RCS Simple Inventory
Table of Contents
Features of RCS Simple Inventory
What is RCS Simple Inventory?
RCS Simple Inventory is a software programme to help SMEs manage their inventory. It provides for comparison of inventory purchase prices including quotations from a given supplier (to see if prices ‘creep up’ over time), inventory valuation and job costing. Its design goal is to simplify inventory management, with an intuitive system which is easy to use. It revolves around purchase orders, quotations and item shipment to jobs. Top
Features of RCS Simple Inventory
1. Able to enter quotations from suppliers.
2. Able to enter purchase orders, and delivery orders (including partial delivery) against those purchase orders.
3. Able to ship inventory items from purchase orders to jobs. Able to make multiple-shipments for a given item from the same purchase order.
4. Compute quantity-on-hand and report inventory valuation based on actual cost.
5. Compare prices for same product deliveries and quotations over time from same supplier (eg to detect ‘price creep’).
6. Compare prices for same product from different suppliers.
7. Unlimited number of suppliers, purchase orders, delivery orders, quotations and shipments.
8. Single currency.
9. Automatically calculates Goods and Services Tax. The GST rate can be manually edited.
10. Not country specific.
11. Customisation is possible on an individually-negotiated basis. Top
System Requirements
RCS Simple Inventory is written in MS Access 2000 and Visual Basic for Applications. As such, it has the system requirements of MS Access 2000, namely Pentium processor and at least 32Mb RAM. RCS Simple Inventory is not a standalone executable: it requires MS Access 2000. However, if you do not have the full version of MS Access 2000 then do not worry as a runtime version of MS Access 2000 is shipped with the product.
RCS Simple Inventory can be run on a network. However, it has not been optimised for multi-user usage. Top
Getting Started
1.
Company Details
When you enter RCS Simple Inventory for the first time, you are prompted to enter your company name and address. You will be prompted for this information each time you enter the system until you have provided the requested information. Top
2.
Enter Definitions
The second tabbed page of the Main Menu (see screenshot above) is ‘Setup’. Here is where you enter the definitions of Categories, Job Cost Codes, Credit Terms, Suppliers, Products and the GST Rate. The transactional side of the system (entering purchase orders and shipments) will not function until you provide some of these definitions/information.
a) Categories (Optional)
These are a way of grouping products. One use is to facilitate comparison of products between suppliers, that is you give products (with their unique Product ID codes) belonging to different suppliers the same category code.
b) Job Cost Codes (Optional)
When you ship products you can assign a Job Cost Code. There is a Job Costing Report to summarise such shipments. Although the system does not explictly distinguish between raw materials and finished products in inventory, you can create a Job Cost Code of something like ‘To Customer’ to record sales.
c) Credit Terms (Optional)
These are purely for informational purposes on your Purchase Orders. The system has standard terms already entered.
c) Suppliers (Compulsory)
Entering your suppliers is a key component of setting up the transactional side of RCS Simple Inventory, that is you cannot enter Purchase Orders, Quotations, Shipments etc for a supplier until you have entered the supplier’s details.
Each supplier has a unique Supplier ID. The system does not allow you to enter a duplicate Supplier ID.
Suppliers are displayed alpabetically by name. You can change this sort order, and the sort order of any editable field in RCS Simple Inventory, by using the sort option on the menu which pops up when you right-click the mouse. Firstly, move the cursor to the required field, right-click and select.
Note that from this screen you can also enter the products which the supplier sells. Top
e) Products (Compulsory)
Entering your products is a key component of setting up the transactional side of RCS Simple Inventory, that is you cannot enter Purchase Orders, Quotations, Shipments etc for a product until you have entered the product details.
One product can only belong to one supplier. Each product has a unique Product ID. The system does not allow you to enter a duplicate Product ID. A given Product ID can only be assigned to one supplier’s product. Therefore, if you wish to compare the same product from different suppliers (even though they have a different Product ID), you must group the products by means of Categories.
f) GST Rate (Optional)
Default value is 3%. Top
Entering Transactions
1.
Purchase Orders/Quotations Screen
On this screen you enter the general details such as type of transaction, transaction number, date etc and then you click the command button ‘Items’ to enter the individual products you are purchasing or obtaining a quotation for. Note that the command button ‘Items’ only becomes available once you have saved the general details of the transaction.
You can have three types of transactions, namely Purchase Orders, Quotations or Miscellaneous. The key difference is that when you come to enter items later you can only enter ‘Qty Received’ for Purchase Orders and Miscellaneous. This is important because it is only from a ‘Qty Received’ item that you can ship. In other words, you cannot receive items into and ship out of inventory from a Quotation.
Note that Purchase Order / Transaction Number is unique. The system will not allow you to enter a duplicate. Top
2.
Items Screen
On the Purchase Orders/Quotations screen, you click the command button ‘Items’. You are then presented with this screen.
Here you enter the products you are purchasing / requesting a quotation for. Once you fill in the Qty Ordered and Unit Price fields the system will automatically compute the Extended Price. You can enter a Misc Charge too, such as freight. When you move the cursor into the GST field the system will automatically compute the resulting tax. You may manually modify this amount, or indeed remove it altogether if GST is not applicable. The system will automatically compute the Total Amount.
Panning across further to the right, you may enter Qty Received and related Delivery Order details in respect of Purchase Order and Miscellaneous transactions. The ‘Qty Received’ field is very important. Only if items are received into inventory can you subsequently compute Qty-On-Hand, Inventory Valuation etc. Top
3.
Shipments By Product
Using the Search box at the top of the screen, you select which product you wish to ship. A list of Purchase Orders / Misc Transactions will then be displayed on which the product was received (that is, quotations are not included as items cannot be received). Notice the wealth of information about the inventory details for the product which is displayed. You can see, for example, Total Qty Received, Total Qty Shipped and Total Qty-on-Hand.
Clicking the ‘Shipments From PO’ will produce the following screen:
This shows you the actual shipments of the product for the Purchase Order which was selected on the previous screen. Notice that you are provided with running sub-totals of Qty Shipped, Qty Received and Qty Left on this PO.
It is possible to enter a Qty Shipped greater than Qty Received on a given PO (to allow for negative Qty-on-Hand, for example caused by late delivery of items into inventory). However, this is not recommended and may have adverse results on inventory valuation. The system warns you if you enter a Qty Shipped greater than Qty Received.
Using this screen, you can assign a Job Cost Code to the actual shipment.
After entering actual shipments and returning to the Shipments By Product screen, it is necessary to click the ‘Recalc’ command button to ensure totals are up-to-date. Top
Reports
1. Cost Comparison By Product
This screen gives you a listing, for a given product, of the Unit Cost on each Purchase Order, Misc Transaction and Quotation. This enables you to detect ‘price creep’ over a period of time.
At the bottom of the screen are two command buttons. One command button allows you to print hardcopy of the select product comparison, whilst the other allows you to print hardcopy for all products. Top
2.
Cost Comparison By Category
This gives you a listing, for a given category, of the suppliers and products. It shows the Unit Cost on each Purchase Order, Misc Transaction and Quotation. This enables you to compare prices amongst suppliers if you have organised your categories for a specific type of product. In the screenshot, you can see that the category is ‘Printers’ and so a quick eyeball down the list reveals which supplier is cheapest for a given product. Top
3.
Qty-On-Hand and Valuation
This gives you a listing of products, sorted by Product ID, showing the Qty-On-Hand and Valuation. The valuation is at actual cost based on unit price. The valuation excludes GST and miscellaneous charges. Top
4.
List Suppliers
Straight-forward listing of suppliers, with address, phone and credit terms details. Top
5.
Purchase Order Details
When you click the command button to open this report you are initially presented with a dialogue box to ask you to select the Purchase Order you require. Then the system will generate the report showing the various itemised details. Top
6.
Job Costing
This gives you a summary by Job Cost Code and Product of the Total Qty Shipped and Cost. The Cost uses the same method as inventory valuation, that is the Cost is actual cost based on unit price. The Cost excludes GST and miscellaneous charges.
The command button at the bottom of the screen allows you to print hardcopy. The hardcopy report summarises by Job Cost Code, that is there is no separate line for Product within Job Cost Code. Top
Demo Version
The Demo Version is fully functional except that you cannot modify or create suppliers. The Demo Version comes with sample data for you to explore.
The Demo Version can be downloaded from our web-site in zip format. Unzip into a folder of your choice and open the MDB file with MS Access 2000.
Please note that you cannot download the runtime version of MS Access 2000 (for licensing and size of programme reasons). If you require it, then a CD can be despatched to you along with the Demo Version of RCS Simple Inventory. Top
Pricing, Upgrades and Support
1. Demo Version – free download
2. Demo Version and runtime MS Access 2000 on CD. S$20.00.
3. Retail Version and runtime MS Access 2000 on CD. S$75.00.
Technical support and help is free for one year, with special discounted prices for upgrades. Thereafter, annual fee of S$25.00. Top