Purchase Entry Form

Purchase Entry Form

To enter purchases, click Purchase in the shortcut menu, then click on Enter Purchases.

The Purchase entry form allows you to enter non labor costs for a job. Use the Enter Labor Hours form to enter labor costs (labor hours).

You can also enter job costs in the Job Progress form, but not if you are using QuickBooks integration. See Job Progress vs Purchase Entry for information on when to use the Purchase Entry form vs. the Job Progress form.

To enter purchases, you do not need to enter the list of materials purchased. These are already contained in the job estimates. To enter job costs, all you have to do is find the estimate items and enter the actual counts and costs for each.

You can also enter purchases for items that were not included in the job estimate. These appear as "extra purchases" in the Purchase Listing report and as over estimate costs in cost analysis reports.

You enter all job related purchases in the Purchase Entry form. This includes items purchased "on account" (for which you have received the vendor or subcontractor's invoice), as well as purchases that you have already paid for by check or credit card.

When you enter purchases:

the job items' actual count and costs are updated,
the item cost stored in the Product list is updated to reflect the cost entered.

If Smart Contractor is set up to integrate with QuickBooks (with the option to create purchases in QuickBooks), the Update QuickBooks Data utility will create purchase transactions in QuickBooks from purchases entered in the Purchase Entry form.

Besides having Smart Contractor set up to integrate with QuickBooks, each just must also be set up to integrate with QuickBooks. To be set up for QuickBooks integration, a job must have...

Job Status set to "Bid Proposed", "Contract Signed", or "Work Started" in the General tab of the Edit Job form, and
Create This Job In QuickBooks checked in the General tab of the Edit Job form.

The type of purchase transaction created in QuickBooks depends on the option that you select in the prompt for Payment Method:

"On Account" purchase transactions will create Bills in QuickBooks (which you can then pay in QuickBooks).
"Check" purchase transactions will create Check purchase transactions in QuickBooks.
"Credit Card" purchase transactions will create Credit Card purchase transactions in QuickBooks.

See the QuickBooks integration topic for more information on how purchase transactions are created in QuickBooks.

Notes About QuickBooks Integration:

If you are using QuickBooks integration to create purchases transactions in QuickBooks, you must only enter purchases in Smart Contractor - not in QuickBooks. Job costs will only be stored in Smart Contractor if you enter purchases in Smart Contractor. Job costs will not be transferred to Smart Contractor if you enter purchase transactions in QuickBooks.
Once a bill ("On Account" purchase transaction) has been paid in QuickBooks, you cannot change it in Smart Contractor.

To enter a purchase transaction, follow these steps:

To Enter a Purchase:

1. Click the Add button next to the prompt for Purchase (or click "(Add New)" in the dropdown list.

2. Complete the prompts described below.

To Edit a Purchase:

1. Select purchase transaction from the dropdown list in the prompt for Purchase.

2. Complete the prompts described below.

To Save Changes:

Click OK.

To Cancel Changes:

Click Cancel.

To Exit Form:

Click Cancel to close the Purchase. Click Exit to close the form.

To Print Purchases:

Use the Purchases Listing report in the Purchase menu.

Screen Prompts

Other than the standard prompts, the Purchase entry form has the following prompts:

Purchase:

A "purchase" is group of items purchased from a vendor. Typically these would all appear on the same invoice or bill from the vendor (or sub). Select a pre-existing purchase to edit, or click Add to add a new purchase.

List Button

Click List to display a grid with purchases for active jobs. The grid has a Search prompt that allows you to search for a particular purchase by entering some search criteria. Click Edit to retrieve the selected purchase.

Status:

Select "Deleted" to delete an existing purchase transaction.

Note: If you are using QuickBooks integration in batch update mode, the program will display a message indicating this, and that the invoice in QuickBooks will be deleted when you run the Update QuickBooks Data utility.

Select Purchase Items...

The Select Purchase Items... drop down box contains several prompts that allow you to select estimate items to purchase. The Select Purchase Items box has the following prompts:

Project
Select the Project from which to include jobs with items to purchase.
Job
Select one or more jobs from which to include items to purchase.
Vendor
Select the vendor for which to include items to purchase. You can assign vendors to estimate items in either of two places...
- in the Edit Estimate form, or
- in the Create Purchase Order form.
P.O. (Purchase Order)
Select purchase order(s) from which to include items to purchase.

Note: The item quantities and prices that appear in the grid will reflect the amounts entered in the purchase orders that you select. This will not necessarily be the same as the estimated quantities and prices because you can enter the quatities and prices in the Create Purchase Order form.
Show Items With Zero Estimate
Check Show Items With Zero Estimate to include items with no estimated count or cost.
List Items
Click List Items to list items to purchase based on the above criteria.

Vendor:

Select the vendor (or sub) that this purchase (invoice) is from.

Vendor Ref No:

Enter the vendor reference (invoice) number.

Add Link

Click to add or open a link to an external document. When you click the Add Link button, the External Document Link form will be displayed to allow you to create a link to an external document.

Purchase Date:

Enter the date of the Purchase.

Payment Method:

Select the purchase payment method.

Depending on the option that you select in the prompt for Payment Method, the form will display different prompts:

If you select Payment Method "On Order", the form will display these prompts:

Terms:

Select the vendor's payment terms.

Due Date:

Enter the Purchase due date.

AP Account:

Select the accounts payable general ledger account to post to in QuickBooks. This defaults to the AP Account selected in the QuickBooks Integration Setup form, but you can change it for individual Purchases.

If you select Payment Method "Check", the form will display these prompts:

Bank Account:

Select the general ledger account for the check's bank account to post to in QuickBooks.

Check Number:

Enter the number of the check used for the purchase.

If you select Payment Method "Credit Card", the form will display these prompts:

Credit Card Account:

Select the general ledger account for the credit card's account to post to in QuickBooks.

Charge Ref No:

Enter the credit card charge transaction reference number.

QB Class:

Select the QuickBooks Class to post items in this purchase transaction to. The prompt for QB Class appears under the following conditions:

When using QuickBooks Integration, and
The option to "Post Job Item Catagories" is set to "Separate GL Accounts". (See QuickBooks Integration.)

Purchase Item Grid

The purchase item grid has the following columns:

Selected

Check the box in the Select column to include the item in the current purchase transaction. You can click the Select All button below to check or un-check all items in the list.

Job

Select the job for which the item was purchased.

Item

Select or enter the name of the item purchased.

The list of items in the drop-down list comes from the items in the estimate for the job selected in the Job column.

If you select an item from the list, the purchase will be recorded under that estimate item.
If you enter an item that is not in the list, the program will create a new item in the estimate and place it in the group item that you specify in the "Sub-Item Of" column. The new item will reflect zero estimated costs, and actual costs equal to the purchase(s) entered for it.

Cost Category

Select the item cost category: Materials, Equipment, Subcontract, or Other Charge.

Product

Select or add the Product being purchased for the item.

When you select a product, the program will retrive information about the product (entered in the Edit Product form), and insert this in the following columns:

Job Phase
Purchase Unit
Purchase Cost - if you have selected a vendor in the prompt for Vendor above, and if you have entered a price for that vendor in the Edit Product form, the program will insert that price in the Purchase cost column.

Job Phase

Select the Job Phase for which the item was purchased.

Estimated Count

Displays the estimated item count.

Estimate Unit

Displays the estimated count unit.

Estimated Cost

Displays the estimated cost per unit.

Note:The item quantities and prices that appear in the grid will reflect the amounts entered in the purchase orders that you select. This will not necessarily be the same as the estimated quantities and prices because you can enter the quatities and prices in the Create Purchase Order form.

Previous Purchase

Displays the total count previously purchased of this item.

To view a list of the previous purchases, click on the cell displaying the amount previously purchased. A "..." button will appear. Click on the "..." button. A listing of the previous purchases for this item will appear.

Remaining Count

Displays the difference between the estimated count and the total count previously purchased; the amount remaining to be purchased.

Purchase Count

Enter the count to be purchased in this transactions.

Purchase Unit

Select the unit of the count to be purchased in this transactions.

Purchase Cost

Enter the cost per unit of the item to be purchased in this transaction.

Purchase Complete

Check the box in this column if this item has been fully purchased. Leave unchecked if more of the same item will be purchased.

Sub-Item Of

Select the group item under which this item should be added in the job estimate (if this item is not in the estimate).

Allowance

Check the box in this column if this is an Allowance item (if this item is not in the estimate).

Change Order

Select or add the change order under which this item will be reported.

Item Note

Enter a note to appear on the customer's invoice.

Journal Note

Enter a note for the internal (confidential) job journal.

The rest of the prompts on the form are:

Select All:

Click Select All to select/un-select all items in the list.

Notes:

Enter any notes to appear in the QuickBooks purchase transaction "Memo" field.

Purchase Total:

The Purchase Total prompt displays the sum of the selected line items.