Taking and Fulfilling Orders¶

From first contact to final delivery — manage your entire sales pipeline in one place.

What You'll Learn¶

• How to manage customers and import them from CSV
• How to create quotes and convert them into sales orders
• How to create sales orders directly using the order wizard
• How to track fulfillment status and ship orders
• How to record payments and track outstanding balances

Prerequisites¶

• Admin access to FilaOps
• At least one product in your catalog (see Managing Your Product Catalog)
• At least one location set up (see System Settings)

Managing Customers¶

Before you can take orders, you need customers. Navigate to Admin > Customers in the sidebar.

The Customers Page¶

The page shows four stat cards at the top:

Below the stats, you'll find a search bar and status filter dropdown, followed by a table of all customers.

Creating a Customer¶

Step 1. Click + Add Customer.

Step 2. Fill in the customer details:

• Email — Required. Used for communication and as a unique identifier.
• First Name / Last Name — The customer's name
• Company Name — Optional, for business customers
• Customer Number — Your internal customer ID (optional but recommended)
• Phone — Contact phone number
• Address — Shipping and billing address fields
• Status — Active, Inactive, or Suspended

Step 3. Click Save.

Importing Customers from CSV¶

If you have an existing customer list in a spreadsheet, you can bulk import it.

Step 1. Click Import CSV.

Step 2. Upload your CSV file. The file should have columns for email, name, company, and other customer fields.

Step 3. Map your CSV columns to FilaOps fields and review the preview.

Step 4. Click Import to create all customer records at once.

Viewing Customer Details¶

Click View on any customer row to see their full profile, including:

• Contact information and address
• Order history and total spending
• Status and account details

Click Edit to modify any customer's details.

Filtering Customers¶

Use the search bar to find customers by email, name, company, or customer number. Use the status dropdown to show only active, inactive, or suspended customers.

Creating and Managing Quotes¶

Quotes let you propose pricing to a customer before committing to a sales order. Navigate to Sales > Quotes in the sidebar.

The Quotes Page¶

Six stat cards across the top give you a snapshot of your quoting activity:

Quote Lifecycle¶

Quotes move through a series of statuses:

graph LR
    A[Draft] --> B[Pending]
    B --> C[Approved]
    C --> D[Accepted]
    D --> E[Converted to Order]
    B --> F[Rejected]
    C --> F

• Pending — The quote has been created and is awaiting your review
• Approved — You've approved the pricing; it's ready for the customer
• Accepted — The customer has accepted the quote
• Converted — The quote has been turned into a sales order
• Rejected — The quote was declined (by you or the customer)

Creating a Quote¶

Step 1. Click + New Quote.

Step 2. Fill in the quote details:

• Customer — Select an existing customer
• Product — The item being quoted
• Quantity — How many units
• Unit Price — Your proposed price per unit
• Expiration Date — When the quote expires (optional but recommended)
• Notes — Any special terms or conditions

Step 3. Click Save.

Working with Quotes¶

From the quotes table, each quote has action buttons depending on its status:

Quote Expiry Tracking¶

FilaOps tracks quote expiration dates and shows visual warnings:

• Red badge — The quote has expired
• Yellow badge — The quote expires within 7 days (shows "X days left")
• Normal date — The quote has time remaining

Converting a Quote to an Order¶

When a customer accepts a quote:

Step 1. Find the quote in the list (use the Accepted stat card to filter).

Step 2. Click the Convert to Order button.

Step 3. FilaOps creates a new sales order with all the details from the quote and navigates you to it.

Duplicating a Quote¶

Click Duplicate to create a copy of any quote. The duplicate copies all fields and adds a note referencing the original quote number. This is useful for creating variations or renewing expired quotes.

Downloading and Printing Quotes¶

Every quote has Download PDF and Print buttons. Use these to share professional-looking quotes with customers via email or in person.

Creating Sales Orders¶

Sales orders are the core of your fulfillment workflow. Navigate to Sales > Orders in the sidebar.

The Orders Page¶

Orders display in a card grid layout (not a traditional table). Each card shows the order number, customer, products, total value, date, and fulfillment status at a glance.

At the top, you'll find:

• Search — Find orders by order number, product name, customer name, or email
• Fulfillment filters — Quick-filter buttons to show orders by fulfillment state
• Sort dropdown — Control the order of results

Fulfillment Filters¶

Color-coded filter buttons let you focus on what needs attention:

Sort Options¶

Creating an Order with the Wizard¶

Step 1. Click Create Order to open the Sales Order Wizard.

The wizard walks you through three steps:

Step 1: Select Customer¶

Choose an existing customer from the dropdown, or click Create New Customer to add one on the fly.

Step 2: Add Products¶

Add line items to the order. For each line:

• Product — Select from your catalog (Finished Goods, Components, Supplies, or Services)
• Quantity — How many units
• Unit Price — Price per unit (defaults to the item's selling price)

If a product doesn't exist yet, you can create one inline using the item wizard — a 3-sub-step form covering basic details, BOM (if manufactured), and pricing.

Each line item has a procurement type that determines how it will be fulfilled:

Step 3: Review and Submit¶

Review the complete order:

• Customer details and shipping address
• All line items with quantities and prices
• Order total and any notes

Add customer notes (visible to the customer) or admin notes (internal only).

Click Submit Order to create it.

Viewing Order Details¶

Click any order card to open the detail view, which shows:

• Order header — Order number, date, status, and source
• Customer info — Name, email, and shipping address
• Line items — Each product with quantity, unit price, and line total
• Grand total — The complete order value

Generating a Production Order¶

For manufactured items, you can create production orders directly from a sales order:

Step 1. Open the order detail view.

Step 2. Click Generate Production Order.

Step 3. FilaOps creates a production order linked to the BOM for each manufactured line item, with the quantity from the sales order.

This connects your sales pipeline directly to the shop floor. See Running Production for the full production workflow.

Canceling an Order¶

If an order needs to be canceled:

Step 1. Open the order detail view.

Step 2. Click Cancel Order.

Step 3. Enter a cancellation reason (required, up to 500 characters) explaining why the order is being canceled.

Step 4. Confirm the cancellation.

Shipping Orders¶

Once production is complete and items are ready, navigate to Sales > Shipping to manage the shipping workflow.

Shipping Dashboard¶

At the top of the page, a shipping chart shows your shipping activity over time. Toggle between time periods:

• WTD — Week to date
• MTD — Month to date
• QTD — Quarter to date
• YTD — Year to date

The chart shows daily shipped quantities as bars and cumulative value as a line, plus a pipeline count of orders still in progress.

The Three-Tab Workflow¶

Shipping uses a three-tab workflow that guides orders from production through delivery:

graph LR
    A["Ready for Packaging\n(Blue)"] --> B["Needs Label\n(Yellow)"]
    B --> C["Ready to Ship\n(Green)"]
    C --> D["Shipped"]

Tab 1: Ready for Packaging (Blue)¶

Orders where production is not yet complete. These are in the pipeline but not ready to pack. Monitor these to track what's coming.

Tab 2: Needs Label (Yellow)¶

Orders where production is complete but no tracking number has been entered yet. These need carrier and tracking information.

To add tracking:

Step 1. Click on an order in this tab.

Step 2. Select the Carrier from the dropdown (USPS is the default).

Step 3. Enter the Tracking Number.

Step 4. Click Save to move the order to the Ready to Ship tab.

Tab 3: Ready to Ship (Green)¶

Orders that have tracking numbers and are ready to go out the door.

To mark as shipped:

Click Mark Shipped to update the order status. This moves it to the Shipped filter on the main Orders page.

Due Date Urgency¶

Each order card in the shipping tabs shows a due date indicator:

Packing Slips¶

Click Packing Slip on any order to generate a printable packing slip PDF. This opens in a new tab for printing.

Recording Payments¶

Track payments against your sales orders. Navigate to Sales > Payments in the sidebar.

Payment Dashboard¶

The payments page shows key performance indicators at the top, including total received, outstanding balances, and payment trends.

Recording a Payment¶

Step 1. Click Record Payment.

Step 2. Fill in the payment details:

• Order — Which sales order this payment applies to
• Amount — How much was received
• Payment Method — Choose from:
  • Cash
  • Check
  • Credit Card
  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • Venmo
  • Zelle
  • Wire Transfer
  • Other
• Reference Number — Check number, transaction ID, etc.
• Notes — Any additional details

Step 3. Click Save.

Recording a Refund¶

The process is similar to recording a payment, but select Refund as the payment type. Refunds reduce the amount collected against an order.

Filtering Payment History¶

Use the filters to narrow down your payment records:

• Search — Find by order number, customer, or reference
• Payment Method — Show only a specific payment type
• Payment Type — Filter between payments and refunds
• Date Range — Set start and end dates to view a specific period

The Full Order Lifecycle¶

Here's how all the pieces fit together, from first contact to cash in hand:

graph TD
    A[Customer Inquiry] --> B{Quote or Direct Order?}
    B -->|Quote| C[Create Quote]
    C --> D[Customer Reviews]
    D -->|Accepted| E[Convert to Order]
    D -->|Rejected| F[Quote Closed]
    B -->|Direct| E
    E --> G[Sales Order Created]
    G --> H{Manufactured or Purchased?}
    H -->|Manufactured| I[Generate Production Order]
    I --> J[Production Complete]
    H -->|Purchased| J
    J --> K[Ready for Packaging]
    K --> L[Add Tracking Number]
    L --> M[Ship to Customer]
    M --> N[Record Payment]

For a detailed walkthrough of this end-to-end process, see the Quote to Cash workflow guide.

Tips & Best Practices¶

• Use quotes for custom work — Quotes give customers time to review pricing and let you track conversion rates
• Set expiration dates on quotes — This creates urgency and keeps your pipeline clean
• Sort by "Most Actionable First" — The default sort puts orders you can act on right now at the top of the list
• Check the Blocked filter daily — Red-flagged orders need attention: missing materials, incomplete production, or other issues
• Record payments promptly — This keeps your outstanding balance reports accurate
• Use the shipping tabs in order — The Ready for Packaging → Needs Label → Ready to Ship flow prevents missed steps
• Add cancellation reasons — They help you identify patterns (pricing issues, lead time, competitor loss) to improve your process

What's Next?¶

With orders flowing, you'll want to manage the production and delivery side:

• Running Production — manufacture items from your sales orders
• Tracking Inventory — keep stock levels accurate
• Ordering Supplies — make sure you have materials on hand

Quick Reference¶