Purchasing agents

Security

Built-in filters

A purchasing agent is an individual who purchases goods and services on behalf of a company. An agent may be a company employee who makes purchases from his/her own funds (and is subsequently reimbursed) or who uses a company credit card or charge account to make purchases.

Sometimes an agent may represent a factor, a company that has purchased the receivables of one or more of your vendors. In this case, payment for any purchases from the vendor would need to be paid to the factor (agent).

Create a purchasing agent

In the Navigation pane, highlight the Purchasing > Agents folder.
Click . The New Purchasing Agent window opens.
Enter a unique Name for the purchasing agent.
Enter a Description of the purchasing agent.
In the AP Vendor field, select the AP vendor for the purchasing agent.

If the purchasing agent is an employee who makes purchases using his/her own funds (and is subsequently reimbursed), the employee would be the AP vendor. When purchases are invoiced for the agent, the appropriate invoices are created in Accounts Payable to reimburse the employee for the purchases.

If the purchasing agent is an employee making purchases using a company credit card or charge account, the credit card company or the company holding the charge account would be the AP vendor. When purchases are invoiced for the agent, the appropriate invoices are created in Accounts Payable to pay against the credit card statement or against open items on the charge account statement.

If the purchasing agent is a factor that has purchased the receivables of one or more of your vendors, the factor would be the AP vendor. When purchases are invoiced for the agent (factor), the appropriate invoices are created in Accounts Payable to pay the factor for the purchases, while still tracking the purchases from the AP vendor(s) who supplied the goods and/or services.
If you want to create commitment invoices automatically when purchases the agent is assigned to are set to "Master" status, mark the Post Commitments checkbox. This setting applies to both miscellaneous purchases and purchases on a purchase order. Agent purchases are separated by department for posting to commitments. The liability account for commitment invoices on miscellaneous purchases (not purchase orders) uses the commitment liability account mask from the agent's department combined with the liability account masks from the agent and the agent's AP vendor.
In the Department field, select the default department for the agent's purchases. Whenever the agent is specified on a purchase order or on a miscellaneous purchase, this department loads as the default.
In the GL Account Masks section, specify the account masks to use to derive the liability, expense, and inventory account numbers on purchases and purchase orders which reference this purchasing agent.
In the Default Attributes section, select the default attribute items to apply for each listed attribute when the agent is referenced on a purchase order or miscellaneous purchase. Default attributes are applied in order of precedence with the attribute item on the vendor having highest precedence, followed in decreasing order of precedence by the agent, the department, and the attribute record.
Save the new purchasing agent.

Process purchases for a purchasing agent

Miscellaneous purchases must be entered by purchasing agent. Standard purchase orders can have a purchasing agent designated on them. In both cases, these purchases must be processed by purchasing agent. Processing produces invoices for the purchases.

Note

Access to purchase processing for purchasing agents requires "Invoice" access for Agents.

Use the Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent wizard to invoice agent-based purchases.

Configure options for the Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent wizard

The Options tab of the Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent wizard lets you customize the behavior of the Process tab to your preferences.

In the Navigation pane, highlight the Purchasing > Agents folder.
Start the processing wizard.
- To select from a list of purchasing agents:
  1. Right-click the Agents folder and select Select and Process from the shortcut menu. The Purchasing Agent Find dialog box opens.
  2. Highlight the agent to process purchases for and click OK. The Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent window opens.
- To select a particular purchasing agent:
  1. In the HD view, highlight the purchasing agent to process purchases for.
  2. Click . The Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent window opens.
Select the Options tab.
To display account numbers in purple whenever the default account number has been overridden, mark the Account Override checkbox.
To display attribute items in purple whenever the default attribute item has been overridden, mark the Attribute Override checkbox.
To have ActivityHD prompt you to confirm that you want to process purchases when you click OK, mark the Confirmation Message checkbox. The confirmation message shows the total invoice amount and the number of invoice lines.
In the Detail Description Position field, select where on the Process tab you want to edit the detail description. This setting is intended to aid efficient entry. Your options are:
- In Place. Edit the description directly on the purchase line in the Purchases table (provided you do not hide the description by deselecting it in the Detail Columns list box).
- Bottom. Edit the description in a text box below the Purchases table. If you need long descriptions, this option provides the most room for text.
- Right. Edit the description in a text box to the right of the Purchases table.
By default, all fields in the Invoice section of the Process tab are included in the tab order. In the Invoice Tab Stops list box, clear the checkboxes for any fields you want to skip past in order to improve efficient data entry.
In the Detail Columns section, configure the Purchases table to streamline invoice entry. You can do one or more of the following:
- Add columns. To do so:
  1. Click Add/Remove. The Column Selection dialog box opens.
  2. In the Available Columns list box, highlight the columns to add to the table, then click to move your selection(s) to the Assigned Columns list box.
  3. Click OK.
- Remove columns. To do so:
  1. Click Add/Remove. The Column Selection dialog box opens.
  2. In the Assigned Columns list box, highlight the columns to remove from the table, then click to move your selection(s) to the Available Columns list box.
  3. Click OK.
- Reorder columns. To do so:
  1. Highlight a column name in the Detail Columns list box.
  2. Use and to move the column to the desired position.
  3. Repeat the last step for other columns you need to move.
- Set tab stops. To do so:
  1. In the Detail Columns list box, ensure the checkbox for each column that needs a tab stop is marked.
  2. Clear the checkbox for each column that does not need a tab stop.

Tip

Use action profiles to create and name configurations of option settings. Action profiles make it easy to reuse custom settings.

Invoice an agent's purchases

There are two methods for invoicing an agent's purchases: select purchases and create a new invoice, or attach purchase detail to an existing invoice.

Method 1: Create a new invoice for selected purchases

In the Navigation pane, highlight the Purchasing > Agents folder.
Start the processing wizard.
- To select from a list of purchasing agents:
  1. Right-click the Agents folder and select Select and Process from the shortcut menu. The Purchasing Agent Find dialog box opens.
  2. Highlight the agent to process purchases for and click OK. The Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent window opens.
- To select a particular purchasing agent:
  1. In the HD view, highlight the purchasing agent to process purchases for.
  2. Click . The Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent window opens.
Before you continue, either use the Options tab to configure the Process tab as needed or select an appropriate action profile to use from the Answers drop-down list.
Select the Process tab.

Depending on your options settings, some of the fields described below may not be in the tab order.

In the Invoice section, select the "Create a New Invoice" option.
Enter a name for the Batch of AP invoices to include the invoice created in this process in.

Example

You could use the month or your name.
Enter an Invoice # that uniquely identifies the invoice for the vendor.
Enter a Description of the invoice. The default description is the purchasing agent's name.
In the Date field, enter the invoice date. The default date is the current date.
In the Amount field, enter the total amount of the invoice. The amount must equal the total of the purchases that are ultimately selected for invoicing in the Purchases table.
If you want the invoice that is created to have a status of "Payment Hold", mark the On Payment Hold checkbox. Invoices on payment hold are not included in group payments and a warning occurs in the Accounts Payable Payments window if you attempt to pay an invoice that is on payment hold.
If you want the invoice that is created to have a status of "Merge Hold", mark the On Merge Hold checkbox. Use merge hold to indicate that the invoice needs further attention before being merged.
In the Location field, select the payment location for the invoice. The default location is the vendor's payment location. The address associated with the selected location displays to the right.
In the GL Date field, enter the posting date to use when the invoice has been merged in Accounts Payable and posted to the general ledger.
In the GL Batch field, enter the name of the GL batch to use when the invoice is merged in Accounts Payable and posted to the general ledger. Batches can be used to select groups of journal entries for proofing, merging, or deleting.

Example

You could use the month that a series of journal entries are in or the name of the person entering the postings.
In the AP Terms field, select the payment terms for the invoice. The default payment terms are the vendor's default terms.
In the Purchases table, mark the checkbox in the Invoice column for each purchase to include on the invoice. To select all purchases in the table, you can mark the Invoice All checkbox in the table header.

Note

If a checkbox in this column is disabled, the purchase represents an item from a standard purchase order that has been invoiced but not yet received. An already-invoiced purchase cannot be selected.
If you need to enter or override editable values in the Purchases table, perform as many of the following steps as needed for each purchase you need to change:
1. In the Description column (or text box), enter a detail description for the purchase.
2. For each attribute selected in the options settings to display, there is a column in the Purchases table. Attributes provide additional ways to categorize purchases for reporting and can help determine the GL accounts to which a purchase is posted. For each attribute, select the appropriate attribute item for the currently selected purchase.
3. In the Account column, select the account to which the purchase should be posted when it is invoiced.
4. In the Part Number column, enter the vendor's part number for the product/unit of measure combination.
5. In the Serial Number column, enter the product's serial number (if you need to track specific purchases of the product by serial number).
6. In the Reference column, enter any additional information needed to identify the purchase.
  Example
  Suppose you are entering airfare expenses and charging them to a corporate credit card. You can use this field to record the ticket number to help when reconciling the credit card statement.
7. In the Memo column, enter any additional information you want to record about the purchase.
If you want ActivityHD to open the invoice after processing completes, mark the Open the Invoice after Processing checkbox.
When you finish, click OK. If the process is configured to show a confirmation message when you click OK, you are prompted to confirm your action.
Click Yes. ActivityHD processes the purchase(s) and creates an invoice.
If you marked the Open the Invoice after Processing checkbox, the invoice opens.

Method 2: Attach purchase detail to an existing invoice

If you need to attach purchases to an existing unmerged invoice, you can use the "Edit an Existing Invoice" feature of purchase processing.

Example

Suppose you enter miscellaneous purchases for purchases made on a corporate credit card and you process your statement electronically as an imported AP invoice. You can edit the existing unmerged invoice to attach the appropriate purchases to the invoice.

To attach purchases to an unmerged invoice:

In the Navigation pane, highlight the Purchasing > Agents folder.
Start the processing wizard.
- To select from a list of purchasing agents:
  1. Right-click the Agents folder and select Select and Process from the shortcut menu. The Purchasing Agent Find dialog box opens.
  2. Highlight the agent to process purchases for and click OK. The Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent window opens.
- To select a particular purchasing agent:
  1. In the HD view, highlight the purchasing agent to process purchases for.
  2. Click . The Process Purchases, Purchasing Agent window opens.
Before you continue, either use the Options tab to configure the Process tab as needed or select an appropriate action profile to use from the Answers drop-down list.
Select the Process tab.

Depending on your options settings, some of the fields described below may not be in the tab order.

In the Invoice section, select the "Edit an Existing Invoice" option.
In the field adjacent to the "Edit an Existing Invoice" option, select the invoice to attach the purchase(s) to. When you do, the remaining fields in the Invoice section default to the values from the selected invoice.
In the Purchases table, mark the checkbox in the Invoice column for each purchase to include on the invoice. To select all purchases in the table, you can mark the Invoice All checkbox in the table header.

Note

If a checkbox in this column is disabled, the purchase represents an item from a standard purchase order that has been invoiced but not yet received. An already-invoiced purchase cannot be selected.
If the item(s) you selected in the Purchases table affected the total amount to be invoiced, enter the new Amount.
If you need to enter or override editable values in the Purchases table, perform as many of the following steps as needed for each purchase you need to change:
1. In the Description column (or text box), enter a detail description for the purchase.
2. For each attribute selected in the options settings to display, there is a column in the Purchases table. Attributes provide additional ways to categorize purchases for reporting and can help determine the GL accounts to which a purchase is posted. For each attribute, select the appropriate attribute item for the currently selected purchase.
3. In the Account column, select the account to which the purchase should be posted when it is invoiced.
4. In the Part Number column, enter the vendor's part number for the product/unit of measure combination.
5. In the Serial Number column, enter the product's serial number (if you need to track specific purchases of the product by serial number).
6. In the Reference column, enter any additional information needed to identify the purchase.
  Example
  Suppose you are entering airfare expenses and charging them to a corporate credit card. You can use this field to record the ticket number to help when reconciling the credit card statement.
7. In the Memo column, enter any additional information you want to record about the purchase.
If you want ActivityHD to open the invoice after processing completes, mark the Open the Invoice after Processing checkbox.
When you finish, click OK.
If the process is configured to show a confirmation message when you click OK, you are prompted to confirm your action.
Click Yes. ActivityHD processes the purchase(s) and creates an invoice.
If you marked the Open the Invoice after Processing checkbox, the invoice opens.

Purchasing Agents Listing

Purpose

The Purchasing Agents Listing provides a list of purchasing agents defined in the Purchasing package.

Content

For each purchasing agent included on the report, the listing shows:

name
description
AP vendor
department.

In addition, you can include one or more of the following:

timestamps
memos
custom fields.

The following total appears on the report:

record count.

Print the report

In the Navigation pane, highlight the Purchasing > Agents folder.
Start the report set-up wizard.
- To report on all or a filtered subset of purchasing agents:
  1. Right-click the Agents folder and select Select and Report > Purchasing Agents Listing from the shortcut menu.
  2. On the Selection tab, define any filters to apply to the data.
- To report on specifically selected purchasing agents:
  1. In the HD view, select the purchasing agents to include on the report. You can use Ctrl and/or Shift selection to select multiple records.
  2. Click .
- To report on a particular purchasing agent from the Purchasing Agent window:
  1. In the HD view, locate and double-click the purchasing agent to report on. The Purchasing Agent window opens with the purchasing agent loaded.
  2. Click .
Select the Options tab.
To include a section at the end of the report with the report settings used to produce the report, leave the Include Report Options checkbox marked. To produce the report without this information, clear the checkbox.
Mark the checkbox(es) for the additional information to include:
- Timestamps
- Memos
- Custom Fields (only visible if custom fields are set up)
Select the Output tab.
In the Design field, look up and select the report design to use.

In the toolbar, click the icon for the type of output you want:

- Provides access to two preview options.
- Preview - Click the icon or click the drop-down arrow and select Preview from the drop-down menu to view the report in the Crystal Reports viewer.
- Preview to PDF - Click the drop-down arrow next to the icon and select Preview to PDF to view the report in the PDF reader.
- Opens the Print dialog so that you can select and configure a printer and then print a paper copy of the report.
- Opens the Report Email dialog so that you can address and compose an email that the report will be attached to. For best results, ensure your email client is running before you attempt to send a report via email.
- Opens the Export Report dialog so that you can save the report to a file. File types include Crystal Reports (.rpt), PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Excel (.xls), Microsoft Word (.doc), rich text (.rtf), and XML (.xml).

Data extensions

The following data extension is available for the report:

Agents

Agent Record ID

Name

A unique name to identify the agent.

Description

A description for the agent.

Agent tab

Agent

AP Vendor

The AP vendor to associate with the purchasing agent.

If the purchasing agent is an employee who makes purchases using his/her own funds (and is subsequently reimbursed), the employee would be the AP vendor. When purchases are invoiced for the agent, the appropriate invoices are created in Accounts Payable to reimburse the employee for the purchases.

If the purchasing agent is an employee making purchases using a company credit card or charge account, the credit card company or the company holding the charge account would be the AP vendor. When purchases are invoiced for the agent, the appropriate invoices are created in Accounts Payable to pay against the credit card statement or against open items on the charge account statement.

If the purchasing agent is a factor that has purchased the receivables of one or more of your vendors, the factor would be the AP vendor. When purchases are invoiced for the agent (factor), the appropriate invoices are created in Accounts Payable to pay the factor for the purchases, while still tracking the purchases from the AP vendor(s) who supplied the goods and/or services.

Press F3 to look up the value.

If a value is already selected, you can press F4 to open the record in its native editor.

Post Commitments

If this checkbox is marked, commitment invoices are automatically created when purchases with this agent assigned are set to "Master" status. This setting applies to both miscellaneous purchases and purchases made on a purchase order. Agent purchases are separated by department for commitment posting. The liability account for commitment invoices is derived using the commitment liability account mask on the department combined with the liability account masks on the agent and the agent's AP vendor.

Department

The default department for the agent's purchases. Whenever the agent is specified on a purchase order or on a miscellaneous purchase, this department loads as the default.

Press F3 to look up the value.

If a value is already selected, you can press F4 to open the record in its native editor.

GL Account Masks

Liability

The account mask to use to derive the liability account number for purchases and purchase orders which reference the purchasing agent.

Press F2 to open the Account Expand dialog box where you can look up an account number, find an account number by its alias, build the account number by segment, or view setup and setup sources.

Press F3 to look up the account.

If an account is already selected, you can press F4 to open the record in the Account window.

Expense

The account mask to use to derive the expense account number for purchases and purchase orders which reference this purchasing agent.

Press F2 to open the Account Expand dialog box where you can look up an account number, find an account number by its alias, build the account number by segment, or view setup and setup sources.

Press F3 to look up the account.

If an account is already selected, you can press F4 to open the record in the Account window.

Inventory

The account mask to use to derive the inventory account number for purchase orders which reference this purchasing agent.

Press F2 to open the Account Expand dialog box where you can look up an account number, find an account number by its alias, build the account number by segment, or view setup and setup sources.

Press F3 to look up the account.

If an account is already selected, you can press F4 to open the record in the Account window.

Default Attributes

The default attribute items to apply for each listed attribute when the agent is referenced on a purchase order or miscellaneous purchase. Default attributes are applied in order of precedence with the attribute item on the vendor having highest precedence, followed in decreasing order of precedence by the agent, the department, and the attribute record.

Custom tab

This tab is visible if custom fields exist for the entity. At a minimum, if there are custom fields, a Fields subtab will be present. One or more additional categories of subtabs may also be visible.

Fields subtab

This tab prompts for values for any custom fields set up for entity records of this entity type. Respond to the prompts as appropriate.

References subtab

This tab is visible if other records reference the current record.

Reference

From the drop-down list, select the custom field to view references for. Reference custom fields have the following format: PackageName.EntityName.CustomFieldName.

Example

Suppose a custom field exists on PRCodes that references an ARCode. On the ARCode record, on the Custom > References subtab, you can view all the PRCodes which reference that ARCode.

Exchange Folder subtab

This tab is visible only if you set up a custom field with a data type of "Exchange Folder". The label on this tab is the name assigned to the custom field.

This tab shows the contents of the specified Exchange folder.

File subtab

This tab is visible only if you set up a custom field with a data type of "File". The label on the tab is the name assigned to the custom field.

This tab renders the contents of the specified file according to its file type.

Internet Address subtab

This tab is visible only if you set up a custom field with a data type of "Internet Address". The label on this tab is the name assigned to the custom field.

This tab shows the contents of the specified web page.

Network Folder subtab

This tab is visible only if you set up a custom field with a data type of "Network Folder". The label on this tab is the name assigned to the custom field.

This tab shows the contents of the specified network folder.

Data Links tab

See "Data Links".

Purchases tab

The Purchases pane shows the Purchases HD view filtered to show all purchases for the selected purchasing agent.

Double-click a row in the pane to drill down to its record in the Purchase window.

Orders tab

The Purchase Orders pane shows the Purchase Orders HD view filtered to show all purchase orders for the selected purchasing agent.

Double-click a row in the pane to drill down to its record in the Purchase Order window.

Invoices tab

The AP Invoices pane shows the AP Invoices HD view in Accounts Payable filtered to show all invoices that reference the selected purchasing agent.

Double-click a row in the pane to drill down to its record in the AP Invoice window.

Payments tab

The Payments pane shows the Payments HD view in Accounts Payable filtered to show all payments on invoices that reference the selected purchasing agent.

Double-click a row in the pane to drill down to its record in the Payment window.

Attachments tab

The Attachments tab is visible if any record for a given entity has an attachment. If the Attachments tab is not visible, this implies that no record of the entity type has an attachment on it; however, once an attachment is added to any record of the entity type, the Attachments tab will become available.

Attachments

The list box shows the files which are attached to the current record. Highlight a file name to preview the file in the adjacent pane. Double-click a file name to open the file in its native editor.

Preview pane

If a file name is highlighted in the Attachments list box, this pane shows a preview of the file contents. Some file types cannot be previewed but can be double-clicked to open in their native editor.

Other tab

Memo tab

To include additional information about this record not collected elsewhere, enter it in this text box. This area supports common keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+V to paste.

Timestamps tab

This tab shows the user who created this record and the date and time of creation as well as the user, date, and time of the latest modification to the record.

Common accesses available on purchasing agents

Access	A user with this access can...
Change	Use the mass change action on purchasing agents.
Custom Fields	Create and edit custom fields for purchasing agents.
Data	Have read-only access to purchasing agents from anywhere in the software (e.g., field validations, filters, date expressions).
Delete	Delete purchasing agents.
Edit	Edit purchasing agent records.
Export	Export purchasing agent records from ActivityHD.
Import	Import purchasing agent records into ActivityHD.
New	Create new purchasing agent records.
Read	Have read-only access to purchasing agent records.
Report	Run reports with purchasing agent information.
Report Designs	Create and edit report designs with purchasing agent information. This access enables the Report Designs button on the Output tab of report dialogs.
Shared Answers	Create and edit action profiles and report profiles related to purchasing agents.
Shared Filters	Create and edit shared filters on purchasing agents.
Visible	View the Agents folder in the Navigation pane.

Special accesses available on purchasing agents

Access	A user with this access can...
Invoice	Process invoices for purchasing agents.

The following built-in filters are available for purchasing agents:

Filter Name	Effect
Master Purchases	Lists the purchasing agents with purchases with a status of "Master".
Open Purchases	Lists the purchasing agents with open purchases (i.e., purchases with any status except "Closed" or "Canceled").

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Purchasing agents

Purpose

Content

Print the report

Data extensions

Agent Record ID

Agent tab

Custom tab

Fields subtab

References subtab

Exchange Folder subtab

File subtab

Internet Address subtab

Network Folder subtab

Data Links tab

Purchases tab

Orders tab

Invoices tab

Payments tab

Attachments tab

Other tab

Common accesses available on purchasing agents

Special accesses available on purchasing agents

Process tab

Options tab