Quick Appointment Creation: To Create an Appointment Without Creating a Service Order First

The following activity will walk you through the process of creating an appointment without creating a service order first. You will assign a staff member to the appointment based on the needed skills.

Attention: This activity is based on the U100 dataset. If you are using another dataset, or if any system settings have been changed in U100, these changes can affect the workflow of the activity and the results of the processing. To avoid any issues, restore the U100 dataset to its initial state.

Story

Suppose that the GoodFood One Restaurant previously ordered a juicer from the SweetLife Service and Equipment Sales Center with a production rate of 1.5 liters per minute. Now this customer needs installation services for the juicer. The service manager (Maia Davis) and the customer have agreed that the service will be delivered on February 4, 2024, at 9 AM.

Acting as the service manager, you need to create an appointment in the system and assign a staff member who has the needed skill for performing the service.

Configuration Overview

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

  • The minimum system configuration, which is described in Company with Branches that Do Not Require Balancing: General Information, has been performed.
  • The SWEETLIFE company has been created on the Companies (CS101500) form. This company has multiple branches created on the Branches (CS102000) form, including SWEETEQUIP (Service and Equipment Sales Center).
  • On the Service Management Preferences (FS100100) form, the minimum settings have been specified, including specifying the numbering sequences and work calendar, for the service management functionality to be used.
  • On the Users (SM201010) form, the davis and smith user accounts have been created. The EP00000040 - Maia Davis employee has been associated with the davis user account; that is, Maia Davis has been selected in the Linked Entity box of the Summary area of the form. The EP00000043 - Edward Smith employee has been associated with the smith user account; that is, Edward Smith has been selected in the Linked Entity box of the Summary area of the form.
  • On the Branch Locations (FS202500) form, the WEST BRIGHTON branch location of the SWEETEQUIP (Service and Equipment Sales Center) branch has been created.
  • On the User Profile (SM203010) form, for the davis user, WEST BRIGHTON has been specified as the default branch location.
  • On the Service Order Types (FS202300) form, the INST service order type has been defined.
  • On the Billing Cycles (FS206000) form, the following settings have been specified for the AP AP billing cycle:
    • Run Billing For: Appointments
    • Group Billing Documents By: Appointments
  • On the Customers (AR303000) form, the GOODFOOD (GoodFood One Restaurant) customer has been defined, and the AP AP billing cycle has been selected in the Service Management section of the Billing tab.
  • On the Skills (FS200600) form, the INSTALLING skill has been created.
  • On the Non-Stock Items (IN202000) form, the INSTALL service (that is, non-stock item of the Service type) has been created. On the Price/Cost tab, the Flat Rate billing rule has been specified. For this service, INSTALLING has been listed on the Service Skills tab (so the assigned staff member must have this skill).
  • On the Employees (EP203000) form, EP00000043 (Edward Smith) has been defined. For this employee, on the General tab (Employee Settings section), the Staff Member in Service Management check box has been selected. Also, the INSTALLING skill has been added for this employee on the Skills tab.

Process Overview

On the Appointments (FS300200) form, you will create an appointment for which no service order exists; on the Details tab of the form, you will add an installation service to the appointment by using the Inventory Lookup dialog box. You will then assign a staff member to the appointment by using the Add Staff dialog box on the Staff tab of the form.

System Preparation

Before you begin performing the steps of this activity, do the following:

  1. Launch the MYOB Acumatica website, and sign in to a company with the U100 dataset preloaded. You should sign in as a service manager by using the davis username and the 123 password.
  2. In the company to which you are signed in, be sure that you have enabled the Service Management feature on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form.
  3. In the info area, in the upper-right corner of the top pane of the MYOB Acumatica screen, make sure that the business date in your system is set to 1/30/2024. If a different date is displayed, click the Business Date menu button, and select 1/30/2024 on the calendar. For simplicity, in this activity, you will create and process all documents in the system on this business date.

Step 1: Creating an Appointment

To create an appointment, do the following:

  1. On the Appointments (FS300200) form, add a new record.
  2. In the Summary area, specify the following settings for the new appointment:
    • Service Order Type: INST
    • Customer: GOODFOOD (GoodFood One Restaurant)
  3. In the Description box, type Juicer installation.
  4. On the Settings tab (Scheduled Date and Time section), specify the date and time of the appointment. In the Scheduled Start Date boxes, select 2/4/2024 9:00 AM.
  5. On the form toolbar, click Save.

Because you have neither created this appointment from a service order nor selected any service order for the appointment, when you saved the appointment, the system created a new service order automatically and inserted its reference number in the Service Order Nbr. box.

Step 2: Adding a Service to the Appointment

To add a service to the appointment, do the following:

  1. While you are still viewing the appointment on the Appointments (FS300200) form, on the table toolbar of the Details tab, click Add Items.

    The Inventory Lookup dialog box is opened.

  2. In the Item Class ID box of the Selection area, select INSTALLING.

    The dialog box lists only those services that belong to the selected class.

  3. In the table, select the unlabeled check box in the row of the INSTALL service, and click Add & Close.
  4. On the form toolbar, click Save.

Step 3: Assigning a Staff Member with the Needed Skill

To assign an appointment to a staff member who has the required skill, do the following:

  1. While you are still viewing the appointment on the Appointments (FS300200) form, on the table toolbar of the Staff tab, click Add Staff.

    The Add Staff dialog box is opened. In the Skills table (the top table below the Selection area), which lists all skills that have been created in the system, the Included check box is selected for all skills that are preferred for performing the service for the appointment. The INSTALLING skill is selected because it is associated with the INSTALL service on the Non-Stock Items (IN202000) form. Similarly, the License Types table (under the Skills table) lists all license types that have been created in the system, and the Included check box is selected for all license types that are preferred for staff members who perform the service.

    The Staff Members table lists only those staff members who match all of the selected skills and license types. You select the Included check box for the staff member or members to be assigned to the service.

  2. In the Skills table and the License Types table, clear all Included check boxes that are selected.

    Notice that all staff members are now listed in the Staff Members table.

  3. In the Skills table, again select the Included check box for the INSTALLING skill.
  4. In the Staff Members table, select the Included check box for Edward Smith.
  5. At the bottom of the dialog box, click OK.
  6. On the form toolbar, click Save.

On the Staff tab, notice that EP00000043 (Edward Smith) is now assigned to the appointment, as the following screenshot shows.

Figure 1. The appointment with the staff member assigned to it