Special Purchases
This chapter covers Quasar’s Special Purchase system — a powerful, configuration-driven module for businesses that purchase unique, one-of-a-kind, or made-to-order items from vendors and need to receive, price, label, and optionally transfer funds to the vendor in a single streamlined process. Originally developed for Inuit art and carving cooperatives, the system is fully configurable for any business that buys unique goods for resale.
What Special Purchases Do
A Special Purchase combines several operations that would normally require separate transactions into a single workflow:
- Item Creation — automatically creates new inventory items for unique goods (art, carvings) or selects existing items from the catalog
- Vendor Invoice — generates a Vendor Invoice (or Consignment In) to receive the goods into inventory
- Label Batch — creates a label print batch so shelf labels can be printed immediately
- Card Transfer — optionally transfers funds to the vendor’s customer account (for vendors who are also customers, e.g., artist cooperatives)
- Item Transfer — optionally generates a store transfer to move goods to the selling location
special_config.cfg
configuration file. The system will not open without a valid
configuration. See the Configuration section below for setup
details.
Configuration
The Special Purchase system is configured via the
special_config.cfg file, located in the Quasar
config directory. This XML file controls default subdepartments,
item numbering, description lists, and network label printing.
Configuration Fields
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| artSubdept | Default subdepartment number for art items. Controls pricing, tax, and deposit defaults for new art items. |
| limitArtSubdept | Yes/No — when Yes, the Art tab’s subdepartment field is locked to the default and cannot be changed by the operator |
| carvingSubdept | Default subdepartment number for carving items |
| limitCarvingSubdept | Yes/No — lock the carving subdepartment |
| existingProductSubdept | Subdepartment filter for the Existing Products tab. When limited, only items from this subdepartment appear in the lookup. |
| limitExistingProductSubdept | Yes/No — restrict the product lookup |
| newProductSubdept | Default subdepartment for newly created products |
| limitNewProductSubdept | Yes/No — lock the new product subdepartment |
| itemPrefix | Prefix for auto-generated item numbers (e.g., “SP-”) |
| itemStart | Starting number for auto-generated items (e.g., 1000000). The system finds the next available number after this start. |
| spTransferAcct | GL account number used for card transfer transactions when funds are transferred to the vendor’s customer account |
| community | Default community name applied to art and carving items |
| artDescription | Repeatable element — each entry adds a predefined description to the Art tab’s drop-down list (e.g., Painting - acrylic, Sculpture, Print) |
| carvingDescription | Repeatable element — each entry adds a predefined description to the Carving tab’s drop-down list (e.g., Bear, Inukshuk, Owl) |
| printerAddr / printerPort | Network address and port for direct label printing |
The Special Purchase Screen
| Screen | Access | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Special Purchase | Purchasing → Special Purchases | Create special purchase transactions |
| Special Purchase List | Purchasing → Special Purchase List | Browse and search past purchases |
Header Fields
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Process No. | Auto-assigned transaction number |
| Store | The receiving store |
| Vendor | The vendor supplying the goods. Changing the vendor updates all item lookups. |
| Transfer Funds To Customer | Optional — if the vendor is also a customer (e.g., an artist cooperative), select the customer account here. Quasar will generate a Card Transfer to move the purchase amount to this customer’s balance. |
| Description | Free-text description for this purchase |
Item Tabs
The Special Purchase screen has four tabs for entering items. Each tab serves a different purpose:
Art Tab
For purchasing unique art items. Each row creates a new item in the database. The tab provides defaults for Artist, Community, and Year as extra data fields attached to each item.
| Column | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Description | Drop-down of predefined descriptions (from config) or free-text entry |
| Artist | Artist name — defaults from the Default Artist field above the grid |
| Community | Community name — defaults from config |
| Year | Year of creation |
| Qty | Quantity purchased |
| Cost / Ext Cost | Unit cost and extended cost |
| Purch Tax | Tax code applied at purchase |
| Retail / Ext Retail | Selling price and extended retail |
| Sell Tax | Tax code applied at sale |
The Individual? checkbox controls whether each unit gets its own item number (checked) or all units share one item (unchecked).
Carvings Tab
Identical structure to the Art tab but uses a separate subdepartment and description list from the configuration. Designed for stone, bone, or antler carvings.
Existing Products Tab
For purchasing items that already exist in the item database. Use the Item Number lookup to select items. The subdepartment filter (if configured) restricts which items appear in the lookup.
New Products Tab
For creating new items that are not art or carvings. Unlike the Art/Carving tabs, the New Products tab lets you select the subdepartment per line, giving flexibility for miscellaneous new inventory.
Bottom Tabs
Totals Tab
Displays running totals across all four item tabs:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Qty Total | Total units across all tabs |
| Item Cost / Cost Tax / Cost Total | Purchase cost summary |
| Item Retail / Retail Tax / Retail Total | Expected selling price summary |
Comments Tab
Free-text comments attached to the special purchase record.
Taxes Tab
Displays a breakdown of purchase and retail taxes by tax code.
Processing Workflow
When you click OK, Quasar executes the following steps automatically:
- Create Items — new item records are created for art, carving, and new product lines. Item numbers are auto-generated using the configured prefix and starting number. Extra data (Artist, Community, Year) is attached.
- Create Vendor Invoice — a Vendor Invoice (or Consignment In, depending on vendor type) is generated containing all items from all four tabs. This receives the goods into inventory.
- Create Label Batch — a label print batch is generated so shelf labels can be printed for all new items
- Create Card Transfer — if a customer was specified, a Card Transfer moves the purchase amount from the vendor’s payable to the customer’s receivable through the configured transfer account
- Create Item Transfer — if the receiving store differs from the selling store, an Item Transfer is generated to move goods to their destination
- Print Labels — if a network label printer is configured, labels are sent to the printer automatically
A progress display shows each step as it executes. The special purchase record (with its unique process number) links all generated transactions together for auditing.
Special Purchase List
The Special Purchase List displays all past purchases with key information:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Number | Special purchase process number |
| Description | Purchase description |
| Type | Purchase type classification |
| Date | Date created |
| Vendor / Customer | Source vendor and optional customer for fund transfer |
| Card Transfer? | Whether a card transfer was generated |
| Invoice / Consignment | Linked Vendor Invoice or Consignment In number |
| Transfer Out / Transfer In | Linked transfer numbers (if generated) |
| Amount | Total purchase amount |
| Label Batch | Linked label batch number |
| Comments | Free-text comments |
Special Purchase Screens Summary
| Screen | Menu | Help |
|---|---|---|
| Special Purchase | Purchasing → Special Purchases | Help |
| Special Purchase List | Purchasing → Special Purchase List | Help |
- Chapter 15 — Purchasing (Vendor Invoices, Purchase Orders)
- Chapter 20 — Store Transfers (Item and Card transfers)