suppliers

How to display ONLY those items from the supplier on your Purchase Order

There is a new feature in version 14 of SpendMap that you can use to limit the items that your staff can select while entering Purchase Orders, such that they will only be able to select the standard items that you have set up for that supplier in advance.  That is, you can prohibit the use of non-standard items/suppliers.

Just use the new setting in PO Entry Settings, which you can find here…
– PURCHASING > Setup system> Purchase Order settings > PO entry settings

Listing only-items-for-supplier in PO Software

Alternatively, without this formal restriction, users can also search for items by supplier while entering new POs.

Finally, if you forgo the restriction and allow your staff to select non-standard items/suppliers but still want to know when it’s happening, you can use the setting “Log if non-standard supplier is chosen”, in System Alert Log Settings…
– PURCHASING > Setup system > System alert log settings

How to include your account number for the supplier on the PO form in your free PO software system

Chaim works in the security solutions industry in New Jersey and was asking how to include an account number for the supplier on the PO form…

“When I place an order, our suppliers would like to know our account number. In the Supplier information there are fields to enter Phone, Fax, but not our Account Number.  The Account Number should appear on the PO.“

Great question, Chaim!

Most people use the Comment 1 field or the Delivery Note field for that, both of which can be renamed to “Account Number” or similar.

You can enter the supplier’s account number into either of those fields in the [Miscellaneous] folder of the Supplier Master File, and it will carry forward to the PO Header for each new PO for that supplier and will be available to print on the PO form…

supplier account number on Purchase Order

TIP: Make sure that the field that you use appears on your PO form layout.  Delivery Note appears on form layouts 1, 2, and 5, where Comment 1 only appears on form layout 3.  Of course, if you upgrade to the paid/commercial version of SpendMap, we can customize your PO form with any fields you like.

You can preview and/or select your PO form layout, using the [Change PO Layout Option] button, in here…
– PURCHASING > Setup system> Purchase order settings > PO printing settings > Settings

Renaming the Fields

You can rename the field titles from “Comment 1” or “Delivery Note” to “Account Number”, which will update the field title in the Supplier Master File, as well as on the PO Header screen and the PO form itself.

Just go in here…
– PURCHASING > Setup system> Purchase order settings > PO printing settings > Text-Based Field Positions and Field Settings > Standard

…and change the Title of field #19 (Delivery Note) or #21 (Comment 1) , then exit and re-run SpendMap.

 

How to copy items, suppliers and other Master File codes in your free PO Software

On the heels of last week’s blog post on time-saving tips, John makes custom t-shirts and was asking if he can copy items to save time…

“Is there any way of duplicating an item? I have several items that are all the same except for item (part number) and description.”

Yes, you can copy items, suppliers, account codes, and most other Master File codes in SpendMap to save time and reduce data entry.

Just go into the applicable Master File and click the [ADD] button to get a blank screen, then enter an existing code in the Code Field and you will be prompted to copy the existing code to a new code.  All details (fields) will be copied to the new code, any of which can then be modified as required.

This section of the Online Help has more information about generic features that can be used across all Master Files in SpendMap…
– System-Wide Features and Information > Master Files > About Master Files

Copy-item

Listing items by supplier in your free Purchase Order Software

David works at a small furniture manufacturer in the UK and was asking if it’s possible to list only the items provided by one specific supplier while entering new Purchase Orders in the free version of SpendMap.

Sure thing David, when adding items to your Purchase Orders, just RIGHT-mouse click on the [?] Lookup button next to the Item Code field and you’ll be presented with a bunch of ways to search for items.  Notice how the Supplier Field is already filled in with the supplier on the PO (from the previous screen)…

list items by supplier in free PO software

So just click [OK] to get a list of just the items supplied by that supplier.

You can actually do this anywhere in SpendMap, not just in the PO Work Area.

On a separate but related note, if you ever need a hard copy report listing the items from a supplier, try this…
– PURCHASING > Reports > Supplier information > Items supplied by supplier

Approving suppliers in your free Purchase Order Software

Carl in the United Kingdom asked…

“Is it possible to give a supplier an approval? Ford example a new supplier would be categorised as ‘new’ then on return of a supplier questionnaire would moved to ‘approved’.  Perhaps this can be done in the category tab of the supplier (master file)?”

That is a great question, Carl.  It really depends on what you need to do with the suppliers that are pending approval.  For example, if you just need to identify who they are (e.g. print a list of suppliers in the approval process, or search for them while using the system), then using the Supplier Category feature would work well for that.

You can learn more about this feature in this section of the Online Help…
– PURCHASING > Master Files > Supplier Classifications

If, however, you need more functionality around the supplier approval process, then here are a couple other features to consider instead of (or in addition to) the Supplier Category…

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