Using Product Codes to Identify Service Items

The inventory module can be useful for functions besides tracking inventory counts or identifying tangible items. Identifying non-tangible items such as service labor can be useful for the following reasons:

Data entry can be greatly simplified by identifying a service function such as hours of maintenance labor with an inventory ID. For example, Hours maintenance labor can be identified with an inventory ID of LFIX. A service function can be described using 1-3 lines, using as many as 150 characters and can be added to a sales invoice by entering a short inventory ID.
Appropriate general ledger accounts can be associated with each service to be used within the sales invoice. The account is automatically entered into a sales invoice, which helps to alleviate user errors.
The inventory module facilitates a variety of pricing schemes associated with the service using the different price levels.
The inventory record identifies if sales tax needs to be charged.
Tasks and work orders can be created from a service code that is added to a proposal or sales order.
Labor can be added to a bill of materials within a manufacturing batch to add labor costs to manufactured finished goods.
The S.O. values within the count tab are useful to identify sales orders that contain the specific service.
The unit of measure feature is useful when pricing is needed for different time periods such as hours and days.
The inventory year history can be very valuable to identify the total number of hours or units that were billed in a given time period.

Create a Service Code

Create a new inventory item by using the new inventory wizard the same way another inventory item is created. Complete the following steps:

Go to Inventory > Product Catalog and select New from the Edit menu or click on the New button within the inventory item window. The following wizard will appear:
It can be very useful to create a separate service folder to group the non-tangible items together. To create a new folder, highlight the folder in which to place the new folder, and click the New Folder button. Enter the new folder name (for example: Service) and click OK to create the new folder. Click Next to continue.
Enter the description that you would like to show in the sales invoice. To manually enter the description at the time of the invoice entry, switch the check mark OFF to the right of each description line.
A Default Selling Unit must be set only if multiple units-of-measure entries are created for this service item.
User may ignore the Manufacturer settings for service items. Click the Next button to continue.
Set the Classification to Service.
Select appropriate tax group option. Review the Sales > Sales Tax of the sales documentation for more details on sales tax set up. Click the Next button to continue.
The Cost of a service can be entered into the Cost field to be used when processing sales invoice profits. For example, if an invoice includes an hourly service item with a price of $30, the entire amount ($30) of the sale will show as profit within invoice profit reports. It may be useful to enter the approximate cost of the labor ($20) in the cost field so the invoice only shows a profit of $10 instead of $30. This value is optional and can be kept blank. The cost of any service item is not recorded within the general ledger as an asset value.
Set the Margin/Markup setting to (None) unless you prefer to calculate the price of the service item from the cost. Since service items are not purchased, the cost will not automatically be changed. If the price for all price levels is the same, enter the price into the Base Price field and set the price Formula to Equal to, which will copy the Base Price into each price level. Click the Next button to continue.
Enter a service Id or Item Code.
Enable I want to view the new inventory item now, click Finish, and click on the Advanced tab after the new product opens.
Enable the shortcut option unless this product identifies subcontractor labor rather than internal labor. Review Product Shortcuts and Credit Offset Switch for more information on the shortcut option.

Review also Entering new Inventory Items for more details on entering new inventory items or Changing Product Information for detailed description of the other inventory fields.

Create a Service Kit

EBMS allows a user to create a group of service items as a kit. The kit header item contains a list of components or bill of materials (BOM). Use an item classified as No Count to attach tasks to the component service items.

Another option is to use a product classified as service for the header item. This item may contain an attached task and labor tracking with a bill of materials that consists of various component products. This option should be used when a task is attached to the header of the materials list.

Review Components (BOM) and Accessories > Adding Components to Create an Assembly Kit to add service components to a no count item to create a service kit or to add components to a service item.