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Converting Documents

Conversion is how one document becomes the next: a requisition becomes an order, an order a goods receipt, a receipt a bill; a quote becomes a sales order, an order a delivery, a delivery an invoice, an invoice a credit note. The engine copies fields forward according to a map, records where every line came from, and keeps the source document's status in step with what has been made from it.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → ERP - Setup:

  • Document Conversion Map — which field on the source fills which field on the target
  • Documents — the console's Documents tab, with Convert and each document's Fulfilment

Admin Panel → Purchasing:

  • Purchasing — the Create ... buttons on requisitions, orders and receipts

Admin Panel → Sales:

  • Sales — the Create ... buttons on quotes and orders

Admin Panel → Receivables:

  • Receivables — To invoice, and Create sales credit note on invoices

The shipped conversions

  • Buying: requisition to purchase order; purchase order to goods receipt or supplier invoice; goods receipt to supplier invoice.
  • Selling: quote to sales order; sales order to delivery note or (for services) sales invoice; delivery note to sales invoice; sales invoice to credit note.

Converting part of a document

  1. Open the source document and press its Create ... button (on the Documents console, Convert).
  2. The panel lists each line with what is still open. Enter how much to take; a line left at 0 stays open for later.
  3. Confirm. The new document opens in its first status, with links from each of its lines back to the source line.

Because every line records where it came from and how much, the open quantity on the source is worked out from those links rather than stored in a column that could drift. The console's Fulfilment section shows it per line: ordered, what went into which document, and what is still open.

Rules the engine applies

  • The source must be ready: a requisition must be Approved to become an order; an order must be Issued (or later) to be received or billed; a sales order must be Confirmed or Partially Delivered to be delivered; an invoice must be Posted or Paid to be credited; a quote must be Sent or Accepted. Otherwise the button is not offered and the reason is given.
  • The source moves on by itself: a quote becomes Accepted, a requisition Ordered, a purchase order Receiving then Received, a sales order Partially Delivered, Delivered and Invoiced.
  • Cancelling hands quantities back: cancelling a draft receipt, bill, delivery or invoice releases its quantities to the source, and the source's status follows. A cancelled order sends its requisition back to Approved.
  • No double fulfilment: a sales order line can be invoiced once, whether through its delivery or straight from the order. The map's quantity policy Open across every route (no double fulfilment) enforces this.
  • The counterparty must be usable: a supplier on hold cannot be ordered from and a customer on stop cannot be delivered to.

The conversion map

Each row names From Type, To Type, Level (header or line), From Slot and To Slot, or a Constant instead of a source slot, and a Quantity Policy. Only what is mapped is copied: internal notes on a quote need not reach the customer's invoice, and a supplier's own reference on an order is not copied onto the bill. The shipped maps copy the counterparty, currency, terms, references, items, quantities, prices and coding.

Converting is not copying

The new document has its own lifecycle. Editing an order after a delivery does not change what was delivered, and a converted line keeps the price it was agreed at, so the invoice charges what the quote offered and commits the discounts actually given.

What goes wrong

  • "Nothing on this document is still open": everything has already been converted. Check Fulfilment.
  • The Create button is missing: the source is not at a status that allows it, or the counterparty is blocked; the reason is listed under Why ... not offered.
  • A field arrives empty on the new document: it is not in the conversion map. Add a row.

Worked example

An order for 100 units is delivered as 60 and then 40. The first delivery is invoiced at once; the second goes on a later invoice. Every invoice line links to its delivery line and through it to the order line, so the order shows nothing open and moves to Invoiced. When the customer queries a figure, the links answer which delivery and which order line it came from.

Recommendations

  • Map deliberately; anything unmapped is a decision.
  • Convert from the consoles, not by keying new documents, so the links exist.
  • Cancel rather than delete a draft made in error; cancelling releases its quantities.
  • Test a partial conversion after changing a map.