The VISCO Getting Started Guide for new employees
Changing the world one venture at
a time
Introduction
Congratulations
and welcome to Visco Software. We are the premiere tool for importers all
across the world and we are excited to have you as part of our team. This guide
will be your best friend over the next few months as you familiarize yourself
with the import industry and our system. Our flagship product is designed for
global importers and distributors to help them track shipments, manage
documentation, and track the costs associated with importing. There are a lot of terms you will need to
understand and the key one is venture. Venture is the life force of our system,
but for now let’s talk about the importing industry and what you will need to
know.
Key Words and Terminology
Because
without this knowledge, nothing makes sense…
Import Terms
·
C Of
A – Certificate of
Analysis - Certificates of
Analysis are essential to provide all the required information about a
particular material, giving the end user confidence that the reference material
is fit for purpose.
·
HTS –
Harmonized Tariff Schedule - A list of imported goods and the duty rates that apply to them, published by the United States International Trade Commission. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule is used by United States Customs and Border Protection agents to classify goods being imported.
·
Landed
Cost - The total cost of a landed shipment including purchase price, freight, insurance, and other costs up to the port of destination. In some instances, it may also include the customs duties and other taxes levied on the shipment.
·
B/L – Bill of Lading -
A document issued by a carrier, or its agent, to the shipper as a contract of carriage of goods. It is also a receipt for cargo accepted for transportation, and must be presented for taking delivery at the destination.
·
Customs
House Broker - Person who is licensed by the local customs, after passing an examination that covers a broad range of knowledge including customs law, customs classification, customs tariff schedule, import and export regulations, shipping procedures, trade documentation, etc. He or she acts as a professional-agent for an importer or exporter, prepares and submits all documents for clearing goods through customs, and is paid customs-brokerage.
·
Port - Place serving as a harbor, airport, or point of entry/export for incoming/outgoing shipments.
·
Sourcing
agent – The person who initiates the creation of a purchase
order. Note: This person does not typically create the purchase order.
·
Bonded
Warehouse - Secured facility supervised by customs authorities, where dutiable landed imports are stored pending their re-export, or release on assessment and payment of import duties, taxes, and other charges. Also called customs warehouse.
·
Demurrage
- Penalty assessed against a consignor, consignee, or other such party responsible for delay in loading or unloading of a shipping vessel.
·
UOM – Unit of Measure - Standard unit or system of units by means of which a quantity is accounted for and expressed.
·
Packing List - Itemized list of articles usually included in each shipping package, giving the quantity, description, and weight of the contents. Prepared by the shipper and sent to the consignee for accurate tallying of the delivered goods.
·
Accruals - Short-term liabilities (such as interest, taxes, utility charges, wages) which continually occur during an accounting period but are not supported by an invoice or a written demand for payment.
·
Point of Origin - Location or station where a carrier receives a shipment from a shipper for transportation to the destination.
VISCO
Terms
·
Contract
– Entering of a Sales Order and Purchase Order at the
same time.
·
Purchase
Order – The order to a vendor.
·
Sales
Order – The order from a customer.
·
PO
Issued – The Purchase Order has been
entered and authorized.
·
At
Source – The Venture has been put in a container but has not
left the port.
·
Moved
to Warehouse – For Direct: The order has reached the
customer. For Warehouse: The order is in the warehouse.
·
Venture
– A purchase order shipment (each different product on an
order has at least 1 venture)
·
SO
Issued – The Sales Order has been entered and authorized.
·
Pre-allocate – Putting aside inventory to satisfy
an order even if it has not yet been placed.
·
Final
Matched – Inventory Allocation has been started. This states
that the goods for an order are “on hold”
·
Released
to Logistics – The goods have been allocated and are ready
to be put in a delivery.
·
Shipped –
The goods have been shipped and invoiced in the delivery stage and an invoice
has been created.
·
Closed
– All of the goods for a specific venture have been sold.
·
Release – A
Sales Order Shipment – each product on an order has at least 1 release
·
Back
to Back Order – Term for pre-allocation. Not used anymore
·
Scan
– Essentially a search tool
·
Synonyms
– This area is used for single products that have
multiple names or abbreviations to describe them.
·
Receipt
of Venture – When a venture has been moved from in
transit to in warehouse.
·
Lot –
Refers to the specific area that a product (mainly chemicals) was actually
made. This is typically referenced when there is an issue with a specific
product so that it can be determined where it came from.
·
Packing
List – Visco created document that shows all of the contents
of a specific container.
·
Port
List – A List of all ports used to ship to and from different
areas
·
ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival - When a venture is expected to arrive to
a customer
·
ETD – Estimated Time of Departure - When a venture is expected to depart
the vendor’s warehouse.
·
MSDS
– Materials Safety Data Sheet - A material safety data sheet is an important component of product stewardship and occupational safety
and health. It is intended to
provide workers and emergency personnel with procedures for handling or working
with that substance in a safe manner, and includes information such as physical
data (melting point, boiling
point, flash
point, etc.), toxicity, health
effects, first
aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective
equipment, and spill-handling procedures.
·
Product
Documents And Images – Directory to files associated with a
specific product (user uploaded) and typically contains information such as
Product Key, Document Type, and Sequence Number.
·
Trans-Shipment
Information – This is the information during the time
from the manufacturer or a warehouse to the port of departure.
·
In
Transit – A status to reflect that a container and accompanying
ventures are on their way to the port where they need to be shipped to.
·
LPC – Latest Projected Cost – Most recent
estimate of total cost of an order.
·
Tariff/Duty - A customs duty is an indirect
tax levied on the import or export of goods in international trade. In
economic sense, a duty is also a kind of consumption
tax. A duty levied on
goods being imported is referred to as an import
duty. Similarly, a duty levied on exports is called an export duty. A tariff, which is
actually a list of commodities along with the leviable rate (amount) of customs duty, is popularly
referred to as a customs duty.
·
Rolling
12 Report -
This is mainly
used in company reports, for example, to denote how much profit they have
earned over the 12 months. The 12 months are rolling depending on what month
you take your data from.
·
VPLD
– Venture Packing List Details – Represent the contents
of a specific package of inventory.
·
ORCS
– The company that hosts our
databases for all of our users.
·
Commissions
– The percent one earns for making a sale or for handling
customs issues.
·
Container
– A large container that is used to transport ventures.
Containers can contain multiple ventures and can be tracked at a container
level and a venture level.
·
Indirect
Delivery – When a manufacturer or warehouse stores a product for a
customer at a cost to them, but creates the inventory available for said
customer.
·
Direct
Shipment – When a
manufacturer ships a venture directly to a customer that isn’t the initial
purchaser of said goods.
·
Freight
Carrier – The company/people who are responsible for moving goods
·
Voyages/Vessels
– Refers to goods being transported via the ocean.
·
Vessel
Name – The name of
the ship that goods are being transported on.
·
Voyage
Number – Refers to
the specific trip that a Vessel is making.
·
FreightQuote.com
– The company our software has teamed up with to deliver quotes in
real time for VISCO users on how much it will cost to ship a venture.
·
Rail
Inc. – The company our software has teamed up with to deliver real time
tracking of rail carts that contain ventures.
·
Marine
Traffic – The company our software has teamed up with to deliver real time
tracking of Vessels.
·
TRGDirect.com
– The company that handles customs
entries online to avoid custom house brokers.
·
Purchase
Order and Sales Order Line – If an order contains multiple
products, each line represents a different product on each PO or SO.
·
Delivery
Order – Document that goes to freight carriers describing what
is on each container and where to pick it up or bring it to.
The System
Because
there is always more to life than vocabulary words…
Inquiries, Offers, and Quotes
· Inquiries – The initial customer request. This is where the
customer first inquires about a product or an order they are thinking about
placing.
o
Begin
at the Sales and Purchases main menu
o
Click
Create Inquiry. Here you will enter your information about the product or
specific request the customer had.
o
Update
Inquiry – This allows you to update the information on a previously entered
inquiry.
· Offers – Once the vendor has reviewed the product and
quantity a customer asks for, the vendor prepares an offer based on the initial
inquiry.
o
Sales
and Purchases main menu
o
Click
Create Offer. Here you will enter Vendor and Product information to generate a
cost sheet
o
If
you have an estimate in hand, you can click View/Edit Price Estimate to view
the current price
o
Click
Update Offer to add price terms to the existing offer
o
Note:
You can create a purchase order directly through this menu using the
information from an offer.
· Quote – The
total cost that an order would be is sent to the potential customer for them to
decide if they would like to purchase.
o
Begin
at the Sales and Purchases main menu
o
Click
Quote Assign. Here you will enter the necessary information to create a quote.
o
In
Quote Preparation you can enter all of the specifics of any given quote.
o
You
can create the documents for any quote through this menu by selecting
Edit/Print Document.
Sales Orders and Purchase Orders
“You got the goods?” “Oh yeah, I got the
goods!”
· Order Entry – The Basics
o
There
are 4 steps to entering an order: Assign, Prepare, Document, and Issue
o
There
is 1 Line for each product
o
You
must have a shipment for each line as well.
· Sales/Purchase Order Assign
o
This
is the entering of the basic information of the order which will result in the
generation of an Order Number.
· Sales/Purchase Order Preparation
o
This
is the entering of more specific information relating to the order and the
product(s) associated with that order.
· Sales/Purchase Order Manage Documents
o
This
is where you can view all of the document that are associated with a PO or SO.
· Sales/Purchase Order Issue
o
This
is the point where you are making the order final. Once it has been issued, any
changes within this PO or SO will be recorded into the database to keep a
history of all changes made.
· Sales Order/Release Status
o
When
working within Visco, the Status of each Sales Order Shipment will change. This
is each status means:
o
SO Not Yet Issued – Sales Order entry has not been
completed
o
SO Issued – Sales Order entry has been
completed and the document has been sent
o
Final Matched – When referring to warehousing,
this is the process of putting goods “on hold” but not shipping them
Note: This does not apply to Direct Shipments
o
Released to Logistics – Sales Order goods have been
allocated and are now ready to be shipped to the customer
o
Shipped – Goods have been shipped to the
customer and the invoice has been created.
· Sales Order Assign
o
Select
Customer
o
Enter
Customer PO
o
Enter
ETD (date you expect the goods to leave the warehouse)
o
Enter
ETA (date you expect the goods to arrive at the customer’s location)
o
Select
or Enter the product needed for the Sales Order
o
Enter
Quantity, Unit of Measure, and price. For multiple products, enter the
information for all needed products.
o
Click
Assign
o
This
will bring you to Sales Order Preparation
· Sales Order Preparation
o
General Information – This information is already entered
and contains items such as Customer and Destination etc.
o
Price and Payment Terms – Add additional charges (if needed)
and also can entering routing information at the bottom of the screen.
o
Order Remarks – Any additional notes that need to
appear on the document are entered here.
o
Lines – Update product level info if needed
by clicking on the line number. Click “Back to Header Level” then proceed to
the next line (if needed).
· Edit/Print Sales Order Document
o
Enter
Sales Order Number
o
Select
proceed
o
The
Document opens up
o
At
this point, you can either print the document or email the document.
o
Once
you have made your choice, then you click Proceed.
o
Click
Update on the VISCO screen and you will have successfully edited your document.
· If you need to make any changes before Issuing a Sales Order
o
Go
to Sales Order Preparation
o
Go
to the field and make the changes that need to be made
o
Click
“Done”. This will bring up a prompt into which you can click “OK”
o
Go
back to the “Edit/Print Sales Order Document” Link to view the document again
and see your changes
· Sales Order Issue
o
Click
on this link once the Sales Order has been completed.
o
Enter
the Sales Order Number
o
Select
Issue
o
Click
on the Issue button
· Pre-Allocation
o
The
process of matching Sales Orders Shipments to the Purchase Order Goods
o
The
process of taking purchased goods (shipments) ordered from the Vendor and
matching them to the Customer Sales Order for the sole purpose of creating an
association with said goods, essentially stating and letting others know that
those goods are spoken for.
· Changes After Issuing
o
Sales Order Change
o
Select
or Enter the SO Number
o
Click
on the line number to make a product change or click on “Change Balance of
Order” to get into the header information
o
Make
your changes, then when you are finished click Update
o
In
the bottom box on the main screen, enter your comments into the box to state
why you made a change
o
Click
Done
· Purchase Order Assign
o
Select
Vendor
o
Select
or Enter the Product
o
Enter
Quantity, Unit of Measure, and Price. Continue to enter the following
information for all products until finished
o
Select
the Trader
o
Click
Assign
o
This
brings you into Purchase Order Preparation
· Purchase Order Preparation
o
General Information – Select Ship from, Destination, and
Ship to
o
Price and Payment Terms – Add additional charges (if needed)
o
Order Remarks – Additional notes that need to go
with the document
o
Lines – “Auto Generate Shipments” link will
create shipment ETD/ETA for each product. You can also update product level
info if needed by clicking on the line number.
o
Click
“Back to Header Level” then proceed to the next line (if needed)
· Edit/Print PO Document
o
Enter
PO Number
o
Select
Proceed
o
Document
opens
o
Select
Print or Email
o
Click
Proceed Button
o
Click
Update on the Visco screen
· Changes Before Issuing
o
PO
Preparation
o
Go
to the field and make the appropriate changes needed
o
Click
“Done” which will bring up a prompt. Click “OK”
o
Go
back into “Edit/Print PO Document” to view the document again and see the
changes you’ve made
· Purchase Order Issue
o
Once
PO is complete
o
Enter
PO Number
o
Select
Issue
o
Click
the Issue button
· Changes After Issuing
o
PO Change
o
Select
or Enter the PO Number
o
Click
on the Line Number to make a product change or click on “Change Balance of
Order” to get into the header information.
o
Make
your changes, then click update
o
In
the bottom box on the main screen, enter any comments you may have in the box
o
Click
done
· Venture Status
o
When working within Visco the status
of each Venture will change. It is important to know what each status means
o
At Source – The goods are currently at the
Vendor or port and are awaiting to be shipped.
o
In-Transit – Purchase order goods are on the
way.
o
Moved to Warehouse – Goods have been received into the
warehouse. For direct shipments, shipped to the customer.
o
Closed – All of the venture’s goods have
been sold.
· Logistics
o
Container Maintenance
o
Create
Container
o
Container
Information
o
Inventory
Allocation
o
Delivery
Maintenance
o
Releasing
goods to create invoices
· Container Maintenance
o
Create Container
o
Add
Ventures
o
Update
Quantities
o
Enter
Container Information in General Information
o
Use
Links tab to create Bill Of Lading (BOL or B/L), Pickup Notice, Arrival Notice
o
At
top right, select In-Transit from list box and a window will appear
o
B/L
date automatically appears
o
Document
Status = Originals if you have them
o
Click
Proceed
o
Receive Container
o
Once
in In-Transit
o
Before
you can change the status to “Move to Warehouse” (Will get error “Packing List
does not exist)
o
Links
Tab – Select “Inventory Adjustments/Packing List Entry”
o
Box
will pop open
o
Select
adjustment type, enter package type
o
Click
“Expand All”
o
Click
on “Add Lot” and enter your information
o
Click
“Done” then click “Done” again after you get the green checkmark
o
Change Dropdown to “Moved to
Warehouse”
o
Date
Received
o
Warehouse
= Direct to Customer
o
Click
Proceed
o
Click
Done
· Inventory Adjustments
o
This
allows you to change the quantity once the container/venture is In-Transit or
Received
o
2
Ways to access menu:
o
Container Maintenance
o
Container
Information
o
Select
Container
o
Click
on links
o
Select
Inventory Adjustments
o
Inventory Main Menu
o
Select
Inventory Adjustments
o
Enter
criteria
o
**Depending
on what you’re doing and where you are will determine what menu is easier for
you to access**
· Inventory Allocation
o
Allocation is the process of taking
in-transit or received ventures and matching them to releases. In other words,
it is the process of taking purchased goods (shipments) coming from the vendor
and matching them to the Customer Sale/Sales Order in order to create a
Delivery/Invoice
o
Logistics
Menu
o
Inventory
Allocation (Right side of screen)
o
(This
step is automatically done based on FIFO when a container is received)
o
Select
Sales Order #
o
“Warehouse”
Drop down will have available goods
o
“View”
link gives details (lots, etc) and shows in-transits
o
Select
goods and Allocate, then Save **Status is now Final Matched**
o
To
Release, select “Release” from the Action Drop Down
o
Status
changes to “Released From Logistics”
o
Click
Done
· Delivery Maintenance
o
Logistics
o
Delivery
Maintenance (right side)
o
Create
Delivery
o
Add
Sales Order Releases
o
Enter
Delivery Number
o
Select
“Links” Tab
o
Click
on link to create B/L and Warehouse Release
o
Click
Ship and Invoice
o
Click
Proceed to Ship
o
Enter
Invoice Date
o
Click
Proceed
· Accounting Administration
o
Tools > Accounting Administration
o
Allowed Dates = The
ability to determine the invoice dates used.
o
Cost Types Code Maintenance = List of all Charges and Costs you
pay to Vendors. This list appears in cost entry.
o
Invoice Miscellaneous Charge Types =
List of all Miscellaneous Charges that you might need to add to a sales
invoice.
o
Test Accounting Integration = Quick link to allow you to test to
see if the Integration is active
· Invoices
**After the delivery is shipped, the invoice is created**
o
Finances
o
Invoicing
o
Invoice
Maintenance
o
Select
Invoice Number
o
Line
Information Tab – update quantity *Add Miscellaneous charges etc.*
o
View
the document
o
Print/Email
o
Click
Done to save changes
· Other Invoice Menu Options
o
Add a New Invoice
o
Allows
you to create a Credit or Debit Memo
o
Used
mostly for price adjustments or customer credits
o
Post Invoice/Post in Batches
o
Once
the invoice is sent to the Customer/Vendor, it should be posted
o
This
makes the invoice read only and you cannot reverse it
o
View Invoice
o
Allows
you to view the invoice after it is posted. (Read Only)
o
Cancel Invoice
o
Cancel
Pending Invoices as long as there are no sales returns or memo invoices against
it
· Cost Entry
o
Finances
o
Cost
Entry
o
Add Batch
o
A
Batch is a grouping of vouchers
o
You
can have 1 or many batches
o
Add Voucher
o
A
Voucher is a Vendor Invoice
o
You
can have 1 or many vouchers within a batch
o
Enter Basics and click Edit Costs
o
Select
Cost Type and Enter Amount
o
“Apply
to” and then select using the scan
o
Venture
– Specific Shipment
o
Invoice
– A Specific customer invoice
o
PO
– An entire order
o
Click Distribute (or tab)
o
You
can use the list box to distribute the costs and click recalculate
o
You
can Add Cost to split amount
o
Click
Done when finished
o
Add
Voucher to enter another invoice
o
Post
Batch to QB/Accounting Program when completed
· Explorer Review
o
Reports
Menu
o
Venture Explorer
o
Allows
you to find PO shipments and Ventures
o
Shows
status and what truck/vessel they are in
o
Release Explorer
o
Allows
you to find SO Shipments and Releases
o
Shows
Status and what Delivery they are in
· Venture Analysis
o
Reports
Menu
o
Enter
Venture (PO Shipment)
o
Click
“Select All”
o
Accruals
Tab – shows open costs to be paid to vendor
o
Costs
Tab – shows Vendor Invoices posted through Cost Entry
o
Venture
Sales – shows any related Sales Invoices
· Order History
o
Reports
Menu
o
Choice
of Sales or Purchase History
o
Allows
you to search for history based on product, customer, etc.
o
Allows
you to see orders within a specific date range and with different statuses
· Other Reports
o
Reports
Menu
o
Standard Reports
o
Inventory
Valuation Report
o
Custom Reports
o
Gross
Margin (by invoice, customer, product, and sales rep)
o
Inventory
Summary
o
Product
Position