Order field on sales invoice form

42

Yes I know that. I am using sales orders and sales invoices as an example. But any form that is copied to a new form like quote to invoice etc carries across the reference fields but the name of the fields change.

45

A post was split to a new topic: Custom field on customer statement

47

I have used the order number /reference field in all bookkeeping systems since I started using MYOB and similar platforms 20 years ago. The unexpected loss of this field is frustrating and a waste of time to have to add in a custom field and modify themes to display it in the correct location, when it was working fine for those of us using it. And then we have to do a bulk update ourselves to fix something we didn’t break (the data split between two columns)?

And this is still not a perfect solution, because all custom fields now appear down the bottom of the sales invoice, and not right next to the invoice number, where it used to be, breaking our workflows.

I get that this field was confusing for some. OK, but how about finding a solution that meets EVERYONE’S needs, not just some? Instead we’ve created confusion, extra work and broken processes for some users to benefit others? That doesn’t seem like the Manager way…

To address the loss of functionality, I would like to see either:

  1. An option to keep using the order number field as it previously existed, IF we choose to (with the option to hide or rename if desired for others who find it confusing) OR
  2. The ability to choose where custom fields show up in our EDIT forms, instead of all being lumped at the bottom, so we can at least preserve our workflows (but we’d still have to do the custom field/modify theme/bulk update) OR
  3. The ability to overwrite the remaining order number field with a manual value, and not be forced to have a linked sales order in order to enter a value into this field

Please take into consideration the difficulties that this change has caused some of your users.

Thanks,

Nikki

2 Likes
48

#2 is already possible just by checking a box when you define the custom field. No custom theme is necessary.

49

No, that’s only on the view form, not the edit form. On the edit form, the input field for the custom field is still lumped at the bottom of the form, with all the other custom fields.

I need the input field moved to the top of the edit form, not the displayed field moved on the view version of the field.

And besides, if you use a custom theme, this checkbox doesn’t work to move the field up to the top on the printed/view version anyway, so it does require custom code to move it in the view form.

50

No one can change the layout of Edit screens except to change the order of custom fields within their frame.

51

Yes, I know, which makes the “custom field” solution to this problem unworkable, because you can’t put it back where the old order number field was, breaking workflows.

Therefore, my suggestion in #2 was to allow for this ability, to address the issues that the removal of this field has caused. I will edit it to make that even clearer.

52

Are there plans to enforce the built-in order numbers to have to correspond to a sales order? As in, will it break things if I leave order numbers for old invoices where they are and use a custom field for new invoices?

Or better yet, can I keep adding order numbers through batch operations? I use the order number field to refer to the order number in my webshop and create new invoices for them by using Batch Create. I’m assuming that as long as the program doesn’t enforce order number fields being linked to sales orders, it should be no problem to keep using this same field during Batch Create processes. But if there are plans to make the field only work with sales orders that are defined within manager.io, then I’m going to have to Batch Update a couple of thousand invoices to use a custom field (which I’d rather not for obvious reasons).

53

No, that will not break anything. That was the developer’s plan.

Try it and let us know if that works. (It’s a lot of effort to run that experiment in a test business.)

54

It works, I already tried it before posting :sweat_smile:
My question was more if this functionality is planned to go away, but I guess not (in the near future) if the old invoices are going to be able to keep not-linked order numbers.