Buyers

A buyer is someone who is responsible for the purchasing of specific products. The system allows you to define a buyer code and assign this to a user and to items. This provides a link between the user and the items for which they are responsible. Buyer codes are also able to record limit rules as well. So you can specify the minimum value for a single purchase order value, the maximum value, the maximum daily value, and so on.

The Buyer function allows you to define the buyer codes.

On the User screen you can assign a buyer code to each user. (You can set a default Buyer code in System Settings, which will be used whenever a new user is added to the system.). A user can only belong to one buyer code.

On the Item screen you can set the buyer codes for each item. These are the buyers that are allowed to see the item. You can have more than one buyer. In the item search screen you can then search for items belonging to a specific buyer code. This will allow a user to see the items to which they are specifically linked.

The buyer code can also be used when doing ordering. When an order is created, the user's buyer code is recorded against the order. This way the system can track all the orders raised within that buyer code. This can then be used to check the buyer limits are ok. Is the purchase order more than the minimum allowed? Is it lower than the maximum? Have we ordered the total allowable for the day? If the limits are exceeded, the system will ask for an authorising user. The buyer code for that user will then be recorded against the purchase order and the limits rechecked for that buyer code. You can search for purchase orders using the buyer code.

If the Own Items Only option on the buyer code is checked on, a user will only be able to manually raise an order for items which belong to the same buyer code assigned to that user. This will prevent the user ordering items that are not under their responsibility. Also, if  the user runs a suggested purchase order process or uses the Available Items feature, they will only see items in their buyer code. This same option will control options in Required Stock,

Lets look at a few examples of how buyer codes can be used.

• You have a buyer at head office who is responsible for purchasing men's clothes. This buyer will only be able to purchase items belonging to their buyer code. The buyer have no limits on purchases. You create a buyer code called MENS with the Own Items Only option checked on, assign it to the user and all items that the buyer is allowed to buy.

• You have a buyer at state office who is responsible for purchasing women's clothes. This buyer will only be able to purchase items belonging to their buyer code. The buyer have has a $100,000 limit on stores in their state. You create a buyer code called WOMENS with the Own Items Only option checked on, assign it to the user and all items that the buyer is allowed to buy. There will be a limit rule on the buyer code to specific a maximum value of $100,000.

• You want to set limits on what a store can purchase. You can define a generic STORE buyer code. The limits can be specified by location so you can define the limits for each store. All users by default are assigned to the STORE buyer code.  The Own Items Only option on the STORE buyer code is checked off, because stores can order whatever stock they require to fulfill customer orders.