Item Window - Item Tab

The first tab on the Item Window is the Item Tab.  You will use this tab to enter the specifications for an Item.  The description of the Item on this window will print on the Proposal and the Invoice for the Client to read.  The Item Tab also provides access to the Component Window where Purchase Order Components for an Item may be entered.  Components are the constituent pieces that comprise an Item. For example, if the Item is a sofa, then the first Component might be the frame, while the second Component might be the fabric.  Information entered on the Component Window will be seen by the Vendor on the Purchase Order.  All of the Components of the Item are displayed on the grid titled Purchase Order Components.  The Item’s sell price to the client is calculated by summing the prices of all of the Components.

Reference Number: The Item reference number is created automatically by Design Manager starting at "0001" and is displayed in the Tab Caption.  This number is used by Design Manager to uniquely identify each Item.  As Items are created the next reference number is always used, but gaps between reference numbers may occur if existing Items have been deleted.

Client Description: This is the Description of the Item that the Client will see on the Invoice, Proposal, and Client-specific reports.  The Client Description should be tailored to the Client's needs and does not need to contain details or instructions for your Vendor.  Special instructions to your Vendor should be entered as part of the Component or Purchase Order Description.  The Client Description can be of nearly unlimited length.  As you type into this field, the text will automatically wrap at the end of each line.  To skip to a new line while inside this box, press the Enter key on your keyboard.  For information on formatting the Client Description, see Description/Note Formatting.

Quantity: The Quantity entered here will appear on documents that are for the Client, such as the Proposal and Invoice, but NOT on the Purchase Order.  As an example, if an Item is one sofa, then the Item Quantity should be set to "1", even though the sofa might be made up of 12 yards of fabric and 1 frame.

Location: Enter the Location Code into which the Item is to be placed at the Client’s site.  To search for a Location or create a new Location for the Project, click on the Search button in the lower left corner of this window.  The Location can also be left blank.  For more information on Locations, see the Location Window.

Sales Category: Sales Categories are used to classify or group your revenue from sales and costs from purchases.  For example, a sofa may fit into a Furniture Sales Category while installation of wallpaper may fit into a Labor Sales Category.  To search for a Sales Category, click on the Search button in the lower left corner of this window.  Sales Categories are completely optional.  For more information on Sales Categories, see Understanding Sales Categories and the Sales Category Window.

Units: The Unit of Measure, up to 6 characters, may be entered here.  This will print next to the Item Quantity on the Proposal and Client Invoice and describes the measurement of the Quantity, such as "yards" or "feet".  For a list of commonly used Units of Measure, click on the drop-down arrow to the immediate right of this box.  You may also type your own text directly.

Purchase Order Components Grid: The information displayed on this grid can be entered on the Component Window.

Reference Number (#):  The unique Reference Number of the Component.  Each Item can have up to 999 Components.  A particular Component can be identified within a Project by the combination of the Item reference number and its own Reference Number as in "0001/001".

Description: The Purchase Order Description of the Component.

Vendor:  The Vendor Name from which the Component will be purchased.

Type: The Component Type is the user-assigned designation which categorizes the good or service throughout Design Manager such as Merchandise, Freight, etc.

Estimated Cost (Est. Cost):  The anticipated cost to purchase the Component from the Vendor.

Estimated Price (Est. Price):  The anticipated price of the Component that will be charged to the Client.

The Item's Components can be managed using the buttons to the right of the Purchase Order Components Grid.

Add and Edit:  The Add and Edit buttons will display the Component Window to create a new Component or change the selected Component on the Purchase Order Components Grid, respectively.  For a full description of the Component Window, see the Entering Components below.

Delete:  Upon selecting a Component and clicking the Delete button, one of two actions will occur:

Deposit %: This field holds the percentage of Deposit that you would like to request from your Client for this Item.  If you have set a default Client Deposit Percent for this Project on the Project Advanced Options Window - General Tab or have a Budget Entry for the assigned Location or Sales Category that overrides the Client Deposit percentage, then this field will be filled in automatically, but can be changed if you wish.  For more information on overriding the Client Deposit percentage, see Project Budgets, Overriding Project Defaults, and the Company Information Budget Tab.

Deposit Amount: This field shows the total Deposit that you want to collect from your Client for this Item.  The amount may include some portion of freight or sales tax, etc.  If you type in a new value, you will notice Design Manager removes the percentage from the Deposit Percentage field.  Doing so denotes that the Deposit Amount has been manually overridden.  In turn, if you type a new percentage into the Deposit Percent field, a recalculated amount will appear in the Deposit Amount.  This amount prints on the Proposal to indicate to the Client the requested amount of money needed to commence work.

Total Estimated Cost: Design Manager populates this field automatically by adding together the Estimated Cost of each Component of the Item.  This figure represent the sum of the anticipated costs for this Item.  Remember, in Design Manager, "price" refers to an amount that you are charging a Client, while "cost" refers to an amount being charged to you by a Vendor.  When there is only one Component, or if you are adding a new Item and there are no Components, a dollar amount can be typed directly into the Total Estimated Cost.  The Cost of the Component will be automatically updated.  This is useful to specify Items for a Proposal without entering all of the Vendor information.

Total Estimated Price: Design Manager fills in this field automatically by adding together the Estimated Price of each Component.  This is the price of the Item that you will propose to the Client.   When there is only one Component, or if you are adding a new Item and there are no Components, a dollar amount can be typed into this field.

Time Budget: The Time Budget option is used to create a Time Item with a number of Budget Hours and Budget amount on the Item Window - Pricing Information Tab.  You can optionally enter the number of billable time hours into the Budget Hours and an overall Budget Amount for billable time.  The Item can then have Time Entries joined to it and the accumulated time can be compared with the Budget amount and number of Budget Hours using the Time Budget Analysis report.  For example, if you are putting in a tile floor for a client, and they can only spend $2000.00, then you would add an Item to the Project and select this option.  Enter $2000.00 into the Budget field.  You can now enter the work done on the Employee Time Window and join the Time Entries to the Time Item.  The total price to the Client will accumulate with each Time Entry and can then be compared to the Budget Amount.