Working with items

Anything detailed on a line in a quote, work order, purchase order or invoice must be set up as an item Everything placed on the detail line of a quote, order, invoice, PO or bill, is an item. These can be labor, service, notes, or stock/non-stock items.. Items that have not yet been created can be keyed “on-the-fly” to any of your quotes, orders, or invoices and doing so will, with your approval, add them to your items list as a non-stock item.  If you are a "Stock Shop", you must itemize every purchase, order and invoice.

Things to know about items:

An item code is simply a code that SM uses to uniquely identify a specific item. Make this YOUR code, not the vendor's code!

An item type tells ServMan how to handle the item.

An Item Master is simply another name for the item record in the item file.

There are many types of items used in ServMan. Below is an overview of each.

Stock Item Type

1. Use stock items when you want to track and manage your inventory

2. Expensed when you sell them to a client

3. Housed in a warehouse or truck

4. Can be serialized

5. Can be reserved

   • To learn more about Stock items, click HERE.

   • To learn more about Serialized items, click HERE.

Non Stock Item Type

1. Expensed when purchased

2. Item used frequently but don't need to track the quantity on hand

3. Reduces the risk of data entry errors

   • Use a Non-Stock item type for specialty or miscellaneous items

   • Use a Non-Stock item called "Note" to add a customizable note to a quote, order or invoice

   • To learn more about Non Stock items, click HERE.

Service Item Type

1.      Cross between labor item and a non-stock item

2.   A service item is considered a form of labor.  For example, Preventive Maintenance Service would be considered a Service type item. 

3.   ServMan’s tax codes treat Service items and Labor items the same way so that if labor is not taxable, performing the Preventive Maintenance Service is also not taxable. 

4.   The difference between Service and Labor item types is that you cannot log time to a Service item

Expense Item Type

1. Used for detailing AP bills and Purchase Orders so that ServMan will remember the name, description, GL codes and cost for each

2. Work the same as Non Stock items

   • These are Items you commonly use and pay for - like pens, paper, rent and utilities

   • TIP - Put your expense items in their own Primary and Sub Category so they are easy to find

Labor Item Type

1.   Used to logging a technician's time directly against the item on an order or invoice

2.   Can be set to automatically prompt for a technician's time when you put a labor item on an order or invoice  

3.  Allows you to choose whether the time is considered Productive or Unproductive time.  (This is used in the Tech Performance Reports) 

Flat Rate Item Type

1. Has a pre-established price for the entire flat rate item

2. Contains a list of other item numbers, both parts and labor priced at zero

3. Can be imported from a file created by a third-party provider

   • To learn more about Flat Rate Items, click HERE.

Template Item Type

1. Contains a list of other item numbers - think of it like a menu

2. User can select all or some of the items from the list to add to the order, quote or invoice

3. Most often used on Quotes

4. Can contain other templates  

   • To learn more about Template Items, click HERE.

Assembly Item Type

1. Built from other stock and/or non stock items to create a new stock item   

   • To learn more about Assembly Items, click HERE.

In addition to the various item types, ServMan allows the ability to create items used for special purposes.  

Loaner/Rental Items

1. Items you have already paid for, loan or rent to someone else, then expect to get them back

2. Created as a Stock Item Type with serial numbers for tracking and history

3. Expensed when purchased

4. Not valued when used so they do not affect Cost of Goods Sold

   • To learn more about Loaner/Rental items, click HERE.

   • To learn more about Serialized items, click HERE.

Consignment Items

1. Created as a stock type item for tracking

2. Not valued in inventory

3. Expensed when you sell the item to a client

4. Housed in your warehouse

   • To learn more about consignment items, click HERE.

Preventive Maintenance Items

1. Created as a non stock or service type item

2. Used to sell, perform or renew PM contracts only

   • To learn more about PM items, click HERE.

Auto Payment Items

1. Created as a non stock or service item type

2. Created to trigger an automatic payment on recurring invoices

3. Only one auto payment item is allowed in ServMan

   • To learn more about Auto Payment items, click HERE.

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Find an item

1. Click Items on the Inventory Navigator or the Items icon in the icon bar.
2. Enter your search criteria.
3. Press Enter or click Start Search.

To find items marked "Download to Mobile":

1. In the first search criteria dropdown, select Item->
2. Select Starts With
3. Enter

To find PM Contract Sell, Perform or Renew items:

1. In the first search criteria dropdown, select Item->
2. Select Starts With
3. Enter an S, P or R depending on the type of PM item you are searching for

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Add an item

1. Click New Item Everything placed on the detail line of a quote, order, invoice, PO or bill, is an item. These can be labor, service, notes, or stock/non-stock items. on the Inventory Navigator.
2. Enter the requested information. NOTE: The information you can enter varies based on the item type. See item options and field definitions for more details.
3. Click OK.

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Add a copy of an item

Adding a copy of an item copies many of the settings - income and expense accounts, categories, groups, and more - so you do not have to set this manually. This can especially usefully if you are adding many items in the with same settings.

1. Find the item.
2. Right-clicking the on the item and select Add Copy of.
3. Edit the item number, description, and any other information the differs from the original item. NOTE: The information you can enter varies based on the item type. See item options and field definitions for more details.
4. Click OK.

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Item menu button options

ServMan provides a button on many screens that allows quick and convenient access to frequently used functions. For items, the menu button currently contains no options.

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Edit an item

1. Open the item
2. Update the information an needed.
3. Click OK.

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Set the retail price for an item

The retail price is normal price you charge for the item. Using Price Books, however, you can have different sell prices for different customers.

1. Open the item
2. Edit the retail price. NOTE: Changing the retail price may not change the price certain customers pay for the item if you use Price Books.
3. Click OK.

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Set an item to download to mobile

For ServMan Mobile users to use an item on their devices, you must indicate that the item can be used on mobile devices.

1. Open the item.
2. Select the Page 2 tab.
3. Check the "Download to Mobile" option.
4. Click OK.

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Make an item inactive

1. Open the item.
2. Check the inactive option.
3. Click OK.

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Delete an item

Stock or assembly items with quantities on hand cannot be deleted. You must do an inventory adjustment first to reduce the quantity on hand to zero.

1. Find the item.
2. Right-click on the item and select Delete.
3. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

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Automatically update an Item to Client Systems Table

1. Find the item
2. On Page 2 of the Item setup check the "Update to Client System Database" option.
3. Choose the System Type from the drop down list.
4. Save the item.  The item will now Update to the Clients record when Posted to Cogs on an order or Updated to AR on an invoice.

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Create a Discount Item

1. Click New Item Everything placed on the detail line of a quote, order, invoice, PO or bill, is an item. These can be labor, service, notes, or stock/non-stock items. on the Inventory Navigator.
2. Enter the item number, name and description for the discount
3. Item Type should be Non-Stock
4. Income account will be your Discount GL Account - see your accountant for more information
5. GL Expense Acct is not required - see your accountant for more information
6. Select OTHER for your Cost Code for Job Cost - see your accountant for more information
7. Page 2 tab - check the Tax Exempt checkbox
8. Page 2 tab - set your Primary and Sub Categories
9. Nexstar members - Check the Discount Item checkbox on the Nexstar tab for this item
10. Click OK.