Use Product Lines to group products in Inform. With them, you can assign a selected group of products to the same General Ledger accounts, as well as designated price columns, and enter internal notes.
Product lines are also useful for reporting and setting up pricing matrices for groups of products assigned to the same product lines.
Create a new product line
- Go to File > Product > Product Line.
- Click New.
- In the Product Line box, using up to 10 characters, type a brief description of the product line, and then press the Tab key. For example. "Straws."
- In the Description box, type up to 30 characters of a more user friendly description.
- You can add properties, general ledger accounts, and/or notes, as described below.
- Click Save.
Add a product to a product line
- Go to File > Product > Master.
- In the Product box, type or search for the Product to which you want to a assign a Product Line.
- Click Edit.
- In the Product Line box, click
and then choose the product line to which the product belongs. - Click Save.
Edit an existing product line
- Go to File > Product > Product Line.
- In the Product Line box, either type or click and choose the product line you want to modify.
- Click Edit.
- You can edit properties, general ledger accounts, and/or notes, as described below.
- Click Save.
Configure product line properties
- Edit the Product Line as described above.
- As desired, configure the following additional properties:
- Consignment VendorThe consignment vendor to which the product is assigned, if applicable.: Type the default vendor with whom the product is consigned.
- Price Rounding DecimalSets the decimal value by which Inform rounds the price of an item up to the next dollar. For example, if the price of the item is 12.01, and you specify 99 as the Price Rounding Decimal, then the customer purchase price will be 12.99.: Choose the decimal value to which a price rounds up. For example. of the cost of the product is 2.00, and you type 75 here, the customer price will be 2.75. You may choose to use Company Master setting Round to Equal Penny/Nickel/Dime instead.
- Minimum G/P PercentThe minimum gross profit percent for products within this product line.
If an order includes an item with a lower GP%, then Inform will flag the item as "Below Minimum Gross Profit" within the sales order. If you leave this option blank, then Inform uses the default from the minimum GP% set in the company master.: Type the minimum G/P Percent that is acceptable on this product. It may be higher or lower than the default G/P % that is set by Minimum GP% in the File>Company>Master.
- Buyers & DepartmentsSelect the users or groups of authorized buyers for the products associated with this product line. You may select one or more buyers by selecting the check boxes beside their names.: Drop down the list and select the check boxes beside those users or departments who are permitted to order products in this product line.
- L1-4 DescriptionCustom descriptions for the L1-L4 price options. All products in this product line will display these descriptions rather than the defaults from the Company Master. These descriptions appear in the Product Master and the Product Analysis pages.: Type the descriptions you want to appear in L1-L4 in the Product Master and Product Analysis pages.
- Consignment Vendor
- Click Save.
Assign product lines to general ledger accounts
- Edit the Product Line as described above.
- Click the General Ledger tab.
- To allow the General Ledger accounts listed on this page to be posted to A/P invoice entry, A/P Non Vendor Check, and A/R Cash Receipts, select the .Allow G/L Posting from A/P and A/RAllows the General Ledger accounts listed on this page to be posted to A/P invoice entry, A/P Non Vendor Check, and A/R Cash Receipts. Select this option if you need these accounts for vendor invoices and cash receipt adjustments. If cleared, users will not be able to select the accounts listed here in those areas of Inform. The option is intended to prevent undesired transactions from accidentally posting to these accounts. check box. Leaving it cleared will ensure that products within this line are not posted to these accounts accidentally.
- Now select the accounts to which you want to post the following general ledger accounting for products within this product line:
- Inventory G/L The general ledger account to which inventory transactions will be posted for products in this product line.
- Cost of Goods G/L The general ledger account to which the cost of good transactions will be posted for products in this product line.
- Direct Ship COG G/L The general ledger account to which the cost of goods for direct ship transactions will be posted for products in this product line.
- Sales G/L The general ledger account to which sales transactions will be posted for products in this product line.
- Sales Returns G/L The general ledger account to which sales returns will be posted for products in this product line.
- Direct Ship Sales G/L The general ledger account to which direct shipping sales transactions will be posted for products in this product line.
- Inventory Change G/L The general ledger account to which inventory adjustments will be posted for products in this product line.
- Inventory G/L
- Click Save.
Add internal notes to a product line.
- Edit the Product Line as described above.
- Click the Internal Notes tab.
- Type any comments that you want to associate with the selected product line.
Note: These Internal Notes are intended as a reference field only. You can view them from the Product Line Master screen here, or report on them using the PROD.LINE file in Advanced Report Writer. These comments will not pop up like Internal Notes associated with other files in Inform.
- Click Save.