SOS Inventory 8.x

 
 
   
1  History of SOS Inventory ................................................................................... 1 
2  Workflow ........................................................................................................ 2 
2.1  QuickBooks Online to SOS ...................................................................... 3 
2.2  SOS to QuickBooks Online....................................................................... 3 
3  Comparison of Pricing Plans .............................................................................. 3 
4  QuickBooks Online Integration ......................................................................... 4 
   
1  Connection to QuickBooks Online ......................................................................5 
1.1  Considerations Before Connecting ..........................................................5 
1.2  Creating the Connection ........................................................................ 6 
1.3  First Sync ............................................................................................. 7 
1.4  Sync Menu ........................................................................................... 7 
2  Inventory Tracking in QuickBooks Online .......................................................... 8 
3  Signing In/Out ................................................................................................. 8 
4  Graphic User Interface (GUI) ............................................................................. 9 
5  Navigation ..................................................................................................... 12 
5.1  Lists ................................................................................................... 12 
5.2  Edit Pages ........................................................................................... 18 
6  User Information ............................................................................................ 18 
6.1  User Profile ......................................................................................... 18 
6.2  User Settings ....................................................................................... 18 
6.3  Tasks .................................................................................................. 19 
7  Switching Between SOS and QuickBooks Online ................................................. 19 
8  Smart Search ................................................................................................. 20 
9  Getting Help .................................................................................................. 20 
10  Printing ......................................................................................................... 22 

 
   
1  Company Settings ........................................................................................... 23 
2  System Settings (Purchasing/Inventory/ Sales) .................................................. 25 
2.1  Purchasing Settings ............................................................................. 25 
2.2  Inventory Settings ............................................................................... 28 
2.3  Sales Settings ...................................................................................... 32 
3  Barcode Settings ............................................................................................. 39 
4  QuickBooks Setup ........................................................................................... 39 
5  Default Accounts ........................................................................................... 40 
   
1  Items .............................................................................................................42 
1.1  Setting Up an Item ...............................................................................42 
1.2  Items List ........................................................................................... 48 
1.3  Creating and Using Categories .............................................................. 51 
1.4  Item Variants ...................................................................................... 52 
1.5  Investigating Inventory and Cost Basis Errors with Transaction History ... 54 
2  Cost Basis ....................................................................................................... 55 
3  Adjustments to Inventory ................................................................................ 55 
3.1  Quantity .............................................................................................. 56 
3.2  Cost .................................................................................................... 56 
3.3  Cycle Counting .................................................................................... 56 
3.4  Physical Inventory Worksheet............................................................... 56 
3.5  Adjustment Account ............................................................................ 57 
3.6  Adjusting By Units of Measure .............................................................. 57 
4  Locations ....................................................................................................... 57 
4.1  Adding a Location ................................................................................ 58 
5  Transfers ........................................................................................................ 58 
5.1  Generating Inventory Transfers from the Reorder Report ........................ 58 
6  Serial Inventory .............................................................................................. 59 
6.1  Using Warranties with Serial Items ...................................................... 60 
7  Lots ............................................................................................................... 61 

 
8  Consignment Inventory ...................................................................................62 
8.1  Account and Item Setup for Consignees .................................................62 
8.2  Consignment Location Setup for Consignor ........................................... 63 
9  Barcoding ....................................................................................................... 63 
9.1  Entering Barcode Data ......................................................................... 64 
9.2  Printing Barcode Labels ....................................................................... 64 
9.3  Scanning ............................................................................................. 65 
10  Bins ............................................................................................................... 65 
10.1  Assigning Different Default Bins to an Item at Multiple Locations ............67 
11  Units of Measure ............................................................................................ 68 
12  Kits (Item Groups) .......................................................................................... 69 
13  Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) .............................................................................. 69 
14  Inventory Value ............................................................................................. 70 
15  Negative Inventory ........................................................................................ 70 
16  Inventory Reports .......................................................................................... 70 
   
1  Vendors ......................................................................................................... 71 
1.1  Defining the Vendor Name ................................................................... 71 
1.2  Vendor-Item Catalog ........................................................................... 72 
1.3  Vendor Messages ................................................................................. 72 
2  Purchase Orders .............................................................................................. 72 
2.1  Creating a Purchase Order .................................................................... 72 
2.2  Purchase Order Actions Menu Options ................................................... 75 
2.3  Approvals ............................................................................................76 
2.4  Shipping Methods ................................................................................77 
2.5  Blanket POs .........................................................................................77 
2.6  Payment Terms ...................................................................................77 
2.7  Drop Shipping .....................................................................................77 
2.8  Purchase Order Prepayments ................................................................78 
3  Item Receipts ................................................................................................ 80 
3.1  Item Receipt Field Descriptions ............................................................ 80 

 
3.2  Partial Receiving .................................................................................. 83 
3.3  Landed Costs ....................................................................................... 83 
3.4  Generating Bills .................................................................................. 84 
3.5  Variances ........................................................................................... 84 
4  Purchasing and Receiving Workflow ................................................................. 85 
5  Returns to Vendors ......................................................................................... 85 
6  Reordering .................................................................................................... 86 
6.1  Reorder Points .................................................................................... 86 
6.2  Automatic Reorder Points .....................................................................87 
6.3  Max Stock Level ...................................................................................87 
6.4  Reorder List .........................................................................................88 
6.5  Reorder Report ................................................................................... 89 
6.6  Generating POs from the Reorder Report .............................................. 90 
   
1  Customer Management ................................................................................... 91 
1.1  Creating and Editing Customers ............................................................ 91 
1.2  Actions and Batch Actions Available for Customers .................................92 
1.3  Defining the Customer Name ................................................................ 93 
1.4  Sub-Customers vs Addresses for Customers with Multiple Shipping 
Locations ............................................................................................ 93 
2  Relieving Inventory ........................................................................................ 94 
3  Using Sales Forms ........................................................................................... 95 
4  Available for Sale ............................................................................................ 95 
5  Sales Workflow .............................................................................................. 96 
6  Estimates ...................................................................................................... 97 
7  Sales Orders .................................................................................................. 97 
7.1  Sales Order (SO) Field Descriptions ....................................................... 98 
7.2  Sales Order Actions Menu Options ....................................................... 100 
7.3  Due Dates .......................................................................................... 102 
7.4  Items on Sales Order .......................................................................... 102 
7.5  Backorders ........................................................................................ 102 

 
8  Invoices ....................................................................................................... 102 
8.1  Creating Invoices ............................................................................... 103 
8.2  Ready to Invoice Report ...................................................................... 103 
9  Sales Receipts ............................................................................................... 103 
10  Payments ..................................................................................................... 104 
11  Price Tiers .................................................................................................... 104 
12  Sales Representatives and Sales Commissions ................................................. 105 
12.1  Adding, Editing, and Syncing Sales Representatives .............................. 106 
12.2  Running Sales Commission Reports .................................................... 106 
13  Discounts ..................................................................................................... 107 
14  Deposits ....................................................................................................... 107 
15  Comments ................................................................................................... 107 
16  Terms .......................................................................................................... 107 
17  Sales Tax ...................................................................................................... 108 
18  Taxes for International (Non-US) Accounts ..................................................... 108 
19  Customer Messages ....................................................................................... 108 
   
1  Pick Tickets .................................................................................................. 109 
2  Shipments.................................................................................................... 109 
2.1  Creating Shipments ........................................................................... 109 
2.2  Ready to Pick/Ship ............................................................................. 110 
2.3  Packing Slip ....................................................................................... 110 
2.4  Automatic Shipments from QuickBooks Online Transactions ................ 110 
   
1  Assemblies vs Processes ................................................................................. 111 
2  Assemblies .................................................................................................... 111 
2.1  Assemblies vs Kits (Item Groups) ......................................................... 111 
2.2  Bills of Materials (BOMs) ..................................................................... 112 
3  Builds ........................................................................................................... 112 

 
4  Processes ...................................................................................................... 113 
4.1  Templates .......................................................................................... 113 
4.2  Transactions ...................................................................................... 113 
4.3  Waste ................................................................................................ 114 
5  Jobs .............................................................................................................. 114 
5.1  Job Dashboard .................................................................................... 115 
5.2  Job Costing ......................................................................................... 115 
6  Work Orders .................................................................................................. 115 
7  Work In Progress/Work Centers ...................................................................... 116 
8  Labor ............................................................................................................ 117 
9  Manufacturing Workflow ................................................................................ 117 
10  Contract Manufacturing ................................................................................. 118 
10.1  Contract Manufacturing Workflow ....................................................... 119 
11  Overhead...................................................................................................... 122 
   
1  RMAs ........................................................................................................... 124 
2  Returns ........................................................................................................ 124 
2.1  Methods of Creating a Customer Return ............................................... 124 
2.2  Customer Credit (Credit Memo) .......................................................... 125 
2.3  Restocking ........................................................................................ 125 
3  Rentals and Rental Returns ............................................................................ 126 
   
   
   
1  Customer Portal Setup .................................................................................... 133 
   
   
   

 
1  Exporting Data .............................................................................................. 137 
1.1  Data Types Available for Export ........................................................... 137 
1.2  How to Export Data ............................................................................ 138 
2  Editing and Importing Data ............................................................................ 139 
2.1  Editing Guidelines ............................................................................. 139 
2.2  Editing Items ..................................................................................... 140 
3  Importing Data ............................................................................................. 145 
3.1  Importing Sales Orders and Sales Receipts ........................................... 146 
3.2  Importing Bills of Materials (BOMs) .................................................... 146 
3.3  Importing Price Tiers ......................................................................... 147 
   
1  Syncing ........................................................................................................ 148 
1.1  Automatic Sync ................................................................................. 148 
1.2  Transaction Data Exchange ................................................................. 148 
2  Item Type Exchange ....................................................................................... 151 
3  Troubleshooting Sync Errors ........................................................................... 151 
3.1  Preview Sync ..................................................................................... 152 
3.2  Sync Errors ........................................................................................ 152 
3.3  Sync Column on Lists ......................................................................... 152 
4  Class Tracking ............................................................................................... 153 
5  Department Tracking ..................................................................................... 153 
6  Other QuickBooks Online Data ........................................................................ 153 
   
1  Standard and Billable Connections .................................................................. 155 
2  PayPal Integration.......................................................................................... 155 
3  Shopify Integration ....................................................................................... 156 
3.1  Item Matching ................................................................................... 157 
3.2  Updating Inventory Levels in Shopify .................................................. 157 
3.3  Steps to Make Connection (with SKU/SKU Matching to Support Updating 
Inventory Levels) ............................................................................... 158 

 
4  BigCommerce Integration .............................................................................. 159 
4.1  Item Matching ................................................................................... 159 
4.2  Updating Inventory Levels in BigCommerce ......................................... 160 
4.3  Steps to Make Connection (with SKU/SKU Matching to Support Updating 
Inventory Levels) ............................................................................... 160 
5  FTP ............................................................................................................... 161 
6  Cart and FTP Field Descriptions ....................................................................... 161 
7  United Parcel Service (UPS) Integration .......................................................... 163 
8  ShipStation Integration ................................................................................. 163 
9  EDI Integration ............................................................................................. 164 
   
1  User Management ......................................................................................... 165 
1.1  Adding Users ..................................................................................... 165 
1.2  User Privileges ................................................................................... 165 
1.3  Restoring Inactive Users ..................................................................... 166 
1.4  Unlocking Users ................................................................................ 166 
1.5  Changing the Master Administrator .................................................... 166 
2  Account Management.................................................................................... 167 
3  Activity Log .................................................................................................. 168 
4  Changing Plans ............................................................................................. 168 
   
1  Editing a Form Template................................................................................ 169 
2  Form Template Fields .................................................................................... 170 
3  Using a Form Template ................................................................................... 171 
   
1  Quick Links .................................................................................................. 172 
2  Files (Documents) ......................................................................................... 172 
3  Alerts ........................................................................................................... 173 

 
4  Notification System ...................................................................................... 175 
5  Order Stages ................................................................................................. 176 
6  Priorities ...................................................................................................... 176 
7  Task List (To-Do List) .................................................................................... 176 
8  Multi-Currency............................................................................................. 177 
8.1  Processing Multi-Currency Transactions ............................................. 177 
8.2  Currencies Supported by SOS .............................................................. 178 
9  Templating ................................................................................................... 179 
10  Channels ...................................................................................................... 180 
11  Archive/Unarchive ........................................................................................ 180 
12  Cash Accounting ........................................................................................... 180 
13  Beta Features ................................................................................................. 181 
14  Mobile Use and iOS App ................................................................................. 182 
   
1  Setup Checklist for New QuickBooks Online and SOS Accounts ......................... 183 
2  Setup Checklist for Adding a New SOS Account to an Existing QuickBooks Online 
Account........................................................................................................ 186 
   
   
1  Why Reconcile? .............................................................................................. 191 
2  Summary of Reconciliation Process ................................................................. 191 
3  SOS Inventory and QuickBooks Interaction ..................................................... 192 
3.1  Purchasing ........................................................................................ 192 
3.2  Sales ................................................................................................. 194 
3.3  Adjustments ...................................................................................... 195 
3.4  Assembly Builds ................................................................................ 199 
3.5  Process Transactions .......................................................................... 199 
3.6  Transactions with No Effect on SOS Inventory Quantity/Value and No Effect 
on QuickBooks Accounts.....................................................................200 

 
4  Reconciliation Tools ......................................................................................200 
4.1  Overview ...........................................................................................200 
4.2  Inventory Value Report ....................................................................... 201 
4.3  Work in Progress (WIP) Report ............................................................ 202 
4.4  Bills (Vendor Invoice) List ................................................................... 202 
4.5  Purchase Expense List ........................................................................ 203 
4.6  Reconcile Journal Entries Report ......................................................... 204 
4.7  Reconcile Item Receipts Report ........................................................... 205 
4.8  Reconcile Vendor Credits Report ......................................................... 207 
5  Other Factors Causing an SOS Inventory/QuickBooks Mismatch ........................ 207 
5.1  Archived and Deleted Items ................................................................ 207 
5.2  Transactions Deleted or Changed in QuickBooks after SOS Inventory 
Created Them .................................................................................... 208 
5.3  Unintended Journal Entries Related to Inventory Starting Value............. 208 
5.4  Adjustments with an Incorrect Adjustment Account ............................. 208 
5.5  Duplicate Journal Entry Posts for the Same SOS Inventory Transaction ... 209 
5.6  Incorrect Use of “Other Cost” Items .................................................... 210 
5.7  Transactions Added in QuickBooks that Increase/Decrease Accounts But Do 
Not Affect SOS Inventory .................................................................... 210 
   
   
   
   
1  Report Descriptions ...................................................................................... 225 
1.1  Accounting Reports ............................................................................ 225 
1.2  Fulfillment Reports ............................................................................ 225 
1.3  Inventory Reports .............................................................................. 226 
1.4  Miscellaneous Reports ....................................................................... 227 
1.5  Purchasing Reports ............................................................................ 227 
1.6  Production Reports ............................................................................ 229 
1.7  Rental Reports ................................................................................... 229 
1.8  Sales Reports ..................................................................................... 230 

This document serves as a user guide for SOS Inventory. In addition to this guide, help is also

available within the app or via the SOS Inventory website at https://www.sosinventory.com.

Please send any questions, comments, or suggestions to support@sosinventory.com.

This guide is written in a very informal, conversational style. We hope you find it more

readable and useful than your traditional, formal user manual. We update the guide frequently,

so be sure that you always grab the most recent version.

We have a section for release notes near the end of the guide for your reference as to what is

new in the product.

SOS Inventory is the #1 inventory and manufacturing add-on for QuickBooks Online. If you are

using QuickBooks Online and do any manufacturing or anything more than basic inventory

management, you need SOS Inventory.

In April 2009, Saddle Oak Software released a new add-on product called OE Companion for

what was then called QuickBooks Online Edition. OE Companion added purchase orders,

inventory management, assemblies, document management, PayPal integration, and a few

other features to QuickBooks Online. Over time, the inventory and manufacturing features

became the most-heavily used parts of the software. In 2011, Intuit launched the Intuit App

Center and Intuit Partner Platform as a new method of connecting to QuickBooks. In July 2011,

Saddle Oak Software launched OE Companion v2, which was renamed SOS Inventory to

highlight the increased focus on inventory management and manufacturing. SOS Inventory v3

was launched in February 2012 with the move to the Intuit Anywhere platform. In March 2013,

SOS Inventory v4 was released furthering the capabilities of the platform to provide more

extensive manufacturing and inventory control. By February of 2015, SOS Inventory’s user

interface was redesigned for version 5 to more closely follow the changes that Intuit was taking

with QuickBooks Online and to make daily tasks more seamless between the environments.

In January of 2017, version 6 was released to update all pages to a newer and more enhanced

version of the edit pages for consistent processing throughout the software package. It also

added streamlined navigation, ease of use, units of measure on all transactions, custom fields,

and increased speed. Now with our current release of SOS Inventory version 7 in October 2017,

we introduce automated order processing, added reporting capability, order staging and

prioritization, in app notification system and expanded alert system, a customer portal, and

new third-party integrations.

This guide will showcase the features and functions that users have come to rely on, and even

some new ones to get acquainted with.

The workflow that you will use in SOS Inventory depends ultimately on your company’s

business processes. The software is flexible enough to handle a wide variety of different

scenarios. With that said, here is a general sequence that most companies will follow:

1. Order raw materials or products from vendors by creating purchase orders. (Purchasing

menu)

2. Receive the goods into inventory by creating item receipts. (Purchasing menu)

3. Turn raw materials into finished goods using builds or process transactions.

(Production menu)

4. Take sales orders from customers. (Sales menu)

5. Ship goods to customers by creating shipments. (Fulfillment menu)

6. Invoice the customer for goods shipped. (Sales Menu)

One question that we get a lot is about whether the user should use SOS Inventory or

QuickBooks Online to enter orders or other data. The answer is that either will work, and the

optimal workflow really depends on the specific needs of your company. With the automated

order processing feature, the user has even more options to make decisions on how best to

design and utilize SOS to the fullest.

For companies that are already QuickBooks Online customers, and who perhaps have users

who are very comfortable with QuickBooks Online, SOS reads transactions directly from

QuickBooks Online so that QuickBooks Online can be used as the primary place for users to

work. SOS will read new invoices, sales receipts, etc., from QuickBooks Online and generate

shipments, sales orders, reorder alerts, or other transactions automatically, as specified in the

SOS settings.

Most companies using SOS Inventory use SOS for all their day-to-day operations (purchasing,

shipping, manufacturing, etc.). In this model, information is entered into SOS and then

synchronizes to QuickBooks Online as appropriate, so that all financial data are kept up to

date. Users retrieve their inventory data and run inventory reports from SOS Inventory. The

workflow most commonly begins with a sales order as the driver of other transactions,

although this is not required.

SOS Inventory offers three different pricing plans: Companion, Plus, and Pro. A brief

description of the plans is below. A complete description and feature-by-feature comparison is

on the Pricing page of our website at https://www.sosinventory.com/pricing.

•

Companion.

The Companion plan is useful for companies who want to use QuickBooks

Online as their primary system but need just a little more functionality than

QuickBooks Online can provide. The Companion plan adds to QuickBooks Online the

capabilities of sales orders, assemblies, partial shipping/receiving, kits, and backorder

tracking, among other things. This plan includes 24/7 email support only.

•

Plus.

The Plus plan is our most popular plan. It is useful both for companies who want

to use QuickBooks Online as a primary or SOS as a primary. The Plus plan includes all

the features of the Companion plan plus price tiers, multiple warehouses, RMAs, bins,

pick tickets, barcoding, serial numbers, lot numbers, units of measure, and rental

inventory, among other things. This plan includes 24/7 email support and phone

support from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday.

•

Pro.

The Pro plan is our most sophisticated plan. It is most often useful for companies

needing advanced inventory and manufacturing metrics, as well as companies using

SOS Inventory for all their day-to-day operations. In addition to all the features of the

Plus plan, the Pro plan supports landed costs, work orders, job costing, multiple work

centers, work-in-progress (WIP), labor, overhead, basic MRP functionality, and a

customer portal, among other things. This plan includes 24/7 email support and

priority phone support from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday.

SOS Inventory was designed to work with QuickBooks Online from the ground up. SOS

Inventory integrates tightly with QuickBooks Online to produce a world-class experience for

the user. The integration works via a two-way synchronization process in which data are

exchanged server to server. You can see more on the integration later in this user guide.

Now that you know what plan you would like to use, you can start SOS Inventory. This should

be carefully thought out before beginning. You need to decide how you want to connect and

understand what happens when the connection is made. Towards the end of the guide is a

step-by-step checklist of what you would need to do to accomplish the setup of SOS Inventory

and the connection with QuickBooks Online. Please read this section first before using the

checklist.

SOS Inventory communicates with QuickBooks Online via a “connection,” which is simply an

authorization that you provide, giving permission for SOS to communicate with QuickBooks

Online on your behalf. If a connection is not active, the sync functions will not be available to

you.

Before you connect SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online, you should understand possible

situations that may need to be corrected first. If you are connecting a brand-new account, you

should be good to go for creating the connection. If you are connecting SOS to an existing

QuickBooks Online company account, ensure that all data is ready to sync (charts of accounts,

tax center, vendors, customers, products and service).

Another consideration is if you are tracking inventory in a QuickBooks Online Plus account. For

SOS Inventory to be your inventory management solution, you MUST turn off QuickBooks

Online’s Track Inventory Quantity on Hand in your account settings.

In either case, please contact SOS Support to discuss at support@sosinventory.com.

If you are moving from QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Premier, or QuickBooks Enterprise to

a QuickBooks Online account, please contact QuickBooks Online Technical Support for more

details on that process.

When you follow this path knowing you will connect to SOS Inventory after the conversion into

QuickBooks Online, the recommended steps are:

Create a QuickBooks Online account.

Make sure that Track Inventory Quantity on Hand

is turned OFF by going to the gear icon in the upper right, selecting Account & Settings,

selecting the Sales tab on the left, and the option is under Product and Services.

Import your QuickBooks Online account into QuickBooks (QuickBooks Online Support

can answer questions).

When asked in a pop-up message during the import if you want

to track inventory, answer No. This will save you time later.

Proceed to section 2.1.2, Creating the Connection.

You can create the connection in one of two methods:

From SOS Inventory.

At https://www.sosinventory.com, select the Free Trial logo in

the upper right corner. Alternatively, you can go to the SOS Inventory login page,

https://live.sosinventory.com and click on I need an account. Either way, you just need

to provide your email address (which should also be an administrator in the

QuickBooks Online account), your display name, and select the plan level you want to

start. This will create your new SOS account.

a. For security, you should set your user profile password before continuing.

b. Now you need to connect to QuickBooks Online by clicking on the Settings

Menu (gear icon) and then QuickBooks Settings. Clicking on the Connect to

QuickBooks button will open a pop-up window that will walk you through

authorizing your QuickBooks Online Company to connect to SOS. Again, you

must be an administrator on QuickBooks Online to accomplish the connection.

SOS finds your QuickBooks Online Company by using your email address, so

make sure it matches in QuickBooks Online. See QuickBooks Setup later in this

guide for more on the automated sync.

From QuickBooks Online.

In QuickBooks Online, go to the Apps option in the left-hand

menu. You should find SOS Inventory listed in the All Apps list. Click on Get App Now

to connect and answer the questions to complete the process as in the other method.

Using this method, it connects the products for you so you do not have to authorize the

connection separately.

No matter which method you use, as the person creating the connection you should now see an

icon in your My Apps list in QuickBooks Online for SOS inventory. Only the person making the

connection will have this option.

When you first make a connection from SOS to QuickBooks Online, SOS will begin

synchronizing your data by retrieving the relevant data in your QuickBooks Online account. All

customers, vendors, and items that are in QuickBooks Online will sync to SOS Inventory. But

only 1,000 most recent of

each

transaction type

will be synchronized to SOS.

This initial synchronization between QuickBooks Online and SOS Inventory typically takes

much longer than subsequent synchronizations. The first sync generally takes 15 minutes to an

hour to complete, depending on the volume of data in your account. You should not use SOS

Inventory while it is synchronizing. Wait until the process completes. When the sync

completes, you will get an email at the address used for your login letting you know.

If you need to sync more transactions than allowed for the initial sync, use the Data Utilities

function (Company Menu > Data Tools > Data Utilities) to obtain the additional transactions. If

you have defined Automated Order Processing (AOP) Rules (Company

Menu > Miscellaneous > AOP Rules) or have turned on Auto functions in the Sales Settings

(Settings > Sales Settings), the system will display a message stating that you must disable

these features before using the Data Utilities function. Once you are finished retrieving

transactions, you can enable those options again.

NOTE: If you need to sync additional transactions using the Data Utilities feature, the

synchronization should be completed before executing an item conversion. An item

conversion is needed if inventory tracking was enabled in QuickBooks Online before you

connected to SOS. Please contact our support desk if this condition exists. If sales orders,

invoices, and purchase orders are synced after an item conversion, transactions will include

the extension (deleted) at the end of each item listed on the transaction and reports in SOS will

not report historical data accurately for those items.

Click the Sync Menu in SOS to synchronize with QuickBooks Online at any time. Just click on

Sync Now to start the sync process. The Sync Menu can always be found on the top Task Bar

(See image in Graphic User Interface).

As stated previously, QuickBooks Online Plus includes an inventory tracking feature called

Track Inventory Quantity on Hand. It allows you to keep track of your quantity on hand and

cost of goods sold. If you decide to use SOS Inventory because the inventory functionality in

QuickBooks Online is insufficient for your business needs, SOS becomes your inventory

management tool. You do not want to manage inventory in both SOS and QuickBooks Online.

You should use SOS Inventory only for best results. For that reason, we recommend that all SOS

customers turn off inventory tracking in QuickBooks Online.

From time to time, our support team will get a question from a customer about duplicate cost

of goods sold entries showing up in QuickBooks Online. In every single case, the cause of the

issue was that the user had inventory tracking turned on for some items in QuickBooks Online.

In those cases, QuickBooks Online was posting to cost of goods sold, and SOS was posting to

cost of goods sold—resulting in duplicate entries.

The solution in that situation is fortunately very simple, but it can be avoided altogether if you

take precautions when you convert to SOS for inventory management. If you have questions,

please contact SOS Support to discuss at [email protected].

Pictured to the right is SOS Inventory’s login page.

There are two methods of signing into SOS

Inventory. You can sign in using your SOS Inventory

username and password, or you can sign in using

your QuickBooks Online username and password. In

both cases, your SOS administrator must have set

up an SOS Inventory account for you.

The two methods in more detail are:

Signing in with SOS Inventory.

To sign in directly via SOS Inventory, go to

https://www.sosinventory.com and click on the Login to SOS link in the top right

corner of the screen. Alternatively, you can go directly to

https://live.sosinventory.com . On that page, enter your SOS Inventory username

(email) and password. This might be different than your QuickBooks username and

password. If you don’t know your password, click the I forgot my password link on

the bottom left of the login page and follow the instructions.

Signing in with Intuit (QuickBooks Online).

To sign in using your QuickBooks Online

credentials, go to https://www.sosinventory.com and click on the Login button in

the top right corner of the screen. Alternatively, you can go directly to

https://live.sosinventory.com. On that page, click the button labeled Intuit Sign in.

If you are already logged in to QuickBooks, SOS Inventory will log you in

automatically at that point. Otherwise, enter your Intuit username and password to

within both SOS and QuickBooks Online.

In addition to the above sign-in methods, in QuickBooks Online, simply select Apps from the

left menu and go to the My Apps tab and select the SOS Inventory app. Note that QuickBooks

only makes this option available to one user per account, which is the person that actually

connected QuickBooks Online to SOS last.

To sign out of SOS Inventory, go to the User Menu (see next section) and click the Logout

option.

SOS Inventory’s GUI (see image) has been designed to be easy to use and visually coincide with

the look and feel of QuickBooks Online.

When you first login to SOS Inventory you will see the Home Screen. This is your starting point

to navigate through the system. It provides a message area where you’ll find messages from

the SOS team for you the user. Information provided will include important dates such as the

latest release, links to upcoming beta versions for you to test and get a preview of the

functionality, and reminders such as a link to the support team.

The interface has three main areas of interest. Each area combines functionality to make SOS

Inventory easy to learn and use.

1. Task Bar

•

Company Menu.

This shows your company name and allows for company and

plan settings, data tools, and many functional lists for enhancing your SOS

operations and experience.

•

User Menu.

This shows your display name and provides user specific

functions such as settings and profile, task list, and an option for the user to

logout.

•

Notifications.

Allows a user to see if any notifications have been sent to him

and provides access to viewing past notifications or add new ones.

•

Search.

Allows for extended search of objects throughout SOS.

•

Add Menu.

One-stop menu to add any new transaction, items, etc.

•

Sync Menu.

Allows a user full control over synchronization between SOS and

QuickBooks Online.

•

Print.

Provides a facility to print the current display area.

•

Settings Menu.

One-stop menu for all settings used within SOS Inventory to

include transactional, operational, sync, portal, and integrations.

•

Help Menu.

Provides a wealth of resources for use SOS.

2. Operations Menu

This is the main list area for all existing transaction and reports for daily operations.

•

Dashboard.

Fast link to main information page.

•

Calendar.

Configurable calendar to see important information on

transactions such as overdue invoices and tasks.

•

Purchasing.

Contains vendors, purchase orders, item receipts, and returns to

vendors.

•

Production.

Contains builds, processes, jobs, and work orders.

•

Inventory.

Contains items, adjustments, transfers, serialized inventory, and

lots.

•

Sales.

Contains customers, estimates, sales orders, invoices, and sales

receipts.

•

Fulfillment.

Contains pick tickets and shipments.

•

More Transactions.

Contains RMAs, returns, rentals, and rental returns.

•

Reports.

One-stop page for all reports available in SOS Inventory.

•

Quick Links.

Configurable shortcut list for common actions.

3. Page Display Area

This is the main section of the screen for displaying pages throughout the software.

This area can be increased by clicking on the double left arrow icon at the bottom of the

Operations Menu, which reduces the menu to just icons. Click the double right arrow

icon to expand the menu to show icons with their titles.

The menus and operations available are dependent on the user’s privileges. These areas will be

discussed in more detail as you get further into the user’s guide.

To access sub-menus, simply click on one of the main menus in the Operations Menu or

buttons on the Task Bar.

This guide refers to actions using a tiered structure in a drill-down usage. For example,

Company Menu > Company Settings tells you to go to the Company Menu and choose the

Company Settings option under the Admin section.

The heart of SOS Inventory is its lists, e.g., Items list, Purchase Orders list, Sales Orders list,

etc. The lists provide a summary view of the data in SOS Inventory and allow the user to drill

down for further information if desired. Let’s look at the anatomy of a list page.

In the blue bar at the top of the list, the Display Message shows you a summary of the current

settings for the page, such as “Showing 25 unarchived items.” This message is set in the

Change Filter.

The Page Navigation icons are located at the top and bottom of a list page. This feature is

shown as chevrons (« and ») with numbers between them. Click on a number to go to that

page of the list or click on either of the chevrons to go to the first or last page. The number of

items on a page is set in the Change Filter.

The Actions Menu provides options you can apply to a specific entry on a list. To see the actions

available for a row, click on the down arrow next to Edit. The options vary, depending upon the

particular list. The default action on most lists is Edit, as it is the most commonly used action

for existing entries.

The Batch Actions dropdown list allows you to select a common action and apply it to multiple

rows of entries. Click on the box on the left of each row you want the batch actions to affect.

Clicking the box on the column title row selects every line on that displayed page.

The Change Filter button allows you to select the specific type of information you want from

the list.

Quick Search is an intelligent search limited to data within a list, enabling you find one or more

items which meet the search string. Not all columns are searched. Contact support if you have

a question about this function.

The Add New button allows you to create a new entry of the same type as those displayed on

the list you are currently viewing.

This button is found on almost all lists in SOS Inventory. In this regard, the list page Add New

feature differs from the Task Bar’s Add (+) Menu. The Add Menu is a “quick add” feature that

allows you to bypass navigating through a list page to create a new page of data—but it is

limited to adding new items, customers, vendors, and transactions only.

The gear icon at top of the list, the Column Chooser, allows you to choose columns of

information to display that are appropriate to the type of list. When the Column Chooser icon

is selected, a pop-up window with all column options for that list appears on your screen.

Simply check or uncheck the box next to the column name to display or hide that column.

When you have finished making your column choices, go to the bottom of the pop-up window

and select Apply.

The Excel Export icon at the top of the list lets you save your currently viewed data as a

spreadsheet. This affects only the page of data you are displaying and not the entire list across

multiple pages.

Stars is a feature set in the Company Settings. You can use it as a reminder or in a stoplight

fashion to show importance of that row in the list.

For every type of object in SOS (item, transaction, etc.) there is an edit page. It is accessed via

the Edit action, the default action on most lists. In the top left corner of every edit page are the

navigation buttons for that page.

The gray Back Arrow button takes you to the list from which you entered the edit mode. If you

use the browser’s back button instead of the gray back arrow, the browser will take you to the

previous operations page before your current list. The Print button gives you a screen print of

the page you are on. The Save and Close button completes the edit and returns you to the list.

Some pages have a More button which provides additional options after the save is completed.

Each user has settings and a unique user profile which they should establish for themselves

after they login for the first time. These can be found under the User Menu (your display name)

on the Task Bar.

The User Profile contains a display name, email address (used as username for logging in),

password, security question and answer, as well as, listing your mobile carrier and mobile

number for text-based notifications which will be discussed in depth later in this guide. To edit

any of this information, go to the Task Bar and select User Menu > User Profile, make your

changes, and click Save in the lower right corner.

NOTE: If you are an administrator, be sure to use the User Profile function as described above to

change your email address, not the User Administration function under the Company Menu.

Users in SOS Inventory do not always have the same time zone or use the same date format for

transactions. User Settings allows you to change these to match your area. All users must set

their time zone setting for transactions to be recorded correctly. User Settings also allows you

to choose how you receive notifications. You can edit this information by going to User Menu >

User Settings, making your changes, and clicking Save in the lower right corner.

Users can set tasks for themselves or others in SOS with due dates so they can be tracked on the

calendar. To add tasks, go to User Menu > Tasks. You can click Add New on the right to add a

new task. Provide a title for the task (must be unique), a description to explain the task if

needed, assign it to yourself or another user in SOS, and set a complete by date. Once the task is

finished, you can either (1) click the Completed option on the task’s edit page, or (2) select

Mark as Complete from the Actions Menu on the Task list.

SOS and QuickBooks Online are separate online products, and thus separate websites. SOS does

not add extra menus to QuickBooks Online. You use both products and they simply exchange

data behind the scenes. One of the most common questions we get is how the user should

switch back and forth between the two products. These are the common approaches:

•

No switching.

Many users simply have no need to switch between SOS and QuickBooks

Online on a regular basis. For example, when running financial reports, you can open

QuickBooks Online and do what is needed. When working with inventory, you can open

SOS and do what is needed. The data will still synchronize per your settings.

You do not

need to have both programs open for them to exchange data, and you do not need to be

logged into them either.

•

Multiple tabs.

Virtually all web browsers today offer the ability to create multiple tabs,

where each tab can view a different website. Our favorite method of switching from SOS

to QuickBooks Online and vice versa (and the method we use here at SOS), is to open

one tab to SOS and one tab to QuickBooks Online. Then switching between the two

programs requires only one simple, fast click.

Smart Search allows you to perform a global search in SOS Inventory for a specific list item or

transaction. Enter any text to return all matches for that text or use a keyword to specify the

type of transaction to return.

The available keywords are listed below.

• cust (customer)

• adj (adjustment)

• build

• job

• lot

• sn (serial number)

• ship (shipment)

• proc (process

transaction)

• pick (pick ticket)

• xfer (inventory

transfer)

• est (estimate)

• inv (invoice)

• item

• wo (work order)

• po (purchase order)

• ir (item receipt)

• rent (rental)

• ret (return)

• rma

• rr (rental return)

• rtv (return to

vendor)

• so (sales order)

• sr (sales receipt)

• vend (vendor)

As an example, you could enter “5177” (without quotes) to find anything with 5177 in the name or

ID. But if you search for “po 5177” (without quotes) it would look for purchase order ID 5177 only.

In this case, it would take you directly to the appropriate list page.

If you are not using an SOS keyword, enclose a phrase in quotes to obtain precise search results. For

example, “Flight Jacket” finds anything with that phrase as part of the name or description

(depending on the inventory settings you have configured for searches). Without the quotes, SOS

looks for every possible match for that phrase.

SOS Inventory provides many options if you need assistance using the software:

•

Embedded Help.

The software contains help text embedded and can be recognized by the

icon. Also, you can read the instructions included with some pages.

•

Help Menu.

Click on the Help (question mark) icon in the Task Bar to bring up the

following menu:

User Guide.

Can be found here as a PDF or in PDF form on our website under the

Support link at https://www.sosinventory.com/sos-inventory-users-guide. The

guide provides a handy reference for using SOS Inventory.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Covers the most common issues encountered

with SOS and even some with QuickBooks Online.

Video Tutorials.

Informative videos that show you how to use the more common

features of SOS.

How-To Guides.

Step-by-step procedures that you can follow to complete tasks

within SOS.

What’s New.

Lists the features that are new to this version. They are also listed in

this user’s guide.

Feature Requests.

Uses an external resource called User Voice to allow all SOS users

from any company to view a list of user-requested features that you can review and

vote on. Features with the highest votes are taken into consideration for future

release. You can even provide a new requested feature of your own.

Allows you to submit a support ticket to SOS Inventory technicians for a

fast response to your questions. Email support is available 24 hours per day, 7 days

per week. Our average response time is less than 1 hour, although it can take up to

24 hours in some cases.

About SOS Inventory.

This is where you can find the Terms of Service for SOS

Inventory account use.

•

Phone support.

Phone support is available Monday–Friday (excluding holidays), from 9

a.m.–6 p.m. Central. Phone support is available for companies on the Plus and Pro plans.

For phone support, dial 1–888–545–4146 and choose option 2. If all support representatives

are busy, please email su[email protected] for urgent issues or leave a message

with our call service. Someone will return your call within one business day.

To print any screen in SOS Inventory, click the Print button on the Task Bar. That will print a

specially formatted version of the page that removes unneeded menus and other formatting to

make it print more cleanly. In addition, many pages have the option to print documents as PDF, as

described elsewhere in this manual.

When you first begin using SOS Inventory, there are some settings and defaults that you might

want to configure to optimize SOS Inventory for your company. Settings come in two general

forms: Company and System. Let’s look at what it takes to set up these areas.

These are the base settings for company wide information within the system. You find them under

Company Menu > Company Settings. Make changes and click Save and Close.

Fields are listed in the order they appear on the Company Settings page in SOS Inventory.

Company Name.

If you are set to be a stand-alone inventory system, enter the name of your

company. If you are connected to a QuickBooks company, this name will be retrieved

automatically.

Company Header.

This header will appear on purchase orders, sales orders, and packing slips.

Never Connect.

Check this box if you don't ever plan to connect to QuickBooks Online. This hides

several menu options to make the user experience a little better. You can change this setting at any

time. Best used for stand-alone companies.

Multi-Currency.

Check this box to enable the multi-currency capabilities of SOS Inventory. If you

are using multi-currency and want the transaction to sync to QuickBooks Online correctly, make

sure that multi-currency is also turned on in QuickBooks Online.

Home Currency.

All transactions are stored in the system in your home currency by default. You

can override this on individual transactions if the Multi-Currency setting is enabled.

Automated Time Zone.

This time zone will be used for transactions that are generated by SOS

Inventory automatically. If a user is logged in, the user time zone setting will override this setting.

The default is UTC time (London). Change to your company’s time zone.

Automated Date Format.

This date format will be used for transactions that are generated by SOS

Inventory automatically. If a user is logged in, the user date format setting will override this

setting.

Stars.

This setting controls the stars that users in your company can select on list pages. Yellow

allows you to flag items for later attention. The Red, Yellow, Green option provides a stoplight type

of flagging (for example, Red – immediate issue, Yellow – take note of, Green – ready for next

step).

Default Lines.

This is the number of line items that will show on a new form, or the number of

lines added when you click the More Lines option on a form. The smallest possible value is 3, and

the largest possible value is 20.

Child Forms Inherit Transaction Number.

By default, child forms (such as an invoice created from

a sales order) will continue the child form numbering. Enable this setting to have the child form

inherit its number from the parent, instead of the next child number.

Logo.

This logo will appear on your forms in quick view or PDF. The file should be less than 2MB in

size. The image will be scaled to the width and height settings which follow. JPEG (*.jpg), PNG

(*.png), and GIF (*.gif) files are accepted. You can change a logo by clicking the Clear Logo button

and browsing for the replacement logo graphic file.

Logo Width.

Enter the width for your logo. Enter the width as a pixel value. A common width is 144,

which is about two inches. Every computer and every printer are different, so you might have to try

different values here to size it exactly as you want. Leave this blank to use the original size if your

logo was edited before adding to be the desired size.

Logo Height.

Enter the height for your logo. Enter the height as a pixel value. A common height is

144, which is about two inches. Every computer and every printer are different, so you might have

to try different values here to size it exactly as you want. Leave this blank to use the original size if

your logo was edited before adding to be the desired size.

These are the base settings for functionality within the system. They are presented in the order

that you’ll find them listed under the Settings Menu in the Task Bar. Make changes and click on

Save and Close in each settings area.

Fields are listed in the order they appear on the Purchasing Settings page in SOS Inventory.

Next PO Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your purchase order numbering.

PO Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically before

system-generated PO numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, PO numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Next Item Receipt Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your item receipt numbering.

This is only for item receipts being created directly and not as a child form from a PO. Child forms

inherit the transactions number from the parent.

Item Receipt Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed

automatically before system-generated item receipt numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

item receipt numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Next RTV Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your RTV numbering.

RTV Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically

before system-generated RTV numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, RTV numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Default CC for POs.

Set this value to automatically CC all your purchase orders to a certain address.

Hide Item Name.

Check this box to hide the item name on purchase orders, sales orders, and

packing slips. This is often useful in drop shipping. You can also change this setting for each

individual form.

Default Ship-To Location for POs.

This is the default ship-to location for purchase orders.

Location is pulled from locations list and the address in the definition is used as ship to.

Default QuickBooks Sync for Item Receipts.

This is the default option for syncing item receipts to

QuickBooks. You can override this on any given item receipt. Values are None, Bill, Cash, Check,

Credit Card.

Require Approval for POs.

If you check this box, a user with permission to approve POs must

approve each PO for the items to be received into inventory. This feature is available on Plus and

Pro plans only. You will also need to enable the Approved column in the PO list to take full

advantage of this feature.

Purchase Order From.

This is the email from which your purchase orders will be sent.

Purchase Order Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your purchase

orders. Do not use HTML.

Purchase Order Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every purchase order.

Auto Serial/Lot Numbers.

Check this box to generate serial and lot numbers automatically when

receiving serial- and lot-tracked items.

Auto Serial Prefix.

If you are auto-generating serial numbers, this prefix will come before the

actual number.

Auto Lot Prefix.

If you are auto-generating lot numbers, this prefix will come before the actual

number.

Auto Serial/Lot Random.

If this box is checked, auto-generated serial and lot numbers will be

generated randomly, according to the format you specified. Otherwise, they will be generated

sequentially.

Auto Serial/Lot Number Length.

Length of automatic serial and lot numbers. The minimum length

is 8 characters and the maximum length is 32.

Auto Serial Next Sequential.

If you are auto-generating serial numbers sequentially, this number

will be next.

Auto Lot Next Sequential.

If you are auto-generating lot numbers sequentially, this number will be

next.

Search Any Part of Vendor Name.

Check this option to search for vendors by any part of the name,

instead of only what the name starts with.

Default Expense Account.

This is the expense account used by the system if an item does not have

an expense account specified.

Update Default Cost.

Check this box to update the default cost of an item automatically when you

issue a PO or item receipt for that item. You can override this setting in the PO or Item Receipt if

needed.

Suggest PO Quantities.

Check this box to have SOS automatically suggest a reorder quantity when

you enter an item on a purchase order.

Include WOs on Reorder Report.

Check this box to include work order calculations on the Reorder

Report. This considers all inputs for assemblies and items listed for a process transaction.

Enter Customer on Line Items.

Check this box to be able to specify the customer on each line item

on purchase forms.

Show Weight on Purchase Forms.

Check this box to display the weight of each item (and the total

weight) on purchase forms.

Show Volume on Purchase Forms.

Check this box to display the volume of each item (and the total

volume) on purchase forms.

Synchronize POs.

Check this box to synchronize POs with QuickBooks Online. For existing

accounts, enabling this option will retrieve any POs from QuickBooks Online on your next sync.

Please be sure that this is your intention. Also, any future purchase orders created, edited, or

deleted in SOS will synchronize with QuickBooks Online. If you are using QuickBooks Online

Essentials, this option

must

be off to allow for successful syncs.

Automate Drop Ship POs.

If this box is checked, SOS does two extra steps on a drop ship PO. It

closes the PO automatically, and it creates a journal entry in QuickBooks Online to record the

payable and cost of goods sold. Uncheck this box to disable this behavior.

Fields are listed in the order they appear on the Inventory Settings page in SOS Inventory.

Don’t Ask About Negative Inventory.

If this option is checked, SOS Inventory will not warn you

when shipping, using, or adjusting items that would cause your inventory to go negative. Don’t

check this box if you want to avoid negative inventory.

Default Income Account.

Income (sales) account used for new items if another one is not specified.

Default Asset Account.

Asset account used for new items if another one is not specified.

Default COGS Account.

Cost of goods sold account used for new items if another one is not

specified.

New Items Taxable.

Check this option to set new items as taxable by default.

Sync New Items.

Check this option to sync new items with QuickBooks Online by default.

Default Adjustment Account.

Default account to use for tracking inventory adjustments. Normally

this would be something like

Breakage

Spoilage

, or

Adjustments

Default Checking Account.

Default account to use when creating new checks (while receiving

items).

Default Credit Card Account.

Default account to use when creating new credit card charges (while

receiving items).

Default Cash Account.

Default account to use when creating new cash purchases (while receiving

items).

Next Adjustment Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your inventory adjustment

numbering.

Adjustment Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed

automatically in front of system-generated inventory adjustment numbers. For example, if the

prefix is

2013-

, inventory adjustment numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Next Transfer Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your inventory transfer numbering.

Transfer Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically

in front of system-generated inventory transfer numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

inventory transfer numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Work Order Title.

Change this value if you want to change the title when printing or emailing work

orders. For example, some people use

Job Order

instead. The title should be no more than 50

characters.

Work Order From.

This is the email from which your work orders will be sent.

Work Order Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your work orders. Do

not use HTML.

Work Order Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every work order.

Default CC for Work Orders. Set

this value to automatically CC all your work orders to a certain

email address.

Next Job Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your job numbering.

Job Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated job numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, job numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Next WO Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your work order numbering.

WO Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated work order numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, work order

numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Next Build Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your build numbering.

Build Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated build numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, build numbers would

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Next Proc Txn Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your process transaction numbering.

Proc Txn Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically

in front of system-generated process transaction numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

process transaction numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Calculate Reorder Points.

Check this option to have SOS Inventory calculate reorder points

automatically, on a weekly basis. The calculation makes an estimate based on historical data. (Pro

Plan only)

Find Items by Short Name.

Check this option to search for items on sales orders, purchase orders,

and so forth, using the short name of the item instead of the full name of the item. This can be

useful if you use many levels of sub-items. Be careful using this option, as you can accidentally

cause yourself to be unable to look up items if you have multiple items that have the same short

name.

Search Any Part of Item Name.

Check this option to search for items by any part of the name,

instead of only what the name starts with.

Search Item Description.

Check this option to search for items by the description, in addition to

the name. Please keep in mind that this can slow your results, especially if you have a large number

of items.

Auto-Build Assemblies.

Check this option to build assemblies automatically when creating a

shipment. This feature only builds top-level assemblies, not all levels of a multi-level assembly.

Valuation Method.

SOS Inventory supports three valuation methods: Weighted Average, FIFO

(default method), and LIFO. This method will be used to calculate the value of your inventory on

reports. If you don’t know (or don’t care), you can just leave the default option. Any changes to

inventory calculations will not affect historical transactions. The new option will apply only to

transactions completed after the change is made. If you are unsure about this change, contact a

qualified accountant.

Value Serials by Specific Id.

Check this box to value serialized items by specific unit cost,

regardless of the valuation method for other items.

Always Use Average Costs for Cost by Location.

Check this box to calculate the cost basis at a

specific location using average costs instead of FIFO or LIFO, even if you use FIFO or LIFO

otherwise. This can be helpful to produce reports that are more meaningful, even though not

strictly FIFO or LIFO.

Don’t Show Quantity on Builds and Shipments.

For customers creating long builds or shipments,

calculating the quantity of each item can be inconvenient. Enable this option to remove that

column.

Picture Width.

Enter the width for printed item pictures. These are typically used when making

sell sheets, for example. Enter the width as a pixel value. A common width is 144, which is about

two inches. Every computer and every printer are different, so you might have to try different

values here to size it exactly as you want.

Picture Height.

Enter the height for printed item pictures. These are typically used when making

sell sheets, for example. Enter the height as a pixel value. A common height is 144, which is about

two inches. Every computer and every printer are different, so you might have to try different

values here to size it exactly as you want.

Use Units of Measure.

Check this box to track multiple units of measure for your items. The Units

of Measure feature is available on all transactions.

Barcode Width.

Enter the width for printed barcode images. These are typically used when making

barcode labels. Enter the width as a pixel value. A common width is 144, which is about two inches.

Every computer and every printer are different, so you might have to try different values here to

size it exactly as you want.

Barcode Height.

Enter the height for printed barcode images. These are typically used when

making barcode labels. Enter the width as a pixel value. A common width would be 72, which is

about one inch. Every computer and every printer are different, so you might have to try different

values here to size it exactly as you want.

Job Tracking.

Check this box to track transactions by job.

Rental Inventory.

Check this box to enable rental inventory.

Track Workers.

Check this box if you want to track the individual workers when you enter labor

items on builds or process transactions.

Sales settings are the most extensive configuration of SOS Inventory because there are so many

different transactions involved in sales. This menu is broken out by tabs.

Fields are listed in the order they appear on the Sales Settings page in SOS Inventory.

Default Tax Code.

This is the default tax code if you use the Sales Tax Center in QuickBooks Online.

If you do not use the Sales Tax Center, then this setting has no effect.

Show Available for Sale on Forms.

Check this box to retrieve the available-for-sale quantity

automatically when entering a new item on a sales order. You can hover your mouse over the

quantity box to see the available quantity. Using this option can slow down the retrieval of item

information.

Default Tax Rate.

Default sales tax rate, specified as a percentage. You can also set a default rate

for each individual location.

Discount Taxable.

Check this box if discounts are taxable. You can override this setting on any

sales form.

Go to Invoice from SO.

Check this box to view the invoice automatically after generating an

invoice from a sales order.

Default Payment Method.

This is the default payment method for customer payments.

Default Terms.

Default terms specified in QuickBooks Online, or in SOS if not connected to

QuickBooks Online.

Hide Item Name.

Check this box to hide the item name on purchase orders, sales orders, and

packing slips. This is often useful in drop shipping. You can also change this setting for each

individual form.

Find Customers By Long Name.

Check this option to search for customers by their long name,

which includes any parent customers, instead of the regular customer name. This is helpful if you

use sub-customers.

Search Any Part of Customer Name.

Check this option to search for customers by any part of the

name, instead of only what the name starts with.

Auto-Ship Invoices.

Check this box to create a shipment automatically for new invoices created in

QuickBooks Online. Do not use if items are tracked by serial or lot number.

Auto-Ship Sales Receipts.

Check this box to create a shipment automatically for new sales

receipts created in QuickBooks Online. Do not use if items are tracked by serial or lot number.

Auto Backorder Sales Receipts.

Check this box to create a backorder automatically for new sales

receipts created in QuickBooks Online.

Auto Sales Order Invoices.

Check this box to create a sales order automatically for new invoices

created in QuickBooks Online. This setting will be ignored if a shipment is automatically created

for the invoice.

Show Weight on Sales Forms.

Check this box to display the weight of each item (and the total

weight) on sales forms.

Show Volume on Sales Forms.

Check this box to display the volume of each item (and the total

volume) on sales forms.

Include Incoming in Available.

Check this box if you want to include inbounds goods (e.g., POs,

rentals due, etc.) in your available-for-sale calculations. Normally you would enable this only if

your incoming goods have very reliable delivery dates.

Show Only In-Stock.

Check this box if you want to show ONLY items in-stock when generating a

pick ticket or shipment from a sales order or sales receipt. You can override this option by entering

any other items manually.

Expand Kits on Sales Orders.

Check this box to expand kits automatically when saving a sales

order.

Sales Order Title.

Change this value if you want to change the title when printing or emailing sales

orders. For example, some people use Work Order instead. The title should be no more than 50

characters.

Next SO Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your sales order numbering.

SO Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated sales order numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, sales order

numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, etc.

Sales Order From.

This is the email from which your sales orders will be sent.

Sales Order Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your sales orders. Do

not use HTML.

Sales Order Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every sales order.

Default CC for Sales Orders.

Set this value to automatically CC all your sales orders to a certain

email address.

Lock Sales Orders When Editing.

Check this box to prevent users from editing a sales order that

someone else already has open. Eliminates chance of two users editing the same transaction where

the last one to save would overwrite the other user’s changes. If sales order is already open by

another user, the system will display a message letting the user know someone else is currently

editing the order.

Estimate Title.

Change this value if you want to change the title when printing or emailing

estimates. For example, some people use

Quote

instead. The title should be no more than 50

characters.

Next Estimate Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your estimate numbering.

Estimate Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically

in front of system-generated estimate numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, estimate

numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Estimate From.

This is the email from which your estimates will be sent.

Estimate Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your estimates. Do not

use HTML.

Estimate Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every estimate.

Default CC for Estimates.

Set this value to automatically CC all your estimates to a certain email

address.

Use QuickBooks Invoice Numbers.

If this setting is on, SOS Inventory will leave the invoice

number blank when sending an invoice to QuickBooks, and QuickBooks will generate an invoice

number and syncs the transaction back to SOS. Refer to section 6.8, Invoices, for additional

information on using this feature with QuickBooks Online.

Next Invoice Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your invoice numbering. Leave this

field blank if Use QuickBooks Invoice Numbers has been enabled.

Invoice Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated invoice numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, invoice numbers

would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth. Leave this field blank if Use QuickBooks Invoice

Numbers has been enabled.

Invoice From.

This is the email from which your invoices will be sent.

Invoice Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your invoices. Do not use

HTML.

Invoice Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every invoice.

Default CC for Invoices.

Set this value to automatically CC all your invoices to a certain email

address.

Next Sales Receipt Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your sales receipt numbering.

Sales Receipt Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed

automatically in front of system-generated sales receipt numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, sales receipt numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Sales Receipt From.

This is the email from which your sales receipts will be sent.

Sales Receipt Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your sales receipts.

Do not use HTML.

Sales Receipt Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every sales receipt.

Default CC for Sales Receipts.

Set this value to automatically CC all your sales Receipts to a certain

email address.

Include Sales Receipts in Available.

Check this box if you want to include sales receipts in your

available-for-sale calculations. If this option is turned off, only sales orders are included.

Next Shipment Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your shipment numbering. Note

that this applies only on shipments created from scratch. A shipment generated from another

transaction will take the number of that transaction.

Shipment Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically

in front of system-generated shipment numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, shipment

numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Packing Slip Title.

Change this value if you want to change the title when printing or emailing

packing slips. For example, some people use

Packing List

instead. The title should be no more than

50 characters.

Packing Slip From.

This is the email from which your packing slips will be sent.

Packing Slip Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your packing slips. Do

not use HTML.

Packing Slip Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every packing slip.

Show On Packing Slips.

Select whether you want the customer’s email address and/or phone

number to show on packing slips.

Ship From Address of Location.

By default, SOS will display the company header information on a

packing slip when shipping. Enable this setting to use instead the address of the location from

which you are shipping.

Bill of Lading Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every bill of lading.

Default CC for Shipments.

Set this value to automatically CC all your shipments to a certain email

address.

Next RMA Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your RMA numbering.

RMA Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated RMA numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, RMA numbers would

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

RMA Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every RMA.

RMA From.

This is the email from which your RMAs will be sent.

RMA Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your RMAs. Do not use HTML.

Next Return Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your return numbering.

Return Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated return numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, return numbers

would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Pick Ticket Title.

Change this value if you want to change the title when printing or emailing pick

tickets. For example, some people use Pick Slip instead. The title should be no more than 50

characters.

Next Pick Ticket Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your pick ticket numbering.

Pick Ticket Number Prefix. This

field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed

automatically in front of system-generated pick ticket numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, pick ticket numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Pick Ticket Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every pick ticket.

Pick Ticket From.

This is the email from which your pick tickets will be sent.

Pick Ticket Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your pick tickets. Do

not use HTML.

Serials/Lots on Pick Tickets.

Check this box if you want to specify serial numbers and lot numbers

on pick tickets.

Default CC for Pick Tickets.

Set this value to automatically CC all your pick tickets to a certain

email address.

Rental Title.

Change this value if you want to change the title when printing or emailing rentals.

For example, some people use Rental Ticket instead. The title should be no more than 50

characters.

Next Rental Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your rental numbering.

Rental Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed automatically in

front of system-generated rental numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, rental numbers

would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

Rental Footer.

This text will show at the bottom of every rental.

Rental From.

This is the email from which your rentals will be sent.

Rental Message.

This is the body of the email message to be sent with your rentals. Do not use

HTML.

Next Rental Return Number.

Change this value if you want to reset your rental return numbering.

Rental Return Number Prefix.

This field is optional. If a value is entered, it will be placed

automatically in front of system-generated rental return numbers. For example, if the prefix is

2013-

, rental return numbers would be

2013-1

2013-2

, and so forth.

These settings will allow you to set what format of barcode you want SOS to use when defining and

printing labels.

Barcode Format.

Supported barcode formats are Code 39, UPC, ISBN, or QR Code.

Printed Width (inches).

Specifies the print width.

Printed Height (inches).

Specifies the print height.

Sample Text.

Allows you to put in what you desire for the barcode and click Show Sample to see

what the barcode looks like for the settings above.

See the section on Barcoding later in this guide for where and how barcodes can be used.

These settings affect the way SOS Inventory and QuickBooks Online interact with each other and

more. If you are not currently connected to QuickBooks Online, you will see only two buttons: one

button to Connect to QuickBooks, and one that selects the stand-alone function Never Connect.

An entire section discusses the integration with QuickBooks Online later in this user’s guide.

Disconnect.

Select Remove Connection to QuickBooks Online to disconnect from QuickBooks

Online. If you disconnect, you will not be able to synchronize until you reconnect.

Automatic Sync.

You can choose hourly, daily, weekly, or never. When enabled, SOS Inventory will

automatically sync with QuickBooks Online according to the schedule you specify. Choose Never if

you want to do all synchronizations manually.

Directional Sync.

Change this setting to control the information flow when synchronizing. You

can let it default to bi-directional or for unique cases, limit it to only one direction, or not send at

all.

Post COGS to QuickBooks.

Uncheck this box if you do not want SOS to post cost of goods sold to

QuickBooks. This option is enabled by default, and we recommend that you leave it enabled.

However, in certain situations you might wish to have manual control over COGS postings—for

example, if you are getting duplicate postings due to QuickBooks Online inventory tracking. Check

with your accountant or SOS support if you are unsure.

Class Tracking.

Check this box to turn on class tracking. Classes enable you to group transactions

for reporting purposes. If you select classes on transactions, the classes will sync with QuickBooks.

Department Tracking.

Check this box to turn on department tracking. Departments enable you to

group transactions for reporting purposes. If you select departments on transactions, the

departments will sync with QuickBooks. Departments can also make it easier for auto-ship

invoices and auto-ship sales receipts if the departments match the locations defined in SOS.

When SOS Inventory needs to post data to QuickBooks, it posts to the accounts associated with

each item, as described later in this manual. If the accounts are not specified, SOS Inventory uses

the default accounts specified on the settings pages. You should make sure that these accounts are

set to the ones that you want, or your data might post to incorrect accounts in QuickBooks.

Default Income Account.

Found on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory

Settings). This account will be used as the default for all sales unless it is otherwise specified with

the item.

Default Asset Account.

Found on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory

Settings). This account will be used as the default to record inventory assets. It can be overridden

at the item level.

Default COGS Account.

Found on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory

Settings). This account will be used as the default to record cost of goods sold. It can be overridden

at the item level.

Default Expense Account.

Found on the Purchasing Settings page (Settings Menu > Purchasing

Settings). This account will be used as the default for expense items on purchase orders and item

receipts. It can be overridden at the item level.

Default Credit Card Account.

Found on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory

Settings). This account will be used as the default for all credit card charges generated from item

receipts. This account must be of type Credit Card in QuickBooks or you will get an error message

when you sync.

Default Checking Account.

Found on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory

Settings). This account will be used as the default for all checks generated from item receipts. This

must be a bank account in QuickBooks.

Default Cash Account.

Found on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory

Settings). This account will be used as the default for all cash purchases generated from item

receipts.

Default Adjustment Account.

Found on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory

Settings). This account will be used as the default account to record inventory adjustments, unless

otherwise changed on the adjustment page. In an adjustment, a debit or credit will be issued to the

inventory asset account and an offsetting entry will be issued to the adjustment account. This is

normally the Inventory Shrinkage account in QuickBooks Online.

The inventory management functions of SOS Inventory collectively form the core of SOS

Inventory—the underlying engine on which the software runs. The inventory features are used by

companies ranging in size from one-person to as many as several thousand employees. Most

importantly, the functionality matches that found in expensive inventory/manufacturing/ERP

systems that cost over 10 times as much as SOS Inventory.

Items are the most important pieces of data in SOS Inventory. They drive everything else in the

system. You can set up an item to represent almost anything. It does not have to be something

stored in inventory. An item is simply something that you want to track in SOS Inventory, which

could be a product you sell, a service you provide, raw materials for manufacturing, overhead

expenses, and so on.

SOS Inventory provides three ways to add an item. You can go on the Task Bar under Add Menu >

Inventory > Item. You may also add new items from the Items page under Operations Menu >

Inventory > Items and click on Add New in the upper right corner of the content area. Then enter

the proper information and save. Or when filling out a form (purchase order, sales order, etc.), if

you enter an item name that does not match an existing item, the system will prompt you to create

a new item automatically. If using the inline method, be sure that you have configured your default

settings for new items, as those are the settings that SOS Inventory will use for the new items

entered on forms.

Refer to Item Field Descriptions and Accounts Needed According to Item Type to help you as you

define an item.

Fields are listed in the order they appear on the Item edit page in SOS Inventory.

Name.

Name of the item. The name should be whatever you want to use to reference this item. The

name is the primary method you will use to retrieve the item on forms. This could be a part

number, SKU number, item code, descriptive name, or anything you want, as long as you

understand what it represents. Double quote (“) characters are not allowed in the item name.

Those will be converted to single quotes.

Description.

This is the default description for your item. You can change it on any individual form.

Type.

SOS Inventory supports the following item types:

•

Inventory.

Inventory items are the most common type of item you will have. These simply

represent any item for which you want to track stock on hand.

•

Non-inventory.

Non-inventory items are items that you want to use in transactions but for

which you do not maintain inventory. For example, this could be used for items that you

sell but do not stock (for example, drop-shipped items).

•

Category.

Category items are ways to group like items. This is very similar to the structure

of QuickBooks Online. For example, if you sell 10 different types of widgets, you could have

a category item called Widget with 10 items underneath. For a category item, its inventory

is always the sum of the inventory of its items.

•

Expense.

An expense item is not tracked for inventory purposes. When it is purchased, it is

booked to QuickBooks Online directly as an expense.

•

Assembly.

An assembly item is a special type of inventory item. An assembly is made up of

component items. Its cost is determined by its bill of materials (BOM). For more

information on assemblies, go to the section on Assemblies.

•

Kit (Item Group).

A collection of physical items that are bundled together at the time of

purchase or sale. The items in a kit are still separate items that may be sold individually if

desired. For more information, go to the section on Kits (Item Groups).

•

Service.

Service items are non-inventory items used to represent services or fees that you

provide (or that are provided to you). An example would be installation or delivery.

•

Labor.

For more information on labor items, go to the section on Labor. Labor items are

available only on the Pro plan.

•

Overhead.

For more information on overhead items, go to the section on Overhead.

Overhead items are available only on the Pro plan.

•

Other.

Use this designation for non-inventory items that do not fall in one of the other

categories.

Has Variants.

Indicates that the item is a product with multiple variations. For more information

about this feature, see Item Variants.

Category.

This allows you to select a category to assign the item to so that you may group common

items together and report on all items within the category. For more on categories, see the section

Creating and Using Categories.

Sales Price.

Price that you charge your customers for this item. You can enter a fixed price or a

markup based on a percentage of either the standard cost or the actual cost basis.

Minimum Sales Price.

Specifies the lowest sales price that the system will accept. The system will

not allow any transaction to be saved if the sales price entered for an item is below its minimum

sales price.

Track Serial Numbers.

Selecting this option allows you to track serial numbers for specific items.

NOTE: You cannot track both serial numbers and lot numbers on the same item. For more

information on serial number tracking, go to the section on Serial Inventory.

Track Lot Numbers.

Selecting this option allows you to track lots for this item when it is

purchased, shipped, or manufactured. NOTE: You cannot track both serial numbers and lot

numbers on the same item. For more information on lot tracking, go to the section on Lots.

Income Account.

Account to record income from sales of this item.

Asset Account.

Account to record inventory on hand for this item. If the list is empty, that means

you have not set up any asset accounts for your inventory.

COGS Account.

Account to record costs of goods sold for this item. If the list is empty, that means

you have not set up any COGS accounts.

Expense Account.

Account that will be affected when you purchase, sell, or use this item. This

applies only to items in which the Type field is designated as Non-inventory, Kit (Item Group),

Service, Expense, Labor, or Overhead.

Always Shippable.

Specifies that the item can always be shipped. This option is available for any

item type except Inventory, Assembly, and Category.

Barcode.

SOS Inventory will recognize the item by this barcode in addition to the name of the item.

You can type the code or scan it in from an existing barcode. For more information on barcoding, go

to the section on Barcoding.

Warranty.

The type of warranty attached to the sale of a serial-tracked item. The warranty must be

defined before it will appear in the dropdown list.

SKU.

Scan or type the SKU that the system will use to recognize this item. This syncs to the SKU

field in QuickBooks Online.

Picture.

You can attach a picture of the item for reference within SOS. You can set the size of the

picture as mentioned previously in the Inventory Settings.

Web Address.

URL where this item can be located online.

Purchase Description.

This description will be shown on purchase orders and other purchasing

forms.

Purchase Cost.

Also known as the standard cost, which is the default price you pay when

purchasing this item. This value is mandatory for any items that will be used as the output on a

process transaction.

Preferred Vendor.

Vendor from which you normally purchase this item. This will assist you in

generating purchase orders from the Reorder Report mentioned later in this guide. If you need to

specify multiple vendors for an item, use the Vendor-Item Catalog.

Vendor Part Number.

Use this field if your vendor has a different part number for this item than

you do. This value will show on the line item of a purchase order. This field is optional.

Customer Part Number.

Use this field as an internal reference number. It can be included on

printed or emailed transactions.

Default Bin.

The bin in which this item is stored by default. It will appear on forms when adding

the item to the Items list. You can change this on any individual form. Changing this value will not

change any existing transactions.

Starting Inventory.

The beginning inventory level of this item, as of a certain date, at a total value

of, and stored at what location. Use for existing inventory that needs to be entered into the system.

IMPORTANT

: Adding the quantity and value during the creation of an item does not create

a journal entry to increase the inventory asset account for that item in QuickBooks Online.

It does create an inventory adjustment that you would need to Add to Sync to send to

QuickBooks Online.

Reorder Point.

The level at which you need to order more of this item. All items are assumed to be

on the Reorder Report unless you fill this block with a negative number (such as

-99

) to hide the

item from the report.

Max Stock Level.

The maximum desired quantity of this item. Another way to think of this is the

number of units you want to have after you complete restocking.

Lead Time.

The length of time that must be allowed for a vendor to produce, ship, and deliver the

item once it has been ordered. It is used on the Pro Plan to automatically calculate reorder points.

Weight.

The weight of the item, in pounds, ounces, kilograms, or grams. This is useful for shipping

purposes.

Volume.

The size of the item, typically in cubic meters (cbm). This is useful in shipping and

purchasing.

Sync with QuickBooks.

Check this box if you want changes to this item to show up in QuickBooks

Online. For example, if you have a large number of items, you might not want all of them to show

up in QuickBooks Online. However, if you plan to use the item on any transactions sent to

QuickBooks Online (invoices, etc.), you must check this box.

Update Inventory in Shopify.

Automatically adds a new item and updates the quantity of an item

in Shopify as sales are received, adjusting the available-for-sale numbers.

Update Inventory in BigCommerce.

Automatically adds a new item and updates the quantity of an

item in BigCommerce as sales are received, adjusting the available-for-sale numbers.

Taxable.

Default taxable status for this item. You can override this on each line item of a sales

form. Users based outside the US will see dropdown lists to define a default purchase tax and sales

tax for each item. On transactions, a tax is required for every line item.

Commission Exempt.

Specifies that sales of this item are not eligible for sales commissions.

Percent Commission.

Specifies the commission percentage that a sales representative will receive

for the sale of this item.

Per Unit Commission.

Specifies the monetary amount per unit sold that a sales representative will

receive as a commission.

Default Class.

The class to which the item is assigned by default when used on transactions, but

the class assignment can be changed on the transaction as needed. Class tracking is useful for

reporting purposes. Classes sync to QuickBooks Online if class tracking has been enabled in

QuickBooks.

Used On.

Allows you to choose the types of forms on which the item appears. Choices are Sales

Forms, Purchasing Forms, and/or Manufacturing Forms. The option is useful if, for example, the

item is a raw material component used in manufacturing. You may need the component to appear

on purchasing and manufacturing forms but do not want it to show on sales forms.

Tags.

These allow you to search for unlike items that are still related in some sense. An example

would be a coffee table, couch, and television. If you gave them all a tag of living room, you can

search for that tag to show only those items.

Notes.

Any additional information you wish to store about this item.

If you have defined any custom fields for items, they will appear below the standard SOS item fields

and will be of the input format and value that you define.

ITEM TYPE

HOW USED

INCOME

INV ASSET

COGS

EXPENSE *

NOTES

Inventory

Finished goods output of

process transaction.

The COGS/Expense is to be able to

list a cost so that process

transactions can compute output

value percentages and transfer

value of sale.

Inventory

Raw materials purchased for

manufacturing.

COGS/Expense needed for

purchasing raw materials and Asset

ITEM TYPE

HOW USED

INCOME

INV ASSET

COGS

EXPENSE *

NOTES

to hold the value until used in

manufacturing.

Non-Inventory

Physical items not tracked.

Expense for purchases, Income if

sold.

Service/Expense

Fees, shipping, advertising,

etc.

Only used in sales.

Service/Expense

Used in manufacturing Bill of

Materials.

Must have cost to add value to built

product.

Item Group

Cases of product.

Need Income because it is sold.

Item Group

Packaging materials.

Used in manufacturing, so it needs

these accounts to hold a cost.

Category

For grouping items only.

Categories do not have accounts.

Assembly

Finished goods output of

builds.

Income for sale, Asset to hold

overall value of build,

COGS/Expense to transfer value of

sale.

Assembly

Sub-assembly used for upper-

level assembly build.

Asset to hold value, COGS to show

cost in BOMs.

Labor

Labor unit for Employee

Used in manufacturing.

Overhead

Utilities and property

Used in manufacturing.

Other

Used for anything else

No accounts assigned.

The expense account is used on the QuickBooks Online side to connect with the COGS

account in the item definition to allow purchasing of the item.

The Items list (Operations Menu > Inventory > Items) is one of the most used pages in SOS

Inventory. It provides an overview of your items and their key properties. It is often useful to have

the Items list open in one tab in your browser while working in another tab. So, let’s look at the

capabilities available in the Items list. This is what it looks like:

This button allows you to add a new item to the Items list.

This allows you to search for items according to the inventory settings. If all options are set in the

inventory settings, this field is very powerful. By default, the search will search from the start of a

name. For example, “Wid” would find Widget but not Gasket. You can search by any part of the

item name, so that “et” would find both Widget and Gasket. In addition, you can configure SOS to

search by the item description. Be careful using the item description to find items, as it can

significantly slow down the search, depending on the number of items that you have.

For items that are assigned to a category, the item is listed with a colon separating the category and

item names. For example, the full name of an item might be Widget:XYZ123 and Widget:ABC123.

Those represent two different items of the category Widget.

This button allows you to change the defaults for the inventory items displayed. This includes how

many items to display, type of items to display, category, tags, archive status, location, vendor, and

variants. Set them to what you need and then click Apply. The filters chosen remain unchanged for

the user that set them until they are reset. To return to the default filter settings, simply click

Clear.

 
 
The Actions Menu options available for items will vary, depending upon the item type. The default 
action for items is Edit, with additional actions available in the Actions Menu dropdown list. 
Actions that are also available as batch actions are noted where applicable. 
Options are listed in the order they appear on the Actions Menu of the Items list in SOS Inventory.
 
Edit.
 Opens an existing item’s edit page for viewing and editing. 
PDF.
 Uses a form template to produce a PDF file of the item’s information. Also available on the 
Batch Actions dropdown list. 
Copy.
 Allows you to copy an item and then just update the name to what you need it to be. 
Delete.
 Moves an item from the Items list to the Deleted Items list, where 
(deleted)
 is also added to 
the end of the item name. Deleted items can be recovered if needed by going to the Deleted Items 
list (Operations Menu > Reports > Miscellaneous > Deleted Items) and selecting the Restore 
action. Also available on the Batch Actions dropdown list. 
Archive/Unarchive.
 Allows you to pull items from the Items list until you need them again. The 
ability to display archived items is controlled through the Item list’s Change Filter feature. Also 
available on the Batch Actions dropdown list.
 
Transaction History.
 Probably the best tool for troubleshooting items, Transaction History shows 
the entire history of an item. It shows when the item first entered SOS, as well as all transactions 
affecting the item.  
Rental History.
 Provides a list of all rental transactions on which an item has ever appeared. 
Bill of Materials. 
A bill of materials (BOM) lists the components and quantities that are used to 
build this assembly or kit (item group). Costs of components are shown from the cost field of their 
item definitions. The total BOM cost is used as the expected cost of the assembly and should be 
copied to the cost in the assembly or kit’s definition. 
Location Settings.
 Allows establishing different reorder points, maximum stock levels, and default 
bins at each location where an item is stocked. 

Units of Measure.

Differentiates between different sizes (such as base unit of pound and a

purchased unit of a 50-pound bag). For more on this feature, see the section on Units of Measure.

Variants.

Creates variations of an item. Examples include size and color variants of the same

product. For more information on this feature, see Item Variants.

Boxes.

A future capability of SOS for EDI shipping that will enable an Advance Ship Notice (ASN) to

be generated from the Shipments list.

Clear Cache.

SOS caches an item’s quantity data (including quantity on hand and quantity for sale)

on sales orders, sales receipts, purchasing orders, and work orders. Although caching increases the

speed and performance on the items list, in certain situations it may not update as expected. The

Clear Cache action allows the system to zero out the cached quantities of an item. It does not affect

the stored quantity-on-hand number. Cached quantities are reestablished when the item list is

refreshed.

Add to Sync.

Provides the functionality of adding an item to the sync queue to send it up to

QuickBooks Online again. Also available on the Batch Actions dropdown list.

The Items list Column Chooser allows you to select which attributes you want to see displayed for

items. Columns available are # (Item ID), Name, Category, Description, Type, Vendor, In Stock,

Available, On SO, On SR, On PO, On RMA, On WO, On Rental, Reorder Point, Max Stock, Sales Price,

Purchase Price, Cost Basis, Weight, Volume, Image, Barcode, SKU, Url, Tags, Notes, Bin, Purchase

Description, Vendor Part #, Warranty, Sync, and Documents. Between Sync and Documents, you

will see any custom fields defined for the item. Select the ones you want to see and click Apply. The

list will automatically reformat to provide the best viewing of the columns selected. The saved

column selection will appear each time that user views the Items list until the selections are

changed by the user.

Categories work like parent items, grouping like inventory items together. For example, you may

have many items that are different types of chairs and, alphabetically, are scattered throughout

the items list. You could have a category item called

Chair

assigned to all the different chair items

so they appear together in the list. Some reports can filter by category to provide you a report of

just the items listed in that category. These items sync with QuickBooks Online in the manage

categories list.

To create a new category item, click on the Add Menu (blue plus sign) and select Item. Then, give

your category a name, in the Type field select Category, and then click on the Save button in lower

right corner. No other options are used. You may also use the Add New button at the top right of

the Items list to create a new category item as well.

To assign a category, go to your items list and edit each item to select your newly created category

in the Category field’s dropdown list.

If you sell variations of the same product, SOS Inventory’s item variants feature allows you to

create a master item and establish variations that link to the master product. Many SOS reports

track master items with a breakdown that includes variant data.

Setting up item variants requires the creation of a master item to which the variants are linked.

SOS automatically applies the description, pricing, cost, and other information defined for the

master product to new product variants. But you can edit each variant’s item definition as needed.

If you need to change a variant to a stand-alone item, please see Converting a Variant to a Stand-

alone Item.

How to create item variants

NOTES:

SOS Inventory’s Export/Import Data feature, which enables items to be created and edited

in bulk, cannot be used for master items and variants. Master items do not sync to QuickBooks

Online. Only variants are selectable on transactions; master items cannot be used.

Create a new item that will serve as the master product.

(NOTE: A master item cannot be

created by editing an existing item.) Set up the master item as you would any other

inventory item but enable Has Variants on the item definition. When you finish creating

the master item, Save and Close.

Define each variant and link it to the master product.

First, locate the master product in the

Items list, then select Variants from the Actions dropdown list. A Variants edit page of your

master item will appear, displaying a table for each item variant that you wish to add. For

variants that are new items, leave the Linked Item field blank. SOS will create a link to the

master upon saving.

If the desired variant already exists as a stand-alone item in the system, locate that item in

the dropdown list of the Linked Item field. NOTE: When the table is saved, the name of the

linked item will be changed to the name specified in the Variant Name field. If the Variant

Name field is left blank, SOS will not save the existing item as a variant.

After completing the table fields, Save and Close.

The screenshot below shows a table of variants for the master item, Aurora Natural Spinel Ring. In

this example, a three-carat peach spinel ring is being added to the list. The Variant Name field

consists of a prefix (the master item name, Aurora Natural Spinel Ring), followed by the variant-

specific designation (14K Rose Gold, 3ct Peach).

SOS automatically imported the SKU, sales price, and purchase cost information from the master

item definition, but the information has been manually changed to reflect the data needed for this

variant.

Master and variant items will appear on the Items list as shown in the following screenshot. They

can be revised as necessary using the Edit action on the Items list.

Converting a variant to a stand-alone item will result in a change to the name of the item, as the

master item prefix will be removed—leaving the variant designation as the new name of the

stand-alone item. Before converting the variant to a stand-alone item, check your existing items

to ensure that your variant designation does not duplicate an item that already exists in the

system.

If you wish to change the name for your stand-alone item:

Change the name on the master item’s variant table to the desired name for the stand-

alone item.

Save and Close.

Reopen the variant table and delete the item from the table.

Save and Close.

If further changes to the stand-alone item are needed, locate it in the Items list and use the

Edit action to access the item’s edit page. Enter and save your changes.

One of the most under-utilized resources in SOS Inventory is the item’s Transaction History

feature. To view the history of an item, go to the Items list. Under the Actions Menu options for

that item, select Transaction History. The transaction history will show you every transaction in

the system that affects the inventory or cost basis for a given item. This allows you to see exactly

how you reached the stock level and cost basis that you have today.

One of the most common support questions that we get is “My quantity on hand says we have X

units, but we actually have Y units. Where is the difference?” In 99 percent of the cases we see with

this question, we point the customer to the transaction history, and they find the answer in less

than a minute. It is usually a transaction entered incorrectly (the wrong item, the wrong date, the

wrong quantity) or not entered at all. Whatever the actual problem, the Transaction History feature

lets you see exactly where the quantity or cost became different than what you expected them to be

so you may take the appropriate actions to correct the issue.

The cost basis of an item is the value of an item that you have on hand. This is the aggregate cost

that you paid for the units you have on hand, as calculated using your chosen valuation method.

You can alter the cost basis of an item, if necessary, by creating an adjustment (Operations Menu >

Inventory > Adjustments).

Inventory adjustments allow you to modify the quantity and cost basis of inventory on hand via

direct entry. You should use inventory adjustments sparingly, as most often inventory will be

added or removed through item receipts and shipments. In some cases, however, you might run

into a situation in which your physical (actual) inventory count does not match what the system

shows.

In this case, your first step should be to determine WHY there is a discrepancy. Look at the history

of the item by going to the Items list and look at the Transaction History for that item. Review the

history and determine if any transactions were entered incorrectly or if any transactions were

simply missed.

If you are confident that the transaction history is correct and your count is still off, you might

need to enter an adjustment. Typical reasons for entering adjustments are breakage, spoilage,

theft, and so on. To enter an adjustment, go to Operations Menu > Inventory > Adjustments and

click on Add New. Alternately, you may go to Add (+) Menu > Inventory > Adjustment.

If you need to update the quantities of a large number of items at once, you might wish to use the

Export Data/Import Data features.

Adjustments to items can also denote departments and classes to assign the adjusted values to, as

well as allow you to assign the adjusted items to a job.

NOTE: You cannot make quantity

increases

to serial items by an adjustment. You must enter

additional inventory into the system with an item receipt so that a serial number can be assigned

to each unit added.

When entering an adjustment via the Operations Menu > Inventory > Adjustments page, first fill

out the top of the form as appropriate. Then on each line item, enter or select the item that you

wish to adjust. Once selected, the current quantity on hand for that item (at the selected location,

on the selected date) will show in the Old Quantity field. You can then enter the appropriate value

in either the New Quantity or the Adjust Qty By field, and the system will calculate the other one as

needed.

When entering an adjustment, you will see a field on each line item labeled Adjust Cost Basis By.

This allows you to adjust the cost on hand of each item. When you enter the quantity, SOS

Inventory will enter a suggested cost adjustment in the Adjust Cost Basis By field. The suggested

value is based on the quantity. If the quantity adjustment is positive (an increase), the suggested

cost is the quantity multiplied by the standard cost of the item. If the quantity adjustment is

negative (a decrease), the suggested cost is the cost basis of the missing items using the chosen

valuation method (FIFO, weighted average, LIFO). In both cases, the user can override the value.

This is often used when adjusting for damages, depreciation, etc.

To simplify the cycle counting process, SOS Inventory provides the ability to do partial physical

inventories using the adjustment feature as described above. Thus, each cycle count is really

nothing more than a physical inventory which might or might not include counts of all items. The

selection of items to count is left up to the user. It is not mandated by the system.

SOS Inventory provides a worksheet for you to print when working on physical inventories. To

access the worksheet, go to Operations Menu > Reports > Inventory > Physical Inventory

Worksheet. Choose the date, filters, options, and columns that you wish to use, then select how

you wish to receive the worksheet in the Actions block.

When entering an inventory adjustment, the system needs to know the account to which you want

the inventory adjustment to post. The exact transaction depends on the type of adjustment. If the

quantity increases, SOS Inventory will post a debit to the inventory asset account of each item and

a credit to the adjustment account. If the quantity decreases, SOS posts a credit to the inventory

asset account of each item and a debit to the adjustment account.

You can specify a default adjustment account on the Settings Menu > Inventory Settings page. The

default adjustment account is used for Export Data/Import Data adjustments and other situations

in which no adjustment account is specified. When entering an adjustment directly, you can

specify the adjustment account to override the default. The most common accounts used for

inventory adjustments are Breakage, Spoilage, and similar accounts to track the unexpected loss of

goods. When adding items to an account or opening a new account, you can use Opening Balance

Equity.

You can also adjust your inventory by stating the unit of measure you wish to adjust by. It will

calculate the change in quantity by that unit of measure ratio defined for the item and also change

the cost basis accordingly.

The Plus and Pro plans of SOS Inventory support an unlimited number of inventory locations. A

location is typically defined as a place with its own physical mailing or shipping address. For

example, if you have multiple stores or multiple warehouses, those would each be a unique

location. For tracking items at different places within a specific location (for example, bins within

a warehouse) or specifying different default bins for an item at multiple locations, see the Bin

Tracking capabilities of SOS Inventory.

To add a location, go to Company Menu > Locations, then select Add New. You can also use the

Locations list to edit the address or other attributes of a specific location. Once your locations are

set up, you can choose your desired location on each form that requires one. In addition, you will be

able to use the Inventory Stock Status and Inventory Valuation reports to view your quantity and

cost basis at each location.

When setting up a location, you can specify the location as non-nettable. Items in a non-nettable

location are not counted as available for sale. Non-nettable locations are typically used to

represent quality assurance items, items awaiting repair, and so on. Items in non-nettable

locations do count toward your quantity on hand, because you do indeed have the items. They are

simply not available for sale.

To transfer inventory from one location to another, go to Operations Menu > Inventory >

Transfers. Select the From location, the To location, and enter your items and quantities. You can

transfer any type of items here to include serial inventory, lot-tracked inventory, and item groups.

When transferred, the value of the item is calculated by the valuation method selected in your

settings.

SOS Inventory allows you to specify transfers in defined units of measure for items, assign classes

and departments for reporting in QuickBooks Online, and assign transfers to a job for costing.

The system also provides you with the ability to assign shipping information that could be applied

to the transfer of goods from one location to another. This information includes the ship method,

tracking number, and shipping cost. You can even create a bill based on the shipping vendor listed

in the ship method.

SOS Inventory allows you to generate inventory transfers through the Generate Transfer action of

the Reorder Report (Operations Menu > Reports > Purchasing > Reorder Report).

To use this feature, the Location field in the Filters block must be set to a single location. After

choosing your other filters, options, and columns, select Display Report in the Actions block. Once

you run the report, additional options will appear in the Actions block. Choose the location from

which you desire to make an inventory transfer in the From dropdown list, then select Generate

Transfer.

After generation, the transfer will appear in the Transfers list, where it can be edited as needed.

Serialized inventory allows you to track individual units of an item, rather than quantities only. A

serial number is assigned to each unit, and the number stays with the unit as it goes through the

system. You can track when each individual unit was received, shipped, built, and so on. The Plus

and Pro plans of SOS Inventory support serialized inventory.

To turn on serial tracking for an item, create or edit the item, turn on the Track Serial Numbers

setting, and save the changes. Once that is complete, whenever you use that item the system will

prompt you for the serial number(s).

You MUST create the item first and set it as serial tracked before you load quantities via an item

receipt or load one unit at a time via the Serial Inventory page (Operations Menu > Inventory >

Serial Inventory).

The Export Data/Import Data features cannot be used on serial items, and

adjustment transactions cannot be used for serial items if the intended change is to increase

quantity.

If you want to convert a current item to being serial tracked, you will need to zero out the

quantity and value of the item, ensure a purchase cost representing the correct value of each unit

of the serial item is set, and then turn serial tracking on. Now you must reload the stock levels back

in via an item receipt or using the serial inventory page.

As an example of serialized inventory, suppose you have an item called

Widget

with serial tracking

turned on. Now suppose that you create an item receipt to receive four units of that item into

inventory. When you add that item to the Items list with an item receipt, the system will provide

you the entry spaces for you to enter the serial numbers. In addition to this, on the item receipt

only you can upload the serial numbers via a button that lets you select a spreadsheet listing the

serial numbers. Shipments, builds, process transactions, etc., all work similarly, except they ask

for the serial numbers upon save without the spreadsheet option.

If you want to add historical records of serial items that are at a customer site, select the customer

name from the Customer dropdown list when entering a new serial item on the Serial Inventory

page. Either way, once you add a serial item to either a location or a customer, it cannot be changed

by editing the serial item, but only via transactions like shipments or returns.

If you look at the options in the Inventory Settings and Purchasing Settings, you will see many

things that make serial tracking more powerful. Under Inventory Settings, you can select Value

Serials by Specific Id, which means that each serial item brought into the system will keep the

exact value it was entered in at, regardless of the valuation method. Under Purchasing Settings,

you can use settings to automate the generation of serial numbers, add a prefix to the number, set

the number length, and either generate the numbers randomly or keep them in sequence by

providing a starting sequence number.

To view the history of a serial item, go to either: (1) the Serial Inventory list (Operations Menu >

Inventory > Serial Inventory) and use the item’s Actions Menu to select Transaction History; or (2)

the Serial Unit History report (Operations Menu > Reports > Inventory > Serial Unit History).

NOTE:

If you desire to assign a warranty to an existing item but previously did not track the item

with serial numbers, please contact SOS Support (s[email protected]) for assistance.

The Plus and Pro plans of SOS Inventory allow you to issue and maintain warranty information on

serialized items that you sell. To use this feature, a warranty must be defined in SOS as well as

assigned to an item.

Once your warranties are configured and assigned to items, warranty information for serial

inventory items will be included on packing lists of shipments to customers. The warranty goes

into effect on the date the item is shipped.

Warranty information will be added automatically to the serial unit’s edit page, which is stored

under the Serial Inventory list (Operations Menu > Inventory > Serial Inventory). The information

also can be viewed by enabling the warranty-related columns of that list with the Column Chooser.

To define a warranty in SOS Inventory, go to Company Menu > Warranties and select Add New.

Then complete the following fields:

•

Name.

A unique title for the warranty.

•

Description.

Additional information about the warranty.

•

Duration.

A number or text that corresponds with the Units field (for example, enter “5” in

the Duration field for a five-year warranty).

•

Units.

A dropdown list that includes options for Days, Weeks, Months, and Years.

Upon saving, the newly defined warranty will appear on the Warranties list and be included in the

dropdown list of Warranty field options on item edit pages. Warranties can be assigned to new and

previously existing serialized items.

Lot tracking is used to track batches, or groups, of a specific item. Lots work similarly to serialized

inventory, except a lot represents a group of items instead of an individual unit. A lot number is

assigned to each batch of items, and the number stays with the batch as it goes through the

system. You can track when each batch was received, shipped, built, and so on, as well as set an

expiration date for the lot. If a customer reports something wrong with the lot, you can mark it for

recall. The Plus and Pro plans of SOS Inventory support lot tracking.

To turn on lot tracking for an item, create or edit the item, turn on the Track Lot Numbers setting,

and save the changes. Once that is complete, whenever you use that item the system will prompt

you for the lot number.

You MUST create the item first and set as lot tracked before you load quantities via an item receipt

or inventory adjustment. In some cases, you may need to create the empty lot first so you can load

the quantities. This is done under the Lots list (Operations Menu > Inventory > Lots). Lot items

cannot be adjusted through the Export Data/Import Data features. If you want to convert a current

item to being lot tracked, you will need to zero out the quantity and value of the item, ensure a

purchase cost representing the correct value of each unit of the lot item is set, and then turn lot

tracking on. Then you must reload the stock levels back in via an item receipt or an inventory

adjustment.

For example, suppose you have an item called

Widget

with lot tracking turned on. Now suppose

that you create an item receipt to receive four units of that item into inventory. The system will

provide you the blanks next to that that item on the item receipt so you can enter the lot numbers

for each lot item. Shipments, builds, process transactions, etc., all work similarly, except the

transaction will provide you with the blanks upon saving. If you need to enter more than one lot of

an item on the same form, create a second line on the form to represent the second lot, and so on.

If you need to adjust your inventory of items tracked by lot, use the Operations Menu > Inventory >

Adjustments page. The system will prompt you for the lot number(s) as appropriate.

If you look at the options in the Purchasing Settings, you will see many things that make lot

tracking more powerful. You can use settings to automate the generation of lot numbers, add a

prefix to the number, set the number length, and either generate the numbers randomly or keep

them in sequence by providing a starting sequence number.

To view the history of a lot, go either to: (1) the Lots list (Operations Menu > Inventory >Lots) and

use the item’s Actions Menu to select Transaction History; or (2) the Lot History report

(Operations Menu > Reports > Inventory > Lot History).

NOTE: Lots are location sensitive and can be spread across multiple locations. Be sure to keep track

of how much of a lot is at each location.

In SOS Inventory, the handling of consignment inventory—goods transferred by the owner to

another party, typically an agent hired to sell the goods on the owner’s behalf—depends on

whether you are the owner (consignor) or the agent (consignee).

For the consignee, consignment inventory requires creating the correct accounts in QuickBooks

Online and linking consignment items to the correct accounts. Sales Inventory Assets should be in

a separate account from your consignment Inventory Assets. In addition to creating separate

Inventory Asset accounts in QuickBooks Online, it is very important to assign the correct asset

account to that item when it is defined in SOS.

Once the creation of the lines of accounting are complete and you have created items in SOS and

chosen the correct accounting settings, you can then receive your consignment items. As the

receipt of the material will create an open payment to the consignor, you will have many open

payments in QuickBooks Online until the time that the item actually sells.

If you do not want to have many open payments in

QuickBooks Online

, on your item receipt (in

SOS), select None in the payment field. However, you must amend the receipt and select the

applicable payment field when you sell the consignment item. If the price the consignor wished to

receive for the item is different from the actual selling price, you would have to amend the receipt

anyway.

If you are the consignor, create a separate, non-nettable location (or locations) for your

consignment inventory. This location will be on your books because the items are in your

inventory.

Consignment items are classified as inventory assets. Designating the location as non-nettable

will protect consignment items from being inadvertently added to your available-for-sale quantity

and sold from your location.

When items are sold from the consignment area, transfer them to a nettable location, create a

sales order and shipment to close the sale, and then bill the consignee.

If no possibility exists for the items to be oversold from your default location, the alternate

location does not need to be designated as non-nettable.

SOS Inventory supports barcoding of items (SKUs), serial numbers, lot numbers, or really anything

else that you want. The type of scanning is transactional. SOS does support warehouse scanning of

this type via network scanners. A hand-held scanner and a laptop or tablet is required for mobile

scanning capability. To scan data, simply put your cursor in the proper field, scan the barcode, and

it will show up in that field. NOTE: Barcodes are supported only in the Plus and Pro plans of SOS

Inventory.

In addition to an item name, each item in SOS can be configured with a specific barcode. This

allows the system to recognize the name of the item or the barcode. To specify a barcode for an

item, go to the item’s edit page, and then scan or type the barcode into the Barcode field.

For other scannable data, such as serial numbers and lot numbers, you simply enter the data as

normal, and scan it when ready. The system will recognize it and match the appropriate data.

Barcodes can be used on any transaction simply by adding a field to the appropriate form template.

For more information on how to change barcode settings, see Barcode Settings.

SOS Inventory provides the capability to print barcode labels for items by using a form template. If

you have not created a form template for the type of barcode label you need, you will need to do so

before you can print labels. See the section on Form Templates to find out how to build one or to

use a predefined one from the Template Library.

In setting up the barcode label template, the Form Type field is most commonly set to Item. Use

the Lot form type for a lot-tracked item to produce labels using the lot ID, and Serial Item form

type for a serial-tracked item to produce labels using the serial number

Item barcode labels also can be configured to print directly from a transaction (for example, an

item receipt). In this case, select the form type that corresponds to the type of transaction from

which you want to create labels.

To print barcode labels for items:

1. Locate on the appropriate list the item or transaction for which you want to print barcode

labels.

a. Item form type. Use the Items list (Operations Menu > Inventory > Items).

b. Lot form type. Use the Lots list (Operations Menu > Inventory > Lots).

c. Serial Item form type. Use the Serial Inventory list (Operations Menu > Inventory

> Serial Inventory).

d. A transaction form type. Use the appropriate transaction list under the

Operations Menu.

2. From the Actions Menu, select PDF.

3. When the pop-up window appears, choose your desired barcode label template from the

Template field’s dropdown list, then select Generate.

A PDF of the barcode label will download, which you can then print. If you need additional

assistance with this feature, email support@sosinventory.com.

You do not need a specific type of scanner to scan barcodes into SOS Inventory. You simply need a

scanner that works with your computer and web browser. The scanner can be either USB connected

or Bluetooth, but it must use an SOS-supported barcode format.

When scanning barcodes, be sure that your scanner is configured properly. Many scanners are

configured to send a certain character after the scan (such as

Enter

Tab

, or something else). It

works just the same as if you pressed that key manually. If the page is resetting each time you scan

something, be sure that the scanner is not configured to enter a Return or Enter character each

time it scans. The Tab character is sometimes useful to help you move to the next field

automatically.

Bins provide a way of managing the place for each item within a given location. For example, you

might have a warehouse organized into aisles, rows, bins, floor stacks, or various other things. In

SOS Inventory, all those things would be a bin. Bins are simply sublocations within a main

location. Each location can have a different bin structure, and you can have some locations

organized into bins while others are not. Bin tracking must be enabled for a location at the time it

is created. Once bin tracking is turned on, it cannot be turned off for a location. If a location starts

out as non-bin tracked, then it cannot be turned on later.

To enable bin tracking for a location, add the location (Company Menu > Locations) and turn on

the Bin Tracking option. Once bin tracking is enabled for at least one location, the Bins option will

appear on the Company Menu (Company Menu > Bins).

If you want to convert a location to bin tracked or turn off bin tracking for a location, you must

create a new location with the appropriate options, then complete an inventory transfer to move

the goods from one location to the next. Lastly, delete the old location or change its name to

denote that it is old and should not be used.

To add bins, go to the Bins list (Company Menu > Bins) and select Add New. Provide a bin number,

description, and the location where the bin will reside. Because bins are unique to a location, you

should create bins with distinctive identification numbers if you have multiple locations that use

bin tracking. To avoid confusing the bins at one location with those at another, establish a naming

convention (such as a prefix on the bin number) to denote a bin’s location.

When a location has bin tracking enabled, you should receive, ship, and otherwise use items from

that location as normal. For example, when receiving items into a bin-tracked location, add the

item to the item receipt as you normally would. If you have defined a default bin for that item, the

bin will display below the item name automatically. For other types of transactions, the system will

prompt you to select the proper bin upon saving the transaction.

To see all the items in a selected bin, go to the Bins list. Under the Actions Menu, select Contents.

You can use an inventory transfer to move contents to or from a bin-tracked location, as well as to

make bin-to-bin transfers within the same location. In the latter case, the From Location and To

Location fields on the transfer form will be the same.

When you transfer inventory from one bin-tracked location to another bin-tracked location, the

system will prompt you to enter the From Bin and To Bin under the name of the item that is being

transferred. If you are transferring inventory from a bin-tracked location to one that is not

tracked, only the From Bin field will be displayed. If the transfer is from a non-tracked location to

a bin-tracked location, only the To Bin field will be displayed.

Enter other fields on the transfer form as usual, then save when finished.

On an item page, you can set the default bin to which the item is assigned. But what do you do if

your item is stored at multiple locations—each of which has a different default bin for the item?

Location Settings, an option on the Actions menu of the Items list, allows you to establish an

item’s default bin, as well as its reorder point and maximum stock level, at each of your company’s

locations.

Here is the layout of a Locations Settings table for a sample item called Blue Ink Cartridge:

Location Settings allows you to assign an item to bins at multiple locations, but bin tracking must

be enabled at each location where you intend to bin track the item. In addition, each location must

have an existing bin to which you can assign the item.

If bin tracking has not been enabled or bins

have not been created for a specific location, SOS will not allow you to use Location Settings to

enter a default bin for the item at that location.

Bin-tracked locations can be identified by the down arrow appearing in the Default Bin column. If a

down arrow is present but no bin options appear in the dropdown list, bin tracking has been

enabled at that location—but bins have not been created for it.

If the Default Bin field on the Location Settings table is left blank for a bin-tracked location, SOS

will use the Default Bin listed in the item definition. The Default Bin has no relevance for non-

tracked locations.

SOS Inventory supports multiple units of measure for each item. For example, you might purchase

an item in a pack or case and then sell it as an individual unit. To turn on the Units of Measure

feature, go to the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory Settings) and turn on the

Units of Measure option.

Once the Units of Measure option is enabled, you can go to Company Menu > Units of Measure to

define all the units of measure available in the system. You must define the available units of

measure before assigning them to each individual item.

When the Units of Measure option is enabled, each item on the Items list will have Edit Units of

Measure in the Actions Menu. Use this action to define the units of measure for a specific item. You

will need to specify the base unit of measure (the default unit that it will be stored in), any other

acceptable units of measure with their respective conversion ratios (relative to the base unit),

along with the alternate monetary values for the sales price and purchase cost. For example,

suppose you buy light bulbs in cases of 24 and then sell them as individual units. Set the Base Unit

field to

each,

and in the Conversions table, select

case

in the Unit column. Enter

in the Ratio

column, since 24 of the base unit are in each case. Because you buy light bulbs from your vendor by

the case, enter a value in the case’s Purchase Cost field.

Once your units of measure are configured, you can use them on forms. A dropdown list on each

line item allows you to choose the unit of measure for that line item. The Units of Measure feature

is available on all purchasing and sales transactions. It is not available within the manufacturing

functions.

You can also accomplish the same effect as units of measure by creating a separate item to

represent a case, for example. This would allow you to know exactly how many cases are in stock

relative to individual units. You could set up each case as an assembly or kit, as appropriate, and

then build cases or break them down as needed.

A kit or item group is a collection of inventory items that are bundled together at the time of

purchase or sale. The individual items that make up a kit are still separate items and could be sold

individually if needed. In contrast, an assembly is an item that is manufactured (built) from

component items. When you record a build transaction into the system, the inventory of the

assembly item increases and the inventory of the component items decreases, as they are used to

build the assembly. A common example of a kit is a sampler pack, where you bundle individual

products together when you ship them, although they still remain individual items.

To create a kit, add or edit the item that will represent your kit. For the item type, select Kit (Item

Group). That will create a kit item.

To add components to the kit, be sure that you’ve created the kit item. Then, go to the Items list

and find that item. In the Actions Menu for the kit item, select Edit Bill of Materials. This will take

you to a page where you can enter the components. Be sure to include a quantity for each

component.

Once that is complete, you can use the kit as a regular item and the system will recognize the

components. Kits act differently on different transactions. On purchase orders, the kit has a button

to allow the user to expand the kit to list the components instead. On the item receipt, you have

the same option, but when you save the item receipt, all unexpanded kits will be expanded to affect

the inventory appropriately. On sales forms such as the sales order, invoice, estimate, and sales

receipt, you have the Expand button and the choice of expanding or saving as a kit item just like the

purchase order. On pick tickets or shipments, they will expand upon saving since the warehouse

needs to know which items to pull from the shelves for the kit.

SOS posts to the cost of goods sold account of an item when that item is shipped (included on a

shipment). Invoices and sales receipts do not generate COGS entries in SOS. Customers can also

turn off this posting from the QuickBooks Sync Settings page (under Settings Menu > QuickBooks

Setup) if needed in certain circumstances, but this is not recommended.

SOS values inventory at the price at which it was purchased. So if you buy $3,000 worth of raw

materials, you have $3,000 worth of material in inventory. When you buy inventory at different

prices over time and then sell that inventory, it is not always obvious how to value that inventory.

For example, if you buy 10 units today at $10 each and 5 units at $5 each, you have $75 worth of

inventory. Now let’s say that you sell one unit. Did you sell a $5 unit or a $10 unit? SOS Inventory

allows you to value your inventory using either FIFO (First-In, First-Out) or weighted average. If

you are unsure which method to use, please contact a qualified accountant.

By default, SOS allows negative inventory. If you do not want the system to allow negative

inventory, go to the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory Settings) and make sure

that the option Don’t Ask About Negative Inventory is disabled.

SOS Inventory offers a wide selection of reports about items that can provide much information

about your inventory. Some reports, such as Inventory Stock Status and Inventory Value, can take

some time to calculate because of the large amount of data they contain.

The reporting options can be found under Operations Menu > Reports > Inventory. See the

Inventory Reports section of Report Descriptions for details regarding the types of information

that each report provides.

SOS Inventory provides robust purchasing and receiving functionality. Normally you would do all

your purchasing and receiving in SOS Inventory and allow any relevant data to synchronize to

QuickBooks Online as appropriate. We’ll be looking at this section in the order of the Operations

Menu.

Vendors in SOS Inventory will synchronize with vendors from QuickBooks Online. Changes made

to your Vendors list in one system will synchronize to the other. To add/edit/delete vendors in SOS

Inventory, go to Operations Menu > Purchasing > Vendors or to Add (+) Menu > Purchasing >

Vendor on the Task Bar. You can also create vendors as you are entering purchase orders and item

receipts. A vendor definition will include its display name, contact information and address,

default terms, default tax rate, currency (if the Multi-Currency setting is enabled), account

number, and notes. The option Show On Forms allows you to choose whether to show them in the

vendor dropdown. One of the unique options on the Action Menu of the Vendors list is View Vendor

History.

When completing a vendor profile, if the Name and Contact field data are the same, leave the

Contact field blank. This will prevent duplicate name information from appearing on PDFs of your

vendor-facing transaction forms.

For the same reason, if the Name and Company Name data are the same, leave the Company Name

field blank.

If the data in the fields are different, then complete each field accordingly. If the vendor’s company

name has a designator (for example, “Inc.,” “Ltd.,” or “LLC”) as well as a trade name (“doing

business as” or “DBA”), enter the designator in the Name field and the trade name in the

Company Name field.

The Plus and Pro plans of SOS Inventory allow you to track multiple vendors per item. For each

vendor-item combination, you can track the cost, vendor part number, and estimated lead time. To

view, edit, or manage your Vendor-Item Catalog, go to Company Menu > Vendor-Item Catalog.

Once you have created your Vendor-Item Catalog, you can use the Where To Buy report to assist

you in making purchasing decisions. The Where To Buy report pulls data from the Vendor-Item

Catalog, allowing you to comparison shop.

When you create a purchase order with a vendor listed in the Vendor-Item Catalog and select a

catalog item associated with that vendor, SOS will automatically add the vendor’s part number and

cost to the purchase order.

You can send vendor messages on purchase orders to describe exact details of a purchase, make

shipping arrangements, or include any additional information that you wish. Vendor messages can

be stored for later use. To manage your list of saved vendor messages, go to Company Menu >

Vendor Messages.

A purchase order, or PO, is a form used to request that a vendor provide a good or service to you in

exchange for payment. The purchase order will typically define payment terms, delivery, and so

on. Purchase orders in SOS Inventory will synchronize with purchase orders in QuickBooks Online

if the Synchronize POs setting is enabled on the Purchasing Settings page (Settings > Purchasing

Settings). This option is enabled by default. A purchase order is a non-posting transaction,

meaning that it does not affect your financial reports directly. A purchase order closes

automatically when all items have been received, but you can close it manually at any time.

To create a PO in SOS Inventory, go to the Purchase Orders list (Operations Menu > Purchasing >

Purchase Orders) and select the Add New button. You can also add a PO from the Task Bar by going

to Add (+) Menu > Purchasing > Purchase Order.

A third option is to generate a purchase order from another transaction (such as a sales order, sales

receipt, invoice, etc.). Locate the transaction on its appropriate list, then select Create Purchase

Order from the Actions Menu.

Fields are listed in the order they appear on the transaction form in SOS Inventory.

Date/Time

. Transaction date and timestamp (PO date).

Vendor

. Vendor from whom you are purchasing the items on the PO. Once you select a vendor it

fills in the address blocks, notes, and default terms.

Vendor Notes.

This is the internal notes from the vendor definition.

PO Number.

Reference number used to identify the PO. This field is searchable. The system will

attempt to number the PO automatically depending on your settings on the Purchasing Settings

page.

Drop-Ship.

Check this box if these items will be shipped directly from the vendor to the customer.

Vendor Address.

The vendors billing address for placing an order for goods.

Shipping Address.

Address to which the goods will be shipped. To set a default for this location, go

to the Purchasing Settings page. If drop ship is checked, this becomes the customer to whom the

items will be drop-shipped.

Currency.

Currency for this transaction. This field is only visible if the Multi-currency feature is

enabled.

Exchange Rate.

The exchange rate for this transaction. The system will automatically provide the

most recent exchange rate for the chosen currency, or you can override it manually. This field is

only visible if the multi-currency feature is enabled.

Line Items:

•

Multi-tool.

The right arrow (top left corner) allows you to insert a blank line. The three bars

(center) allow you to click, hold, and drag the lines to reorder them. The down

arrow (bottom right corner) allows you to copy a line and paste it on the next line.

•

Remove

( ). Click the trash can to remove a line from the PO.

•

Item.

Enter/select the item to be purchased. You can enter new items here.

•

Description.

Purchase description for the item.

•

Part #.

Vendor part number for the item. This is often useful if your vendor requires you to

enter their unique part number and it is different than your own internal part number.

•

Quantity.

How many of this item you are purchasing.

•

UOM.

Units of Measure, if enabled. Available on Plus and Pro plans.

•

WGT.

This is the weight, as defined in the item.

•

VOL.

This is the volume, as defined in the item.

•

Unit Price.

Price of each item.

•

Amount.

Extended (line) total.

•

Received.

Number of units received for a line item. Normally, you would not edit this field

manually. The system should keep it up to date. However, you can override it if necessary.

You should NOT edit this field when receiving items. Use an item receipt for that.

•

Class.

QuickBooks Online class for this line item. This field is enabled only if class tracking

is enabled in QuickBooks Online.

•

Customer.

This field allows you to select the customer for whom this item is being

purchased. You can have multiple customers listed on the PO. Ignored by drop ship.

•

Job.

Job to which this line item belongs. This box is only available if Job Tracking is enabled

in SOS Inventory on the Inventory Settings page.

Add Lines.

Click this link to add additional lines to the PO. On the Company Settings page, you can

specify the number of lines added by default.

Clear Lines.

Click this button to clear the items form completely.

Terms.

Payment terms.

Expected Date.

Date you expect the items to arrive.

Expected Ship.

Date you expect the items to ship.

Ship Method.

Shipping carrier.

Tracking #.

Carrier tracking number.

Deposit.

Deposit paid to vendor as a fixed expense or percentage of the PO. Does not sync to

QuickBooks Online.

Department.

Department for this transaction.

Blanket PO.

Check this box to make this a blanket (open-ended) PO. The quantity column is

ignored on a blanket PO.

Contract Manufacturing.

Check this box if this PO is requesting that a third-party manufacturer

build some assemblies for you. This allows the system to treat the PO optimally for that situation.

Update Default Costs.

If checked, the costs listed will be used to update the items’ costs.

Vendor Message.

This message will be displayed on the purchase order. This field can be expanded

to become as large as you need it.

Comment.

Internal comment about this PO. The comment is not displayed on the purchase order

when printed or emailed.

Custom fields may appear on purchase order transactions, depending on how each field has been

defined. If present, custom fields will be placed after the standard SOS data fields.

Actions for purchase orders are accessible from the Purchase Orders list (Operations Menu >

Purchasing > Purchase Orders). Edit is the default action for purchase orders. Actions are listed

below in the order they appear in SOS Inventory.

Edit.

Opens an existing purchase order for viewing and editing.

Quick View.

A view of the PO to see quickly whether ordered items have been received.

PDF.

Creates a PDF version of the PO based on a selected form template.

Email.

Sends an email to the names specified in the box based on the selected form template.

Separate multiple addresses with a comma. Do not include any extraneous characters such as

brackets. You may select which attachments to include.

Receive.

Generates an item receipt for all open items on this PO.

Create Invoice.

Creates an invoice for drop ship orders.

Use as Template.

Generates a PO identical to the current one with a new date and reference

number.

Archive/Unarchive.

Use Archive for a PO that doesn’t need to be shown in the Purchase Order list.

Unarchive returns an archived PO to the Purchase Order list.

Open/Close.

Manually opens or closes the PO. You can use this action to override the current

status of the PO.

Mark as Confirmed/Mark as Unconfirmed.

Allows you to set a status for confirmation of order

with vendor.

Delete.

Deletes the current PO.

Show History.

List of all the times this PO has been acted upon.

Add to Sync.

Use this action to add the PO to the sync queue.

On the Plus and Pro plans, SOS Inventory can require approval for all purchase orders before they

can be emailed. This is a single level approval capability only. To enable this capability, go to

Settings Menu > Purchasing Settings and select Require Approval for POs.

When approvals are enabled, any purchase orders that are pending approval will be highlighted in

pink on the Purchase Orders list. A PO that is pending approval also will have No showing in the

list’s Approved column. The Approved column MUST be displayed using the Column Chooser to

allow for this functionality.

Only administrators or users with the appropriate privileges can approve POs. To approve a PO,

locate it on the Purchase Orders list and select Approve from the Actions Menu. If you wish to

approve multiple purchase orders at one time, use the Approve option on the Batch Actions

dropdown list.

To add/edit/delete shipping methods that are available on purchase orders, go to Company Menu >

Shipping Methods. The shipping methods are the same as those available for your sales

transactions.

Blanket POs are open-ended purchase orders, meaning that they specify an agreement to purchase

a certain item at a certain price, without a specific quantity. To create a blanket PO, enter the

purchase order as normal and check the Blanket PO option on the form.

To add/edit/delete payment terms that are available on purchase orders, go to Company Menu >

Terms. The payment terms are the same as your sales terms, and they will also synchronize with

QuickBooks Online.

SOS Inventory supports drop shipping items directly from a vendor to a customer. To issue a drop-

ship PO, simply check Drop Ship on the purchase order and then enter the intended customer’s

information in the Shipping Address block. Drop-ship POs are not included in the “On PO”

calculation, as they are not incoming inventory. When you receive confirmation from the vendor

that the items have shipped, update the PO with tracking information (if so desired) and then close

the PO. As long as you have set up your items correctly (where the expense account in QuickBooks

Online is the COGS account), then you could do a copy to bill in QuickBooks Online as that bill will

affect Accounts Payable and COGS directly.

In Purchasing Settings, the option Automate Drop Ship Purchase Orders closes a drop ship PO

automatically and sends journal entries to QuickBooks Online that post against Accounts Payable

and COGS.

Typically, when someone uses the drop ship option, they go through the following steps:

1. Create an invoice for the customer

This affects the Income and Accounts Receivable (A/R)

in QuickBooks Online.

2. Ensure the Automate Drop Ship Purchase Orders option in Purchasing Settings is turned

3. Create the drop ship PO from the invoice. This generates an Accounts Payable to vendor

and COGS journal entry in QuickBooks Online. The PO also closes automatically.

4. Send the invoice to customer as needed (either immediately or when product ships).

Some SOS users do not like this method as the journal entry that affects Accounts Payable and

COGS does not have a due date on it like a bill would.

Another method of completing a drop ship PO is as follows:

1. Disable Automate Drop Ship Purchase Orders.

2. Create a Sales Order. Mark it as Drop Ship.

3. Create the PO from the sales order. As the sales order is marked as Drop Ship, the PO will

automatically be marked as Drop Ship. The PO will sync to QuickBooks Online. This PO will

be open.

4. Once you have received confirmation that the item has shipped, you must:

a. Receive the PO.

b. Create the shipment from the sales order.

c. Create the invoice from the sales order.

The receiving will create the bill in QuickBooks Online (affecting Accounts Payable and Asset

accounts). The shipment will create a journal entry in QuickBooks Online (affecting Asset and

COGS accounts). The invoice will sync to QuickBooks Online (affecting Accounts Receivable and

Income accounts).

If you have prepaid a vendor for a purchase order, SOS provides a couple of different way to process

the transaction.

Option 1

1. Add the purchase order in SOS Inventory or QuickBooks Online.

2. Sync to bring the PO to QuickBooks Online.

3. In QuickBooks Online, add a vendor credit for the deposit amount.

a. In the Ref no. field, enter the same reference number as listed on the PO.

b. Complete the information needed in the Category Details.

i. Enter the category (account) from which you are paying.

ii. Enter the amount of the payment.

c. Save.

4. When the items are received, convert the PO to an Item Receipt in SOS Inventory.

5. Sync SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online for the bill to be created in QuickBooks Online.

6. Apply the vendor credit to the bill.

7. Make the payment for the bill in QuickBooks Online.

Option 2

1. In QuickBooks Online, create an “other current asset” account called Prepaid Inventory.

2. Sync SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online to bring the account to SOS Inventory.

3. In SOS Inventory, create an expense item called Prepaid Inventory Deposit.

a. The expense account of this item will be the Prepaid Inventory asset account

created above.

4. Sync SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online to sync the item to QuickBooks Online.

5. Create the purchase order in SOS Inventory or QuickBooks Online.

a. Add the items you are purchasing from the vendor.

b. Add the Prepaid Inventory Deposit item to the purchase order.

i. In the Qty column, enter

-1

ii. In the Unit Price column, enter the amount of the deposit.

c. Save the purchase order.

6. In QuickBooks Online, add a vendor check.

a. In the Bank Account, select the account from which you are paying.

b. Complete the Item Details area.

i. For the Item, enter the Prepaid Inventory Deposit item.

ii. For Qty, enter

c. Save the vendor check.

7. When the item(s) are received, convert the PO to an item receipt in SOS Inventory.

8. Sync SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online for the bill to be created in QuickBooks

Online. The bill will be for the items, minus the deposit.

9. Make the payment to the bill in QuickBooks Online.

NOTE: If preferred, the Prepaid Inventory Deposit can be added to the item receipt when it is

created instead of the purchase order.

Items are received into inventory by creating an Item Receipt. To create an item receipt, you can

access the Operations Menu > Purchasing > Item Receipts page. Also, you can use the Add (+)

Menu on the Task Bar under Purchasing > Item Receipt. Or, if you have a PO that you wish to

receive, go to the Purchase Order list and click on the Actions Menu, then select Receive.

When adding/editing an item receipt, the form fields available are very similar to those on a

purchase order. The key difference is that an item receipt puts items into inventory. There are two

possible list areas on the item receipt. The first one, the standard item receipt line item area, is

common to all plans. The second one, Other Costs, is available only on the Pro Plan.

Some fields on an item receipt that differ from a purchase order are:

Receipt #.

Reference number for this item receipt. You can set autonumbering in the purchasing

settings for this.

Location.

Location at which the items will be received.

Auto Serial/Lot Numbers.

Check this box to generate serial/lot numbers automatically when

receiving serial/lot items set according to your settings.

Payment.

Method used to pay for the items. You can set the default payment in the purchasing

settings. NOTE: If you choose None, no transaction will be sent to QuickBooks. However, if an item

receipt has already been sent to QuickBooks as a Bill, then changing this field to None will revert

and delete the original bill sent to QuickBooks—even if that bill has already been paid. Similar

actions will happen if currently sent as a purchase type (Check, Cash, Credit card).

Add PO.

Item receipts can be used to receive goods from the same vendor from multiple POs. If

there are other open POs with this vendor, it will show them in this list. Selecting a PO will add the

unreceived items from that PO. This can only be done when creating the PO the first time. After

that you will need to start another item receipt to receive the goods in.

Overhead.

You can enter a percentage here to apply a fixed percentage of overhead to each item.

This is sometimes useful in GAAP compliance.

Line item area

Multi-tool.

The right arrow (top left corner) allows you to insert a blank line. The three bars

(center) allow you to click, hold, and drag the lines to reorder them. The down arrow

(bottom right corner) allows you to copy a line and paste it on the next line.

Remove.

Click the trash can to remove a line from the item receipt.

Item.

Enter/select the item to be received. You can enter new items here. If the location you are

receiving in from is bin tracked, then a bin list will be added below the name. It will display the

default bin in the items definition if one was entered. Upon saving the receipt, the bin is added to

the description block.

Description.

This block also becomes multifunctional. It can contain any of the following:

•

Purchase description for the item.

If no purchase description exists in the items definition

it will use the sales description.

•

Lot entry blank.

To allow you to enter a lot ID for a lot-tracked item. This number can be

autogenerated based on your purchasing settings.

•

Expiration.

This is a date field to allow you to set an expiration date for the lot entered in a

lot tracked item.

•

S/N blank.

This is a blank to allow entry of serial numbers for serial-tracked items. You will

get the number of blanks to correspond to the quantity entered on that line. These can be

autogenerated based on your purchasing settings. If you have a lot of serial numbers to

enter, you can use the Upload button to select a CSV file that just lists all the serial numbers

needed for that one item on the list.

Part #.

Vendor part number for the item.

Quantity.

How many of this item you are receiving. You can lower the number if you were only sent

partial quantities (partial receiving). At the bottom of this column is the total number of items

received.

UOM.

If Units of Measure are turned on in Plus plan and above you will see the list of possible

measures. If coming from a PO, that UOM will be selected by default.

WGT.

This is the weight as defined in the item. At the bottom of this column is the total weight for

the received goods.

VOL.

This is the volume as defined in the item. At the bottom of this column is the total volume of

the received goods.

Unit Price.

Price of each item.

Amount.

Extended (line) total. The total amount is displayed at the bottom of that column.

Applied To.

This field will list the PO reference number and the line on the PO that will be updated

for the quantity received. If there is only 1 item on the PO then it defaults to a 0. If more than one

item is on the listed PO, then it will be the line number of that item on that PO.

Class.

QuickBooks Online class for this line item. This field is enabled only if class tracking is

enabled in QuickBooks Online.

Customer.

This field allows you to select a customer that this item is being received for. You can

have multiple customers listed on the item receipt.

Job.

Job to which this line item belongs. This box is only available if Job Tracking is enabled in SOS

Inventory on the Inventory Settings page.

Add Lines.

Click this link to add additional lines to the item receipt.

Clear Lines.

Click this button to clear the items form completely.

Other Costs is a second item list area located at the bottom of an item receipt. It is available only on

the Pro Plan. Enter in the Other Costs block any additional costs that apply to the items received.

These costs will be totaled and distributed across all received items for the calculation of cost of

goods sold. This is helpful in determining your landed cost for the items received.

Amount.

Cost of item such as freight.

Vendor.

Vendor to be paid. Always enter the vendor, even if it is the same as the from whom you

are receiving goods.

Class.

Class to which the item is assigned for reporting in QuickBooks Online.

Bill.

Check this box if you desire a separate bill to go to the vendor listed in this line.

All the items on a purchase order do not have to be received at the same time. If you receive only

some of the items on a PO, create an item receipt for only those items. SOS Inventory is smart

enough to keep track of the number of items received relative to the number ordered by updating

the received column on the PO automatically. Once a PO is fully received it will automatically close

out. When generating a second item receipt for a PO, you will need to modify the reference number

to show that it is a follow-on receipt by adding a suffix, for example,

-2

The landed cost of an item is the complete amount that it costs you to get the item into inventory.

The landed cost feature of SOS Inventory allows you to include costs other than the raw cost of the

item. For example, you might wish to include shipping charges, customs charges, duties, and so

on. The landed cost feature of SOS Inventory is available only on the Pro Plan.

To enter landed costs, there are two options. The simplest is to specify an overhead percentage to

apply to the items on the receipt. This allows you to reconcile the estimated overhead costs with

your actual overhead costs at a later time. This approach is often useful in GAAP compliance.

The other, more common, option is to specify the exact costs in the Other Costs section of the Item

Receipt. These are expense type items pointing to the Inventory Asset account as their expense

account. Any costs entered in the Other Costs section will be distributed across the line items on

the item receipt. The Other Costs are allocated proportionally according to the cost of each line

item on the receipt. For true landed costs to work correctly, the inventory asset account must

match the inventory asset account of the items listed in the items section of the receipt. It could

get complicated if more than one asset account is used to define your items.

SOS Inventory helps you to avoid duplicate data entry. When you enter an item receipt, you have an

option for how you want that item to appear in QuickBooks Online. In the “Payment” option on the

item receipt, you have options to create a bill, credit card charge, check, or cash purchase in

QuickBooks Online. You also have the option to create no transaction in QuickBooks Online, if you

prefer to do everything manually. Bill is the default option.

You can generate bills in QuickBooks Online if you selected None for payment, but be careful doing

this. QuickBooks Online uses the expense account when generating bills—and for inventory items,

that is the COGS account. If you desire to generate bills in QuickBooks Online, ensure that the

items listed on the bill have an expense account pointing to the inventory asset account for that

item.

A variance in SOS Inventory is the difference between the actual cost of an item and the expected

(standard) cost of an item. For example, let’s say that your standard purchase cost for a Widget is

$100. Now, let’s say that this week you found them on sale and bought 5 widgets at $95 each. Your

variance is $95 - $100, which equals -$5 per unit, or -$25 total. That means that you paid $25 less

for those 5 widgets than would normally be expected. A positive variance would indicate that you

paid more than expected. You can find variances in SOS Inventory on the Purchase Variances report

and on an item’s Transaction History.

The purchasing and receiving process in SOS Inventory is shown in this workflow diagram:

When returning items to a vendor, enter a Return To Vendor (RTV) transaction. Use this

transaction to return goods that were sent erroneously or damaged in delivery and entered in SOS

on an item receipt.

An RTV can be generated from an item receipt or created as a stand-alone transaction. Regardless

of how the RTV is created, be sure to select Create Vendor Credit if you wish SOS to automatically

credit the account from which the goods were paid (Accounts Payable). If you do not select the

Create Vendor Credit checkbox, you will need to select from the Account dropdown list the account

to which you want the return posted.

To generate the RTV from an item receipt, locate the appropriate receipt on the Item Receipts list

(Operations Menu > Purchasing > Item Receipts), then select Create Return to Vendor from the

Actions Menu. Edit the generated RTV as needed.

To create a new stand-alone vendor return, select Return to Vendor under the Task Bar’s Add

Menu—or select the Add New button on the Returns to Vendors list (Operations Menu >

Purchasing > Returns to Vendors). All data fields will need to be manually entered. The value of the

items being returned may be different than the value the were received at so you may need to enter

an adjusted value in QuickBooks to account for the difference.

NOTE: RTVs are available only on the Plus and Pro plans.

SOS Inventory provides multiple tools and options to assist you in reordering products.

You can set an item’s reorder point and maximum stock level at one or multiple locations. The

Reorder List (Operations Menu > Purchasing > Reorder List) can be used alone or in tandem with

the Reorder Report to determine what you need to order—while the Where To Buy report assists

you in determining the vendor from whom you make your purchases.

Once you have determined your ordering needs, you may create POs manually or have the system

generate them for you.

SOS also allows you to set up email alerts to notify you when you are getting low on items. More

information on alerts is available later in this guide.

A reorder point is the stock level at which the system signals that you need to replenish an

inventory or assembly item. Established when you add or edit an item, the reorder point is used by

SOS to determine when an item needs to be placed on the Reorder Report (Operations Menu >

Reports > Purchasing > Reorder Report). If you have set up a low-inventory alert for the item, SOS

uses the reorder point to determine when the notification should be emailed to you.

SOS Inventory calculates the current stock level using multiple factors. Items will appear on the

reorder report when the available quantity of an item plus the quantity of the item on open

(unreceived) purchases orders hits or falls below the reorder point. The system calculates available

quantity using the following formula:

Available quantity = In-stock quantity - quantities at non-nettable locations – quantities

on unfulfilled sales – quantities on pick tickets not related to a sale

If an assembly is on an unfulfilled sale, the available quantity of the components of the assembly

are reduced. If Include WOs on Reorder Report is enabled (under Purchasing Settings at Settings >

Purchasing Settings), SOS will also include work orders in the calculation of available stock.

An option on the Reorder Report allows you to disable Include POs in Calculation in the

computation of items needed, but this setting should not be disabled in most circumstances.

For an item that you do not wish to order unless you have a sales demand for it, enter

-1

in the

Reorder Point field of the item definition.

If you have an item at multiple locations, you may establish different reorder points for each

location. Location Settings, an action available on the Items list, allows you to set different reorder

points—as well as different maximum stock levels and default bins—at each location.

The Pro plan of SOS Inventory supports the ability to calculate reorder points automatically based

on up to the last six months of historical data. It considers historical lead times for purchases as

well as historical sales volumes. To turn on the “Calculate Reorder Points” option, go to the

Inventory Settings page.

SOS Inventory allows you to establish a maximum stock level for an inventory or assembly item via

its edit page. The value in the Max Stock Level field indicates the quantity you wish to have on hand

after replenishing the item’s inventory and allows the system to direct the quantity that needs to

be ordered.

The quantity the system indicates you should order is found on the Reorder Report (Operations

Menu > Reports > Purchasing). The amount is based on the available quantity, the options to

include open work orders and open purchase orders, as well as the maximum stock level. The

system will suggest a reorder quantity that will increase your in-stock quantity of items to the

maximum stock level after all unfulfilled sales and open work orders are satisfied.

If the Max Stock Level value is set to zero or is lower than the Reorder Point, the item will not show

up on the Reorder Report. Leave the Max Stock Level field blank if you do not wish to reorder an

item unless you have a sales demand for it.

If you have an item at multiple locations, you may establish different maximum stock levels for

each location. Location Settings, an action available on the Items list, allows you to set different

maximum stock levels, reorder points, and default bins for each location.

SOS Inventory’s Reorder List (Operations Menu > Purchasing > Reorder List) serves as a type of

shopping list—a reminder of the items that you need to buy—but with the added capability of

generating purchase orders from that list.

Items can be added to the Reorder List using any of the following methods:

•

Directly, via the Reorder List.

Use the Add New button on the list page to create a

Reorder entry. This method requires populating the data fields manually.

•

The Actions Menu of the Items list

(Operations Menu > Inventory > Items). Choose the

Add to Reorder List action for the item you wish to add.

•

The Reorder Report

(Operations Menu > Reports > Purchasing > Reorder Report).

• If you want SOS to add to the Reorder List all items that have hit their reorder

point, select Auto-Add to Reorder List feature under the Options menu.

• If you prefer greater control over which items are added to the Reorder List, select

the Display Report option under the Actions block when you are ready to run the

report. Once the online version of the Reorder Report appears, place a check in

the box of any item you wish to include, then select Add to Reorder List in the

Actions block.

•

The Where To Buy report

(Operations Menu > Reports > Purchasing > Where To Buy).

Available on the Plus and Pro plans, this report compiles information from the Vendor-

Item Catalog and presents it in a chart that allows you to compare vendors’ prices for an

item and check your current inventory stock level. If you select the Display Report

option under the Actions block when you are ready to run the report, the Where To Buy

report will include an Add to Reorder List column. Select Add for any item that you want

to include in the Reorder List.

When you are ready to place an order for the items on the Reorder List, you can streamline your

work by having SOS generate purchase orders for you. On the list page, place a check in the box of

each item you wish to order—or check the box at the top of the column to select all items on that

page. Then select Generate POs on the Batch Actions dropdown list.

Purchase orders created from the Generate POs batch action are NOT sent to vendors

automatically. After generation, the POs will appear on the Purchase Orders list, where they can be

edited as needed and emailed to vendors.

If SOS successfully generates a purchase order for an item, it will be removed by the system from

the Reorder List. However, you may need to refresh the list page in your browser for the updated

version to appear.

To view your reorder report, go to Operations Menu > Reports > Purchasing > Reorder Report. This

report shows all items for which the Available for Sale quantity is below the reorder point. It also

calculates the quantity needed to bring the item to its maximum stock level.

If selected in the Reorder Report options, open (unbuilt) work orders of assemblies will further

increase the demand for the component items and will be included in the calculation of when the

item shows up on the Reorder Report, along with how many should be purchased.

For companies with multiple locations, the Reorder Report can be used to create system-generated

inventory transfers from one location to another.

If your company has multiple locations, you can run a Reorder Report for an individual location if

you have established maximum stock levels and reorder points for items specific to that location.

Location Settings, an action available on the Items list, allows you to set different maximum stock

levels, reorder points, and default bins at each of your company’s locations.

An alternative to using the Location Settings action is performing a location-specific data

export/import. This process can be used to add the maximum stock level, reorder point, and

default bin for each item stored at that location.

Once you have entered location-specific data with either Location Settings or a data export/import,

you can run a Reorder Report for a select location using the report’s Location filter. The same

formulas used to calculate reorder quantities for all locations will be used to calculate the reorder

quantities for a single location.

Both purchase orders and inventory transfers may be generated for a single location using the

Reorder Report. For more information about these features, see Generating POs from the Reorder

Report and Generating Inventory Transfers from the Reorder Report.

If no location-specific data has been entered for an item, SOS will use the Max Stock Level and

Reorder Point values in the item definition to create the Reorder Report.

After a Reorder Report has been run, SOS Inventory allows you to generate purchase orders directly

from the Reorder Report with the Generate POs action. This allows you to create POs for the items

you need quickly.

Only those items with an assigned preferred vendor will be included on generated purchase orders.

When multiple items on the Reorder Report have the same preferred vendor, those items will be

added to the same purchase order. The purchase cost of the items on the generated PO comes from

the item record.

Generating POs from the Reorder Report will not send the purchase orders to vendors. After

generation, the user may go to the PO list, edit the generated POs as needed, and email them to

vendors.

SOS Inventory can support almost any sales process. SOS is extremely flexible in that regard. If you

want to enter sales transactions primarily in SOS and sync them to QuickBooks Online, that will

work. If you want to enter them first in QuickBooks Online and sync them to SOS, that will work

too. If you want to use SOS only and not use QuickBooks Online at all, that will also work. Also, you

can use any combination of estimates, sales orders, invoices, sales receipts, and so on. You must

follow the few guidelines outlined in the following sections, but for the most part, you are limited

only by your imagination.

Customers in SOS Inventory will synchronize with customers from QuickBooks Online. Changes

made to your customer list in one program will synchronize to the other.

New customers can be added to SOS Inventory using any of the following methods:

•

The Add (+) Menu.

On the Task Bar, go to Add (+) Menu > Sales > Customer.

•

The Customers list

. Go to Operations Menu > Sales > Customers, then select Add New.

•

Certain transaction forms.

The inline method allows you to create a new customer while

entering an estimate, sales order, invoice, sales receipt, rental, or shipment. In the

Customer field, simply type the name of your customer and then select Add New

Customer.

o If you use the inline method, it is important to update the customer’s definition

after saving the transaction. Although SOS will copy relevant fields from the

transaction to the new customer’s record, you need to add to the customer

definition any information you wish to have on file that was not included on the

transaction form.

The fields on the Customer edit page include the company name, address, and contact

information, as well as quite a few details such as the price group they could be assigned to, default

terms, tax rate, currency (if Multi-currency is enabled), and payment method to appear on sales

forms they are listed on. A sales representative can also be assigned to their account. Some

business-specific fields—such as the resale number, contractor number, and business license—do

not sync with QuickBooks Online. If the customer is actually a sub-customer, you can specify the

associated parent customer and indicate whether the sub-customer is to be billed with the parent.

If you are on the Pro plan, the Portal Password contains the customer’s password to your Customer

Portal and allows you to generate a new password if needed.

Finally, the Notes field allows you to enter internal information about the customer. You will see

the note on the edit page of a sales order or invoice, but it will not show on forms sent to the

customer.

Actions and batch actions for customers are accessible from the Customers list (Operations Menu

> Sales> Customers). The default action for customers is Edit, with additional options available in

the Actions Menu dropdown list. Actions that are also available as batch actions are noted where

applicable.

Options are listed in the order they appear on the Actions Menu of the Customer list in SOS

Inventory.

Edit.

Opens an existing customer’s edit page for viewing and editing.

PDF.

Uses a form template to produce a PDF file of the customer’s information. Also available on

the Batch Actions dropdown list.

Create Sub-Customer.

Creates a new customer that is linked to this customer, who is the parent

customer. For more on this feature, see Sub-Customers vs Addresses for Customers with Multiple

Locations and Adding Sub-Customers.

Delete.

Deletes a customer from the Customers list. Also available on the Batch Actions dropdown

list.

Archive/Unarchive.

Allows you to pull customers from the Customers list until you need them

again. The ability to display archived customers is controlled through the Customer list’s Change

Filter feature. Also available on the Batch Actions dropdown list.

Addresses.

Enables adding and editing the addresses of a customer with multiple locations. For

more on this feature, see Sub-Customers vs Addresses for Customers with Multiple Locations and

Using Addresses for Customers with Multiple Locations.

View Customer History.

Provides a historical summary of every transaction pertaining to this

customer in a chart.

Add to Sync.

Provides the functionality of adding a customer to the sync queue to send it up to

QuickBooks Online. Also available on the Batch Actions dropdown list.

When completing your customer profiles, if the Name and Contact field data are the same for a

customer, leave the Contact field blank. This will prevent duplicate name information from

appearing on PDFs of your customer-facing transaction forms.

For the same reason, if the customer’s Name and Company Name data are the same, leave the

Company Name field blank.

If the data in the fields are different, then complete each field accordingly. If a company name has

a designator (for example, “Inc.,” “Ltd.,” or “LLC”) as well as a trade (“doing business as” or DBA)

name, enter the designator in the Name field and the trade name in the Company Name field.

If you have a customer with multiple locations, SOS Inventory offers you two different ways of

handling the locations: (1) they can be set up in SOS Inventory as sub-customers (individual

customers linked to the parent customer); or (2) they can be considered multiple addresses of a

single customer.

The feature you choose depends on how your company interacts with a specific customer. The sub-

customer option typically is used if you are working with Projects in QuickBooks Online or if you

are used to working with sub-customers. Sub-customers sync with QuickBooks Online.

A new sub-customer can be created using the same process outlined in Creating and Editing

Customers. An alternate approach is to go to the Customers list (Operations Menu > Sales >

Customers) and select Create Sub-Customer on the Actions Menu of the parent customer’s record.

If you add a new customer directly, use the Parent Customer field on the Customer edit page to link

the sub-customer to its parent. In addition, check the Bill With Parent box if the sub-customer’s

invoices are to be paid by the parent.

If you use the Actions Menu of the parent customer to create the sub-customer, SOS will

automatically import into the sub-customer definition some information from the parent

customer. In the sub-customer’s Name field, SOS will insert a name using the format [parent

name]-sub. Imported fields can be edited as needed.

You can view parents of sub-customers from the Customers list by enabling Parent on the Column

Chooser.

As an alternate method to handling multiple shipping locations (or billing addresses), you can set

up or edit addresses for customers with multiple locations. To do this, locate your customer on the

Customers list (Operations Menu > Sales > Customers) and select Addresses on the Actions Menu

of the customer’s record. Enter or edit the address information for the locations, then Save and

Close. Using this method, the customer syncs to QuickBooks with the default billing and shipping

addresses, but the additional addresses defined in SOS Inventory do not sync to QuickBooks. So if

you use them, the transactions need to originate in SOS Inventory.

In SOS Inventory, sales do not automatically relieve inventory. Or to put it another way, sales and

shipping are separate processes. This is one of the most popular features of SOS Inventory, yet it is

also probably the most misunderstood feature as well. This is different than the way QuickBooks

does it, so why does SOS do it differently?

While having a sales transaction relieve inventory automatically is easy and convenient, it is overly

simplistic and not realistic for many businesses. For example, many companies ship products to

customers every few days and then invoice them at the end of the month. In that model, removing

inventory only when invoicing would mean that their inventory would be correct only once per

month (when the invoice went out). Every other time that a shipment went out, it would be wrong.

Also, a furniture store might sell a couch and generate a sales receipt to a customer. However, the

store might not deliver the couch for two weeks or more. It is problematic to remove it from

inventory at the time it is sold, as it is in fact still in inventory (although not available for sale).

The answer to the problem above is to separate sales and shipping, which is what SOS Inventory

does. You have a sales transaction (for example, a sales receipt or invoice) to process the sale, and a

shipment to relieve inventory. SOS automates the process of creating shipments from sales

transactions, so it usually only takes one or two extra clicks, which is well worth the additional

flexibility that it provides.

All sales forms (sales orders, invoices, estimates, etc.) have both add and edit modes, as well as

many additional actions that can be taken on the transaction. The add and edit modes are used to

enter data on the form and to save changes. For example, to add a new sales order, you can go on

the Task Bar under Add (+) Menu > Sales > Sales Order. You may also add new sales orders from the

sales orders list page under Operations Menu > Sales > Sales Orders, then click Add New in the

upper right corner of the list. To edit an existing sales order, open the Sales Order (SO) list and find

the sales order you need. Then click Edit in the Actions Menu to open the sales order for editing. All

sales forms work similarly.

The Available for Sale quantity on the Items list and other places in the system represents the

number of units that can be sold and shipped immediately to customers. To be specific, SOS

Inventory uses the following formula to calculate the quantity available for sale:

Available for Sale = Quantity On Hand – Quantity On Sales Order – Quantity Non-Nettable

So the system takes whatever stock is on hand, subtracts the quantity on open orders, and

subtracts the quantity in non-nettable locations. That is the quantity available for sale. Note that

the “On PO” number and the “On RMA” number are not included in the available for sale

calculation. Note also that if the item is a component of an assembly, its available for sale number

might be affected by the available for sale status of the assembly item, as changes in the available

for sale quantity of an assembly item can generate demand for its components.

On sales orders and invoices, you can see the available for sale quantity if you float the mouse over

the Quantity cell for an item listed on the form.

The sales workflow varies from company to company, and even from one order to the next. An

example of what this process can look like is shown in the Sample Sales Workflow diagram. In this

illustration, the sales process begins with an estimate that converts into a sales order. The process

entails manufacturing the needed goods, picking and shipping the items on the customer’s order,

and lastly, invoicing the customer.

Although the workflow includes picking and shipping as part of the sales process, in this guide

these topics will be covered separately. For more information, see Chapter 6, Fulfillment.

Sample Sales Workflow

An estimate is a quotation to a customer, or an offer to provide products or services at a specified

price. The terms of an estimate (binding, non-binding, etc.) are set by your company policies.

Estimates in SOS Inventory are very similar to estimates in QuickBooks Online. You can enter an

estimate in SOS and it will synchronize to QuickBooks Online, and vice-versa. You can also send

the estimate to a customer (print, email, etc.) from either place. If you convert an estimate into a

sales order, SOS will automatically change the Status field on the estimate to Accepted.

A sales order is an order from a customer to buy products or services at a specified price. Sales

orders are non-posting transactions, meaning that they do not impact your financials until they

are converted into shipments and/or invoices. Also, note that sales orders do not synchronize with

QuickBooks Online because QuickBooks Online does not have a sales order transaction.

QuickBooks Online has estimates, invoices, and sales receipts, but not sales orders. Thus, there is

no process for synchronizing sales orders with QuickBooks Online, because they don’t exist in

QuickBooks Online.

Fields are listed in the order they appear on the transaction form in SOS Inventory.

Date/Time.

Transaction date and timestamp (sales order date).

Customer.

Customer from whom you are selling the items on the SO. Once you select a customer it

fills in the address blocks, notes, and default terms.

Cust Notes.

This is the internal notes from the customer definition.

Order Number.

Reference number used to identify the SO. This field is searchable. The system will

attempt to number the SO automatically depending on your settings on the Sales Settings page.

Billing Address.

The customer’s billing address for placing an order for goods.

Shipping Address.

Address to which the goods will be shipped.

Currency.

Currency for this transaction. This field is visible only if the Multi-currency setting is

enabled.

Exchange Rate.

The exchange rate for this transaction. The system will automatically provide the

most recent exchange rate for the chosen currency, or you can override it manually. This field is

only visible if the multi-currency feature is enabled.

Price Tier.

This dropdown list allows you to select a price tier that you will apply to the items that

have been added to the item list. Go to the section on price tiers for more information.

Line Items

•

Multi-tool.

The right arrow (top left corner) allows you to insert a blank line. The three

bars (center) allow you to click, hold, and drag the lines to reorder them. The

down arrow (bottom right corner) allows you to copy a line and paste it on the next line.

•

Remove

( ) – Click the trash can to remove a line from the PO.

•

Item.

Enter/select the item to be purchased. You can enter new items here.

•

Description.

Purchase description for the item.

•

Quantity.

How many of this item you are purchasing.

•

UOM.

The unit of measure for the item, if Units of Measure feature is enabled (Plus and Pro

plans only).

•

WGT.

This is the weight as defined in the item.

•

VOL.

This is the volume as defined in the item.

•

Unit Price.

Price of each item.

•

Amount.

Extended (line) total.

•

Picked.

Number of units of this item picked. In normal use, you would not edit this field

manually. The system should keep it up to date. However, you can override it if necessary.

You should NOT edit this field when picking items. Use a pick ticket for that.

•

Shipped.

Number of units of this item shipped. In normal use, you would not edit this field

manually. The system should keep it up to date. However, you can override it if necessary.

You should NOT edit this field when shipping items. Use a shipment for that.

•

Invoiced.

Number of units of this item invoiced. In normal use, you would not edit this field

manually. The system should keep it up to date. However, you can override it if necessary.

You should NOT edit this field when invoicing items. Use an invoice for that.

•

Due Date.

Set the date that the item is due to be shipped out to or is desired by the

customer. This will be used for back ordering.

•

Class.

QuickBooks Online class for this line item. This field is enabled only if class tracking

is enabled in QuickBooks Online.

•

Tax.

Check this box if you want tax applied to the item.

•

Job.

Job to which this line item belongs. This box is only available if Job Tracking is enabled

in SOS Inventory on the Inventory Settings page.

Add Lines.

Click this link to add additional lines to the PO. On the Company Settings page, you can

specify the number of lines added by default.

Clear Lines.

Click this button to clear the items form completely.

Discount.

Allows you to apply a discount to the order as a flat rate or percentage of the subtotal.

You can also mark it to be taxable or not.

Tax.

Tax rate to be applied to the sale.

Terms.

Payment terms.

Sales Rep.

Sales representative assigned to this sales transaction.

Channel.

Sales channel from which this sale was initiated (such as Web Order).

Drop Ship.

Mark this block if the sales order is to be drop shipped. Available for sale is not

affected.

Customer PO.

The customer PO number. Syncs to QuickBooks Online if CustomerPO is the field

name.

Deposit.

Deposit paid by customer as a fixed expense or percentage of the SO. Does not sync to

QuickBooks Online.

Department.

Department for this transaction.

Customer Message.

This message will be displayed on the sales order. This field can be expanded

to become as large as you need it.

Comment.

Internal comment about this SO. The comment is not displayed on the sales order when

printed or emailed.

Custom fields may appear on sales order transactions, depending on how each field has been

defined. If present, custom fields will be placed after the standard SOS data fields.

All sales forms share the following actions, which can be accessed by clicking the appropriate

menu option. Edit is the default action for sales orders and other sales forms. Actions are listed

below in the order they appear in SOS Inventory.

Edit

. Opens an existing sales form’s edit page for viewing and editing.

Quick View/PDF

. Allows you to create a PDF version of the form that you can view, print, or save.

. Emails the form as a PDF attachment to the recipient(s) specified in the To box. Separate

multiple recipients with a comma.

Create Purchase Order.

Creates a purchase order to your vendors to replenish your inventory items

such as a good or service.

Create Job

. Creates a job to organize groups of transactions.

Create a Work Order

. Creates a work order to provide detailed instructions about how to make each

item.

Create Pick Ticket

. Creates a pick ticket that will provide instructions to pull certain items, serial

numbers, quantities, lot numbers, etc.

Create Shipment

. Creates a shipment and removes those items from the inventory.

View Profit/Loss

. Allow you to view the profit/loss for each item purchased and sold.

Create Invoice

. Creates a bill to your customer to be paid by a certain date.

Use as Template

. Generates a cloned version of the form that can then be edited and saved.

Create RMA.

Creates a Return Merchandise Authorization that authorizes a customer to return a

product.

Create Return

. Creates a record that you received an item back from a customer on a certain date.

Archive / Unarchive.

Allows you to set if an item is to appear on forms or not.

Open or Close

. Manually closes or opens the form.

Delete.

Deletes the transaction.

Show History

. Shows a history of each time the form was modified.

Each type of sales form will have a unique set of actions that accomplish specific tasks related to

that form. For example, most forms will have one or more actions that allow you to turn that form

into another form. An estimate can be converted to a sales order. A sales order can be used to

generate a PO or an invoice. All forms can be used to create shipments. And so on. The idea is that

there should never be any duplicate data entry. If you feel like you are entering data twice, check to

see if you can generate that form from the previous one in your workflow.

The due date for each line item on a sales order is the date that the item has been promised to the

customer. The due date is important because reports (such as the Ready to Ship report) can be

sorted by due date, enabling the warehouse to know which orders should be fulfilled first.

On the Items list, click on the number in the On SO column for a given item to see a list of all open

sales orders that contain the item. If an item is a component of an item that is on sales order, it will

show in the list as well, as demand has been generated for that component.

Backorder tracking in SOS Inventory is accomplished via sales orders. Each line item on a sales

order tracks the quantity ordered, as well as the quantity shipped. Any item ordered but not

shipped constitutes a backorder.

To track backorders, use the Backorder Report (Operations Menu > Reports > Fulfillment >

Backorder Report) or the Open Sales Order Detail report (Reports> Sales > Open Sales Order

Detail).

If you receive goods from a supplier, go to the Ready to Pick/Ship report (Operations Menu >

Reports > Fulfillment > Ready to Pick/Ship) to see which orders you now have enough stock on

hand to ship. These reports are also described in the Reports section later in this guide.

An invoice is a bill to a customer requesting that they pay you a certain amount of money by a

certain date. Invoices in SOS Inventory are very similar to invoices in QuickBooks Online. You can

enter an invoice in SOS, and it will synchronize to QuickBooks Online—and vice versa. You can also

send the invoice to a customer (print, email, etc.) from either place. Many customers prefer to

generate the invoice in SOS and then send it from QuickBooks Online. That works perfectly fine, if

that is your preference.

If you wish to create invoices in SOS Inventory and let QuickBooks Online number the transactions

for you, you must follow the steps listed below.

1. In QuickBooks Online:

a. Enable Use Custom Transaction Numbers (under Gear icon > Account and Settings >

Sales).

b. Create an invoice in QuickBooks with the starting number you wish to use.

c. After saving the invoice, disable Use Custom Transaction Number.

2. In SOS Inventory:

a. Go to Settings > Sales Settings > Invoices.

b. Enable the Use QuickBooks Invoice Numbers setting. Leave the Next Invoice Number

and Invoice Number Prefix fields blank. Refer to the descriptions for Invoice settings if

needed.

To create an invoice from a sales order, open the sales order list and find the sales order you want

to process. Under the Actions Menu for that invoice, click the Create Invoice action. Note that this

will create an invoice only for items on the sales order that have been shipped but not invoiced.

This means that you must ship the items on the sales order before you can invoice for them. Thus,

you normally use the Create Shipment action on the sales order before using the Create Invoice

action.

The Ready to Invoice report (Operations Menu > Reports > Sales > Ready to Invoice) shows all

orders that have been shipped and are waiting to be invoiced. This report helps ensure that your

accounting department has missed no orders and has invoiced all customers.

A sales receipt is a record of a completed sales transaction. An example is the receipt you receive

from a grocery store for the merchandise you purchase. Sales receipts in SOS Inventory work

almost identically to sales receipts in QuickBooks Online. The one exception is that SOS does not

process payments (checks, credit cards, etc.), so you still need to record those in QuickBooks

Online or via some other payment processing system.

Note that a sales receipt by itself does not relieve inventory. The reason is that shipping and sales

are different processes. Consider a furniture store where you walk in and buy a couch for them to

deliver to you. You pay them, and they give you a sales receipt. However, the couch is still in their

warehouse. It is still in their inventory. Thus, their “on-hand” quantity has not changed, as they

would still have the same number of units if they walked out to their warehouse. Only when it is

entered on a shipment will it come out of inventory.

If you select More > Save and Ship on the Navigation Bar when you finish adding or editing a sales

receipt, the system will save the sales receipt—and then generate and automatically open a pre-

populated shipment transaction. This is a convenient option if you want your sale and delivery to

occur at exactly the same time, as it allows you to easily remove the merchandise from inventory

with only one click.

If the shipment takes place later, simply locate the saved sales receipt on the Sales Receipts list

and select the Create Shipment option on the Actions Menu. SOS will generate a shipment

transaction from the sales receipt.

SOS Inventory does not process payments of any kind. Any payment that you take from your

customer must be recorded in QuickBooks Online. The only exception to this rule is that sales

orders and invoices can accept a record of a deposit, or prepayment. See the section on deposits for

more information.

SOS Inventory supports price tiers (price levels) that allow you to have different pricing structures

for different customers, as well as quantity-based pricing. For example, you might wish to have

wholesale pricing and retail pricing. Price tiers in SOS are based on what we call

price groups

To set up a price group in SOS, go to Company Menu > Price Tiers, then select the Add New button.

You can specify an across-the-board percentage discount for the price group, or you can specify

the prices on an item-by-item basis. The calculation for the percentage discount is based upon the

item’s

list price

(its regular sales price, without discounts). The list price on sales forms matches

the value entered in the Sales Price field of the item definition.

When entering a price group, you can retrieve the prices for existing items in the group by selecting

the item and clicking the Retrieve Prices button. Then add or edit the prices as needed. Note that

you can enter different prices at different quantity levels. If you remove all entries from the prices

table for an existing item in the tier and save, it deletes the entry from the price tier.

If you do not wish to have quantity breaks, simply enter one price per item, with a quantity of

. To

enter the pricing for another item in the group, save the first item. Then change to another item

and enter pricing for it. Then save and repeat until you have entered all of them. Note that any

items not in the group will use the default pricing as specified with the item. If you remove all

entries from the prices table for an existing item in the tier and save, it deletes the entry from the

price tier.

You can use the Export Data/Import Data features to edit your price tiers, but this method does not

work for quantity buys at this time.

Once you have set up your price groups, you can assign customers to them by editing the customer

definition and selecting the default price group that applies to the customer. You can override this

price tier on a sales transaction. Your price groups, as well as pricing by item and/or customer, can

be viewed on the Price Book (Operations Menu > Reports > Sales > Price Book). Select the item(s),

customer(s), and print or export as needed.

SOS Inventory can track sales representatives and their commissions. Commissions can be

calculated using any of the methods listed below. But regardless of the commission calculation

method chosen, the sales representative must be defined in the system.

The methods for calculating commissions are:

•

By the value established for the representative in the sales rep definition.

You can set the

commission to be based on a percentage of sales or a flat rate per transaction. Only one

commission rate may be applied to the sales representative per definition. If you wish to

provide varying rates to the same representative, enter an additional definition for each

rate that applies to that sales representative.

•

By the value established in the item definition.

The commission can be based on a

percentage of the item’s sale price or a designated per-unit rate. An item may also be

commission exempt if you do not want to pay commission on sales of that item.

•

By the combined total of the values established in the sales rep definition and the item

definition.

If commission values are specified for the item as well as the representative,

then SOS will calculate a commission that is based on both.

To add a sales representative, go to Company Menu > Sales Reps, then select the Add New button.

Enter the information needed in the fields, and then save. (If you do NOT wish to establish a

commission rate based on the sales representative, leave the Percent Commission and Per

Transaction Commission fields in the sales rep definition set to zero.) You may use the Actions

Menu to edit or delete a sales representative.

Once added to the system, the representative’s name will appear in the Sales Rep field of sales

forms.

Sales representative information will sync from SOS (the Sales Rep field) to a custom field in

QuickBooks Online if the QuickBooks custom field is also named

Sales Rep

To run the Commission Report, go to Operations Menu > Reports > Sales > Commission Report.

Choose your desired order date range, filters, options, and columns, then select in the Actions

block how you want the report delivered.

In calculating commissions earned, the report considers sales transactions as well as the returns

associated with a sales representative.

SOS Inventory supports discounts on sales transactions. To record a discount, simply enter it in the

discount box on the sales form. If syncing with QuickBooks Online, you must have discounts

enabled in QuickBooks Online, or the discount will not sync properly.

Sales orders and invoices in SOS Inventory can track customer deposits, or advance payments.

When included on an invoice, the deposit will flow to QuickBooks Online as a payment on the

invoice. Note that you still need to record the actual payment (check, credit card, etc.) in

QuickBooks Online, as SOS does not process the actual payment. SOS merely records the deposit

for tracking purposes.

When you enter an internal comment (memo) on a sales transaction, SOS stores the comment

along with a record of who made the comment and when. The comment history is displayed on the

transaction when viewed internally. This allows your customer service staff and/or sales reps to

have a record of all notes on the order—for example, keeping a record of when the customer called.

The comment feature is very open-ended, and our customers use it in a variety of ways. The best

use will depend on the specific needs of your company.

To add/edit/delete sales terms that are available for sales transactions, go to Company Menu >

Terms. The sales terms will synchronize with QuickBooks Online.

All sales forms in SOS Inventory support sales tax. The way tax is handled depends on whether your

company is linked to QuickBooks Online.

If your company is linked to QuickBooks Online, SOS retrieves all your sales tax rates from the

Sales Tax Center in QuickBooks Online. Those rates cannot be edited directly in SOS. If you need to

change them, you must change them in QuickBooks Online and then synchronize them to SOS.

If your company is not linked to QuickBooks Online, you can set a default tax rate under the

General tab of the Sales Settings page (Settings > Sales Settings). In addition, you can set a

different default tax rate for each location by using the Location List to edit each location. Finally,

you can override the tax rate on any given sales form if you wish.

For our international customers, your QuickBooks Online Tax Center allows you to define separate

purchasing and sales taxes, as well as combined taxes and others like VAT tax codes. When adding

your items, you can define default purchase and sales tax codes. On transactions, you must provide

a tax code for each line item on the transaction. When you add items onto transactions, it will use

the appropriate tax code base on the transaction type.

If your SOS account was not connected to a QuickBooks Online account or was connected to one

that does not have a tax center defined, then you can leave the tax blocks blank.

You can send customer messages on sales transactions to describe exact details of a sale, make

shipping arrangements, or really to include any additional information that you wish. Previous

customer messages are stored for later use. To manage your list of saved customer messages, go to

Company Menu > Customer Messages.

SOS Inventory has a fulfillment system made up of pick tickets and shipments that make

warehouse processing easier.

Although these topics are covered in this chapter, picking and shipping are part of the sales

workflow. For a visual of a sales workflow that includes picking and shipping, see Sample Sales

Workflow.

Pick tickets in SOS Inventory are optional. You should use pick tickets ONLY if you need them in

addition to the packing slips that are generated with shipments. A pick ticket in SOS is used to give

instructions to your warehouse to pull certain items, quantities, serial numbers, lot numbers, etc.

Pick tickets do NOT remove items from inventory. They are simply a set of instructions that might

or might not be completed. Once the items are pulled and sent to the customer, they should be

recorded on a shipment so that they come out of inventory.

Shipping in SOS Inventory is defined as inventory going from your company to the customer. It

does not necessarily mean that you actually shipped it. For example, if a customer comes to your

location and picks up the items, you still need to create a shipment to indicate that the items were

removed from inventory.

Typically, the easiest method for creating a shipment is to locate an associated sales transaction

(sales order, invoice, etc.) on the appropriate list, then select Create Shipment from the Actions

Menu. This generates a shipment form populated with all the relevant information, which you can

then edit and save as appropriate.

If you need to create a shipment that does not have an accompanying sales transaction, go to Add

Menu > Fulfillment > Shipment. You may also add a new shipment from the Shipments list (under

Operations Menu > Fulfillment > Shipments) and click on Add New in the upper right corner of the

content area.

The Ready to Pick/Ship report (Operations Menu > Reports > Fulfillment > Ready to Pick/Ship)

shows all orders that can be picked or shipped based on the inventory on hand or the available for

sale depending on options that you choose when generating the report. As you receive new

inventory, use this report to fill your backorders. For many of our customers, the Ready to

Pick/Ship report becomes a to-do list for their warehouse workers each day.

When you create a shipment, the system automatically generates a packing slip. Use the Print

button to print it from your browser—or select PDF from the shipment’s Actions Menu to

download a PDF version. You can customize headers, footers, and other details of the packing slip

via the Sales Settings page.

SOS Inventory can create shipments (and thus relieve inventory) automatically from new invoices

and sales receipts entered in QuickBooks Online. This feature is not enabled by default. To enable

this capability, go to Settings Menu > Sales Settings. Under the General section, you will see

options called Auto-Ship Invoices and Auto-Ship Sales Receipts. Turn on the one that you need

and save the changes. Inventory will be relieved when you enter new invoices or sales receipts in

QuickBooks Online.

SOS Inventory supports both discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing. In both cases,

raw materials (inputs) are turned into finished goods (outputs). Where possible, SOS Inventory

tries to match the terminology used in the desktop editions of QuickBooks, to lessen the learning

curve for existing QuickBooks users and ProAdvisors.

In SOS Inventory, an assembly is the output of discrete manufacturing, where raw materials are

turned into one or more units of a finished good, based on a bill of materials (BOM). SOS also

supports process manufacturing, whereby outputs are produced using a recipe or formula. In SOS,

processes are used to describe a more general type of manufacturing that can produce an unlimited

number of outputs based on an unlimited number of inputs. As a general rule, first see if your

manufacturing workflow can fit the assembly/build model described below, as it is the simplest

approach. If it does not, then you should use the process approach in SOS, as it will support

virtually any manufacturing configuration.

An assembly in SOS Inventory is similar to an assembly in QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Enterprise.

You can enter a bill of materials (BOM) that specifies the components of the assembly, and then

you can create transactions to record that you built a given number of the assemblies on a certain

date.

A kit or item group is a collection of inventory items that are bundled together at the time of

purchase or sale. The individual items that make up a kit are still separate items and could be sold

individually if needed. In contrast, an assembly is an item that is manufactured (built) from

component items. When you record a build transaction into the system, the inventory of the

assembly item increases and the inventories of the component items decrease, as they are used to

build the assembly. For more information on configuring and using kits, see the section Kits (Item

Groups).

A bill of materials (BOM) is the specification of the number and type of components that are used

in making an assembly. The BOM is specified using the quantity required to make one unit of the

finished good. To create a BOM, first create your finished good item and set its type to Assembly.

Once that is complete, return to the Items list and find the assembly item. On its Actions Menu,

choose Edit Bill of Materials. On the page that comes up, you can enter the components of your

BOM. You must enter the component items and the quantities to complete the BOM for use in

building assemblies.

Assemblies can have component items that are also assemblies (sub-assemblies). SOS Inventory

supports multi-level BOMs, and there is no limit to the number of levels. The Expanded BOM

Report (Operations Menu > Reports > Miscellaneous > Expanded BOM Report) allows you to view

the entire BOM for an assembly, as well as sub-assemblies.

To remove inventory of raw materials and increase inventory of finished assemblies, you must

record a build transaction. This transaction tells the system that on a certain date you used raw

materials to make a finished good. You can add a new build by going to the Task Bar and clicking on

Add Menu > Production > Build. You may also add new builds by going to the Builds list

(Operations Menu > Production > Builds), then selecting Add New. The Builds list is also where you

can view and edit existing builds.

When creating a build in SOS Inventory, first select the type of assembly that you want to build and

then enter the desired quantity to build. Those steps define your output. For the input

components, you can enter them manually in the Components section of the build transaction, or

you can click the Retrieve Components button to retrieve the proper components based on the

BOM. Once retrieved, you can adjust the quantities and/or items as needed—for example, if you are

using a substitute product.

A special use of the build transaction allows you to use an inventory item as an output as well. For

example, you may have an item that is sold as a new product. If it is returned by a customer, you

cannot sell it as new, even if the item is in excellent condition. The solution: Sell it as a refurbished

item, with the original item as the input and the refurbished item as an output. No BOM is needed,

as both the input and output items are inventory items.

SOS Inventory does have the ability to create a build automatically when you ship an item. To turn

on this capability, enable the Auto-Build Assemblies option on the Inventory Settings page

(Settings > Inventory Settings).

Processes in SOS Inventory can have an unlimited number of inputs and outputs. This gives you the

flexibility to handle not only simple manufacturing (multiple inputs into one output) but also

disassembly (where one input turns into many outputs) and processes with by-products (multiple

inputs into multiple outputs).

A process template in SOS Inventory is like a BOM for a process. It describes the inputs and outputs

to be recalled for use later. A template does not remove items from inventory. The inventory is

removed/created when you enter a process (discussed next).

To create a process template for later use, go on the Task Bar under Company Menu > Process

Templates, then select the Add New button. Enter each input and output, as well as the quantity

for each. You may also specify whether any output is considered a waste item.

A process transaction in SOS Inventory is a record showing that a specific process took place on a

specific date. This transaction is what tells the system that something actually happened. To enter

a process transaction, go on the Task Bar under Add Menu > Production > Process. You may also

add new process transactions from the Process Transaction list by going to Operations Menu >

Production > Processes, and then selecting the Add New button.

To recall a saved process template (optional), choose the process from the Template field’s

dropdown list select Apply.

When you save a process transaction, inventory of the input items goes down and inventory of the

output items goes up. The cost of the input items is distributed proportionally across the output

items, according to the standard cost of the output items. Make sure that each of your output items

has a purchase cost entered, as an output item with a $0 purchase cost will receive none of the

value (unless it is the only output, which will result in it receiving 100 percent of the value).

NOTE: If the output item has its type set to Assembly, you need to enter a BOM for the assembly, as

the standard cost is calculated from the BOM.

For any output of a process, you can specify the output item as waste. Based on the percentage of

waste items and non-waste items, the system will calculate a yield for your process. This helps you

to evaluate materials from different suppliers, for example, to determine which gives you the best

outputs in your manufacturing. Waste items go into inventory like any other inventory item, so

that they can be tracked and used later as needed.

Jobs, available in the Pro plan of SOS Inventory, are a convenient way of organizing groups of

transactions. Each job, and even each stage of a job, can have its own profit-and-loss statement to

show you precisely how much money you made or lost on a given set of transactions. To enable job

tracking in SOS Inventory, go to Settings Menu > Inventory Settings and turn on Job Tracking.

To add a job, go on the Task Bar under Add Menu > Production > Job. You may also add new jobs

from the Jobs list by going to Operations Menu > Production > Jobs, and then selecting the Add

New button. When adding or editing a job, you can specify one or more work centers for the job and

the order in which they occur. You must have at least one work center (Finished Goods). For more

information, see Work in Progress/Work Centers.

Once job tracking is enabled, transactions in SOS Inventory will include the option to specify the

job to which the transaction, or the line item on the transaction, will be attached. The list will

include all open jobs in the system and their associated work centers.

To view the dashboard for a job, go to Operations Menu > Production > Jobs and click the Job

Dashboard option on the Actions Menu of the job you wish to view. The dashboard will allow you to

quickly access each transaction associated with the job. In addition, you can close the job or view

the profit and loss for each job.

To view the profit/loss for a given job, go to Operations Menu > Production > Jobs and select

Profit/Loss on the Actions Menu. Then you can view the profit/loss for the job as a whole or for

each work center. The line items on the statement include all transactions for which that job was

selected.

A work order in SOS Inventory is an order to produce a given number of items. On a work order, you

can provide detailed instructions about how to make each item. A work order is like a purchase

order in that it is a non-posting transaction. Work orders do not affect your inventory until the

manufacturing is recorded using a build transaction or process transaction. A work order is simply

a set of instructions that you send to your foreman, plant, factory, etc. It may or may not be

fulfilled.

To add a work order, go on the Task Bar under Add Menu > Production > Work Order. You may also

add new work orders from the Work Orders list by going to Operations Menu > Production > Work

Orders and clicking Add New on the top right corner of the list.

If the work order is fulfilled, you can use the work order to generate a transaction associated with

work performed. Go to the Work Orders list and select Quick View from the work order’s Actions

Menu. Then select the Produce button on a line item to generate a transaction.

For many companies, the process of turning raw materials into finished goods can take days,

weeks, months—and in some cases, years. As the length of time involved in manufacturing

increases, so does the importance of tracking work in progress (WIP). Tracking WIP allows you to

remove raw materials from inventory that are no longer available because they have been used in

manufacturing. However, the finished good might not yet be available. SOS Inventory offers two

methods for tracking WIP. These two methods are not mutually exclusive. You can use one or both,

depending on your tracking needs.

•

Method 1: Work centers.

Work centers allow you to organize your manufacturing into

stages. For example, suppose you start with sheets of metal and end with a water tank. To

get to that end result, you must cut the metal, weld it, paint it, and assemble any remaining

add-on parts. That process might take several weeks. On any manufacturing transaction

(build or process transaction), you can select a work center. The system comes predefined

with a work center called Finished Goods. The manufacturing outputs are not recorded

until the work center is changed to Finished Goods. You can specify additional work centers

by going to under Company Menu > Work Centers. Work center tracking is most useful

when used in conjunction with Jobs, as you can specify work centers for a given job and

even run a profit/loss statement on each work center within a job.

•

Method 2: Items.

It is often useful to set up special items to represent WIP items in SOS

Inventory. This allows you to track exactly how many units of each “sub-product” that you

have at any given time. For example, suppose that you start with a Widget which must first

be welded and then painted to make the finished good. You might want to know how many

items have been welded and are waiting to be painted. A simple approach is to create an

item called “Widget— Raw” to represent the original raw material. Then create an item

called “Widget—Welded” to represent the welded version, and then an item called

“Widget—Painted” or “Widget—Finished” to represent the finished good that will

eventually be sold to customers.

SOS Inventory allows for the tracking of labor that goes into assemblies and/or processes. To track

labor, create an item and set its type to Labor. You can then specify the cost per hour and the

number of hours that went into a manufacturing run. If you have different types of labor with

different rates, simply create a separate labor item for each.

If you want to track hours for specific workers (for example, John Smith and Jane Doe), turn on the

Track Workers option on the Inventory Settings page (Settings Menu > Inventory Settings). After

doing so, you will have the option to manage/add workers. Then, when you include a labor item on

a build or process, the system will prompt you to select the appropriate worker. NOTE: Worker

tracking is available only on the Pro plan of SOS Inventory.

The process involved in manufacturing a product is illustrated by the Manufacturing Workflow

diagram:

Manufacturing Workflow

If you use a contract manufacturer to meet some of your manufacturing needs, please refer to the

section on Contract Manufacturing in this guide.

Many companies outsource some or all their manufacturing to third parties, often called contract

manufacturers (CM). SOS Inventory supports this configuration.

If the production of an item you sell involves the use of a contract manufacturer, the workflow

required depends upon whether your business is responsible for supplying the necessary raw

materials or components to your CM. If your company is responsible, use the procedures outlined

in the subsection Contract Manufacturing Workflow.

On the other hand, if your contract manufacturer is responsible for providing all materials needed

for manufacturing the item as well as executing the entire manufacturing process, you can treat

the item produced by the contract manufacturer as you would any other item sold by a vendor. In

this situation, choose Inventory in the Type field of the finished good’s item definition. No BOM is

needed because the contract manufacturer is totally responsible for all aspects of producing the

item.

Many complex situations exist in complex manufacturing. For specific questions on your situation,

please email support@sosinventory.com.

If your company is responsible for providing raw materials or components to your contract

manufacturer, the contract manufacturing workflow is a multi-stepped process.

Contract manufacturing process

1. Create definitions. (See Contract Manufacturing Flow Diagram for a visual illustration of

the definition workflow.)

•

Create a non-nettable location that represents the contract manufacturer.

This

allows you to transfer inventory to/from the contract manufacturer, as well as to

keep track of that inventory. Be sure to include full address information when you

set up the contract manufacturer’s location.

•

Create all items needed for the BOM/process template.

If an assembly item, create an assembly (output) item as well as the

individual component items.

•

Create an item representing the service fee of the contract manufacturer.

Note the

following as you create the service fee’s item definition:

Name.

Distinguish the item as a contract manufacturing (CM) service (e.g.,

387450 Flight Jacket - CM).

Description.

Indicate that it is the contract manufacturing fee for

production.

Type.

Service.

Sales Price.

Leave at 0, since this is an expense.

Income Account.

Leave as is, since this is an expense and is therefore

irrelevant.

Expense Account.

Designate the account to which this fee should be

assigned.

Always Shippable.

Yes.

Purchase Cost.

Enter the fee per unit.

•

Create the BOM or process template.

The BOM action will show only for items that are listed as an assembly.

If sometimes you build the assembly in house, and sometimes use a

contract manufacturer, you can include both your in-house labor item as

well as the CM fee on the BOM. (When you create a build transaction and

pull the BOM up, you can edit/delete the items as needed.)

(Refer to Raw Material Components to CM Location and Build for a workflow diagram of the

remaining steps outlined below.)

Create two purchase orders.

One PO is for the items that must be ordered from a vendor,

the other for the service to be performed by the contract manufacturer.

• The purchase order for the vendor should list the contract manufacturer’s location

as the shipping address. In the Vendor Message, specify that the invoice is to be

sent to your company and include the company address and contact information.

Create two item receipts.

Do one when the items ordered from a vendor have been received

by the contract manufacturer, the other for the service when the CM delivers the finished

product. Adjust the unit pricing or quantity on the item receipts if needed.

Create a build transaction to reflect what the contract manufacturer did.

•

Make sure the location is the contract manufacturer’s location.

•

In the input items, the BOM will include the contract manufacturer’s fee.

Create an inventory transfer to move the finished product from the contract manufacturer

to your location.

The item is now ready to be sold.

Many companies track overhead as part of their manufacturing and/or inventory management. In

doing so, the utilities and other overhead costs become part of costs of goods sold as opposed to

expense items on your profit and loss statement. SOS Inventory supports two approaches to

tracking overhead. Both methods are available only on the Pro plan.

•

Overhead items.

You can create an item to represent an overhead expense by selecting the

Type field option Overhead. Typically, you set up the overhead item with the expense

account set to a current liability account in QuickBooks Online. As you enter builds and

process transactions, you enter the overhead items as inputs to the transactions. The cost

allocated to overhead is posted to the liability account. When the actual bills come in and

are paid via QuickBooks Online, the bill is posted to the liability account, which will

ultimately relieve the balance in that account. The net result overall is that your overhead

costs become part of the cost of the output items in the manufacturing runs in SOS, which

then turns into cost of goods sold upon sale.

•

Item receipts.

When goods are received, you can enter a percentage cost for overhead. This

tells SOS Inventory to add that percentage to each item in the item receipt.

This section will discuss extended sales transactions: customer returns and rental inventory.

Let’s start by reviewing how SOS Inventory provides a robust process to handle customer returns.

You can issue Return Merchandise Authorizations (RMAs) to customers, process the goods on a

return when they come in, and issue credit memos to customers. SOS Inventory also provides a

capability to handle inventory items as rental items.

An RMA is a form you provide to a customer authorizing them to return an item or items. The RMA

includes information such as the names of the items they are returning, the address where they

should ship the items, and an expiration date (the date by which goods must be returned in order to

obtain a refund). You can also place additional conditions for the return in the comment block.

An RMA is very similar to a PO. It is a non-posting transaction, so it does not affect your inventory

directly. However, it does provide a record of inbound inventory, and you can track that number via

the “On RMA” column of the Items list. RMAs are optional. You do not need an RMA to process

returned merchandise from a customer.

A return transaction is to an RMA what an item receipt is to a PO. It is a record showing that goods

have been received back from a customer. You can enter a return without an RMA, or you can

generate one from the RMA if needed. You must enter the quantities for the items being restocked.

A return transaction can be created in several different ways. The different methods are:

Generate a return from its original shipment transaction.

Typically, this is the preferred

method for creating a return because the

exact

Cost of Goods Sold value is populated in the

Restock Value field, as it factors shipment costs into the COGS figure. No other method for

creating a return can provide an exact Restock Value; but if you adjust the Quantity field of

a returned item, you will need to adjust the Restock Value as well. To generate a return

using a shipment transaction, locate the shipment in the Shipment list (Operations Menu

> Fulfillment > Shipments), then select Create Return from the Actions Menu.

Generate a return from the associated sales order, invoice, sales receipt, or RMA.

The

Restock Value field of the generated return will show the item’s purchase cost as listed in

the item definition. To generate a return from one of these forms, select the Create Return

option from the Actions Menu of the appropriate list.

Create a return from the Task Bar’s Add Menu—or by selecting the Add New button on the

Returns list (Operations Menu > More Transactions > Returns).

All data fields will need to

be manually entered.

If you generate a return from another transaction, you may edit the return as needed.

When adding a return, if you want to issue a credit memo to the customer in QuickBooks Online,

simply check the Credit Memo box on the return. SOS will generate one for you. The amount used

is the Credit Amount on each line item of the return.

If you do not create a return from an existing transaction, the credit memo will show the unit price

as the sales price listed in the item definition, and the credit amount will be $0. You must manually

enter the correct Unit Price, Credit Amount, and Restock Value fields to process the credit memo

properly.

When adding a return, the items go back into inventory. Accordingly, they should have a value or

cost basis. The system uses the Restock Value for each line item as the cost basis for all future

calculations and MUST be entered before saving the transaction. You can adjust the restock value

to account for damages, etc. This value is entered for you if the return is generated from the

shipment on which the item was sent to the customer.

To use the rental/consignment features of SOS Inventory (available on Plus and Pro plan only), go

to Settings Menu > Inventory Settings and turn on the Rental Inventory option. Once done, you

will see the Rentals menu (under Operations Menu > More Transactions). You will also have an

additional location called

Out for Rental

, which will contain all items that are currently rented. This

location is non-nettable.

When a customer rents an item from you, enter a Rental transaction via the Rentals list

(Operations Menu > More Transactions > Rentals). This tells the system that the item is rented

with a specific due date. When the customer returns the item, generate a Rental Return transaction

from the Rental. Note that you still need to bill the customer using an invoice or sales receipt.

Run the Open Rental Detail or Rental Calendar reports (under Operations Menu > Reports >

Rentals) to view all items that are out for rental or available for rental. Note that your rental items

must be serialized to view item-level detail on the Rental Calendar. You can also use the Calendar

from the Operations Menu to see when rentals are due as well.

SOS Inventory can use custom fields. Custom fields allow you to add new fields for your use to

almost any object in SOS such as an item or a sale transaction. Custom field values are passable

between SOS forms and objects. If the same field is defined in QuickBooks Online, the data even

syncs between the systems.

Adding a custom field

To add a new custom field, go to Company Menu > Custom Fields and select Add New. You will see

an edit page that looks like this:

Provide a name (it cannot be a data type or existing field on a form) and a description. Select the

appropriate data type:

•

Text.

Short text such as a VIN number for cars.

•

Multi-Line Text.

Used for additional address blocks or other text with line returns.

•

Number.

A number, up to 13 digits and 5 decimal places.

•

Money.

Additional currency field.

•

Date.

Additional data formatted field.

•

Check Box (yes/no).

Clickable box to check or uncheck.

•

List.

You supply values that you can choose from during edit of the object or transaction.

Custom field rules

1. Name cannot be the same as any other existing form field.

2. Maximum number of custom fields is based on plan level.

• Companion—One

• Plus—Three

• Pro—Unlimited

3. Limit of three custom fields added to any PDF form template.

A custom field will show on the edit page of the object to which it is assigned. It also is included on

the appropriate list as a column option in the Column Chooser. If attached to a transaction, you can

add a custom field to the appropriate form template as a merge field. The merge field name is the

name of the custom field.

The capability for Automated Order Processing, or AOP, allows a user to set rules to establish new

workflows within SOS. A user can define and enable or disable rules as necessary to provide the

desired operational workflow. The rule takes effect as the transaction is saved.

To create or edit a new rule, go to the AOP Rules list under Company Menu > Automated Order

Processing (AOP) Rules. Click on Add New to create a new rule.

On the edit page are the following fields:

Name

. The name for the rule, such as “Auto-Ship Sales Orders.” Rule names must be

unique.

Description

. The description explaining what the rule will accomplish.

Enabled

. This checkbox allows you to enable or disable the rule.

When a/an

. This is the transaction type to which the rule will apply. The available types are

Estimate, Invoice, Pick Ticket, Purchase Order, Sales Order, Sales Receipt, and Shipment.

. This is the state of the transaction. Either Created or Edited.

With Channel

. You can list a channel through which the transaction is marked as passing

through.

With Priority

. You can select transactions with a certain priority.

At Location.

You can select the location that the transaction is set to pull items from.

For Customer

. You can set the rule to affect transactions for a particular customer only.

10.

Do This

. If a transaction meets the above conditions as defined, you can assign any number

of actions to take, the target of the action, and the order in which they are to be taken.

Available actions for ‘Do This’ table

ACTION

TARGET

Assign to a User

User

Create a New Transaction

Type (Invoice, Sales Order, Sales Receipt)

Move to Stage

Stage

Notify a User

User—based on the user’s notification preferences

Send an Email

Address (Enter an email address or leave blank to send to form

default)

Template (The template you wish to use, based on the

transaction listed in the When a/an field)

Set the Priority

Priority (1—High, 2—Medium, 3—Low)

This is example of an AOP rule for a sales order:

For transactions, you can stack transaction creates. For example, you can create an AOP rule that

creates a shipment and invoice from a sales order:

1. Set the When a/an field to Sales Order.

2. In the Do This table:

a. Step 1: Create a New Transaction in the Action column. In the Target column, select

the Type as Shipment.

b. Step 2: Create a New Transaction in the Action column. In the Target column, select

Type as Invoice.

NOTE: If you select Shipment for the When a/an field, the invoice cannot go back and edit the

original sales order.

With this version of SOS Inventory, you can now define a customer portal so that your customers

can access information on their orders posted in SOS, as shown in the illustration below. This

feature is available only on Pro plans.

To setup the customer portal within SOS, go to Settings Menu > Customer Portal Setup. There are

very few options, but you are defining the website that they can access and see the status of the

orders.

Options to set up your portal:

Enabled

. Checking this box enables the portal for your customers. You can disable access if

you decide it is being misused or want to reconfigure the settings.

Web Address

. This is the web address that your customers use to get to your portal. It is

usually your company name followed by “.orderfacts.com” and is particular to your

customers only. You cannot use “SOS” anywhere in your web address. This web address will

be part of the link that shows on sales orders and sales receipts. It is defined in Tracking

Email Settings (Settings > Tracking Email Config). See Tracking Email Config for more

information.

Company Name

. This is the company name displayed to your company on the order site. If

not filled in, it uses the company name on your SOS account as seen in the Company Menu.

Footer

. This is the footer that will show at the bottom of all portal pages for your

customers. This is typically used for disclaimers, contact information, etc.

Require Password

. If activated, a customer is required to provide a password to enter the

site. The password is a randomly generated eight-character password. You can see it in the

customer’s definition under the option Portal Password only when activated. You can set

this password to anything you like if you don’t want to use the generated ones. You can also

generate a new random password if needed or the user can use the “I forgot my password”

option to let SOS generate a new one in their record and send it to their email address on

file.

Show Assigned User

. Checking this option shows your customers the person assigned to

the order.

The customer portal setup works in conjunction with the Tracking Email Config settings to

automate customer notification processing as part of their orders.

This functionality allows you to use special message bodies for sales orders, shipments, and sales

receipts when using the Email action to send a customer a PDF copy of the transaction. The email

message bodies contain information unique the transaction, such as the login to the Customer

Portal or tracking information for the shipment. This is only used if the Customer Portal is

enabled.

Here is a sample Tracking Email Config settings page. You can customize what each message body

will be.

What you see is dependent on your SOS account level. If you are on the Pro Plan you will see

everything shown in the graphic. If you are on Companion or Plus, you will see only the Shipments

section for notification of tracking information. This works hand in hand with the ShipStation

integration.

The field codes you see on the graphic above can be used on form templates if you want to create a

custom transaction form with those fields on them.

Within SOS Inventory, all available reports in the application can be found under a single Reports

page under Operations Menu > Reports. Most reports are quite extensive in information and can be

customized to view by date ranges, filters, and other factors such as location.

This is what the Reports page looks like. See Report Descriptions to learn more about the

capabilities of each report.

The Old Reports link in the top right corner are for older report formats that you may be more

familiar with but are being phased out.

Reports can be customized to use certain filters, options, and column selections. Due to the extent

of reporting, please try the report you are needing and contact the support team with questions.

Once a report has been customized, you can schedule it to run automatically either daily, weekly or

monthly, as well as have the report emailed to multiple email address.

You can display the information to the screen if there is a small amount of data. If a larger amount

of data is to be produced, you can either Save As Excel/CSV to get a downloaded file or Send Via

Email have the file sent to multiple addresses. This feature will run in the background and allow

you to keep working. When the report has been generated, you will receive a notification that the

action is complete.

SOS Inventory provides tools for exporting data and importing data to allow for editing your data in

bulk instead of one piece of data at a time.

If you need to make a few additions or edits to your data, the most efficient approach is to do so

directly within SOS. However, if you need to many additions or edits to your data, the import and

export data tools of SOS Inventory are the way to go. These tools are very powerful. You must use

them carefully and understand how they work, so that you don’t accidentally overwrite your data.

The import and export features are found on the Task Bar under Company Menu > Data Tools. All

data functions are performed via Excel or CSV files.

The process for editing data in this manner involves three basic steps:

1. Exporting the data type you need to modify. The file can be exported in either an Excel or

CSV format. (If you have many items, the export will be fastest if you select the CSV

format.) For new SOS customers with no data in the system, the exported file will serve

merely as the template for you to add your data.

2. Editing the data as needed.

3. Importing the edited Excel or CSV file back into SOS Inventory.

The types of data that you can export depend upon your SOS plan.

Standard (Companion plan)

Available to all SOS customers

• Adjustments

• BOMS

• Builds

• Customers

• Estimates

• Invoices

• Item Receipts

• Items

• Purchase Orders

• Returns

• Sales Orders

• Sales Receipts

• Shipments

• Vendors

Plus

Includes Standard (Companion plan) data types and the following

• Lots

• Pick Tickets

• Price Tiers

• Rentals

• Rental Returns

• Returns to Vendors

• RMAs

• Serial Inventory

• Transfers

• Units of Measure

• Vendor-Item Catalog

Pro

Includes Plus data types and the following

• Jobs

• Process Transactions

• Work Orders

Exported data are informational only, but they can be edited if needed and imported back into SOS

Inventory.

To export data from SOS Inventory:

Go to Company Menu > Export Data, then select the type of data you wish to export.

The

system will take you to the export page for that data type.

Select your desired As Of Date (for items) or Date Range (for transactions), Filters (a

location for items is required), Options, and Columns to include on the export.

If you are

intending to make changes and import the data back into SOS Inventory, click the gray

button under the Columns section that states Add All Columns Required For Import.

NOTE: For items, the use of the As Of date and Location filter is very important if you

want to set the inventory counts for an exact date in your system’s history upon import.

If you anticipate reusing the export, you can add the export type as a favorite, save how you

customized it, or schedule it through the Manage block.

Favorites, customized and

scheduled exports will be added to the Export Data page.

In the Actions block, select how you wish to obtain the exported information.

•

Display Export.

Data appears on the export page in SOS Inventory. You may then

print an

uneditable

hard copy of the data.

•

Save as Excel/CSV.

Downloads the data to your computer in the file format you

specify (Excel or CSV).

•

Send via Email.

Send the data as an email attachment in the file format you specify

(Excel or CSV).

NOTE:

If you choose the Display Export or Save as Excel/CSV options and the system

detects that you have a large amount of data to process, you’ll get a message stating to use

the Send via Email option so it can generate in the background. The resulting file will be

sent to you after it is generated.

When performing mass edits, follow the guidelines listed below. They will help to ensure that your

updated data is successfully imported into SOS Inventory.

• DO make a backup copy of the exported data file before editing.

• DO leave the Id column (ItemId, CustomerId, or VendorId) blank when inserting a new

row. The system will assign a number when your edited file is imported back into SOS

Inventory.

• DO make sure that the Id column (ItemId, CustomerId, or VendorId) stays matched to the

proper row. For example, let’s say that you upload an item file containing both new and

existing items. The system will first attempt to match the ItemId to an existing ItemId. If it

cannot find a match, it attempts to match the Name. If it can’t find a match, then it creates

a new item. If you accidentally jumble the Id column across rows, SOS will find a match, but

it might match to the wrong row, which can cause a big jumble in your data, both in SOS

and in QuickBooks Online.

• DO delete a row from the spreadsheet if no changes are being made to it.

• DO break long files into multiple sheets. The upload will be faster if you limit the number of

rows to under 1,000 per sheet. The system will prompt you to indicate which workbook

sheet should be imported.

• DON’T change any of the column headings. The format of the template is fixed, and it is

very important. If you change or delete column headings, your import will likely fail.

• DON’T leave any special features in the file (filters, formulas, freeze panes, hide/unhide

columns or rows, etc.). You may use these while editing the file, but remove or turn them

off before saving.

This is the most common data type to be edited using the export/import tools. Use the Item Export

page (Company Menu > Export Data > Items) to obtain your data. Then you can add or edit items all

at once.

Refer to Item Field Definitions for Data Export/Import for assistance with completing the data

fields. As previously mentioned, it is extremely important that you do not mix up the ItemId

column in relation to the other columns. (By default, the file is protected to prevent that from

happening. If you override this protection, be extremely careful. To override the protection in

Excel, go to the Review ribbon and click on Unprotect Sheet) NOTE: The ItemID column must be

sorted in ascending order.

Once you have completed your edits, save your changes. Then upload the file back into the system

using the Import Data feature.

If you made changes to the QuantityOnHand and ValueOnHand fields, SOS will create an inventory

adjustment when the file is imported back into the system. This transaction needs to be resaved or

Added to Sync to send the adjusting journal entries to QuickBooks Online. In certain

circumstances, you may want to backdate this adjustment to show starting values at a certain date.

To do this, change the date and then click on the Compute button on the top of the Adjust Qty By

column to recalculate the value column based on the date selected.

Field descriptions are listed in column order. When entering data, follow the examples included in

the exported file. For more details on the contents of each field, see Item Field Descriptions.

ItemId.

DO NOT edit this value for existing items. It is a system-assigned number. The system first

attempts to use the ItemId to match the row with an existing item. This column must be sorted in

ascending order. Leave the ItemId field blank for new items.

Name.

Item name up to 100 characters (cannot use “ or < in name). If there is no match on the

ItemId, the system attempts to match the item based on this name.

SalesDescription.

Description of the item for sales forms up to 1000 characters (cannot use < in

description). Also used on purchasing forms if no purchase description provided.

QuantityOnHand.

In stock quantity (max value is 9,999,999,999,999.99999). Any changes made to

the quantity will be entered as an inventory adjustment. Must also change ValueOnHand as well,

not automatically calculated.

Note

: Do not change for serial tracked or lot tracked items. This

would need to be done within the specialized lists for each. Lots can be modified via an inventory

adjustment.

ValueOnHand.

Total cost basis for the item (max value is 9,999,999,999,999.99999). This field is

NOT calculated automatically when you change the quantity. You can enter it manually, or you can

set up a formula in Excel. Many people use this to update the cost basis to account for depreciation,

etc. Thus, the system will use whatever value you put there. If you change the quantity, be sure to

change this value also, unless you have a very good reason not to do so. Accidentally leaving this

value the same while changing the quantity is one of the most common reasons we see for people

having an unexpected cost basis.

Note

: Do not change for serial- or lot-tracked items. This needs

to be done within the specialized lists for each. Lots can be modified via an inventory adjustment.

Category.

The category to which an item is assigned. If subcategories are used, this would be

master category:subcategory to show as many category levels as needed.

PurchaseDescription.

Purchase description up to 1000 characters.

SKU

. SKU field that can be used as further search reference. Syncs with QuickBooks Online.

Barcode.

Barcode used to represent the item up to 100 characters depending on barcode type used.

PreferredVendor.

Default vendor for this item up to 36 characters.

VendorPartNumber.

Vendor-specific part number up to 50 characters.

SalesPrice.

Default sales price for the item (max value is 99,999,999.99999).

SalesPricePercent.

Percent markup, if markup is used.

Cost.

Default purchase cost of the item (max value is 99,999,999.99999). Also called standard cost.

Bin.

Default bin for this item. Note that changing the default bin does not change the location of

any existing stock.

IsTaxable.

TRUE if taxable, FALSE otherwise.

TypeOfItem.

Item type, as described in Item Field Descriptions. Use the existing items as a guide

for what goes in this field. Valid types are: Inventory Item, Non-inventory Item, Assembly, Item

Group, Category, Expense, Service, Other, Labor, or Overhead. (CASE SENSITIVE. Types that do

not match are stored as Inventory Item.)

ReorderLevel.

Reorder point for the item. Placed on reorder report if at or below. Use large

negative number to keep item off reorder report.

SyncWithQuickBooks.

This option will state whether you want the item to sync to QuickBooks

Online or not. TRUE for yes, FALSE for no.

Deleted.

Simply removing rows from the file and importing it will not delete items. You can delete

an item bychanging this value from FALSE to TRUE. Then save the changes and import the file.

Note that this will delete the item only from SOS, not from QuickBooks Online. If you need to

delete an item in both SOS and QuickBooks Online you should delete the items from the items list

and then sync.

SerialTracking.

TRUE for yes, FALSE for no. Make sure you bring existing quantity and value to

zero for this item before making this change.

LotTracking.

TRUE for yes, FALSE for no. Make sure you bring existing quantity and value to zero

for this item before making this change.

SalesItem.

Show on sales forms. TRUE for yes, FALSE for no.

PurchasingItem.

Show on purchasing forms. TRUE for yes, FALSE for no.

ManufacturingItem.

Show on manufacturing forms. TRUE for yes, FALSE for no.

MaxStockLevel.

Max restock level of item. Optional.

Notes.

Other info about the item.

UsePricePercent.

TRUE to use markup pricing, FALSE otherwise. Used in conjunction with

SalesPricePercent.

Weight.

Weight of the item, in units specified by WeightUnit.

WeightUnit.

Units used to represent weight of this item. Must be either lb (pounds), oz (ounces),

kg (kilograms), or g (grams).

Volume.

Volume of the item, as specified by VolumeUnit.

VolumeUnit.

Units used to represent volume of the item. At this time, only cbm (cubic meters) is

supported.

Starred.

If the item is to show a star. If using default star method then 0 is none, 1 is yellow. If

using stop light stars then 0 is none, 1 is red, 2 is yellow, 3 is green.

Archived.

TRUE to archive the item, FALSE otherwise.

WebUrl.

URL where the item can be found online up to 255 characters. Example:

https://www.sosinventory.com.

Tags.

Tags used to easily find this item in searches and custom reports. Also, used to groups items

together that are usually unrelated.

UpdateInventoryInShopify.

If using the Shopify integration, TRUE for yes, FALSE otherwise.

UpdateInventoryInBigCommerce.

If using the BigCommerce integration, TRUE for yes, FALSE

otherwise.

Shippable.

Specifies that the item can always be shipped. This option is available for items in

which the TypeOfItem is designated as Non-inventory, Expense, Item Group, Service, Labor,

Overhead, or Other.

CustomerPartNumber.

Your internal part number for reference in reports and exports.

LeadTime.

The length of time in days that must be allowed for a vendor to produce, ship and

deliver the item once it has been ordered. Used on the Pro Plan to automatically calculate reorder

points.

MinimumPrice.

The lowest sales price that the system will accept. Transactions attempting to sell

the item for less will be rejected.

IncomeAccountName.

Income account name up to 36 characters (see Accounts list under the Sync

Menu). All items have this if they are to be sold.

AssetAccountName

. Asset account name up to 36 characters (see Accounts list under the Sync

Menu). Inventory and assembly items have this.

COGSAccountName.

COGS account name up to 36 characters (see Accounts list under the Sync

Menu). Inventory and assembly items have this.

ExpenseAccountName.

Expense account name up to 36 characters (see Accounts list under the

Sync Menu). Usually same as COGS. All items that can be purchased will have this. For inventory

and assembly items it is the same as the COCSAccountName. If using landed costs feature on Pro

plan this is an asset account name.

SalesTaxCode.

For non-US based accounts. Enter the sales tax code name exactly.

PurchaseTaxCode.

For non-US based accounts. Enter the purchase tax code name exactly.

Class.

The class to which the item is assigned by default when used on transactions.

Warranty.

The type of warranty attached to the sale of a serial-tracked item. The warranty must be

defined in SOS before it will be included in the item definition.

CommissionAmount.

Specifies the monetary amount per unit sold that a sales representative will

receive as a commission. Overrides the commission rate in sales rep definition.

CommissionExempt.

TRUE for yes, FALSE for no. Overrides the commission rate in sales rep

definition.

CommissionRate.

Specifies the commission percentage that a sales representative will receive for

the sale of the item. Overrides the commission rate in sales rep definition.

Custom Fields.

Follow next in alphabetical order if defined in custom fields list for items.

SosAccount.

Your account Id. Do not change or remove.

Importing data to SOS Inventory requires that the uploaded data be submitted in a format that the

system can read.

Currently supported data for imports are:

• Items

• Customers

• Vendors

• BOMs

• Price Tiers

• Sales Orders

• Sales Receipts

To upload the data, go to Import Data (Company Menu > Import Data). Select the type of data you

want to import, along with the location affected if importing items. Make sure that the As Of date

matches the date that you chose when you performed the data export, if importing item changes.

Choose the Excel or CSV file containing your data, then select Preview. Up to ten rows of data will

appear for your review to ensure that you are importing the correct file. If everything looks correct,

Import. The system will begin to process the data.

NOTE: If you file is a multi-sheet spreadsheet, the system will let you know that it cannot continue

until you select which sheet to upload from a dropdown list of the sheets now displayed.

SOS will issue a message that lets you know whether the import was successful. If you receive an

error message while attempting to import or edit items, the cause is almost always a missing or

incorrectly titled column. You MUST keep the columns in the template and leave the headings the

same, or the upload will not complete properly. If you are unable to determine the problem, please

email support@sosinventory.com, and we will be happy to help.

Sales orders and sales receipts can be imported into SOS via this method. This process is a very fast

upload. If you are using AOP rules on either of these transaction types, please note that AOP rules

activate automatically when the transactions are uploaded into your system. If the AOP rules

include emailing a contact, this will slow down the process considerably, so patience is required.

These imports are commonly used for moving sales orders from QuickBooks Desktop or Enterprise

to SOS, or to upload orders coming through the EDI process.

Please contact the support desk at support@sosinventory.com if you need more information, such

as required fields.

If you are using Assembly or Item Group item types, then you can use the Export Data and Import

Data functions to create and upload (or edit) the BOMs all at once.

Go to Company Menu > Export Data > BOMs to get a copy of the spreadsheet with the current data

and headers. Then edit the file to list the Assembly or Item Groups, the components that make

them up, the quantities of the components needed, and optional notes. Other columns are not

required and are supplied by the system. Once you have finished building the spreadsheet, go to

Company Menu > Import and follow the steps for importing data to import your BOMs. If the BOM

was uploaded previously, the new BOMs import will overwrite the existing BOMs in the system. If

you limite your import to include only those BOMs that have been changed or are new, the other

BOMs in the system will be unaffected.

The BOM spreadsheet looks like this:

If you are on the Plus or Pro plans and intend to use the Price Tiers feature, you can export and

import the price tiers using this method. First, go to Company Menu > Price Tiers and add new

tiers by just providing the name of the tier. This is a mandatory step before attempting the import,

as it will not work otherwise. Next, go to Company Menu > Export Data > Price Tiers to get an Excel

or CSV file with the existing price tiers in the account and the headers. Complete the sheet with the

price tier names, the items the tier affects, the quantity to which the price applies, and the price

for the item in that tier. Once you have finished building the spreadsheet, go to Company Menu >

Import and follow the steps for importing data to import your price tiers. If a line item was

uploaded previously, the new import will overwrite the existing data in the system. If you limit

your import to include only those price tiers that have been changed or are new, the other price

tiers in the system will be unaffected.

The Price Tiers spreadsheet looks like this:

This section covers data transfer between applications and other functionality to ensure no issues

are encountered that can’t be resolved.

SOS Inventory and QuickBooks Online synchronize via a two-way, server-to-server data sync. You

do not need to be logged into both programs (or even into either program) for them to sync

properly. Synchronizations normally take less than 30 seconds to complete. Synchronization does

not happen immediately when you enter a transaction. Synchronization happens when you initiate

a sync manually by clicking Sync Now (Sync Menu > Sync Now) or when SOS triggers an automatic

sync based on your specified schedule. Be sure that you enter data into only one program. Use the

sync function to send it to the other program. Entering data in both places will create duplicates.

In addition to syncing manually using the Sync button at any time, you can configure SOS to sync

with QuickBooks Online every hour, every day, or every week. To set up automatic

synchronizations in SOS, go to Settings Menu > QuickBooks Setup and set the desired sync

frequency. Setting the Automatic Sync setting to Never means that if you sync, you always sync

manually.

In general, all data relevant to inventory synchronizes from QuickBooks Online to SOS as a one-to-

one match with the appropriate transaction. However, since QuickBooks Online does not support

some transactions that SOS supports, SOS cannot always send a one-to-one match. The key to

understanding the sync is to understand which transactions trigger data to be sent from SOS to

QuickBooks Online. The following two tables show the core data that are exchanged. Other

ancillary data are exchanged as well, and a description of those follows later.

The following QuickBooks Online data are sent to SOS when added or edited in QuickBooks Online.

They can then be accessed fully and added, edited, and deleted in SOS.

QUICKBOOKS ONLINE DATA

SENT TO SOS AS

Purchase Order

Vendor

Payment Method

Terms

Sales/Payment Terms

Product/Service

Item

Customer

Estimate

Invoice

Sales Receipt

SOS DATA

SENT TO

QUICKBOOKS AS

NOTES

Purchase Order

Purchase Order AND

Journal Entry (drop

ship)

Drop ship POs generate a credit to Accounts

Payable and a debit to Cost of Goods Sold. You

can turn this setting off.

Vendor

Payment Method

Sales / Payment

Terms

Item

Product/Service

Inventory quantities do not update from SOS to

QuickBooks Online.

Customer

Estimate

Invoice

Sales Receipt

SOS DATA

SENT TO

QUICKBOOKS AS

NOTES

Item Receipt

Bill OR

Check OR

Credit Card Charge

OR Cash Purchase

OR None

User has the option on the item receipt page to

specify how the transaction will show in

QuickBooks Online.

Return to Vendor

n/a

QuickBooks Online does not support adding

Vendor Credits in an automated manner.

Shipping Methods

n/a

QuickBooks Online does not support shipping

methods.

Builds

Journal Entry

The journal entry credits the asset account of the

component items and debits the asset account of

the finished goods.

Process

Transactions

Journal Entry

The journal entry credits the asset account of the

inputs and debits the asset account of the

outputs.

Work Orders

n/a

QuickBooks Online does not support work

orders. Work orders are non-posting

transactions, so they do not affect financials.

Adjustments

Journal Entry

The journal entry credits the asset account of the

adjusted items and debits the selected

adjustment account.

Transfers

n/a

Sales Orders

n/a

QuickBooks Online does not support sales

orders. Sales orders are non-posting

transactions, so they do not affect financials.

Pick Tickets

n/a

Shipments

Journal Entry

The journal entry credits the asset account of the

items and debits the cost-of-goods-sold account

of the items.

RMAs

n/a

Returns

Journal Entry & optional

Credit Memo

The journal entry debits the asset account of the

items and credits the cost-of-goods-sold

account of the items. A Credit Memo is posted to

the customer’s account if the user selects that

option when entering the return.

SOS DATA

SENT TO

QUICKBOOKS AS

NOTES

Price Groups

n/a

QuickBooks Online does not support price

groups.

Sales Reps

n/a

QuickBooks Online does not support sales reps.

Users

n/a

The SOS user list and QuickBooks Online user list

are independent.

SOS and QuickBooks Online differ in their typing of items. This chart shows how an item type in

SOS is regarded in QuickBooks:

SOS ITEM TYPE

QUICKBOOKS ITEM TYPE

Inventory Item

Non-Inventory Item

Assembly

Non-Inventory Item

Item Group

Non-Inventory Item

Category

Service

Expense

Service

Labor

Non-Inventory Item

Overhead

Non-Inventory Item

Other

Non-Inventory Item

Do not use bundles in QuickBooks Online.

This section will provide insight as to the basics of trouble shooting sync errors.

To see what will be sent to QuickBooks Online the next time you sync, go to the Sync Menu >

Preview Sync. The transactions are listed in the order that they will be sent. If a transaction is in

the queue that you do not want to go to QuickBooks Online, you can remove that line from the list.

Sometimes the synchronization with QuickBooks Online will fail. This can be due to a data error or

something as simple as a temporary server outage. Whenever the sync fails, the Sync button will

display an X instead of the checkmark. Go to Sync Menu > Sync Errors to see the error message

associated with the sync failure. Usually it will tell you how to resolve the error. You can also use

the Preview Sync option as described above to see exactly which transaction is causing the

problem. The message pertains to the top row of the Preview Sync. Float your mouse over the link

in the fourth column to see exactly what is in error.

The SOS sync algorithm is very sophisticated. On a sync error, it waits a few minutes to give the

user a chance to resolve the error. If the error persists, the system will attempt to correct the error

automatically. Sometimes it takes longer than others, depending on system load and the nature of

the error. If you are unable to resolve a sync error and the problem persists, please contact

[email protected].

Sometimes the synchronization with QuickBooks Online will fail but you do not get an error in the

Sync Errors list. For example, you may have an invoice that does not sync over to QuickBooks

Online due to something that caused QuickBooks Online to reject it—but QuickBooks did not

provide a direct reason. In this instance, go to the Invoices list and use the Column Chooser to

select the Sync column and Apply the change to the list. Now you can sort by the Sync column.

Then you can see if there are errors on the invoices so you can correct why they did not sync over to

QuickBooks Online successfully.

If you use class tracking in QuickBooks Online, SOS Inventory will automatically retrieve your

classes and enable class tracking in SOS. If you select the class on a line item of a transaction, SOS

will send the transaction to QuickBooks Online with the class info, so that it shows properly in

QuickBooks Online. Class tracking in SOS is based on line items and does not have the capability to

have a class for the entire transaction, which is an option in QuickBooks Online.

Department tracking in QuickBooks Online can be used to track different divisions, properties, or

other sub-units of your business. SOS supports department tracking and will read your

departments from QuickBooks Online and enable department tracking as appropriate.

Departments can be used in conjunction with the auto-ship options in the Sales Settings to

automate shipping from specific locations. You just build your locations (departments) list in

QuickBooks Online to match the locations exactly in the SOS locations list. Go to Sales Settings

(Settings > Sales Settings > General) and enable Auto-Ship Invoices and Auto-Ship Sales

Receipts. Now it is just simply creating your invoices and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online,

ensuring they have the appropriate location (department) listed on the transaction, saving the

transaction, and letting it sync to SOS on the next cycle or manually. Once the transaction is

received, the auto-ship creates the shipment for the respective transaction. As long as the physical

location in SOS matches the department listed on the transaction, it will pull the stock from that

location automatically.

If you use serial, lot, or bin tracking, you cannot use the Auto-Ship options. This would not work

for your situation.

In addition to the QuickBooks Online data described in previous sections, SOS Inventory also

retrieves the following data for viewing in SOS. These lists can be found under the Sync Menu on

the Task Bar. The following data are retrieved and available for use as needed, but only classes and

departments can be edited in SOS. To view any of these areas, the user must have the appropriate

permission settings.

• Accounts

• Bills

• Bill Payments

• Cash Purchases

• Checks

• Classes

• Credit Card Charges

• Credit Memos

• Departments

• Employees

• Journal Entries

• Payments Received

• Tax Codes

The third-party integration options available through SOS Inventory enhance your e-commerce

business.

Cart and FTP.

For each subscription plan, SOS includes a specified number of carts (PayPal,

Shopify, or Big Commerce) and/or FTP connections as standard features:

•

Companion Plan.

One cart or one FTP connection.

•

Plus Plan.

Two connections (any combination, cart and/or FTP).

•

Pro Plan.

Three connections (any combination, cart and/or FTP).

A charge is assessed for any connections over the plan limit. Current plan information is always on

our website.

ShipStation and UPS.

We provide ShipStation and UPS setup to SOS customers at no additional

charge. You will be billed directly by ShipStation or the shipping provider for any charges you

incur.

EDI Integration.

SOS charges a one-time set-up fee for each EDI connection. The fee varies

depending on your specific needs—for example, whether you already have an EDI provider or

whether you use ours, whether your provider conforms to our standard document formats, etc.

Please contact support@sosinventory.com for additional information about pricing.

For data field definitions, see Cart and FTP Field Descriptions.

SOS Inventory helps you integrate PayPal with QuickBooks Online. Now when you receive

payments via PayPal (via an eBay auction, for example), you can automatically have a

corresponding accounting transaction sent to QuickBooks Online. No manual entering of

transactions is needed.

You must first configure SOS Inventory and your PayPal account. To do this, go on the Task Bar to

Settings Menu > Cart Connections, then select Add New. On the Cart Connections page, go to the

Cart field and choose PayPal from the dropdown list. Follow the instructions listed to complete the

setup.

NOTE: As part of the configuration, you must make sure that you use the same item names and/or

numbers in PayPal as in SOS.

Once configured, each time you receive a payment via PayPal, PayPal will send a notification (IPN

record) to SOS Inventory. Upon receiving notification, SOS will create a sales receipt and send it to

QuickBooks Online.

SOS matches customers by first name/last name or by email address. If no match exists, SOS

automatically adds a new customer. If the item name on a PayPal sales receipt is the same item

name in SOS Inventory, the system will match the item when the sales receipt syncs from PayPal

into SOS Inventory. The correct SOS Inventory item will appear on the SOS sales receipt.

This feature does not automatically generate shipment transactions. You must still create the

shipment. However, you can set up an AOP rule to do this for you based on a channel called PayPal.

If you use SOS Inventory for inventory management, you can also configure your PayPal

transactions to send the item numbers so that we can automatically update your inventory counts.

For more information on enabling that feature, please contact [email protected].

For data field definitions, see Cart and FTP Field Descriptions.

SOS allows you to import your sales orders and sales receipts from Shopify directly into SOS

Inventory. SOS Inventory will also update Shopify with your available inventory quantities. You

will need to complete your item definitions as stated below, ensuring the SKUs or names are

defined correctly for ALL items that are to match between SOS and Shopify. Only after that is

complete should you continue with the setup.

To establish the integration with Shopify, go on the Task Bar to Settings Menu > Cart Connections,

then select Add New. On the Cart Connections page, go to the Cart field and choose Shopify from

the dropdown list. Follow the instructions to make sure Shopify is connected successfully with SOS

Inventory.

Shopify reference numbers allow you to use a prefix and a suffix in addition to the order number.

Please note that the maximum length allowed for the reference number (prefix + order number +

suffix) is 21 characters.

SOS Inventory takes a very detailed approach to matching items in Shopify to your items in SOS

Inventory. The following logic is applied:

•

SKU to SKU Matching.

If your products and variants of products in Shopify have a SKU and

the Item in SOS has a matching SKU, the items will be linked by SKU.

•

Title/Variant Matching.

If your products in Shopify do not have a SKU, or if the SKU in

Shopify does not match the item’s SKU in SOS Inventory, SOS Inventory will match on item

title/variant.

Items without variants in Shopify.

The item title in Shopify will be used to match

the item name in SOS Inventory. If a match is found, those items will be linked by

Shopify title to SOS Inventory item name.

Items with variants in Shopify.

A combination of the item title and variant in

Shopify will be used to match the item name in SOS Inventory. If a match is found,

those items will be linked by Shopify title/variant to SOS Inventory item name.

Example: Item in Shopify: Title = “Shirt”, Variant = “Small”, The title/variant

combination that will be used to match to an SOS Inventory item name is “Shirt –

Small”. Note that the combination is title name, space, dash, space, variant name.

•

No Match.

If no matches can be made, per the above logic, a new item will be created in SOS

Inventory.

SOS Inventory will not send inventory information to Shopify until the item has been matched to a

corresponding SOS Inventory item. In order for SOS Inventory to update inventory quantities in

Shopify, you must use SKU/SKU matching ... setting the SKU in Shopify to be the same as the SKU

in SOS in each item’s definition and change the Fulfillment service for the item in Shopify to SOS

Inventory. You must also set SOS Inventory tracks this variant's inventory as the default in

Shopify for each item. This can also be done in a group via an export and import in Shopify (similar

to the Export Data and Import Data features in SOS Inventory)—but only after your items in

Shopify have been matched to your items in SOS Inventory. If you are unsure, please contact

[email protected].

SOS Inventory will update Shopify with the

available

quantity from SOS Inventory. NOTE: The

available amount is the available amount across all locations (excluding locations set as non-

nettable), not just a single location.

IMPORTANT: If you have more than 200 SKUs matched between SOS Inventory and Shopify, you

need to set the Inventory managed by to Shopify for all items. SOS Inventory will still push the

inventory quantities to Shopify unless overridden in the Shopify settings page in SOS Inventory.

1. Before connecting with Shopify, edit your items in either SOS Inventory or Shopify (or

both) to ensure that the SKU of an item (variant) in Shopify matches the SKU of the

matching item in SOS Inventory.

2. In SOS, click on the company name tile and choose Channels. Create a channel named

Shopify

3. Connect SOS Inventory to Shopify. On the Task Bar, go to Settings Menu > Cart

Connections, then select Add New. On the Cart Connections page, go to the Cart field and

choose Shopify from the dropdown list.

4. Follow the instructions to make sure Shopify is connected successfully with SOS Inventory.

The required Shopify permissions for Customers, Orders, Inventory, Products, and Product

listings should be set to Read and write. Keep Allow this app to access your storefront data

using the Storefront API disabled.

5. In SOS, for the Sales Channel field, choose Shopify from the dropdown list.

6. Once you have saved the settings, the item mapping is completed between the two systems

and the connection is verified.

7. Edit the items in Shopify to select SOS Inventory as the Fulfillment Service and SOS

Inventory tracks this variant’s inventory as the Inventory policy.

Once connected, your sales from Shopify will sync into SOS and your inventory levels will be

updated by SOS Inventory in Shopify.

NOTE:

Cancelling an order does not update SOS. You need to manually delete the complimentary

transaction in SOS.

For data field definitions, see Cart and FTP Field Descriptions.

SOS allows you to import your sales orders and sales receipts from BigCommerce directly into SOS

Inventory. SOS Inventory will also update BigCommerce with your available inventory quantities.

You will need to complete your item definitions as stated below, ensuring the SKUs or names are

defined correctly for ALL items that are to match between SOS and BigCommerce. Only after that is

complete should you continue with the setup.

To establish the integration with BigCommerce, go on the Task Bar to Settings Menu > Cart

Connections, then select Add New. On the Cart Connections page, go to the Cart field and choose

BigCommerce from the dropdown list. Follow the instructions to make sure BigCommerce is

connected successfully with SOS Inventory.

BigCommerce reference numbers allow you to set the next number for the BigCommerce order

number. Please note that the maximum length allowed for the reference number (prefix + order

number + suffix) is 21 characters. Please ensure that you set the next number to a series that does

not already exist in SOS Inventory. SOS will not create more than one order with the same number.

SOS Inventory takes a very detailed approach to matching items in BigCommerce to your items in

SOS Inventory. The following logic is applied:

•

SKU to SKU Matching.

If your products and variants of products in BigCommerce have a

SKU and the Item in SOS has a matching SKU, the items will be linked by SKU.

•

No Match.

If no matches can be made, per the above logic, a new item will be created in SOS

Inventory.

SOS Inventory will not send inventory information to BigCommerce until the item has been

matched to a corresponding SOS Inventory item. For SOS Inventory to update inventory in

BigCommerce, you must enable Track Inventory for the item in BigCommerce and enable Update

Inventory in BigCommerce for the item definition in SOS Inventory.

SOS Inventory will update BigCommerce with the Available Quantity from SOS Inventory. NOTE:

The available amount is the available amount across all locations (excluding locations set as non-

nettable), not just a single location.

1. Before connecting with BigCommerce, edit your items in either SOS Inventory or

BigCommerce (or both) to ensure that the SKU of an item (variant) in BigCommerce

matches the SKU of the matching item in SOS Inventory.

2. In SOS, click on the company name tile and choose Channels. Create a channel named

BigCommerce

3. Connect SOS Inventory to BigCommerce. On the top Task Bar, go to Settings Menu > Cart

Connections, then select Add New. On the Cart Connections page, go to the Cart field and

choose Big Commerce from the dropdown list. Follow the instructions and complete the

data fields to make sure BigCommerce is connected successfully with SOS Inventory. For

the Sales Channel field, choose BigCommerce from the dropdown list.

4. Once you have saved the settings, the item mapping is completed between the two systems

and the connection is verified.

Once connected, your sales from BigCommerce will sync into SOS and your inventory levels will be

updated by SOS Inventory in BigCommerce.

NOTE:

Cancelling an order does not update SOS. You must manually delete the complimentary

transaction in SOS.

For data field definitions, see Cart and FTP Field Descriptions.

FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, enables files to be exchanged between network computers. SOS

Inventory supports outbound file transfers for exports and reports.

To establish an FTP connection, go to Settings > FTP Connections, then select Add New. On the

FTP Connection page, you will need to create a name and description for the connection, as well as

supply the FTP address of the host server, the FTP login credentials, and the path to the remote

server. After completing the data fields, Save and Close.

This functionality currently connects to non-secure FTP servers, not secure FTP (SFTP) servers.

BigCommerce Client ID.

The identification number assigned to you by BigCommerce.

BigCommerce Access Token.

The security credential assigned to you by BigCommerce.

BigCommerce API Path.

The website address for the BigCommerce API.

Class.

The class to which orders coming from this cart should be assigned. If this field is left blank,

SOS will assign each item on a sales transaction to the class specified in its item definition.

Connection Type.

Used for FTP connections. Currently, SOS offers the Outbound option only.

Department.

The department to which orders coming from this cart should be assigned.

Description.

A description of the connection.

Enabled.

Check the box to enable the cart connection.

FTP Password.

Obtain the user password from whoever set up the FTP account.

FTP Username.

Obtain the user ID from whoever set up the FTP account.

Host.

The server address for an FTP connection.

Location.

The location to which incoming transactions to a cart will be assigned.

Name.

A unique name for this connection.

Override Description.

By default, SOS will use the item description coming from the cart. Check

this box to override it with the SOS description.

PayPal Fee Account.

Expense account for PayPal fees.

PayPal Income Account.

Income account for PayPal payments.

PayPal Payment Address.

Email address of PayPal account holder.

PayPal Payment Method.

Payment method for PayPal payments.

Remote Path.

Path to the FTP directory on the remote server. Normally a slash (/) for the root path.

Format is /directory/directory…

Sales Channel.

The sales channel to which orders coming from this cart should be assigned.

Sales Receipt Deposit Account.

The QuickBooks account to which funds from sales receipts are

posted.

Shopify API Key.

A unique code assigned to you by Shopify that identifies your application in an

API call.

Shopify API Password.

Your Shopify-assigned password for making API calls.

Shop.

Your company’s Shopify web address.

Transaction Type.

The type of SOS transaction that the cart transaction will become when

imported into SOS. Select from Auto-Detect, Sales Orders, Sales Receipts, Don’t Import. If using

Auto-Detect, unpaid or pending orders come in as Sales Orders and paid orders come in as Sales

Receipts.

Update Inventory.

Enables SOS to update inventory in this cart. This behavior can also be

controlled at the item level.

Use Common Customer.

By default, SOS will create a customer for each customer coming from the

cart. Check this box to link all cart orders to the same common customer.

Use SOS Order Number.

By default, SOS will use the order number coming from the cart. Check

this box to override it with the next SOS number.

SOS Inventory supports direct shipping via UPS. Currently, UPS shipping functionality is available

only within the United States. To enable UPS shipping functionality, go to Settings > UPS Setup.

Then follow the instructions on the page to agree to the UPS terms. You can add a UPS account if

you wish, so that you can pay for shipping via UPS account as well as via credit card.

Once you have configured your UPS account to work with SOS Inventory, you can create shipments

for UPS. Locate the desired transaction on the Shipments list (Operations Menu > Fulfillment >

Shipments), then select Ship via UPS from the Actions Menu. SOS will take you to the Create UPS

Shipment page. After providing the necessary package information and selecting shipping options

and payment method, select Next in the lower right corner of the screen. A Confirm UPS Shipment

page will appear with the Shipping Details and cost. Select the Ship Now button in the lower right

corner to complete the shipment.

All users that will need to create UPS shipments must be given local administrator privileges

temporarily so they can complete the UPS settings process to add the account for their use as well.

SOS Inventory connects to the ShipStation app to provide you an easy way to ship your products

using a number of vendors. To use this integration, go to Settings Menu > ShipStation Setup and

follow the directions to configure ShipStation for use with SOS Inventory.

Once set up, any shipments created in SOS can by synced to ShipStation for further processing with

a carrier of choice. In the ShipStation app, click the option Update Stores to start the retrieval of

shipments from SOS. Once a shipment is processed through a carrier and the label is created,

Shipstation will send the tracking information back to SOS Inventory according to the

"Notifications" settings of the store setup in ShipStation. If you wish for the tracking info to post

from ShipStation to SOS Inventory immediately after the shipping label is created, set the

Notifications Settings in ShipStation to "Send marketplace notification when ... Shipping label is

created."

Shipping methods must be created and mapped in their definitions to the carriers in ShipStation so

that tracking information can sync back from ShipStation for the shipments to update. This means

UPS method in SOS to UPS method in Shipstation for example.

NOTES:

1. Voiding a shipment in Shipstation does not remove the tracking information in SOS. You

must manually update the shipment transaction.

2. Only shipments with two-digit country codes will sync to ShipStation. If you don’t want a

transaction to go over during the update, then use a country name instead.

SOS Inventory offers connections to EDI (Enhanced Data Interchange) integration with companies

that provide you with the ability to send transactions in a secure common environment.

EDI connections are enabled on an individual basis to connect your account to an EDI trading

partner. We can exchange almost any SOS transaction via EDI. Setup time varies from a few days to

a few weeks, depending on the complexity of the data exchange.

For more information, contact [email protected].

Administrative functions of SOS Inventory can be found under the Company Menu for managing

your SOS Inventory account. This menu is accessible only to users who have been designated as

SOS administrators.

Users in SOS Inventory are different than users in QuickBooks Online. You can have two users in

QuickBooks Online and 10 users in SOS, or vice-versa. The user lists are independent. Thus, you

need to manage your users in SOS Inventory to control who has access to your SOS Inventory

account, and to which information they have access. To add/edit/delete users, you can access the

Users page by going to Company Menu > User Administration.

To add a user, go to Company Menu > User Administration and click on Add New. Complete the

form and select the privileges for the user. See the following section for more information on user

privileges. Please note that an additional fee applies if you go beyond the number of users included

with your pricing plan.

User privileges in SOS Inventory are much more granular than those in QuickBooks Online. You can

select from 49 different security settings to turn on/off for your users. To grant/deny privileges to a

user, specify those you want them to have. You would enter this information when adding or

editing the user. Note that anyone designated as an administrator will have access to all areas of

the system.

As with QuickBooks Online, one of the administrators on your account must be designated the as

the master administrator. The master administrator has ultimate control over the account. The

master administrator can be changed only by contacting the SOS Inventory support team at

[email protected].

On the Users page (Company Menu > User Administration), you can use the Status field in the

Change Filter feature to view a list of active and/or inactive users. To restore an inactive user, find

the user in the inactive list and select Activate under the Actions Menu.

By enabling the Locked column on the Column Chooser of the Users list (Company Menu > User

Administration), you can see when a user has been locked out of his account due to too many failed

again, select Unlock under the Actions Menu. The user should clear his SOS cookies before

attempting to log in again.

For security reasons, changing the master administrator (account owner) on your account MUST be

accomplished by the SOS Inventory Technical Support Team.

To meet the security policies outlined in the Terms of Service, changing the master administrator

would fit into one of these conditions:

Current master administrator is still working within the company and is handing over

the account to a new master administrator or the current master administrator is no

longer with the company but can be reached to complete the transfer of ownership.

a. Action: The current master administrator must send an email to SOS Inventory

([email protected]m) stating that they would like this position to be

moved to another user and provide the account number, the gaining user’s

name, and the gaining user’s email.

SOS Inventory Technical Support will complete the transfer of the account to the

gaining user and send an email to both parties letting them know that the

change is complete and make them aware of any actions by the new master

administrator to close the action.

Current master administrator is no longer with the company and either cannot be

reached or refuses to act in this matter.

a. If the current and gaining master administrator are from the same company.

i. Action: Individual or entity requesting the change in master

administrator must send us a notarized letter on company letterhead

signed by a company officer. Company officers may be the CEO,

President, LLC Manager, majority owner, etc. Letter must contain the

account number, existing master administrator’s email, and the gaining

master administrator’s name and email address. Letter can be scanned

and emailed to our support email address (support@sosinventory.com).

b. If the current and gaining master administrator are from different companies.

i. Action: Individual or entity requesting the change in master

administrator must send proof that they made the most recent payment

on the SOS Inventory account. An example of this proof could be a credit

card statement showing the charge and the payer’s information. Request

must contain the account number, existing master administrator’s

email, and the gaining master administrator’s name and email address,

with the documents, as mentioned above, which can be scanned and

attached to the email. Send email to our support address

([email protected]m).

c. Either action taken above, once verified authorization is established, SOS

Inventory Technical Support will complete the transfer of the account to the

gaining user and send an email letting them know that the change is complete

and make them aware of any steps needed to close the action.

NOTE:

If the gaining user is not currently listed on the account, the gaining user must be added to

the account for the technical support team to complete the transfer of ownership.

Account management functions are found under Company Menu > Account Info. On the Your

Account page, you will find the key administrative information related to your account. On that

page, you may add or edit payment information, change your plan level, and cancel your

subscription. You will also see a record of all subscription billing receipts and the expiration date of

your current subscription, so you know when the next charge will be made on your card.

SOS Inventory provides an activity log that is very similar to the one provided by QuickBooks

Online. The activity log allows you to track the history of actions taken by users in SOS Inventory.

To view the activity log, go to Company Menu > Activity Log. You can filter the log to see exactly

what you want so you can track down suspicious activity or just find out who performed a certain

action. Once you found the entry you are looking for, you can even go directly to the transaction or

item from the log.

To change from one subscription plan to another, go to Company Menu > Account Info and click on

Change Plans. There you can select the plan that you want. You can change plans at any time. A

link also allows you to select an annual plan, saving you the cost of approximately two months of

service each year. There are restrictions on this so make sure you are familiar with the Terms of

Service listed on the About page (Help > About).

With SOS Inventory, the feature of customizable forms is included. If you don’t like the look of the

default system templates or just want to modify them to have a certain look, this feature allows

you to make additional versions of the forms. SOS uses the Microsoft Word .docx file format to take

advantage of Word’s form-building techniques and fields.

You can see the list of available form templates under Company Menu > Form Templates. The

Form Templates list displays default system templates, as well as any templates you have added.

Also located on the Form Templates list (in the upper right corner, just below the Task Bar) is a link

called

Template Library

. It will take you to the Template Library list, which contains all

predesigned form templates available for you to use in SOS Inventory. You can copy or modify any

of these templates and add them to your Forms Template list if you wish.

The Get option on the Template Library’s Actions Menu will copy the template “as is” to your Form

Templates list. If you wish to modify the template rather than use the SOS version, select

Download from the Actions Menu.

Refer to Editing a Form Template and Form Template Fields for information about how to modify a

template.

If the Form Templates list is blank when you open the list, you can get the list back by going to the

Batch Actions menu and choosing Restore Default Templates.

To edit a form template, locate the desired template in the Form Templates list (Company Menu >

Form Templates) or in the Template Library (Company Menu > Form Templates > Template

Library). On the template’s Actions Menu, choose the Download option.

When editing a form template, observe the following rules:

1. The form definition must stay between the «TableStart:Main» and «TableEnd:Main»

delimiting merge fields.

2. The repeating row in the Items list must have a «TableStart:Lines» at the start of the first

cell in the row and a «TableEnd:Lines» as the last field in the last cell of the row.

3. You may rearrange the tables that make up the form.

4. You may add background graphics.

5. You can let SOS pull in your company logo, or you can add it to the form.

6. You may modify the fonts used within the form on merge fields (type and size) if you edit

the merge field and uncheck the option to “preserve formatting during updates.”

7. The available form fields are dependent on the type of form you are editing, such as an

invoice.

8. Instead of inserting brackets manually around field names, use the MS Word built-in

capabilities to edit fields, and it will insert the chevrons («») which surround the field name

for you.

When finished making your edits, save the template. (NOTE: If you have more than one version of

a form, such as an invoice, the .docx file name must be unique.) Then go to the Form Templates list

and select the Add New button. Choose a unique name for the form, provide a description for it,

and select the form type for which the template will be used. (If you use an existing template name

and matching type, SOS will overwrite the previous version.) Then choose the .docx file you want to

upload and select Save and Close.

For more information, please check out our “Customizing Form Templates” video tutorial

(available within the software under Help > Video Tutorials > Customizing Forms, as well as on the

public website at https://www.sosinventory.com/support). You may also register for our customer

training course on Form Templates at https://www.sosinventory.com/customertraining.

To see the form fields available on each template, download the sample template (system

template). If a template lacks fields that you need, you can find transaction form templates with all

possible fields in the Template Library. If you wish to use custom fields on your template, the

merge field is simply the name of the custom field.

For any object or transaction, go to the appropriate list and choose either PDF or Email on the

Actions Menu. You will be presented with a dropdown menu allowing you to choose the form

template you want to complete the process. If only one template exists for that transaction type,

SOS will not show you the menu but will generate the PDF.

SOS Inventory provides several ancillary features that make using other aspects of the system

easier. While these are not necessarily core features, they make the user experience better and add

significant value to the product.

A Quick Link is an easy way to navigate to a specific page in SOS Inventory. Quick Links show up in

the Quick Links bar at the bottom of the Operations Menu in SOS Inventory. To add a Quick Link to

any page, first navigate to that page and then click the Add This Page option in the Quick Links

sub-menu in the Operations Menu.

You can manage your Quick Links by going to Operations Menu > Quick Links. All links will have a

trash can icon in the Quick Links Menu that you can click on to delete the link.

SOS Inventory provides a document management and storage capability that allows you to upload

documents and attach them to objects and transactions in SOS Inventory. For example, you could

upload a picture of an item and attach it to that item. You could upload a customer contract and

attach it to the customer. You could upload a customer purchase order and attach it to a sales order.

You are limited only by your imagination.

Files uploaded by a user default to only be accessible by that user. You can use the sharing option to

allow all users to see that document.

To add a document, go to Company Menu > Files. You will see the list of all documents that you

have already uploaded. Click Add New to begin the process of adding a document. Select the file to

upload and give it a description if you wish. Then choose the object or transaction to which you

want to link the document by selecting the type of object and then the name from the list to the

right. Note that when adding a link, you must click the disk icon to the left of the row after entering

the link info, but before clicking the Upload button at the bottom of the page. Once a file/document

is attached to a transaction, you can go to the list page (Items list, Customers list, etc.) to retrieve

the document.

NOTE: Once a document is added, you cannot go back and attach a link later.

To set automated alerts, go to Company Menu > Alerts. Click on Add New at the top right corner of

the list to add an alert.

Alerts are not enabled by default. They must be configured before they will begin to work. When

adding/editing an alert, the type of alert you are setting changes the options to be entered.

Common fields:

•

Name.

Name that you will use to remember this alert.

•

Type of Alert

. SOS Inventory supports the follow types of alerts:

Bill Due.

Indicates that a bill to a vendor is coming due soon.

Custom Field.

Indicates that a custom field has met certain defined conditions.

Invoice Due.

Indicates that a customer invoice is past due.

Lot Expiration.

Shows all conditions of an expiring lot.

Low Inventory.

Indicates that one or more items are below the reorder point and

need to be restocked.

Sales Order Due.

Indicates that a sales order to a customer is coming due soon.

Sales Receipt Due.

Indicates that a sales receipt to a customer is coming due soon.

Task Due.

Indicates that a task is coming due soon.

•

Alert Method

. Allows you to select how the alert will be sent in the notifications system.

Currently, they are Notify a user, Send an email, or Send a text.

•

Enabled

. Check this box to begin receiving alerts.

•

Repeat Alert

. Specifies whether or not (and how often) you want to be notified if the alert

condition still persists. For example, if you select Never, you will get only one alert and

then it will stop running. Daily will send you one alert each day until the condition goes

away.

•

Interval

. Specifies how often you want the system to check to see if the alert has been

triggered.

Options for the Alert Types

Bill Due

•

Days Before Due Date.

Can be a number from -30 to 30.

Custom Field

•

Field.

The name of the custom field.

•

Alert On.

The object the custom field is on (transaction, customer, vendor, item, etc).

•

Comparison Value.

Any value to be compared against based on the type of custom field.

Invoice Due

•

Days Past Due.

Can be a number from 0 to 90.

Lot Expiration

•

Location.

The location the lot is to be tracked at.

•

Category.

Indicates lot items under a certain category.

•

Calculation.

What case to key on (In Stock or Available for Sale).

•

Item Name Contains.

Allows you to alert on lots of multiple similar item names.

•

Days Prior to Expiration.

Can be a number from -30 to 30.

Low Inventory

•

Location.

The location the item is to be tracked at.

•

Category.

Indicates items under a certain category.

•

Calculation.

What case to key on (In Stock or Available for Sale).

•

Item Name Contains.

Allows you to alert on items of multiple similar item names.

Sales Order Due

•

Days Before Due Date.

Can be a number from -30 to 30.

Sales Receipt Due

•

Days Before Due Date.

Can be a number from -30 to 30.

Task Due

•

Days Before Due Date.

Can be a number from -30 to 30.

If you would like to suggest additional alerts, please email [email protected].

SOS Inventory has a full in-app notification system similar to what you see in other web-based

products like FaceBook and even Google Mail. It allows you to see notifications generated from

different actions taken in the system from alerts, AOPs, or even transactions when you have been

assigned one. The notifications appear as a number on the notification icon.

Then you can click on the icon to see a short title for each notification and delete them from the list

by clicking on the trash can. You can also go to the Notifications page to manage then by clicking

on the See all notifications > link at the bottom of the list.

In the User Menu > User Settings page, you can set how you want to be notified when the system is

sending something to you. They are:

1. Don’t Email or Text me

2. Email me

3. Text me

4. Email and Text me

The notification system will use your login email address and the mobile phone provide in your

User Profile. Regardless, all notifications will appear in the notification icon at the least.

Order stages allow you to designate on a sales order or sales receipt the stage that the order is in.

They can be seen on the Customer Portal discussed later in this guide.

By default, there are no stages defined in your account, so you have control over what you name

them. This could be anything such as

Quoted

Created

Shipped

In Transit

, etc., to represent to

your customers on the customer portal where their order is within your system.

To define your order stages, go to the Company Menu > Order Stages and select Add New on the

list. When defining a stage, you can assign a sort order starting with

. This will allow the stages to

appear in that order on the dropdown list on a sales order or sales receipt. Stages must be set

manually, but you can use AOPs to automate this if desired. Once in your sales transactions, you

can select those columns in either the Sales Order List or Sales Receipt List and even sort by those

columns.

Priorities allow you to show how critical the sales order is so you can govern your work day by taken

care of orders with a higher precedence first.

Be default in your account you will have three priorities defined (High, Medium, and Low) but you

can define more if needed and set the sort order for the dropdown list. To define priorities, go to

the Company Menu > Priorities and select Add New on the list.

The priorities can now be added to transactions from a dropdown menu on the edit page. Priorities

must be set manually, but you can use AOPs to automate this if desired.

Users in SOS Inventory can set reminders or To-Dos by going to User Menu > Tasks.

To add to the list, click the Add New button on that page. You simply add a title, description, set a

complete by date so it will appear on the Calendar, and you can assign a task to a specific user. To

remove items, use the actions menu to select Delete. You can also mark tasks as Completed under

the Actions menu for a task.

Sometimes, but very rarely, there will be a system message from SOS Inventory in the Task List.

If you engage in international commerce, SOS Inventory’s multi-currency feature is a helpful tool

for transactions requiring the use of currency exchange rates.

To take advantage of this feature, the multi-currency setting must be enabled in both SOS

Inventory (Company Menu > Company Settings) and in QuickBooks Online.

If multi-currency is enabled, Currency and Exchange Rate fields appear on purchase orders, item

receipts, and sales forms.

NOTE:

SOS Inventory displays the exchange rate differently than QuickBooks Online. In

QuickBooks, the foreign currency unit (for example, the British Pound or GBP) is always expressed

as the fixed monetary unit (1 GBP), while the home currency (for example, the US Dollar or USD)

fluctuates accordingly to the exchange rate. In SOS, the home currency is always the fixed rate,

while the currency of your customer or vendor will vary. Thus, a rate of 1 GBP = 1.4 USD in

QuickBooks would be displayed as 0.714285714 GBP = 1 USD in SOS.

To change your home currency, go to Company Menu > Company Settings and choose the proper

home currency.

If you engage in transactions with vendors or customers that use currencies different from that of

your business, make sure that Currency field on the purchasing, item receipt, or sales form is

configured to reflect the currency used by that vendor or customer. If you have included a default

currency as part of the vendor or customer’s definition, SOS will retrieve the default currency

automatically when you create a transaction involving that customer or vendor. You may change

the currency on the transaction form, if you so desire.

For purchase orders, you can choose to use the Vendor-Item Catalog to establish your vendor’s

price for a given item

in the vendor’s currency

. When a product listed in the Vendor-Item Catalog

is entered as a line item on the purchase order, the values that populate the PO’s Unit Price and

Amount fields will reflect pricing in the vendor’s currency.

For sales transactions, the same result can be achieved using price tiers in which items prices are

listed in the foreign currency.

If you do not use the Vendor-Item Catalog or price tiers, SOS will draw upon the data specified in

the item definition to calculate the pricing or cost of items. Because items are defined in your home

currency, you must use the exchange rate to calculate and update the values on the transaction

manually so that they reflect the pricing in your vendor or customer’s currency.

When you use SOS to generate a PDF of the purchase order, the PO will include the symbol of your

vendor’s currency before monetary values to clearly designate the currency (example: £400.00 for

400.00 GBP).

The line items in QuickBooks will reflect item pricing in your vendor’s currency when the purchase

order or sales transaction is synced from SOS to QuickBooks Online. But in the amount total,

QuickBooks will list the amount in your home currency as well as that of your vendor’s.

SOS Inventory supports currency updates in the European Central Bank (ECB) currency feed. See

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/euro_reference_exchange_rates/ht

ml/index.en.html.

The following currencies are supported by SOS Inventory:

• AUD (Australian Dollar)

• CAD (Canadian Dollar)

• BGN (Bulgarian Lev)

• BRL (Brazilian Real)

• CAD (Canadian Dollar)

• CHF (Swiss Franc)

• CNY (Chinese Yuan)

• CYP (Cyprus Pound)

• CZK (Czech Koruna)

• DKK (Danish Krone)

• EEK (Estonian Kroon)

• EUR (Euro)

• GBP (British Pound)

• HKD (Hong Kong Dollar)

• HRK (Croatian Kuna)

• HUF (Hungarian Forint)

• IDR (Indonesian Rupiah)

• ILS (Israeli New Shekel)

• INR (Indian Rupee)

• ISK (Icelandic Króna)

• JPY (Japanese Yen)

• KRW (Korean Won)

• LTL (Lithuanian Litas)

• LVL (Latvian Lats)

• MTL (Maltese Lira)

• MXN (Mexican Peso)

• MYR (Malaysian Ringgit)

• NOK (Norwegian Krone)

• NZD (New Zealand Dollar)

• PHP (Philippine Peso)

• PLN (Polish Zloty)

• ROL (Romanian Leu)

• RON (Romanian Leu)

• RUB (Russian Ruble)

• SEK (Swedish Krona)

• SGD (Singapore Dollar)

• SIT (Slovenian Tolar)

• SKK (Slovak Koruna)

• THB (Thai Baht)

• TRL (Turkish Lira)

• TRY (Turkish Lira)

• TWD (New Taiwan Dollar)

• USD (US Dollar)

• ZAR (South African Rand)

The support team can add additional currencies to the list for your use. But you will need to enter

the desired exchange rate manually, as the data will not be updated by the system.

QuickBooks uses a different currency feed from that used by SOS. Depending on the currencies you

need, you may be able to obtain some exchange rates from QuickBooks’ feed that are unavailable

through ours. In this situation, you may prefer to use QuickBooks Online to enter transactions and

have them sync to SOS.

SOS Inventory provides the ability to use an existing form as a template to create a new form. To

use a form as a template, go to the desired form list and under the Action Menu select Use as

Template.

For example, to use an existing PO as a template for a new PO, perform the following steps. Go to

the PO List (Operations Menu > Purchasing > Purchase Orders). Then find the PO you want to use

for the template and on its Actions Menu choose Use as Template. A pre-filled PO will be

generated, and you can modify and save as needed.

Channels allow you to track sales which come in via different methods. For example, some sales

might come in via walk-in sales, and some might be online sales. You could set up a channel for

each type of sale so that you can track them differently. You can set up channels to represent

anything you want. It is simply a way to segment your sales. To define your channels, go to the

Company Menu > Channels and select Add New on the list.

If you find that your lists are slow to load, you can archive data records that you do not need to see.

Archiving allows you to remove items, transactions, customers, and vendors from active lists, but

the archived records remain in the system. Archived records can be unarchived (restored to the

appropriate active list) when desired. The ability to display archived and unarchived records is

controlled through the Change Filters feature on list pages. To archive or unarchive a specific data

record, select the desired option via its Actions Menu.

SOS Inventory is configured by default for accrual accounting—a method that records revenues and

expenses as they occur, regardless as to whether payment for a service or product has been made or

received. By contrast, cash accounting records revenues and expenses at the time they are actually

paid.

If you use cash accounting, you can use either of the following two methods for processing

transactions:

Method 1: One-way sync, tracking separately in SOS

• Sync QuickBooks Online to SOS only.

• Create purchase orders in QuickBooks Online and l sync to SOS.

• Create a bill in QuickBooks Online and let the goods post to your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

account directly.

• Track inventory assets in SOS only. Since no assets are tracked in QuickBooks Online, no

asset accounts exist in QuickBooks Online.

• Create an item receipt from the PO in SOS to enter the items into stock in SOS for lot

tracking and more.

• Sales originate in QuickBooks Online as invoices.

• Invoices sync from QuickBooks Online to SOS. Enable Auto Sales Order Invoices to create a

sales order in SOS automatically whenever a new invoice is created in QuickBooks Online.

In SOS, this feature is found under Sales Settings > General. The sales order can then be

processed for shipment on the SOS side.

• Lots are created in SOS, and lot information will appear on SOS shipment forms. However,

because invoices originate in QuickBooks, the lot and other lot-related information will not

appear on invoices.

Method 2: Bi-directional sync

• Purchase orders may be created in either SOS or QuickBooks Online.

• Create a bill in QuickBooks, and let the goods go to COGS.

• Create the item receipt in SOS with Payment set to None.

• Sales can originate in SOS as sales order.

• Create shipments to relieve goods. Make sure that the option Post COGS to QuickBooks

(Settings > QuickBooks Setup) is disabled.

• Create an invoice in either software with all information as needed.

At certain places in SOS Inventory, you will see a feature with the “Beta” label. When we release

new features into SOS Inventory, we always release the feature as a Beta feature first. That signifies

that the feature is new and has not been in operation as long as the other features. It means that

the feature has been tested internally and meets all our test criteria. However, as a new feature, it

has not run through millions of transactions like the rest of the software.

Beta features are safe and fully usable. However, you might run into some odd bugs and/or strange

results that you would not see with our more established features. We typically keep a feature in a

Beta state for at least 30 days and no more than six months. The amount of time depends entirely

on what issues arise during normal use of the feature.

SOS Inventory is available as an iOS app as well as a web application. Available in Apple’s App

Store, the iOS app can be used on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices. More information is

available in the iOS app’s Quick Start Guide.

If you do not have our iOS app, you can still use the web version on your mobile device. Simply open

the web browser (e.g., Safari, Chrome, etc.) on your mobile device and use the site as you normally

would. The menus and screens adapt automatically to simplify navigation and data entry on your

device.

While on any of the devices listed above, you can also get to the iOS app link from our web

application by going to the Help Menu (purple question mark icon) and selecting Mobile App.

Select the button to take you to the Apple App Store link for SOS Inventory.

We do have an Android app on our development roadmap for a future release.

This section will provide you a step by step process for successfully setting up a new SOS trial

account and integrating it to a new QuickBooks Online. There are some steps to take care of in

QuickBooks Online as well and they are detailed here as well.

1. Start a new QuickBooks Online account.

2. If QuickBooks Online Plus used, in QuickBooks Online go to Settings > Account and

Settings, Sales tab to turn off Quantity on Hand Tracking to eliminate possible duplicate

entries in your journals.

3. Complete the Chart of Accounts. Account numbers are optional, but names must be

unique.

4. Complete the sales tax center (if needed).

5. Start SOS account using one of these two methods:

a. From Apps tab in QuickBooks Online, find SOS Inventory and select Get App Now.

i. This will present you with the page stating to pick a plan, select one by

clicking the button under the plan you desire.

ii. It will give you a message to please wait while creating account.

iii. It also starts the initial sync to send a copy of the chart of accounts, sales tax

center, and sales terms to SOS for use in settings and functionality.

b. From SOS website, https://www.sosinventory.com, click on Start A Free Trial to

create a new SOS Inventory account selecting whatever level you would like to start

at.

i. Once created, you can go in SOS to the Settings Menu > QuickBooks Setup

page and click on the button Connect to QuickBooks. Then follow the steps

to authorize the connection.

ii. This starts the initial sync and retrieves a copy of the chart of accounts,

sales tax center, and sales terms for use in SOS settings and functionality.

c. Whether you followed a or b above, wait for an email from SOS stating that the sync

is complete before proceeding. This shouldn’t be very long.

6. Logout of SOS and then log back in to make sure your company name from your QuickBooks

Online account is shown in the Company Menu in SOS.

7. In SOS, go to the Settings Menu and walk through the Inventory Settings, Purchasing

Settings, and Sales Settings pages to ensure all appropriate defaults and other settings are

completed before loading any data.

8. Go to the Users Menu (your login name) and go to User Settings to set your time zone, then

go to User Profile to update your password and security question.

9. Go to the Company menu (your company name) and complete the following as needed:

a. Company Settings – Change the Automated Time Zone to your time zone. Add

company address and logo if desired.

b. User administration – Define more users here. The users will get an email from SOS

asking them to login and complete their profile.

c. Account Info – Check to make sure the account is at the plan level you desire. This

should at least be done it starting SOS from the App center in QuickBooks Online.

d. Locations – Update the default location to have your company information for

Purchase Orders and other transactions. Add any additional locations you may

desire for your inventory management if you are in Plus or Pro.

10. Now you can begin loading your data.

a. Go to the Company Menu > Bulk Edit and complete Step 1 to download the Items

Spreadsheet.

b. Complete this spreadsheet with all information that you know for each item.

i. At minimum, you should enter:

1. Name

2. Sales Description

3. Sales Price

4. Purchase Description

5. Cost

6. Item Type (ex: Inventory Item, Service, Assembly, etc., see guide)

7. Quantity on Hand

8. Value on Hand (total value of stock)

9. Income, inventory, COGS, and expense accounts as appropriate to

item type

ii. See more information on the Export/Import Data spreadsheet in Section

15.2.2.1 of this Users Guide, which follows the columns on the spreadsheet.

Also, make sure you are following the rules listed in Section 15.2.1 as you

complete the process.

c. Go to the Import Data page (Company Menu > Import Data) and upload your items

into SOS.

i. This should have created an inventory adjustment if you added Quantity in

Hand and Value on Hand data for your items in the sheet.

ii. Go to the left side menu, Inventory > Inventory Adjustments to find the

adjustment created by the data export/import. Click on Edit to load the

transaction. Change the account at the bottom to Opening Balance Equity

and Save the adjustment. This will send journal entries to QuickBooks

Online to load the values in Inventory Asset and the offset in Opening

Balance Equity.

11. Go to the Sync Menu (green checkmark) and click on Sync Now to send all new items and

the journal entries from the adjustment to QuickBooks Online to update your account.

12. Now you can load any other data you need, such as, vendors, customers, and BOMs if you

created Assembly type items in step 10.b.

There may be other options that you would like to use in your setup:

• Discounts, shipping, and deposits. They need to be enabled in QuickBooks Online for SOS to

be able to see and use them. A manual sync should be done in SOS to complete the process.

• Class and locations. In QuickBooks Online, enable the options and define them from the

lists.

• In SOS, go to the Company Menu and complete any options you want to use by walking

through the Miscellaneous section of the menu. These options are discussed throughout

this users guide.

If you have any questions as you are going through this, please contact SOS Inventory Support via

email at [email protected] or via phone (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Central) 888-545-4146.

This is a very common occurrence since most customers already have an existing QuickBooks

Online Essentials or Plus account that they have been using for a while. This section will show the

steps required to successfully connect to an existing account and outline unique support practices.

NOTE:

This is best accomplished in the FireFox browser.

1. Make following changes in QuickBooks Online (if not setup yet in QuickBooks Online):

a. Company settings

i. If Plus Edition, turn Quantity On Hand Tracking off under the Sales section.

If this option was turned on and you have inventory items in your Product

and Services list in QuickBooks Online, please contact SOS Inventory at

[email protected] before doing this step or proceeding.

ii. If plan on using shipping/discounts/deposits, enable those.

b. Validate Sales Tax Center if taxes are being used.

c. Validate Chart of Accounts.

i. If essentials, create Inventory Asset and COGS accounts if they don’t exist.

d. Go to the company menu and select all lists.

i. If using, build locations and classes if not already there.

2. Go to Apps at left side menu in QuickBooks Online.

3. Search for SOS Inventory and select it.

4. Click on Get App Now on the SOS Inventory information page.

a. This will present you with the page stating to pick a plan, select one by clicking the

button under the plan you desire.

b. It will give you a message to please wait while creating account.

c. You will be now placed into SOS at the dashboard and the accounts will be

performing the initial sync (SOS retrieves copy of chart of accounts, sales tax

center, and anything else you may have defined such as departments and classes, as

well as any historical transactions, vendors, customers, and items).

d. This will also add a new My Apps list in QuickBooks Online under the Apps tab for

entry into SOS Inventory from QuickBooks Online (this is only for the person

connecting the 2 accounts).

5. In SOS, go to the User Menu and select User Profile to change the password and add a

security question/answer in case of password recovery

6. Go to the User Menu again and select User Settings and change the time zone to yours

7. By now you should have received at least an email Welcoming you to SOS Inventory with a

the initial sync is completed and you are ready to go. If not, wait until you get it to move on.

8. Go to the gear icon and select QuickBooks Settings to ensure automated sync is set to

desired level (most customers choose hourly).

9. Complete company settings under the Company Menu.

a. Company Settings – If needed, modify company header, enable multi-currency

(make sure QuickBooks Online is set up for multi-currency as well) and set home

currency, and add your company logo (make sure the log file meets requirements in

the note).

b. User Administration – Add any other users you want to have access to SOS.

c. Account Info – Check the plan setting to make sure it is the one you selected when

creating the account.

d. If SOS Plus or Pro, setup your locations if you are multiple warehouses, delivery

vehicles, contract manufacturing, or other reason for additional location).

10. Complete operational settings under the Gear Icon.

a. Inventory

i. If you don’t want to let stock levels go negative, uncheck the first option.

ii. Select all default accounts needed for new items, inventory changes, and

item receiving.

iii. Enable advanced search options if desired.

iv. Select desired valuation method.

v. Review all other inventory options and enable/disable as desired.

b. Purchasing

i. Set your default location to receive goods into.

ii. Enable advanced search option.

iii. Set default expense account for items that do not have one in their

definition.

iv. If using QuickBooks Online Essentials, uncheck Synchronize POs.

v. Review all other purchasing options and set as desired.

c. Sales (General tab)

i. Set default tax code.

ii. Enable the Show Available for Sale on Forms (shows available stock while

adding items to the sales forms).

iii. Set default payment method.

iv. Set default terms for sales.

v. Enable advanced search option.

vi. Review all other sales options and set as desired.

11. Validate vendors and customers that synced from QuickBooks Online (you can use the

Export Data/Import Data tools under the Company menu to edit and make any necessary

changes to the Customers list.

12. Finally, your items should have synced over from QuickBooks Online as an initial inventory

list. Use the Export Data/Import Data tools to make sure your data synced correctly and add

any missing essential information such as the account for asset and COGS. See sections

15.2.2.1 and 15.2.1 in this guide for more information on the data columns and process.

a. Columns to make sure you have:

i. Name

ii. Sales Description

iii. Sales Price

iv. Purchase Description

v. Cost

vi. Item Type (ex: Inventory Item, Service, Assembly, etc., see guide)

vii. Quantity on Hand

viii. Value on Hand (total value of stock)

ix. Income, inventory, COGS, and expense accounts as appropriate to item type

b. Do not change column A. If you are adding new items, leave column A blank so SOS

knows it is a new item.

c. If you have any specific questions on data before loading this spreadsheet, contact

SOS technical support at 888-545-4146 x2 or via email at

[email protected]. This includes use of bins, multiple locations, serial

inventory, or lot inventory.

13. Perform any other changes you may need that are discovered during this process. Setting

up BOMs for assembly items, form templates, process templates, additional locations, etc.

These setup instructions may change based on unique scenarios for your company. IF you have any

questions contact SOS inventory Support for assistance.

SOS Inventory has a standard REST API structure available to customers, providing you with the

capability to access your accounts data through web requests. This is a pull functionality, not a

push, which means that you request data as needed. No method currently exists for automating

data that is sent to targets outside of SOS Inventory.

To start your API project, please go to the Developer Portal at https://developer.sosinventory.com/

to access the API registration process and the full documentation for working with the API. If you

prefer, you can have a developer (either internal or external) register on the Developer Portal to do

the programming for you, but you as the data owner still have the ability to authorize the developer

to access your data. You can limit them only to the data for which they have privileges, based on

the user login at time of authorization. Please see more on this in the site’s documentation.

Although API connections must be created through the Developer Portal, you may view and revoke

API connections in SOS Inventory by going to Settings > API Connections. Once revoked, requests

made for data against your account will result in access denied.

For assistance with the API or Developer Portal, please email support@sosinventory.com or call

our support desk at 888-545-4146.

Two of the most common support questions that we get about SOS Inventory are “Why doesn’t my

inventory value in SOS match my inventory value in QuickBooks?” and “Why do I need to reconcile

inventory value if SOS and QuickBooks synchronize data?” The answer to both questions is the

same. SOS and QuickBooks do synchronize data; however, if there are inconsistencies in the source

data (due to data entry errors, business changes, intended differences, etc.), then the synchronized

data will be incorrect, just as the source data was. Thus a reconciliation process helps to make sure

that your data are correct in both places and that you have accounted for any differences (either

intentional or unintentional). This is similar to balancing your check book – simply making sure

that everything matches as expected. This document describes in detail the interaction between

SOS Inventory and QuickBooks, the tools in SOS Inventory that can be used to reconcile, and some

special situations that can affect the reconciliation process.

Reconciliation inventory value between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks involves some or all of the

following steps, depending on which SOS features you are using. Once your values match, you

know that you’ve accounted for everything and that you’ve finished reconciling.

• Run an Inventory Valuation report in SOS Inventory and compare it to the total of the asset

accounts in QuickBooks. If the values are the same, you are finished, and everything is as

expected. If the values are different, continue with further steps.

• If using Work Centers, run the WIP report. These totals, combined with the inventory

valuation report, should be compared to the asset account.

• Use the Reconcile Item Receipts report to ensure all bills and/or purchase expenses have

synced to QuickBooks and that the line amounts on the item receipts in SOS Inventory

match the line amounts on the bills and/or purchase expenses in QuickBooks.

• Use the Reconcile Journal Entries report to ensure that all Journal Entry values in

QuickBooks match to the corresponding SOS Inventory transaction.

• Use the Reconcile Vendor Credits report to ensure the Vendor Credit values in QuickBooks

match the corresponding Return to Vendor transaction in SOS Inventory.

• Check the adjustment list in SOS Inventory to ensure that the correct inventory adjustment

account has been used.

• Check your “Other Cost” items to ensure their proper setup.

• Check QuickBooks for transactions that may have been added or edited after SOS Inventory

posted them.

The intent of reconciling SOS Inventory to QuickBooks is to ensure that the systems are in sync --

that the total value in the asset accounts in QuickBooks matches the value in SOS Inventory. In

order to understand how this is accomplished, it is important to understand how the systems

interact. This first section will provide that information.

• A purchase order created in SOS Inventory will create a purchase order in QuickBooks and

vice versa. When the purchase order is added/edited/deleted in one system, the sync will

add/edit/delete it in the companion system. Purchase orders do not affect any accounts.

• When a purchase order is converted to an item receipt in SOS Inventory, the item receipt

increases inventory quantity and value in SOS Inventory. The value of this inventory comes

from the cost listed on the item receipt. SOS Inventory will post a transaction to

QuickBooks matching the item receipt, depending on the user’s selected option.

o If Bill was chosen as the payment type, SOS Inventory will post a bill (vendor

invoice) in QuickBooks that increases the asset account(s) of the item(s) on the

item receipt and affects Accounts Payable.

o If Cash/Check/Credit was chosen as the payment type, SOS Inventory will post a

purchase expense in QuickBooks that increases the asset account(s) of the item(s)

on the item receipt and affects the default cash/check/credit account (set in the

Inventory Settings page of SOS Inventory).

o If None was chosen as the payment, SOS Inventory will not post anything in

QuickBooks to reflect the item receipt.

o NOTE: If the bill or purchase expense that is posted to QuickBooks by SOS

Inventory is subsequently edited or deleted in QuickBooks, this will not update the

item receipt in SOS Inventory.

o NOTE: If a bill or purchase is added in QuickBooks, this will not create an item

receipt in SOS Inventory.

o For Pro plan users that use the landed costs (Other Costs) feature in SOS, the items

used in the Other Costs area must be configured correctly. When you use this

feature, items that are listed as Other Costs should be expense items. However, the

expense account of these items should be your inventory asset account. In this

methodology, the expense incurred in this area of the item receipt both increases

the asset account in QuickBooks and the value of the received items in SOS

Inventory by the same amount.

• A Return to Vendor (RTV) created in SOS Inventory removes inventory quantity and value

from SOS Inventory. This transaction will produce (based on selected option on the RTV):

o A Journal Entry in QuickBooks that decreases the asset account(s) of the item(s) on

the RTV and also affects the account selected on the RTV.

o A Vendor Credit in QuickBooks that decreases the asset account(s) of the item(s) on

the RTV and also affects your Accounts Payable to the Vendor on the RTV.

o NOTE: If the Journal Entry or Vendor Credit that is posted to QuickBooks by SOS

Inventory is subsequently edited or deleted in QuickBooks, this will not update the

RTV in SOS Inventory.

o NOTE: Adding a Vendor Credit in QuickBooks will not create an RTV in SOS

Inventory.

o NOTE: On Returns to Vendors, the item that is removed from inventory will affect

the Asset and Accounts Payable accounts according to the valuation method you

have chosen in SOS Inventory. This value may or may not be the same as the

amount of credit the vendor (supplier) provides. If this is the case, it is

recommended that you add a second line to the Journal Entry or Vendor Credit

(depending which option was chosen) to account for the difference in the

valuation-method-derived value of the RTV and the amount of actual credit given

by the vendor (supplier).

• An estimate/sales receipt/invoice created in SOS Inventory will create a matching

transaction in QuickBooks and vice versa.

• When using SOS Inventory to track your inventory, all items should be set up as non-

inventory or service in QuickBooks. As such, sales receipts and invoices will affect the

income account(s) of the item(s) on the sale. The asset account(s) and COGS account(s) are

not affected by the sales transaction.

• A sales order created in SOS Inventory will not produce a transaction in QuickBooks. Sales

orders do not affect inventory quantities/values in SOS Inventory or any accounts in

QuickBooks.

• A shipment created in SOS Inventory takes items out of inventory in SOS Inventory. This

transaction will create a Journal Entry in QuickBooks to reduce the asset account(s) and

increase the COGS account(s) of the item(s) on the shipment.

o NOTE: If the Journal Entry reflecting the shipment is edited/deleted in QuickBooks,

this will not affect the shipment transaction in SOS Inventory.

• A return created in SOS Inventory brings items into inventory. The value of the returned

items is established by the restock value entered on the return. This transaction will create

a Journal Entry in QuickBooks that increases the asset account(s) and decreases the COGS

account(s) by the listed restock value of the item(s) on the return. If the Credit Memo

option is selected, SOS Inventory will also create a credit memo in QuickBooks for the

amount of credit specified on the return.

o NOTE: If the Journal Entry reflecting the return is edited/deleted in QuickBooks,

this will not affect the return transaction in SOS Inventory.

o NOTE: Adding a credit memo in QuickBooks will not create a return in SOS

Inventory.

An adjustment in SOS Inventory is used to increase or decrease your inventory quantities/values in

SOS Inventory. An adjustment created in SOS Inventory will create a journal entry in QuickBooks

that affects the asset account(s) of the item(s) on the adjustment and the account selected on the

adjustment.

An example of how an adjustment in SOS is handled in the system is shown below:

Adjustment #1198 increases the quantity of aluminum sheets in inventory by 100 units. SOS

Inventory calculates the value of the increase using the $.50/sheet purchase cost that is listed in

the item definition, thereby increasing the cost basis by $50.00.

SOS will post the increase as a debit to the Inventory Asset account. The user has specified that SOS

should post the offsetting credit to the Inventory Shrinkage account.

When the Adjustment #1198 is saved, SOS creates a corresponding journal entry and assigns to it

the reference number SOS-5865. The journal entry can be viewed in SOS after syncing with

QuickBooks Online.

To locate the entry in SOS, go to the Sync Menu > Journal Entries. Use the Date column and

transaction reference listed in the Memo column to help you locate the appropriate journal entry.

In QuickBooks Online, journal entry SOS-5865 is accessible through the Inventory Asset register

and Inventory Shrinkage report from the Chart of Accounts page.

The QuickBooks Online journal entry for SOS-5865 is shown below. The Description column

includes a reference to Adjustment #1198, the source document for the journal entry.

Additional information about adjustments:

• NOTE: When the inventory quantity is decreased by the adjustment, SOS Inventory will

calculate the value of the decrease based on the actual value of the items being removed

from inventory. Actual value is based on the valuation method selected and the

transactions that brought the stock into inventory.

• NOTE: When the inventory quantity is increased by the adjustment, SOS Inventory will

calculate the value of the increase based on the purchase cost listed in the item record.

• NOTE: If the Journal Entry reflecting the adjustment is edited/deleted in QuickBooks, this

will not affect the adjustment transaction in SOS Inventory.

• NOTE: A data export/import in SOS Inventory can create an adjustment in SOS Inventory

when the inventory quantities/values in the uploaded sheet are different from the numbers

in the system at the time of the data upload. This adjustment will not automatically post a

Journal Entry to QuickBooks. As the Export Data/Import Data tools are most commonly

used to edit items in bulk and enter starting inventories that are already accounted for in

QuickBooks accounts, not creating the Journal Entry in QuickBooks is the intended

behavior. If your intent was to use the Export Data/Import Data features to update

inventory quantities/values in SOS Inventory and have the accounts in QuickBooks reflect

the value change, you must edit and save the adjustment that results from uploading the

data.

• A build transaction in SOS Inventory will decrease the inventory quantity/value of the input

items and increase the quantity/value of the output items. The output item created in a

build transaction will inherit the value of the input items. A build created in SOS Inventory

will create a Journal Entry in QuickBooks that will decrease the asset account(s) of the input

items and increase the asset account of the output items by the value of the input items.

• NOTE: If an input item is a non-inventory/service/expense/labor/other item in SOS

Inventory, the expense account of the item is reduced by the build transaction. The value

used for non-inventory/service/expense/labor/other item in the build is the purchase cost

in the item record.

• NOTE: If the build transaction is placed in a work center other than “Finished Goods”, the

input items are removed from inventory, but the output items are not placed into inventory

because it is still Work-In-Progress (WIP). The Journal Entry reflecting the build will not

be sent to QuickBooks until the build work center is changed to “Finished Goods.”

• NOTE: If the Journal Entry reflecting the build is edited/deleted in QuickBooks, this will not

affect the build transaction in SOS Inventory.

• A process transaction in SOS Inventory will decrease the inventory quantity/value of the

input items and increase the quantity/value of the output items. The output items created

in a process transaction will inherit the value of the input items. The value of the inputs

items is distributed to the output items according to the ratio of the output quantities and

standard purchase cost (in the item record) of the output items. A process transaction

created in SOS Inventory will create a Journal Entry in QuickBooks that will decrease the

asset account(s) of the input items and increase the asset account(s) of the output item(s)

by the value of the input item(s).

• NOTE: An output item that has a 0.00 purchase cost in the item record will receive 0

percent of the input value—unless it is the only output, which will result in the output

receiving 100 percent of the value.

• NOTE: If an input item is a non-inventory/service/expense/labor/other item in SOS

Inventory, the expense account of the item is reduced by the build transaction. The value

used for non-inventory/service/expense/labor/other item in the process transaction is the

purchase cost in the item record.

• NOTE: If the process transaction is placed in a work center (if using, Pro plan only) other

than Finished Goods, the input items are removed from inventory, but the output items are

not placed into inventory. The Journal Entry reflecting the process transaction will not be

sent to QuickBooks until the build work center is changed to Finished Goods.

• NOTE: If the journal entry reflecting the build is edited/deleted in QuickBooks, this will not

affect the build transaction in SOS Inventory.

• Purchase Order

• Estimates

• Sales Order

• Pick Ticket

• Return Merchandise Authorization

(RMA)

• Transfer

• Rental

• Rental Return

• Job

• Work Order

• SOS Inventory provides tools to help you compare your SOS Inventory valuation to your

QuickBooks asset accounts. Additionally, SOS provides tools to ensure that SOS Inventory

transactions affecting quantity/value have correctly posted to QuickBooks to update asset

(and other) accounts.

• The reconciliation process in SOS assumes that a matching starting point can be

established -- a point in which the inventory valuation in SOS Inventory matches the asset

account in QuickBooks. This will be the starting date of your reconciliation, as with

balancing a checkbook. You might need to adjust historical values as of a certain date to

establish an initial starting point.

The Inventory Value report shows the value of the items that are in stock as of the end of the day on

the selected date of the report. The report can be filtered by a single location, a particular category,

or text contained in the item name. For the purposes of reconciliation, the valuation report should

be run for all items (no text filter), all categories, and all locations.

The results of the Inventory Value report can then be compared to the combined total of all asset

accounts in QuickBooks.

• If the valuation report in SOS Inventory matches the total of the asset accounts in

QuickBooks Online, the reconciliation process is essentially complete.

• If the valuation report in SOS Inventory does not match the total of the asset accounts in

QuickBooks Online, the report should be run for an earlier date and compared to the total of

the asset accounts on that date in order to establish a time period that the systems

diverged.

NOTES:

• The Inventory Value report will not reflect values of archived items. Even if the report is

run for a date during which the archived item was not archived, the archived item and its

value will not be reflected.

• The Inventory Value report will not reflect values of deleted (inactive) items. Even if the

report is run for a date during which the deleted item was not deleted, the deleted item and

its value will not be reflected.

• It is best to not archive or delete items until a reconciliation of SOS Inventory and

QuickBooks Online is conducted and matching values are obtained for the current date.

• Once reconciliation is complete and the SOS Inventory Value report coincides with the total

of the asset accounts in QuickBooks Online, we recommend that you close the books for

that period both in SOS Inventory and in QuickBooks Online.

If using the work center feature, any build or process transaction in a work center will not reflect in

the inventory valuation report. The WIP report accounts for those transactions. These item

values, when combined with the results of the inventory valuation report, should balance with the

asset account(s) total in QuickBooks.

Bills that SOS Inventory creates in QuickBooks are generated from item receipts. Thus it is

important to ensure that all bills successfully synced to QuickBooks and increased the asset

account by the amount on the corresponding item receipt. To check the sync status of the bills

created by SOS Inventory, click on the green check and choose Bills. View the “Sync” column to

see if any bills have a sync error. If you find any sync errors, you will want to resync that bill to

QuickBooks. To do that, you will:

• Go to the Item Receipts list in SOS Inventory.

• Find the item receipt that corresponds to the bill that did not sync.

• Click on the Actions Menu (next to the Edit button) and choose Add to Sync.

• Sync.

Once you have gone through the above process, check the bills list again and ensure that the sync

error is no longer present. Also check QuickBooks to ensure the bill has posted.

NOTES:

• If a bill was synced to QuickBooks and later deleted in QuickBooks, this will not be indicated

on the bills list with a sync error. This action could cause a mismatch between SOS

Inventory and QuickBooks.

• If a bill was synced to QuickBooks and then edited in QuickBooks to change the amounts on

the bill, this action could cause a mismatch between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks.

• The above two situations can sometimes be difficult to recognize. Using the “Reconcile

Item Receipts” report (described below) will help. Also, it might be useful to export item

receipts from SOS Inventory and/or the asset accounts in QuickBooks if it becomes really

difficult to track down an issue.

Purchase expenses that SOS Inventory creates in QuickBooks are generated from item receipts,

similar to bills. Thus, it is important to ensure that all purchase expenses successfully synced to

QuickBooks and increased the asset account by the amount on the item receipt. To check the sync

status of the purchase expenses created by SOS Inventory, click on the green check and choose

Purchase. View the Sync column to see if any purchase expenses have a sync error. If you find any

sync errors, you will want to resync that purchase expense to QuickBooks. To do that, you will:

• Go to the Item Receipts list in SOS Inventory.

• Find the item receipt that corresponds to the bill that did not sync.

• Click on the Actions Menu (next to the Edit button) and choose Add to Sync.

• Sync.

Once you have gone through the above process, check the purchase expense list again and ensure

that the sync error is no longer present. Also check QuickBooks to ensure the purchase expense

has posted.

NOTES:

• If a purchase expense was synced to QuickBooks and later deleted in QuickBooks, this will

not be indicated on the purchase expense list with a sync error. This action could cause a

mismatch between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks.

• If a purchase expense was synced to QuickBooks and then edited in QuickBooks to change

the amounts on the purchase expense, this action could cause a mismatch between SOS

Inventory and QuickBooks.

• The above two situations can sometimes be difficult to recognize. Using the “Reconcile

Item Receipts” report (described below) will help. Also, it might be useful to export item

receipts from SOS Inventory and/or the asset accounts in QuickBooks if it becomes really

difficult to track down an issue.

The Reconcile Journal Entries report will provide the current calculated value of a transaction and

compare it to the Journal Entry that was sent to QuickBooks for the transaction. This report can

highlight:

• Journal Entries that were changed in QuickBooks.

• Journal Entries that were posted to QuickBooks, but the value of the transaction has

changed.

• Transactions that did not post a Journal Entry in QuickBooks.

To run the Reconcile Journal Entries report, choose a date time frame, choose the type of

transaction, and Run Report. The report should be run for all types of transactions that are used in

SOS Inventory.

• Transaction Numbers: The reconcile Journal Entries report matching algorithm relies on

matching a particular transaction to a particular Journal Entry in QuickBooks. As such, for

any transactions that do not have a transaction reference number, no match will be

possible. These lines will be highlighted in blue.

• Blue Highlights: Blue highlights indicate that SOS Inventory did not post a Journal Entry to

QuickBooks for the corresponding transaction, or such Journal Entry was deleted in

QuickBooks after it was posted by SOS Inventory. This may have occurred if the value of the

Journal Entry would have been $0. If the currently calculated value of the transaction is not

$0, click the “Add to Queue” link to add that transaction to the sync queue. If the current

calculated value of the transaction is $0, this line can be ignored.

• Green Highlights: Green highlights indicate that the line item on the transaction cannot be

found on the Journal Entry posted to QuickBooks. This can occur if the value of the line

item was $0 at the time the transaction was created or if the item name has been changed

since SOS Inventory posted the Journal Entry to QuickBooks. If the current value of the

transaction is not $0, click the “Add to Queue” link to add that transaction to the sync

queue. If the current calculated value of the transaction is $0, this line can be ignored.

• Red Highlights: Red highlights indicate that the value of the line item on the transaction

was changed after SOS Inventory posted the Journal Entry to QuickBooks. This can occur if

a transaction that increased the inventory of the item, dated before the transaction in

question, was added/edited/deleted. When a red highlight is observed, click the Add to

queue link to have SOS Inventory update the journal entry in QuickBooks with the newly

corrected values.

o NOTE: As the algorithm to compare transactions looks for the item name within the

line on the QuickBooks Journal Entry, it can sometimes indicate a false mismatch.

This occurs when the item name of one item on the SOS Inventory transaction is

contained within more than one line of the Journal Entry in QuickBooks. If you

have added these to the queue, synced, & there still seems to be a mismatch; this is

most probably the case.

o NOTE: On Returns to Vendors, the item that is removed from inventory will affect

the Asset and Accounts Payable accounts according to the valuation method you

have chosen in SOS Inventory. This value may or may not be the same as the

amount of credit the vendor (supplier) provides. If this is the case, it is

recommended that you add a second line to the Journal Entry or Vendor Credit

(depending which option was chosen) to account for the difference in the

valuation-method-derived value of the RTV and the amount of actual credit given

by the vendor (supplier).

The reconcile item receipts report will provide the date and value of an item receipt in SOS

Inventory in comparison to the corresponding bill or purchase expense in QuickBooks. This report

can highlight:

• Situations where SOS Inventory created a bill or purchase expense in QuickBooks and a user

changed or deleted the bill or purchase expense in QuickBooks, creating a mismatch

between the valuation in SOS Inventory and the asset account in QuickBooks.

• Situations where SOS Inventory created a bill or purchase expense in QuickBooks and a user

changed the date of the bill or purchase expense in QuickBooks, creating a temporary

valuation mismatch between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks, between the date of the item

receipt and the date of the bill or purchase expense.

To run the Reconcile Item Receipts report, choose a date timeframe, choose the type of

transaction, and Run Report. The report should be run for all types of transactions that are used in

SOS Inventory.

• Blue Highlights: Blue highlights indicate that SOS Inventory did not post a transaction to

QuickBooks for the corresponding transaction. If this is the case, go to the item receipt list,

edit the item receipt to ensure the correct payment method is chosen, save, and sync.

• Green Highlights: Green highlights indicate that the line item on the transaction cannot be

found on the bill/purchase expense posted to QuickBooks. This can occur if the line item

removed from the bill/purchase expense in QuickBooks or if the item name has changed. If

the name has changed, this can be ignored. If not due to a name change, go to the item

receipt list, edit the item receipt to ensure the correct payment method is chosen, save, and

sync.

• Red Highlights: Red highlights indicate that the value of the line item on the transaction

was changed in QuickBooks after SOS Inventory posted the bill or purchase transaction to

QuickBooks. When a red highlight is observed, it is important to determine which is the

correct amount for the item – the amount in SOS Inventory or the amount in QuickBooks.

In either circumstance, the numbers should be corrected to match.

o If SOS Inventory reflects the correct costs for the items, edit/save (make no change)

the item receipt, and then sync so the bill will be updated.

o If QuickBooks reflects the correct costs of the items, edit/save the item receipt in

SOS Inventory to match the costs reflected in QuickBooks.

▪ NOTE: In this circumstance, you may not want the bill in QuickBooks to be

updated -- especially if you have added line items for other expenses, taxes,

etc. If this is the case, after saving the item receipt, click on the Green

Check and choose Preview Sync and remove the ‘Modify bill’ or ‘Modify

purchase expense’ associated with the resave of the item receipt.

• NOTE: As the algorithm to compare transactions looks for the item name within the line on

the QuickBooks bill/purchase expense, it can sometimes indicate a false mismatch. This

occurs when the item name of one item on the SOS Inventory transaction is contained

within more than one line of the purchase transaction in QuickBooks. If you have added

these to the queue, synced, and there still is a mismatch, this is most probably the case.

The reconcile vendor credits report will provide the date and value of a return to vendor transaction

in SOS Inventory in comparison to the corresponding vendor credit in QuickBooks. This report can

highlight:

• Situations in which SOS Inventory created a vendor credit in QuickBooks and a user

changed or deleted a vendor credit in QuickBooks, creating a mismatch between the

valuation in SOS Inventory and the asset account in QuickBooks.

o NOTE: On returns to vendors, the item that is removed from inventory will affect

the Asset and Accounts Payable accounts according to the valuation method you

have chosen in SOS Inventory. This value may or may not be the same as the

amount of credit the vendor (supplier) provides. If this is the case, it is

recommended that you add a second line to the Journal Entry or Vendor Credit

(depending which option was chosen) to account for the difference in the

valuation-method-derived value of the RTV and the amount of actual credit given

by the vendor (supplier).

As previously mentioned, archived and deleted items do not reflect on the Inventory Value report.

If you are reconciling for a previous date and items were used during the reconciliation period that

have now been archived or deleted (inactivated), these items will not be reflected on the valuation

report—even if they were active and not archived during the period of the report.

Unarchiving and undeleting of such items may be necessary to obtain an accurate valuation report

for the selected period. Use the Items list Change Filter or Batch Actions feature to unarchive

items. Deleted items can be reactivated by going to the Deleted Items list (Operations

Menu > Reports > Miscellaneous > Deleted Items) and selecting Restore from the Actions Menu or

Batch Actions dropdown list.

When SOS Inventory posts a transaction such as a bill, purchase expense, or vendor credit to

QuickBooks, the resulting transaction in QuickBooks reflects the values entered on the transaction

in SOS Inventory. If transactions are subsequently edited or deleted in QuickBooks, this can cause

a mismatch.

The Reconcile Item Receipts report will help identify these situations for item receipts. The

Reconcile Vendor Credits report will help identify these situations for Vendor Credits created from

an RTV.

Unintended journal entries can occur when a user enters inventory in SOS that has already been

accounted for in QuickBooks. If the value of this inventory (most commonly a journal entry

associated with an adjustment) posts to QuickBooks, there will be an unintended increase to the

asset account. This situation is typically only common when first setting up the SOS Inventory

account.

To identify unintended journal entry situations, determine the starting balance of the QuickBooks

account prior to beginning SOS Inventory, then check the transactions that posted to QuickBooks

from the initial adjustments added in SOS Inventory to determine which entries were unintended.

When an adjustment is created in SOS Inventory, the system allows you to choose an adjustment

account. The adjustment will create a journal entry in QuickBooks that affects the asset account(s)

of the items on the adjustment and the adjustment account selected on the adjustment. When a

user chooses the asset account as the adjustment account, both sides (credit and debit) of the

journal entry affect the same account—thereby adding value in SOS Inventory but not in

QuickBooks.

To identify incorrect adjustment account issues, go to the adjustment list in SOS Inventory. Click

on the gear to the right of the Quick Search bar and enable the Adj Acct column. For any asset

accounts (or other incorrect accounts) listed as the adjustment account, consider editing the

adjustment and choosing a different adjustment account.

Duplicate journal entry postings can occur when SOS Inventory queues the deletion of a journal

entry for a modified transaction (to be replaced by a new journal entry), but a user removes the

deletion from sync queue.

The following method can be used to check for duplicate journal entry postings:

• In QuickBooks, Export the Cost of Goods Sold account(s) to check for duplicate journal

entries for the same shipment, drop ship purchase order, and customer returns.

• In QuickBooks, Export the Asset account(s) to check for duplicate journal entries for the

same build, process transaction, inventory adjustment, and return to vendor.

• Steps:

o Run report in QuickBooks on account(s), as applicable.

o Export reports to Excel.

o In Excel:

▪ Use Conditional Formatting to highlight duplicate lines … run for the

Memo/Description column.

▪ Once duplicate lines are highlighted, check the journal entries associated

with the duplicates.

o NOTE: If the same item is on more than one line of a transaction, this can cause

duplicates to be shown, but you will be able to see that these are both on the same

journal entry.

Pro plan users have the option to use “Other Costs” items on the item receipt transaction in order

for SOS Inventory to calculate the landed cost value of the received items. When this feature is

used, items that are listed as “Other Costs” should normally be expense items. However, the

expense account of these items should be the inventory asset account. The expense incurred in

this area of the item receipt both increases the asset account in QuickBooks and the value of the

received items in SOS Inventory by the same amount. When the expense account of the “Other

Costs” items is listed as an expense account rather than an asset account, the bill or purchase

expense line in QuickBooks for the other costs increases an expense account rather than an asset

account. As such, the value increase in SOS Inventory does not have a matching asset account

value increase in QuickBooks and creates a mismatch.

To identify “Other Costs” items that have an incorrect expense account, begin by exporting the

“Other Costs” from the Export Data page in SOS Inventory. Annotate each item used as an Other

Cost and proceed to the Items list in SOS Inventory. Edit each of the annotated items and ensure

the correct account type is chosen as the expense account of the item. Once complete, it may be

necessary to resync the item receipts that these Other Costs were on in order to correct the Bills

and Purchase Expense transactions in QuickBooks so that the Other Cost lines increase the

appropriate asset account.

If a transaction is added directly in QuickBooks that increases or decreases the asset accounts in

QuickBooks, this can cause a mismatch between the SOS Inventory valuation report and the total

of the asset accounts in QuickBooks.

To help differentiate transactions created by SOS Inventory from those entered directly in

QuickBooks, SOS Inventory enters a reference to the SOS Inventory originating transaction in the

memo of the transaction posted to QuickBooks. Checking the transaction register of the asset

accounts can help identify transactions that were created directly in QuickBooks as the reference to

the SOS Inventory transaction will be absent.

My quantity (or cost basis) for item X is wrong in the system. What happened?

Pull up the Item History page for the item and review the transactions. That will allow you to

determine exactly where the quantity or cost became different than what you expected.

I sent an email for support and have not received a response. How long does it usually take?

We respond to the majority of support emails within one hour; however, depending on the volume

of emails at the time and the complexity of the issue, it can take up to 24 hours. If you have not

received a response within 24 hours, please send your email again. It is possible that it was not

delivered for some reason.

Does SOS Inventory have a maximum amount of item, transaction, and other data that it can

process?

Theoretically, SOS Inventory has no limit to the amount of data that can be entered into the

system. However, our software does have practical limitations of which you should be aware. View

SOS Inventory Limitations

at https://www.sosinventory.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SOS-

Limits_20210127_v1.pdf for more detailed information.

How do I set the default shipping address for purchase orders?

Go to the Settings Menu (gear icon in upper right) and select Purchasing Settings. Look for the

option to select the default location for POs. Then, go to the Location List under the Company

Menu (your company name), select Locations, and edit the location to specify the proper address.

How do I issue a packing slip for a partial shipment?

When you generate a packing slip for a sales order, it will automatically be generated for the

difference between the quantity shipped and the quantity invoiced. Thus you can issue a packing

slip for a partial shipment by making sure that the shipped and invoiced amounts are correct on

the sales order.

I'm getting a message that says SOS Inventory automatically detected a problem. What

happened?

This means that an unexpected situation occurred. There are a variety of causes, ranging from a

temporary QuickBooks Online outage to a bug in SOS Inventory. If the problem is on our side, we

usually have it fixed within 24 hours. You can always contact us and we will let you know the status

of the problem.

Do you support XYZ feature? If not, can you implement it?

Go to the Help Menu (? icon) and select the Feature Requests page and tell us about a new feature or

vote for an existing one. Also, you can email us at [email protected] if you have a

question about a specific feature that is not listed anywhere else. We log every feature request that

we get. The ones that are requested the most often are the ones that we prioritize. We are not a

custom development shop. We do not build specific features for specific customers. We try our best

to implement the features that will provide the most benefit to the most people.

Why do some of my vendors/items/customers have “(deleted)” in their name?

When you see a vendor, customer, employee, etc. with (deleted) in the name, which means that

you deleted the object but that it was linked to something else. For example, let's say you delete a

customer that has made purchases from you in the past. QuickBooks Online (and SOS Inventory)

need to keep your invoices and sales receipts for that customer. So the customer isn't really

deleted. It's just hidden most of the time. If you go to view an invoice with that deleted customer, it

will show the customer's name with (deleted) after it, to remind you that you deleted that

customer.

Why do some of my vendors/items/customers) have “(2)” or another number in their names?

When you add a new vendor, customer, or item in SOS Inventory, it attempts to send the item to

QuickBooks. If an item with that same name already exists in QuickBooks, it will add a (2) to

differentiate the second version of the item from the original. You can correct the duplicates by

seeing which one has the history you want to keep and then deleting the other version. If you keep

the (2) version, just rename it to get rid of the (2).

What does it mean when a menu option is listed as “beta”?

Beta features are new features that we have introduced recently. We introduce major new features

first in the beta stage, so that people who really want the feature can try it out. Beta features have

been tested internally and are believed to work correctly, but given that they are new it is possible

that you will experience more issues with those than with the core SOS Inventory software. After a

period of live field testing, we remove the beta label to signify that we believe the stability is on par

with other features.

I want to add Categories to my items but only have “None” as an option for Categories.

To add a category, click on the Blue Plus at the top of the page and choose Item. Add the category

name. The type should be Category. Save. Then, you can edit your other items and place them in

this category.

Why do Sales Tax and Shipping not show in my sales transactions?

For sales tax it is due to the sales tax center not being established in QuickBooks Online. For

shipping, you need to enable this option in you QuickBooks Online Company Settings to have it

appear on the transactions in SOS.

What type of barcode scanner works with SOS?

Any linear barcode scanner will work with SOS. You can use warehouse scanners like the Wasp as

long as you keep it in linear mode. Either USB connectable or Bluetooth formats will work as long

as they can be attached as an input device. Currently SOS does not have the capability to use

cellular phone barcode scanning apps.

How do you enable shipping in SOS Inventory?

To enable shipping in SOS Inventory, you have to enable it in QuickBooks Online. To do that:

1. Log in to QuickBooks Online.

2. Click on Gear > Account and Settings.

3. Click on Sales on the left.

4. Click on Sales Form Content.

5. Check the box next to Shipping.

6. Save.

7. Sync SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online.

Once the above is done, you will have a shipping field in Sales Orders and Invoices in SOS

Inventory.

When processing a sales order to shipment to invoice, the customer purchase order number does

not come across from SOS to QuickBooks Online. I am currently having to enter it separately in

QuickBooks Online. What might be causing that?

To fix this situation, do the following:

1. Log in to QuickBooks Online.

2. Click on Gear > Account and Settings.

3. On the left-hand side, click on Sales.

4. Click in the Sales Form Content area.

5. Under Custom Fields, ensure that your customer po field is labeled exactly Customer PO.

NOTE: You must have a capital C, a space between Customer and PO, a capital P and

capital O, and no characters after the O.

6. Sync SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online.

Now, any future invoices created or edited in SOS Inventory will sync to QuickBooks Online with

the Customer PO included.

I have entered a discount in my SOS invoice, but it won't sync to QuickBooks Online.

You need to enable discounts in QuickBooks Online to use them in SOS Inventory. To do that:

• Log in to QuickBooks Online.

• Click on Gear > Account and Settings.

• Click on Sales on the left.

• Click on Sales Form Content.

• Check the box next to Discounts.

• Save.

• Sync SOS Inventory to QuickBooks Online.

Once the above is done, you can use discounts in Sales Orders and Invoices in SOS Inventory.

I’m entering sales in QuickBooks and my inventory in SOS is not changing after synchronization.

Why not?

By default, SOS Inventory does not remove inventory for new transactions in QuickBooks. To

change this behavior, go to the Settings menu and choose Sales Settings. In the General section,

you’ll see options called Auto-Ship Invoices and Auto-Ship Sales Receipts. Turn those options on,

as appropriate, and then try your transactions again.

NOTE: If you have items with either serial tracking or lot tracking on in SOS or if you are blocking

negative inventory, then you should not enable the Auto-Ship Invoices or Auto-Ship Sales

Receipts, but can still use the Auto-Sales Order Invoices.

I enter shipping charges on an invoice, but they disappear when I sync with QuickBooks Online.

How do I fix this?

Be sure that the shipping feature is enabled in your QuickBooks Online preferences.

When I send an invoice to QuickBooks Online, why are the addresses sometimes formatted in a

strange way?

There are certain rules that we must follow when exchanging data with QuickBooks Online.

Sometimes those rules don’t support all of the features that SOS can support. So we sometimes

have to squeeze things down or otherwise make them fit into the format available to us, which

might or might not be the optimal way to view the data.

All my items downloaded from QuickBooks Online are showing as inventory items. Why?

The default item type for items downloaded from QuickBooks Online is Inventory Item. You can

edit this value individually for each item or do a data export/import to be able to correct them all at

once. As a reference the data export/import sheet contains a column that shows the type of item on

QuickBooks Online so you can correct the ones in SOS accordingly.

The inventory quantities in SOS aren’t syncing with the inventory quantities in QuickBooks

Online. Why not?

QuickBooks Online does not yet allow third-party tools to update inventory counts. With that said,

think of SOS Inventory as a replacement for the inventory functionality in QuickBooks Online. If

you are using SOS, you don’t need the inventory tracking in QuickBooks Online, because you are

using SOS to track inventory. Most of our customers do not have inventory tracking even turned on

in QuickBooks Online. In fact, if the inventory tracking in QuickBooks Online is sufficient for your

needs, then you probably don’t need SOS Inventory at all.

If you do have inventory tracking on in QuickBooks Online, please send an email to

[email protected] for more information or call 888-545-4146 to let us know.

I'm getting an error message when trying to synchronize with QuickBooks. What do I do?

Sometimes the synchronization with QuickBooks Online will fail. This can be due to a data error, or

it could be as simple as a temporary server outage. Whenever the sync fails, an X will appear

instead of the checkmark when the sync completes. Click on the Sync Menu (green icon at top) and

then Sync Errors to see the error message associated with the sync failure. Usually it will tell you

how to resolve the error. You can also use the Preview Sync option as described above to see exactly

which transaction is causing the problem.

The SOS sync algorithm is very sophisticated. On a sync error, it waits a few minutes to give the

user a chance to resolve the error. If the error persists, the system will attempt to correct the error

automatically. Sometimes it takes longer than others, depending on system load and the nature of

the error. If you are unable to resolve a sync error and the problem persists, please contact

[email protected].

I was testing SOS with fake data, and now I want to enter my real data. How do I clear all the test

data and start fresh?

The easiest way is to set up a new SOS account. Just make sure you disconnect your old SOS account

from your QuickBooks Online account before attempting to connect the new SOS account. You can

use your same email address for the new account.

How do I change my password?

From the User Menu (where it shows your name), select “User Profile.”

I am getting an error that states “Do not have authorization to complete action.” How do I fix

this?

The error message tells you what to do. In short, you need to have your master administrator on

the account disconnect and reconnect the account in SOS to authorize your connection again to

your QuickBooks Online account.

I am getting an “Unknown error from QuickBooks Online.” What does that mean?

This error usually happens due to communication issues during the sync such a timeout condition

if you are syncing a lot of data. If you have automatic sync on, SOS will resume when it is time to

sync again, otherwise, do a manual sync to resume.

I am getting an error that states “Invalid Number” with a long ID after it such as “df1210ab-

e227-492b-8b70-07ae74468b90”. What does this mean?

This means that something on the transaction doesn't exist in QuickBooks Online. Usually this is

an item that does not have the Sync option enabled. Editing the item and syncing it to QuickBooks

Online, then resaving and syncing the transaction will fix this error. Other things to check for

could be a non-existent vendor, customer, or sales term.

I changed my email address and can no longer sign on using the via Intuit option. Why?

To use the single sign on function, the email address must match in QuickBooks Online and SOS.

I am getting a “Stale Object” error. How do I fix it?

This means that an item was edited and saved on both systems between syncs. Note the

information on the SOS side for the item. Resave the item on QuickBooks Online and sync to SOS.

Edit the item on SOS to once again have the changes you intended for the object and sync back to

QuickBooks Online.

The following are definitions of many common terms used in this document and in the SOS

Inventory software. If there are other definitions that you’d like to see added, please email

[email protected].

AOP.

Automated Order Processing is a rule-based processing method to allow you to automate

different workflows to maximize your efficiency

Assembly.

A special type of inventory item that consists of other items (components).

Available for Sale.

Quantity on hand minus quantity on sales order minus quantity at non-nettable

locations.

Bill of Lading.

A document used in shipping/transporting goods. It is often required for certain

types of shipments, particularly freight.

Bill of Materials.

The list of components and quantities that makes up an assembly.

Blanket PO.

An open-ended PO, without specific quantities.

BOM.

Bill of materials.

Channels.

Methods of sales such as web, store, or any other sales path that may be used.

COGS.

Cost-Of-Goods-Sold.

The inventory costs (what you paid) for the goods sold during a given period.

The calculation may vary depending on your chosen inventory valuation method.

Credit Hold.

A conditional switch stopping a new sale to be accomplished for a customer due to

unpaid invoices for previous sales.

Credit Memo.

A document issued to a customer to show proof of a deposit or refund.

Customer.

Someone who buys things from you.

Drop-Shipping.

An arrangement in which your vendor (supplier) ships the items directly to the

end customer instead of to you.

EDI.

Electronic Data Interchange is the electronic interchange of business information using a

standardized format; a process which allows one company to send information to another

company electronically rather than with paper.

Estimate.

A quotation for goods or services.

Invoice.

A bill to your customer to be paid by a certain date.

Item.

Something that you want to track in SOS Inventory, which could be a product you sell, a

service you provide, raw materials for manufacturing, overhead expenses, and so on.

Item Receipt.

A record that you received goods from a vendor on a specified date.

Job.

A way to group transactions for reporting purposes.

Kit.

A collection of individual inventory items that are sold as a group.

Landed Cost.

The total amount that you paid to bring an item in house from a vendor. This could

include shipping charges, fuel charges, labor, customs, duty, etc., in addition to the price of the

item itself.

Lot.

A batch of an item that are tracked together as they are received, shipped, built, or otherwise

used in the system.

Max Stock Level.

The maximum amount an item that you want to have on hand. Also it is used as

the restock level for an item.

Non-posting transaction.

A transaction that does not post to your general ledger, meaning that it

does not affect your financial reports.

OE Companion.

An older version of SOS Inventory. Version 1 of the current software was called OE

Companion, as it was a companion tool for QuickBooks Online Edition.

On PO.

The quantity of an item on open purchase orders.

On SO.

The quantity of an item on open sales orders.

Overhead.

Additional costs of producing goods and services that a company wishes to include in

the costs of goods sold of the items.

Packing Slip.

A document typically enclosed in a shipment to a customer that shows the items

shipped and other shipping information. It usually does not include prices.

Pick Ticket.

A document providing instructions on which items to pull and from where (bins, etc.)

to pull them.

Priority.

Allows a user to know the importance of an object to determine the order tasks are

completed in.

Purchase Order (PO).

A purchase order is a form/document used to request a vendor to provide a

good or service to you in exchange for payment. The purchase order will typically define terms of

payment, delivery, and so on. Purchase orders are non-posting transactions.

QuickBooks Online.

A hosted, SaaS, cloud-based version of QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online is a

distinct product. It is not merely a hosted version of QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise, etc.

QuickBooks Online Edition.

This was the name used to refer to QuickBooks Online many years ago.

Reorder Point.

The point at which inventory of an item is considered “low.”

Return.

A record that you received merchandise back from your customer on a given date.

RMA.

Return Merchandise Authorization. A document authorizing a customer to return a product.

SaaS.

Software as a Service. This refers to a software that is hosted by the developer, and the user

pays a monthly fee to access the software / service. This is often referred to as cloud computing.

Sales Order.

A document showing quantities and prices of an order from your customer. This is a

non-posting transaction.

Sales Receipt

. A document describing a completed sale, similar to the receipt you would get from a

retail store.

Serial Inventory.

Items that are tracked individually by a unique number.

Stage.

Shows the state that goods are in during a sales process.

Variance.

In SOS Inventory, a variance is the difference between the actual cost of an item and the

expected (standard) cost of an item.

Vendor.

Someone from whom you buy products or services. Also called a supplier.

WIP.

Work-in-progress.

Work Center.

A stage or step in a manufacturing process.

Work-In-Progress

. Materials on which production has started but that have not yet been turned

into finished goods.

Version 8.8.2—July 3, 2020

• Completed some under-the-hood work in preparation for future releases.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.8.1—April 4, 2020

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.8—December 23, 2019

• Added lists to manage third-party integrations more easily (with more integrations coming

soon).

• Added support for multiple Shopify or BigCommerce stores in one SOS account.

• Items can now have variants.

• Added outbound FTP option for exports and reports.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.7—December 1, 2019

• Added two new reports: Production Report and Where To Buy.

• Added Reorder List for improved reordering and PO generation.

• Upgraded all exports to the new format, which means they can be customized and

scheduled.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.6—November 16, 2019

• Added 26 new reports.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.5—November 2, 2019

• Added master sales report, master purchase report, and overstock/understock report.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.4—October 6, 2019

• Expanded options for commissions (exempt items, per transaction commissions, and

more).

• Updated all existing reports to the new report format.

• Added several new reports (with more coming soon!).

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.3—August 31, 2019

• Added support for BigCommerce.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.2—May 29, 2019

• Updated connection to QuickBooks.

• Preparations for upcoming releases.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.1—February 1, 2019

• New reorder report.

• Improvements to importing.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

Version 8.0—January 1, 2019

• Initial release of new reporting engine.

• Migration to new server infrastructure.

• Performance improvements.

• Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements.

The reports available in SOS Inventory are found by going to Operations Menu > Reports. The

report sections, as well as the reports available within each of these areas, are listed here in

alphabetical order.

Reconcile Item Receipts.

Provides data on bills, cash purchases, checks, and credit card charges

pertaining to item receipts. Highlights financial information that is missing or has a discrepancy

with QuickBooks Online.

Reconcile Journal Entries.

Shows journal entry information pertaining to transactions. Highlights

financial information that is missing or has a discrepancy with QuickBooks Online.

Reconcile Vendor Credits.

Displays credit information on return-to-vendor transactions.

Highlights financial information that is missing or has a discrepancy with QuickBooks Online.

Backorder Report.

Lists data on backordered sales orders and sales receipts. Can be filtered

according to location, item name, customer, and order type.

Fulfillment Efficiency.

Provides information on the turnaround time in fulfilling customer orders

from the time a sales order or sales receipt is placed until it is received by the customer. The report

can be filtered by location, item name, customer, and order type. For each PO listed, the report

includes whether the order was delivered on time.

Ready to Pick/Ship.

Compiles a list of sales orders and sales receipts that are ready to be picked and

shipped.

Shipping Report.

Shows completed shipments by transaction, ship date, customer, item and

quantity shipped.

Bin Contents.

Lists bin contents by location and bin number, along with the quantity on hand for

each bin item.

Inventory Aging.

Provides a list of items on hand and how long they have been in inventory. This

report is useful for identifying slow-moving inventory, as well as the costs associated for storing

and maintaining it.

Inventory Stock Status.

Compiles data of items and their on-hand quantities. Filters include

location, category, item name, and vendor.

Inventory Summary.

A flexible report that offers much detail regarding items on hand, on

transactions, and available for sale. Many other options for column data exist as well. Information

can be filtered according to location, category, item name, and vendor.

Inventory Turnover.

Measures the number of times inventory is sold or consumed in a given time

period. Turnover rate is Cost of Goods Sold divided by Average Inventory. Average Inventory is the

beginning inventory number plus the ending inventory number, divided by two.

Inventory Value.

Provides the total quantity and value of an inventory item. Can be filtered by

location, category, item name, and vendor.

Item Analysis.

Shows the profitability of an item based on its standard cost. Filters include

location, category, item name, and vendor.

Item Movement.

Provides details about items’ movements on transactions: the quantity received,

returned to vendors, shipped, adjusted, etc., as well as the total quantity in and out.

Items in Bins.

Compiles data on bin-tracked items that includes item location, bin number, and

quantity on hand.

Lot History.

Shows the transaction history of lot-tracked items. Can be filtered by item or lot

number.

Lot Stock Status.

Gives data on the current status of a lot-tracked item. Filters include location,

category, item, lot number, and status (whether it is active, expired, or recalled).

Lot Traceability.

Tracks the history of a lot-tracked item using its lot number. The report shows

receiving and shipping information, as well as the item’s use in builds and processes. The report

has the option to include information on whether the item has expired or been recalled.

Lots in Bins.

Provides data on a lot-tracked item stored in bins. Filters include location, category,

item, lot number, bin number and status (whether it is active, expired, or recalled).

Overstock/Understock Report.

Gives a breakdown of inventory for a specified item. The report

includes the item’s reorder and maximum stock level, as well as the total quantity. Filters include

location, category, item name, and vendor.

Physical Inventory Worksheet.

Creates a worksheet that includes the system count of one or more

items and a column for you to enter the actual count of each item listed.

Serial Unit History.

Shows the transaction history of serial-tracked items. Can be filtered by

location, category, item name, serial number, customer, and status (in-stock, used, shipped,

adjusted out, or all).

Serials in Bins.

Compiles data on serial-tracked items that includes the serial number, item name,

location, and bin number.

Deleted Items.

Displays the Deleted Items list. Available actions include Restore and Transaction

History. The columns available on the Deleted Items list are identical to those on the Items list.

The Cost Basis column is helpful in identifying discrepancies between SOS Inventory and

QuickBooks Online, allowing you to determine whether any deleted items still have assigned value.

Transactions Assigned.

Generates a list of transactions with the name of the individuals to whom

they have been assigned. Can be filtered by user or transaction type.

Master Purchase Report.

Provides information regarding purchase orders, item receipts, and

returns to vendors. Filter options include data by order type, location, vendor, item, customer,

category, class, department, or drop shipment.

Open Purchase Order Detail.

Compiles data on purchase orders with items that have yet to be

received. The report can be filtered by location, item name, or vendor.

Purchase Variances.

Shows the difference between estimated and actual purchasing costs, also

known as purchase price variance or PPV. The report can be filtered by location, item name, or

vendor.

Purchases by Category—Summary.

Recaps the units received according to category, along with

their total cost.

Purchases by Class—Summary.

Recaps the units received according to class, along with their total

cost.

Purchases by Customer—Summary.

Recaps the units received according to customer, along with

their total cost.

Purchases by Department—Summary.

Recaps the units received according to customer, along

with their total cost.

Purchases by Item—Summary.

Recaps the units received according to customer, along with their

total cost. Items can be filtered by category, name, or vendor.

Purchases by Location—Summary.

Recaps the units received according to location, along with

their total cost.

Purchases by Vendor—Summary.

Recaps the units received according to vendor, along with their

total cost.

Reorder Report.

Generates a list of items which have hit their reorder point. The report also

includes for each item the quantity available, the maximum stock level, and the quantity needed to

restock inventory to the maximum stock level. If “Display Report” is chosen under the Actions,

three additional options will appear that are available for selected items on the Reorder Report: the

ability to generate purchase orders, generate transfers from a specific location, or add the items to

the Reorder List.

Vendor Efficiency.

Provides information on the turnaround time used by a vendor from the time a

purchase order is placed until it is received. The report can be filtered by location, item, or vendor.

For each PO listed, the report includes whether the order was delivered on time.

Where to Buy.

Compiles data from the Vendor-Item Catalog so that you can see which of your

vendors sell an item, each vendor’s price, and the quantity you need to order. If “Display Report” is

selected from the Actions menu, the report also allows you to add items to the Reorder List.

Available on Plus and Pro plans only.

Expanded BOM Report.

Provides details on an assembly item, including each component, its

vendor, the quantity on hand, the quantity used in a build, the cost of each component, and the

line total.

Open Work Order Detail.

Shows status of open work orders. Includes how many units have been

ordered, as well as how many remain to be finished.

Production Report.

Provides information on build and process transactions, the outputs, and the

output quantity.

Where Used.

Shows how an item is used and the quantity used. Can be filtered by category, item

name, and vendor.

Work In Progress.

Lists builds and processes that are in progress. Report includes the transaction

reference, output, input, input quantity and input value.

Open Rental Detail.

Shows rental transactions with outstanding items. Can be filtered by location,

item name, and customer.

Rental Calendar.

Shows the due dates for rental items. Filters include location, item, serial

number, and customer.

Commission Report.

Displays commission data filtered by the sales representative, item name,

customer, and order type. The report includes specific transaction information, as well as the

commissioned earned.

Master Sales Report.

Provides information regarding estimates, invoices, sales orders, and sales

receipts. Filter options include data by order type, location, customer, item, vendor, category,

channel, class, customer type, department, sales representative, or keyword.

Open Sales Order Detail.

Shows sales order transactions with backordered items. Can be filtered by

location, item name, and customer.

Open Sales Receipt Detail.

Shows sales receipt transactions with backordered items. Can be

filtered by location, item name, and customer.

Price Book.

Provides pricing information about items, the price tier and customer to whom an item

is sold, along with the quantity and sales price.

Profit/Loss by Customer.

Displays revenue, COGS, profit, and profit percentage data by customer.

Can be filtered by customer or job name.

Profit/Loss by Item.

Displays revenue, COGS, profit, and profit percentage data by customer. Can

be filtered by customer or job name.

Profit/Loss by Job.

Displays income, cost, profit, and profit percentage data by job. Can be filtered

by location as well.

Ready to Invoice.

Compiles a list of sales orders that are ready for billing. Can be filtered by

location, item name, and customer.

Sales by Category—Summary.

Recaps by category the units shipped, revenue, COGS, and profit, as

well as the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Channel—Summary.

Recaps by channel the units shipped, revenue, COGS, and profit, as

well as the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Class—Summary.

Recaps by class the units shipped, revenue, COGS, and profit, as well as

the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Customer—Summary.

Recaps by customer the units shipped, revenue, COGS, and profit,

as well as the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Customer Type—Summary.

Recaps by customer type the units shipped, revenue, COGS,

and profit, as well as the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Department—Summary.

Recaps by department the units shipped, revenue, COGS, and

profit, as well as the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Item—Summary.

Recaps by item the units shipped, revenue, COGS, and profit, as well as

the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Location—Summary.

Recaps by location the units shipped, revenue, COGS, and profit, as

well as the percentages in each of these categories.

Sales by Vendor—Summary.

Recaps by preferred vendor (as defined in the item record) the units

shipped, revenue, COGS, and profit, as well as the percentages in each of these categories. NOTE:

Because sales of an item from other vendors will show a zero dollar amount, the report option

“Hide Rows With No Sales” is enabled by default.

Sell Through.

Shows the percentage of a product that is sold to customers after being received from

vendors for a certain date range.