Creating and Managing Sales Orders in CustomBooks™

Creating and Managing Sales Orders in CustomBooks™


A Sales Order records a request to sell goods or services. A Sales Order initiates the Sales Workflow and may be for products and/or services. When a sales order is for services only, it may also be referred to as a work order. CustomBooks™ tracks shipped and invoiced items against sales orders.

In CustomBooks™, a Sales Order may be created for a sale, but is not required. The creation of a Sales Order has no effect on the general ledger but may be used in your company’s workflow. Sales Orders can be created manually or automatically by an outside system via our API. For more information, visit our developer website.

Viewing the List of Sales Orders

To view the list of Sales Orders in the system:
  1. Navigate to Sales → Sales Orders.



Manage Sales Orders from the Sales Order List View:
  • Create a new Sales Order or Copy an existing Sales Order.
  • Generate subsequent documents, such as: Customer Prepayment, Shipment, Sales Invoice and Purchase Order.
  • Email or Print a Sales Order and Pick List.
  • View related details, including: Transactions, Recurring Templates and Audit Log.
  • Attach files to a selected Sales Order.
  • Export the Sales Order List to Excel, PDF, or other formats.
  • Manage columns: add, remove, or reorder.
  • Refresh the Sales Invoices List.
  • Create multiple custom views using: Filters, Sorting, Ordering, Conditional Appearance Settings.
  • Columns may be sorted by clicking on the column name and a Sales Order can be opened by double-clicking.

The Sales Orders that appear in this list is based on any criteria of your choice. For example, you may wish to only see Open sales orders in your list. This option can be done by clicking the Settings → Configure List. From the List Options pop-up, choose which fields to filter, order, grouping or create conditional appearance for.

Viewing an Individual Sales Order

To view a specific Sales Order:
  1. Navigate to Sales → Sales Orders.
  2. In the Sales Orders List View, double-click the desired Sales Order.



From the individual Sales Order, you can:
  • Edit the Sales Order.
  • Generate subsequent documents, such as: Customer Prepayment, Shipment, Sales Invoice and Purchase Order.
  • Email or Print the Sales Order.
  • View related details, including: Transactions, Recurring Templates and Audit Log.
  • Attach files to the Sales Order.

Creating a New Sales Order

To create a new Sales Order:
  1. Navigate to Sales → Sales Orders.
  2. Click Create → New, or Generate from a Sales Quote.
    1. Alternatively, Sales Orders can be created quickly in just two clicks through the Quick Menu → +Sales Order.
  3. Fill in the necessary details:
    Main Tab:
    1. Customer: Select from the drop-down list.
    2. The S.O. Date: Adjust as needed.
    3. Terms:Select applicable payment terms.
    4. Sales Order Number: Enter manually or let the system auto-assign.
    5. PO / Ref #: Enter the Purchase Order or Reference # if applicable.
    6. Promise Date: Optional.
    7. Use Shipment: Check this box to use the Shipments document. A Shipment must be created and saved before you can create a Sales Invoice.
    8. Dropship: Check this box if the Sales Order is a Dropship Sales Order. This applies when you are shipping an item from your inventory directly to your customer's customer.
    9. If Dropship is checked, enter Dropship PO / Ref #.
  4. Addresses and Shipping Tab:
    1. Enter the Confirm To contact address.
    2. Choose a Ship to and Bill to address.
    3. Choose the Ship From address: This is the location where the items you'll be sending will be pulled from.
    4. Enter the Sales Person.
    5. Shipping method and the FOB.
    6. If Dropship is checked on the Main Tab, enter a Dropship Customer.
  5. Projects / Class Tab:
    1. Enter the applicable Project and Class.
  6. Currency Tab:
    1. Set the Currency (pre-fill). Change if necessary.
  7. Discounts Tab:
    1. Set the line item discounts if applicable. (This tab is not visible if "Allow discounts on line items" is not been enabled in General Settings.)
  8. Memo Tab:
    1. Enter an External or Internal memo. (optional). External Memos will be included on printed and emailed documents. Internal Memos are visible only from within the sales order in CustomBooks™.
  9. Sales Tax Tab: (This tab is not visible if Sales Tax has not been enabled in Sales Settings.)
    1. Choose the applicable Sales tax address, Sales tax rate and the Discount taxability for the order.
  10. Line Item Details Table:
    1. Click Add to add a line item to the Sales Order.
    2. Enter the Item Code. On the line item, the Description and Price will auto-fill. after adding/selecting an item.
    3. Enter the Quantity ordered.
    4. Enter the Line Discount % or $ Amount if the Discount Line Items box is enabled in the Discount Tab.
  11. Enter the Sales Order Total Discount % or $ Amount, if applicable.
  12. Enter the Shipping Cost, if applicable.
  13. Click Save, Save and New or Save and Close to save your completed work or Save a Draft to save a draft to finish later.



    For a step-by-step walkthrough, check out the video below.


Creating a Sales Order from a Sales Quote (Estimate)

A Sales Order may be created from a Quote (Estimate):
  1. Navigate to the Quotes List View (Sales → Quotes.)
  2. Select the relevant record.
  3. Click Create → Sales Order. Fields will auto-fill based on the selected Quote.
    1. Alternatively, open then existing Quote, click Generate → Sales Order.







    Need help applying this to your business?

    See how CustomBooks™ can support your accounting and inventory workflow

    If you are evaluating CustomBooks™ or want help setting up workflows for your business, explore the product or schedule a conversation with our team.

    Already using CustomBooks™? Explore the Knowledge Base or contact support for product help.



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