Re: Clickable Part Numbers

[Chris Travers <..hidden..>]

On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 8:55 PM, Stroller
<..hidden..> wrote:
>
> On 17 Feb 2009, at 03:22, Jeff Kowalczyk wrote:
>> ...
>> IIRC, the misfeature of the current 1.2 UI is that if the user edits
>> the
>> part number for an instantiated line item, it does not search for a
>> new
>> part in that lineitem slot. I think the user can even save the
>> document
>> with an arbitrarily altered partnumber, since the hidden parts.id is
>> used
>> for identity.
>
> If I'm understanding your description correctly I have tended to do
> this for some miscellaneous items.
>
> I have a part number ZZ-ZZZ-ZZ that has a description of
> "miscellaneous item" but I have changed that description before
> posting the item.
>
> I might use this, for example, if I purchase a fancy binder from
> Staples to put customer documentation or a report in. All my parts are
> for plumbing items or services, so a usual invoice might consist of
> "12cm diameter pipe, 1m" x 6, "Labour, 1 hour" x 2.
>
> I don't want to manage stock of a petty stationary item that I'll
> never use again, or have a part number for it in my database; I do
> want to bill the customer for the item but I want to add it to the
> regular invoice & not have to create a separate AR > Add Transaction.

I do a similar thing FWIW.
>
> I suspect this usage is "wrong" and I think I have more recently just
> left the description as "miscellaneous item" and added "binder" or
> "stationary" or whatever in the item notes, but since the time I
> started using SQL-Ledger the field was editable, so it "made sense" to
> edit it.

I am not sure.  I would suggest slight refinements to your approach
rather than overhauling it.

The big thing is that your approach works fine as long as everything
is set up as a service.  If you set it up as a part, I think FIFO
considerations might bite you if you are also trying to do project
accounting.  I.e. you could end up with the wrong purchase price being
associated with an invoice.  Probably not a big deal for an accounting
period sinc ethe other invoice would be unlikely to go across periods,
but if it could skew project balance sheets.

If you set it up as a service, and it is a quick turn-around item,
then you can just attach it to the project.

However, if this is something like a binder used for a report, you
probably should be tracking it as petty office supplies instead of
parts.  The simplest way to do this is to use the AP Transaction
screen and enter directly as an expense and then provide adjustments
at the end of accounting periods if this is significant.

Hope this helps,
Chris Travers