Sales Orders

For: People using the software to create and manage sales orders

Purpose: Understand what the Sales Order module does and how it helps your business

What This Module Does

A sales order is a confirmed order from a customer. It lists the items, quantities, prices, and terms you have agreed to supply. You can create a sales order from scratch or from an accepted quotation. Once an order is Open, you can create Delivery Challans (to dispatch goods) and Invoices (to bill the customer) from it. The system tracks how much of each item has been delivered and invoiced, and what is still pending.

The Sales Order module lets you:

• Create and edit sales orders (when the status allows).
• Create orders from an accepted quote (the quote is then marked as completed).
• Attach documents.
• See which delivery challans and invoices were created from each order.
• See remaining quantity per item (not yet delivered or invoiced) and remaining amount.
• Change order status (e.g. Draft → Open; cancel when no delivery or invoice exists).
• Create Delivery Challans and Invoices from Open (or partially fulfilled) orders.
• Use reports and analyses by order, by item, by customer, and for production/raw material planning.

Main Features (What You Can Do)

1. Create a New Sales Order

When you create a sales order you typically enter:

• Customer: who the order is for.
• Branch, division, and warehouse: where the order is raised and from where stock may be reserved or dispatched.
• Shipping address: the customer's main shipping address or one of their additional addresses. The system checks that this address belongs to the selected customer.
• Items: products or services, quantities, rates, and amounts.
• Order date, expected shipment date (if used), reference, payment terms, delivery method, customer notes, terms and conditions, and total amount.
• Attachments: you can upload files. These are stored securely and shown with the order.

Creating from a quotation

• You can create a sales order from an accepted quotation. You select the quote and the system uses its customer, address, and items. Only quotes in Accepted status can be converted. Once the order is saved, the quote status is set to Completed and the quote is linked to this sales order.

Stock check

• If your company has stock check (or stock deduction) enabled for sales orders, the system checks that enough stock is available in the selected warehouse for the items. You cannot save the order if stock is insufficient (unless the rule is changed).

Credit limit

• If the customer has a credit limit and sales orders are included in that limit, the system checks that creating this order does not exceed the limit. The limit can be overall for the customer or per branch. If the limit would be exceeded, you get a clear message with the total limit, current usage, and remaining amount. You cannot save the order until the total is within limit (or the limit is increased).

Payment terms / overdue invoices

• If your company restricts creating sales orders when the customer has overdue invoices, the system checks for any overdue invoice for that customer. If one exists, you cannot create the order until the overdue invoice is paid or the restriction is changed.

What the system does when you save

• It generates a unique order number (e.g. SO-001).
• It records who created the order and when.
• It stores your company's authorised signature and primary bank details (for display, if configured).
• It adds a note in the order's comment history (e.g. "Sales Order created for ₹X" or "Sales Order created from Quote QUO-001").

2. View and Search Sales Orders

You can list sales orders with:

• Date: a single order date or a date range (from–to).
• Branch and division: filter by one or more branches or divisions.
• Status: e.g. Draft, Open, Partially Recorded, Closed, Completed, Cancelled.
• Search: by order number, reference, customer name (display name or company name), delivery method, payment terms, or customer notes. The list shows only orders that match your filters and search.

The list is paginated. For each order you can see who added it, who last updated it, and a remaining amount (amount not yet covered by delivery or invoice). For orders that are Partially Recorded (some items delivered or invoiced), the list can show remaining quantity per item.

3. Open a Sales Order (Full Details)

When you open one sales order, the system shows:

• Header: order number, customer, branch, division, warehouse, dates, status, total.
• Customer: name, code, phone, company name, and address details.
• Items: each line with item name, quantity, rate, amount, and remaining quantity (ordered minus delivered and invoiced). For each item you may also see stock details (e.g. available, reserved, locked) in the selected warehouse.
• Shipping address: the address chosen for this order.
• Bank details: primary bank information (if set for your company).
• Converted to: the Delivery Challans and Invoices created from this order (with their numbers, dates, totals, status). This helps you see what has already been dispatched and billed.
• Comment history: who did what and when (e.g. "Sales Order created", "Status changed from Draft to Open").
• Attachments: list of attached files.
• Quote: if the order was created from a quotation, you can see the linked quote and its details.

4. Edit a Sales Order

You can edit a sales order only when its status is Draft. Once the order is Open, Partially Recorded, Closed, Completed, or Cancelled, the system does not allow editing (so the record stays as it was when you opened or closed it).

When you edit a Draft order:

• You can change customer, branch, warehouse, shipping address, items, dates, terms, total, and attachments.
• The same validations as on create apply: shipping address must belong to the customer; credit limit (if applicable) must not be exceeded; overdue invoice check (if applicable) must pass; stock check (if enabled) must pass for the updated items.
• New attachments are added to existing ones.
• The system records who updated the order and adds a line in the comment history (e.g. "Sales Order updated" or "Amount changed from ₹X to ₹Y").
• If the order was created from a quote, the linked quote may be updated (e.g. last updated time) but remains completed.

5. Change Sales Order Status

You can change the status of a sales order according to the allowed flow. The usual flow is:

• Draft → Open means the order is confirmed and can be used to create Delivery Challans and Invoices. Only Open (and in practice Partially Recorded) orders are used for conversion.
• The system may set Partially Recorded when some (but not all) items have been delivered or invoiced, and Closed or Completed when fully fulfilled. These statuses are typically controlled by the system based on delivery and invoice data.
• The system only allows the transitions above. For example, you cannot move from Open back to Draft.

Cancelling a sales order

• You can cancel an order only if no Delivery Challan, no Invoice, and no Production Order has been created from it. If any of these exist, the system will not allow cancellation and will show which document(s) block it (e.g. challan numbers, invoice numbers, production order codes).
• If the order was created from a quotation, cancelling the order will set the quote status back to Accepted so you can create another sales order from it if needed. The system records this in the quote's history.

When you change the status, the system records who made the change and adds a line in the comment history (e.g. "Sales Order status changed from Draft to Open").

6. Convert a Sales Order to Delivery Challan or Invoice

Only an Open sales order can be used to create Delivery Challans and Invoices. (In practice, orders that are already Partially Recorded can still be used to create more challans or invoices for the remaining quantity.)

• When you create a Delivery Challan or Invoice, you can select one or more sales orders and, for each order, choose which items and quantities to include. The system uses the order's customer, address, and rates.
• After you save a challan or invoice, the system updates how much of each item is "delivered" or "invoiced" against the order. When you view the sales order, you see remaining quantity per item and remaining amount.
• This way you can dispatch and bill in multiple steps (e.g. partial delivery, partial invoice) while keeping the order as the single reference.

Lists to help you choose orders

• Open sales orders: you can get a list of orders for a customer that still have some items pending (not yet fully delivered or invoiced). This helps you quickly pick which order(s) to use when creating a new Delivery Challan or Invoice.
• Partially converted items: for selected sales orders, you can get a list of items with remaining quantity (ordered minus delivered and invoiced). This helps you choose which items and how much to put on the next challan or invoice.

7. Delete a Sales Order

You can delete a sales order only if no Delivery Challan, no Invoice, and no Production Order has been created from it. If any of these exist, the system will not allow deletion and will show the related document numbers or codes. This keeps your records consistent: you cannot remove an order that is already linked to a delivery, invoice, or production.

• If the order was created from a quotation, deleting the order will set the quote status back to Accepted and remove this order from the quote's "Converted to" list. The quote can then be used again to create another sales order if needed. The system records this in the quote's history.

8. Dropdown and Selection Lists

• In other parts of the software (e.g. creating a Delivery Challan or Invoice), you often choose a sales order from a list. The module provides a dropdown list of orders with order number, customer name, and items (and quantities) so you can pick the right order and see what is on it.

9. Reports and Analyses

The module provides several business reports and analyses to help you plan and track orders, stock, and production:

Sales order–wise item analysis

• For each sales order (optionally filtered by date, branch, division, customer, item, status), you can see:
• Per item: ordered quantity, delivered quantity, invoiced quantity, remaining quantity, available stock in warehouse, and a stock status (e.g. sufficient stock, insufficient, out of stock).
• Totals and amounts for the order.
• This helps you see which orders still need fulfilment and whether you have enough stock.

Item-wise sales order analysis

• For each item (optionally filtered by date, branch, warehouse, customer, item, status), you can see:
• Which sales orders have that item and how much is still remaining (not yet delivered or invoiced).
• Total required quantity for the item, available stock, and stock status.
• This helps you see demand per product and plan stock or production.

Customer-wise sales order analysis

• Orders are grouped by customer. You can see:
• Total number of orders and total amount per customer.
• First and last order date.
• List of orders per customer (order number, date, amount, status).
• You can separate new customers (e.g. one order) from existing customers (e.g. more than one order) and see summary counts and revenue for each group. This helps with sales and follow-up.

Sales order analysis (production / BOM)

• For sales orders that contain items with Bill of Material (BOM) or production data, the system can show:
• Remaining quantity per order item (not yet delivered or invoiced).
• For each such item, the raw materials (or components) required and their available stock vs shortage.
• This helps production or purchase teams plan what to make or buy to fulfil pending orders.

Sales item analysis

• Similar to the above but focused on items that have BOM: total quantity ordered, quantity already delivered/invoiced, remaining quantity, and for each item the raw material requirement and stock/shortage. Useful for item-level production and procurement planning.

Raw material (RM) analysis

• Based on sales orders and their items' BOM, the system can list raw materials (or components) needed to fulfil the pending order quantity, with required quantity and available stock, and highlight shortage. This helps ensure you have enough material before production or dispatch.

Summary Table (At a Glance)

Important Business Rules

1. Editing: Only a sales order in Draft status can be edited. Once it is Open, Partially Recorded, Closed, Completed, or Cancelled, it cannot be edited.
2. Conversion: Only an Open sales order can be used to create Delivery Challans and Invoices (and in practice, Partially Recorded orders can still be used for remaining quantity).
3. Creating from quote: Only an Accepted quotation can be converted to a sales order. The quote then becomes Completed and is linked to the order.
4. Cancellation: You cannot cancel a sales order if a Delivery Challan, an Invoice, or a Production Order has been created from it. The system shows which document(s) block cancellation. If the order was from a quote, the quote status is set back to Accepted.
5. Deletion: You cannot delete a sales order if a Delivery Challan, an Invoice, or a Production Order has been created from it. The system shows which document(s) block deletion. If the order was from a quote, the quote is set back to Accepted and the order is removed from the quote's "Converted to" list.
6. Credit limit: If the customer has a credit limit and sales orders are included, the order total (create or edit) must stay within the remaining limit. The limit can be overall or per branch.
7. Overdue invoices: If your company restricts sales orders for customers with overdue invoices, you cannot create an order for such a customer until the overdue amount is cleared or the rule is changed.
8. Shipping address: The shipping address on the order must be one of the selected customer's addresses (main or additional).
9. Stock check: If your company has stock check (or stock deduction) enabled for sales orders, the system checks that the selected warehouse has enough stock for the items on create and on edit.