Order Processing In Printer's Plan Follow
This document will outline the steps involved in processing an order from quote to order history with details regarding each part of the process.
- Creating New Quotes/Jobs
- Job Walkthrough
- Item Specs
- Shipping and Contact information
- The "When" window
- Converting Quotes to Orders
- Orders "In-Progress"
- Orders "Ready to Post"
- Order History
- Reordering History
Creating New Quotes/Orders
In Printer's Plan navigate the Jobs tab and select the 'New' button at the top of the screen. from here you can select Orders, Quotes, or Templates. In this article, we will be making a quote. To do so we will be following these steps.
- Select Quote for "What type of Job?"
- Select or create the correct Customer for "Who ordered the Job?"
- Select the CSR who this quote/order should be associated with.
- Once finished select the confirmation button on the bottom of the page to proceed.
Job Walkthrough: Optional Job Requirements
Printer's Plan can be customized to ask "What would you like to do?" for both Quotes and Jobs and will present all of the information it will require. Select or unselect the options in this view to fill in or bypass information. This can be customized in the "Data to Require" Section of the Settings so your options may be different.
- Item Specs
- Ship To Address
- Ordered By
- Proof, Due Date, Reorder
- CSR/Sales Rep
Item Specs
Printer's Plan will begin asking for information related to this order or job's items starting with the first item. Each item will be added individually.
- The item type can be selected from a list that can be customized in the Settings tab.
- Alternatively, a selection can be made by copying a customer's previous order history or templates.
Once the item is created then the item information can be filled in such as:
- Description: The name or description of the item being created.
- Quantity: The number of items ordered.
- Originals: If entering items with multiple originals.
- Price Level: The price level is 'Normal' by default but there is a 'Bid' price level for quotes.
There are also optional formatting fields:
- Price Rounding: This feature will round the pricing to more palatable numbers.
- Format Unit Price: This selection formats the output of pricing per unit.
- Size: Primarily used for large format or any services that charge by area, this will display the size of the item in the item description.
Select 'Save & Close' once the item information is complete.
Ship To Address and Ordered By
The next pages presented will be the customer's 'Ship To' screen to select an address and a selection for "Ordered by" which will present a list of Contacts for your customer. The options will show all of the contacts for a specific customer. A new entry can be added as well. Select OK once a selection is made. If a Shipping Address or Contact does not exist it will prompt for that information.
The "When" Window: Due Date, Reorder, CSR
In this final window that appears the information for the job title, and required information like the Due Date or CSR as well as other useful information is entered. Below is an explanation of those fields on thier purpose.
- Received: When the quote was created
- Proof Due: When any proofs that require approval are due
- Job Due: When the proposed job this quote describes is due
- Ship By: The method for shipping on this order
- Shipped: Leave blank for quotes. This is updated later once the order is processed and shipped
- Reorder: If this is a recurring job enter the reorder date. This will place the job in the appropriate "Expected" folder (Week, Month, Year) of "History" in "Jobs". You can then copy and paste as a Job.
- P.O.: Enter the purchase order associated with this quote or order
- Location: Typically this will be 'Store1' unless there are multiple locations
- C.S.R.: The CSR who entered this job. This was selected earlier in the process and should be filled in already.
- Job Status: This is the current status of the quote
Converting Quotes to Orders
Once a quote is won or accepted you can right-click the quote in the list and select 'Copy and Paste' to convert the quote to an order.
Orders In-Progress
Once the quote is won and the order is now in progress make sure to update any information that needs to be updated.
For example, the price may need to be updated to the accepted price.
When changing the price level the program may ask which price you want to use. This process can be altered in the settings as well.
A deposit may need to be entered in the payment window. This is the window on the bottom right-hand side that displays the customer's terms. Click this window to enter any deposit information.
Now that the order is in progress and has been updated the next stages can begin.
- Enter any specific job notes to be displayed on the work order
- Enter any specific 'Memo To Customer' that should be displayed on the invoice
- Print a work order using the Print & Email button on the left-hand side of the job window
- Process the order
- Print an invoice and send it to the customer
- Mark the order as 'Ready To Ship' once everything is complete and ready to ship.
Once all of these steps are complete the job is ready to post. Making 'ready to post' moves the job to the accounts receivable section of Printer's Plan.
In order to mark an order as ready to post you must:
- Print an invoice (When printing an invoice a prompt will ask if the order should be marked as 'Ready To Ship' also.
- Mark as 'Ready To Ship' at the top of the job window
- Alternatively, when viewing the job in the order list, right-click to make 'Ready To Post'
Order Ready To Post: How to Post Orders
Once an order is in a 'Ready To Post' state, the order can be found in the AR section under Invoices Ready-to-Post
Ready To Post: The final processing point for any order before posting to reporting and history. Once a posting is finished it is irreversible unless rolling back a recent backup. Make sure all payment data is accurate before proceeding to 'Post'. If you need to "Un-Post" you would either need to restore from a backup.
Payments can be applied to orders that have been posted if waiting on a payment that hasn't been received yet. Once the order is posted, the posting can't be edited but new payments can be applied to the order, and refunds can still be processed. They will not affect the previous posting but will reflect on the next posting. The current status of accounts receivable will still be accurate.
To learn more about how to apply payments or reversals see the Accounts Receivable section.
Order History
Once an order is processed and posted the order now appears in the Jobs tab under History.
From here the order information can be used to create templates, pull pricing, or place re-orders. The job's details are now recorded in the 'Reports' tab reporting as well.
Reordering a History Job
If you would like to create a brand new Order based on a History job you can Right-click and select Copy & Paste to paste as a new order. History jobs do not need to be deleted and deleting is not recommended unless cleaning the database and a backup is made.