Sales Orders Planning

For companies that sell finished goods with multi-level assemblies (BOMs), it is crucial to manage raw material inventory effectively.

Calculation Logics

The Sales Order Planning feature in GoldFinch helps determine supply and demand by:

• Calculating demand from:

  • All open sales lines (i.e., quantities from sales lines not yet shipped to customers).

  • Sales forecasts.

  • Exploding demand for parent items into their raw material components (i.e., what you buy, not assemble).

• Calculating supply from:

  • Current Quantity on Hand.

  • Open purchase lines for each item.

The information is summarized in the GF2025 Sales Order Planning report, allowing you to create purchase orders for items lacking enough supply to meet demand across all open sales orders.

For project-based businesses, demand and supply can be grouped by sales orders to ensure adequate supply for each demand.

Setting Up Sales Order Planning

• Run Sales Order Planning

  • Go to the Sales Order list and click Sales Order Planning to process all open sales lines.

Define the Planning Date Range

• Sales Order plans cover a user-defined date range, with the default Plan End Date set to 3 months from today's date.

• The planning process includes:

  • Open sales lines with a Shipment Date on or before the Plan End Date.

  • Open purchase lines with an Expected Receipt Date on or before the Plan End Date.

Batch Processing

• The calculation is performed as a batch routine, which may take a few seconds or minutes based on the number of transactions.

• Monitor the batch job status by navigating to Setup and searching for Apex Jobs.

Review Results

• Once complete, go to the Sales Order Plannings page.

• Check plans with Plan Source = Parent BOM (No Valid Formula), indicating the need for item formulas for parent items without existing formulas.

Key Notes on Sales Order Planning

• Parent Items are defined with a Replenishment System set to "Work Order." Those with "Purchase" as the replenishment system will appear in the plan without being exploded.

• Formula Version Selection:

  • GoldFinch looks for effective formula versions as of today's date.

  • If multiple versions are effective, the default version is used (if specified); otherwise, the first effective version is selected.

  • If no effective version is found, item formulas with a blank version are used.

  • If no item formulas exist, the parent items are inserted without being exploded, with Plan Source = Parent BOM (No Valid Formula).

Field Descriptions

• Type: Indicates whether the record represents Demand or Supply.

• Sales Order: The associated sales order for the planning.

• Sales Line: The specific sales line related to the planning.

• Order Date: The order date for the sales order.

• Parent Item: The item associated with the sales line.

• Order Qty.: Outstanding quantity for the sales line.

• Plan Item: The component item of the parent.

• Unit of Measure: The base unit of measure for the plan item.

• Plan Qty.: Quantity calculated based on the item formula and parent item’s order quantity.

• Plan Date: Shipment date for sales lines or expected receipt date for purchase lines.

• Plan Source: Indicates the origin of the data:

  • Sales Line (demand from sales lines).

  • Parent BOM (demand from exploded parent items).

  • Parent BOM (No Valid Formula) (no item formula found for the parent).

  • Purchase Line (supply from purchase lines).

  • Inventory (current quantity on hand).

  • Sales Forecast (demand from forecasts).

Using the GF2025 Sales Order Planning Report

The report summarizes purchasing requirements for raw materials. Items with a negative total Plan Qty indicate insufficient supply to meet current demand. These items may need purchase orders to fulfill demand. The report can also be filtered to display only records with Type = Demand.

By following these steps, you can effectively manage supply and demand, ensuring raw material availability for production and timely fulfillment of sales orders.

Article Sales-Orders-Planning  ·  Last updated September 29, 2025 · GoldFinch ERP Help Center