The Materials module allows you to list all the materials you use in your business. This could be raw materials, components, and finished goods. All the items that you list in Materials will be available throughout the application - in Estimates, Production, Inventory management, Accounting, and Reports.

Find more about Materials & Inventory in the Materials Module.

Discover Materials & Inventory

• Materials & Inventory Data Grid
• Material Setup
• How to create a Material Item

Materials & Inventory Data Grid

Navigation

Main menu > Setup > Materials & Inventory > View

1. Search Field - Here you can enter a description or Code to search for a specific Material Item.
2. Search Filters - Here you can narrow down the search by selecting the specific Material Category, Location and Supplier.
3. Inventory Item - Check this box to view Inventory Items.

Multi-select functionality allows you to Copy and Paste records from the grid to a spreadsheet.

Material Setup

Navigation

Main menu > Setup > Materials & Inventory > Select Category > New

Main menu > Setup > Materials & Inventory > Right-click on Item > Edit

The Material Setup Interface consists of eight tabs. See below:

1. Detail

2. Units & Prices

3. Image & Notes

4. Estimates

5. Dependencies

6. Inventory

7. Transactions

8. Price History

1. Description - This is the name of the Material Item. Click Edit to open the Description Generator to populate the Description.
   • You are able to customise the Description Generator in User Fields Settings by selecting Material - Description from the Module drop-down list.

For example the Board - Packaging Material Category. See screenshots below:

2. Menu - This has added functionality within the Materials module for you to do the following:

• Add to Inventory - This determines whether or not the Material Item is a Stock Item. If selected, an Inventory tab will appear. More below.
• Change the default Unit - This allows you to change the default Unit that has been specified in Main Menu > Setup > Settings & Defaults > Lists & Categories > Material Category > Add/Edit > Units.
• View Material Summary - This opens a side panel showing a summary of the Material item.

3. Code - Selecting this will generate a unique ID code for the Material Item. You can also type in your own code.

4. Unit - This shows the Unit specification for this Material Item. To change this, navigate to Menu > Change the default Unit.

5. Active - This checkbox is to specify if this Material item is Active for selection throughout the app, or not.

6. Category - When creating a new Material Item, you must first select the Material Category before clicking Add. This field will automatically populate. This is specified in Main menu > Setup > Settings & Defaults > Lists & Categories > Material Categories.

7. Sub-Category - This is where the Material Sub-category is selected / entered. You can type in your own Sub-Category by typing in the field. Alternatively, click on the Edit icon to open a lookup list that you can add your new subcategory to. This Sub-Category will be available in the lookup list relating to this Category.

8. Customer - If this product is produced for a specific Customer, they can be added from this drop down field. This is useful when pulling Customer reports. If not, leave this blank.

9. Type - Select from the drop down list of Material Types, defined below:

• Raw Materials - This is if the item is used as the base material to manufacture Components or Finished Goods.
• Components - This is for semi-complete items that are used to manufacture other Components or Finished Goods.
• Finished Goods - This is for completed items that are ready for sale.
• POS - This Material Item can only be sold at a Point of Sale (POS) point.
• Finished Goods and POS - This is for items that can be sold using POS as well as through a Sales Order.
• Tools - This is for re-usable tools and dies that are issued for specific jobs and then returned to the store.

10. Resolve - Select how the item resolves itself against a transaction from the drop down list, as defined below:

• Produce - This is for items that are manufactured only when a customer orders them.
• Purchase - This is for items that are purchased only when they are required.
• Reserve Stock - These items will automatically create a Reserve transaction against which they can be manually issued from the store.
• Issue Stock - This setting will generally be used for consumable items that are not explicitly issued, but still require inventory management.

11. Size (mm) - This auto-populates from the Description Generator (1). Weight can be entered manually.

12. Weight - You can specify the weight by g, kg, or mg. This is useful if you manage your stock by weight, and for courier / despatch calculations.

13. Round Up - Here you can set the Round Up value. For more on Rounding Up, click here.

14. Adj(%) - This allows you to adjust the Mark-Up for this Material Item. If left blank the default Mark-Up will apply.

15. Add to Description - If this box is ticked, the Material Item's description will be added to the Quote.

16. Adjust - If this box is ticked, it will adjust with the overall Mark Up; and if un-ticked, it will only adjust the Mark Up that is allocated to the Material Item.

The Units & Prices Tab has two main categories:

a. Units & Prices

b. Suppliers

1. Set Sell Price - This allows you to set the Sell Price of the Material as Cost Price plus mark-up (MU) or plus profit (GP) which is Sell Price less Cost of Sales.
2. Percentage - This is the percentage of mark-up or profit that is to be applied to this Material in order to calculate the Sell Price.
3. Round to VAT - This allows you to round the price off to a specified value, with or without VAT. If set to Incl, then rounding will include the VAT in the Sell Price (Incl VAT) and be less the VAT amount in the Sell Price (Excl VAT). If Excl is selected then the Sell Price (Excl VAT) will be rounded to the specified amount, and Sell Price (Incl VAT) will be the specified Round to VAT value, plus VAT.
4. Rounding value - This is where the rounding value is set for Sell Price.
5. Update - Click this to apply whatever changes have been made.

6. Add - This allows you to add another Unit with its own prices.

7. Unit - The list is created by adding Units from the list setup in Setup > Settings & Default > Lists & Categories > Material Categories > Edit > Units .

Duplicate Units are not allowed in this list. You can select the default Unit for the Item from the list of Units linked to the Material item. This Unit is used to measure the Inventory Qty, Minimum Qty and Re-Order Qty. For raw materials, it also becomes the Unit which is used in the Work Order's Bill of Materials (BoM). You can also select up to three different Units in which the Item can be counted during a Stock Check. Again, these Units can only be selected from the list of Units linked to the Item.

8. VAT Type - Here you can select the VAT Type from the drop-down list.

9. Price - Here you can select if the price is excluding or including VAT.

10. Est - Default: Unchecked - When the checkbox is checked, the Cost Price can be added to an Estimate.

This is useful when you are creating a BoM which consists of produced items. E.g., You might have a ‘Welcome’ pack consisting of a printed Card, Brochure and an Envelope. These items will also be available to add to Materials on a Work Order.

11. Cost Price - This is the cost of purchasing the Material.

12. Sell Price (Excl. VAT) - This is the selling price of the Material excluding VAT. This can be set in number (2), (3) and (4).

13. Sell Price (Incl. VAT) - This is the selling price of the Material including VAT. This can be set in number (2), (3) and (4).

14. /Qty - Per Quantity. This shows what the Material Cost and Sell Prices are per Quantity. Eg, paper may be supplied batches of 1000 pages, so /Qty would be /1000.

15. MU % - This shows what mark-up percentage has been specified in (1), if applicable.

16. GP % - This shows what gross profit percentage has been specified in (1), if applicable.

17. Updated - This shows the last time this Material information was updated and the User who performed the update.

18. Stock Check Units - This is where you set the Stock Check Units of Measure. You can set up to three different Units of Measure. For more about Stock Check, click here.

19. Price Type - Here you are able to select a Price Type to be linked to the Material Item. You are able to select from the following Price Types:

• Unit Price - This is the default option and allows you to enter a Unit Price in the Units & Prices tab.

Duplicate Units will be highlighted in red. See image below:

• Fixed Qty - This option enables the Qty field in Units & Prices (see image below). The Unit Price that is entered will then be for the quantity specified in the Qty field. When this Item is added to a Quote or to a Sales Order, the price is added to the Fixed Price field. When a Material Item is created or updated from an Estimate, all the Quantities and prices on the Estimate are now added to the Material’s Unit & Prices tab. When the Material is updated from an Estimate, the quantities that are not on the Estimate are deleted.

The Qty field will be highlighted in red if it's left blank.

• Price Range - This option enables a Qty From and a Qty To field (see image below) which allows you to create a stepped price matrix. When these items are added to a Quotation or to a Sales Order, the price is added according to the quantity specified. An error is returned when the user enters a quantity that is not included in the price range.

The Qty From and Qty To fields will be highlighted in red if it's left blank.

When Materials are added to a Quotation or a Sales Order, the Type will be as follows:

• MUP - Material - Unit Price - You are able to edit Qty & Price.
• MFP - Material - Fixed Price - You are able to select another Fixed Qty linked to the Item and the price will update accordingly. Price fields are not editable.
• MPR - Material - Price Range - You are able to change the Qty and the Price will update accordingly. If the Qty is out of Range an error is returned. Price fields are not editable.

You are able to create a Fixed Price List showing the various prices by quantity for Estimates, when the Estimate is added as a Material Category, for ease of over-the-counter quoting. For more on this, click here.

The appearance of this tab depends on whether or not the Material Item is Replenished as a Supplied item. If so, the Supplier tab will appear in order to allow you to link the list of Suppliers relevant to this Material Item.

1. Supplier - This shows the suppliers that are listed for this Material. A new Supplier can be added by clicked Add.
2. Reference - This is where a reference can be added for this Supplier.
3. Est - If the Est column is checked (the Default), the Price will be available in the Paper selection on the Printing Wizard. NB. This field only applies to Paper selection in Printing Estimates.

4. VAT Type - This shows the VAT type selected for the Supplier.

5. Price - Here you can select if VAT is included or excluded from the drop-down list.

6. Price (Exc) - This shows the Supplier's price excluding VAT.

7. Price (Inc) - This shows the Supplier's price including VAT.

8. Currency - This shows what currency applies to the supplier.

9. /Qty - This shows the Quantity of items that the price pertains to. Eg, R480.00 per 1000 Units as in the image above.

10. Unit - This shows the default Unit for this Material.

11. Adj (%) - This shows the markup percentage for the Material from this Supplier if it is different to the default Material markup. This can be used as a handling fee.

12. Total - This shows the total cost per unit.

13. /Base - This is the base unit of the Material.

14. Min Qty - This shows the Minimum Quantity that can be ordered from this Supplier.

15. Updated - This shows the last time the Supplier's Material information was updated and the User who performed the update.

If the Supplier's Material Item's Price has not been updated within thirty days, this field will be marked red to alert the User.

For more about Updating Material Prices, click here.

This is where any image, specification or instruction related to the production of this Material can be listed. This is useful for production. The Reporting module has a report displaying the Material Items' Image and Spec detail in a menu-type layout of all materials and instructions. This is useful if printed as a booklet to aid production or manufacturing, as an instruction booklet showing the raw materials and how to make a certain product according to spec.

1. Image - Right-click to upload or assign an image for this Material Item. This is useful in the Estimating process when sending a quote to a customer, and serves as a visual confirmation that the material or item requested is what has been listed in the quote. It is also useful in Production as a guide to production staff in identifying what the component or raw material looks like, or what the finished product should look like.
2. Specification - Add whatever specification this Item has by clicking Edit. This is a rich text field that accepts styling such as bold, colour, etc.
3. Instructions - This is where users are able to list whatever instructions are required to manufacture the product. This can be as detailed as necessary to streamline production and reduce delays and errors. Click Edit to add your own Instruction.

The Estimates tab shows all the Quotations linked to the Material Item.

1. Quote No. - This shows the Quote number.
2. Ver - This is the Quote Version.
3. Item No. - This shows the Item number.
4. Description - This shows the Description of the Quotation.

The Dependency tab shows which products use the Item in their costings (linked Quotes). The Dependencies tab looks for Estimates that are linked to this Material (not Materials that are linked to Estimates).

1. Quote No - This shows the Quote that this Item is linked to.
2. Description - This is the Quote's description - or the product name, such as Business Cards in the image above.
3. Category - This shows the Material Category of this Material Item in the Quote.
4. Specification - This shows the Specification of Quote or Estimate.
5. Active - This shows if the Quote or Estimate is Active or not.

This determines whether or not the Material Item is a Stock Item. To do so, navigate to the Menu button and click Add to Inventory. An Inventory tab will appear.

1. Location - This is where the inventory location of this Stock Item is selected. Add the storage Locations for this material.
2. Bin No. - This is a sorting option typically used by warehouse managers to locate items in the warehouse with ease. It is not compulsory, but if there is a Bin No it will be typed in here.
3. Min Qty - This is the minimum quantity of this item you want in stock before ordering more. The item shows red when this limit is breached.
4. Re-Order Qty - This allows you to specify the default quantity that will appear on your Purchase Order when this Item needs to be replenished.
5. Lead Time - This specifies the amount of days required for replenishment stock to be produced or delivered by a Supplier. Note: Min Qty, Re-Order Qty and Lead Time are key values in managing efficient stock replenishment.
6. In Stock - This shows the total number of Items in stock.
7. On Order - This shows the number of Items that are waiting for a Supplier to delivery.
8. Reserved - This shows the number of Items that are reserved for a Sales Order.
9. Available - This shows the number of Items that are available for further Sales Orders.
10. Unit Price - This shows the price of each unit.
    • All Stock transactions use the Unit Price listed in the Inventory tab of Materials
    • If you add this Material to a Work Order, and set Resolve to Issue Stock, then the the Cost Price of the Stock Item will also display in Linked Transactions, the Cost Summary Report, as well as the Job Summary.

The Transaction window shows all Transactions linked to the Inventory Material Item.

1. Type - This show the replenishment type for this Material Item and can include Issue, Receive and Reserve.
2. Date - This is the date of the Transaction.
3. Note - This shows the Transfer No or Material No.
4. Doc No - This shows the Document Number.
5. Tracking - This shows the Tracking No of the Material Item.
6. Qty - This shows the Quantity of the Material Item in the Inventory.
7. Qty Out - This shows how many units will be transferred out.
8. Unit - The measurement of the Material Item.
9. Unit Price - This shows the Price per Unit.
10. Base Qty - This shows the lowest Quantity for this Unit.
11. User - This shows the User who made the Transaction.
12. Location - This shows the location of the Material Item.
13. Stock Check - This shows the date of the last Stock Check that has been made.
14. Receive - To Receive a Transaction.
15. Issue - To Issue a Transaction.

This shows the history of every price change and adjustment against this Material Item. This tab lists Date, User, Detail (either Cost Price, Selling Price or Supplier Price), Unit, Old Price, New Price, Variance and the Variance %.

1. Date - This is the date of the price change.
2. User - This shows who changed the price.
3. Detail - This shows what what changed.
4. Transaction - This shows the linked Transaction, if applicable.
5. Unit - This shows the Material's unit.
6. Old Price - This shows the previous price.
7. New Price - This shows the latest price as per the changes made.
8. Variance - This shows the difference in price between the old and new price.
9. Var (%) - This shows the difference in the old and new price as a percentage.

How to create a Material Item

Watch this short video on how to create a Material Item: