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Figure 1 - Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet
The sales order fulfillment worksheet (shown) helps you determine which sales order to fulfill first.
Mastering inventory may seem like a huge task for those who are new to using QuickBooks Pro/ Premier Inventory or for those who have trouble using it. This session is designed to show you how using QuickBooks Inventory can make your job easier by knowing the features it offers and how using them can save time and money. The session will also discuss the various versions of QuickBooks and the inventory features in each version so that attendees can select the version that is appropriate for their company’s needs. This session is titled “Mastering QuickBooks Inventory,” and is run by the speaker Ilene Eisen.
Ilene Eisen, CPA is a sole practitioner, her business ie Solutions where she “helps businesses with the managerial aspects of running their business,” and is a nationally recognized technology speaker (for topics such as QuickBooks, Excel, Accounting Software, Technology, and Internal controls) who has given seminars and webinars to thousands of accountants worldwide.
In her session, Ilene said that she’ll be teaching attendees:
“How to get the most out of the QuickBooks Pro/Premier Inventory by showing attendees QuickBooks features to use in order to manage their inventory needs more efficiently and effectively.”
She also said that “the session is designed for QuickBooks users and ProAdvisors who would like to learn more about inventory and may have questions about using QuickBooks Inventory. Attendees will learn how to improve and identify issues in their current inventory practices.”
While attendees will be learning many things about QuickBooks Inventory by attending this session, “the main learning objectives” will be:
- Learning how to set up inventory parts
- Learning how to perform inventory transactions
- Learning how to troubleshoot issues and find areas to improve.
- Understanding what management should know in order to manage the process effectively
Ilene makes her teaching session’s unique and enjoyable experiences for attendees by including stories from actual client experiences. She will be explaining a feature in QuickBooks Inventory then will tell a client stories about how the feature was useful for a particular client. Features will also be demonstrated. For example, when asked if she could provide a preview of one of the stories attendees will be able to hear at her session, she said "One of my favorite stories is when I talk about a feature called the sales order fulfillment worksheet (as shown below in Figure 1), which helps you determine which sales orders to fulfill first. And I suggest that management makes the determination because it can significantly affect the way businesses run.”
She then went on to tell her story.
“I had one client who sold decorative items to interior decorators. Interior decorator would put in an order for one or multiple items for a particular decorating job. The business had numerous employees, and the shipping coordinator decided what should be in packaged and shipped each day. She thought that all interior decorators liked to have their orders fulfilled completely and not get partial shipments. She was told by an accounting clerk that she also needed to handle the orders in a first come first serve basis regardless of all other factors. If a customer ordered one in stock item, they would have to wait until all the orders before them were processed. This resulted in the 6 to 8 week delay for absolutely every single order. There were a lot of cancelations since decorators could not meet their timeline. The company eventually went out of business.
I had talked to the owners about having management decide on the process to fulfill those orders and also to create a system to expedite orders that were small and in stock. I also felt that not all Interior Decorators needed full shipments and that they should have the option of partial shipments. Another improvement that I suggested was to prioritize certain customers for various reasons (good customer, COD payments….). I was told this would not be “fair” and that management could not take the time to manage this process. Unfortunately the Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet tool was released several years after the client went out of business.”
This session will help you understand how to use the software and learn a better way to do the tasks you’ve been doing. Ilene said, “Most of the time, I find that clients are working too hard to accomplish simple tasks and by learning the proper way to record transactions, they save a lot of time and energy. Quite often clients tell me “Oh my gosh, I didn’t even think about that. That would make my life so much easier.”
Attendees will leave with an extensive handout discussing the concepts from the session. And will be able to contact Ilene if they have any further questions. Whether you’re looking for a way to understand QuickBooks Inventory better or you want to know how it can help you grow your business, Ilene’s session will help you fulfill that need.