Reps and catalogs

A field rep is a user with a rep profile. The profile is the one place that decides what the rep does: which van they sell from, which items they may offer, where the money they collect is booked, and whether they plan their own day or follow one you plan.

Prepare the rep’s user

Before a rep can sign in to the rep app, their user must be marked as a field representative, so the app lets them in.

1. Go to Settings ‣ Configuration ‣ System settings, open the Users & roles tab, then click Users.
2. Open the rep’s user, or create one.
3. Under General information, enter the Employee number. It is required for a field rep, because the numbers on the rep’s documents carry it.
4. Under Roles & security, pick the rep’s Subsidiary and switch on Field representative.
5. Click Save.

The user can now be picked as a Field rep on a rep profile. A field rep signs in to one subsidiary; the app refuses a user with no subsidiary.

Next, set up the rep’s van as a warehouse of its own, stocked from a fixed warehouse: see Set up a sales rep’s vehicle. Give the rep a cash account and a clearing account in Bank accounts too, so the money they collect is kept apart from your main accounts until a manager approves it.

Create a catalog

A catalog is the list of items a rep may sell, return without an invoice, and load into the van. Reps who sell the same range can share one catalog.

1. Go to Field ‣ Master data ‣ Catalogs and click New catalog.
2. Enter the Code and Name, and pick the Catalog type.
3. Click Save.
4. Open the Assortment items tab and click New item.
5. Pick the Item and click Save. Repeat for each item the reps may sell.

The catalog shows the number of Items it holds. A rep sees only these items in the rep app, and the server refuses any other item on their orders, invoices and van loads.

Example

A drinks distributor keeps one catalog for its city reps, with the full range, and a smaller one for the reps who serve kiosks, with only the best-selling cans and water.

Create a rep profile

1. Go to Field ‣ Master data ‣ Field reps and click New field rep.
2. On the General tab, pick the Subsidiary and the Field rep, then fill in the fields below.
3. On the Operating assignments tab, pick the Warehouse (the rep’s van), the Catalog, the Cash bank account and the Clearing bank account.
4. On the Operating policies tab, set what the rep may decide on their own.
5. Click Save.

Field	What it sets
Field rep	The user who works under this profile. Only users marked as field representatives are listed. A user has one profile per subsidiary.
Field role	Representative for a rep who sells for themselves; Supervisor or Manager for a team lead who may also sell for the reps they supervise.
Planning mode	Free-form: the rep picks whom to visit. Optional plan: the rep gets a daily route and may also visit customers off it. Strict plan: the rep visits only the customers on today’s route.
Supervisor	The team lead this rep reports to. Only active supervisors and managers of the same subsidiary are listed.
Territory	The territory the rep belongs to.
Warehouse	The van the rep sells from, loads and unloads. Loading and unloading need a van with a parent warehouse.
Catalog	The items the rep may sell and load.
Cash bank account	Where the cash the rep collects is booked until their end of day is approved.
Clearing bank account	Where card and bank transfer payments the rep takes are booked until their end of day is approved.
Can approve returns	Lets the rep’s returns be approved on the spot, when Auto-approve returns is on in the settings.
Can give discounts	Lets the rep give line and order discounts. Then enter the Maximum discount percentage: the server refuses any discount above it.
Sales target	The sales the rep should reach in a month. The field dashboard, the rep page and the rep app measure the month’s sales against it.

The rep can sign in and work as soon as the profile is saved. What they can do depends on what the profile holds:

The rep can	When the profile has
Visit customers	An active profile
Take orders and invoices, and return goods without an invoice	A Warehouse and an active Catalog
Load and unload the van	A Warehouse with a parent warehouse (loading also needs the Catalog)
Take cash	A Cash bank account
Take card and bank transfer payments	A Clearing bank account
Count the van at the end of the day	A Warehouse
Hand over their cash at the end of the day	Both a Cash bank account and a Clearing bank account
Give discounts	Can give discounts on, with a Maximum discount percentage

When something is missing, the rep app says so and keeps the action greyed out.

Note

The price a rep may type over the list price is not on the profile. A rep may change prices in the rep app only if their role grants Edit on Price calculation; the server checks it again on every document.

Let a supervisor sell for their team

A supervisor or manager can take orders and invoices in the rep app on behalf of a rep who reports to them, for example while covering that rep’s customers.

1. Give the supervisor a rep profile with Field role Supervisor or Manager.
2. On each team member’s profile, pick the supervisor in Supervisor.

In the rep app, the supervisor then chooses whom the sale is credited to. The document is booked to that rep and the goods leave that rep’s van.

Stop a rep from working

When a rep leaves or changes role, open their profile in Field ‣ Master data ‣ Field reps and click Edit. Switch the status beside the rep’s name from Active to Inactive, and click Save. From then on the server refuses their visits, sales and collections, and the rep app tells them their profile is inactive.

Sign a rep out of their phone

A rep has one session at a time. When a phone is lost, end its session from the back office.

1. Open the rep’s profile and go to the Devices tab. It shows the phone, when the rep Signed in, when the session Expires, and whether Notifications are registered.
2. Click Sign out this session, then confirm.

The phone is signed out and stops receiving notifications. The rep signs in again on their new phone. This needs Full on Users.

Messages you may meet

Message	What to do
This rep already holds a profile in this subsidiary; edit that one instead.	Open the existing profile from Field ‣ Master data ‣ Field reps.
The supervisor must hold an active supervisor or manager profile in this subsidiary.	Give the supervisor a profile with Field role Supervisor or Manager first.
Set the maximum discount for a rep who may give discounts.	Enter the Maximum discount percentage, or switch off Can give discounts.
This product is already on the catalog.	The item is listed already; nothing to add.
Reps are still assigned to this catalog; move them to another before archiving it.	Pick another Catalog on those reps’ profiles, then archive.