Lesson 34-- Purchase Breakdowns

Many Goldenseal transactions include breakdowns. Breakdowns are a list of specific items in a transaction that Goldenseal displays in a spreadsheet-like table. Purchase breakdowns allow you to include multiple items that you have purchased from the same supplier.

Breakdowns help in several ways-- they let you track job costs in more detail, they can update inventory quantities of the items you purchase, and they update the price of purchased items automatically.

This lesson shows you how to use a breakdown table to include several items in a single material purchase.

Category Breakdowns

If a purchase includes items in more than one cost category and you don't need to use specific Cost Items, use a category breakdown to divide it.

To do so, follow these steps:

Choose Material Purchases from the Costs menu.
Click the New button.
Click the Breakdown popup field, and choose Category. The window will change so it includes a breakdown table.
Enter basic information about the vendor and job into the regular fields in the top half of the window. NOTE: One purchase transaction can include costs for only one job. If a purchase includes items for more than one job, you'll need to enter more than one purchase transaction.
Click in the Category column in the first row of the breakdown table, and enter a cost category. Type the first few letters of a category, and enter it the same as in any clairvoyant field (see Lesson 2). HINT: When you click in a table cell that is a clairvoyant field, a small popup button appears. You can use it to see a list of the possible values for the field.
Hit the Tab key to move to the next field. If the current category system includes subcategories, enter a subcategory. Otherwise you can leave this column blank.
Press the Tab key so the Item field is selected, and type in a brief description of the item. HINT: You can also use the mouse to click in a different cell, or use the right and left arrow keys to move through the table.
Press the Tab key so the Unit Cost field is selected, and enter the price for one unit of this item.
Press the Tab key so the Quantity field is selected, and enter the number of units that you are buying. HINT: Goldenseal calculates the total price for the row as soon as you enter a quantity and unit cost. It also recalculates the gross price, sales tax amount and net price for the entire transaction.
Press the Tab key so the Size field is selected, and type in the size unit that is used for this item.
You have now entered complete information for one breakdown row.

To add more breakdown rows, follow these steps:

Press the Return key (Mac) or Enter key (Windows) to start another row.
Enter details for the item, and then repeat until you have entered each item that will be included in this purchase.

In job cost reports, Goldenseal will divide the costs for this purchase among the categories shown in the breakdown.

Item Breakdowns

An item breakdown is similar to a category breakdown, but it uses specific cost items. Cost items allow you to keep track of each item that you buy, sell, or use in projects.

HINT: There is more about cost items in Lesson 13.

To enter a material purchase that includes specific cost items, follow these steps:

Choose Material Purchases from the Costs menu.
Click the New button.
Click the Breakdown popup button, and choose Item.
Enter basic information about the vendor and job into the fields in the top half of the window.
Click in the Category column of the breakdown table, and enter a category. You can also enter an optional subcategory. HINT: You don't need to enter a category or subcategory, but using them gives you a shorter list of cost items to look through.
Choose an item from the clairvoyant field in the Item column. It will list only those cost items that belong to the entered category. HINT: If you don't know the category for an item, leave the Category column blank. The list will then include all cost items. Type the first few letters of the item name into the clairvoyant field, and Goldenseal will quickly find the desired item.
After a cost item is entered, Goldenseal automatically fills in its cost and unit size. HINT: To see more details about the cost item, double-click on any non-editable column in the table (Size, Unit Cost or Item Total).
Enter the quantity that you are purchasing.
Press the Return key to add a new row to the breakdown table.
1Repeat steps 5 to 9 until you have entered all of the cost items that are included in this purchase.

HINT: To include an item that doesn't have a cost item, enter Unlisted Item into the Cost Area cell. You can also include sales tax, delivery charges and assemblies (see Lesson 14).

When you complete the transaction, Goldenseal uses the purchase prices to update the estimated cost of any cost items. If the job is an inventory account, Goldenseal also adjusts the inventory quantity of the cost items that were purchased. In job cost reports, Goldenseal divides the costs for this purchase among the categories shown in the breakdown.

Other Breakdowns

Category and item breakdowns are used in several other types of transactions. You can include them in allowances, bank checks, bank payments, bids, change orders, estimates, purchase orders and sales.

Some transactions show other types of breakdown. In many cases, these breakdowns refer to other transactions, which are filled in automatically when you change the breakdown type or the account.

Billing records for customers show unpaid sales.

Billing records for projects show draw schedule items, progress categories, or time and materials costs.

Payroll records show labor hours and payroll deductions.

Payment receipts and deposits show unpaid income transactions.

Bank checks and bank payments show unpaid purchases and payroll records.

Bank deposits show undeposited income transactions.

Finishing Up

This lesson has shown you how you can itemize purchases by category or by cost item. Breakdowns will help you to make the most of the Goldenseal job costing software.

You might want to take a break now to spend some time with friends, travel to an exotic location, or buy something impulsive.

Is there a 'Gothic' store in your neighborhood? If so, you might want to check out their hat section. You might find a Gothic Carmen Miranda hat, with gargoyles and bats hiding among black wax fruits. It's stunning.