Auto Order

Is Transfer?

Checkbox that switches between Purchase Order mode (unchecked) and Transfer mode (checked). In Transfer mode, the vendor field is replaced by From Store and only Single Store scope is available.

Compute Negative?

When checked, the engine will order items even if the calculated available quantity is negative (indicating a stockout). When unchecked, negative quantities are treated as zero.

Vendor

The vendor to whom the purchase order is addressed. Required in Purchase Order mode. The vendor's replacement cost and order multiple are used for pricing and rounding.

From Store

The source store for an inter-store transfer. Required in Transfer mode. The source store must have an AutoTransfer station and employee configured.

Purchase Order Mode (default)

When Is Transfer? is unchecked, a vendor is required and the engine creates a Purchase Order addressed to that vendor. All three store scopes (Single Store, Store Group, All Stores) are available. Items are selected from the vendor’s catalog, costed using the vendor’s replacement cost, and the resulting order opens in the Purchase Order Master for review before posting.

Transfer Mode

When Is Transfer? is checked, the vendor field is replaced by From Store. The engine creates an Item Transfer from the source store to the destination store. Only Single Store scope is available in transfer mode. The transfer is priced according to the source store’s Price Level setting (Cost, Regular, Level 1–4, or Cost+). The resulting transfer opens in the Item Transfer Master.

Single Store

Radio button. Orders for a single store. The Order into Store is automatically set to match the selected store. This is the only option available in Transfer Mode.

Store

The store to order for when Single Store is selected. Lookup, defaults to current store.

Store Group

Radio button. Orders for all stores in a defined store group. Aggregates demand from every store in the group into one purchase order received at the Order into Store. Not available in Transfer Mode.

Store Group

The store group to order for when Store Group scope is selected. Lookup.

All Stores

Radio button. Orders for every store in the system. Aggregates demand from all stores into one consolidated purchase order. Not available in Transfer Mode.

Order into Store

The receiving warehouse / store where the generated purchase order is addressed. For multi-store orders, this is the central distribution point. If the order store has surplus stock above its own needs, that surplus is subtracted from the total order quantity.

Item File

Radio button (default). Scans the item file for all active, stocked, purchased items matching the optional filters below. In Purchase Order mode, items are further filtered to only those supplied by the selected vendor. Discontinued items are always excluded.

Department

Restrict to items in a specific department. Lookup. Optional.

Subdepartment

Restrict to items in a specific subdepartment. Lookup. Optional.

Brand

Restrict to items of a specific brand. Lookup. Hidden when the Brand feature is disabled. Optional.

Matrix

Restrict to items belonging to a specific size/colour matrix. Lookup. Optional.

Group

Restrict to items in a specific item group. Lookup. Optional.

Order Template

Radio button. Uses a pre-defined Order Template to specify the exact list of items (and sizes) to evaluate. The template’s charges (internal and external) are also carried forward to the generated purchase order. The template dropdown is filtered to templates matching the selected vendor.

Template

The order template to use when Order Template selection is active. Lookup.

Min/Max Method (default)

Radio button. Uses the Min Qty and Max Qty values defined on each item’s Stocking tab (per store). If the available quantity falls below the minimum, the engine orders up to the maximum. Items with Min or Max set to zero are skipped.

Sales History Method

Radio button. Calculates order quantities by projecting future demand from past sales, then adding the item’s minimum quantity as safety stock.

End Date

The end of the sales history window. Defaults to today.

History of

Length of the sales history window. Enter a number and choose days, weeks, or months. For example, “4 weeks” looks back 28 days from the end date.

History Type

Dropdown: days, weeks, or months. Qualifies the History of value.

Sales Change

Optional percentage adjustment applied to the historical sales quantity. Choose increase to inflate projected demand (e.g., for seasonal peaks) or decrease to deflate it.

Sales Change Type

Dropdown: increase or decrease. Qualifies the Sales Change percentage.

Order for

The number of future days/weeks/months of demand to cover with this order. The engine calculates: (adjusted sales × order period / history period) + Min Qty.

Order for Type

Dropdown: days, weeks, or months. Qualifies the Order for value.

The engine calculates the Available Quantity for each item at each store using the following formula:

Available = On Hand − Dedicated + On Order + In Transit

This ensures the engine does not order items that are already committed, and credits items that are already on their way.

After calculating the raw needed quantity, the engine applies two rounding steps:

Size Rounding

The raw quantity is divided by the item’s size quantity (e.g., a case of 12) and rounded up to the next whole unit. This ensures you always order full cases / packs.

Order Multiple Rounding (Purchase Order mode only)

The quantity is then rounded up to the next multiple of the item’s Order Multiple. The order multiple is taken from the vendor’s replacement cost record, with the store-level multiple used as an override if it is larger. For example, if the order multiple is 6 cases and the engine calculates a need for 8 cases, the order is rounded up to 12 cases.

Items with a store multiple of zero are skipped entirely (no order generated).

When ordering for multiple stores (Store Group or All Stores), the engine follows this aggregation logic:

1. For each item, iterate through all stores in scope and sum the shortage (needed − available) across every store that is below its required level.
2. If the Order into Store has surplus stock (available exceeds needed), subtract that surplus from the total order quantity. This prevents over-ordering when the warehouse already has excess.
3. If the Order into Store is not included in the scope’s list, its surplus is still calculated and subtracted — the warehouse is always checked.

The result is a single consolidated purchase order that covers the combined demand of all stores, offset by any existing warehouse surplus.

When creating a transfer, item pricing on the transfer document is determined by the source (“From”) store’s Price Level setting:

Tax-inclusive and deposit-inclusive pricing adjustments are applied automatically based on the item’s price configuration.

When using an Order Template, the template’s charges are copied to the generated purchase order and processed automatically:

Internal Charges

Absorbed into item cost (e.g., freight, duty). The engine calculates amounts for non-manual charges (by cost percentage or weight), applies applicable tax, and allocates the charge proportionally across order lines based on cost or weight ratio. Any rounding remainder is applied to the last line item.

External Charges

Posted separately from item cost. Same calculation and allocation logic as internal charges, but amounts are recorded in the ext_charges field rather than added to inventory cost.

Before generating output, the engine validates:

• Vendor is required (Purchase Order mode)
• From Store is required and must differ from the destination store (Transfer mode)
• Store is required when Single Store is selected
• Store Group is required when Store Group is selected
• Template is required when Order Template selection is active
• At least one store must exist in the selected scope
• At least one item must require ordering (otherwise “No items to order” is displayed)

Progress Bar

On success, a progress bar tracks item evaluation. The generated Purchase Order or Item Transfer is saved to the database and its master screen opens automatically for review.

OK

Generates the purchase order or transfer based on the current settings and opens it in the master screen for review.

Cancel

Closes the Auto Order window without generating any order.