A hot training tip for the new year : Utilise the ‘Import/Export Utility’ to make your system clutter free. Unnecessary data can be confusing to staff and can even prolong some system processes. The beginning of the year is the perfect time for a system clean up.
Whatever your style of stock control you most likely want to mark products as ‘Clear out’ if they are considered ‘dead stock’. Once a Product is marked as ‘Clear Out’ the system will automatically mark the ‘Discontinued’ status flag once the last unit is sold.
An easy way to gather a list of ‘dead stock’ is to export the data from the ‘Import/Export Utility’ like the example below-
- Navigate to the ‘Import/Export Utility and select ‘Export’ from the ‘Product’ section
- Enter in a Filename at the top of the screen
- Add the appropriate fields to the ‘Export List’ by highlighting them and clicking ‘Export’
- Add the appropriate fields to the ‘Qualify List’ by highlighting them and clicking ‘Qualify’
Export List Example:
Product ID
Product Description
Last Sale Date
Last Stock Receipt Date
SA 1 SOH
Clearout Item
Qualify List Example:
‘Last Sale Date’ is Less Than XX/XX/XXXX (enter the date you would like to qualify by)
‘Inactive Flag’ is False (unticked)
Once you press ‘OK’ this text document will be sent to your docs directory where you can then manipulate the data in Microsoft Excel for example. In this scenario if you were marking a Product/s as a ‘Clear-out Item’ you would mark a ‘T’ in the ‘Clearout Item’ column.
Tip 1: You could also include an Inactive Flag Column and mark any Products with 0 Stock on hand to ‘Inactive’ if desired.
Tip 2: Click here for an important tip when opening files in Microsoft Excel
Once satisfied with your changes you can then return to the ‘Import/Export Utility’ and select ‘Import to Update’ from the Product section. You will be prompted to choose the location of the previously exported file that you have updated and saved. The system will then read the changes and attempt a bulk update (you will be notified of any errors that require addressing before the import is complete).
Similarly, you can follow this process within Import/Export Utility for many other scenarios eg you may wish to mark dormant account customers inactive in which you would choose the ‘Export’ / ‘Import’ options from the ‘Customer’ section.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year and as always if you need any assistance please contact the Training team on 02 4725 2020.