P/O Serial Numbers Generation/Allocation Screen

  1. Open Purchase Orders > P/O Transactions > Receipt Entry or Invoice Entry.
  2. Enter a value in the Quantity Received field, and then press either the Enter key or the Tab key to display the Serial Numbers Generation/ Allocation screen.

After entering a number in the New Serial Number field, click the Add button to add the number to the Generated Serial Numbers list.

After entering a serial number in the blank field above the Available Serial Numbers list, click the Auto Alloc. button. The required serial numbers will appear in the Returned Serial Numbers list, beginning with that number.

Click the Auto Gen button after entering a number in the New Serial Number field, or after highlighting a number in the Existing Serial Numbers list.

The correct quantity of required serial numbers will appear in the Generated Serial Numbers list, beginning with that number.

Click the Clear button to remove all the serial numbers listed in the Generated Serial Numbers or the Returned Serial Numbers lists.

A message appears, asking if this is what you really want to do.

On the Serial Numbers Allocation screen, click the Return All button to return all of the items with the serial numbers listed. All of the lines in the Returned column are shown as Yes.

Note: Do not confuse this button with the Return All button on the Return Entry screen, which is used to return all items listed on a selected invoice, rather than on an individual detail line.

Use the Auto-Allocate From field to specify the starting serial number from which to automatically allocate the serial numbers.

  1. Select the Auto-Allocate From check box to display a field beside it.
  2. In this field, use the Finder to find and select a starting serial number, or enter it manually.
  3. Click the Auto Allocate button to allocate the required number of serial numbers, starting from the specified number.

This field displays the next sequential serial number for the item. Depending on which buttons are displayed, you can use this number in these ways:

  • Click Add to add the displayed number to the Serial Numbers list. Repeat this for as many numbers as you need.
  • Click Auto-Gen to add the required number of serial numbers to the Serial Numbers list, starting from the displayed number.
  • Click Auto-Alloc to add the required number of serial numbers to the Serial Numbers list, starting from the displayed number.

When you finish, this field displays the next serial number that is now available.

The default unit of measure displayed in the Serialized Inventory pop-up is the same unit as on the underlying transaction.

This indicates how many serial numbers you have been selected.

This indicates how many serial numbers still need to be assigned.

This field indicates how many serial numbers are required, as indicated on the quantity field from which you accessed the Serial Numbers Allocation screen.

Overview

When you receive serialized items from vendors in Purchase Orders, the program prompts you to assign serial numbers.

Note: Serial numbers are used for tracking stock from the point of receipt through to the point of sale, and can be used to track returned items from the customer and back to the vendor.

You use the same procedure when entering a vendor invoice, except you start with the Invoice Entry screen instead of the Receipt Entry screen.

Assigning Serial Numbers During Receipt Entry or Invoice Entry

You can assign serial numbers when you receive serialized items, or when you create the invoice for the items, provided the item does not use the serial costing method and the Allow Serial Quantity To Be Different From The Quantity In The Entries option is selected on the I/C Items screen.

Generally, there are not big differences in assigning numbers during receipt or invoicing. However, there can be an impact when using the Inventory Control Serial Inquiry report.

Note: If you chose not to assign numbers in the P/O Receipt Entry screen, but did so using the P/O Invoice Entry screen, the cost that appears in the Inventory Control Serial Inquiry report will be zero, as this inquiry reports only the net change from the time of receipt to invoice, not the original receipt cost.

Example: Say you enter the cost of a serialized item as two dollars during receipt entry, but you don't assign the serial number. Then, you use the P/O Invoice Entry screen to enter the serial number, and you change the cost of the item to three dollars. The value that appears on the I/C Serial Number Inquiry for that transaction is one dollar.