Setting Up Categories

You use categories in Inventory Control to group inventory items with similar characteristics.

Note: You must add at least one category to Inventory Control before you can add item records.

  • Choose a code of up to six characters to identify each category you plan to add.
  • Decide which price list code to assign to each category.
  • Decide which general ledger account numbers to assign to each category for:
  • Cost of goods sold
  • Cost variance
  • Sales
  • Returns
  • Damaged goods
  • Internal Usage
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  • Be sure your general ledger contains the accounts you want to assign to categories in Inventory Control.

To add a category:

  1. Open Inventory Control > I/C Setup > Categories.

  2. In the Category Code field, type a code to identify the item category (using up to six alphanumeric characters), and then enter a description for the new category in the adjacent field.
  3. On the Options tab:
    1. In the Default Price List field, select the code for the price list to use as the default when you assign this category to new items.
    2. If you use Sage 300 Order Entry and want to allow commissions to be earned on the sale of items in the category, select Allow Commissions, and then specify the rate in the Commission Rate field. (If you do not select this option and specify a maximum commission rate, Order Entry will not record commissions for the sales of items that use the category.)
    3. Specify the general ledger accounts to use for this category. More...
      • Sales. A revenue account that Order Entry credits with the revenue from goods sold.
      • Returns. A revenue contra account that Order Entry debits to record the reduction of revenue caused when previously sold goods are returned or credit notes are issued.
      • Cost of Goods Sold. An expense account that Inventory Control automatically debits with the cost of goods sold, and credits with the cost of goods returned.
      • Cost Variance. An expense account in that Inventory Control records the cost variance between the actual cost and either the standard cost (for items using the standard costing method) or the most recent cost (for items using the most recent costing method) of inventory items sold.
      • Damaged Goods.
      • Internal Usage.
  4. On the Taxes tab:
    • Use the Finder for the Tax Authority field to select the tax authorities you need to assign to this category. (You define taxing authorities in the Tax Services feature in Common Services.)
    • Enter a tax class or select the numbers of the tax classes you want to assign to the category for sales for each selected tax authority. (You can override this sales tax class for items you assign to this category.)
    • Enter the tax class number or select the numbers of the tax classes you want to assign to the category for purchases for each selected tax authority. (You can override this purchase tax class for items you assign to this category.)

  5. Click Save.

Print the I/C Categories report for your records.