Department File [FL]

Department File

From the DockMaster menu, select File Maintenance > Departments

The Department File groups like inventory items together for reporting purposes and provides the flexibility to make different accounting entries based on the G/L account numbers within each department.

Department codes should be used to group items with similar purposes or characteristics. As an example, you could group items by vendor such as Mercury parts; OMC parts could be another department.

A good test to use when deciding if you need to define a department for a group of items is the accounting entries, which should be made to sell these items. If the General Ledger account numbers differ from any other department, then you should add another department. Also, if you want to track the sales activity of a particular group of items, you should create a department.

In the DockMaster system inventory departments can be viewed as sub-categories of General Ledger cost centers. A Sales By Department Report gives you a sales summary of each department comparing sales with cost of sales and calculating the profit margin. This report can be used in conjunction with the Income Statement to further break down your sales figures.

A department code consists of up to five numbers and/or letters. You can have as many different department codes as are necessary for your business. A department numbering scheme should be devised before continuing past this point.