Frequently Asked Questions

💡This page answers common questions about BOS Enterprise: what terms mean, how similar features differ, what you can change, user access, features and solving problems.

Definitions#

What is an Item?#

• An Item is anything you buy, make, sell or supply. It can be a part, a finished product, a service or work you send out to a supplier.
• Items that you keep in stock are Inventory Items. Only Inventory Items have stock quantities.
• See Item Creation and Editing.

What is a Transaction Type?#

• A Transaction Type is one kind of transaction, for example, a Quotation, a Sales Order or a Customer Invoice.
• BOS Enterprise does not come with fixed transactions. Each Transaction Type is created and set up for your company.
• The setup decides how the transaction works: its statuses, what it can be copied to, its fields, its printout, and whether it affects the accounts and the stock.
• See Transaction Setup.

What are the Header Status and the Item Status?#

• A transaction has a status for the whole transaction (the Header Status) and a status for each line (the Item Status).
• Every status is in one of four groups: Pending, Active, Complete or Cancelled.
• See Statuses.

What does "in an Accounting Status" mean?#

• It means the transaction is in the accounts. A transaction goes into the Ledger only when both of these are checked:
  • Accounting on its Transaction Type.
  • Accounting on its Header Status.
• Until then, it is not in the Ledger, the financial statements or the age analyses.
• The Item Status does not affect the accounts.
• See Ledger Posting.

What does "in an Inventory Status" mean?#

• It means the transaction changes the stock. Only a status with Inventory checked updates the stock quantities and prices.
• In any other status, the transaction does not change the stock.
• See Statuses.

What are In Stock, Reserved, On Order and Available?#

• In Stock: What you have. Everything received, less everything issued, corrected by the stock checks.
• Reserved: What is set aside for orders but not issued yet.
• On Order: What you ordered from suppliers but have not received yet.
• Available: What you can still use. In Stock less Reserved.

See Stock Quantities.

What is an Entity?#

• An Entity is a branch or a company in your group. Several Entities can share one database and one Chart of Accounts.
• If you have more than one Entity, every transaction must belong to one of them.
• Users, Transaction Types, stock locations, items and bank accounts can be limited to an Entity.
• See Entities.

What is an Estimate Type?#

• An Estimate Type is a ready-made layout for a kind of estimate, for example, a custom estimate, Flexo Engineering or Engineering.
• It makes estimates quicker to create and more accurate.
• See Estimate Types.

What are Data Types?#

• Data Types are extra tables of information, for example, Materials, Pumps or Fasteners.
• They provide dropdown lists, extra details on items, and the inputs for estimating a simple, single-part product.
• See Data Types Reference.

Differences#

What is the difference between an Item Category and an Item Class?#

• An Item Category is a group of items, used for reports and to organise them. The category decides which tabs must be completed on its items.
• An Item Class holds extra settings, User-Defined Fields and checklists that categories can use. A class can also be linked to a Data Type.
• See Item Categories and Item Classes.

What is the difference between Changelogs and Audits?#

• A Changelog shows what was changed in a record: which field, the old value and the new value.
• You open Audits from Menu (button) > View Audits, or by right-clicking and selecting Summaries > Audits.
• See Changelog.

How do I create the next transaction, for example, an invoice from a Sales Order?#

• Copy the transaction.
• The Copy Rules of the Transaction Type decide what it can be copied to, and how the statuses change.
• See Copying Transactions.

Customising BOS Enterprise#

Can I change the layout of my quotations and invoices?#

• Yes. Printed and emailed documents come from Output Templates.
• A template is designed in the Form Designer and then added to the module.
• See Output.

Can I have a report that shows exactly the information I need?#

• Yes. Custom Reports can show any data in your database. They are written in SQL.
• A Custom Report can be added to a menu.
• See Custom Reports.

Can I add my own one-click steps?#

Yes. Custom Actions can show a message, update data or create a new record. See Custom Actions Reference.

Can different users have different menus?#

Yes. You can change the Main Menu and the Tile Menu, and give each user their own Menu Template. See Menus.

Can I add my own fields?#

• Yes. You can add User-Defined Fields to customers, suppliers, their contacts, staff and My Organisation.
• The fields appear on a User Fields tab.
• See User-Defined Fields.

User Access#

Can I stop staff from creating certain transactions?#

Yes. For each Transaction Type, you can allow or block a user from viewing, creating, editing and deleting transactions. See User Access.

Can reps see only their own customers and transactions?#

• Yes. Set Customers - Access Allowed to Mine (Rep). The user then sees only the customers they are the rep for.
• Set View access on a Transaction Type to Own (Rep). The user then sees only their own transactions. Sales Rep must be checked on their staff record.
• See User Access.

I changed a user's access, but nothing changed. Why?#

• Most access changes work the next time the user opens the screen.
• Some only work after the user closes BOS Enterprise and logs in again.
• See User Access.

Can I see who changed a record?#

Yes. Changelogs show who changed a record and when, for customers, items, Price Lists, the Service Manager, settings and more. See Changelog.

Features#

Does BOS Enterprise have a Point of Sale?#

• Yes. Any Transaction Type can work as a Point of Sale.
• You can scan barcodes, take cash and card payments with change and tips, and check the money with a Cashup.
• See Point of Sale.

Can I work in more than one currency?#

Yes. Transactions can be in different currencies, and exchange rates can have up to six decimals. See Multi-Currency.

Can I run more than one branch or company?#

Yes. Each branch or company is an Entity. See Entities.

Is there a mobile app?#

Yes. The mobile app covers Approvals, Customers, Deliveries, Inventory, Production, Service Manager and Timekeeping. See Mobile App.

Is there a module for quality problems?#

Yes. A Non-Conformance Report records a quality problem, what was done to contain and correct it, its cause and the final review. See Non-Conformance Reports Reference.

Must I know SQL to use BOS Enterprise?#

No. You only need SQL to write Custom Reports, Custom Actions and a few advanced settings, for example, the customer and item warning messages.

Troubleshooting#

Why is my transaction not in the Ledger or the financial statements?#

• Either its Header Status does not have Accounting checked, or its Transaction Type does not have Accounting checked.
• Move the transaction to a status that has Accounting checked, or ask your administrator to check the setup.
• See Ledger Posting.

Why does an item show no stock?#

• Either the item is not an Inventory Item, or its transactions are in a status that does not have Inventory checked.
• See Stock Quantities and Statuses.

What does a message mean?#

Error Messages lists the messages about access, settings and deleting, where each one appears and how to fix it.

Which version of BOS Enterprise am I using?#

Click Menu on the Status Bar (bottom right) and select About QuickEasy Software. See Menus.