Model Equipment

In MYOB Advanced, you can keep track of a stock item after it has been sold to a customer. To do that, you create a model equipment entity that is based on the stock item. A piece of model equipment is a stock item that can be sold to a customer and tracked by your company after it is sold. When an invoice is released, the system automatically converts it into target equipment that you can track. You can also keep track of the details of the components of model equipment, such as the serial numbers of these components.

In this topic, you will read about adding a model equipment entity, defining the components of the model equipment, selling the model equipment, and performing additional actions on the equipment.

Understanding the Process of Model Equipment Creation

To create a model equipment entity in the system, you perform the following steps:
  1. If you want to track the components of the model equipment entity in the system, you create at least one item class for components on the Item Classes (IN201000) form. For details on component item classes, see Component Item Class.
  2. You create an item class for model equipment on the Item Classes form. If the model equipment has components, you have to specify them in the item class and assign them a component item class. For details on model equipment item classes, see Model Equipment Item Class.
  3. If your company is going to register the selling and replacing of components in the system while employees work with either service orders or sales orders, you create stock items for the components of this model equipment entity on the Stock Items (IN202500) form. For details on selling and replacing components, see the component-related topics in the Equipment Management Use Cases chapter.
  4. You create the model equipment entity on the Stock Items form.

Creating Model Equipment

You create a model equipment entity on the Stock Items (IN202500) form. For each entity of model equipment, you specify its identifier and description, and select a model equipment item class.

Note: You can also convert an already-defined stock item to model equipment. To do this, navigate to the Stock Items form, select the needed stock item, and then select a model equipment item class for it.

When you select the class for the stock item, the system fills in the default settings (along with any components) that have been specified for the class and selects the Model Equipment check box on the Service Management tab of the Stock Items form, which defines the stock item as model equipment. You then specify the manufacturer of the equipment in the Manufacturer box (for details, see Manufacturers) and save your changes to the stock item that is defined as model equipment.

For instructions on how to add model equipment, see To Add Model Equipment.

Defining an Equipment Type for Model Equipment

While you are creating a stock item that is defined as model equipment, you can specify a type related to the equipment in the Equipment Type box on the Service Management tab of the Stock Items (IN202500) form.

When the system converts the model equipment to target equipment from the sale of the stock item, if the attributes and any values specified for them specified for the selected equipment type are the same as those that are defined for the stock item, these attributes are copied to the Equipment (FS205000) form. If the attributes and any values specified for them defined for the stock item are not the same as the attributes specified for the selected equipment type, when the system creates the target equipment from the sale of a unit of the stock item, the attributes of only the type are copied to the form.

For example, suppose that the LAPTOP equipment type has the attributes COLOR and OFFICELOCATION. Also, the LAPTOP1 stock item is defined as model equipment with the LAPTOP equipment type, and this stock item has the following attributes:

  • INDUSTRY, with the IT value
  • COLOR, which has the BLACK value
  • VENDORCONTRACT, with the CIN001 value

When a LAPTOP1 item is sold through a sales order, the system identifies that both the stock item and the equipment type have the COLOR attribute and creates a piece of equipment with the COLOR attribute with the BLACK value and the OFFICELOCATION attribute without a value. (The user can fill in the OFFICELOCATION value and change the COLOR value, if needed, for the piece of equipment.) The INDUSTRY and VENDORCONTRACT attributes are not used because they have not been specified for the LAPTOP equipment type.

Defining Components and Warranties

If components are defined for a model equipment item class on the Item Classes (IN201000) form, the system adds the components with the default settings when you create a model equipment entity on the Stock Items (IN202500) form and select this item class. In the Components table of the Service Management tab, you can view the details of the components and change them if necessary.

Note: You can add only components that are defined for the model equipment item class.

If you are going to perform sales or replacement of these components and track them in the system, stock items should be created in the system for them. If stock items have been created for any of the components listed for a model equipment entity, you select the default inventory identifier of each such component in the Inventory ID column in the Components table.

On this tab, you can also specify the warranty period provided for the model equipment in the Equipment General Warranty section, and for its components in the table. Based on the information provided in this section, the system calculates the warranty period for target equipment that is created for this model equipment. Depending on the setting in the Equipment Settings section of the Equipment Management Preferences (FS100300) form, the system uses an installation date or the sales date to calculate the warranty period.

Selling Equipment

When you sell equipment, you create a sales order that includes the equipment being sold for (with the Selling Model Equipment action selected) on the Details tab of the Sales Orders (SO301000) form. You then process the sales order, as described in Processing Sales of Stock Items.

When you release the invoice for the sales order, the system creates a target equipment entity on the Equipment (FS205000) form with the customer location assigned based on the customer location that was assigned to the model equipment on the Stock Items (IN202500) form. For details on target equipment, see Target Equipment.

Alternatively, you can reflect a sell of a piece of model equipment in an appointment or service order on the Appointments (FS30.02.00) or Service Orders (FS300100) form, respectively. If you use these forms, you can schedule the installation of the equipment along with the sale.

Performing Actions on Equipment

After you have created target equipment in the system, while you are working with a sales order, service order, or appointment, you can easily register the following actions being performed upon particular target equipment entities: