How Can I Track an Inventory Item as a Piece of Equipment?

While you don't want to track every bolt or pipe that leaves your inventory, you may want to keep tabs on larger pieces of equipment.  If it may be something you need to maintenance later, you'll probably want to add it to the customer's Equipment records.  ESC's Inventory module can do this for you automatically - thus saving you from having to manually enter the item after completing the invoice.

To tell an inventory item to automatically post to the customer's records, you'll need to open that item in the Inventory Entry screen.

1. Click the Item List button on the icon bar.
   
   
   
   
2. Using the Search panel, locate the item that needs to be edited.  This step is also something that can be completed when creating new items.  To do that, click the Add button and select Inventory Part.  
   
   
   
   
3. In the Inventory Entry screen, set the Post to Equip field to 'Yes'.
   
   
   
   
4. Switch to the Manufacturer tab and fill in the information for this item.  The Manufacturer, Model and Type fields will be carried to the Add Equipment screen when this item is placed on an invoice.  The number of months entered into the Warranty field will calculate the Warranty expiration date based on the invoice date.
   
   
   
   
5. Click Save.  

Now that the item is setup properly, it will automatically carry to the Equipment screen each time it is added to an invoice.  If this item is also setup as a Serial part type, then the Serial number will also be carried to the Equipment screen when sold.