weight UOM fields will be disabled. If the item selected is managed by weight only, the Units and Units UOM fields will be disabled. 
  • To Owner: This is the owner of the lot to which the item is being transferred. Therefore, this field is only editable when the corresponding item is lot tracked. The field is blank when new line items are entered, but defaults to the 'Owner', if the field is left blank when the transaction is saved.
  • To Warehouse Lot: This is the warehouse lot to which the item is being transferred. Therefore, enter the warehouse lot where you would like inventory to increase. Note: The To Warehouse Lot field can be updated via the Mass Update tool to update filtered/selected line items within a transfer transaction.
  • Units: This is the number of units of the item being transferred. This field is only editable if the corresponding item is managed by units and weight or units only. 
  • Units UOM: This is the unit of measure of the units being transferred. This field is only editable if the corresponding item is managed by units and weight or units only. This field will default to the item's default inventory unit UOM once the item is selected. If the UOM selected differs from either of the lots involved in the transfer, the units will be converted based on the UOM conversion on the UOM schedule. 
  • Net Weight: This is the total weight of the item being transferred. This field is only editable if the corresponding item is managed by units and weight or weight only.
  • Weight UOM: This is the unit of measure of the weight being transferred. This field is only editable if the corresponding item is managed by units and weight or weight only. This field will default to the item's default inventory weight UOM once the item is selected. If the UOM selected differs from either of the lots involved in the transfer, the weight will be converted based on the UOM conversion on the UOM schedule. 

Note: The Units and Weight values must both be positive and cannot be zero. 

Note: The Production Batch and the Warehouse Lot information doesn't need to be manually entered, if Allocate Item feature is used. The Warehouse Lot field is only required when the site is Warehouse Lot tracked.


Finding Lots

To allocate items to the inventory transaction, click the Find Lots grid toolbar icon. This will open the Find Inventory Lots window with the following header fields:

 Allocate From: The site used for allocation. This defaults to the site selected on the transaction record and the field cannot be edited.

Transaction Lines: Displays how many lots have been allocated for this transaction.

The find lots window displays all products and lots for the selected site. The Search toolbar can be used to search lots. The lots can be searched by:

  • Item ID
  • Item Description
  • Production Batch ID
  • Warehouse Lot

Lots can be also searched by multiple search criteria like ‘Item ID & Production Batch ID’ or ‘Item Description & Production Batch ID & Warehouse Lot’. The search can be executed by hitting enter key or clicking the search icon and the search results are displayed in the grid below.

The grid default view includes the following columns:

  • Item ID
  • On Hand Units
  • On Hand Weight
  • Available Units
  • Available Weight
  • Batch Date
  • Production Batch
  • Warehouse Lot
  • Item Description
  • Received Date
  • Certificates

To allocate the units on the transaction, enter the appropriate quantity of units and/or weight to the Units / Weight fields. Allocation can be done using Units and/or Weight depending on the item configuration. Items that are managed by units only, have only the Units field editable. Items that are managed by Weight only, have only the Weight field editable. If the item is set to variable weight, both Units and Weight fields can be edited. Items that are not variable weight will automatically update Units or Weight column when a value has been entered to one of the fields.

Note: If more than one item is being allocated, click save after each allocation and verify that the Transaction Lines field is updated accordingly.

Users can also enter a gross weight for the transfer items on the Find Lots page. The gross weight column is not in the system view, but users can add it to the view from the column setup. When users enter the gross weight on the Find Lots page, the Gross weight field on the transaction record's items grid populates accordingly. Otherwise the gross weight on the items grid is calculated from the item's tare weight from the Item record. The gross weight column is not in the system view on the transaction record.

Once allocations are complete, click the Save toolbar icon and close the Allocate Item window or simply click Save & Close. The Production Batch and the Warehouse Lot (if the site is lot tracked) are now populated based on the information entered on the Find Lots window.

The Available Units of the Lot Balance is updated when the Allocation has been completed and the Record is Saved. Once the Record is Posted, the On-Hand Units of the Lot Balance is updated.

Editing Properties (Optional)

The Properties tab includes transaction settings and informational fields.

  • Auto-Create New Lots: This field identifies if new lots can be created on the transaction or not. The value defaults from the transaction class properties, but the value is editable.   
  • Negative Available Balances: This field identifies if the transaction can change the lot balances to negative or not. The value defaults from the transaction class properties, but the value is editable when the transaction status is New.   Note: If Sales Order allocation preferences are set to either “Available Only” or “Available and On Hand” and a Sales order has been allocated prior to a user updating the Inventory “Negative Available Balances”property, it is possible to draw the lots negative. 
  • GL Date: This field defaults to the transaction date, but can be edited. The GL Date must be the same as the transaction date or a later date and the date must reside within an open fiscal period.
  • Created by: This field displays the name of the user who created the transaction. This field is for informational use only and cannot be edited.
  • Created Date: This field displays the date when the transaction was created. This field is for informational use only and cannot be edited.
  • Last User: This field displays the name of the user who updated the transaction the most recently. This field is for informational use only and cannot be edited.
  • Last Updated: This field displays the date when the transaction was updated the most recently. The field is for informational use only and cannot be edited.

Assigning the Attributes (Optional)

The Attributes tab on the Transfer transaction will include all User-Defined Attributes assigned to the Inventory - Transfer transaction.  Attribute values are editable for all transaction statuses.

To setup Attributes for the Transfer transaction, navigate to Company→User-Defined Attributes→Inventory→Transactions→Inventory - Transfer.

Assigning Shipment Details and Freight (Optional)

See Shipment Details user guide. 

Saving the transaction

Saving the Transfer transaction as New will create lots for items that are not assigned to an existing lot and will update the available lot balances of items assigned to existing lots.

Note: A message will be displayed to the user if lot balances are negative and a new transaction is created which would impact those balances positively, however the overall balances would still be negative.  For example, if the lot balance is -10 Cases and a Transfer transaction adds 5 Cases, the overall lot balance would still be negative. The following options are possible workarounds: 

  •  Change the Transfer transaction's "Negative Available Balances" property to "Allowed"
  •  Change the Transfer transaction to result in a zero or greater inventory balance.
  •  Use Cycle Count feature to change inventory balance to zero or greater.

Step 2: 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 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 there 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, there are additional validations that are performed:

  • Ensures there is at least one valid line item on the transaction
  • Ensures the GL Date resides within a valid fiscal period as determined by the host system. 

  • Ensures the required Attributes have been entered. 

  • Ensures all transaction items have Transfer Freight Accrual and Transfer Freight Expense accounts configured, if freight has been assigned to the transaction.

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

Finalizing the transaction

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

For a one part transfer (no Ship Via site):

  • Validates the same conditions as the approval status and locks down all editable fields, including status.
  • Sends the transaction to the host system as an Inventory Transfer if integration is turned on.
  • Creates the NothScope journal entry and sends it to the Host System, if freight is assigned to the transaction. Note: The journal entry is only integrated to the Host system, if the Journals integration is set to immediate or timed. 
  • Decreases the on hand balance of the From Site lot
  • Increases the on hand balance of the To Site lot

For a two part transfer (with a Ship Via site):

  • Validates the same conditions as the approval status and locks down all editable fields, including status.
  • Sends the first part of the transaction (transfer from the From Site to the Ship Via site) to the host system as an Inventory Transfer if integration is turned on
    • Decreases the on hand balance of the From Site lot
    • Increase the available balance of the Ship Via site lot
  • Creates the second part of the transfer (transfer from the Ship Via site to the To Site) in NorthScope in a status of New AND Transaction Type as Transfer Receipt 
    • Decreases the available balance of the Ship Via site lot
    • Increases the available balance of the To Site lot

For two part transfers to be complete, the second part of the transfer must be posted. Saving the second part of the transfer as "Ready to Post" will do the following:

  • Sends the transaction to the host system as an Inventory Transfer if integration is turned on
  • Decreases the available balance of the Ship Via site lot
  • Increases the on hand balance of the To Site lot

  • If the freight amounts are changed in the Shipment Details, an additional journal entry is created to debit / credit the Transfer Freight accounts accordingly. If the freight amount is increased, the new journal entry debits the Transfer Freight Expense account and credits the Transfer Freight Accrual account with the difference. If the freight amount is decreased, the new journal entry debits the Transfer Freight Accrual Account and credits the Transfer Freight Expense Account with the difference. The Journal Details window on the transaction displays both journal entries. Once the Transfer Receipt record is saved as Ready to Post the journal entry is integrated to the Host system if the integration setup for ‘Journal’ is set to immediate or timed.

Note: For each transfer, a transfer receipt will automatically be created to record the receipt of the items by the To Site. The record is automatically allocating the items from the In Transit lot.

Note: When the transaction has been saved as Ready to Post, the status is automatically updated to Posted, which will then remove the transaction from the IM Transactions List View. These transactions can be viewed on Transaction History inquiries.

Step 3: Posting the transaction in the host system.

Posting Inventory Transaction

For every Inventory Transfer transaction in NorthScope, an Inventory Transfer transaction will be made in the host system if the Company Integration Setup for 'IM Transactions' is set to Timed or Immediate. The transaction will appear in the host system's Inventory module as a Transaction Entry in the batch titled NS followed by the year, month, and day with the following format: NS: YY_MM_DD. For example, if the Transfer was integrated on July 14, 2015, the Batch ID for the transaction entry would be NS: 15_07_14. 

The values that will be sent to the host system include the following:

  • Transferred On
  • Transaction ID
  • From Site
  • To Site
  • Item
  • Units/Weight
  • Units/Weight UOM

Once the user verifies all fields are 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.

If the Integration Setup for IM Transactions is set to None, the transaction status is set to posted after the transaction is saved as Ready to Post.

Posting Journal Entry

Note: This step only applies to transfer transactions that contain freight. 

For every Transfer transaction with freight in NorthScope, a journal entry will be made in the hos system if the Company Integration Setup for ‘Journal’ is set to Timed or Immediate. The journal entry will appear in the host system’s Financial module as a Transaction Entry in the batch tilted NS followed by the year, month and day with the following format: NS: YY_MM_DD. Each Transfer journal entry reference will be the NorthScope journal entry number followed by the NorthScope transaction ID.

Transfer transactions that integrate to the Host system will create the following journal entry:

One debit line showing the summarized amounts per each unique “Transfer Freight Expense Account”. The account defaults from the item record.

One credit line showing the summarized amounts per each unique “Transfer Freight Accrual Account”. The account defaults from the item record.

Once the user is satisfied that all the GL Distributions are 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.