All Document Processing functions use basically the same form and work the same way.
Document Processing programs use an industry-standard reporting tool to generate the reports. This means they can contain logic/programming about the values/text to display based on many different conditions. Some examples:
- show different bank details depending on what the document currency is
- show different text details at the bottom depending on the e.g. Customer Group (direct debit customers for example don’t need to see bank details on each invoice)
- show aging breakdowns on Customer Statements – by the standard 30/60/90 days or whatever values you use
The form consists of three sections, each described in more detail below:
- Filter (top)
- Document List (middle)
- Report Options (bottom)
Filters
Decide which filters you want to apply in order to your narrow down your range of documents. For a filter to be active you must check the checkbox in the Filter column. Where a Range is selected (date or code) the To value cannot be less than the From value.
| # | Filter Field | Options | Remarks/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Document Type | Quotations or Proformas | Select which document type you want to process. Used on Quotation/Proforma form (621), though you have the option to create Order Acknowledgements (622) and Delivery Notes (624) from Orders OR Invoices. |
| 2 | Order Number | All, Range, Single | Programs 621 – 629 refer to Sales Order Number. Program 721 refers to Purchase Order Number. The default is All. |
| 3 | Code | All or Single | Programs 621 – 629, Customer Statements (243) and Overdue Letters (244) refer to Customer Code. Print Remittance Advice (363) and Print Purchase Order (721) refer to Supplier Code. The default is All. |
| 4 | Salesperson | All or Single | The default is All. |
| 5 | Exclude previously printed | Yes or No | Quotation/Proforma form (621) and Print Purchase Orders (721) only |
| 6 | Invoice Date | Current Year back to 4 years past, plus Custom | Reprint Invoices & Credit Notes (626) Export EDI Invoices (628) Export EDI ASN’s (629). |
| 7 | Invoice Number | All, Range, Single | Reprint Invoices & Credit Notes (626) Export EDI Invoices (628) Export EDI ASN’s (629). The default is All. |
| 8 | Customer Group | All, Range, Single | Customer Statements (243) only. The default is All. |
Document List
For each document, the document list section (Grid) contains up to 20 columns of relevant information, such as:
| # | Column | Remarks/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Process | Check or uncheck |
| 2 | Order Number | |
| 3 | Type | Q = Quote, P = Proforma, SO = Order/Invoice, CR = Credit Note |
| 4 | Customer/Supplier Code | |
| 5 | Customer/Supplier Name | |
| 6 | On Stop | Checkbox checked if customer on credit stop |
| 7 | Description | |
| 8 | Delivery Code | If any |
| 9 | Delivery Name | |
| 10 | Sales Person (if applicable) | Salesperson code |
| 11 | SO Date | |
| 12 | Status Description | Printing status of the document |
| 13 | Exp Ship | Expected Ship Date |
| 14 | Last Del Note Num | Last Delivery Note number off this order |
| 15 | Num Del Notes | Total number of Delivery Notes printed off this order |
| 16 | Current Inv Num | Current (unposted) invoice number |
| 17 | Posted Inv Num | Last posted invoice number for this order |
| 18 | Inv Num | Last invoice number for this order |
| 19 | Posting Num | Last posting number for this order |
| 20 | Inv Date | The Date of the last invoice number for this order |
| 21 | Inv Email | Email address for invoicing |
The list is usually sorted by Order Number (or Invoice Number for reprints). To change the column used for sorting, single-click in the header of the column you want. To reverse the sort order click on the small triangle to the right of the column name.
Use the Show/Hide button at the bttom of the form to bring up a form with which you can:
- Select which columns to show or hide (except Process and On Stop )
- Move the position of a column
To select/deselect a column to show or hide click the checkbox in the Visible column.
To move the position of a column, highlight it and use the up/down arrow buttons on the right-hand side to move it up or down the list.
Report Options
Across the range of document types there are over 20 different settings.
Important Notice
Not all settings apply to all document types
| # | Option Field | Option | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preview | Yes or No | Tick this checkbox if you want to preview documents before printing/processing further |
| 2 | Template | Templates set up for this document type | This defaults to the default Template which has been set up in the Maintain Templates function. If another Template has also been set up, you can select it from the drop-down list |
| 3 | Report Title | Not used (read from Report Template) | |
| 4 | Send To | None Printer File Application | If you select File, Application or Email some extra sections appear for you. Also, for emails see the section below about email message content. If Printer is selected you can select which printer to use just before printing. |
| 5 | Format | Character CSV Excel HTML Rich Text Word Xml | [Shown if Send To is File, Application or Email] Default is PDF |
| 6 | Path | [Shown if Send To is File, Application or Email] Default is TASBooks data folder | |
| 7 | Copies | Number of copies to be printed of each document – only applies if Send To is Printer Default = 1 | |
| 8 | Use report date format | Yes (default) or No | |
| 9 | Use report number format | Yes (default) or No | |
| 10 | Separate Documents | Yes (default) or No | 1 |
| 11 | Include Lines Only if Ready | Yes (default) or No | Tick this checkbox if you want to stop products, for which there is nothing ready to ship (e.g. on Back Order because stock quantity is zero), being listed in the document. |
| 12 | Hide Blank Address Lines | Yes (default) or No | This checkbox is ticked by default and normally you would want Blank Address Lines to be hidden. However, for example, if you are exporting data to another program, you may need to untick this checkbox so that data is put in the correct column for the 3rd party program. |
| 13 | Sort By | – Original Order – Bin Number – Product Code – Product Group | For Order Acknowledgements, Picking Lists and Delivery/Despatch Notes only (i.e. not Quotations/Estimates, Proformas and Invoices/Credit Notes), you can decide what order to sort the product lines on the order. For example, it can be useful to sort Picking Lists by Bin Number |
| 14 | Explode Assembly Lines | Yes or No (default) | Tick this checkbox if you wish to show details of all stock Parts that make up the 1st Level of an Assembly on your document. |
| 15 | Acknowledgment Date | Date Picker | Order Acknowledgments only. Determines the date printed on the Order Acknowledgment(s). Double-click in the date field to get a pop-up calendar. Initial default is today’s date from your computer. |
| 16 | Invoice Date | Date Picker | Invoices and Credit Notes only. Determines the date printed on the Invoice(s) and Credit Note(s). Double-click in the date field to get a pop-up calendar. Initial default is TASBooks Sales Ledger date. |
Documents Naming
| DocProc __Type | Document Type | Long Document Name__ [DocTypeLong] | Short Doc Nam E [DocTypeShort] | Ref Used__[DocRef] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SO | Quotation | Quotation | Quote | SO Number |
| SO | Proforma Invoice | Proforma Invoice | Proforma | SO Number |
| SO | Order Acknowledgement | Order Acknowledgement | OrderAck | SO Number |
| SO | Picking List | Picking List | PickList | SO Number |
| SO | Delivery Note, Packing Slip | Delivery Note | DelNote | SO Number |
| SO | Invoice (new) | Invoice | Invoice | Invoice Number |
| SO | Credit Note (new) | Credit Note | CrNote | Credit Note Number |
| SO | Invoice (reprint) | Reprinted Invoice | InvoiceR | Invoice Number |
| SO | Credit Note (reprint) | Reprinted Credit Note | CrNoteR | Credit Note Number |
| SL | Statement | Statement of Account | Statement | Customer Code |
The filename is typically formatted as follows:
[DocTypeShort]_[DocRef]_YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM.[Type]
- “YYYY-MM-DD” refers to the date of production
- “HH-MM” refers to the 24-hour clock (HH = hour, MM = minute)
- “Type” means the document file format type, e.g. PDF, XLS, CSV etc
As of 2023, there is also the option to build your own filename yourself..
Emails
MultiTAS provides two different methods of emailing documents, the chosen method is set in program 0.1.1 in the ‘Email Settings (per user)’ group. The two options are using Microsoft Outlook (seamlessly, no security warnings etc) or using SMTP settings. Note these settings are Per User so different scenarios are catered for.
Important Notice
If using Microsoft Outlook, the 32-bit version must be installed and used as MultiTAS (and TASBooks) are 32-bit programs.
Most of the Document Processing programs have their own group of settings in program 0.1.1. These allow you to set the default values of the Report Options (for example: Send To: Email, file format PDF). In the case of emails, you can also set the Subject of the email to be sent and the body content. There are some email merge fields provided too, both for the Subject and Body content.
The Document Processing group settings in program 0.1.1 also allow you to define which Customer/Supplier contact the document should be sent to. For example, if sending Quotations here are the available choices:
- Customer Sales contact
- Customer Accounts contact
- Invoice contact
- Delivery contact
- Customer Sales contact (but if blank then use Customer Accounts contact)
- Customer Accounts contact (but if blank then use Customer Sales contact)
Processing a Document
When you are satisfied with your selections, click the Process button to continue.
If enabled, a preview screen is displayed showing your Order / Invoice / Statement / Remittance document in the selected Report template layout.
If multiple documents were selected for processing, then these are listed individually on the left hand side – you can click each ‘label’ to view that particular document or the selector [>] and [<] buttons to flick through them too. The label might be the order number, invoice number or customer/supplier code.
To proceed and create the document, close the Preview screen using the close X at the top right corner of the screen. What happens afterwards depends on the exact program run, these will be detailed on the individual manual pages.