Inventory Questions

[Katherine]

Currently we do not keep a running total on inventory. We do have all the items we purchase and use listed in the price book but as special items. We are fairly new using tigerpaw and are now at a point where we want to start using the the projects feature to our fullest advantage.

I have noticed that since our pricebook is made of special items it does affect projects in many ways.
We cannot create purchase orders through projects.
a list of needed items does not reflect what has been ordered or received in the purchasing tab.

the items we use and purchase regularly come and go so quick that we do not keep a stock of items.
If we were to put our inventory as material items with an outrageous amount in stock in order to get the use of the project features, would this halt us from ordering what we actually do need?

If that is not the best way to go, can we get some suggestions on what to do?


Thank You

[ccsolutions]

Your best bet with Tigerpaw is to use it properly.

It would seem that your initial setup of inventory may have been configured with Special items because they are not constrained in anyway and are easier to work with, but they do pose some shortfalls as you have mentioned. You should consider duplicating the Special items in your Pricebook, as material items for those inventory items that you purchase and sell and use the purchase order function in Tigerpaw to replenish the stock as required. You will need to sunset your special items by flagging them as inactive.

Your suggestion to manually enter in a quantity of 200 etc of an item just to make life a bit easier for yourselves will cause other issues. The cost price will not reflect your true cost, as in reality these prices can vary from purchase order to purchase order.

Since you mentioned Projects, you are probably using Quotes. At the time of creating your Quotes, ensure that the sales people are entering the correct Item Cost against the item on the quote. If flagged, this cost will flow right through to the Purchase Order. When the Purchase Order is receipted, the Standard Cost will be updated, along with the Vendor Cost (if selected). Over time more of your inventory items will show the correct Standard and Average Cost, plus the correct Vendor Cost and Quotes will become much easier and quicker to produce and process. The flow on effect is a more streamlined Tigerpaw system.

This is really a 10,000 foot view of how it could work. Without knowing more about your business its about the best I can do. If you shortcut the system, it wont benefit your business in the way it is designed to. Take the time and make the effort to get it right because to will pay off. Talk to Tigerpaw Training about their coached services.