Sales Phases & Workflow

This page walks through the Sales workflow from customer to approved order. Invoicing and payment collection are covered separately in Invoices & Payments.

At a glance

fa-user | Customer | This is the person we are helping.
fa-clock-o | Quotation (DRAFT) | We make a price list to share.
fa-circle-o | SENT | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-clock-o | Order (PENDING) | We place the order, like ordering food.
fa-circle-o | RECEIVED | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-check | CONFIRMED | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-mobile | APPROVED | A grown-up checks and says "yes, go ahead!"

Step 1: Set up a customer

Before you can quote or order, the customer must exist in the Sales customer master.

A customer record requires:

• Name (2–120 characters)
• Mobile — a 10-digit number
• Email — a valid email address
• GSTIN — a valid GST identification number
• Billing address and Shipping address (5–500 characters each)

Customers are also mapped to one or more assigning authorities (sites). Either tick For all authorities to make the customer available everywhere, or select the specific sites the customer belongs to.

caution

Mobile, email and GSTIN must be unique. If you try to save a customer that matches an existing one on any of these, the system blocks the save and tells you which field clashed. Customers can be disabled rather than deleted, which keeps their history intact while preventing new transactions.

Step 2: Create a quotation

A quotation captures a priced proposal for a customer.

1. Choose the customer and the assigning authority they will be billed under.
2. Pick the store the items will be fulfilled from.
3. Choose the order type — purchase or workorder.
4. Add line items. For each item set the quantity, rate, GST percent and any line discount. If you leave the rate or GST blank, the system fills them from the item master.
5. Optionally apply an overall discount (percent or amount) across the whole quotation.

New quotations start in DRAFT. The system calculates the full GST-aware totals as you build the quotation.

Document numbering

Quotations are numbered automatically in the form QT-<year>-<sequence>. Orders use SO-<year>-<sequence>.

Step 3: Send and approve the quotation

A quotation moves through these statuses:

Status	Meaning
DRAFT	Being prepared; fully editable.
SENT	Shared with the customer for approval.
APPROVED	Accepted — a sales order is created and stock is reserved.
CANCELED	No longer valid.

• Send moves a DRAFT quotation to SENT.
• Approve moves a SENT quotation to APPROVED. Approval creates a linked sales order, then reserves the stock for every line item against the chosen store.
• Cancel is allowed only while the quotation is DRAFT or SENT. An APPROVED quotation cannot be cancelled.

Stock availability

Approval checks effective availability (physical stock minus existing reservations) for every line. If any item does not have enough effective stock at the store, approval is rejected and the shortfall for each item is reported.

Step 4: Work the sales order

Orders can also be created directly (without a quotation). Either way, the order moves through this lifecycle:

Status	Meaning
PENDING	Created; stock reserved; still editable.
RECEIVED	Marked as received.
CONFIRMED	Confirmed after being received.
APPROVED	Final approval — reserved stock is consumed from inventory.
CANCELED	Cancelled; reservations released back to stock.

The actions follow a strict order:

1. Receive — only a PENDING order can be marked received.
2. Confirm — only a RECEIVED order can be confirmed.
3. Approve — only a CONFIRMED order can be approved. On approval the system re-checks availability and then consumes the reserved stock, turning the reservation into an actual inventory deduction.

Editing is only possible while the order is PENDING. Editing re-validates availability and re-creates the stock reservations for the new line items.

Cancelling an order

Cancelling a PENDING, RECEIVED or CONFIRMED order releases its reservations so the stock becomes available again. An APPROVED order cannot be cancelled because its stock has already been consumed.

How stock reservation works

When a quotation is approved or an order is created, MetahOS writes a stock reservation for each line item. A reservation tracks the quantity reserved, released and consumed, and carries a status:

• ACTIVE — currently holding stock for the order.
• RELEASED — returned to available stock (e.g. order cancelled or edited).
• CONSUMED — deducted from inventory on order approval.

This reservation system is what prevents the same units of stock from being promised to two different orders at once.