V8 VIDEO TUTORIAL

Custom fields

What you’ll learn in Custom fields

• Add a custom field
• Know the different types of custom fields and how they can be used in SOS Inventory
• Understand the requirements and limitations for syncing custom fields between SOS Inventory and QuickBooks Online

Video transcript: Custom fields

Welcome to our video tutorial on custom fields. If you need data fields that are not included in SOS Inventory's standard field offerings, our Custom fields feature is the solution to meet your need. In this presentation, we will cover how to create custom fields in SOS Inventory. We will also cover the different types of custom fields and how they can be used in the system. Let's begin by creating a custom field.

To add a custom field, go to the Company menu and select Custom fields under the Miscellaneous section. Then on the Custom fields list, select Add new.

For this demonstration, we are adding a custom field that specifies the name of the employee who packs a shipment. This custom field will appear on shipment transactions. The first field is the Name of the field, which we are calling Packaged by. When naming a custom field, make sure that it is different from other fields found on the transaction or other data object to which the custom field is being added.

The custom field's purpose  is entered in the Description.

The Data type field dropdown gives seven options: Text is used for a single line of textual data. If you want the custom field to sync to QuickBooks, select this option, as it is the only data type that will allow that syncing to occur. Multi-line text provides a text box that expands with the content, such as the Description box here. The Number data type allows digits from 0-9 to be entered, along with the lower case e. The Money data type permits currency entries only. Date gives a dropdown calendar. Checkbox allows you to have a function that is enabled if checked, and disabled if not. Make a mental note of the Checkbox yes/no text, as we will come back to that later in this video. The last option, the one we will use for this demonstration, is List. The List data type will produce a custom field that has a dropdown of options, such as the one shown here.

The Show on field specifies the kinds of data records on which the custom field is to appear.

The data records on which custom fields can be used are: items, lots, and serial items; customers and vendors, as well as all types of transactions.

As mentioned earlier, our custom field example is intended for shipment transactions, so we will select it from the Show on field's dropdown list. If a custom field needs to be used on more than one kind of data record, press and hold the computer keyboard's Control key while making all the desired selections.

The List values field appears only when List is selected as the custom field's data type. This is the field in which all the options to be included the List dropdown are entered, with a comma placed between entries.

Now we will Save and close.

The new field now appears on the Custom fields list. By checking the Show on column, we see that the custom field is included on shipments.

Let's take a look at a Shipment edit page to see how the custom field appears on the transaction form. As we can see, the Packaged by field has indeed been added with the dropdown list options. Custom fields will be listed in alphabetical order below the standard SOS Inventory data fields.

A custom field is available on its appropriate list as a column option on the Column chooser.

And it can be selected for inclusion on the columns of data exports and reports.

As mentioned previously, custom fields defined with the Text data type can synchronize with QuickBooks Online. But the same custom field must also be added in QuickBooks separately and the spelling of the custom field name in both applications must be an exact match.

Please note that while you can create as many custom fields as your SOS Inventory subscription permits, the current integration between SOS and QuickBooks Online allows only the first three matched custom field names to sync between the systems.

Refer to the SOS Inventory User Guide for more details.

SOS Inventory's Alerts feature can be used to create a notification pertaining to a custom field when the Alert type is set to Custom field. Our Alerts video goes into more detail about the fields on an Alert page so we won't go into that here, but let's briefly cover several fields that appear when Custom field is selected as the Alert type. In the Field dropdown, we will select the desired custom field, Packaged by. From the Alert on dropdown, we will pick Shipments. The Comparison value specifies a condition for which the alert should be issued. We will enter one of the names from our list dropdown, Macy R. The Comparison value can be used for any custom field data type. If the data type is a check box, enter Yes if you want a notification when the field is enabled, and No if the alert is to be issued when the field is disabled. For all other data types--whether Text, Multi-line text, Number, Money, Date or List--type the value for which you want to receive an alert. Be sure that the string of characters that are entered is an exact match.

This concludes our video on custom fields. Thank you for watching this presentation.