Chapter 15

Purchasing

Quasar’s purchasing workflow covers the full cycle from purchase order through receiving, vendor invoicing, payment, and vendor claims. This chapter also covers the Auto Order system for automated replenishment.

The Purchasing Lifecycle

Path	Flow
Direct Receiving	Vendor Invoice (goods received without a prior order)
Order → Receive	Purchase Order → Create Invoice from the order (partial or full)
Auto Order	System generates Purchase Orders based on min/max levels or sales history

Purchase Orders

A Purchase Order is a commitment to buy goods from a vendor. It does not post to the general ledger until received as a Vendor Invoice, but it does affect stock-on-order reporting.

Screen	Access	Purpose
Purchase Order	Purchasing → Purchase Orders	Create or edit a purchase order
Order List	Purchasing → Order List	Browse and search purchase orders

Key Fields

Field	Purpose
Order No.	Auto-assigned document number
Vendor	The vendor being ordered from. Selecting a vendor loads their address, terms, and default pricing.
Date	Order date
Status	Order status lifecycle: • Incomplete — not yet finalized • Pending — awaiting approval • Posted — sent to vendor • Partial — partially received • Received — fully received • Complete — order closed
ETA	Expected delivery date. Can be set per-line on the item grid.
Shipping Status	Free-text field for tracking number or shipment status
Ship Via	Shipping method
Terms	Payment terms

Order Tabs

Tab	Contents
Totals	Item total, charge total, tax, deposit, levy, and grand total
Message	Message printed on the order for the vendor
Taxes	Tax breakdown by code
Charges	Internal charges (allocated to cost of goods) and external charges (freight, handling) applied to the order
Ship To	Drop-ship customer and address for direct-to-customer shipments
Item Info	Per-line detail: received quantity, tax/deposit inclusion, line cost, internal/external charges, batch number, expiry date, and edit serials
Invoices	List of vendor invoices created from this order

Toolbar Actions

Button	Action
Item Search	Search for items by description, number, or barcode
View Serials	View serial numbers on the order
Sales History	View sales history for the current item
Stock Status	On-hand quantities across all stores
Order Template	Save or load an Order Template
Price Batch	Generate a price batch from the order
Create Invoice	Create a Vendor Invoice to receive this order (partial or full)
Update Costs	Update item costs from the current order prices

Order Templates

Order Templates save a reusable list of items for a vendor, eliminating the need to manually re-enter common orders.

Screen	Access	Purpose
Order Template	Purchasing → Order Templates	Create or edit a template
Template List	Purchasing → Template List	Browse saved templates

A template stores a vendor, a list of items with sizes, and is used both by the Purchase Order screen (Order Template button) and by the Auto Order system (Template item selection mode).

Vendor Invoices (Receiving)

The Vendor Invoice is the primary receiving document. When posted, it:

Increases inventory quantities
Credits Accounts Payable
Debits inventory asset accounts and internal charge accounts
Records applicable purchase taxes
Triggers serial number entry for serial-tracked items

Screen	Access	Purpose
Vendor Invoice	Purchasing → Vendor Invoices	Create or edit a vendor invoice
Invoice List	Purchasing → Invoice List	Browse and search vendor invoices

Key Fields

Field	Purpose
Invoice No.	Auto-assigned document number
Vendor	The vendor supplying the goods
Vendor’s Date	The date on the vendor’s own invoice
Terms	Payment terms (inherited from vendor). Changing terms recalculates the due date.
Due Date	Calculated from terms and vendor date

Invoice Tabs

Tab	Contents
Totals	Item total, charge total, quantity total, tax, deposit, levy, grand total, paid, and due
Comments	Free-text comment
Taxes	Tax breakdown by code
Charges	Internal charges (landed cost) and external charges (freight, duty)
Item Info	Per-line detail: consignment flags, tax/deposit inclusion, deposit/levy amounts, ordered quantity, line cost, internal/external charges, batch number, expiry date, and edit serials
Orders	Purchase orders linked to this invoice. Add, remove, or view linked orders.
Payments	Payments allocated against this invoice. Allocate existing payments, create new payments, or make vendor claims.

Toolbar Actions

Button	Action
Item Search	Find items by description, number, or barcode
Sales History	View sales history for the selected item
Price Batch	Generate a price update batch from invoice costs
Make Labels	Generate a label batch from the received items
View Serials	View serial numbers on the invoice
Update Costs	Update item costs from invoice prices

Receiving from a Purchase Order

To receive against an existing purchase order, either:

Open the Purchase Order and click Create Invoice, or
Create a new Vendor Invoice and link the order on the Orders tab.

Quasar tracks ordered vs. received quantities per line. Partial receiving is supported — receive a subset now and the remainder on a later invoice.

📱 QuasarReach Receive goods from the warehouse floor via Receiving in QuasarReach. Load a purchase order, scan barcodes to confirm received items, and verify quantities against the order. Receiving slips sync to the server automatically.

Charges

Charges represent additional costs on a purchase (freight, duty, handling) that may be allocated to the cost of goods or expensed. They are defined as master records and then applied to purchase orders and vendor invoices.

Screen	Access	Purpose
Charge Master	Purchasing → Charges	Create or edit charge definitions
Charge List	Purchasing → Charge List	Browse charge records

Charges come in two types:

Internal Charges — allocated to inventory cost (landed cost). These increase the cost of goods in the asset accounts.
External Charges — expensed directly. These do not affect inventory valuation.

Vendor Claims

A Vendor Claim records a credit due from a vendor (damaged goods, pricing errors, shortages). Claims reduce the vendor’s balance and can be applied against future vendor invoices during payment.

Screen	Access	Purpose
Vendor Claim	Purchasing → Vendor Claims	Create or edit a vendor claim
Claim List	Purchasing → Claim List	Browse vendor claims

Payments

The Payment screen handles all outgoing payments. It supports three payment types:

Type	Description
Quick Pay	A general payment to any GL account — not linked to a vendor or customer. Use for petty cash, rent, utilities, or any expense that does not go through AP.
Pay Vendor	A payment against a vendor’s outstanding invoices. The screen shows all unpaid invoices and lets you select which to pay, enter discount amounts, and allocate partial payments.
Pay Customer	A refund payment to a customer against their outstanding credit balance.

Screen	Access	Purpose
Payment	Purchasing → Payments (or Cheques)	Create or edit a payment

Payment Methods

Method	Description
Hand-written cheque	Manual cheque — enter the cheque number in the Reference field
System generated cheque	Quasar assigns and prints the cheque number
Credit/debit card or online	Electronic payment — enter a reference number for tracking

Auto Order

The Auto Order screen automatically generates Purchase Orders or Item Transfers based on inventory levels. It analyses on-hand quantities, on-order stock, and optionally sales history to calculate what needs to be reordered.

Screen	Access	Purpose
Auto Order	Purchasing → Auto Order	Generate purchase orders or transfers automatically

Auto Order vs. Auto Transfer

The Is Transfer? checkbox at the top of the screen switches between two modes:

Mode	What It Creates
Unchecked (Purchase Order)	Generates a Purchase Order for a specified vendor
Checked (Transfer)	Generates an Item Transfer from a source store to a destination store. Requires an “AutoTransfer” station and employee in the source store.

Store Selection

Option	Description
Single Store	Generate an order for one store
Store Group	Generate orders covering all stores in a group
All Stores	Generate orders covering every store. Use Order into Store to specify which store receives the inventory.

Item Selection

Method	Description
Item File	Select items from the item database. Filter by department, subdepartment, brand, matrix, or group.
Order Template	Use a saved Order Template to define the item list

Calculation Methods

Method	How It Works
Use Min/Max	Compares current on-hand (less on-order and dedicated stock, plus in-transit) against the item’s minimum and maximum stocking levels. Orders the difference to bring stock to the maximum level.
Use Sales History	Analyses past sales to forecast demand: • End Date — the end of the analysis period • History of — how far back to look (days, weeks, or months) • Sales Change — adjust for expected increase or decrease in demand • Order for — how many days/weeks/ months of stock to order

Min/Max Setup Min/max values are set on the item’s Stocking tab in the Item Master. Set minimum and maximum quantities per store. Items with a store multiple of zero are excluded from auto ordering.

📱 QuasarReach When Auto Order generates an Item Transfer, warehouse staff can pick the transfer from a mobile device via Inventory → Pick Inventory Transfer in QuasarReach. Load the pending transfer, scan items to confirm picked quantities, and mark the transfer ready for shipment.

Purchasing Screens Summary

Screen	Menu	Help
Purchase Order	Purchasing → Purchase Orders	Help
Order Template	Purchasing → Order Templates	Help
Vendor Invoice	Purchasing → Vendor Invoices	Help
Charge	Purchasing → Charges	Help
Vendor Claim	Purchasing → Vendor Claims	Help
Payment	Purchasing → Payments	Help
Auto Order	Purchasing → Auto Order	Help

What’s Next?

Chapter 16 — Inventory Management: Transfers, Adjustments, and Physical Counts