Tip of the Month for: June 2013

"Search All" Option in Invoice History

The Invoice History is a vast history of purchasing history for the customer.  This history contains years of past invoice information that includes both stock and non-stock items, UPS tracking #'s, serial numbers, quantity detail and purchasing contract information, as well as vendor and p/o history. 

Typically, the search allows you to enter a stock #, select to match the stock # entered exactly or when the search text is found within the stock # and then proceeds to find the first matching invoice for that criteria.  An option is provided to move on to the next invoice, a "Search Next" option. 

This method, while handy if the data being searched for is more recent, makes it hard to see results "at a glance" for the customer.  That is where the "Search All" option may be more useful. 

The "Search All" option is located at the bottom of the Search Criteria window and is available on the Stock # and Description searches.  Keep in mind that "Description" searches include UPS Tracking #'s, FedEx Tracking #'s, comments, serial #'s, etc.  The "Search All" results in a list of matching results, showing the invoice #, price, cost, customer p/o#, and other relevant information at a glance.  Right-click options allow you to see the vendor, vendor information, and even P/O information (provided a P/O was "tied" to that sales order).  The "Search All" method is also typically much, much faster than the standard "Search" and "Search Next" because of the way it gathers the results into a list.  The "Search All" method does allow you to view the entire invoice if desired, and even presents a "Go To" button that will load your standard Invoice History display at the proper place in history for that particular selected invoice.

On a similar note, Inventory Inquiry provides an option from the drop-down File menu for a "Nonstock Sales History Inquiry".  Stock items maintain a transaction history that allows you to see all the sales for an item and who they were sold too, and the Invoice History allows you to search individual customers for non-stock items, but to see overall who a "nonstock" part number might have been sold too, you can use the "Nonstock Sales History Inquiry".  By putting in a part number, or the first few characters of a part number, you can quickly see all matching results in a list format showing the stock #, description, invoice, customer, cost, price, and other pertinent information.  A right-click option allows you to view the vendor and vendor p/o information if available. 

Answers 4.4, to be released this fall, will include updates to the Nonstock Sales History Inquiry that will allow searching partial nonstock part numbers (begins with, ends with, or includes) and to search nonstock sales based on item description as well.