Getting started with Sales Orders

Use the Sales Orders module when you want to enter sales orders for your products and services. You can also use the Sales Orders module to create quotations.

Sales orders or Invoicing?

You can use both the Sales Orders and Invoicing modules in Sage 200, and you don't have to exclusively use one or the other. You might want to use the Invoicing module for your service items and use Sales Orders to keep track of your products.

Much of the setup required for Sales Orders is the same for Invoicing, so you only have to do this once.

What's the difference?

Use Sales Orders when you want to track stock items throughout the order process or you want to use traceable stock items. When you enter sales orders for your customers, you allocate stock items to the order which reserves them and prevents them from being sold to someone else. When you physically send the items to the customer you record the despatch. Once despatched, you can raise an invoice for the customer.

Use Invoicing when you don't need to track the despatch of your stock items. You can raise and print an invoice at any time. Your stock levels are only updated once the invoice is posted.

The sales order process

You can keep track of a sales order, from creation to supply fulfilment. Orders may be set up individually, or as a repeat requirement for a customer so that it is produced automatically in Sage 200 on a regular basis.

Depending on how you handle sales orders, you might not need to use all these features. For example, you might not use pro forma invoices, print order acknowledgements, or print picking lists.

1. Create quotation.

   A sales order may begin life as a quotation. You can track and maintain quotations and then convert these to sales orders.

2. Create pro forma (in the Sage 200 desktop).

   Use the pro forma invoice if you require the customer to make payment before goods are despatched. You can convert pro forma invoices to sales orders.

3. Create sales order.

   • Add product and service items, free text lines, charges and comments

   • Change discounts and analysis codes.

   • Enter immediate payments.

4. Allocate stock.

   Stock can be allocated during the order lifecycle. This reserves the stock held on your system, so that you can keep track of the stock levels. Once order despatch takes place, these reserved stock items are removed from the system.

   • Reserve the stock for this order.

     Available free stock is allocated to an order automatically.

   • Allocate further stock when it becomes available or change the warehouse (in the Sage 200 desktop).

5. Print order documentation (in the Sage 200 desktop).
   

   You can choose to print order documentation, such as:

   • Picking lists of items to assemble for the order, ready for despatch. The picking list shows the warehouse and bin location for each item on the order.

   • Order acknowledgements.

   • Invoices.

6. Despatch order.

   The order may be despatched immediately for over the counter sales, or it may need to wait for stock allocation.

   The despatch confirms that items have been sent to the customer, and also updates your stock levels.

   You must confirm despatch for stock items, and you can choose if confirmation is required for free text items and service/labour items.

   You can also add tracking and shipping information for the despatch, such as courier details, the Incoterm, or the reason for export.

7. Amend the order if required.

   Change or cancel any lines on an order, as long as they haven't been included on an invoice.

8. Print and post customer invoices (in the Sage 200 desktop).

   • Print invoices that include any despatched items on the sales order.

   • Post the invoice to create the sales invoice transaction and update the customer account and nominal accounts.

     If payments have been received at the point of sale, as in over the counter sales, then the payment values are posted at the same time.

9. Handle returns (in the Sage 200 desktop).

   If a customer returns their order, you can process these by entering a sales return.

10. Report on order progress.

    To keep track of your sales orders, use the:

    • Sales Order List.

    • Workspaces and reports (in the Sage 200 desktop).