LightSpeed is designed to simplify the ordering process, whether it’s Product coming in for a stock order, a Customer backorder, or for an SRO. Each sales document is able to request Product via an Order, and Purchase Orders can then be generated according to Product, Supplier, or Order.
Orders are structured like other sales documents, in terms of adding Products and Customers and configuring Options. They also have a unique set of features that allow the User to intuitively request Product for a Customer. Integrated with Quotes, Invoices, and SROs, the Order feature of LightSpeed allows you a quick transition from one stage of the sales process to another, giving you an immediate overview of the status of real-time inventory levels.
The purchasing workflow requires some initial configuration to be completed. Specifically, Products must be mapped to the Suppliers where they are purchased, in the Supplier Costs grid found in the Product card, and must include both a Supplier Code and a Cost. If more than one Supplier Cost is added to a Product, you must decide which of these Suppliers is your Default Supplier. In other words, from which Supplier do you most often buy this Product?
The Purchasing section of the Browser is where you view your purchasing-related items - Order Requests, Purchase Orders, and Supplier Invoices.
The basic workflow of backordering and selling Products for a Customer is:
You may create a Purchase Order directly for regular stock ordering. Subsequent Customer Order Requests can be dragged and dropped onto the existing, unreceived Purchase Order to link the Order with the stock PO. Or, you can create a Stock Order as outlined below.
There are two kinds of Orders in LightSpeed: a Stock Order or a Customer Order. Stock Orders can be created at File > New Stock Order, and will automatically have your store assigned as the Customer. Customer Orders are created from the Tool Bar by clicking the Order icon, and are used to either reserve available inventory for a Customer, or request Product be brought in from a Supplier. If a Product is not reserved, it will be converted to an Order Request that will remain pending until it is compiled onto a Purchase Order, usually with other Order Requests.
Once an Order Request is compiled onto a PO, you may click the status bar of the Product to reveal on which PO it is ordered. When the item arrives and is received into inventory on the PO, you then reserve the item on the Order until the Customer is ready to take ownership and the Order is converted into an Invoice.
Purchase Orders are created directly from one Order, or compiled from several different Order Requests that are sourced at the same Supplier. Each Product on the PO list a Supplier Code and Cost that is particular to that PO's Supplier, and have been mapped in the Supplier Costs grid of each Product's card. Expanding the "detail arrow" beside each Product lists the constituent Order Requests.
Once a PO has been saved and placed with the Supplier, the Products must be received when they start arriving. Products received on a PO will go into "available" status, and should be reserved to the constituent Orders so they no longer show as available.
Supplier Invoices are the documents used to integrate LightSpeed with your accounting package in terms of Accounts Payable. While LightSpeed contains all the information required to track your Accounts Receiveable (how much your Customers owe you), most of the Accounts Payable (how much you owe your Suppliers) workflow is taken care of in your accounting software. However, each time you receive Product on a PO, you create a Supplier Invoice to "notify" your accounting software how much you owe your Suppliers. You pay your Supplier from your accounting software, and manually modify the status of the Supplier Invoice to "Paid" having done so. One Purchase Order may have several Supplier Invoices created from it, if the Products on a PO are received at various times.
