Tip of the Month for: June 2017
Converting Orders (or Returns) into Quotes
Or have you ever entered a Sales Order only to have the customer say that was more than they expected and they need to get approval for it first so they need a quote instead?
These type scenarios are easily dealt with by taking advantage of yet another "copy" or "import" feature found in programs such as Order Entry, Purchase Order Entry and Vendor RFQ Entry. Remember that these programs all allow copying transactions of one type to another, either in full, or by individual line or by selecting a list of lines.
In regards to this particular scenario, there is a copy feature provided when using the Quote Entry mode of Order Entry that will allow copying an entire sales order, an individual line item, or selected line items from a sales order or return into a quote. So if you have accidentally entered a quote as a sales order or the customer has now decided they need a quote first, you can quickly turn the sales order into a quote in one of two ways.
If you are still in the sales order or return, simply click on File-->Convert to Quote. You are then prompted with several options, similar to converting a quote to an order, including an option to delete the sales order when done. This is useful if you intended to enter it as a quote to begin with or if you are not even sure the customer is going to take the order at this point, maybe due to price, availability, etc.
Another method is to start a quote or bring up an existing quote and then go to the Detail tab and click on Searches. This option allows copying from not only sales orders, but also from invoice history, purchase orders, warehouse transfers or even other quotes. Additionally this option is how you can copy/import in only a selected line item or just a list of selected line items as well as all line items for a particular transaction.