Documentation/ Master records and catalogues/ Adding and editing a product
Adding and editing a product
A product's record gathers three blocks of data: what it is, the description and the codes, how it is measured, units and converter, and how it is classified, family, raw material, cost centre and brand.
Database › Product master › New, or the pencil on a row
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What the product is
| Field | What it is | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Description | The item's name. | It is what you search on and what it gets recognised by on the lines. |
| Supplier code | The supplier's reference. | It helps recognition when the description varies between documents. |
| ERP reference code | The code in your management system. | It may be locked. See the next section. |
The description does the most work. Write it in a stable, recognisable way, with the same approach for every product, because whether the item is found when you assign it on a line depends on it.
The ERP reference code
With an ERP connected, this field cannot be edited here. The record says so: with an ERP connected, this code is set when you edit the delivery note line.
That is deliberate. With SAP, Ágora POS or ICG, the reference code is written by the system itself when you assign the catalogue item on a document line. If it could be typed here, codes the ERP does not recognise would get in, and the send would fail later and somewhere else, where the cause is no longer visible.
The right way is always the same: open the document, assign the catalogue item on the line, and let the code reach the record on its own.
VAT rate
The VAT rate is picked from a fixed list. It is the value document lines inherit when they use this product: in the assignment dialog it shows as a read-only field.
A product with no VAT rate makes the line say not configured. That is not decoration: the system does not assume a default rate, precisely so it does not create a wrong entry.
Units and converter
Three fields that are used together and only mean anything together:
| Field | What it stands for |
|---|---|
| Supplier unit | The unit the supplier invoices in: case, drum, sack. |
| Unit you want | The unit your business wants to count in: kilo, litre, each. |
| Converter | How many of your units are in one of the supplier's. |
If the supplier invoices cases of twelve bottles and you want bottles, the supplier unit is the case, the one you want is each, and the converter is twelve.
Filling them in here saves repeating the conversion on every line: the value sticks to the product and applies to the documents that follow.
Categories
Four classifications, all optional:
- Family, the first-level classification.
- Raw material, which hangs off a family: the drop-down does not come alive until you have chosen a family.
- Cost centre, for splitting spend by area.
- Brand.
If the drop-downs come up empty, it is because no categories have been created. The application says so, and points you at the product categories screen to create them first.
Saving
When you save, the application confirms the product was created or updated. If something fails the message says so outright, and the dialog stays open with what you typed still in it.
Changes to a record affect future documents. The ones already processed keep what they had.
When to create a product by hand
Most products create themselves, when they arrive on a document line. Doing it by hand makes sense in three cases:
- Getting the catalogue ready before any documents arrive, when you are starting the account and already know what you usually buy.
- Items that never arrive on a document: internal charges, services, or products recorded by hand on a new line.
- Replacing a product deleted by mistake.
Things that come up
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The reference code will not let you type | The account has an ERP connected and the ERP sets the code. | Assign the item on the document line; the code arrives by itself. |
| The raw material drop-down is greyed out | No family has been chosen. | Choose the family first. |
| Every category drop-down is empty | The account has no categories created. | Create them under product categories, or import them from Excel. |
| The lines still show the VAT as not configured | The product has no VAT rate. | Set it on the record. It affects the lines that follow. |
| The conversion is not applied on the lines | One of the three fields is missing: supplier unit, unit you want, or converter. | Fill in all three. With one empty there is no conversion to make. |