The four types of sales documents each perform different functions, but can be related (or "linked") to each other as part of LightSpeed's workflows (see the Getting Started Overview article for a list of workflow options).
The Quote is used to provide basic information about a set of Products that is associated with a Customer name. While the Quote in LightSpeed will contain both the costs and prices of each Product, the printed document will only show the prices. Quotes can be converted into Invoices or Orders.
An Order in LightSpeed performs two functions: to reserve available inventory for a Customer so it no longer shows as available, or to request Product be brought in from a Supplier on a Purchase Order. An Order can be converted into an Invoice, which will release any reserved inventory, or directly into a Purchase Order, which will be required to receive the Product into inventory. If the Order is saved, any unreserved Product becomes an Order Request, which is then compiled onto a Purchase Orders with other Order Requests for Products that are purchased at the same Supplier. Please see the Purchasing article of the Inventory & Purchasing section of the User Guide.
The SRO is used to book in equipment in need of repair, and enter work performed by a technician. Products may be added to the SRO, but the SRO must be converted to an Invoice in order for the Products to be removed from stock, or to show in a Customer's purchase history.
Available Products saved on an Invoice will have the listed quantity removed from inventory. Products that are unavailable may be backordered, but require the conversion of the Invoice to an Order in order to convert that Product to an Order Request. Products may also be returned on an Invoice, which will add quantities to stock. Please see the Returns & Exchanges article in the Sales & Workflows section for more information.
These sales documents have features and behaviour common to each other, as well as those that are unique to each type. The following section outlines these common features, followed by sections explaining the differences between each.
It is recommended that you create a Customer card for any Customer whose history you want to track, or for whom you may wish to apply or retrieve outstanding credits. Walk-In information is only saved to the Invoice to which it’s attached, and is recommended for those customers for whom you do not need to track outstanding credits and balances.
When asked if you wish to reload the new information into the document, click OK. If you do not want to add your client to the Customer database, or be able to track their outstanding balances and purchase history, click Walk-In and include as much or as little information as you want, remembering that at least some identification makes later reference of their sales documents easier.
Among sales documents, the addition of Products is handled in a similar fashion. You can scan a Product’s UPC code to have it added automatically, provided it exists in your database and the UPC has been scanned into the UPC field of the Product card. If you do not have the Product in hand, you may type part of its description or Product Code, or click All, and select it from the resulting list by double-clicking. If there are Related Products (Products designated as potential add-ons for a primary Product) assigned to this Product, they will also appear in a pop-up menu, and you may add Products by double-clicking them. Use the “x” icon to close the Related Products window.
Once the Product has been added to the sales document, you may add another, or edit the item’s Quantity or Sell Price. You may also add Products to sales documents by dragging them from the Main List in the Browser and dropping them in the Product section of the document.
There are four ways of selling a Product to a Customer for less than its standard Selling Price.
More detail can be found in the Costs & Prices article in the Products section of the user Guide.
At the bottom of every sales document, there is a Status indicator, which varies depending on the document. A Quote can be appointed with an Urgent status; a saved Invoice shows a status of Owing, Paid, or Credit, depending on the Payments made to it, and cannot be changed manually.
Quote statuses may be customized at Tools > Setup > Quote Status. Customizing Quote statuses will add to the list of available Trackers you can install.
Each sales document also has a section that lists linked documents, found at the bottom of the window. For example, if an Invoice is created from an Order, each will cross-reference the other. The documents listed as related can be called up by clicking on their icon. Document links can be forced from the Action menu (see section on Action Menu below).
A Tax Code in LightSpeed is the configuration of taxes applied to a sales document. You can configure multiple Tax Codes to apply in particular situations. Tax Codes are how taxes are applied document -wide, and are configured at Tools > Setup > Taxes. Information on how to configure Tax Codes can be found in the Getting Started Guide.
At the bottom of each document, the Tax Codes are also listed, and these can be changed to charge the appropriate taxes for the region you are selling to. For more information on Tax Codes, please see the Configuration I article of this section.
Example: If you are a company located in Vermont, and you have several shipments to Canadian customers, you can create an alternate Tax Code in the Setup menu and change the taxes charged on an individual Invoice. You will see the Subtotal and Total amounts change when the Tax Code is changed.
Several choices are available on each sales document that relate to its destination, usually as an Invoice, or just as a printed copy. These settings can be found in the Options tab.
Drop Shipment
By clicking this checkbox, you indicate the Product will be delivered to your Customer, either from your Supplier, a Shipper, or by an employee such as a technician.
Shipping Method
This drop-down menu allows you to choose from a customized set of shipping options, or to add a method on-the-fly.
Currency
If your Customer is paying in a currency other than what you have set as your default, choose it from the pull-down menu. It should then appear in parentheses behind the word “Total” at the bottom of the document, signifying that your prices are now assumed to be in the new currency for this document. To see the amount converted to the default currency, using the exchange rate you’ve entered in Setup, you can click on Total once and the amount will appear in the default currency.
If the current exchange rate is different than the default, you can adjust it on the sales document to reflect the new rate. This does not affect the rate entered in the Currencies Setup.
Print Language
This is a pull-down menu that allows you to set the language the sales document will be printed in, using the terms defined in the Field Translations setup.
Print Images
One of LightSpeed’s most effective features is the ability to print Product images on sales documents. This setting allows you to control the size of the image which is printed, as well as the option of whether or not you prefer to only have the image of the first Product to be printed, and its size.
Print Discounts
Clicking this checkbox will enable your Invoices to show which Products were discounted, and for how much, listed as a dollar amount or a percentage. If this checkbox is not selected, discounted Products will only appear with the discounted price, and will not show the original price as well.
Using a combination of the Command and the “=” keys, a timestamp can be entered in every Notes field in Lightspeed which includes the time, date, and the currently logged in User.
Custom Fields
Sales documents can have up to ten Custom Fields added for expanded functionality, to collect information particular to your workflow but not already part of LightSpeed. For more information on Custom Fields, please Configuration II article.
The Action Menu is signified by the small "gear" icon located at the bottom of all sales documents, and includes features unique to each type. Each document's Action menu contains unique features, listed below.
Using the Notes tab gives you the option to include Notes that will be printed on the Invoice, Quote, or Order, intended for the Customer, or to attach internal Notes intended for Users for later reference. Notes can be searched using the Search All feature, by Browser searches, or by Smart Finds.
Quotes and Invoices, like Orders and SROs, have a costing and margin layout that is hidden from the standard layout when a document is created or opened, and is accessed by clicking the left-pointed detail arrow located in the center-right section of the document. This layout will become visible, and includes the cost of goods sold, the taxes being applied to each Product, and the percentage of margin on the document and on each Product. Clicking the total margin percentage will also display the profit in dollars for the document and for each Product.
Quotes, Orders, and SROs can have deposits applied to them that creates a credit for the Customer assigned to the sales document, which may later be applied as a payment to any Invoice assigned to the same Customer. Deposits do not affect a Customer's AR balance, but can be viewed in the Accounts Receivable window for an overview of a Customer's outstanding balances and credits. Payments are only applied to Invoices, and do affect a Customer's AR balance.
Each sales document can be emailed as a PDF by clicking the Email button at the bottom of the window - a PDF of the document will automatically be pasted into a new email and addressed to the Customer's email if it's present. Clicking the Print button will send the document to be printed on the printer assigned in the Printer Setup panel, accessible through the Station Setup panel. Quotes, Orders, and SROs must be printed in full page (8.5x11 or A4) layout, but Invoices can be printed out full-page or receipt-style. For more information, see the article on Printing.
Quote
Order
Service Repair Order (SRO)
