Stock and Procurement
What the business buys, from whom, what it paid, what is on the shelf or the van right now, and which bills are due. So a job is quoted from real costs and nothing runs out on a Friday.
Getting started
These are the steps in the order somebody would do them. The same list is in the tool: press F1, or the control reading "How this works" at the top of the window.
1. Press New item and put in one thing you buy
The name is the only field it needs. The SKU is what is on the shelf edge and in the supplier's catalogue, and it is what somebody reads off to find the row. The cost is what you pay for one, which is the number a job should be quoted from.
2. Add the supplier you buy it from
A supplier is a company Keyway already holds, with terms and a lead time on it. The company is required because everything this tool does with a supplier goes through that row: sending them an order, putting a payment on their history, and answering what is owed to whom.
3. Set a reorder level on anything you keep
That level is the whole point of the Levels screen. Without one the line can never appear on it, and the day it runs out is a Friday afternoon with a van already loaded. Zero is a level too, and it means tell me the day the last one goes.
4. Raise the order, then press Send
Raising it writes it down and sends nothing. Send is a separate press, and it goes out through this business's own mailbox to a contact Keyway already holds. Nothing in this tool ever writes to a supplier on a timer. Settings can hold an order at or over a figure until whoever it names approves it, and no route sends it until they do.
5. Book the delivery in against the order
That is what moves the levels, and it writes a movement per line with the cost the order agreed. A part delivery is ordinary: book in what came and the order stays open for the rest.
6. Record the bill, approve it, then mark it paid
Approving is somebody saying the goods came and the figure is right, and a bill cannot be marked paid until somebody has. That is the one control here that stops a business paying for a delivery it never had.
7. Book parts out onto the job they went on
Use is what makes a job's costing real: the part, the quantity and what it cost the business, on that job's own record. Stock that went nowhere in particular is an adjustment instead, which keeps it out of every job's figures. What comes back off the work, and what goes back to the supplier, are both on the Reconcile screen, which follows one line from the order to the shelf.
The screens, and what to do first on each
Each of these opens with nothing on it on a new install. What the tool says on that screen is what this section says, because it is the same sentence.
What has run out, and what is close to it
It fills from Items, so it stays empty until something is in there: then what has run out, what is at or under its reorder level, and what is stocked with no level at all.
First thing to do: Press New item to open Items, name one thing you buy, and give it a reorder level.
What the business buys, at cost
A name is the only field it needs. The cost is what makes a job quotable.
First thing to do: Name one thing you buy, give it the cost of one, and press Save.
Who the business buys from
A supplier is a company Keyway holds. Their terms work out the day a bill falls due.
First thing to do: Press New supplier, find the company, and give it its terms.
What is on order, and when
Writing an order and sending it are separate presses.
First thing to do: Pick the supplier and the line, then press Raise the order.
What the business owes, and when
Anything past its day is at the top. The due date comes from the supplier's terms.
First thing to do: Press Record the bill with the supplier's invoice in front of you.
One line, from the order to the shelf
Everything that happened to one thing you buy: what was ordered, what arrived, where it went, what went onto work and what came back. Every change is a row, so nothing on the shelf moves without something here saying why.
First thing to do: Press New item to open Items, name one thing you buy, and this screen follows it.
What is on the shelf at cost, and where the money goes
Once a line carries a cost, this adds up the shelf, what is owed and who the money goes to. Totals are per currency and nothing is converted: there is no exchange rate here.
First thing to do: Press New item to open Items, name something you buy, and say what one of them costs.
The currency, the tax, the terms and the places
The places are where stock is kept: the stores, the counter, a van. The terms default is what a supplier that names none is billed on, and the warning window is how many days before a bill is due you want telling.
First thing to do: Add the van or the counter to the places below, then press Save.
If you get stuck
Write to support@keywaysuite.com. We answer within one business day. Keyway can send us what it knows about your installation: open the hub, go to About and press Get support. It writes one file wherever you choose and never includes your licence, a password, a customer name or a customer address.