Promotional Price File

Enter one of the three valid promotion type codes:

• M - The promotional price is sponsored by the manufacturer or supplier.
• H - The promotion is in-house and sponsored by your company.
• F - Not actually a promotional, but a fixed price which is most efficiently maintained using this file. This code is applicable to employee pricing, national accounts programs and other Cost Plus pricing. A promotional with an F supersedes all other promotion, and is always used for the trans­actions or customers assigned to it. If you want a customer or group of cus­tomers to always get a certain price regardless of other promotions that could effect them, use type code F to lock in these prices. Normally, the sys­tem looks for the best applicable promotion, with the best price.

The type code appears on the Order Entry screen if a Promotional Price File is used. It is also one of the report selection parameters used when listing the Promotional Pricing File. These codes are also included in the Pricing Methods section of the Classification Codes File and each one has a Sales Analysis screen available. This means you can track the overall profitability of manufacturer-based promotions versus in-house promotions, and so on.

The first Handling Code field can contain entries affecting the price and fund amount. The second handling code field is for codes affecting the cost or rebate portion of a promotion.

Code 2 causes rebates applied to direct shipments to remain separate from the purchasing cost. Normally, when a rebate is applied to a direct ship, the net purchase cost is reduced by the amount of the rebate and no rebate is claimed. The original purchase is created at the cost minus the rebate. Code 2 treats the direct ship similar to a sale from inventory including a rebate. The purchase order keeps the rebate separate from the original cost. The supplier invoices for the original (higher) cost and issues a rebate later.

This field is normally used only for overbills and points only promotions. This field directs the overbilled dollars, or the points (or both), to funds that have been entered in the Fund File for participating customers. All funds relate to a marketing program which has been set up in the Classification Codes File. You must enter the three-character marketing program code in this field to link this promotional record with any funds set up for the marketing programs.

Steps for setting up funds for a marketing program:

• Assign a three-character code to the marketing program. For example, GLF for the company golf trip.
• Enter that code (GLF) in the Classification Codes File under marketing pro­grams with a brief description of the program.
• Enter the GLF code in the Customer File Marketing Program section of all participating customers.
• Set up a Fund File record for each participating customer. The Fund File record requires the customer's account number, the GLF marketing pro­gram code and other optional information, such as the goal of the fund, for example, $1,000.00 or 100,000 points in order to qualify for the golf trip. The Fund File then accumulates all overbills and points. You can set up a default Fund File record if each customer has the same rules and goals. Set­ting up a default fund eliminates the need to set up a record for each cus­tomer.
• Set up any product overbills or point allocations in the Promotional Pricing File and enter GLF in the Contribute to Funds for Marketing Program field. You can also restrict this promotional record to customers that are in marketing program GLF by using the Available option Assign to Customers.

By using the above method, you can have any number of marketing programs running simultaneously; every customer can participate in as many of them as they or you want.

This column can contain the following transaction type entries:

• I - This line applies to inventory or stock sales only.
• D - This line applies to direct ship sales only.
• Blank - This line applies to any transaction type.

Special orders use the I code, since they are sold as if from stock.

Restriction codes are user defined via the File Management application. Some examples of restriction codes are:

• C - For rolled goods, this line applies to cuts only. It is only used when operator requests a cut price.
• R - For rolled goods, this line applies to rolls only. It is only used when operator requests a roll price.
• M - For rolled goods, this line is a mid-price (between cut and roll prices). For other goods, this line is a management approved reduced price.
• Blank - This line has no restrictions. It can be used whether or not operator requests R, C or M.

Only when an order entry operator specifies a restriction code in the R field on their screen does the system look only for a pricing line with that code. For example, if an operator enters C for cut, the system only accepts a price with the restriction code C, or with no restriction code. If an operator checks for a management authorized reduced price (by entering code M) the system will only accepts a price with the restriction code M, or with no restriction code.

If you sell rolled goods, you should be aware of the roll/cut/balance three-way pricing option, which changes the way in which the R, C, and M codes are used in the Price and Promotional Pricing Files. Refer to the Company Settings program on the System Settings Menu.

This field defines the Amount field described above. Enter one of the following codes, or leave blank if this promotion does not affect pricing.

• P - Entry in the Amount field is a new unit price, which replaces the normal price when the promotion is used.
• $ - Entry in the Amount field is a dollar value that will be added to or sub­tracted from the normal price when the promotion is used. Enter a positive number in the Amount field to increase price, or a negative number to decrease price.
• % - Entry in the Amount field is a percentage. That percentage of the nor­mal price is added to or subtracted from the normal price when the promo­tion is used. A positive number in the Amount field increases the price, and a negative number decreases the price.

The following examples show how the Amount field and the Type field work together:

This field defines the Amount field. Enter one of the following codes, or leave blank if this promotion does not affect cost.

• C - The entry in the Cost Amount field is a new unit cost that replaces the normal cost when the promotion is used. Normally, this is a lower cost than your usual cost. Order Entry and Invoicing programs automatically calcu­late the difference between an actual cost and this promotional cost when selling from inventory. The difference is stored as the rebate amount for that order. For direct ships or purchases, this cost replaces the usual cost.
• $ - The entry in the Cost Amount field is a dollar value that is added to or subtracted from the normal cost when the promotion is used. It is unlikely that you will ever enter a positive dollar amount, which would increase cost. You will usually enter a negative dollar amount, which is actually a rebate to be paid to you by the supplier or manufacturer.
• % - The entry in the Amount field is a percentage. That percentage of the normal cost is applied to the normal cost when the promotion is used. It is unlikely that you will ever enter a positive percentage amount, which would increase cost. You will usually enter a negative percentage amount, which is actually a rebate to be paid to you by the supplier or manufacturer.

Entries that affect cost work differently when selling stock than when selling direct ship orders. When selling stock, cost reductions are considered pending rebates. It is expected that the supplier or manufacturer will issue you payment for the rebate amount for all sales utilizing the promotion. Rebates are clearly distinguished from the value of the inventory used. The actual value minus the rebate is used to calculate cost of sales and gross profit. Inventory is always reduced by the actual value. When selling direct shipments, cost reductions are not considered pending rebates, because you have not yet purchased the material. It is expected, however, that the supplier's invoice to you will reflect the lower costs. The purchase order, which is automatically created when entering direct shipments, will reflect the lower cost. All sales analysis reports and screens will reflect the lower cost for both stock and direct ship orders. You can assign different promotional prices and costs for stock versus direct shipments by using the Transaction Type field. Refer to the examples in this section. Promotions that apply to the purchasing account (account #00001) work similar to direct ship promotions, in that cost reductions directly affect the cost that appears on the purchase order. For example, you could enter a new lower cost and the C code in this field for a period of time. If that promotion is applied to the purchasing account, then purchase orders issued during that period of time will reflect the reduced cost.

This field can be used to assign points for a promotion. The points have no dollar value as far as accounting is concerned. They can, however, translate to prizes, dollar values, or merchandise. Points can be assigned to a fund or simply listed on reports that show total points. A promotion record can have a promotional price or promotional points, or both. For example, you can run an entire promotional campaign without any special prices using only points. Then the total points can be tabulated for each customer and translated into prizes or other compensation.

The Points field is a five-digit numeric field. Points usually relate to each unit sold. For example, if you enter 200 points on the Promotional Pricing screen for vinyl sold by the SY, then each SY sold will get 200 points. One hundred SY would earn 20,000 points. Conversely, credits will reduce points.

When using the Fund File, you can further define the use of points and specify whether points are per unit sold or per dollar sold.

  Assignment Fields

Use these fields to assign the promotion. You can use the available option Assign to Customer to assign the promotion to individual accounts or a range of accounts. You can mix these Assignment Fields and the Assign to Customer options. Entering a specific account number overrides any entry on the Assignment Fields Therefore, even if an account would have been excluded based on the Include/Omit options, entering the account number on the Assign to Customer option will include that account. You can also assign the promotion to any account in their Billto File record on the Pricing Exceptions screen. You can use these options creatively to navigate complex promotion restrictions.

 When considering how to assign promotion to customers, make sure you understand the versatility of the Marketing Program and Display Type fields. Unlike the State, Region or Customer Type fields which allow only a single entry per customer, the Marketing Program and Display Type fields let a customer to have up to 20 entries each. This means that you can define a group of customers by creating a new Marketing Program or Display Type entry. Define the marketing program or display type using the Classification Codes File. In the Classification Codes File, you can enter a 30-character basic description and use the Notepads feature to add details. Enter that marketing program or display type code in the Billto File of all applicable accounts using the Codes screen in the Billto File program.

For example, if a supplier is sponsoring a promotion for a group of your customers, you could create a marketing program code in the Classification Codes File and assign that code to the customers specified by the supplier. Then, when creating the promotional price records, simply assign it to that marketing program. Use I to include, and enter the marketing program code. Marketing programs and display types work identically in terms of how they are created and assigned. However, display types should be used to identify the customers who have certain displays or sample sets.

Most of the Assignment fields are self-explanatory. Three of the options are explained below