Serialized Inventory Processing - Pending Transactions
The Pending programs are used to keep track of inventory that you own that is not currently located in one of your warehouse locations. The programs are used to manage “loaners” or merchandise that has been sent out to your customers for testing and evaluation, to track and process items that are being returned to your vendors for credit or replacement, and to handle items that are being transferred between your warehouse facilities using the IFT system. The Pending programs are also used to track and process Ticket Billing transactions, and to handle advanced repairs and returns processing situations.
Pending Transaction Types
The various types of records that are processed using the Pending system are presented below.
• Loaners – The Pending Management program is used to track and process customer “Loaners”. Loaners are items that have been shipped out to customers “on loan” and that you have not yet billed for. Items can be shipped to a customer at no charge using a type L sales order, and can be billed to the customer, returned to inventory, or written off at a later time.
• Returns to Vendors (items sent back to vendors for credit and or replacement). The Pending Management is used to track merchandise that is being returned to your vendor for credit or replacement. Later the open Pending records for the return can be used to create a negative accounts payable invoice for the vendor, or to receive replacement items from the vendor and return them to inventory.
• Inter Facility Transfers are inventory transfers between warehouse locations that are physically separate – where the goods need to be tracked in–transit. When IFT transfers are processed, the items being transferred are tracked in the Pending file from the time they are invoiced in the source location to the time they are received in the destination location.
• Ticket Billing. The Ticket Billing option allows you to invoice a customer periodically instead of as each order is shipped or invoiced to the customer. When Ticket Billing is enabled, the sales orders for the customer are converted to loaners during invoicing/order completion. Goods are shipped to the customer at no charge and they are tracked in the Pending file. Later, a summary billing program is used to create a summary accounts receivable invoice for the customer and to clear the Pending records from the Pending file.
• Pending Management – The Pending Management program is used to handle more advanced repair and returns processing situations. The Pending records in the Pending Management program are normally created when items returned from customers on RA documents are credited into pending.
Serialized Inventory Processing
Since all Pending records are created by Invoicing a sales order, and all Pending records are associated with a specific accounts receivable invoice and line, any Pending records for Serialized Items (Serial = Y or S) should already be associated with the correct serial master records. The program used to create Pending records requires the operator to identify the serial numbers for any serialized items being shipped out and it ensures that the number of serial numbers entered for each item matches the quantity being shipped for the item.
There are two different options that are used for Serial Number processing in the Pending Management program. These two options are used for all of the Pending Transactions that are mentioned in the following sections.
The All Serial Numbers option (available using the Right Mouse or Context Menu) allows you to view all serial numbers associated with the selected Pending record. When the All Serial Numbers option is selected, the system checks if the selected record is for a serialized item. If the Pending record is not for a serialized item, a “Not a Serialized Item” message is displayed. If the selected Pending record is for a serialized item, the system activates the Invoice Line Serial Numbers Lookup and it loads the lookup with the serial numbers for the selected Pending record (invoice line). The Invoice Line Serial Numbers Lookup also allows you to view detailed information about the Serial Master records shown in the program. The Zoom option activates the Serial Detail panel which displays information about the selected Serial Master record. The Expand option allows you to view the serial history records that have been created for the selected serial/item number combination.
The Tagged Serial Numbers Option (also accessed using the Right Mouse or Context menu), is used to tag or identify the serial numbers to be processed when you are processing transactions in the Pending Management program. When the Tagged serial numbers option is selected, the system verifies the selected record is for a serialized item and that the operator has identified the quantity to be processed. If the record is for a serialized item, and the quantity has been specified, the system activates the Serial Number List and it loads the top portion of the list with the item number and description of the pending item, and quantity of serial numbers needed for the line. Once the Serial Numbers Lookup is displayed, the Find Serial Number option can be used to display and select from a list of the valid serial numbers for the record. As each serial Master record is selected, the system verifies that the record has the correct status (L or on Loan) and it warns the operator if the record is invalid or cannot be processed).
The following sections briefly describe how serialized inventory items are handled as different types of transactions are processed in the Pending Management program.
More:
Serialized Inventory Processing -
Return To Inventory
Serialized Inventory Processing - Write Off