Managing Pricelists in SAP Business One

• Your company maintains multiple price lists to give appropriate pricing for different types of customers. Therefore you tie the price lists to customer groups. When a new customer master record is created, the price list defaults from the customer group assigned to the customer master.
• You set some pricelists to update prices automatically when a base pricelist changes. For example, you base some sales prices on a pricelist based on purchase price.
• Some price lists are seasonal so they are managed with validity dates. New price lists are marked as inactive until they are ready to be used.

• SAP Business One uses price lists as the basis for pricing in the sales and purchasing process.
• Price lists contain the pricing for items.
• Each business partner has a price list assigned. You can see the assigned price list in the business partner master record.
• When a business partner is entered into a marketing document, the price list is associated with the document. When you enter an item in the document, the price for that item is drawn from the price list associated with that document.

Most new SAP Business One customers will import the price lists they are using in their business. The price lists may be on spreadsheets or in a legacy system.

There are two main ways to import master data, the Import from Excel tool and the Data Transfer Workbench. These tools are covered in course topics on Data Migration Tools.

In this course topic we will focus on how to create individual price lists.

When you create a price list, you can enter the prices manually or base a price list on another price list so that prices are automatically updated when the base price list changes.

Let's look at how this is done.

• Price lists are created and maintained in the Inventory module under the menu area for price lists.
• To add a new price list, open the context menu by right-clicking and choose Add Row.
• Then enter the name for your new price list.
• In this example we are creating a new price list for customers who are schools.
• You can control who is authorized to change the price list by using authorization groups.

• One useful option for price lists is to base a price list on another price list.
• In our example, the price list for schools will be based on our base price list that we have previously set up.
• We would like the prices on the schools price list to always be double the prices on the base price list.
• We set the default base price list to be our "base price list". We set a default factor of 2.0.
• Each priced item on the base price list will appear a price set at 200% of the item price on the base price list. For example, if an item is price at 10 on the base price list, the same item on the schools price list will be priced at 20.
• Anytime prices are changed on the base price list, the corresponding price on the schools price list is automatically updated so that the price is always double the base price.

You can double-click a row to open the price list to view and maintain the individual item prices.

• Once you open a price list, you see all the items in the system and the prices assigned.
• Here we see the Schools price list is based on the Base Price list.
• The prices are calculated using a factor of 2.
• Notice that the tablet currently has an automatic price calculation of 540 which is twice the base price of 270.

• You can maintain prices for each unit of measure for an item that has an assigned unit of measurement group.
• To set the unit of measure pricing, select the pricelist, then double-click the item row in the price list to open the Unit of Measure Prices window.
• Both the pricing base unit of measure will appear in the Unit of Measure Prices window but it will be grayed out. Its price is set in the price list window for items. The pricing unit of measure is chosen in the item master and cannot be changed in the pricelists.
• You have the option to add any units that belong to the item's assigned unit of measure group to Unit of Measure Prices window and set their prices.
• For more information on units of measure and how they are set up, see the e-learning courses on units of measure.

• When you add a row for a unit of measure, the system automatically calculates the unit price for each unit of measure based on the unit of measure group definitions.
• If you choose not to enter a unit and price for this price list, it is still possible to use that unit in a sales or purchasing document. A price for the unit used in the document will be calculated automatically based on the relationship of that unit to the pricing base unit and its price.
• One reason to add a unit of measure price in this window is that you can enter a different unit price or modify the unit price with a percentage discount or surcharge in the Reduce By Percentage column. The reduction or surcharge is calculated immediately and reflected in the unit price.
• Select the Auto checkbox in the row if you want the unit of measure prices to be updated according to the discount reduction, whenever the inventory unit of measure prices are updated in the Price List window. If the Auto checkbox is not selected in the row, the unit of measure prices are not updated when you update the prices of the inventory unit of measure in the Price List window.

• Another nice feature in the unit of measure price window is that you can copy the Reduce By percentages to other items that share the same unit of measure group.
• You can use the Copy Reduce By button to copy the percentages defined in the Reduce By % column for an item's unit of measure prices to multiple items in multiple price lists as long as all the items belong to the same unit of measure group.
• For example, if we had multiple types of copy paper, and we always give a discount of 5% on a 6Pack and 15% on carton, we could copy these discount percentages from one item to all others copy paper items with the same units of measure.
• Note that the new button appears in the UoM Prices window only when you access the unit of measure prices from the item row in the price list. If you access the UoM Prices window from the item master data by choosing Browse, the new button is inactive.

• You can set a price list as inactive until you are ready to use it. A company can set up pricing in advance, and activate a price list when required.
• You can also set a price list to be active for a specific date range. This allows companies to offer price changes for a limited period. The pricing will only be effective when the first validity date is reached. When the range is no longer valid, the price list becomes inactive.
• If you use an inactive price list in a document, no pricing will appear. If a marketing document refers to an inactive price list, such as in an order for a customer associated with an inactive price list, the item price is zero and the unit price field is shown as empty in the document row. When you add a document associated with an inactive price list, the system will warn you about the zero price. If an active price list has a date range, then the document posting date must fall within the date range, otherwise the price list will be considered inactive. For other windows such as the item master data, the system date is used for the comparison with the price list date range.
• A price list can be deactivated at any time, even if it is already assigned to a business partner.

• For each entry on the price list, you can maintain up to 3 prices with different currencies (the primary currency and two additional currencies). This is useful when you want an exact price in a different currency rather than depending on the currency conversion done inside a document.
• You can maintain the pricing in alternate currencies not only at the item level, but also for each unit of measure for an item.
• The additional currency fields are hidden initially, but you can display them using Form Settings.

• There are two price lists that are automatically created and you cannot maintain:
  • The Last Evaluated Price list
  • The Last Purchase Price list
• The system maintains these price lists automatically.
• The Last Evaluated Price List is automatically updated when you run the Inventory Valuation Simulation Report. This price is calculated only for the item's inventory unit of measure and only in primary currency.
• The Last Purchase Price is automatically updated when an item enters inventory with its original price.
• These 2 price lists are grayed out in the Price Lists window because you cannot change these price lists.

Last purchase price is updated by: accounts payable invoices, goods receipts and goods receipt POs, inventory postings for initial quantities or adjustments for positive stock differences, landed costs documents and automatic calculation of last purchase price for bills of materials used in production. Canceling any of the documents will not affect this price.

If none of these actions listed in the graphic have been performed in the system for an item, the Last Purchase Price pricelist will not contain a price for the item.

You can base other price lists on the Last Purchase Price. You cannot, however, change the prices in the Last Purchase Price pricelist manually.

• There are a number of controls for pricing on the Pricing Tab in General Settings. These controls cover three main areas: inactive price lists, unpriced items and unit of measure pricing.
• You can control whether prices are displayed in documents when a price source is based on an inactive price list for three types of prices. Three separate checkboxes control the display for special prices for business partners, period and volume discounts and price lists prices.
• You also have the option to hide or display inactive pricelists in three areas: in reports, in sales, purchasing and inventory documents, and in settings. Each area has a checkbox that when checked tells the system to display inactive price lists for that area.
• Some companies may have a large number of unpriced items that are neither sold nor purchased. Because every item by default appears on every price list, companies with a large number of items may wish to remove unpriced items from price list tables. By selecting this checkbox, all items with zero price will be immediately removed from the items table (ITM1). This will substantially reduce the size of this table and improve performance. Be aware that this action is not recorded in the log file, since there are no price changes. When the checkbox is selected there are no UI changes for the user. If the checkbox is subsequently deselected, all the removed items will be restored to the ITM1 table so they can be used in normal business operations. Note that no backup is needed before the restore is made. This checkbox is not relevant for the Last Purchase Price and the Last Evaluated Price pricelists. All items remain associated with these two price lists. Items with no prices are still displayed to users when they view the price lists. If you would like to view the price lists without seeing these items, choose the option, Hide Unpriced Items, in the Price list - Selection Criteria window. A similar option exists in price list reports.
• Since unit of measure pricing is based on unit of measure groups and their rules for converting one unit to another, you may wish to have any changes in the relationship between the units affect your company's prices. You have several options - to update prices accordingly, to remove the unit of measure pricing, to keep the corresponding unit of measure price, or to keep all prices unchanged. After making this choice, you have an additional option to set a checkbox that tells the system to remove or update unit of measure prices based on changes in the system maintained price lists: last purchase price and last evaluated price list.

Here are some key points:

• You maintain purchasing and sales prices in pricelists.
• There are 10 default price lists. You can define more.
• You can define prices for all pricelists except the two system maintained price lists: the last purchase price and evaluated price pricelists.
• You can maintain prices for each unit of measure for an item for an item's assigned unit of measurement group.
• Every item is linked to every pricelist by default. However, you have the option to remove zero price items from all pricelists except the system maintained price lists.
• A pricelist can be based on another pricelist by using a factor. In this way prices can be automatically updated when the base pricelist changes.
• If a pricelist price is changed manually, it can no longer automatically change.
• You can set validity dates for pricelists or mark a pricelist as inactive. Configuration settings allow you to control where inactive price lists and their prices are displayed.

The sales manager at OEC Computers has been using factors for setting up relationships between price lists. Number of sales pricelists are based on one base price list. When the base price lists changes, the other sales price lists are automatically updated. When he needed to adjust individual prices, he maintained them directly in the price list windows.

He has just learned that he can systematically maintain item prices in multiple price lists using the prices update wizard.

The wizard will allow him more selection parameters and more visibility of the effect of changes before they occur.

There are two methods for maintaining prices in your price lists.

The first method is to maintain prices directly in the price list window.

As we saw in the previous lesson, you can use factors for automatic price updates.

You also have the option to make manual changes to individual prices within the price lists. You can open the entire price list to update items or change prices for multiple items within one price list by using the Update by Selection option.

The second method is to use the prices update wizard.

The prices update wizard provides multiple methods to make systematic changes to prices in one or more price lists or to mass convert prices into different currencies.

The wizard guides you through the process and allows you preview changes in simulation mode before making irreversible changes.

In this lesson we will explore the two methods and discuss how they are used.

• The sales manager currently has number of price lists that are based on a base price list. He uses factors to manage the percentage differences between the base price list and all other price lists.
• For example, prices in the seasonal price list are set to always be double the prices on the base price list.
• The advantage of this method is that percentage increases are easy to manage in the multiple price lists based on the base price list.
• The only issue is when some prices need to vary from the standard percentage. In those cases, he makes changes directly in the price list. He can make changes to one item price or he can use selection criteria to choose multiple item prices to change.

• In the previous course on creating price lists, we saw how you can base a price list on another price list by using a factor.
• For example, when the company decided they needed a new price list for schools, the manager created a price list based on the base price list with a factor of 2.
• The factor is used as a multiplier. Every price on the Schools price list is 2x the price on the Base Price List.
• Anytime the base price list changes, the Schools price list is automatically updated.
• This is a useful way to have automatic pricing updates.

• Although the automatic update feature has been useful, the sales manager has found that sometimes certain products on a price list may need to be changed in order to sell better in the marketplace.
• The tablet on the base price list is set at 270 so the automatic pricing from the factor sets the price at 540.
• However, the sales manager feels that this product would sell better to schools at a regular price of 500.

• Therefore, he sets the price to 500 directly in the school price list.
• Once he changes this price, the manual checkbox is set and the price is no longer maintained automatically.
• This method works well when there are only a few changes at a time.

Another option is to set an item to use a different base price list or factor for automatic pricing.

Here again, we see a price list based on a base price list with a factor of 2.

This time the tablet has been set to be based on a different price list. The tablet is based on the discount price list with a factor of 2.5.

The tablet price will not change when the other items change, instead the price of this item will change whenever the discount price list changes.

Another option is to set an item to use a different base price list or factor for automatic pricing.

Here again, we see a price list based on a base price list with a factor of 2. The factor and base price lists are set at the header level so all rows default to the same base price list and factor.

This time the scanner has been set to be based on a different price list. The scanner is based on the discount price list with a factor of 3

The scanner price will not change when the other items change due to a change in the base price list, instead the price of this item will change whenever the discount price list changes.

A third option for maintaining prices inside the Price List window is the Update Price List By Selection.

In the Price Lists window, choose the radio button for Update by Selection.

Then double-click on the price list you wish to maintain.

Use the selection criteria to choose which prices to maintain. You can choose item prices by vendors, item numbers, item groups and properties.

The selection of item prices will appear and you can make any changes.

All prices changed will be marked as manual and will no longer be automatically updated when a base price list changes.

When one or more a price lists need more extensive updates, a better practice is to use the prices update wizard.

The prices update wizard is very flexible and will allow you to change selected items on one or more price lists by 4 methods.

1. You can use the Item Prices method to update items prices using a mathematical operation or by setting a value for the price.
2. You can use the Base Price List method to change the factor and/or base price list for one or more price lists.
3. You can use the Convert to method to convert prices in a price list from one currency to another.
4. You can use the UoM Reduce By Percentage method to make a mass adjustment to prices based on a unit of measure by changing the Reduce By Percentage field value.

Let's look through some examples that will make the wizard's capabilities clearer.

• The sales manager wants to adjust all products for a particular manufacturer by 5%.
• All products manufactured by Rainbow should be increased by 5% on all sales price lists, except the Web price list.
• No unpriced items should be updated. No inactive items should be updated.
• We will use the Prices Update wizard to make these changes.

The first step in the wizard is to choose the update method.

In our first example, the sales manager wants us to increase the item price by 5 percent.

Therefore we choose the Item Prices method to make this adjustment.

The Item Prices method gives us the option to multiply, divide, add, subtract or set a value.

We choose multiply and enter the value 1.05.

In our example, we used the option to multiply the price, however there are 4 other options. Let's look at how they work.

Let's assume we have an item currently priced at 10 and let's see how the other options work if we are entering the value of 2.

If we choose multiply and enter the value 2, 10 is multiplied by 2 and the resulting price is 20.

If we choose divide, 10 is divided by 2 and the resulting price is 5.

If we choose add, the system adds 2 and results in a price of 12.

If we choose subtract, the system subtracts 2 and results in a price of 8.

If we choose the Set Value operation, then it doesn't matter what the initial value was. The value entered is used as the resulting price.

The second step is for selection criteria.

In this step, we first select the items that need a pricing change.

We have options to select items based on a range of preferred vendors, a range of item numbers, by item group, by manufacturer, or by item properties.

If choosing items or vendors by range, remember to pick both a beginning and end of a range. For example, if you only want item A1000, you need to choose From A1000 to A1000 or else if you choose from A1000 you will get all items that follow such as A1001 and so on.

This window also allows us to exclude items that are unpriced or inactive.

In our example, the sales manager wants to change prices for the items manufactured by Rainbow, while excluding any unpriced or inactive items.

Then we choose Next to go to the second part of the Selection Criteria step.

Within the Selection Criteria step, you also need to change the types of prices you wish to change.

First we choose the price list or price lists we want to include.

In our example the sales manager wants to change all the sales price lists except the Web price list. To do this, we chooses the Browse button to open the Price Lists window to select multiple price lists.

Another option on this window allows you to decide whether you are changing prices for the primary currency or for additional currencies. In our example, we only want to change prices in the primary currency.

A third option within the price selection window is which units of measure prices should be included in the change.

You can choose to include only the manual unit of measure group, only other unit of measure groups or both types of unit of measure groups. When you choose other or both, the Units of Measure window will open.

Here you can choose to update prices inventory units of measure or specific units. Once you've made that choice you can then search for and choose the specific units you wish to update.

The third step in the wizard is view a simulation of the price changes.

You can view the simulation by Items or by Price Lists.

If you view by Items, you can choose which items to update.

If you view by Price List, you can choose whether or not to update that price list, but not choose specific items to include or exclude within the price list.

You can expand or collapse the report and move between pages.

If the simulation shows you something you would like to change, you can use the Back button to go back to previous steps to make changes.

The final step is to select the checkbox for the rows you wish to change, and then choose Execute. You will receive a message that warns you that if other users are making changes to the database, you may receive different results than shown in the simulation. In general, it is a best practice to make changes with the pricing wizard during times you know that other users will not be updating prices.

Once you choose Execute, you cannot reverse the changes.

The fourth step of the wizard displays the results of your changes.

You can view information on what has changed with a date and time. If there are errors, you will see them as well.

We saw before that making individual changes in a price list causes the system to set the manual checkbox. The manual checkbox is also set for changes to item prices when using the prices update wizard. This means these prices will no longer be automatically maintained using factors.

Let's look at a scenario that uses another option in the Prices Update Wizard.

Currently the discount price list is based on the base price list with a factor of 0.5.

The sales manager wants to change the factor for the accessories item group to 0.75.

In the Prices Update Wizard we choose the option Base Price List. This option allows us the ability to change both the factor of a price list, and if we want, the price list that is used as a base pricelist.

Once you choose the Base Price List option, you have the choice of both the current or a new base price list.

If you choose Current Base Price List, the base price list remains the same and you can choose a new factor. This is what we would do in example 3. We want to keep the base price list but just adjust the factor.

Or you can choose a different price list as a new base. You can pick any existing price list as the base.

Another option is to base a price list on itself. Typically you would do this when you no longer want to have a price list automatically updated. Once you choose Same as Target and a factor of 1, you can maintain that price list directly either in the wizard or directly in the price list window.

Another use of the Prices Update Wizard is to convert a price list's currency.

In example 4, you have a sales price list that you would like to reuse for some new international customers. Currently the price list has prices in 3 currencies - one main currency and two additional ones. You need to a fourth currency for this price list.

You can choose the Convert to option. This option will convert prices from one currency to another.

In our example we wanted to duplicate an existing price list and change the main currency. Once we have the new price list, we can open the Prices Update wizard and choose the 'Convert to' Option.

Choose the new currency from the dropdown. The default rate is taken from the rate set in the Exchange Rates and Indexes window. Users can change the rate manually.

In the following windows you can choose to change selected items or an entire price list. In our example, we would choose our new price list.

Then you can choose whether to change the primary currency or one of the additional currencies.

Another the last option in the Prices Update Wizard allows you to adjust unit of measure pricing.

In example 5, the sales manager decides to make additional price reductions for sales of cartons of printer paper.

He would like to offer a 10% reduction for cartons of printer paper in two price lists, the Schools price list and the Small Account price list. Currently cartons only have a 5% discount in those price lists over the price to purchase the number of packs equal to a carton.

To do this we will change the value 5 to the value 10 in the UoM Reduce By % field for selected items of printer paper on the two price lists.

In the Prices Update Wizard, we choose the 'UoM Reduce By Percentage' option.

The Reduce By % field in Unit of Measure Prices allows us to give a discount for specific units.

In our example, let's assume the price of a pack of printer paper is 2 on our Schools Price List.

A carton is comprised of 24 packs.

Therefore, the base price of a carton (without any discount) is 48.

The Reduce By % field allows us to give a discount from that price.

Currently the discount is 5%, so the price of a carton is 47.10.

So if we give a discount of 10%, the price of a carton will change to 44.20.

We could make this change manually in a price list, but for multiple items on multiple price lists, it is much easier to make the change in the Prices Update wizard.

In the Prices Update Wizard: We set the unit of measure reduce by percentage to be equal to 10. This will give a 10% discount for cartons.

Next, in the selection criteria windows, we select the printer paper items and then choose the two affected price lists and the unit of measure.

In the simulation, we will see the current price and suggested price and can choose to execute the change.

The Prices Update Wizard cannot create a new Unit of Measure Reduce By % entry. The wizard can only change existing entries.

Use the Prices Update Wizard to change existing amounts. Each units of measure must already have an entry with an amount to be updated.

So if there is currently no UoM Reduce By % amount for a specific unit of measure in a pricelist, the wizard will have no effect.

In cases where you want to enter a large number of new UoM Reduce by % amounts for units of measure, use the Copy Reduce By % function.

Enter UoM Reduce By % values for one item in a price list, then you can use those values as a source to copy to other products and/or other pricelists.

Here are some key points:

• You can base a price list on another price list and use factors as a multiplier.
• When the base price list is changed, all price lists based on it will change.
• You can make manual changes directly in a price list.
• When you make a manual change to a price on a price list that uses factors, that changed price is no longer updated automatically.
• The Prices Update wizard allows you to make mass changes to multiple price lists at the same time.
• Options in the wizard include changing item prices, setting new base price lists and factors, converting currency for a price list, and adjusting unit of measure prices using the Reduce By Percentage field.
• Prices changed with the Item Prices option in the Prices Update Wizard will be set as Manual and no longer subject to automatic pricing updates.
• The Prices Update wizard includes a simulation step so that you can double-check your changes before they take effect.