How to Set Up Consignment Processing in Acumatica
Initial Configuration: Order Types and Preferences "First, you need to have your order types ready. Specifically, ensure you have a Transfer Order type configured, which we’ll refer to as the CN type. Next, head over to the Sales Order Preferences screen (SO101000). You'll find a dedicated Consignment Settings section where you need to map your order types: set the Consignment Order Type to 'CN', define your Invoice Order Type, and set your Return Order Type. These mappings are critical because they dictate how the system generates documents later in the process."
Warehouse and Customer Setup "Now for the infrastructure. On the Warehouses screen (IN204000), identify your consignment warehouse and ensure the 'Use For Consignment' checkbox is selected. Without this, you won't be able to link it to the Consignment Settings. Once that's active, go to the Customers screen and navigate to the Shipping tab. Here, you must add that specific warehouse to the Consignment Warehouse field. This customer-level setting will override any default selections when you create an order for them."
The Sales Order Workflow "With the setup complete, let's create a Sales Order. Select Order Type CN and choose your customer. After adding your items, proceed through the standard shipment creation and confirmation. The most important step here is to press the 'Update IN' button. This action issues items from your main warehouse and receives them into the consignment warehouse, automatically generating a Transfer-type Purchase Receipt."
Selling and Returning Items "Once the items are in the consignment warehouse and the order status is 'Consignment' or 'Partial Consignment', you'll see two key actions in the menu: 'Consignment Sell Items' and 'Consignment Return Items'.
When you select one, a popup appears for item and quantity selection. Every time you add a quantity in these popups, the system automatically creates a new Sales Order. The type of order created depends entirely on what you set earlier in the Sales Order Preferences for 'Invoice Order Type' and 'Return Order Type'."
Managing Consignment Physical Inventory "Finally, let's talk about reconciliation. You can perform physical inventory specifically for stock at customer locations. To do this, create a PI Type with the 'Consignment Inventory Count' checkbox selected, which enables fields for the specific Customer and Location. When you complete this PI process, the system automatically generates a Consignment Invoice for any consumed items, following the same logic as the manual 'Sell Items' process. When all items are sold or returned, the original Consignment Order will automatically close
It’s important to understand that these statuses are entirely distinct from regular sales order statuses; they function independently to specifically track the consignment flow.
- Open: This is the starting point. When you first create a consignment order, it sits in "Open" status, meaning none of the items have been shipped to the customer yet.
- Partial Consignment: As soon as you ship some, but not all, of the ordered items, the status shifts here. This indicates that part of your stock is at the customer's location while the rest is still pending shipment.
- Consignment: Once every item on the order has been shipped, the status becomes "Consignment". At this stage, all items are officially part of the consignment inventory held by the customer.
- Closed: This is the final stage. The order moves to "Closed" automatically only when all ordered items have been shipped and every one of those items has been either successfully sold or returned to your warehouse.
Once an order is Closed, the "Consignment Sell" and "Consignment Return" buttons are disabled, and while you can still see the order-level data in generic inquiries, the item-level details will no longer appear in the "Consignment Item Details" inquiry
Acumatica ERP directly with your Shopify storefront.
Today, we're focusing on the absolute lifeblood of modern e-commerce. We've got a rapid-fire explainer lined up for you, entirely dedicated to configuring the Biz-Tech software to link your Acumatica ERP directly with your Shopify storefront. We're skipping all the fluff today. We're diving straight into the UI to look at the exact setup screens, the configuration toggles, and the mapping logic that makes Day One automation a reality.
First up on the list: Shopify credentials. Honestly, this is the bedrock of your entire integration because before a single piece of inventory can even think about syncing, Acumatica and Shopify need a secure encrypted line of communication. And right below that, you've got your API key, password, and access token. Now, these aren't just random strings of text. These are the secure digital handshakes that authorize the system to pull and push your valuable data. It's really just three straightforward steps: Create a unique store code, enter your secure API keys, and test the connection.
Let's move over to the import settings. And I've got to say, this is where the sheer flexibility of the Shopify connector really starts to shine. Take a look at the default import options section. You aren't forced into one rigid path here at all. You can dynamically map incoming Shopify orders so they land in Acumatica as standard sales orders, sales order invoices, or even direct accounts receivable invoices. It totally adapts to how your specific branch actually operates.
Now, sticking with that same screen, but just panning down a bit, we hit the financial status mapping matrix. What's super fascinating here is how it bridges the language barrier between e-commerce and enterprise accounting. Shopify uses these very specific statuses, right? Things like 'authorized' or 'partially_refunded'. Well, this matrix lets you map those exact tags directly into Acumatica. So, an order marked 'paid' in Shopify instantly behaves exactly like a paid entity in your ERP. Zero guesswork required.
Continuing on with the financial setup, let's look at the payment options block. When a customer swipes a credit card on your Shopify store, that captured transaction obviously needs a home in Acumatica. See that 'payment method' field that's currently set to 'check'? This allows you to meticulously link those digital transactions to your internal payment types in the ERP. You can even set it to automatically release the payment right during the import. That means you're automating cash receipts from the exact second the customer hits checkout. Right below payments: taxes. You'll notice fields for customer tax zone, tax ID, and tax category. And they're mapped here with the code 'shop tax'. Since tax liability is usually determined by where the customer or vendor is geographically located, this configuration makes sure the integration automatically assigns the correct tax zones and filters out exempt items.
Glancing over to the right side of the import settings, we find the customer and item information panels. Just imagine a brand new customer buys a newly launched product variant on your site. Well, by simply checking 'import customer' and 'import item,' the system automatically ingests that fresh data and builds entirely new profiles and inventory records in Acumatica totally from scratch.
Let's zoom in a little tighter on the item mappings tab. Think of this as the absolute control center for your product data. Notice those columns: create, update, import, and export. This is bidirectional synchronization in action. Basically, you dictate exactly which system is the source of truth. Want Acumatica to control the price and push it out to Shopify? Check 'export'. Want Shopify to dictate the product description? Check 'import'. If you leave these specific mapping checkboxes unselected for fields like price or weight, the Shopify integrator is going to bypass them entirely during its sync cycle.
Next up is the cross-reference tab. This drop-down functionality maps Shopify shipping carriers precisely to Acumatica's 'ship via' codes. For example, if a customer selects UPS ground at checkout, mapping UPS ground to your internal code makes sure the delivery settings on the sales order are populated flawlessly. Similarly, by toggling the field selector to Payment Method, you can map your Shopify payment sources directly to your corresponding Acumatica payment types to ensure accurate financial tracking for every order
And beyond just shipping methods, we actually have to align where the physical goods reside, right? That's done through location synchronization. This underlying logic maintains flawless warehouse data between both platforms. The crucial detail here is that the location ID from Acumatica is securely stored directly within Shopify's info tab. This precise link ensures that inventory is decremented from the correct physical warehouse, preventing that nightmare of overselling and keeping your physical and digital shelves perfectly aligned.
A tool like the Biz-Tech Shopify connector is incredibly powerful, but its true magic relies entirely on the precision of these initial setups. So, review your own implementation checklists, tune those default options, and prepare to truly reap the rewards of seamless automation."
How to Set Up Kit Processing in Acumatica
How do you customize kit components directly inside a sales order? Say a customer calls and wants a specific desktop computer build. You know, swapping out the hard drive, maybe choosing a different monitor size. Your sales team really needs a frictionless way to enter that order. Well, by the end of our time together today, you're going to understand exactly how your backend specifications directly control and streamline that front-end sales order experience.
Let's look at our road map for today. Defining kit specifications. This is where we shift from global preferences down to the item specific rules. So before a kit can actually do anything useful on a sales order, you have to hit a few prerequisites. Obviously, you've got to mark the specification as active. Then you need to select explode kit, which basically tells the system, hey, this item is allowed to be broken down into its component parts.
But here is a really critical concept. You absolutely must assign a kit placeholder item. See, because a kit consists of multiple components, when it explodes on the sales order, all those individual parts get added. To stop your system from double counting the cost of the components and the master kit itself. The kit item is actually replaced by this non-stop placeholder item.
But let's look a little further down to that kit has options checkbox. It dynamically reveals the option category and option codes tabs down at the bottom of your screen. That's what allows you to build those highly customizable bundles where customers can literally pick and choose their specific components. So, it's pretty vital to understand the distinction here. Option categories are your broad classifications. Think size, color, or maybe processor type. Option codes, on the other hand, are the actual specific selections within those categories like 8x10 black or 2.6 GHz CPU.
Notice that required checkbox from the setup. If you marked an option category as required during your backend configuration, this popup will literally force the sales rep to pick an option code before they can even proceed with the kit order.
So, let's move on and see how this actually builds into the explosion phase. In your backend settings, you had a choice for the explode option, automatic or prompt. If you chose automatic. Well, the system just does the work for you. The moment the item is entered, it instantly explodes into its component parts right on the sales order screen.
But if you chose prompt, the system actually pauses and empowers the sales team. It gives them a choice, prompting them to decide if they actually want to explode those components right then and there. If you selected prompt back in the configuration, this exact message box gets triggered during a live sales order. It simply asks, do you want to explode the kit components?
Let's talk about generating those final documents. Direct your eyes to the detail grid on this sales order screen. There's a specific checkbox highlighted right there. Mark for kit assembly on Sales Order line and Allow Kit Assembly Generation on SO Preferences.
Once your kit is on the order, taking this box tells the system that this specific line item requires a formal assembly process before it can be shipped out. This checkbox will be totally disabled if you're working with a non-stock item. It's specifically designed for goods that require physical warehouse assembly.
Generating kit assemblies. Once generated, a link assembly document number will dynamically appear right there in the details tab of your sales order. Your sales rep instantly knows the whole assembly document has been created for the warehouse now that your front-end sales team and your backend settings are perfectly aligned. Because understanding this workflow isn't just about clicking the right buttons. It's about empowering your teams to work with frictionless precision. Thanks so much for joining me for this explainer and happy configuring
