Stock Ordering Database Screen: General Information

The Stock Ordering Database holds the products that you order from vendors. It's not necessary to put all of the products that you order in the database. If you order certain items on an infrequent basis, you can just enter the information directly to the Item Area on the Purchase Order Screen.

To reach the Stock Ordering Database, select STOCK TOOLS and STOCK ORDERING AND PRODUCT DATABASE. The Stock Ordering Screen will appear.

Note that if you are using AnyPO with AnyBook (publishing business software) or with AnyOrder (general invoicing and order processing software), the Stock Database Screen display is slightly different. More information: here.

The advantage of using the Stock Ordering Database is that you don't have to re-type the information each time you order an item. From the Main Purchase Order Screen, you can access the Stock Ordering Database by clicking on the "Add" button. When you click on the "Add" button, it adds a new row to the Item Area. You can, then, select a product from the Stock Database that you need to order and the information is pasted in place for you:

Let's return to Stock Ordering Database and look closely at each of the fields found on the screen. Information on the screen is divided into five sections:

At the top of the Stock Ordering Database is a field for "Your Cat #, SKI, or ID #," shown below:

If you are a re-seller, you will use this field to enter your own catalog number, SKU (Store Keeping Unit) or ID #. You can set-up your own catalog numbers, or use the vendor's catalog number, or you can leave this field blank.

If you will be using this field for catalog numbers, you'll want to make up your own catalog numbers. Choose a catalog number that is easy for you to remember. You can use letters, numbers, or a combination of letters and numbers. The only restriction is that you can't use a forward slash. The forward slash is reserved for categories (described next). You can use up to 15 characters.

Some businesses which use AnyPO simply do not need to have their own catalog or ID numbers. If you're using AnyPO to purchase items for your business that won't be re-sold, it's not necessary to have anything in this field.

However, it is possible to use this field for purposes other than catalog numbers. It could be used, for example, for an account number if you need to allocate each item purchased to a specific account.

Let's look at where "Your Cat #" appear in the Item Area on the Main PO Screen. You'll see it in the second column and it's labeled "Your Cat #" as we would expect.

As mentioned, one of the alternative purposes for this field is to use it for account numbers. The following shows the Item Area with the name change:

The Item Area name change is done in Basic Set-up. But you can also change the name that appears here, in the Stock Ordering database. To do so, select FILE >> RE-CONFIGURE YOUR CAT # FIELD. This works nicely if you have a product which should always be charged to a certain account.

In its default arrangement, AnyPO won't allow duplicate numbers in this field and will trigger a message if you enter a duplicate number. However, if you are using the field for something like account numbers, you'll want to turn off duplicate number checking. To do that, select FILE >> RE-CONFIGURE YOUR CAT # FIELD. This turns off duplicate number checking and also allows you to change the name of the field.

AnyBook or AnyOrder Users: You'll want to use this field for a catalog number if you will be moving inventory numbers from AnyPO into either AnyBook or AnyOrder. The catalog number that you enter here needs to be the same as the catalog number that's found in AnyBook or AnyOrder. More information is found below.

If you plan to use the program in conjunction with AnyBook (book publishing software) or AnyOrder (general invoicing and order processing software), "Your Cat #" is very important. AnyPO can use your catalog number to automatically make adjustments in your inventory levels. You can copy products from the Product Information Database used by core program (AnyBook or AnyOrder) to the Stock Database by using the "L" button beside "Your Catalog Number." Also note that the category file used in the Stock Database is different the category file used in the core program. (More information of the differences between the Product Information Database and Stock Ordering Database are found in the section entitled "AnyBook & AnyOrder Users" found at the very bottom of this page.)

If desired you can place the products that you order into categories. For example, you can place all pies in a category, all cakes in another category, etc. A category is a prefix added to the catalog number and consists of one or two letters and a forward slash. By clicking the "Category" button, the Category Prefixes dialog box appears on which you can set up categories. More information: Categories.

Enter the vendor's catalog number in this field. The field is optional, you can leave it blank if desired. The field will accept up to 15 characters.

Use this button to make your catalog number the same as the vendor's catalog number. If you have no interest in creating your catalog number, then you can disregard the button. (Also disregard the button if you are using the Cat # field for an account number).

In this blank, enter the item's price from the vendor's price list. The vendor's price can be one of two possibilities:

•	It may be the price that vendor directly charges you. If you pay the same price that shows on the vendor's price list, that's the price you want to enter here.

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Or it may be a price that the vendor discounts. For example, the vendor's price list may be a retail price list, but your cost may be 40% off any item on the list. In that case, you would enter the retail price in this blank. When the purchase order is created, you'll be able to indicate a 40% discount and the total amount showing on the PO will be discounted appropriately.

Important: the Vendor's Price is the price per unit. The unit might be a box, a case, a roll, a lot, or a ream. Or a unit could be a measurement: per 100 pounds, per 100 feet, per yard, etc. (You'll be able to indicate exactly what the "unit" is lower down on the Stock Ordering Screen.)

Since this is an important concept, let's look at some examples: Let's say you are ordering flour, the price may be $25 per 100 pounds of flour. Or let's say you are ordering fabric. The price might be $1.33 per yard of fabric. More examples: $50 per case of 24 items. Or, $55 per roll of 1000 labels. Or $100 per box of 10 reams.

The Item Name will be pasted to the "Item Description" column in the Item Area on the Main Purchase Order Screen. In this field, enter a concise name of the item. The Item Name has 36 characters of space available.

•	Refrain from using double quotes ("). Double quotes can interfere with internal processes which take place within AnyPO. If you need double quotes use type in two single quotes: ''.

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A back slash followed by NT (\NT) means "don't tax this item." You should avoid using "\NT" in a catalog number unless a particular item is never subject to tax. The \NT designator is used when you have a series of items on a purchase order that are all taxed. By adding \NT at the end of an item's description you can remove it from being taxed. If you never have taxed sales, then it's not necessary to use the \NT designator. More Information

Note that "NO PRODUCTS" will appear in the Item Name blank when all products in the Stock Ordering Database have been deleted. If you find "NO PRODUCTS" in the item name, just erase it and type in a product name.

If you need additional space to describe an item, you'll be able to do so in the "Additional Description" area. The Item Name should summarize the item as best as possible in the space available. When you use the stock pop-up list, it's the Item Name which will appear on the list. If you are using AnyPO in conjunction with AnyBook or AnyOrder, this is also the name which will appear on your PO's.

It's best to try to keep the item description to one line (the Item Name, above). However, if that's not possible, you can use this area to add any additional information to help describe the item to the vendor. You have up to 4 more lines of information that you can add to the concise description.

For the second descriptive line (and any subsequent lines), you have up to 58 characters of space available. While you are limited to 4 additional lines in the stock database, you can, if needed, use even more lines on the Main Purchase Order Screen to describe the item. Note that because of the structure of the database, when you get to the end of a line, you'll need to manually break the line at a separation between words.

•	The Stock Pop-up list can be filtered for a selected vendor. That means, you can set the list so that the products showing are sold by that vendor only. That can help speed up the time which it takes to prepare a purchase order.

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If you are using the program in conjunction with AnyBook (publishing business software) or AnyOrder (order processing software), you'll be able to automatically create drop ship orders. In order to create the such orders, AnyPO needs to know where to obtain the product and this the place where gets that information.

Use this field if this is a product which is sold by weight (kilograms, grams, pounds, ounces, etc.) or length (feet, yards, meters, etc.), or by volume (gal, cubic feet), time (hrs, days, minutes), or by the case, box, roll, set, package, or any other measurement. If the product is not sold in this manner, then leave this field blank. If it is, however, indicate the unit of measurement.

There is a limit of 3 characters. Use abbreviations such as FT, LB, YD, M, KG, BOX, PKG, HRS, GAL, etc. This field appears on the printed Purchase Order.

For example, if the product is fabric and it's sold by the yard, you would enter "YD." This is field is also used by AnyPO when you purchase items which are ordered in fractional quantities. For example, you might order 6.5 yards of a fabric. For more information on this feature, see Alternative Product Entry Screen.

This is where you indicate the unit and the number of items available per unit. For example, you might be ordering a product that has 24 items in a case. "24" is the number of items. "Case" is the unit. You might be ordering a 100 pound bag. "100" is the number and "pound bag" is the unit. You might be ordering 1000 labels to a roll. "1000" is the number and "roll" is the unit.

Note that the vendor's price is the price per unit. Thus, if you have 1000 labels to a roll, the vendor's price is the amount per roll, not per label. This is for your own information. It does not appear on the printed Purchase Order.

This is an optional field, but, if desired, you can enter the weight of the product. When the weight is available, AnyPO can calculate the total weight of all of the items that you've ordered, giving you an idea of what sort of shipping charges might be involved. This information does not appear on the printed PO.

This is an optional field. This field is not recommended if you are using the "Your Cat #" field for other purposes such as account numbers. Mostly, it's been included to coordinate with the system used in AnyBook (publishing business software) or AnyOrder (order processing software).

If you're not using either of these programs, it is easiest to include other identifying information in the item's description lines (above). However, if you are not using "Your Cat #" for other purposes, the field is available if you can make use of it. An other identifier can be an ISBN number, color, size or some other way of specifying product characteristics. You have 15 characters available. If you use this field, it will appear on the printed purchase order.

This goes along with the "Other Identifier" option above. Depending upon what you are using for the "Other Identifier," you'll want to give it a label. You can select one the labels from the list or make up your own. If you make up your own, you have 5 characters of space. If it's an ISBN number, select ISBN from the drop down list. If it's a part number, select Part Number. Other choices on the drop down list are Item #, Size, and Color. This field will appear on the printed purchase order.

These fields are available for other descriptive information about the product. The fields are for your use and do not appear on the printed purchase order.

Use the Notes area for any additional information that you want to include along with the product.

You move from product to product by pressing Page Up or Page Down on your keyboard. To add a product, go to the last product and press Page Down--or you can select GOTO from the pull down menu and choose NEW ITEM.

You can also move to different products by clicking on the navigation buttons on the middle right of the screen.

Right arrow and line button ( >| ). Last product is displayed. (Same as Ctrl+Page Down.)

Left arrow navigation button ( < ). Previous product is displayed. (Same as Page Up.)

Left arrow and line button ( |< ). First product is displayed. (Same as Ctrl+Page Up.)

If you place a checkmark here, the program will automatically check the "Drop Ship" box on the Main Purchase Order Screen each time you enter this product. (More about drop shipment here.) You should only place a checkmark here if you ALWAYS have this item drop shipped. If you have the item drop shipped sometimes and other times you have it sent your place of business, then our suggestion is to leave it unchecked. In those cases, you can manually check the "Drop Ship" box on the Main Purchase Order when it's appropriate.

Optional. If you purchase items from a vendor and then re-sell them, you may wish to keep a record of the retail prices that you are charging. The retail price is entered here. The retail price is not used by the program (unless you are using the program in conjunction with AnyBook or AnyOrder). For all other uses, it's only for your information. The information might be helpful, however, for tracking costs vis a vis retail price. If you notice the cost of the item rising, you may wish to re-calculate a new retail price (which can be done using the process below).

Optional. AnyPO comes with an "Mark-up Calculator." To use Mark-up Calculator, enter the cost of the item here. When entering the cost figure, you may wish to include shipping and other expenses - or you may keep it simple and use vendor's price as the cost. (The vendor's price can be entered by clicking the button described next.)

Optional. If you click this button, AnyPO will automatically insert the vendor's price in the "Based on Cost" field.

Optional. If you have a figure in the "Based on Cost" field and you click this button, AnyPO will display a Mark-up Calculator which allows you to select a mark-up percentage or multiplier and have the program determine the retail price.

The Menu Bar on the top of the Stock Database Screen provides you with several options:

FILE Menu. In the FILE menu, you have two printing options. You can print each product record individually by selecting FILE >> PRINT THIS RECORD from the Menu Bar. Or, you can select FORMAT & PRINT FROM SPREADSHEET. The later opens up Excel (or a spreadsheet of your choice). You can format the list and print it. Note that you can not edit the Stock Database from Excel. Use this for viewing and printing purposes.

You can also import products by selecting FILE >> IMPORT. More information on importing is found here: Stock Import.

If, after importing, you find that you need to delete the imported records, you can do so by selecting REMOVE IMPORTED PRODUCTS. This will remove only imported products. Any products in your Stock Ordering Database prior to the import will be preserved. Note that if you add one or more new products after doing an import, you'll lose the ability to remove the imported records. Thus, if you need to remove imported records, you should do it soon after the import and before adding any new products.

RECONFIGURE YOUR CAT # FIELD. This is used if you want to use the catalog number field for another purpose. One of the main alterative uses of the cat # is for an account number. For more information, see Your Cat #, SKU or ID # at the top of this page.

EDIT Menu. The EDIT menu includes the usual Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste options. It also includes the following:

LOOK-UP PAST ORDERED ITEM & PASTE. This option is handy if you ordered an item in the past and you want to add it to your stock database. Start with a new, empty record. Then when you select this option, a dialog box appears. Type some part of the name of the item that you want to paste. For example, if you type in "Cleaner," all items that you've ordered in the past with "Cleaner" in the name will appear. Select the one you want and it will be pasted on the Stock Ordering Database Screen. If desired, you can select an additional option allows you to include the vendor and vendor number along with the item's name, price and vendor catalog number.

If you need to delete products, you can do so by select EDIT >> DELETE THIS ITEM. Or you can select EDIT >> MULTI-PRODUCT DELETE. Use the Multi-product Delete function if you need to delete two or more products. You'll find two different methods of deleting more than one product. The first method displays a list with the products in order by "Your Catalog Number." The second method displays a list of products in natural order, the order they were placed in the file. This is handy for deleting recently added products (such as through an import process). If you delete all the records in the Stock Information Database, "NO PRODUCTS" will appear in the Item Name blank. When you are ready to enter your first product, delete "NO PRODUCTS" and type in its name.

GOTO Menu. The GO TO menu allows you to move through the different products. It also includes Search and Look-up features. The SEARCH feature allows you to search for a product name, catalog number or other identifier. The LOOK-UP feature provides a list of all products in the Product Information Database in alphabetical order. When you choose from the list, you'll be taken to the selected product.

TOOLS Menu. You can also change the order of the product by using the TOOLS menu: TOOLS >> ORDER BY. Normally, the products are in the order that you added them to the Stock Information Database. You can also order them by Item Name, Catalog Number, ISBN (or Part Number), or Price.

The next choice in the TOOLS menu will turn off catalog number checking: TOOLS >> TURN OFF CATALOG NUMBER CHECKING. As you page through the Stock Information Database, AnyPO checks to make sure that you do not have duplicate catalog numbers. If it finds a duplicate, it will notify you. Additionally, AnyPO will not allow you to continue until you change the number. However, you may not be using the catalog number field - or you may be using it for an entirely different purpose. Even if you use it as a catalog number, there may be times when you want to turn off the catalog number checking feature. For example, you may wish to change the other duplicate catalog number, and not the one currently showing on the screen. You may also want to turn off catalog number checking after doing an import. In either case, you can do so by selecting TOOLS >> TURN OFF CATALOG NUMBER CHECKING. If you do use catalog numbers, you should be careful about turning this feature off. Duplicate catalog numbers create problems in the program and you should use it only when necessary.

The TOOLS menu can also be used to open the Mark-up Calculator: TOOLS >> CALCULATE MARK-UP. If you are re-selling items that you purchase, you can use this feature to calculate mark-ups on the cost of an item. More information on the Mark-up Calculator.

Window Menu. The WINDOW menu allows you to move to different windows in the program without exiting from Product Information.

If you click on the right mouse button on the Vendor Information Database screen, the speed menu will appear. From the speed menu, you can activate the search or look-up dialog boxes and the standard cut, copy, paste menu. (Note that when the cursor is in the Vendor, Ship-to, and Zip blanks, a slightly different speed menu appears as noted above.)

The information below is when AnyPO is being used in conjunction with AnyBook or AnyOrder. If you are using the program by itself - not integrated with AnyBook or AnyOrder - you can skip the information below.

For the sake of easier reading, we'll call AnyBook or AnyOrder the core program.

All of the information, above, applies equally when AnyPO is used with the core program (AnyBook and AnyOrder). You'll find, however, that the Stock Ordering Database screen looks slightly different.

The reason for that is to allow for a direct connection and the exchange of data between AnyPO and the core program. (You'll find more information on the use of the core program with AnyPO here.) An explanation of the differences are found below.

The fields not covered in the material above and which appear on screen above have to do with copying the data between AnyPO and the core program (AnyBook or AnyOrder). To understand the copy process, it's helpful to review the databases.

Product Information Database. The core program uses the Product Information Database to store all of the products that you sell. When you use the Pop-up list to enter items on an invoice, the products that you see on list come from the Product Information Database.

Stock Ordering Database. AnyPO has a similar database. It's called the Stock Ordering Database (or simply the Stock Database). This database is used to store all the products that you buy. Or, in other words, the Stock Ordering Database holds products that you order from your suppliers.

Although they are two separate databases, they can be closely related. If you do a lot of re-selling (buying from suppliers then re-selling them), then your Stock Ordering Database and Product Information Databases will be nearly identical. On the other hand, if you are a manufacturer or book publisher then the Stock and Product Databases may be considerably different. The Stock Database may be used for ordering supplies and materials while the Product Information Database includes your finished products.

If you have a situation where many of the products are the same between databases, AnyPO has built in tools so that you can copy records from one database to the other. You can copy products from the Product Information Database to the Stock Database. That's done by using the "L" (List) button alongside "Your Catalog #". The L-button brings up a pop-up list of products in the Product Information Database. By selecting from the list, the product is moved into the Stock Database.

Conversely, you can copy products from the Stock Ordering Database to the Product Information Database in the core program. That's done by using the "Copy Record" button on the right side of the screen. You can control how the data is copied by selecting options.

When you are using AnyPO, it is helpful at times to view the Product Information Database in the core program. You can do that by clicking on the "View" button. The Product Information Database will open showing the product. This is explained in more detail here: Viewing the Product Database.

You can use AnyPO to process drop shipments. The core program handles the invoicing and AnyPO handles creating the purchase orders which the vendors use to fulfill the order. When AnyPO is used in this manner, the "Drop Ship" box should checked. More information on how that is done is found here: Create Drop Ship Orders.

Check here you like to paste the Vendor Catalog Number to the "Other Identifier" field.

You can move the information on the Stock Database record to a record in the Product Information Database found in the core program (AnyBook or AnyOrder). That's done by clicking on the "Copy Record" button found on the right side of the screen. By placing a check mark in "Check here you like to paste the Vendor Catalog Number to the 'Other Identifier' field," you can copy the Vendor's catalog number to the Other Identifier field in the Product Information Database. That can be helpful if you use vendor numbers for your other identifier.

If you don't want to use the Vendor's Catalog Number, you can enter what you'd like to use for other identifier in this blank. Whatever you enter here will be placed in the Other Identifier field in the Product Information Database when you use the "Copy Record" button. Other identifier can be an ISBN number, color, size or some other identifier. You have 15 characters available. Note that the "Other Identifier" is optional. You can leave this blank, if desired.

This goes along with the two options above. Whether you paste the vendor's catalog number or make up your own identifier, you'll want to give it a label. You can select one the labels from the list or make up your own. If you make up your own you have 5 characters of space. If it's an ISBN number, select ISBN from the drop down list. If it's a part number, select Part Number. Other choices on the drop down list are Item #, Size, and Color.

In this blank (retail price), enter the item's suggested retail price. This will be the price at which you will be selling the product - or the price from which you discount if you sell to retailers and suppliers. For instance, you might typically provide your customers with a 40% discount. The amount charged to them will be the item's retail price minus 40%.

The "Calculator" button opens the "Mark-up Calculator" dialog box. You can use this feature to calculate retail price from the wholesale or manufacturing cost. More information: Mark-up Calculator.

The Cost blank is the cost of the item that you want to include in the Product Information Database. You may want to use the Vendor's Price if the vendor uses a direct price list and not a retail price list. Or you may need to discount the Vendor's Price to arrive at the cost. Or you may wish to add some value for shipping to the cost. The cost figure is used in the core program to calculate the total cost of your inventory. It is also used to calculate gross profit on the sales of each product.