Answer: Knowing in advance what inventory is needed for a route salesperson to complete their route is a significant advantage when deciding what and how much inventory to load onto their truck. Using Customer Orders to gauge what's needed reduces spoilage from unneeded products, increases revenue by having enough product to fulfill the orders, and creates a commitment to the customer to purchase what was requested (even though Customer Orders can be modified or cancelled). For information on enabling a Mobile Unit Record to create Customer Orders, please refer to the Solid Route Accounting™ business system information below.
Enabling Customer Orders for Mobiles:
To enable a Mobile Unit Record to be able to create Customer Orders:
- In SolidRouteAccounting.com, navigate to [Mobiles] and select the desired Mobile Unit Record to modify from the list on the screen.
- Then place a checkmark in the 'Can create Orders' field and use the [OK] button to save this change. Once this Mobile Unit is synced, it will now be able to generate Customer Orders.
Creating Customer Orders with Solid Sales Pro™
To create a Customer Order in Solid Sales Pro™:
- Navigate from the 'Main Menu' in Solid Sales Pro™ to [Create Transaction] to arrive at the '1110 Customer Lookup' screen. Just like creating an invoice, select the desired customer.
- Once the customer has been selected from the '1100 Create Transaction' screen, tap the [Change] button to modify the 'Transaction Type' field to 'Order'. Make any other bill option adjustments and use [OK] to return to the '1100 Create Transaction' screen.
- Like any other transaction, use [Add] to compile this Customer Order and then [Save] it.
Once a Customer Order has been saved, it can still be Modified or Finalized before syncing it back to the main Solid Route Accounting™ software component, as detailed in Solid Know How™ Article #234 How to Modify, Cancel or Finalize Customer Orders.
Creating Customer Orders with Solid Business Central™
Solid Route Accounting™ - Enterprise Edition uses have an added advantage in that Customer Orders can also be made, reviewed, cancelled or finalized within Solid Business Central™.
To create a Customer Order in Solid Business Central™:
- Navigate to [Sales], select [Sales] once again if a second menu level opens, to be taken to the 'Sales' screen.
- Select the customer to create the order for, and then set the 'Type' field to 'O - Order Entry'.
Note: If using Delivery Confirmation, set the 'CC' field to the Mobile Unit's number to deliver this order. - Fill out the rest of the information as needed and add items to the order, just like as creating a regular sales transaction. When saved with [CTRL+END], it will be saved as a Customer Order.
Customer Orders saved in Solid Business Central™ or received from handheld computers can still be Modified, Finalized or Cancelled within Solid Business Central™ by following the steps in Solid Know How™ Article #234 How to Modify, Cancel or Finalize Customer Orders.
Customer Orders can also be assigned to a Mobile Unit to be finalized at the time of product delivery via the optionally licensed feature called 'Delivery Confirmation'. For more information, please read Solid Know How™ Article #313 Delivery Confirmation.