Vendor Visibility: To Restrict Visibility to a Branch

In this implementation activity, you will learn how to restrict the visibility of a vendor record to a particular branch.

Story

Suppose that the management of SweetLife Fruits & Jams has decided to implement the restriction of vendor visibility. One of vendors, Squeezo Inc., supplies juicers for the Service and Equipment Sales Center branch of SweetLife Fruits & Jams company, and users who are employees of other branches and companies should not have access to this vendor record. In other words, after the implementation of this restriction, Pam Brawner, who is the Service Manager of the SWEETEQUIP branch, should be able to access the Squeezo Inc. vendor and Eric Killian, the Purchase Requisitions Manager in the Wholesale and Retail branches, should not be able to access this vendor.

Acting as a system administrator, you need to restrict the visibility of the SQUEEZO vendor to the SWEETEQUIP (Service and Equipment Sales Center) branch only and make sure the appropriate access role has been specified for this branch. You then need to verify that a user without this access role cannot access the vendor, and that a user with this access role can access the vendor. Acting as an accountant, you need to create an AP document selecting the SWEETEQUIP branch as the originating branch and specifying this vendor.

Configuration Overview

In the U100 dataset, for the purposes of this activity, the following tasks have been performed:

  • On the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, the Multicompany Support and Customer and Vendor Visibility Restriction features have been enabled.
  • On the Branches (CS102000) form, for the SWEETEQUIP branch, the Branch SweetEquip role associated with the branch is specified in the Access Role box (Configuration Settings section) on the Branch Details tab.
  • On the Users (SM201010) form, for the brawner login, the Branch SweetEquip role is selected on the Roles tab. For the killian login, the Branch SweetEquip role is not selected on the Roles tab.
  • On the Vendors (AP303000) form, the SQUEEZO vendor account has been configured.

Process Overview

In this activity, on the Branches (CS102000) form, you will make sure that the access role for the SWEETEQUIP branch has been set up, and on the Users (SM201010) form, you will make sure that it has been assigned to one of the users. On the Vendors (AP303000) form, you will set up a visibility restriction for the needed vendor. You will then sign in to the tenant by using a username that is not assigned to the needed branch access role and then a username that is assigned to the branch access role; in both cases, you will check for the ability to view the SQUEEZO vendor. Finally, on the Bills and Adjustments (AP301000) form, you will create a bill for the SQUEEZO vendor and make sure that you can select this vendor for a document if the originating branch is SWEETQEUIP.

System Preparation

Before you start restricting the visibility of a vendor record, sign in to a company with the U100 dataset preloaded as a system administrator by using the following credentials:

  • Username: gibbs
  • Password: 123

Step 1: Reviewing Branch Access Roles of the Users

To review the access roles assigned to the brawner and killian users, do the following:

  1. Open the Branches (CS102000) form.
  2. In the Branch ID box, select SWEETEQUIP.

    Notice that the access role for this branch specified in the Access Role box (Configuration Settings section) on the Branch Detail tab is Branch SweetEquip.

  3. Open the Users (SM201010) form.
  4. In the Login box in the Summary area, select brawner.
  5. In the table on the Roles tab, review the access roles assigned to this user. The Branch SweetEquip access role has been assigned to this user (the Selected check box to the left of its row is selected).
  6. In the Login box, select killian.
  7. In the table on the Roles tab, review the access roles assigned to this user. Notice that the Branch SweetEquip access role has the Selected check box cleared for its row; this access role has not been assigned for this user.

Step 2: Restricting the Visibility of a Vendor

To restrict the visibility of the SQUEEZO vendor, do the following:

  1. Open the Vendors (AP303000) form.
  2. In the Vendor ID box, select SQUEEZO.
  3. On the Financial tab (Financial Settings section), select SWEETEQUIP in the Restrict Visibility To box. This is the Service and Equipment Sales Center branch of the SweetLife Fruits & Jams company.
  4. On the form toolbar, click Save to save your changes.

Step 3: Reviewing the Visibility of the Vendor Record

To review the visibility of the vendor record, do the following:

  1. Sign in to the tenant as a user who is not assigned the access role of the branch by using the following credentials:
    • Username: killian
    • Password: 123
  2. Open the Vendors (AP303000) form.
  3. In the Vendor ID box of the Summary area, open the lookup table and attempt to find the SQUEEZO vendor.

    Notice that the SQUEEZO vendor is not listed and you cannot find it by using the Search box; this vendor is not visible for the current user, because this user is assigned to the role that has access to the SweetLife Head Office and Wholesale Center branch of SweetLife Fruits & Jams only and is not assigned to the Branch SweetEquip role, which is the access role of the branch specified for the vendor.

  4. Sign in to the tenant as a user who is assigned the access role of the branch by using the following credentials:
    • Username: brawner
    • Password: 123
  5. Open the Vendors form.
  6. In the Vendor ID box of the Summary area, open the lookup table and attempt to find the SQUEEZO vendor. Notice that the SQUEEZO vendor is listed and thus is visible for the current user, because the user is assigned to the Branch SweetEquip role, which is the access role of the branch specified for the vendor.
  7. On the Purchase Settings tab, review the value in the Default Branch box. The default branch for this vendor is SWEETEQUIP, and you cannot override this value because the vendor's visibility has been restricted to this branch and this is the only branch that can be used with the vendor.

    On the Bills and Adjustments (AP301000) form, when you are creating an AP document and select a vendor, the system automatically populates the Branch box on the Financial tab with the default branch of the selected location. (This branch is considered the originating branch of the document.) If the default branch is not specified, the originating branch is the current branch to which you are signed in.

Step 4: Creating a Bill for the Squeezo Vendor

To create a bill for the SQUEEZO vendor whose visibility has been restricted, do the following:

  1. Sign in to the tenant as Anna Johnson by using the johnson username and the 123 password.

    This user is an accountant who has access to all branches of the SweetLife company.

  2. On the Company and Branch Selection menu, select the SweetLife Head Office and Wholesale Center branch.
  3. Open the Bills and Adjustments (AP301000) form.
    Tip:
    To open the form for creating a new record, type the form ID in the Search box, and on the Search form, point at the form title and click New right of the title.
  4. On the form toolbar, click Add New Record.
  5. In the Vendor box, click the magnifier button and review the list of vendors. Notice that the SQUEEZO vendor is not listed, because its visibility has been restricted to the SWEETQEUIP branch and you are signed in to the HEADOFFICE branch. HEADOFFICE is specified as the document's originating branch on the Financial tab.
  6. On the Financial tab, in the Branch box, select SWEETEQUIP.

    You have changed the originating branch of the document to the branch in which the SQUEEZO vendor should be accessible.

  7. In the Vendor box, select SQUEEZO.
  8. In the Summary area, specify the following settings:
    • Type: Bill
    • Date: 3/1/2024
    • Description: Juicer
  9. On the Details tab, click Add Row and enter the following settings for the added row:
    • Inventory ID: INSTALL
    • Quantity: 1
    • Ext. Cost: 80 (inserted automatically)
    • Project: X
  10. On the form toolbar, click Save to save your changes.
    Note:
    For the purposes of this activity, you do not need to further process this bill.