@sharpdrivetek @Brucanna
One has to be very understanding when it comes to feature request.
Just because your organisation updates inventory over orders or not doesn’t mean manager has to get it at all cost. Manager will usually add features in the way they are generally done in global accounting practises.
Orders are commercial documents and legally binding in many jurisdictions. For orders to be fit for entry in the accounting system and consequently affect inventory balances, the terms of the order would be a deciding factor. If the terms of the order for example lays down difficult processes in it termination by any of the parties or has breach of contract penalties that makes it unlikely for any of the parties to breach, it would be okay to update inventory to be received/delivered to reflect the order, but even that, it will not be totally wise.
From my experience I wouldn’t advice anyone to update inventory based on orders. My organisation for example has been unable to fulfil completely orders and we couldn’t bill as a result, so if we recognised that revenue based only on orders, we would have recognised unearned revenues in our books and would have had to make entries to reverse it.
what are inventories? are they assets? and if they are assets do you recognise them in your statement of financial position based only on orders? Orders to me are not traditional accounting source documents (prudence concept in mind here). Only bills/invoices qualify to be entered to recognise asset and liabilities or revenues and expenses.
Furthermore whether to recognise inventory in the books just based on orders also may depend on the shipping terms on goods in transit (FOB,FAS etc.). An order is not the deed.
To make it simple, Manager recognises inventory values in the statement of financial position based on invoices alone (I may be wrong). You have to inform your suppliers to attach invoices to delivered goods and attach invoices to your distributed goods always to stay up to date with your inventory balances.
And yes @lubos in the future can implement an order workflow that can inform users of the balances of orders and can even find ways to incorporate it in the inventory report if the order contains inventory. It is common now to see accounting apps having Order tracking features tracking status of orders. I have been pushing for this and my recent request suggested the balances on the orders be changed only upon entry of invoices.
Managing Sales and Purchases Orders (Advanced Features Request/Suggestion) - #4 by Abeiku (Read the whole discussion)`
It is not easy implementing these controls and we must be patient but keep reminding Lubos.
With regards to Goods received/Goods delivered features, I think the current state is perfect.
If you are going to use this model then Manager will ensure you don’t mess up your inventory balances, and to ensure this, Manager adjusts your inventory balance upon entering goods receipt or goods delivered. I also accept that an option to set these modules to affect inventory or not would be great but making the option available for every individual delivery or receipt would be bad for the records and bring mistakes/inconsistencies. Therefore if implemented, the option (delivery and receipt affect inventory) should be generalised for all goods receipt and goods delivered, and if unselected should be general instruction for all goods receipt and delivered to be entered.
I will end by also commenting on info the inventory items displays. I think the new feature is great (inclusion of inventory qty to receive and inventory qty to deliver and inventory qty on hand). The info under reports is also great the only problem is the average cost, I suggest it goes with the price list. I specifically needed that info for pricing.