In order to make entering transactions across all modules consistent, Unit price column has been added to receipts, payments and expense claims.
Previously both Qty and Unit price were hidden by default and Qty column was shown only when selling or purchasing inventory items.
While the previous solution was complete in terms of being able to record any transaction, if business was selling or purchasing inventory items without using invoices, it was cumbersome to enter these cash transactions.
For example, the user was required to manually calculate line total and enter line total to Amount column. Then enter Qty. Changing Qty wouldn’t update Amount column.
In the latest version upon selecting inventory item, the price will be put into Unit price column and line total will be calculated automatically just like on invoices.
But the reason for this change wasn’t only to make data-entry consistent, it was also to make viewing part of transactions behave in consistent way with invoices, quotes or orders.
For example, in the previous version, viewing cash transactions would never show Unit price, only quantity and total amount.
In the latest version, viewing cash transaction will make Unit price column visible (if applicable) just like on invoices.
This was important because I’ve noticed many users who were making cash sales were using Sales Invoices tab to issue invoices because entering cash transactions was cumbersome and presentation was not as good as with invoices.
You should still use Sales Invoices tab for credit sales, however for cash sales, you should create receipts directly under Cash Accounts tab. If your business is not selling on credit, then you shouldn’t be using Sales Invoices tab at all.
What if I’m not using inventory? What does it mean for me?
If you are not using inventory items, you can still take advantage of this feature as unit price and quantity are not exclusive to inventory. However I do agree for some users, this change is only increasing number of fields on their receipts, payments and expense claims without any benefits.
In this case, I think the best way to handle this is to add checkbox which will control whether Qty and Unit Price columns should be turn on or off. This way, users who see no value in these columns could have them off. This checkbox could be added to every transaction type since Qty and Unit Price columns are not relevant for many users even when they issue invoices (e.g. service providers)
Fixing descriptions
Another common complaint was how descriptions flow into the view. This has also been fixed and is now consistent with how invoices, quotes and orders work.
Consider entry like this:
Will be shown as this:
As you can see now it’s more straightforward. Just like on invoices.