Products are the goods and services you buy and sell.

Before you can start creating transactions in Blaq, you need to setup these Products. Blaq allows you to define many different types of products and an unlimited number of them. Each product can also have multiple pricing levels defined for it.

Product

• Code - a unique code to identify the product. It can use letters, numbers and underscores but the first character should be a letter. Whilst a product code can be anything, it is more useful if it relates to the product in some way. For example, if your products include various types of printers, your product codes could be 'PRTINKHP01' for a HP Inkjet Printer and 'PRTLASBR01', 'PRTLASBR02' for your Brother Laser Printers.
• Description - a brief name or description for the product.
• Description Changeable - if 'Yes', the description can be altered by the user in a job, quote, etc.
• Details - this can be for an extended description of the product
• Internal Notes - this can be for any internal notes for the product
• Created - the date the product was created.

Options

• Status - only active products can be used in jobs, quotes, etc.
  
  This can be useful if a product is temporarily unavailable for example.
• Replacement - if an inactive product is replaced with another product, you can select the product here. Select a product from the list displayed by clicking on the button to the right of the description.
• Type - defines the way in which the quantity is measured and pricing is calculated
  
  The total used when calculating the volume break doesn't include quantity in Area 2, quantity or kinds in Area 3 and kinds in Area 4. The different types determine how the pricing of the product will be calculated and the dimensions/units that are required. Most product types are self-explanatory.
  • Standard - single units, eg. 3 blocks of cheese.
  • Printing - for documents, the quantity and number of kinds, eg. 3 copies of a 5 page document.
  • Length - the quantity and length, eg. 5 pieces of a 3 metre rope.
  • Area 1, 2, 3 & 4 - the quantity, kinds, height and width, eg. 3 sheets 1 kind of paper 3m x 5m
  • Download 1 - the quantity, kinds, height and width
  • Download 2 - kinds
  • Volume - solids, quantity x height x width x breadth, eg. 3 blocks of wood, 3m x 4m x 5m
  • Volume - liquid, quantity x capacity, eg. 3 drums of 5 litres of oil
  • Weight - quantity x mass, eg. 3 bags of 5kg
  • Hours - quantity x hours, eg. 4 days of 8hrs labour
  • Printing - quantity x kinds x length
  • Perimeter - quantity x kinds x (height width) x 2)
  The type selected also affects the way the product charge is calculated. The charge is compared to the following calculated quantity:
  • Standard - Quantity
  • Printing - Copies x Kinds
  • Length - Quantity x Length
  • Area 1 - Quantity x Kinds x Width x Height
  • Area 2 - Kinds x Width x Height
  • Area 3 - Width x Height
  • Area 4 - Quantity x Width x Height
  • Download 1 - Kinds x Width x Height
  • Download 2 - Kinds
  • Volume (Solids) - Quantity x Length x Width x Height
  • Volume (Liquids) - Quantity x Volume
  • Weight - Quantity x Weight
  • Hours - Quantity x Hours
  • Printing - Copies x Kinds x Length
  • Perimeter - Quantity x Kinds x (Width Height) x 2
• Group - used to assist categorise products for searching. When searching for a product to enter into a job, quote, etc. the products are split into these groups to make them easier to find.

Usage

• Used in Timesheets - if 'Employee Rate' or 'Set Cost', this product will be available for timesheets.
  
  Only products with a type of 'Hours' can be used in Timesheets.
• Timesheets Cost - if the set cost option is selected above, enter the cost here. This hourly rate will be used for costing of jobs instead of the employee's hourly rate.
• Is a Courier - if 'Yes', this product will be available in the delivery section
• Show on Schedule - if 'Yes', this product will be shown in the schedule. Typically, postage products do not need to be shown on the schedule.
• Is a Favourite - if 'Yes', this product will be listed in the favourites list in the product search window - a list of the most commonly used products.
• Stocked - if 'Yes', stock levels are kept for this product for each branch and altered when used in jobs or bought in purchase orders & bills. You can also opt to use the average cost of goods for a product rather than product book pricing. Please ask if you wish to use this.
• Inventory Asset Account - the GL Account that inventory should be allocated to. If a product is stocked, it must be linked to a GL Account for reporting purposes and for exports to an accounting package.
• a Bill Of Materials Parent - if 'Yes', select the Bill Of Materials sub products below.

Stock Levels

• For each branch, you can set the minimum quantity of this product that branch should stock. Also, when a product is added, you can set the initial stock levels for each branch.