Getting Started with the New Item Review
The New Vendor Item Review is a key tool for making MarginEdge work for you! It provides an easy snapshot of all new Vendor Items so you can spot check our work. When you purchase a new item (or an item you've ordered before but purchased from a different vendor or in a different format), our team maps it to a Product and Categorizes it in the system.
This happens for each new-to-you item, and once it’s been mapped, the software will continue to map it that way every time you order it - unless you make an adjustment. Using the New Item Review, you can quickly look over all your new items, check that they are with the right Product and Category, and quickly make changes if necessary.
Read How are Vendor Items and Products related? for a refresher on this fundamental relationship.
We highly recommend you do this review on an ongoing basis, or at a minimum before each end-of-period inventory. This feature gives you the ability to check items off to show they have been reviewed, making work across teams much more efficient and effective. Quickly and easily see invoice details, including invoice images, and make changes on the fly. It is one of the best ways you can make sure our software is putting the information you want exactly where you want it.
If you have access to multiple units in MarginEdge, and you have a new vendor item purchased in multiple units, this report will streamline the process and only show you the vendor item from the unit where it was first ordered. If that vendor items needs a product or category change, the edits you make will then take effect across all units.
(If you have been with us a while, yes, this used to be called the Setup Verification Report :)
Video Overview for the New Item Review
To view in full-screen mode, click the bracket "[ ]" to the bottom right of the video.
Step by Step Overview
Go to PRODUCTS > NEW ITEM REVIEW
The report shows you all the new Vendor Items you’ve purchased during the period selected. There is a lot of helpful information in this report, but it is most important that you check the to ensure these items were mapped to the correct Product and Category.
You can use this screen to see your list and check them off, or there's an alternate view available (see step #7!) to allow you to see the item within the context of the full invoice.
(1) The first thing to do is to adjust the filters according to your desired workflow. If you utilize the checkboxes, you can filter according to status for a quick view of outstanding tasks. Another option is to set the date range from the current day back to the day after the last time you checked the report. You also can adjust the category if you are wanting to verify a certain segment of products.
(2) If you have access to multiple units, then the slider will let you choose to see all items across all units or only items in the restaurant you are logged into. If the new vendor item is purchased in multiple units, this report will streamline the process and only show you the vendor item from the unit where it was first ordered. If that vendor items needs a product or category change, the edits you make will then take effect across all units.
The orange sun icon will indicate whenever a new vendor item resulted in a new product.
(3) There's lots of flexibility to adjust this report for your needs - use the search bar up top and sort by any column by clicking on that header.
(4) For even more view options, click on this blue menu button and select precisely which columns you want to see.
(5) On the far left is an available checkbox that you can use to mark an item as reviewed. Just click on on it and the checkbox will turn green. You can use this liberally as the checking off does not have any impact (or connection) on your reporting, but simply gives you a quick visual regarding what's left to review.
(6) Click the blue hyperlink to open up the pop-up box that allows you to edit the product. Also note that the number shown in parentheses next to the Product name indicates how many Vendor Items are currently associated with this Product.
Changing the Product Category
If any Product isn’t categorized correctly, changing it is easy: just click on the Product name (hyperlinked in blue) and change it.
Select the Category, and change it to whatever Category you’d like
If you would like the Product to be reported in more than one Category, you can do that too: Just select the Add Category button, then assign whatever percentage you would like allocated to each Category.
Other Product Adjustments Available
Beyond changing the category, you can adjust many other aspects of the Product directly from this screen. This article, Finding and Editing Your Products, contains full instructions on how to navigate the Product page.
A quick recap of the various options:
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Tax Exempt - Check this box if you are not required to pay taxes for this product
[Making Products Tax Exempt] - Should be inventoried - Check this box if you intend to inventory the product
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Count Sheets - With the previous box checked (#4), you can now indicate which count sheet(s) you want this product on.
[Count Sheets] -
See this Product on Reports - How do you want to see this product on your reports?
[How to change the count by unit of measure of a product] -
Reassign - If the vendor item you see here should belong to a different product, you can click to "Reassign" to choose the correct product. (Similarly, the small link under the vendor items allows you to add a missing vendor item to this product.)
[How to Fix a Vendor Item Associated with the Wrong Product] -
Units Counted on Inventory - here is where you have the ability to add multiple count-by units so you can count a product on your inventory multiple ways
[Adding Multiple Count-bys on Products] -
Unit of Measure – this is where you add any conversions needed for your recipes.
A conversion is needed when how you count or measure the product differs from how you purchase it.
[Recipe Conversions]
(7) For a more detailed view of the invoice, click on the small arrow on the far right side within a line item row. Out slides the invoice details, also showing the product details.
From here you can:
- Click the arrow on the top right to close this slider and return to the previous screen.
- Mark the item as reviewed (or unreviewed) and use the arrows at the bottom to scroll to the next vendor item. This allows you to work through your list while staying in this view.
- Click on the invoice number link to open up the actual invoice image to double check everything!