Understanding Serialized Inventory and Lot Tracking

If you have a license to use Serialized Inventory and Lot Tracking, you can assign serial numbers or lot numbers to items when you enter orders, shipments, invoices, debit notes, and credit notes in Order Entry.

You use the serial numbers and lot numbers to track items — from their receipt in inventory to their sale and shipment to customers.

Managing Serialized and Lotted Inventory

Sage ERP Accpac Inventory Control maintains serial numbers and lot numbers by item and location, and it determines how you process serialized and lotted items in Order Entry.

• Settings in the I/C item record determine whether a particular item is serialized or lotted (or both).

  • If the Serial Number option is selected in an item record, the item is serialized. You must assign serial numbers when you sell the item or return it to inventory.

  • If the Lot Number is selected, the item is lotted. You must assign lot numbers when you sell or return the item.

• Settings in the I/C item record also determine whether you must allocate serial numbers and lot numbers to all quantities in shipments, invoices, credit notes, and debit notes, or if you can allocated fewer serial numbers or lot quantities than the quantities in entries.

  Regardless of the Inventory Control setting Allow Serial Quantity To Be Different From The Quantity In The Entries, you can always post an O/E order if the order quantity does not equal the quantity of allocated serial numbers or lots numbers.

  However, the setting is enforced for O/E shipments, O/E invoices, OE credit notes, and O/E debit notes.

• Inventory Control options also determine whether you allocate serial numbers and lot numbers for the quantity ordered or the quantity shipped.

If you allocate serial numbers or lot numbers to an order quantity, Inventory Control reserves the numbers until you ship the items.

The default field for opening the allocation and generation forms is the Qty. Shipped field. If you have Inventory Control Setup Maintenance security authorization, you can change the options for serial numbers and/or lots. (For more information on these options, see the help for the Inventory Control Options form.)

• You generate serial numbers and lot numbers for an inventory location when you receive serialized or lotted items (in Inventory Control or in Purchase Orders), and, if necessary, when you return the items to Inventory Control (in Order Entry).

• You allocate serial numbers and lot numbers from an inventory location when you sell or ship serialized or lotted items (in Inventory Control or in Order Entry), and, if necessary, when you return them to the vendor (in Purchase Orders).

Allocating Serial Numbers and Lot Numbers in Order Entry

When you enter quantities for a serialized or lotted item in Order Entry transactions, the program prompts you to allocate serial numbers and lot numbers, as follows:

• The Serial/Lot Numbers Allocation form appears when you enter a quantity on the Order Entry, Shipment Entry, and Invoice Entry forms, and then press the Tab key or the Zoom () button for the quantity field. This form also appears when you enter a quantity for a debit note in the Credit/Debit Note Entry form.

• The Serial/Lot Numbers Generation form appears when you enter a quantity for a credit note.

For more information about the allocation and generation forms, see Serial/Lot Numbers Allocation / Generation Form.

For information about assigning lot numbers and serial numbers in Order Entry, see:

• Assign Lot Numbers or Serial Numbers to a Debit Note

• Assign Lot Numbers or Serial Numbers to a Credit Note

• Assign Lot Numbers or Serial Numbers to an O/E Invoice

• Assign Lot Numbers or Serial Numbers to an Order

• Assign Lot Numbers or Serial Numbers to an O/E Shipment

Transaction Records Generated for Inventory Control Serial Numbers and Lot Numbers

Transaction records are generated for I/C Serial Numbers and I/C Lot Numbers when you post serialized or lotted items for O/E shipments, shipment adjustments, O/E invoice adjustments, O/E credit notes (for type Items Returned To Unventory), and O/E debit notes (for type Items Removed From Inventory).

For I/C Serial Numbers, the transaction cost is shown for each transaction record.

For I/C Lot Numbers, the quantity and transaction cost are shown for each transaction record.

The transaction cost and total cost are helpful when you are using serialized or lotted items that use the serial costing or lot costing methods. For all other costing methods (FIFO, LIFO, MRC, STD, AVG, and USER specified costing), the transaction cost and total cost recorded is irrelevant, since these methods cost the items at the item detail level, rather than the serial or lot level.