Are Your Copy Rules Still Working for You?

A practical guide to keeping transaction flows clear, controlled, and aligned with the way your business works today.

Copy Rules in BOS Enterprise control how one transaction is copied to another. They help you decide which transaction types you can copy, when you can copy them, what information moves across, and what happens after the copy is complete.

Using Copy Rules puts you in control of how transactions move through BOS Enterprise. They help you protect data and shape transaction flows around the way your business works.

What Are Copy Rules?

Copy Rules tell BOS Enterprise how to create a new transaction from an existing one. The new transaction can be an exact copy, or it can be the next step in a transaction flow, such as a quotation that becomes a sales order, and then a customer invoice.

You manage Copy Rules from the Copy Rules tab in Transactions setup. From there, you choose the transaction you copy from, the transaction you copy to, and the rules that control the copy action.

For example, you may not want to copy a pending quotation straight to a customer invoice. You may first want to create a sales order, complete the order, and only then create the invoice. Copy Rules make this possible.

What BOS Enterprise Checks Before It Copies a Transaction

Before BOS Enterprise copies a transaction, it checks that the copy action is allowed. These checks help protect your data and support your business rules.

First, BOS Enterprise confirms that you have the right access to view and edit the copy-to transaction, and that you have access to the entity on both the source transaction and the new transaction. It also checks whether any checklist requirements apply, whether the source transaction is in a status that allows copying, and whether the customer or supplier is active when active contacts are required. This check potentially prevents you from copying a quotation to a sales order when the customer has been suspended for non-payment.

Next the system selects the correct items based on the Copy Rule setup and any previous copies. This check helps prevent you from copying the wrong information or repeating items that have already moved through the flow.

Key Settings to Review

A Copy Rule includes several settings. Each one affects how transactions move through your business process.

Copy From and Copy To define the start and end point of the copy action. Copy From is the transaction type you copy from, while Copy To is the transaction type BOS Enterprise creates when you run the action.

The Type setting controls which items BOS Enterprise adds when it copies a transaction. Use All when the new transaction must include every line item like when you copy a transaction to duplicate it. Use Flow when items should move only within the same transaction flow. Use Parent when the copy must only use items from the first transaction in the flow. Use Contact when you need to copy items from transactions linked to the same customer or supplier. 

Allow Status defines the status a transaction must have before you can copy it. Change Status (H) sets the header status after the copy and Change Status (I) sets the status of copied items. Together, these settings help prevent you from editing, reusing, or moving transactions at the wrong stage.

The Qty & Amount setting controls which quantities move to the new transaction. Choose Total to copy the full quantity from the original transaction. Choose Outstanding to copy only quantities or items that still need to move through the process. Choose Qty = 1 when each copied item must start with a quantity of one.

If you copy a transaction and no items appear, the items may already be fully copied. In that case, check the linked transactions list for the transactions containing the copied items.

The Copy Items setting controls which items move to the new transaction. You can copy all items, copy only items with a specific resolve such as Receive, Issue, Order, Reserve, Purchase, or Produce, or copy only the header without line items. The Copy Dates setting controls whether the transaction date, due date, and required date move to the new transaction. Review this carefully if your dates come from payment terms, production planning, or another rule.

Important Behaviour to Understand

Some Copy Rule behaviour happens automatically, so it is useful to know what to expect. When BOS Enterprise copies a transaction, it uses the current VAT percentage from VAT Types instead of simply reusing the VAT percentage from the original transaction. 

Currency behaviour also depends on your setup. BOS Enterprise can convert the new transaction to the customer or supplier’s currency when the new transaction type allows foreign currency, the source transaction uses local currency, and the customer or supplier uses foreign currency.

Shape the User Experience

Copy Rules also shape what you see when you copy a transaction. The Caption field names the action, such as ‘Copy to Sales Order’. The Confirm option asks you to confirm before copying. The Open Trans option opens the new transaction for editing, and the Action option adds the copy command to the Actions button with the caption you choose. Some of these options can be changed when you copy the transaction. For example, there is a checkbox at the bottom left that allows you to open the new transaction or not.

When Should You Review Your Copy Rules?

Review your Copy Rules whenever your process changes. This includes changes to transaction types, approval steps, customer or supplier terms, currencies, or the way you move work from one step to the next.

Your own experience is another good signal. If you notice missing items, unexpected quantities, wrong dates, or transactions that cannot be copied, your Copy Rules may need attention.

A small setup change can make a big difference. It can stop you from copying transactions too early, copying the wrong items, or bypassing a step your business needs. Start with your most-used transaction flows and confirm that each copy action still guides you through the right steps, protects your data, and supports the way you work today.