Apex sales orders
Sales order automation from the customer's PO to your ERP.
A purchase order arrives in the customer's language: their item codes, their units, their ship-to. Apex matches every line to your own SKUs, converts cases and pallets to each, prices it from the customer's list, allocates stock when the order is confirmed and writes the sales order to your ERP. Nobody re-keys a line.
From PO to order
Five steps, and none of them is typing.
Order entry automation that keeps your own SKUs first. The buyer's item code stays on the line, small and muted, for when their AP team asks.
- 01
PO in
The customer's PO arrives with its lines, quantities, units and ship-to address.
- 02
Matched
Each line is matched to your own SKU. The buyer's SKU is kept underneath it, never the main column.
- 03
Converted
Units convert to the item's base unit: 12 cases of 6 becomes 72 each, a pallet of 52 becomes 52.
- 04
Priced and confirmed
Prices come from the customer's assigned list and the ship-to ZIP. Confirming the order allocates the stock.
- 05
Written to the ERP
The sales order is written to the ERP, read back to confirm it landed as written, and billing follows from the same lines.
Drop-ship
Drop-ship is a choice on the order, not on the item.
Any order of bought items can be marked drop-ship. Its purchase order goes straight to the order's destination, so nothing is received in your warehouse and your stock count never moves.
- One attribute
- Drop-ship is set once, on the order, for the whole order. Items keep their normal supply.
- No receipt
- The PO ships from the supplier to the customer, so there is no warehouse receipt to post.
- Stock untouched
- On hand, allocated and available stay as they were for every item on the order.
What an order carries
The orders distributors and manufacturers actually take.
Call-offs
A call-off draws down a blanket PO line by line, with the remaining balance shown before the order is confirmed.
The customer's own units
Cases, pallets and eaches on one order, each converted to the base unit, and a unit can carry its own price.
Your SKU first
Every line leads with your item and its description. The buyer's code sits underneath for reference.
Prices from their list
The customer's assigned list, its ZIP prices on the ship-to and its rebates, the same as on the quote.
Configurable items
A required option group must be picked before the order saves. Where a default is set, it is already chosen.
Made to order
A made-to-order line can start a work order on a production lane, and the finished goods are allocated to this sale.
The stock rules
Stock moves by rules you can read.
- Allocation
- Stock is allocated when the order is confirmed, by default. A setting can move it to another point.
- Available
- Calculated, never typed: on hand less what is allocated to open orders.
- Below zero
- An allocation that would take available below zero raises a warning. On approval, stock reconciles to the ERP's own figures.
- Depletion
- Stock depletes on the invoice or on the shipment, whichever your company sets.
- System of record
- The ERP stays the record for stock by default. A conflicting edit in Apex raises a warning and the ERP wins.
FAQ
Sales orders, run end to end.
How does a customer PO become a sales order?
The PO's lines are matched to your own SKUs, with the buyer's item code kept underneath each line. Quantities convert to the item's base unit, prices come from the customer's assigned list and the ship-to ZIP, and confirming the order allocates the stock. The confirmed order is then written to your ERP and read back to confirm it landed as written.
How are cases, pallets and eaches converted?
Each item carries its units of measure and their conversions, such as a case of 6 or a pallet of 52. An order line in cases is converted to the base unit, so 12 cases of 6 becomes 72 each. A unit can carry its own price, or its price is calculated from the base unit's.
When is stock allocated?
When the order is confirmed, by default. Available stock is calculated from on hand less what open orders have allocated, so the number on screen is always the current one. Stock then depletes on the invoice or on the shipment, as your company sets.
What happens when an order would take stock below zero?
Apex raises a warning before the allocation is made, so the person confirming the order sees it. If they approve it, the stock figures reconcile to your ERP's own data, since the ERP stays the record for stock by default.
How do drop-ship orders work?
Drop-ship is an attribute of the whole order, for items you buy. The order carries a purchase order that goes straight to the order's destination rather than to your warehouse, so there is no receipt to post and your stock count is not touched.
What does Apex write to the ERP?
The confirmed sales order, through Apex's write-back: the ERP is read before anything is written, each write is made once, and the result is read back to confirm it. The SAP Business One connection is built today. For other ERPs, the connection is built and checked on your own account before your first order goes through it.
Can we run sales orders without an ERP?
Yes. Inventory and orders run on their own in Apex, with the same allocation and stock rules, or with your ERP as the record when one is connected.
Related in Apex
- Price listsOne default list, customer lists, and ZIP prices only where needed.View
- Inventory forecastingSell-out date, reorder-by date and reorder quantity for every item.View
- Production planningWork orders on production lanes, step by step, with headcount and equipment.View
- InvoicingCalculated in Apex, checked against the PO, posted to the ERP first.View
- SAPBusiness One and S/4HANA.View
See sales order automation work on your own orders.
Thirty minutes on one workflow, with your own quotes, orders or invoices. You leave with a view of where Apex fits, and an honest answer if the sequencing is wrong and you should fix something else first.
Your pricing, approval and billing rules are your advantage, and they stay yours. Apex is configured to the way you sell, make and bill. You are not handing over a playbook or fitting into a template.