Suggest Orders by Shopping List

The shopping list features of Compeat provide a way to order by item lists and have the system compare prices between various vendors and select the lowest cost vendor for each item. Unlike the Suggest Orders by Par Levels feature, this feature is not meant to suggest quantities needed.

Using Suggest Orders by Shopping List, the system will select a vendor based on the following criteria: non-bid items with preferred vendors will use their preferred vendor. All other items will then use the vendor with the lowest active price. Any remaining items that either have never been ordered in the entity, or have no active prices will be loaded with a blank vendor.

RefBook_Icon.gifVisit the Compeat Support Website for additional information on this topic and more.

Using Shopping Lists

Follow these general steps to use this feature:

Initial Setup

  1. All items must be setup in Restaurant Inventory Items. Check "Bid Item" on the Restaurant Information tab of the Restaurant Inventory Items screen. If you do not flag the item as a bid item, the system will select the preferred vendor instead of the lowest cost vendor. If you wish to include an item in a shopping list and always use the same vendor, leave "Bid Item" unchecked and mark the vendor as "Preferred" under Par Levels Vendor Info tab.

  2. Set up Shopping Lists. Shopping lists are simply a predefined collection of items, usually grouped in some logical manner, such as Meat, Beer, etc., that can be selected in the Suggest Orders by Shopping List screen.

Creating Orders

  1. Open the Suggest Orders by Shopping List screen and select one of the predefined shopping lists from drop-down menu in the toolbar.

  2. Once you have selected a list, click Suggest Orders to fill in the items from the selected list.

    You may be asked if you want to add unposted invoices to the current quantity on-hand for each item. If counts have been posted but the AP invoices have not, then you should select No; otherwise select Yes.

  3. Your list will load with the vendor selected based on the criteria described in the introduction.

  4. You can print a shopping list worksheet by clicking on the Print Preview button in the toolbar to assist you in gathering the quantities needed by a walk-through of the inventory. Alternatively, you can use the On-Hand and On-Order amounts displayed in the Shopping List report as guides to estimate how much you need to order. These quantities are theoretical, so to get the most accurate figures for on-hand, you should take an order count and post it prior to ordering.

  5. Enter the quantity you wish to order in the "# to Order" field of the item list. Items with zero or no quantity entered will not appear in the order.

  6. Click Show Order Summary. A list of vendors and total cost for each vendor will be displayed. Check this for accuracy and if you need to make any changes, simply close the screen to return to your list. Otherwise proceed to the next step.

  7. From the Order Summary screen, click Create Orders to finish the orders and create PO numbers for the orders.

  8. Go to the Orders screen and select the appropriate PO# to finish the order.