Tracking Codes - Show as Column

For now, then, you are going to have to use @Brucanna’s idea.

I don’t think tracking codes are good fit for this. Tracking codes are meant for divisions (I will probably rename it to Divisions in future). And the purpose is to get Profit & Loss Statement by division. Nothing more.

This has implications on data-entry. In order to get proper Profit & Loss Statement by division, you also need to split all expenses by division which is not something you are probably doing.

If all you want is to get total sales / cost of goods sold / gross profit per inventory item group (e.g. brand), then what I suggest is to create custom field on inventory item called Brand and simply specify brand for each inventory item.

The current issue is that inventory reports don’t care about custom fields but I think what could be implemented is ability to get inventory item reports which will show items grouped by custom field (e.g. by brand).

Thoughts?

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Hi Lubos, that is exactly what I want. The expenses split is not much an issue for me, but I would like to know the sales split per brand (so that I can see the share of each brand on total sales), the cogs and the gross profit per brand.

I do not understand however how I can achieve this with a custom-field on inventory item called brand. Because this will not split the sales on the P&L statement I believe. When I’m wrong please clarify, because that would resolve my issues.

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Although custom fields can already be set up to show as a column, this does NOT happen in “Summary”. So if a category account has many transactions, and you want to see only specific ones, using the “Search” box (on any “Summary” screen) won’t work. Currently my workaround is to use the “Contact” field, which DOES happen to be visible in “Summary”. However that means I can’t use the “Contact” field for its original intended purpose. Also, neither “Description” nor “Contact” fields allow dropdown function.

I would love a feature that allows me to add a column to “Summary”, including dropdown functionality at the data entry level.

Imagine a situation where you pay for electricity for 25 separate meters. You have an account called “Electricity”. A dropdown box enabling you to select one of 25 meters (m1, m2, m3, etc.) would make it possible to see each meter’s consumption individually when you search in the Summary box (including a subtotal at that point!), and yet only have one “Electricity” account for accounting purposes.

Another approach would be to have sub-accounts, but Manager is not currently designed that way.

Tracking codes can be used but they do not appear in columns, also, they are off the data entry screen on some monitors, etc. As Tut said, they were intended for divisions. So a custom field would work but then you have to go to Receipts & Payments to see things.

Just allowing the addition of a custom field display in a column in “Summary” would be an awesome feature.

There is no Search box on the Summary screen.

No it does not. So just what are you referring to by “Summary?”

If you click on the “Electricity” expense account hyperlink amount (in blue), you arrive at a screen where the Summary tab is selected; it then shows “Summary / Electricity” on the top; followed by all the transactions entered in the “Electricity” expense account.

On that screen there IS a search box.

The “Contact” column only shows up if there is at least one record containing data in that field.

What you describe are the “bread crumbs.” They show the path you took to arrive at a specific page. “Summary” was where you started. The “Electricity” account was where you clicked next. So what you are looking at is a list of transactions contributing to the balance of the Electricity account. It is not the “Summary.”

Yes, but the Search function searches data visible on the page, not the underlying records.

True. This is a fundamental design feature throughout Manager. Empty fields and columns are suppressed to reduce clutter. But you are misusing the Conctact field. That is meant to show the Customer, Supplier, Payer, Payee, or Employee, depending on the context of the transaction. It is definitely not meant to be used as a substitute for subsidiary accounts.

That was precisely my point - that in the absence of the desired feature, my workaround is to use the Contact field. Do you have a better suggestion? See my original description of the (fictional) 25 electric meters. By starting on the Summary page, as you say, I proceed to click on the Electricity Expense account, which provides me with a total view of ALL 25 electricity bill payments to date. Now, what if I only want to see the total spent on meter number 14?

Easy: include the meter number in the Description field. Then you can sort and search for meter numbers.

You could also include the meter reading eg meter NNNNNN reading NNNNNN

That way you could export the data to Excel and get both cost and kWh :slight_smile:

The description field is already heavily used in other ways… long story :slightly_smiling_face:

Continuing the above discussion though, that SEARCH box that we talked about, the one that appears after clicking on “Electricity” where there might be 12 monthly payments per meter, for a total of 300 payments (in the fictional case of 25 meters); would the search return ALL records matching the criteria, or just from the ones displayed on the screen at that particular time? I ask because I don’t yet have enough data in to end up with multiple display pages, so I am not yet able to check the program behavior for myself in this regard. (This question applies whether the Description field is used or the Contacts field, because both would be present given our particular scenario). Thanks.

All. Read the Guide: Search for records | Manager.

That guide suggests that Searches cover information visible on screen only. However, if you click on the “Receipts and Payments” tab, for example, the SEARCH box returns all matching criteria from the entire database. So I am still not sure what the program does in the case I described above.

Post a screen shot illustrating what you mean.

This is like asking for advance search with multi field search. It does not have to be Tracking codes.

which then can be narrow down by specific expected data_field (for example reference, line items, custom_field, tracking codes, tabs, contact_field, account_field, custom theme, amounts, unit_type, specific month, year, day, and so on instead of ‘search all data-field’

Yes it does, lets say your drill down on the Summary tab account Electricity and it produces multiple pages of data. A search, say for meter 10, will list all meter 10 transactions from all pages, so not just the screen page.

I answered your question in post #32 of this thread. It is also answered in the Guide linked to in that post. Based on context, when I answered, I assumed you were referring to finding entries matching the criteria that happen to follow on later pages of the list. The point is that multi-page lists are treated as a single list for searching.

In your post #33, however, you wrote of the search returning all matching criteria from the entire database [emphasis added]. That is why I asked you to illustrate with screen shots. Returning results from the entire database would mean, for example, that searching the list of Electricity transactions for “Meter 10” would bring up a purchase invoice by which you bought Meter 10 or receipts from a tenant reimbursing you for utility costs from Meter 10.

So, if you only meant the first option, your question has been answered. If you meant the second, you still need to illustrate with screen shots.

Thank you, I am glad to hear that multi-page lists are treated as a single list for searching. I will design my entries accordingly.

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