A sales order specifies the details about the products or services ordered by the purchaser. Sales orders are vital to keeping track of your inventory. They allow you to keep track of what you have in stock, what’s on back order, and what you may need to purchase from your vendors. Sales orders also help you reduce the risk of material misstatement in your organization’s financial reporting.
Sales orders and purchase orders are inherently interconnected. The key difference between the two is who generates the document and who receives it. While a sales order is generated by the seller, a purchase order is generated by the buyer. In addition, a purchase order is not only integral to expense tracking and budgeting, but also to help keep supply chain management on track. It documents a buyer’s intent to purchase goods or services from your company. Once your company receives and accepts the terms of a purchase order, a sales order can be created based on purchase order details.
With the basics covered, now we’ll walk you through how to use sales order dates in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
How to Use Sales Order Dates in Business Central
There are several date fields on sales order screens in Business Central, which can be confusing. However, if used correctly, you can use these dates to improve your sales order processing. You also can more accurately fulfill your customers’ order requirements and track your delivery times.
Sales order dates can be located on the Header only, Line only, or both the Header and Line. If the date exists on both the Header and Line, you should bring your attention to the dates on the Line. The lines determine your planning parameters.
If you try to change the date on the Header, Business Central will ask if you want to update the dates on the lines. Answering “yes” will update the dates on the lines. You can have different dates between the header and lines.
Sales Header Dates
Let’s begin with Sales Header dates.
General FastTab
Document Date – Used to calculate invoice related fields, such as due date (for invoice payment and prepayment). The document date also is used to calculate “Quote Valid Until Date” for sales quotes. When you manually fill in the document date, the due date will be updated automatically.
Posting Date – Used when posting the transaction to the ledgers. It’s used for shipment date, invoice date, return date, or credit date, depending on what you post. The posting date defaults to the date the document was created. The posting date also is used to calculate the exchange rate. When you manually fill in the posting date, the document date will be updated to match.
Order Date – The date you received the sales order. This defaults to the date the document was created. It’s used to calculate price and discount.
Due Date – The date when the invoice needs to be paid (invoice payment due date). The date is calculated from Document Date + Payment Terms. Changing the due date will not update the document date.
Requested Delivery Date – The date the customer requested for the goods to arrive at their location. By default, the requested delivery date is blank. This date exists on both the Header and Line. The requested delivery date on the Header does not affect any fields. When you update the field on the Header, Business Central will ask if you want to update the requested delivery date on the Line. Changing the field on the lines will update the Planned Delivery Date and Shipment Date on the lines.
Promised Delivery Date – The date you have promised the customer to deliver the order. By default, it’s blank. This date exists on both the Header and Line. Entering a promised delivery date on the Header will lock the Requested Delivery Date on the Header. When you update this field on the Header, the system will ask if you want to update the promised delivery date on the Line. Changing the promised delivery date on the Line will lock the Requested Delivery Date and update the Planned Delivery Date on the lines.
Invoice Details FastTab
Pmt. Discount Date – Used to be eligible for payment discount if the customer does early payment. It’s calculated based on the Document Date + Payment Term Discount Date Calculation. If there’s no discount associated with the payment terms, this date will be equal to the document date.
Shipping & Billing FastTab
Shipment Date – Dates when the goods are to be available in inventory to be picked for shipment. This is not the actual shipment date. The actual shipment date should be the Posting Date when you post shipment. The shipment date defaults to the date the document was created. This date exists on both the Header and Line. The shipment date on the Header does not affect any fields. When you update the shipment date on the Header, the system will ask if you want to update the shipment date on the Line. Changing the field on the lines will update the Planned Delivery Date and Planned Shipment Date on the lines.
Prepayment Due Date – The date when the prepayment invoice needs to be paid (invoice prepayment due date). The date is calculated from Document Date + Prepayment Payment Terms. Changing the prepayment due date will not update the document date.
Prepayment Payment Discount Date – Used to be eligible for payment discount if the customer does early prepayment. It’s calculated based on the Document Date + Prepayment Term Discount Date Calculation. If there’s no discount associated with the prepayment terms, this date will be equal to the document date.
Sales Line Dates
Now let’s look at Sales Line dates in Business Central.
When the date exists on both the Header and Line, the date on the Line is the one being used by the system for planning (replenishment).
There are five dates on the Line (excluding the Fixed Asset related dates) – Requested Delivery Date, Planned Delivery Date, Planned Shipment Date, Shipment Date, and Promised Delivery Date. These dates are related to and calculated from each other. Changing one of these dates will cause the system to recalculate the other dates (which sometimes isn’t ideal depending on your warehouse process).
Requested Delivery Date – The date the customer requested for the goods to arrive at their location. Changing the requested delivery date will update the planned delivery date. If the requested delivery date is blank, the system will update the Line shipment date to match the Header shipment date.
Planned Delivery Date – The date when you expect the goods to arrive at the customer’s location. It’s calculated from Planned Shipment Date + Shipping Time.
Planned Shipment Date – The date when you expect the goods to ship from the warehouse. It’s calculated from Shipment Date + Outbound Warehouse Handling Time.
Shipment Date – The date when the goods are to be available in inventory to be picked for shipment. This is not the actual shipment date. Your actual shipment date is on the Header Posting Date when you post shipment.
Promised Delivery Date – The date you’ve promised the customer to deliver the order. By default, this field is blank. When you update the promised delivery date, the system will update the Planned Delivery Date to equal the Promised Delivery Date and will lock the Requested Delivery Date.
Calculations to remember:
- Planned Shipment Date = Shipment Date + Outbound Warehouse Handling Time
- Planned Delivery Date = Planned Shipment Date + Shipping Time
- Changing the Requested Delivery Date or Promised Delivery Date will update the Planned Delivery Date
Now that you know how to use sales order dates in Business Central, how else can we assist? The Business Technology Solutions Team at FORVIS is a Microsoft Dynamics Gold Partner and 2022 recipient of the Microsoft Inner Circle award. We provide analysis, design, implementation, upgrades, training, and support services for Business Central and other Microsoft Dynamics business applications. Use the Contact Us form below to get in touch.