P/O Optional Fields Screen

Open Purchase Orders > P/O Setup > Optional Fields.

Select Yes in this field if you want the program to display the optional field and its default value on the screen for the type of optional field when you set up new records or enter transactions.

Select No if you do not want the optional field to appear automatically.

Example: If you define Transit Number as an optional field for Invoices and you select Yes in the Auto Insert field, the Transit Number field will appear automatically in Invoice Entry.

Enter or select the value that the program will display as the default for the optional field.

If the optional field you selected requires validation, you must select a value that is defined for the optional field in Common Services. However, if the optional field allows blanks, you can leave the default value field blank.

If the optional field does not use validation, you can do one of the following:

  • Select a value that is defined for the optional field in Common Services.

  • Leave the field blank.

  • Enter a combination of alphanumeric or special characters and spaces. The entry must be consistent with the type of field (for example, text, number, date, or amount) and must not exceed the number of characters specified for the optional field. In a Yes/No field, you can enter only Yes or No.

When you specify a value that is defined in Common Services, the program displays the description for the value.

Use the Finder to select the optional field codes you want to use for each type.

You can define an unlimited number of optional fields for each type, providing the optional fields are set up in Common Services for use in your system.

Note: If you want to retain optional field information from Purchase Orders transactions when you create batches for General Ledger, you must use the same optional fields for transaction details in Purchase Orders as you use for accounts in General Ledger. Similarly, if you want to pass invoice optional field information to Accounts Payable, you must use the same fields for P/O invoices and for A/P invoices.

When you select an optional field code, the program displays the description for the optional field.

Specify the screen and type of information to which you are adding optional fields. You can choose:

  • Additional Costs

  • Requisitions

  • Requisition Details

  • Purchase Orders

  • Purchase Order Details

  • Receipts

  • Receipt Details

  • Receipt Additional Costs

  • Receipt Additional Cost Details

  • Invoices

  • Invoice Details

  • Invoice Additional Cost Details

  • Returns

  • Return Details

  • Credit/Debit Notes

  • Credit/Debit Note Details

  • Credit/Debit Note Additional Cost Details

  • Items (if you do not use Inventory Control)

You select this option for an optional field if all the records or transactions to which you are adding the field must use the field.

If you make an optional field a required field, it must also be inserted automatically in new records or transactions. (You must use the Auto Insert option for the field.)

Double-click the Value Set column to show whether or not the optional field has a default value.

This column has two purposes:

  • You must set the Value Set to "Yes" in order to set a default value for the optional field.

  • The "Yes" flag provides information to the transaction-entry clerk, letting them know if the field contains default information.

Overview

This screen appears in the P/O Setup folder if you use Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator, a separately licensed package that you can purchase and use with Purchase Orders.

You use optional fields if you want to keep additional information with Purchase Orders transactions and records.

For more information, see About Optional Fields and About Entering Optional Data on Transactions.

Optional Field Settings

Optional Field settings let you restrict the amount of information that is passed to Accounts Payable and General Ledger when you post transactions in Purchase Orders that use optional fields.

When defining an optional field for use with transactions, click the Settings button, or double-click the line on the Optional Fields grid. A separate screen opens, listing the groups of accounts in other ledgers that are affected when you post transactions of the type for which you are defining the optional field.

Select whether you want to pass optional field information to Accounts Payable with invoices, credit notes and debit notes, and select the account groups for which you want to pass values to General Ledger when you post transactions that include the optional field.

Note: You must also use the same optional fields in Accounts Payable Invoices to pass information to Accounts Payable, and use the same optional fields in General Ledger accounts to pass information to General Ledger.

All account groups are initially selected for new optional fields. However, if you send all the optional fields you use in Purchase Orders transactions to General Ledger, your G/L may become unwieldy, and you may slow down processing considerably. For this reason, you should send values to General Ledger only for optional fields that require financial analysis, and only to accounts where they are required. For example, you might want to send optional fields that contain vendor numbers only to revenue accounts.

If you use Sage 300 Project and Job Costing, you can also specify whether optional field information for job-related transactions will be passed to Project and Job Costing, if the optional fields match those used for billings.