I/C Options Screen

Specify whether to cost items as soon as transactions are posted or at day end when you run Day End Processing.

• If you select the Cost Items During Posting option, Inventory Control immediately calculates and updates item costs for every shipment and receipt when you post the transaction.

  Note: Costing items during posting also means that posting orders from Order Entry can take longer. If you want to speed up order processing, switch to costing inventory when you run Day End Processing.

• If you select the Cost Items During Day End option, you must run Day End to update item costs for inquiries, reports and so on. Posting updates inventory quantities only.

In either case, Inventory Control updates inventory counts when you post transactions, so you always know your inventory levels.

If you cost items during posting, you can also specify when to create subledger transactions and audit information—during posting or when you run Day End Processing.

If you cost inventory items during Day End Processing, the program will also create subledger transactions at that time, unless you select the option on the G/L Integration screen to Create G/L Transactions On Request Using the Create G/L Batch Icon. (You will not be able to choose the During Posting option.)

Note: This option lets you choose between processing speed and keeping your inventory data up-to-date.

If you want to speed up order processing, you should:

• Create subledger transactions when you run Day End Processing or by using the Create G/L Batch screen.
• Cost inventory when you run Day End Processing.

In any case, Inventory Control updates inventory counts when you post transactions, so you always know your inventory levels.

Displays the type of documents produced by Inventory Control. For each document type, you can choose the prefix and sequence numbers for new documents.

The maximum length of a document number is 22 characters.

If your document numbers are less than 22 characters long, you can edit this field.

If you do not want to use the default starting number for each type of document, you can enter a different next number.

The program increases the number by 1 each time you post a transaction, but you are not forced to use the numbers assigned by the program.

Enter the prefixes you use in your existing document numbers, or use the default prefixes you see on this tab. Each prefix can be up to six alphanumeric characters.

During setup, you cannot select a default item structure to format your item numbers because you have not added your item structures yet. After you add your item structure(s), you can return to the Items tab and use this Finder to select or change the default item structure.

For each segment you want to use in your item structure(s), add the segment number, description, and length. You also specify whether to restrict what can be entered for the segment in item numbers.

Enter a number, between one and 24, for how many characters an item number can use for the segment. (Item numbers contain a maximum of 24 characters, including optional separator and prefix characters.)

Enter a description of what the segment represents in the item number. For example, you might have a segment for region, color, or size.

A segment number appears automatically each time you move to a new line in the table. Segment numbers identify the segments, and you cannot change segment numbers after you save the Options screen.

Note: Sage 300 Standard provides a maximum of 4 item number segments.

Set this option to Yes if you want to restrict item numbers to using the segment codes you add for this segment. For no restrictions, set this field to No.

To toggle between Yes and No, press the spacebar or double-click the field.

Select the Allow Lot Quantities to be Different from the Quantity in Entries option to allow entries to be saved even if the number of assigned lot numbers is less than the quantity of lotted units that you are working with.

Example: Receiving 15 lots from a vendor requires you to generate 15 lot numbers during receipt before saving the transaction, unless this option is cleared.

When auto-allocating serial/lot numbers, select whether to sort the numbers by:

• Serial/lot number
• Stock date
• Expiry date

If you want all lots to be quarantined for a number of days after receiving them, select the Days on Quarantine option, and then specify the number of days for the quarantine period in the adjacent field. Lots are then automatically placed on quarantine after the receipt is processed.

Note: You can release individual lots before the specified period using the Quarantine Release screen.

If you want lot numbers to expire after a specified number of days, select the Days to Expiry option, and then enter the number of days from creation to expiration.

Tip: To enforce the expiration period, you should also select Warning or Error as the Expired Lot Allocation Message.

Select the message that you want to display when lot numbers expire: None, Warning or Error.

Select the code for the lot number mask to use as the default for lot numbers that you add to Inventory Control.

When you select a code, the program displays the description of the mask in the adjacent field.

Note: You can change the mask for a particular item using the I/C Items screen.

The Separators Used in Lot Mask Structures section lists the different characters that you can use to separate segments in Lot Masks.

To prevent a character from being used when creating a serial mask, double-click the Use column to set it to No for that character.

This option affects users of Sage 300 Order Entry. When selected, the quantity of serial/lot numbers that needs to be allocated to ordered items is determined by the Quantity Ordered field in Order Entry.

When auto-allocating serial/lot numbers, select whether to sort the numbers with Earliest or Latest first.

The number in this field is used on the Optimize Inventory screen to calculate maximum item reorder quantities in the Optimal Maximum and Order Maximum fields, as follows:

Number specified in this field × Optimal Minimum or Order Minimum on the Optimize Inventory screen.

Example: If you specify a Maximum Quantity margin factor of 2, and the Order Minimum field on the Optimize Inventory screen displays 100, the Order Maximum field on the Optimize Inventory screen displays 200.

The number in this field is used on the Optimize Inventory screen to calculate optimal minimum item reorder quantities, as follows:

Number specified in this field × Average Sales on the Optimize Inventory screen.

Example: If you specify a Minimum Quantity margin factor of 1.1, and the Average Sales field on the Optimize Inventory screen displays 100, the Optimal Minimum field on the Optimize Inventory screen displays 110.

Specify the number of fiscal periods used to calculate optimal item reorder quantities on the Optimize Inventory screen. This must be a number from 1–12 (or 13, if you use 13 fiscal periods).

Normally, when you click Apply Selected Changes on the Optimize Inventory screen, minimum and maximum quantities are updated on the Reorder Quantities screen. If you select the Update Location Details option, clicking Apply Selected Changes on the Optimize Inventory screen also updates the Inventory Minimum (SIA) field on the Location Details screen with the order minimum from the Optimize Inventory screen.

Important! If you use Sage Inventory Advisor (SIA), do not select this option.

The Accumulate By and Period Type fields let you choose whether to report period statistics by fiscal year or calendar year, and to specify the period type to use.

If you choose to accumulate by calendar year, the starting date for statistics will be January 1st. If you choose to accumulate by fiscal year the starting date will be the first day of your fiscal year.

You also specify the type of period by which the statistics are totaled and reported—weekly (Sunday=day 1), seven days (beginning on the first day of the week in your fiscal calendar), bi-weekly (Sunday=day 1), four weeks, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, or fiscal period (if you select Fiscal Year for the Accumulate By option) (use the Period Type option).

You can change the type of year and period by which Inventory Control reports statistics, but you will not be able to compare new period figures directly to figures in past periods.

Tip: If you need to change the type of year or period by which Inventory Control reports statistics, you should either do so after year-end, or edit the statistics for the earlier periods in the year to correct distortions.

Note: The Accumulate By option appears only if the Keep Item Statistics option is selected.

When you post a receipt return transaction to record the return of goods to suppliers, Inventory Control can treat any additional costs assigned to the receipt in either of two ways. It can automatically prorate any additional cost assigned to the goods being returned over the remaining goods on the receipt, or leave the additional cost on the receipt. (Freight charges and duty charges are two examples of additional costs.)

You use the Additional Cost For Items On Receipt Returns field to specify how to handle additional costs, as follows:

• To have the program prorate the additional cost on receipt returns to the remaining items on the receipt, select Prorate for this option.
• To have the program leave the additional cost assigned to the goods being returned, select Leave for this option. Use the I/C Adjustments screen to reassign to another general ledger account the additional cost that was assigned to the items being returned.

You can change your selection for this option at any time, and you can override your choice for this option when entering receipt returns using the I/C Receipts screen.

Note: If you return all of the items on a receipt, you must use the I/C Adjustments screen to reassign to another general ledger account the additional cost that was specified on the receipt.

Select the Allow Edit of Statistics option if you want to add or edit either of the following statistics:

• Sales statistics for previous periods of the current year or for previous years. (You might want to do this if you set up your Inventory Control system partway through a fiscal year.)
• Transaction statistics from posted transactions.

Note: This option appears only if the Keep Item Statistics option is turned on.

You use the I/C Sales Statistics screen to add and edit sales statistics, and the I/C Transaction Statistics screen to edit transaction statistics.

Normally, you do not need to edit statistics, because they are updated automatically and accurately each time you run Day End Processing. However, if you set up your Inventory Control system partway through a fiscal year, you may want to use the Allow Edit Of Statistics option. You can then enter more complete inventory records by adding the statistics from your previous system for previous periods in the current year, and for previous years. (You use the Sales Statistics screen to edit the statistics.)

Once your system is operating, you should turn off the option because the program automatically updates the statistics when you post transactions.

You can turn on or turn off the Allow Edit Of Statistics option at any time.

If you allow transactions that use fractional quantities (such as 0.5 dozen) in your present inventory control system and want to set up your Sage 300 Inventory Control system to do the same, select the Allow Fractional Quantities option.

Fractional quantities are useful if your inventory includes homogeneous items. (Homogeneous items are those with identical elements that can be broken down into multiple, smaller units, such as oil or grain.) These items can require a wide range of units of measure.

Note: You can select the Allow Fractional Quantities option at any time. However, once you select the option, you cannot change back.

Select this option to allow inventory items to be stocked at all locations. You can select or clear the option at any time.

• Is "All Locations" best for you? If your company has only one location, or it does not need to restrict any items from being stored at any locations, you can save time setting up your Inventory Control system by permitting every item at all locations.

  This allows you to start entering transactions right away involving any item at any location. (Transactions include receipts, shipments, returns, internal usage transactions, transfers, adjustments, and assemblies.)

• "All Locations" turned off. If you do not select the Allow Items At All Locations option, then before you can enter transactions for an item at a location you must use either the Location Details screen or the Locations screen to assign the item to the location.

Select this option if you allow processing of transactions that result in negative inventory levels (that is, permit the "on hand" quantity of stock items to go below zero).

For example, negative quantities can result from timing problems when you enter shipments for items before entering their receipts. In this situation, your inventory figures do not match the physical inventory.

If for any reason you do not want inventory levels to go below zero, do not select the Allow Negative Inventory Levels option.

If you do not select the option, you cannot post transactions that require more than the number of item units available at the specified location.

You can change your selection for this option at any time.

This setting lets you order and receive special items for which you do not maintain an inventory quantity, and update the item’s vendor costing information. (The setting is used by Inventory Control, Order Entry, and Purchase Orders.)

Non-stock items are usually services or specially ordered items which are not normally kept in inventory.

Inventory Control does not maintain quantities and costs for non-stock items, and non-stock items must use the user-specified costing method. Additionally, you cannot enter assemblies for non-stock items.

You can enter names in these fields as you want them to appear on the Location Details screen. (If you leave these fields blank, they will not appear in the screen.)

Alternate amounts are used in the following ways:

• If you type names in these fields, you can store costs for items in Inventory Control that Sage 300 Order Entry can then use as the basis for tax calculations. (Order Entry uses the tax base you specify in Tax Services.)
• You can use these fields as the base for discount pricing, marking up an alternate cost by percentages or by amounts.
• You can also print Inventory Control reports showing the amounts in these fields.

You can change the Alternate Amount 1 Name and Alternate Amount 2 Name at any time.

A goods-in-transit location is a virtual location where you store goods while they are in transit. This allows you to more closely match the transfer process, where goods may be on trucks or in transit for days or weeks at a time.

Each time you transfer goods between inventory locations, you can choose to transfer goods:

• Directly (and immediately) to the destination location.
• Using a goods-in-transit location.

Goods in transit are moved to the GIT location first, and then are received at the destination location. This means that goods can travel on different trucks and be received in separate lots. It also means that goods can stay in transit indefinitely.

A goods-in-transit location is treated just like any other inventory location, so you can check item quantities in transit.

Specify which date the program displays by default for the Posting Date when you enter receipt, shipment, internal usage, adjustment, transfer, and assembly transactions.

You can choose from two settings:

• Document/Transaction Date. Select this option if you usually want the posting date and fiscal period to match the document date.

  If you select this option, the program will automatically change the default posting date if you change the date in the associated date field on the document entry screen.

• Session Date. Select this option if you usually want the posting date and fiscal period to match the current session date.

  If you select this option, the program keeps the session date as the default posting date even if you change the document date.

The posting determines the fiscal year and period to which a transaction is posted to General Ledger.

If you have a multicurrency system, currency revaluation also uses posting dates to select open documents for revaluation purposes and thus, revaluation adjustments are posted to General Ledger in the correct fiscal year/period.

When you select the Multicurrency option, you also specify a default rate type, such as spot rate, for converting source-currency amounts in transactions to their functional-currency equivalents. To specify the default rate type, enter the code for the type or select a code using the Finder beside the field.

You can change the default rate type on the Processing tab of the Options screen at any time.

The functional currency is selected for the company in the Company Profile screen in Common Services, and is displayed on the Options screen.

Once the functional currency is assigned for a company, you cannot change it. All programs activated for the company automatically use the same functional currency.

Select the Keep Item Statistics option if you want to accumulate statistics from posted transactions.

Inventory Control retains transaction and sales statistics from the transactions processed for up to 53 periods per year, for any number of years. (Sage 300 Standard is limited to accumulating statistics by fiscal year and fiscal period.)

Inventory Control uses these statistics to produce the Transaction Statistics report and the Sales Statistics report. You can print the statistics for an item by period and year, as far back as the oldest year and period for which you keep this information.

You can turn on or turn off the Keep Item Statistics option at any time. If you turn off the option, Inventory Control immediately stops saving statistics, although it retains those already collected until you clear (delete) them using the I/C Clear History option. If you turn the option on again, there will be a gap in the statistics corresponding to the period when the option was not used.

To save transaction history for reporting, select the Keep Transaction History option on the Processing tab on the I/C Options screen.

Inventory Control can keep the detailed transaction records when you post so you can later print the Transaction History report. The Transaction History report lists all transactions posted for items assigned to the account sets you select within a specified period.

If you do not save transaction history, nothing is reported in the Transaction History report.

Note: This setting does not affect drilldown. Inventory Control automatically saves transaction history for drilldown purposes each time you post transactions unless you specifically delete transactions after posting.

Saving transaction details uses a large amount of space on your computer's hard drive, so after you print the Transaction History report, remember to clear the details using the Clear History screen.

You can turn on this option only if you have already selected the Multicurrency option for the company on the Company Profile screen in Common Services .

You also specify a default rate type, such as spot rate, for converting source-currency amounts in transactions to their functional-currency equivalents.)

Important! You can select the Multicurrency option at any time, but once you select the option, you cannot change Inventory Control back to a single-currency ledger.

Inventory Control lets you define all of the buying, stocking, and selling units of measure that you require for inventory items using the I/C Units screen, and set up default conversion factors between each of the units.

• If you choose the Only Use setting, you can only use inventory units of measure that you have already defined in the Units setup screen.

  This setting lets you enforce consistency for all items added after you select this option.

• If you do not choose this setting, you can specify any units of measure for new inventory items—whether or not they have been added to Inventory Control.

Note: This option only affects new inventory items or new units of measure that you add to existing items. If you turn on this option, it will have no effect on existing items unless you add new units of measure to item records.

Accumulate By and Period Type let you specify whether to report period statistics by fiscal year or calendar year, and to specify the period type to use.

If you choose to accumulate by calendar year, the starting date for statistics will be January 1st. If you choose to accumulate by fiscal year, the starting date will be the first day of your fiscal year.

The Period Type option is available only if you select the Keep Item Statistics option.

This option lets you delete individual transactions immediately after posting if you do not want to save transaction information.

To delete transaction information, you must select the option Prompt To Delete During Posting on the Processing tab on the I/C Options screen.

If you want to keep all transaction information, make sure that you turn off this option.

Note: We recommend that you do not delete transactions.

If you delete transactions after posting, you will not be able to view posted transactions or drill down to them from General Ledger.

Also, if you post transactions using the I/C Post Transactions screen (instead of from a transaction entry screen), you will not have the option to delete. Instead, you can remove transactions using the I/C Clear History screen.

Enter the name of the unit of weight (such as "pounds" or "kilograms") you plan to use when you enter the weight of one stocking unit of an inventory item (you enter the weight of one stocking unit when you add your inventory items to Inventory Control).

• Sage 300 Order Entry.  If you integrate Inventory Control with Order Entry, the weight unit of measure is used by Order Entry to estimate the total weight of an order, for shipping purposes.
• Sage 300 Purchase Orders. If you integrate Inventory Control with Purchase Orders, then Purchase Orders can use the weight unit of measure you supply in Inventory Control to prorate (distribute) additional costs on orders.
• Changing the weight unit of measure.   If necessary, you can change the weight unit of measure after setting up your system; however, if you have entered any weights in item records, you will need to change them so they correspond with the new unit of measure.

If this option is selected, multiple items can have the same serial number, as long as they do not also have the same item number.

To prevent the assignment of a serial number to more than one item, regardless of item number, clear this option.

Select this option to allow entries to be saved even if the number of assigned serial numbers is less than the quantity of serialized units that you are working with.

Example: Receiving 15 serialized items from a vendor will require you to generate 15 serial numbers during receipt before saving the transaction, unless this option is cleared.

When auto-allocating serial/lot numbers, select whether to sort the numbers by:

• Serial/lot number
• Stock date
• Expiry date

If you want lot numbers to expire after a specified number of days, select the Days to Expiry option, and then enter the number of days from creation to expiration.

Tip: To enforce the expiration period, you should also select Warning or Error as the Expired Lot Allocation Message.

Select the message that you want to display when serial numbers expire: None, Warning or Error.

The Separators Used in Lot Mask Structures section lists the different characters that you can use to separate segments in Lot Masks.

To prevent a character from being used when creating a serial mask, double-click the Use column to set it to No for that character.

Select the code for Serial Numbers Mask to use as the default for serial numbers that are added to the system.

You can change the serial numbers mask for individual serialized items in the I/C Items screen.

This option affects users of Sage 300 Order Entry. When selected, the quantity of serial/lot numbers that needs to be allocated to ordered items is determined by the Quantity Ordered field in Order Entry.

When auto-allocating serial/lot numbers, select whether to sort the numbers with Earliest or Latest first.