The details collected for a given category will vary based on the category record type and the intended system usage. Below we have defined each section of the category detail screen. To learn how to enter a category record, click here.
General
The general section describes the category's basic information such as the type, the name, input codes, and costs.
When a task group is linked to a category, aACE automatically generates the specified task assignments as defined in the task group record. This feature is available to all category record types except for "Other". For more information about task groups, click here.
Category rates and commission structures are set in this section as well. Here, aACE provides additional features for volume pricing and advanced commission structures.
Description
The description field stores the details of the category. While the details for most categories may be fairly short, the field will hold a large amount of data.
Accounting Setup
Each category record is assigned to general ledger accounts for both the revenue-side (Acct # Rev) and the cost-side (Acct # Cost). This allows you to apply the same category to both sales transactions and purchase transactions. All the necessary accounting logic is completely transparent to day-to-day users. Additional general ledger assignments are necessary for inventory items (Acct # Invtry).
Department links (Department) enable you to run department-level income statements. This field is an optional setting.
Item Info
This section allows you to enter the dimensions of an item, the weight, unit of measure, estimated shipping costs, and SKU number. All fields are optional, but if entered, the information flows to the shipping logs. (Not applicable to Activities, Purchases and Other category record types.)
Options
This section gives you the ability to make aACE smarter by offering alternatives and options. This section is available to all record types except for Activities, Purchases and Other.
Alternatives
Here is one example: Say you sell shirts. They come in dark blue, light blue and white. When entering an order, users will see that there are alternatives they can suggest. This is especially helpful if aACE is also used to manage stock levels: if dark blue is out of stock, sales people may recommend alternatives that are in stock.
This is how it looks at the category level. The options section shows two other colors; light blue and white.
Below is what users see at the order level. The "2" indicates there are two alternatives to the dark blue shirt. Clicking the "2" will open the Options Selector to present the other choices. From there the user just clicks the preferred choice to update the order.
Upgrades
Similar to options, upgrades allow users to up-sell a product or service with additional add-ons. Using the shirt as our example, possible upgrades might include special collars and cuffs.
This is how it looks at the category level.
Below is what users see at the order level. The "4" indicates there are four upgrades to choose from. Clicking the "4" opens the selector. Users click the desired upgrades to add them to the order.
Custom Prices
This section allows you to view and manage a category's related rate cards. These custom pricing scenarios and commission schedules are saved and linked to individual orders and customers. For more on rate cards, click here.
Preferences
This section allows you to control certain aspects of the category. The available preferences will differ based on the class of category you are working with. Click here for more information on category preferences.
See Also
Category details for inventoried items and preferred vendors