Create Quotes to keep track of price estimates provided to
customers and to track potential sales orders.
PORTALPRODIGY creates professionally formatted Quotes that you can print
or email to the client. When the client
is ready to place their order for the quoted items, PORTALPRODIGY will
automatically create the Order from the Quote.
This is done using the Create Order option on the Order Management
page. This option copies the Quote to a
new Order with Order Type = “Order” and stores a reference to the Quote in the
Ref Order ID field. This reference
enables comparative reporting of quoted prices versus actual prices and other
types of statistical reporting. Note
that Customers are not permitted to create Quotes. Quotes can only be created
using the Administrator interface.
Quotes do not affect Inventory, cannot have payments applied, cannot be
invoiced and cannot be fulfilled.
Orders:
When something is actually ordered the Order
Type is set to “Order”. Orders affect
Inventory, can have payments applied, can be invoiced, and can be
fulfilled. Orders can also be partially
fulfilled. When an Order is partially
fulfilled and partially invoiced, the system creates a new type of Order called
a Backorder.
Backorders:
Backorders are automatically created by
PORTALPRODIGY to track the unfulfilled portion of non-prepaid Orders. PORTALPRODIGY creates a new Order with Order
Type “Backorder” to provide a new Order# that can be used to invoice the
customer, when the backordered Items are fulfilled and shipped. This is extremely important for applying
payments to Orders/Invoices. It allows a
single numbering system and table structure to be used for both Orders and
Invoices.
Backorders always contain a reference to the
original Order. The reference is stored
in the Ref Order ID field. If a
Backorder is partially fulfilled, the system will create another Backorder,
repeating this process until the last Backorder is fulfilled. Each Backorder will contain a reference to
the original Order. Although the need
for multiple backorders may not be a common occurrence, the PORTALPRODIGY architecture
is capable of accommodating it. In fact,
PORTALPRODIGY can support an unlimited number of backorders.
Neither Customers nor Administrators can
manually create Backorders. Backorders are created automatically by the system
as part of the Order Posting and Fulfillment process. The Order Date of a Backorder is always set
to the original Order’s Order Date.
Warning! It is important not to confuse backordered
Items with the Order Type “Backorders”, as they are two different things. Both Order Types, “Orders” and “Backorders”,
can contain backordered Items.
Recurring Orders:
Save time using PORTALPRODIGY Recurring Orders feature. Recurring Orders are similar to Quotes. They do not affect Inventory, cannot have
payments applied, cannot be invoiced and cannot be fulfilled. Their purpose is to store orders that will be
used by the Process Recurring Orders option to create repetitive orders. You may create a new order from a Recurring
Order by selecting the Create Order option on Order Management page. This process copies the Recurring Order to a
new Order and sets the new Order’s Order Type to “Order”. The system stores a reference to the Recurring
Order that it was created from. This
reference is stored in the Order’s Ref Order ID field. The new Order is then processed like any
other Order. Customers cannot create
Recurring Orders, as this option is only available in Orders Administration,
which is only accessible to permitted Administrators. Recurring Orders are used for things like
billing clients for quarterly maintenance contracts or for annual membership dues.
Return:
PORTALPRODIGY manages returned items using Return Order
Type. Returns add Items back into
Inventory and if the Items have already been paid for, will create a Credit
Memo or issue a Refund. Returns contain
a reference to the original Order, which is stored in Ref Order ID field. Returns can only be created by permitted
Administrators, and cannot be created in the visitor use interface. See the tutorial section for step-by-step
instructions for creating Returns.
You may create a Return by adding a new Order, selecting
Order Type = “Return”, enter the Original Order ID in RefOrderID field and
select Retrieve button.
The system creates the Return order listing all of the
Original Order’s Order Items with quantity set to zero. You may enter quantities and you may change
the unit price. An additional Order Item
“Return Handling Charge” is automatically added. This is a Service Charge that is shared by
all Feature Components. The Description
(Item Name) and price can be overridden.