Inventory system settings

SECURITY  Security level with Admin permission to configure Application-wide (Shared) Features. Refer to Admin security settings.

NAVIGATION   > Admin > Features & Settings > Application-wide (Shared) Features > System Settings > Inventory

The description associated with a purchase order item can be populated with the description from the product on the product list, the quote item, or the contract, ticket or project charge.

Click the drop-down menu and select the default that will be applied to new purchase orders. This setting can be overridden on the purchase order.

By default, inventory events trigger a notification to the following recipients:

In the Inventory section of the Systems Settings page, the events that currently trigger notifications are listed in the Setting Value column. If no events are triggering notifications, the value is Disabled.

To disable or enable notifications for selected events, do the following:

1. Click Click here to edit.

2. Select or clear check boxes for the individual events.

NOTE  You cannot change the default recipients.

The Purchase Order Number field is available on purchase order tables, dashboard drill-in tables, and as a variable on the purchase order template. It is automatically incremented, starting with the number in this setting.

This field is always populated. If zero purchase orders have been created in your Autotask instance, the default value = 1. If one or more POs have been created in your Autotask instance, the default value equals the most recent PO Number + 1.

The value can be alphanumeric, but it must end in a numeric character. Only the numeric characters after the last non-numeric character will be included in the increment.

EXAMPLE   If the current value is 123A456, then the next value is 123A457. If the current value is 123A999, then next value is 123A1000.

You can change the value to any value you desire, but you will be warned that changing the Next Purchase Order Number setting may result in a discontinuity in purchase order numbers and/or the creation of multiple purchase orders with the same purchase order number.

This setting lets you assemble a group of users whose responsibility it will be to approve purchases above a set amount, or all purchases. An email will be sent to any users you select, and any email addresses entered into the Other Emails field.

• To add or remove resources, click the Click here to edit link to open the Purchasing Team window. The window shows Available and Selected resources. Double-click names to move them from one list to the other.
• To add other email recipients, type or delete email addresses. Separate multiple addresses with a semi-colon.

The first selected name, followed by (+#) indicates the number of additional resources selected to receive notification. Other email addresses are listed separately after the name.

This system setting sets the amount above which a quoted product requires approval before the purchasing team can order it. For Multi-currency Autotask instances, the currency indicator for the internal currency is displayed.

• If you want to require approval for charges above a specific monetary amount, specify that amount here. A quoted product with an extended cost > = the specified amount is automatically routed to the approval process before it can be ordered.
• If you do not want to require approval for any charges, leave the field blank.
• If you want all quoted products to go through approval, enter "0" into this field.

NOTE  If an item is Waiting Approval and an administrator decreases the system setting threshold amount so it falls above the item's billable amount, the item will still require approval. It is not automatically approved.

By default, this setting is cleared.

If this setting is checked, the user will be required to provide a value for Vendor Invoice Number on the Receive/Cancel Receipt of Purchase Order page. They will also be required to enter a Vendor Invoice Number when manually adding stocked items by creating or editing an inventory product, and the Vendor Invoice Number field will be required on the Receipt Detail page.

This system setting controls the display of a dialog that prompts the user to record the reason they manually updated an inventory item's On Hand count, or when canceling the receipt of a purchase order item.

Select an option to specify how Autotask will determine the unit cost of a stocked item with multiple unit costs when the item is selected as a quote item or ticket, project, or contract charge.

Items received into inventory at different times can have different costs. When you create a ticket, project, or contract charge or quote a stocked item that has units purchased at different cost levels, Autotask needs to know what cost to apply as the default. This policy applies only to stocked items with more than one unit cost.

The selections are explained below using the following example:

EXAMPLE  2 units of an item were received on January 3 @ $50, 5 units of the same item were received on January 7 @ $55. The inventory product then has 7 units on hand and two unit costs, $50 and $55. 4 units are sold out of inventory, leaving 3 units on hand.

The four options for determining the unit cost are the following:

• Average Cost: Will calculate and use the average unit cost of all received units of the stocked item, including units no longer on hand. In the example above, 2 units of the item were received @ $50, 5 units of the item were received @ $55. The average cost would be $53.57, that is, [((2 * $50) + (5 * $55)) / 7]. All 7 units are used in the calculation, even if 4 have already been sold.
• Cost of unit(s) received/added furthest in the Past: Will use the unit cost of the stocked item that was received or added the furthest in the past. In the above example, the cost is $50, as received on January 3. This is still the cost used, even though 4 units have already been sold.
• Cost of unit(s) received/added most recently: Will use the unit cost of the stocked item that was most recently received or added. In the above example , the cost for all the units is $55, as received on January 7, regardless of how many are sold.
• Always use Product's unit cost: Will use the product's unit cost, as entered for the product in the products list. This option allows you to control what unit cost is applied to products sold. Refer to Adding, editing, or copying a product.

If the selected inventory product has no items on hand, the cost applied will be the unit cost specified for the product in the Products list.