Added ability to unlink DO ties to POs

When you create a Direct Order (DO) in Sales Order Entry and source it directly from the vendor on a Direct Order PO (DO PO), a link or tie is created between the sales DO order lines and the newly-created PO DO. This tie ensures that the transaction is tracked from entry to receipt of the vendor invoice, to customer payment, despite the product never entering your inventory.

In certain cases, it may be advantageous to unlink or break the tie between the DO order lines and their associated DO PO so that each can be managed separately.​ This unlinking allows you to maintain the DO and DO PO independently and in a different order than you would for standard processing. For example, you may invoice the DO before the DO PO is received from the vendor to receive full or partial payment of the DO from your customer prior to the product being shipped.

Note: In this scenario, it is important that you have negotiated with the vendor and your customer, in advance, that delivery of product is delayed pending receipt of payment. After your customer has paid the invoice, you would instruct the vendor to ship the order.

A new option, Unlink DO Ties, is added to Sales Order Entry when you create a Direct Order type. For users with security to access this option, you can now create a DO and select this option to enable unlinking the tie(s) between the DO order lines and the DO PO that is created. This option can only be selected at order creation.

When you finish the order, a warning message is displayed stating that ties still exist for the order. You can select Unlink DO Ties from the More (…) menu. The DO POs that are tied to the order are displayed and can be selected for unlinking on the Unlink DO Ties window. Note that the entire DO PO is unlinked when selected. You cannot unlink specific lines from a PO.

DOs that are created and flagged as "Unlinked DO Ties" can be viewed in Sales Order Inquiry on the Overview tab. Using Personalization, you can also add the Unlinked DO Tie and Unlinked Order Type columns to the Order Lines grid on the Line Details view. These fields display the DO PO number that was unlinked using the Unlink DO Ties menu option in Sales Order Entry. Select the hyperlink on the Unlinked DO Tie purchase order number to view it in Purchase Order Inquiry. The originating DO order number is shown in the Tied Sales/Value Add Order # field on the Header view as a reference, even though the DO order lines and DO PO ties are unlinked.

When you copy a DO with the Unlink DO Ties option selected, to another DO, the Unlink DO Ties setting is applied to the new DO. You must have security to unlink DO ties in SA Operator Setup to copy these DO order types. When you maintain a DO with the Unlink DO Ties option selected, the option is displayed but cannot be changed. You must have security to unlink DO ties to maintain these DO order types.

The Product Nonstock/Direct Order Report is updated to show unlinked DOs by warehouse in a new section, "Unlinked Direct Order Inventory," with a grand total line for these orders. This section shows unlinked DO ties order sets that are received. After the product is processed through Sales Entry Invoice Processing Report and the set is balanced, the set becomes inactive and can be closed.

Feature activation

To activate this feature, enable security for select operators in SA Operator Setup. Select Allow Unlink of DO Ties on the Entry Options view. In Sales Order Inquiry, use Personalization to add the Unlinked DO Tie and Unlinked Order Type columns to the Order Lines grid.