V8 - Workflow introduction

 

The workflow that you will use in SOS Inventory depends ultimately on your company’s business processes. The software is flexible enough to handle a wide variety of different scenarios. With that said, here is a general sequence that most companies will follow:

 

  1. Order raw materials or products from vendors by creating purchase orders. (Purchasing menu)
  2. Receive the goods into inventory by creating item receipts. (Purchasing menu)
  3. Turn raw materials into finished goods using builds or process transactions. (Production menu)
  4. Take sales orders from customers. (Sales menu)
  5. Ship goods to customers by creating shipments. (Fulfillment menu)
  6. Invoice the customer for goods shipped. (Sales menu)

 

One question that we get a lot is about whether the user should use SOS Inventory or QuickBooks Online to enter orders or other data. The answer is that either will work, and the optimal workflow really depends on the specific needs of your company. With the automated order processing feature, the user has even more options to make decisions on how best to design and utilize SOS to the fullest.

 

Working primarily within QuickBooks Online and syncing to SOS Inventory

For companies that are already QuickBooks Online customers, and who perhaps have users who are very comfortable with QuickBooks Online, SOS reads transactions directly from QuickBooks Online. So QuickBooks Online can be used as the primary place for users to work. SOS will read new invoices, sales receipts, etc., from QuickBooks Online and generate shipments, sales orders, reorder alerts, or other transactions automatically, as specified in the SOS settings.

 

Working primarily within SOS Inventory and syncing to QuickBooks Online

Most companies using SOS Inventory use SOS for all their day-to-day operations (purchasing, shipping, manufacturing, etc.). In this model, information is entered into SOS and then synchronizes to QuickBooks Online as appropriate, so that all financial data are kept up to date. Users retrieve their inventory data and run inventory reports from SOS Inventory. The workflow most commonly begins with a sales order as the driver of other transactions, although this is not required.