Processing orders from customers and orders to suppliers.

LoMag software features 3 independent but integrated modules:

• the Warehouse Module
• the Orders Module
• the Invoices Module
• "Settings/Calculations/Displaying numbers/Display prices and values" - if you unmark this option, the program will not support the prices of items and you will only be able to conduct a quantitative register of the items. The program will only ask about the quantity when receiving or issuing items.

The warehouse and invoices modules are described in different instructions. This instruction contains a presentation of the orders module's functionality. The module may work in conjunction with the other two modules for invoices and warehouse.

Depending on the purchased modules, the application's window (interface) may have a more or less advanced look. The window for the orders module alone look like this:


• "Settings/Calculations/Displaying numbers/Selling price is set in quota terms in the item list in the 'Suggested selling price' field" - it means that the program will propose at what price the item is to be issued, basing on the default prices from the item list. If you set the selling price in the item list, the program will suggest that price whenever the item is to be issued, independently from the purchase price.

With all three modules, the orders app will have the following appearance - this instruction has been prepared based on such full option.



NOTE: To enable orders processing for the demo version, please select "Active modules": Warehouse when you run the software for the first time. The setting is also accessible through the menu Program / Settings wizard

1. Orders and offers program

• "Settings/Calculations/Displaying numbers/Selling price is calculated as a sum of the purchase price and the mark-up (or margin) from the price list" - it means that the program will propose the issue prices basing on the mark-up from the purchase price, e.g. an item is received at the warehouse at PLN10/pcs, and it is issued from the warehouse with a 20% mark-up, i.e. at PLN12/pcs. You set the mark-up in the item list.

LoMag software features 3 types of order documents:

• an order to supplier (supplier order)
• an order from a customer (customer order)
• an offer
• "Settings/Accounts/Suppliers" - if you unmark this option the program will not support the suppliers and will not request a name of the supplier when creating documents.
• "Settings/Accounts/Customers, Employees” – similarly as above, the program will disable the support of accounts.
• "Settings/Company” - the data of your company will be visible on the documents.

It has to be stressed that the above documents do not affect warehouse stock levels. If you also run a warehouse, the order documents let you automatically create warehouse transfers. After generating a warehouse document it is good to change the order status to "closed", so as to easily distinguish between fulfilled and placed orders.

1.1 Settings

VAT processing

• "Settings/Dedicated columns/” - names for additional fields with text content (attributes/characteristics of the item, e.g. colour), numbers (e.g. weight) or hyperlinks (e.g. the Internet site of the manufacturer).

3. Commencement of work with the program

Businesses exempt from the VAT tax should change LoMag settings before documents are generated so that the program doesn't calculate the VAT. Go to setting (), to the tab, and next in the section deselect the option and confirm the change with the button. From now on documents will be issued without the VAT tax deductions - see below.

1.2 Creating order documents

The program can support any number of warehouses. After you launch it, a window comes up, in which you need to select the warehouse you wish to work on. You may also add a new warehouse in the warehouse selection window, as well as change the name and the code of a warehouse, or remove a warehouse together with all the documents. Once you click 'Open' or press "ENTER”, the program will open the marked warehouse and from that moment you may operate in this warehouse. If you wish to change the active warehouse, go to "Program/Open warehouse" on the menu.

There are a few ways to generate these documents: by the button found in the upper menu, where you next choose the needed document. The second method allows you to open documents by hitting the F7 key (supplier order), F8 (offer), and F9 (customer order).

Order documents may also be opened with an icon on the program's toolbar - see below.

New document window interface for different document types are very similar to each other. Below there is a brief outline of specific elements of the interface, and next a more detailed description of some of them follows.

Before you start creating documents, it's worth defining the item list and the accounts. You can also import item lists from an Excel file. Go to "Items/Import from Excel” menu, where you have a simple import module available. To import data, simply select an Excel file, and adjust columns from the Excel file to the columns in LoMag by selecting the name of the field from the drop-down list. Next, click "Import of items - adds or updates if already in the database" and the program will add or update data. The key to updating items is "Item name" and "Unit" - i.e. if a given item name and unit already exists in the database, the program will update the remaining data. You may also import items to many warehouses.

- field where you add a contractor to the document. The contractor can be selected from a drop-down list after clicking (for a faster search you may enter first letters of the contractor's name and click the button). Use the function to add a new contractor to your base. By using the button you can print out an address label (e.g. for a letter).

• The contractor field may not be displayed if you turn off this function in the settings.

Importing accounts works on the same basis. You may select a file with a list of accounts, customers or employees in the "Accounts/Import from Excel" menu. Insert columns with 'yes' and 'no' values in them, so that the program may ascribe every account their status. An example of an Excel file content:
"Name customer supplier”
"Client1 yes no”
"Distributor1 no yes”

4. Item list

- the application automatically generates document date and number. In the section you can set the type of printout (e.g. an order allowing for VAT tax or not). In the field you can change order status. You can make notes about the document in the field.

• You can correct the issue date of a document and its number; please remember, however, to maintain the right document chronology. When entering past documents start from the oldest one and continue until the latest one.

To go to the item list, you must select "Items/Item list” option on the menu, or press the Ctrl+T shortcut key, or click the item list icon on the tool bar. All the methods are equivalent and they have been added to facilitate your work with the program. Once the item list is launched, the list of items from the current warehouse and the current stock level will be displayed. The list may be narrowed down, if a filter or a group is chosen on the item list tool bar. The list of columns in the item list may be adjusted by right-clicking any column and selecting the "Manage columns" option. The "History" button allows you to take a quick look at the warehouse movements for a given item. In order to add an item to the item list, you may also use the Alt-D shortcut.

- this part of the interface allows you to save a document in a pdf file (), print it out (), and edit document templates (). Learn how to edit a warehouse document with the LoMag editor here. Additionally, you can always generate a warehouse document by using the button.

• A warehouse document can be generated from an order document only if you've purchased the warehouse module..

- buttons for saving or cancelling a new warehouse document

- buttons for adding new goods to a document

- buttons for editing goods already added to a document.

- buttons for deleting goods from a document.

Creating a full list of items is not necessary, but it will considerably facilitate and accelerate the creation of documents. We recommend creating an item list before you begin adding documents. In the item list, you may describe the characteristics of the item, the barcode, the unit of measurement, the group, the opening balance (initial values), the suggested prices and the low and high quantity thresholds. The meaning and the employment of each of those fields is explained below:

- a button for printing out a list of goods included in the document.

- a button for exporting a list of goods of from a specific document to an Excel file.

- a button for adding goods from a data collector. (See recommended devices for LoMag warehouse management software)

- a button for importing goods from an Excel file.

• A barcode may be any string of signs, it does not have to be necessarily a concrete code type. The field may also be used for another purpose, e.g. as a unique index, which facilitates finding an item. If a barcode reader is to be used with the program, you should scan the code with the reader in the "barcode" field in order to ascribe a given code to an item. You may also generate the barcodes automatically.

- a button for viewing connections between documents (more details can be found in this instruction below)

• A unit of measurement may be chosen from a list, or entered with a keyboard. If a given unit is outstanding, it will be entered into the database.

A detailed description with examples for functioning of the keys from 6 to 11 can be found herej.

• The item group enables you to group the assortment, e.g. the "Fruit" group may include Pears, Apples, etc. Groups facilitate finding items and are used in the reports.

Though the types of documents have a similar appearance, their roles are different.

1.3 The supplier order document

• The opening balance enables you to determine initial values (levels, prices) for an item, which is already on stock.

A supplier order document () is used for ordering goods from your supplier. You may provide any information needed in your and your supplier's order procedure (contractor details, goods, etc.). To add new goods click or use a keyboard shortcut "Alt-D".


• Suggested prices: suggested purchase price, suggested margin (or suggested selling price with the "Selling price is taken from the price list" setting) are not mandatory entry fields, but they accelerate the process of creating documents. Once you have selected a given item for a new document, the program shall suggest prices in accordance with the settings in the item list. If you keep a register of items without sales with profit, the margin should stay zero, as the program suggests by default.

Besides standard fields for specifying goods and quantity, there is also a place for a gross price and a VAT rate, which are uncommon in warehouse documents. The warehouse is entirely run either in net or gross prices (this can be determined in settings).


• Low Qty Threshold determines the minimum (emergency) stock level at the warehouse. The field is used to find items which are running low at the warehouse (menu "Items/Find/Low Qty Threshold").

As an example, let's add to the document "Apples" as sample goods with the using the field and the button (or ). To add the goods to the document it first has to be defined in LoMag's file data module ().


• High Qty Threshold determines the maximum (emergency) stock level at the warehouse. The field is used to find items the quantities of which are excessive at warehouse (menu "Items/Find/High Qty Threshold").
• The removal of items from the item list is possible, if the item has not been used in the documents.

Next, as you can see above, after determining your goods, you can see its available quantity. After providing the quantity of the "apples" goods you wish to sale and the price (per item), your gross price will be calculated - see below - e.g. you are selling 50 kg of apples for PLN 2.50. The gross price will rely on the selected VAT rate, which you can change. To add goods to the proforma invoice click .

Please note that the items list at each warehouse may be completely different. To copy an item list from another warehouse, select the "Items/Copy from another warehouse" option. Then, select the warehouse from which you want to copy the items and mark several or all items in the left panel. The ">" button copies the items to the current warehouse.

5. List of accounts

All above values - "net price", "gross price", "VAT rate", can be pre-defined in the module. After you add the goods to the document it looks like this:

When all the goods are on the document, remember that you can further define your contractor - complete instruction can be found in the "contractors" instruction available here. Next you can print out the order (), save it (), and send to your contractor by e-mail - you will find a detailed instruction below.

To go to the account list, select the "Accounts" option from the menu, and then select a list for a given type of account: "Customer", "Supplier", "Employee". Once you select, a list accounts of a given type will be displayed. The list may be narrowed down, if a filter is selected on the tool bar of the account list. The column list may be adjusted by right-clicking any column and selecting "Manage columns". The "History" button enables a quick preview of warehouse transfers for a given account. You may also use the Alt-D shortcut, to add an account to the list.

To send the document to your contractor, just as the above order, hit the icon on the document window's toolbar.

Accounts have been divided into 3 groups

• Suppliers - used in GRNs, and GRN corrections
• Customers - used in GINs, GIN corrections, Interbranch Transfers
• Employees - used in internal GRNs, internal GINs, Interbranch Transfers

As presented above, first you have to configure your e-mail settings in LoMag. To do this, go to software settings (), and next the tab. If the electronic mail settings have already been configured, the above information won't be displayed, and the process will open the module.

Each account may belong to one or more group, e.g. Jan Kowalski may be both a supplier and a customer. A removal of an account from the list is possible only if it has not been used in documents. The accounts are visible in all warehouses, i.e. if you add an account to one warehouse, you may use it in all other warehouses.

6. Warehouse documents

In the tab provide the SMTP data of your e-mails service provider and the address and password of your e-mail account. You can get the SMTP details on your service provider's website. See illustrations with e-mail settings below for most popular e-mail boxes in Poland.

E-mail settings for gmail.com

All documents in the programme are added in the same manner. To accelerate work, apart form the icons, you may also use the keyboard shortcuts available:

• F2 - GRN (Goods Received Note), e.g. receipt of new items on stock;

After you provide the data click to go to your document and then click again the button. The window will appear.


• F3 - GIN (Goods Issued Note), e.g. sale of goods;
• F4 - GRN correction (Return to supplier), e.g. return of a faulty batch of items;
• F5 - GIN correction (Return from recipient), e.g. return from customer due to a complaint;

Make sure the e-mail address of your contractor is correct and send the message by clicking . If the message is sent successfully, adequate information will follow.

• F6 - stock level correction note, e.g. goods lost in the warehouse;

After the order is sent, you can change document's status (see below).


• F7 - Interbranch transfer, e.g. transfer of some of the items to another building;

Other (your own) order statuses may be defined by clicking .

• F8 - discount note (Change of item value), e.g. lowering of prices caused by the decrease in the value of items;
• F9 - Internal GRN (Internal Goods Received Note), e.g. receipt of items coming from own production;
• F10 - Internal GIN (Internal Goods issued Note), e.g. issue of items to an employee;

Importantly, if your LoMag software also features the warehouse module, you can generate a Goods Received Note (receipt at warehouse) from an order supplier document by clicking the button. This way you can always quickly create a document for receiving an order by the warehouse.

1.4 The customer order document

• F11 - Assembly note e.g. the manufacturing of products from raw materials in the manufacturing process.

Similarly, Shift+F2 adds another GRN, Shift+F3 adds another GIN, etc.

After opening the document creator window, you may select an account form the list, or find it by pressing the [..] button, or entering the first letters of the account's name, and then pressing the down arrow. The account selection field may be invisible, if you turn off the account support in settings.

The customer order document () is for preparing a formal document for ordering goods by your clients. You can include in the document any information necessary for preparing an order (contractor details, goods, etc.). Such a document looks similar to order documents to sent suppliers, but when you add goods you can additionally define mark-up for goods () which you want to include in the order for your client.

If you additionally use the warehouse module, you can use the customer order document to generate a Goods Issue Note () with the . This way you are able to quickly create a document for releasing goods from the warehouse based on a given order.

1.5 The offer document

The program automatically enters the current date and time of creation of the document and proposes a consecutive number. You may change the number to any sequence of signs. You may also change the date, however, you have to remember to maintain the chronology of documents. When entering archival documents, you should begin with the oldest and continue to the newest. Changing the date of an existing document may seriously impact the stock levels and the value of the warehouse.

The "remarks" filed may be used for notes regarding the whole document. Please note that there is also a "remarks" field for each line of the document.

At the bottom of the window there is an empty list of items for the document. To add a new item press "Alt-D" or use the "Add" button. An item may be selected in several various ways:

• by using s barcode reader to scan the code in the "barcode" field;
• by typing in the first letters of the name of the item and pressing the down arrow;

The offer document is for sending price offers to your clients. Price offers are documents in which we present official prices for products or services. You include in such a document all necessary information (contractor details, goods, etc.). In the template editor you can adjust the look of offers with regard to additional sales conditions or cooperation. The document features a function of generating documents from the supplier (), which will later be used for creating a customer order document ().


• by choosing an item from the drop-down list;

1.6 Dedicated columns on order documents

• by clicking the [..] button and using the item search engine. The search engine remembers the latest search settings and if you click [..] again, the recently selected criteria will be kept;
• you may also use the Ctrl+F shortcut, which will activate the search engine;

Dedicated columns allow you to add extra fields to documents (e.g. comments about an order, requested delivery date, etc.). To add such extra field to a document go first to LoMag settings , and next the tab. Then select "Orders/offers" in the field.


• by typing the name of the item and pressing Enter. If there is no such item, the program will ask if you want to add that item to the item list;
• by adding an item to the document from an external Excel file (use the "Import" button on the tool bar of the document window).

As an example, let's add an information (text) column for client's comments about some order. To do so click to open a new window, where you enter in the field "Client's comments", and then select the right column type and click the button to confirm the operation.



After you've added a dedicated field, it will be located in the main window of order documents.



Dedicated fields may also be included on document printouts.

All the above ways of selecting an item are equivalent and result in the filling in of the rest of the fields of the form: the barcode, the unit, the suggested price, and the current stock level. The next step should always be typing in the quantity. It is worth using the TAB button to pass from one field to another. The form for adding order lines varies between individual document types:

• in a GRN you can change the "purchase price" and add "remarks" to each line of the order;

To have dedicated columns on your printouts (as seen above), edit the document template and place a dedicated column using the module. Editing and creating custom invoices in ""document templates"" is explained in detail here..

• in a GIN you can change the "selling price" or the "margin (%)" or the "margin (sum)"; once you have entered the quantity, the program also calculates the purchase price and there is a possibility of previewing the purchase price, as well as the possibility of adding discounts - by enabling additional functions in "Settings/Documents".
• in an Internal GRN you can change the "price" and add "remarks" for each line of the order;
• in an Internal GIN you can only add "remarks". The price is calculated automatically basing on the value of the item;

You can create different types of dedicated columns. The above example regards text columns, but you can also add number columns (e.g. no. of pallets), references (e.g. your client's website), yes/no surveys (e.g. for determining whether a partial delivery to the client is possible), dates and drop-down fields. Dedicated fields can be also placed in specific document sections (e.g. in the field for adding goods).



2. Connecting modules: ORDERS - WAREHOUSE

As mentioned at the beginning of the instruction, each module of the LoMag software (Orders, Warehouse, and Invoices) are integrated. To illustrate this, there will be a series of operations presented from creating an offer to issuing a GIN document. To be able to perform all the steps presented below, you will need to have all three LoMag modules.

Settings

• in an Interbranch Transfer the program shows current stock levels of the chosen item in the source and target warehouses. You can perform a transfer to several different warehouses on one Interbranch Transfer document, by choosing a different target warehouse for each line. If the item is not on the item list at the target warehouse, the program suggests copying it from the source warehouse. The value of the item is not altered as a result of being moved to another warehouse; You may also transfer an item within the same warehouse - by using the "Warehouse locations" option.
• in a stock level correction you can type in a new stock level and any remarks you might have;

LoMag lets you run your warehouse inventory both in net and gross prices. You can configure this in LoMag settings in the tab and the field (see below). This setting works regardless of the VAT setting. With VAT processing on, the warehouse is run in net prices by default and without VAT in gross prices, but the program allows you to choose different configuration.



Connections

• in Discounts, you may enter a new quantity or value, and you can also change the name of the item. Discounts introduce modifications not only of prices, but also of quantities of individual items. Therefore, the application can take into account the following example situation: 10 multi-packs of water were received. 2 multi-packs were unpacked and individual bottles were sold with a new price. After entering this discount, the stock level of "multipack of mineral water" will decrease by 2, while the stock level of the item "bottle of mineral water" shall be increased by 12;

Let's assume the following series of operations: () you send a sales offer to your client, and he accepts it. Next (), on the basis of the offer sent to the client, you have to generate a supplier order document. After a few days your client arrives to pick up the ordered goods - when he receives it, a document is generated for goods warehouse release.

In the windows for adding items to a document (apart from GRN and GIN correction) in the "Preview and selection of receipts" part, you may determine precisely a concrete receipt from which the item is to be issued.

Editing and removing documents

- you want to make an offer for our client (Mr Smith). To do so, open a new offer document (), where you specify you want to sell 100 kg of apples for their purchasing price (i.e. with no mark-up imposed), and you send the offer to your client by e-mail.

- after a few days the client expresses his interest, so you generate an order document, which is based on the offer document you've sent over to him. To do so, find the offer document in the module and open it.

The program enables you to modify the existing documents. You may find a document which needs to be repaired or corrected. You should be particularly cautious when changing the quantity of items on archival documents - you cannot remove an item which has been issued on subsequent documents. Similarly, the program will not allow the removal of documents, from which at least one item has been issued.

Generate an order document with the key.

You can send the document to the client's e-mail address using the button. Save the operation with . You can change the price - just select the goods and click on

An open document allows you to check the history of warehouse transfers for each of the items on the document (the "History" button on the tool bar over the list of items or "Alt-H"). The "To Excel" button enables the transfer of the list of items from the document to a chosen Excel file. The table may be freely adjusted by right-clicking any column and selecting the "Manage columns” option. The program remembers the chosen settings, and it will recreate the column layout when generating a new document.

7.Inventory

- the client came to pick up his ordered goods. When you hand over the goods, you also generate a GIN document () (on the basis of a customer order document). To do so, just like above, first find the previously generated order document in the module and click to create a release document.

Visualisation of connections

The information entered into the program may differ from the actual stock level for various reasons. Therefore, from time to time you should make an inventory of the warehouse. It often happens that making an inventory is a long process which blocks the operation of the warehouse. In view of facilitating and accelerating inventory-making, LoMag features "Inventory sheets".

Inventory sheets

To create a new inventory sheet, go to "Documents/Inventory/Inventory Sheets". The program will display a list of the already existing inventory sheets. To add a new sheet, click "Add" or use the "Alt+D" shortcut. You may also edit the existing sheets or remove them completely.

When releasing goods from the warehouse (and issuing GIN document), it is worth having a look at the graphical representations of connections (), where you should be able to see the entire operation described above. The module is a visual representation of document icons, which facilitates analysing document flow history. This allows you to quickly check which documents were created on the basis of other documents (e.g. a VAT Invoice generated from a Proforma Invoice). Such two documents may be drawn-up by different people and the prices may differ. So when you view the document window click .

Let's have a closer look at connection visualisations.

You create inventory sheets just like all other documents, by adding items and their current quantity on stock. The possibility of generating several sheets at the same time, which may be later joined into one big inventory, constitutes a great advantage of the inventory sheets. If the same goods may be found in two locations at the warehouse and they are featured on two inventory sheets, the program shall sum up the quantities from those sheets.

There is also a possibility of stretching the inventory-making over time. If the warehouse contains inactive items, you may create an inventory or inventories including the inactive items several days earlier, and then merge the sheets into one inventory. If, however, one of the inactive items has been issued form the warehouse, you may make a correction on the sheet before creating the inventory (the "Edit" button on the inventory sheet list).

The box above shows the current document, i.e. GIN1/16 - M1 (). It was created based on previous documents:first, there was offer no. OF1/16 - M1 (), and next an order document no. OC3/16 - M1 (). Also, you can see that when the goods were released from the warehouse, it happened based on an OB document (Opening balance). The GIN document was connected with the OB, because the warehouse stock changes only after the goods are released from the warehouse (an offer and an order do not affect the actual stock). In the visualization you can see that the GIN was based on two client order documents and an OB used to receive goods into the warehouse. To view any of the documents just double click on it.

The remaining part of the tree (below) depicts other warehouse operations linked to the OB document (and not with your current document). On right of the visualisation window there is a list of similar warehouse documents you can manage (view, edit, etc.).