Broker Items are processed as vendor shipments, using the single item number such as “Broker Item”. Broker items are processed as vendor shipment order lines. This alllows the costs of the Broker items to be correctly matched to the orders and invoices for the items, and it allows the system to control the editing of the sales order for the item after one or more purchase orders have been placed for the order.
Broker processing is started from the order entry line item panel by selecting the enter Broker item option.
The operator first enters the manufacturer part (if known) of the item they are ordering for the customer
The system then tries to find the item entered or a similar item using the Manu#, House Item# and Description fields in your Catalog data. If a similar item or items are found, the system prompts the operator with a list to show the operator that the item or similar items are already set up in the system. At this point the operator can select one of the found items or continue to enter the information for the new Broker item being processed.
If a Broker item is being setup, the system then prompts for the other information required by the system in order to process the order line. This includes
The Vendor Account for the vendor sending the item to the customer. If the vendor exists in your vendor file, the operator may select it from the Vendor Lookup. If the vendor does not exist, the operator can enter the information for the vendor into a comment for the order line and this information can be used by purchasing to set up the vendor (if appropriate, - the purchasing dept may also send a reject email to the sales rep to handle situaitons where the item should not be ordered).
The Vendor Item# for the item (in case the vendor is not using the manu# for the item). This is a free form field (the item does not need to exist in the Inventory control system).
The Manufacturer Acct# for the Item (to trap the unique item# if same item is purchased from multiple vendors). This field is similar to the vendor field, an existing manufacturer can be selected from the Manufacturer or the Manufacturer information can be entered into a comment to be forwarded to purchasing – who can set up a new record for the manufacturer company.
The Manu Item# (the combination of the manufacturer and manu# gives the system a unique id for the actual part being processed). If an existing manufacturer item number is entered, the system will use that existing item, if the item is not setup, the field stores the new manu item# to be processed.
A text description of the Broker item. This text description is the description for the Broker item and is in addition to the other sales order and purchasing comments that can be entered for the sales order line.
The purchase price from the vendor. The per unit price of the item being ordered.
The Broker item information entered by the operator is stored in the new sales order line and it is carried into the invoices and purchase orders generated for the sales order line. This allows the operator to view both the generic and specific information (vendor, vendor part#, manu#, manufactuerer) about the item in the order lines, and it allows other operators to generate reports using the generic or the unique information stored for the item in the transaction files.