When you create a sales order in Business Central, the system automatically fills in many fields based on the information from the customer card. You can override any of these fields if the specific order calls for different values. Understanding which fields you can change, and what each one controls, helps you handle orders that deviate from the customer’s standard setup.
The Document Date controls the issue date on posted documents and forms the basis for the due date calculation. The Posting Date controls which month the sale impacts financially through the ledger entries. You change these dates when you do not post and ship on the same day the order was created.
You can change the currency code, payment terms, payment method, and shortcut dimensions such as project code and department code directly on the order. You can set a payment discount manually or apply a payment term that already includes the discount.
In the Shipping and Billing section, you define where the order is delivered and who is billed. You can use a saved ship-to code, enter a custom address, or change the bill-to customer to a different one in your customer list.
How fields are filled from the customer card
When the sales order is created, a lot of the fields are automatically filled out with information from the customer card. You can change these if they should be different for this specific order.
The Sell-To address comes from the customer card, but you can change it if it should differ for this order. The same applies to the contact information.
Document Date, Posting Date, and Order Date
The Document Date, Posting Date, and Order Date are automatically filled out with the date the order was created. If you are not posting and shipping the sales order on the same day, you will often change the Document Date and the Posting Date.
The Document Date refers to the date the related document was created. For instance, a posted sales invoice is set to have been issued on that specific date, and the due date is based on the Document Date on the posted documents.
In the Posting Date, you define when the financial posting of the ledger entries should be done. By changing this date, you control which month the sale should impact.
The Order Date is the date the order was created. You can update the salesperson code from the customer card if a different salesperson is in charge of this order.
Currency, VAT, and payment settings on the invoice
If you scroll down to the Invoice section, you can change the currency code if it should differ from the one the document automatically sets. When the field is blank, it is because the customer uses the local currency, so no currency code has been defined.
If you want the prices on the sales lines to include VAT, you can activate this by marking that prices are including VAT. The VAT business posting group is automatically set from the customer card.
The payment terms define when the payment is due. They are set from the customer card, but you can change them if you want this specific document to have another due date calculation. The same goes for the payment method, which defines how the customer should pay.
In the Invoicing section, you also have the two shortcut dimensions: the project code and the department code. These come from the customer card but can be updated here.
You can set a payment discount percentage and the date by which the payment must be completed to achieve the discount. You can do this manually, or you can change it to a payment term that includes the payment discount. When you apply such a term, the percentage and the date are filled in automatically.
Shipping and billing on the sales order
In Shipping and Billing, you define where the order is going to be delivered and who is going to be billed for it. If the customer is not set up for shipping to a specific location, the default is the sell-to address, but you can change this.
If you have set up ship-to codes, you can choose these under Alternate Shipping Addresses and select from the defined list. If you would like to use a custom address that has not been saved in the system, choose Custom Address, which gives you a list of address fields you can update.
In the Shipment Method Code, you define how the items are shipped to the customer. In the Agent field, you state who is going to ship it. In Agent Service, you define what service the agent offers, and in Package Tracking Number, you enter the tracking number you have received from your shipping agent.
The same logic applies to Bill-To. By default, the order is billed to the customer unless another bill-to has been defined on the customer card. You can change it to a different customer and look it up in your customer list.
Location, shipping advice, and handling times
If the customer card defines the location you normally ship these items from, that location is transferred to the sales order. You can change it if the order should be shipped from another location.
In Shipping Advice, you state whether the customer has agreed to receive their shipment in partial form, or whether it needs to be complete before you can ship it.
In Outbound Warehouse Handling Time, you define how long it will take you to handle the order before it can be shipped. In Shipping Time, you define how long it will take from when you have handled the order to the order being received at the customer.
Prepayment on the sales order
In the last section, you can define prepayment if this is needed for the sales order. Prepayment is covered in more detail separately.
Q&A
What is the difference between the Document Date and the Posting Date on a sales order?
The Document Date refers to the date the related document was created and forms the basis for the due date calculation on posted documents. The Posting Date defines when the financial posting of the ledger entries is done, so by changing it you control which month the sale impacts.
Why is the currency code field sometimes blank on a sales order?
The currency code is blank when the customer uses the local currency. In that case, no currency code has been defined, so the field stays empty.
Can I ship a sales order to an address that is not saved in the system?
Yes. Choose Custom Address under the alternate shipping addresses, which gives you a list of address fields you can fill in for that specific order.
How do I apply a payment discount on a sales order?
You can set the payment discount percentage and the qualifying date manually, or you can change the payment term to one that already includes the payment discount, which fills in the percentage and date automatically.
Can I bill a sales order to a different customer than the one buying?
Yes. By default the order is billed to the customer unless another bill-to is defined on the customer card, but you can change the Bill-To to a different customer and look it up in your customer list.