Serial Numbers - Overview

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Serial Numbers are unique identification numbers used to track an item for warranty and repair purposes. Evosus® automates this process by enforcing Serial Number Tracking on Purchase Orders and Sales Orders. All information pertaining to tracked serial numbers will be displayed in the Serial Numbers In Stock Queue. The information below outlines the process Evosus uses to track serial numbers.

Serial Number Floor Plan Tracking
Some companies have a need to finance inventory purchases for items they want to bring into stock and display on their showroom floors, use as demo models or resell immediately. Financed inventory can be tracked by serial number to keep an accurate accounting of them. Floor Finance Plans require payments as these specific serial numbered items are sold or as the floor financing plan dictates. Therefore, an accurate status of each serial numbered item is important.

A business owner needs to know of serial numbered items that are in stock, sold, delivered to the customer and financed. The floor plan tracking screen displays all this information to the business owner. Flooring plans work by first defining Floor Plans and tagging Purchase Orders with the proper floor plans. Once inventory is received, serial numbers are recorded. If the floor plan indicates interest is based on the inventory receipt date, then free flooring begins as soon as the inventory is received. A vendor invoice must be entered once the inventory is received. If the floor plan indicates interest is based on the Invoice date, then free flooring begins now. There is a space available on a vendor invoice to enter the Notes Payable date. If the floor plan indicates interest is based on the Notes Payable Date, then flooring began on the date specified in that field. This date may be a day or two before or after the Invoice date. As this process occurs, the business owner can view this information from one screen, the Floor Plan Serial Numbers screen. As this information flows, you can see the Name of the Floor Plan, PO number, Item code and description, quantity, cost, interest start date, Days before interest begins, whether or not serial number has been paid for, days old, invoice number, and more.

Floor Plan Tracking - Setup Administration > Accounting > General Setup > Floor Financing Plans
Create floor plans for financing big ticket items. Enter the name of a floor plan such as GE Capital 90 Days and select a vendor from the pull down menu. If the vendor is not on the list, click Add New Vendor to add a vendor to the database. Now select which date to calculate interest on. The choices are Inventory Receipt date, Invoice date or Notes Payable date. This is the date to use to calculate when interest will begin. Now enter the number of days you have of free flooring. For instance, if you have a flooring plan called GE Capital 90 Days to be calculated on Inventory Receipt date and you have 90 days of free flooring, you would have 90 days from the date you received those items into inventory before you would start accruing interest charges. This information can be viewed from the Floor Plan Serial Numbers screen.

Floor Plan Tracking – Mark as Paid Administration > Accounting > Accounts Payable > Search Floor Plan Serial Numbers > Update Serial Number Floor plans can be marked as paid at the Serial Number level. In the Update Serial Number screen there is an area to mark a Floor Plan as Paid. Check off “Floor Plan Paid” and enter the check number and date. Click OK.

Step by Step:

Enforce serial number tracking on the item Open the Options tab on the Items screen (Inventory > Open an item > Options tab) and check the Enforce Serial Number Tracking - On Sale, and Enforce Serial Number Tracking - On Receive.

Receive the PO Make sure to record the serial number before receiving Purchase Orders with Serial Numbered items. If Serial Number Tracking is enforced, you cannot receive the item until the Serial Number is recorded. If you associate a customer to a Serial Numbered item on the Purchase Order, Evosus will prompt you to automatically assign the Serial Number to the customer order upon receipt of the item.

Received items appear on the Serial Numbers on Stock Queue screen.

Once items have been received through a Purchase Order, they will appear in the Serial Numbers In Stock Queue. This screen lists all Serial Numbers that are IN STOCK.
If a Serial Number is RECORDED but not yet RECEIVED, the Serial Number will NOT appear in the Serial Number Queue; however, the Serial Number can be associated with a customer.
If a Serial Number is added manually through either a Sales Order or the Inventory Tab>Edit Item>Serial Numbers screen, it will appear in the Serial Number Queue, but inventory will not reflect the item as being in stock. You must perform a Stock Adjustment to account for the additional inventory. It is not recommended to add a Serial Number this way as it does not maintain an accurate record of the Serial Number history; however, this process may be necessary if an item was received through a special arrangement.

Examples:

a. You are given a Serial Numbered item from a Sales Rep. You will manually add the Serial Number and then perform a Stock Adjustment.

b. If you are given a Serial Numbered item from a Vendor, you would then create a PO for that vendor and change the price of the item to $0.00 and continue with the normal receipt process.

c. Manually adding Serial Numbers may also be necessary if you have Serial Numbered items In Stock immediately after Go-Live that are not entered into Evosus.

4. Serial Number is Sold Once a Serial Number is sold to a customer (the serial number was assigned to an order, but not yet delivered) then the Serial Number in the Serial Number Search Queue will turn green and be marked as In Stock – Sold. 5. Serial Number is Delivered Once a Serial Numbered item is delivered to a customer (the item is marked as delivered and removed from inventory) the Serial Number will no longer appear in the Serial Number Queue. If you wish to view a list of all Delivered Serial Numbers go to Administration>Reports>Sales>Items>Delivered Items and select “Report – Serial Numbered Items Only” from the Preview Report tab.

Serial Numbers can also be tracked using the Serial Numbers tab
You can also track the serial numbers for specific inventory items using the Serial Numbers tab of the Item screen (Inventory > Open an item > Serial Numbers tab). The serial number stock status appears on the screen. Receiving: The serial number has been recorded on a PO, but have not received the physical product.

Recording a serial number before the item arrives allows you to sale it before receiving it.

If a serial number is recorded for an item, but the item is then canceled on the PO before being received, the serial number will still have a Receiving status. You must remember to go into the Item Profile and delete the Serial Number to prevent confusion. Remember, the serial number can be associated with a customer Sales Order while it is in the Receiving status.

In Stock: Serial number is received and currently In Stock. If it is associated with a customer, the customer name appears in the list. This usually means the serial number is available for sale, but it is unavailable if it is set up as a demo product using the Is Demo box on the Serial Number screen (for example, a spa on the showroom floor).

Customer: Serial number has been sold and delivered to a customer, and is no longer In Stock. The associated customer name is included in the list. Returned: Serial number was returned by a customer but marked for disposal or returned on an RGA.

When a serial numbered item is returned to a vendor through the RGA process, it is necessary to manually change the status of the serial number from In Stock to Returned. If you are not receiving that serial number back from the vendor, you can either leave it in the Returned queue for tracking purposes or delete it.