Although the bulk if your orders will be created directly using the Order... button on the FF&E Worksheet and not the method shown here, you can manually create orders, too.

The standard way of creating orders is to use the Order... command (with the dots) on the FF&E Worksheet to select the objects you need to order. (See Creating Orders from the FF&E Worksheet) Creating orders manually is not as efficient and should only be used for items that aren't part of the project FF&E or for substitutions or re-orders that are not part of the regular project.

Manual orders can be part of an existing project or can be only associated with a client instead of a project. The procedure is very simple, however, be sure you have read the "Orders List" section in the Purchasing Reference so that you understand what the various fields are for.

Creating the Order

1. If a client does not exist for the order, create it first (see "Client List" in the FF&EZ-Design help). If the order is part of a project and the project does not exist, you will need to create that also on the Project List screen. If the project's shipping or billing addresses differ from that of the client, be sure to enter the correct addresses on the project screen.
2. Display the Orders List screen and click on the Add command (under "Commands," not the smaller one next to the Item List).
3. Enter the basic information about the order as needed. The client is required, but the project is not (however, if you select a project, the project's client will be automatically selected and locked). If you select a project (which is typical), the project's settings for tax rate and type will be the default.
4. Select the vendor for the order, or if it's a new vendor that does not exist, click on the small New button next to the "Vendor ID" pick list to add the vendor first.
5. After selecting a vendor, indicate under "Billing" how the vendor is to invoice for their products, picking one of the three invoicing options (if you are a design department working with "internal" clients, be sure to read about these options in the Orders List section).
6. If this project or order is a for-profit order that will generate a "sell" price on an invoice: If you have a tax rate that will apply to all orders it should be entered on the Project Screen before you begin creating orders or, if not part of a project, on the new order before you begin creating items for the order. Otherwise you will need to enter the tax rate manually on each item (this is more critical on for-profit jobs where you are charging tax on your invoice).

If the tax is a VAT type, you will need to indicate this using the checkbox that will appear for non-project billing type 1 orders. Also, if a tax is applied to the freight amount, be sure to indicate this with the "Tax freight?" option.

If this is a purchasing management project or order: You can enter a tax rate to have the system calculate the tax owed to the vendor. Or, if you wish to enter a tax quote from the vendor instead, leave the tax rate at zero. Like the calculated version, the quote will be compared against what the vendor invoices later.

7. If you have a purchasing fee rate (percent), it should be entered on the Project Screen (if this is for a project), or on the client record if not, before creating items. Otherwise you will have to enter the percentage on each item.
8. If the vendor has quoted a tax amount or freight amount, you should enter them, otherwise these can be entered as needed (but see the note about tax quotes in Step 6).
9. Under "Shipping or Project Address," the address will be selected automatically based on your selections under "Client" and "Project" above. If the order should be shipped to an alternate location that is not a vendor, you can override the current setting with a user-defined address. If the order should be shipped to another vendor or a warehouse, use the "Instructions to Vendor" section to indicate either a standard vendor as a destination or a consolidation vendor (warehouse) and the system will automatically select the shipping address for that vendor (see "Vendor List" in the Design help). In the "Ship via" and "Note / Date" fields, be sure to check the Orders List Fields section for shortcuts you can use to enter standard expressions.
10. If you have a pro forma invoice for a required deposit, you can enter it under "Vendor Deposit Requirements" (note that entering a "p" will auto-fill "Pro forma" while entering only "n" will result in "N/A" being entered). Right-clicking on either the FF&E or tax amounts gives you access to an automatic percentage entry option. Deposit requirements can entered later as needed.
11. When you click on Save to save the order, FF&E will do so then automatically display the Item Form to allow you to create the first item.

Entering Item Information

The minimum information needed for an item is the "Product," "Cost" and "Original Qty" fields. The other fields can be entered as the project, billing type or product requires, however, you will be warned if you leave the "Catalog/Model #" field blank, since this would normally be considered a mistake. For items for which this field does not apply, enter "CUSTOM," "N/A" or some other short substitute.

Instead of entering the item details manually, you can also use the Import button on the Item Form to import the information from either another order, a project specification or the library. Be sure to read the "Item Form" section to understand all the options available to you.