Selection of the Purchase Management option from the Vehicle Purchasing Main Menu opens the Purchase Management screen.
The Purchase Management screen enables the creation and monitoring of a formal vehicle order for vehicles to be purchased as a result of a Quotation being accepted. There are basically four acceptance rule options with regard to Vehicle Purchasing and these are as follows:
A quotation that is accepted by the customer is first validated by a member or members of staff; this is called the Acceptance Procedure. Once this has taken place a vehicle order can be created on the system. The order details the specification of the vehicle and includes all dealer and manufacturer options that are selected at the time of quotation. Items to be included on the vehicle may be ordered from different suppliers. Other costs can be added to the order as required. Costs are processed to the accounts either upon receipt of the vehicle or upon receipt of the invoice, thus it is possible to accrue for these costs, any difference being shown as profit adjustment and depreciation adjustments. Any items that are ordered as cash items are recharged to the customer.
Only quotations that have been through the Fleet Quotations / Convert Quote procedure may be moved through the acceptance procedure through to an order. Quotations may be brought through the Convert Quote procedure with one of the following statuses:
If the quotation is converted with a status of Q (Quoted) then it must go through all of the acceptance, bidding procedures. etc. However, if it is converted with a status of A (Accepted) then the acceptance procedures may be ignored; the system creates a single line entry (with a confirmation tick) of Customer Acceptance of Quote within the Acceptance Tab grid. It may be that agreed manual procedures are to take place prior to converting the quote so that the acceptance procedures are not required.
Auto-acceptance may also be predetermined for specified customers by selecting the Auto Acceptance check box within the appropriate Marketing company (select Marketing / Company Tab / Fleet Details Command Button / Acceptance Default Tab).
This screen is split into five parts that are as follows:
In addition to displaying the screen name the Title Bar provides a number of other useful identification criteria and buttons. In the case of Purchase Management the Title Bar additionally displays the vehicle variant description.
The content of the Purchase Management menu bar is dependent upon the particular process that is being accessed. The full menu bar contents, however, are as follows:
Open
This displays the Fleet Global Search screen that enables a vehicle to be found by entering search selection criteria.
Donor
If the currently selected order is one of a number of multiple orders generated from a Donor order then this option is enabled and, if selected, displays the donor order (possibly so more orders can be generated from the Donor).
Delete
This menu option is only enabled within the Order Tab. Selection of this option displays the following sub-menu:
Exit
Exits the sub-menu to the Order Tab without taking any action.
Delete Order
This option enables the deletion of an order that has been created and is no longer required. It should be noted that an order cannot be deleted if posting to accounts has taken place. The status of the record reverts to Quoted.
- Delete Order and Acceptance
This option enables the deletion of both the order record and the acceptance record at the same time. This process cannot be carried out if posting to the accounts has taken place.
- Delete Master Record
This option enables for the complete deletion of a record. The order record, the acceptance record and, most importantly of all, the quotation is deleted from the system. It therefore follows that this option is treated with care. This process cannot be carried out if postings to accounts have taken place.
Deleting a record should not be allowed for all users of the system and as such it should be determined who has responsibility for ensuring only valid deletions take place. This may be achieved by the use of priority levels and preventing or allowing access to menu options.
Enables production of a printed order via the Purchase Order Print form.
Invoicing
The Purchase Order Invoicing form enables all of the necessary processes to be carried out in order that an invoice may be posted successfully to accounts.
Exit
Exits the Purchase Management screen and returns to the Vehicle Purchasing menu saving any edits or amendments.
This menu option provides access to the following options:
Enables a review of the Marketing Target Record linked to the approval.
Enables a review of the Marketing Vehicle Record linked to the approval.
Displays the Global Review Screen.
Displays the Quotation Make-up Review screen that provides a structured breakdown of all of elements within the associated quotation.
This menu option is enabled at both Accepted and Live statuses and provides access to the following options:
The Add To Specification form enables an additional specification item to be added to the order with its associated costs and values.
The Delete From Specification form enables a specification item, with its associated costs and values, to be deleted from the order.
This menu option provides access to the following options:
This option displays the Change Business Source form which enables the Business Source field contained within the Details 2 Tab to be updated.
This is not the Business Source field held against the marketing company record and viewable within the Quotations screen as the Source field (this source code is used to focus, for analysis purposes, on the original enquiry source for the quotation for example, REF for "Referral". The Source Code that may be amended here is that which may originally be selected within the Convert Quote process within the Quotations module. This Business Source record table is set-up within Fleet System Management / Miscellaneous Options / Posting Controls / Business Sources and enables Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss cost centres to be allocated to the source.
This option displays the Edit Sales Executive form which enables the Salesman field contained within the Details 2 Tab to be updated. Within the Quotation the Salesman ID may be selected but the quotation actually defaults to the user who is currently logged-in. This is converted and carried across to the agreement.
This menu option displays a Purchasing sub-menu option which in turn leads to a selection from the following:
Quick Mail
A pre-defined email relevant to the specific module area from which it is accessed. The required email format for inclusion in this menu list is defined within the Quick Mail Format field located in the Reports Tab within Vehicle Purchasing / System Maintenance / System Parameters.
Reports
Displays a list of user-defined reports applicable to this process. Once written within RepGen an ellipsis button may be used to located and select these reports for inclusion within this menu list within the Reports Tab within Vehicle Purchasing / System Maintenance / System Parameters.
This menu option displays a sub-menu option with a selection from the following options:
Accesses the Administrator mail and diary functions.
CRM
Exits to the CRM module (with the focus on the Target record.
Task Manager
Displays the main Task Manager form to enable a new task to be created or existing tasks to be edited.
Provides online access to a context sensitive Help screen.
As with the menu bar, the content of the Purchase Management toolbar is dependent upon the particular process that is being accessed. The full toolbar contents, however, are as follows:
Exits the Purchase Management screen and returns to the Vehicle Purchasing menu saving any edits or amendments.
This displays the Fleet Global Search screen that enables a vehicle to be found by entering search selection criteria.
If the currently selected order is one of a number of multiple orders generated from a Donor order then this option is enabled and, if selected, displays the donor order (possibly so more orders can be generated from the Donor).
Enables production of a printed order via the Purchase Order Print form.
The Purchase Order Invoicing form enables all of the necessary processes to be carried out in order that an invoice may be posted successfully to accounts.
This menu option is only enabled within the Order Tab. Selection of this option displays the following sub-menu:
- Exit
Exits the sub-menu to the Order Tab without taking any action.
- Delete Order
This option enables the deletion of an order that has been created and is no longer required. It should be noted that an order cannot be deleted if posting to accounts has taken place. The status of the record reverts to Quoted.
- Delete Order and Acceptance
This option enables the deletion of both the order record and the acceptance record at the same time. This process cannot be carried out if posting to the accounts has taken place.
- Delete Master Record
This option enables for the complete deletion of a record. The order record, the acceptance record and, most importantly of all, the quotation is deleted from the system. It therefore follows that this option is treated with care. This process cannot be carried out if postings to accounts have taken place.
Deleting a record should not be allowed for all users of the system and as such it should be determined who has responsibility for ensuring only valid deletions take place. This may be achieved by the use of priority levels and preventing or allowing access to menu options.
The Add To Specification form enables an additional specification item to be added to the order with its associated costs and values.
The Delete From Specification form enables a specification item, with its associated costs and values, to be deleted from the order.
Enables a review of the Marketing Target Record linked to the order.
Enables a review of the Marketing Vehicle Record linked to the order.
Displays the Global ReviewScreen.
Displays the Quotation Make-up Review screen that provides a structured breakdown of all of elements within the associated quotation.
Provides online access to a context sensitive Help screen.
The top of the Purchase Management Dialogue Box displays a number of fields which contain relatively static information which are as follows:
On entry to this screen the registration or agreement number for the vehicle is required. This may be keyed directly or the Fleet Global Search facility may be invoked by selection of the
The master number of the relevant agreement that is linked to the vehicle. The agreement number produced at the quotation stage of the contract.
Located immediately to the right of the Current Agreement field. The status flag denotes the status of the agreement for example, L (Live).
Located immediately below the Registration Number field is a descriptive text message denoting whether the order is a standard order, a donor contract, or an order created from a donor contract. One of the following messages may be displayed:
Selected contract is an individual
Selected contract is a Donor
Selected contract is a multiple order from Donor Contract ?????? (where ?????? is the donor contract number)
The remainder of the Purchase Management Dialogue Box displays a series of Tabs that enable processing through the various stages of a vehicle order. The seven Tabs are as follows:
Note: Only displayed when the selected order is a donor contract for multiple orders.
Displays a textual description of the status of the order (for example, Ordered) and various other useful data criteria dependent upon which Tab is currently selected. For example, if the Acceptance Tab is currently selected then the Default Acceptance Code (for example, Existing Customer) is displayed.