Order No vs PO Number

[racerza]

Hi

 

I posted this back in May but didn't receive a reply. I'm posting it again now, as I see NCH people are responding to questions! Here we go...

 

An open question to NCH developers. I have tried mailing support twice regarding this but haven't had the courtesy of a reply (I did receive a reply since originally posting this, but all he said was "oh i see its been removed")

 

 

In older versions of Express Invoice, one was able to input both Order No and Customer PO No when creating an invoice. Since a few versions ago, the Order No has unfortunately been removed from the Invoice and cannot be input.

 

More unfortunately, when viewing "Open Invoices List" there is only a column for "Order No" (which can't be put into invoice) and no column for "Customer PO No" which can be input onto invoice. This makes no sense at all.. I HAVE to use client PO number on invoice but then can't see them when viewing invoices list, which I need to do as its the only way to diffrentiate between invoices! (I have few clients, but many invoices for each).

 

So I'm forced to use old version where I can put in client's order number under "Order No" field, which at least displays on Invoice List - but not ideal as version is buggy with other things.

 

Could we pease have "Order No" back on invoice for input, or have "Customer PO No" appear on Invoice List - I don't care which field I use for this, but it has to appear on invoice for input AND appear on invoice list, else its useless.

 

Hopefully someone at NCH sees this and makes comments...

 

tks...

[N_C_H_OMG]

Hi, I think you misunderstood the usage of 'Order number' here. 'Order numbers' are unique identifier to 'Orders', same as 'Invoice numbers' are unique to 'Invoices'. New Orders can be created from 'Orders list'; similar to new invoices can be created from 'Invoices List'. Those are two different things.

 

However, you can convert an existing order to invoice, in which case, original order number is displayed in 'Order' column in 'Invoices list'. So, this is the way to go, if you really want an order number to be displayed in the column and print-outs. From 'Orders list', you can select an order and click 'Invoice' button to generate an invoice from the order.

Note that order number generation can be controlled through 'Options->Quote->Order Options...', and it is always unique to each order.

 

I suggest playing with 'converting orders to invoices' to explore different scenarios.

 

Hope this helps!

[racerza]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I understand the order number system and what you say about Order Numbers being unique identifiers to Orders. That wasn't always the case though, as in earlier versions one could manually put in and order number when processing an invoice.

 

I don't want to use the order system as its double work and not necessary in my scenario. All i need is to put in my customer's order number on the invoice, and then have that display when viewing Invoice List. I've been playing with the latest version, and the CUstomer Order Number field is currently useless as after an invoice is processed, there's no way to see the Customer Order Number again, nor any way to search for it. FOr example, if a client quotes me his order number, I have no way of going back to see if I've invoiced it or not,

 

If the Order Number field is now reserved for the Orders system (which makes sense I guess), would it not be possible to add the Customer Order Number to the Invoice List as well?

[N_C_H_OMG]

Customer PO numbers should show up on invoices print-outs/previews; and also on customer statements print-outs/previews.

The best place to view this is on a customer statement:

- Go to 'View' menu and click 'Customers'. A 'Customers List' window should open up

- Select a desired customer from the list, right click on it, and select Statement -> Preview Statement.

- It should show up all invoices of the customer for the selected period, and customer PO number (if found).

 

However your suggestion makes sense. You could put in NCH suggestion to add customer PO number to Invoice List window. This can be done through ExpressInvoice main-window 'Help' menu, and select 'Send improvement suggestion or feedback'.

[racerza]

I've taken your advice and and sent the suggestion. Let's hope they see sense in it.

 

Opening a statement every time is also double work. In the "Open Invoices List" window you can quickly see all outstanding payments for each customer, and I just need to see the PO number there to distinguish between a clients invoices. Will keep fingers crossed.