Spare Part Prices

As you probably know, E-Quip records several prices for spare parts:

a) The base charge

b) The default job charge

c) Supplier list prices

The first two define how much you will charge for prices, while the third indicates how much you pay for parts. An optional markup can be applied to the base charge, which then gives the default job charge. There is another factor which affects the charge for a spare part when it is added to a job, which applies only for work carried out under a customer contract. A customer contract allows you to specify a parts discount, which is applied to the default job job charge. The price displayed on the job screen is always the base charge plus the markup minus any discount.

A problem with spare part charges arises when you source parts from multiple suppliers, each of which have different list prices. If a bin contains a number of parts all purchased for different amounts, how much should you charge when one of the parts is used in a job?

Updating Prices

As from version 1.16.0, there is now a system option which allows the base charge to be updated either:

a) When an order is created

b) When a part is edited

Four different strategies are available.

1. Do Nothing

If you choose this option then the system will not automatically update part prices, and you must manually adjust parts, either individually or using bulk update

2. Update the Base Price with the Price Just Entered

This option is useful if you have just raised an order and you want the base price to be set the the list price from that order. It is really only sensible to use this strategy if the majority of your parts are sourced from a single supplier. This is effectively how versions prior to 1.16.0 behaved.

3. Set the Base Price to be the Maximum of the Prices from all Suppliers

If Supplier A sells this part for £100, and Supplier B sells it for £200, then the base charge will be set to £200.

4. Set the Base Price to be the Average of the Prices from all Suppliers

If Supplier A sells this part for £100, and Supplier B sells it for £200, then the base charge will be set to £150.

Updating Supplier List Prices

So we’ve taken care up updating spare part charges, how about supplier list prices? On the Spare Part Supplier Link screen there is a useful bulk update facility. The real reason it’s there is to allow you to easily switch all parts from one supplier to another after a supplier takeover. For example, when Graseby become Smiths Medical, all of the Graseby parts need to become Smiths parts. Incidentally, there is a similar feature on the contacts screen so that all of the Graseby contacts can be switched to Smiths.

As well as allowing you to switch suppliers, this bulk update also allows you to adjust the list prices, as shown below:

This is perfect if once a year you want to increase the list prices from a particular supplier by 5%, for example.