Dropshipping

Dropshipping

Overview

Dropshipping is a sales and order fulfillment process that does not require a business to keep products in inventory. Instead, the business sells the product and sends a dropship purchase order to to a third-party supplier, who in turn ships the order to the customer. Dropshipping saves both time and money because the product goes right from the manufacturer or distributor directly to the customer.

There are several roles played in this model,

The customer:
  • orders the product
  • pays the selling company for the product (and shipping)
  • receive the product from the third-party vendor.
The selling company:
  • receives the order from the customer
  • places a dropship Purchase Order to the third-party vendor
  • receives payment from the customer
  • pays the third-party vendor for the product
The third-party vendor:
  • receives the order for the product from the selling company
  • ships the product to the customer
  • bills the selling company for the product (and shipping in some cases)
In this model the product is only shipped once - to the customer from the third-party vendor.

As an AccountingSuite™ User, your company can play any of the three roles described above:  We will look at each of these separately.

Dropshipping in AccountingSuite™



Dropship Workflow

Your company as the Selling Company

As the selling company, your role is to 
  • Take the order from the Customer (Sales Order)
  • Order the product from a third-party vendor (Dropship Purchase Order)
  • Documenting when the goods have been shipped (Dropship Delivery)
  • Bill the Customer (Sales Invoice)
  • Receive Payment from the Customer (Cash Receipt)

Enabling Dropship Features

To enable dropship features:
  1. Click Quick Menu / Settings / Sales
  2. Check the Enable Dropship Line Items from Vendor checkbox

Creating a Sales Order that will be dropshipped

The sales order is created normally with a couple of additional steps.
To create a Sales Order that will be dropshipped.
  1. For each product that will be dropshipped by a third party, check the DS checkbox on the line.
  2. Enter the vendor in the vendor box that will display next to the checkbox. If you have a preferred vendor on the item card, it will automatically fill that one. It can be changed if needed.

Creating a Dropship Purchase Order

Once the Sales Order is created, you can generate one or more Dropship Purchase Orders to send to your vendors. The Dropship Purchase Orders will have the customer's address to ship to and your company's address to bill to.

To create a Dropship PO :
  1. First check the "DS" checkbox on the line(s) of the products that you will be sending to a third-party vendor to fulfill on the Sales Order.   
  2. For each line where you have the DS checkbox checked, highlight the line and click the Generate button and choose Dropship Purchase Order.
  3. The Dropship Purchase Order document will generate and display with information from the Sales Order pre-populated.
  4. Check the information and fill in any fields for which you have data.
  5. You can check the addresses for shipping on the Addresses tab.
  6. Click Save and Close.
  • The Dropship Purchase Order will have the customer's Ship To address and your company’s address for the Billing To. 
  • The Sales Order will have The Dropship Purchase Order Status will be indicated on the Sales Order.
  • A Sales Order that has some lines fulfilled by you and others by a third-party vendor may use both Dropship Delivery and Item Receipts/Shipments.

Creating a Dropship Delivery Document

A dropship delivery document is created when you get confirmation from your third party that they have shipped the product. For items that are not coming through your inventory, this records that the goods have been delivered but does not put the inventory on your books.
To create a dropship delivery document :
  1. Navigate to Sales / Dropship Delivery  or Choose Dropship Delivery from the Generate button on the Dropship Purchase Order.
  2.  Enter the Customer, if blank. 
  3. Enter the Vendor.  A list of Dropship POs will display.  
  4. Choose the Dropship PO.
  5. Complete entering/updated any needed fields.
  6. Click Save and Close.

Printing a Dropship Delivery Document (Proof of Delivery)

A printed Dropship Delivery document is known as a Proof of Delivery.
  1. From the Dropship Delivery, click Print and choose the desired template.
  2. From the preview screen, click Print.

Finishing Up

To complete these transactions, create a Sales Invoice and a Cash Receipt to complete the sales workflow and a Bill and a Bill Payment to complete the Purchases workflow.

Your Company as the Dropshipper

If you are sending your products to another company’s customer, you are the dropshipper. In this role your company may
  • receive a Dropship Purchase Order from the Selling Company 
  • create a Dropship Sales Order
  • print a Picklist for the warehouse
  • create a Dropship Shipment when the product is shipping
  • print a Packing Slip for the box
  • create a Dropship Sales Invoice for the Selling Company
  • receive payment from the Selling Company and create a Cash Receipt

Creating a Dropship Sales Quote


To create a Dropship Sales Quote :
  1. Create a Sales Quote as you normally would.
  2. Check the Dropship checkbox.
  3. Complete the Dropship fields on the Addresses and Dropship Details tab.
  4. Click Post or Post and Close.

Printing a Dropship Sales Quote

To print a Dropship Sales Quote :
  1. Click Print / Sales Quote / Template Name
  2. Review the print preview and if necessary, edit the template.
  3. Click Print or Send to deliver via email.

Creating a Dropship Sales Order

When you receive an order from the Selling Company, a Dropship Sales Order is created. This Sales Order will have the Selling Company as the Bill To and the End Customer as the Ship to.
To create a dropship sales order :
  1. On the Dropship Sales Quote, click Generate / Sales Order
                                           ------ or ------
  1. Check the Dropship checkbox in the header.
  2. Click the Dropship tab on the Sales Order.
  3. Choose a Dropship Customer from the list.
  4. Choose the Dropship Ship To Address from the list.
  5. Enter a Dropship PO# (optional)
  6. Follow the instructions for creating a Sales Order to finish out the order.


The Dropship details tab and the Dropship checkbox in the header

The Dropship Details tab
When generating a PO from the Sales Order, the dropship customer and address will automatically be carried over.
When using a Shipment with the Sales Order, check the dropship checkbox on the main tab.
To Print a Dropship Sales Order :
  1. Click Print / Sales Order / Template Name.
  2. Review the print preview and if necessary, edit the template.
  3. Click Print or Send to deliver via email.

Printing a Picklist

To print a Pick list :
  1. Click Print / Picklist / Template Name.
  2. Review the print preview and if necessary, edit the template.
  3. Click Print or Send to deliver via email.

Creating a Dropship Shipment

To create a Dropship Shipment,
  1. On the Dropship Sales Order click Generate --> Dropship Shipment
  2. Complete any unfilled necessary fields.
  3. Click Post or Post and Close.

Printing a Packing Slip

To print a Packing Slip :
  1. Click Print / Packing Slip / Template Name.
  2. Review the print preview and if necessary, edit the template.
  3. Click Print or Send to deliver via email.

Creating a Dropship Purchase Order

To create a Dropship Purchase Order :
  1. From a Dropship Sales Order, click the Generate PO button.
  2. Complete any necessary unfilled fields.
  3. Click Post or Post and Close.

Printing a Dropship Purchase Order

To print or email a Dropship Purchase Order :
  1. Click Print / Purchase Order / Template Name.
  2. Review the print preview and if necessary edit the template.
  3. Click Print or Send to deliver via email.

Creating a Dropship Shipment

To create a Dropship Shipment :
  1. On a Dropship Sales Order, check the Use Shipment Checkbox.
  2. Ensure that the Dropship checkbox is checked.
  3. Click Post.
  4. Click Generate / Shipment.

Printing a Dropship Shipment

To print a Dropship Shipment :
  1. Click Print / Packing Slip / Template Name.
  2. Review the print preview and if necessary, edit the template.
  3. Click Print or Send to deliver via email.

Creating a Dropship Sales Invoice

To create a Dropship Sales Invoice :
  1. From a Dropship Shipment (or a Dropship Sales Order if a Shipment document wasn't used), click Generate / Sales Invoice.
  2. Complete any necessary fields,
  3. Click Post or Post and Close.

Finishing Up

To complete this workflow, create a Cash Receipt once the Selling Company has paid.

Your Company as the Customer

When your customer is the end customer of the product, there is nothing that needs to be done if any of the other parties involved in the transaction are drop shipping.

Combination Workflows

Some other scenarios that can be handled include :
  • Sales Order that involve a combination of products that are shipped by you along with others shipped by a third-party.
  • Receiving a Dropship Sales Order from a Selling Company and having a fourth party dropship the product.

    • Related Articles

    • Webhooks

      Introduction Some of the ways your developed application can communicate with us (AccountingSuite application) are: a) Polling our API (You call us). b) Webhooks (We call you). This article will focus on us calling you (Webhooks). Webhooks are one of ...

    • How can I track inventory in AccountingSuite while drop shipping items?

      AccountingSuite™ has powerful multi-location features that can handle track the inventory for drop shipping. Here's one possible solution: 1.) Enable Multi-location features in Settings → Inventory Settings. 2.) Create a location called Dropship.  ...

    • How to create a Customer List using the Universal Report

      Resolution is :       1. Go to Reports → Universal Report.       2. Select Catalog and Address/Contact.       3. Click Show Settings, Grouping by "Owner"       4. Click Run Report. This will show all address/contacts from all customer cards grouped ...

    • Getting Started Step 2 - Settings

      In this step you will learn how to enter company information, choose the features you will be using in settings, set up lists and customize print forms. Finally you will learn how to create users.    Settings are all located in the Admin Panel Menu ...

    • French Bulldog 3 Release Notes

      AccountingSuite™ Release Updates New Features Reports and more! Similar to the options and functionality of the Income Statement reports - we now have both Balance Sheet Standard and Balance Sheet Comparative reports! For basic reporting features the ...