Sales Inquiry (Internal) Applet

Purpose and Overview

The Internal Sales Inquiry Applet is where your team records sales inquiries before they become firm commitments such as quotations or sales orders. It brings together the customer (or prospect), the sales agent, line-level products or services, delivery and billing context, optional collection and contra lines, and supporting files—so everyone works from one structured document instead of scattered notes or email threads.

An internal sales inquiry is typically a draft-friendly document: you can build it up over time, save changes, and when your process allows, mark selected records as FINAL from the listing or from the document screen. Depending on your company’s setup, you can also export the document and use Convert to create an Internal Receipt Voucher (the screen warns that converting cancels the current inquiry—treat this as a deliberate, controlled step).

Key Features Overview

Who Benefits from This Applet?

Sales representatives and internal sellers:

• Start inquiries quickly with Create and a guided tab layout (Main, Account, Line Items, and more)
• Pull lines from Search Item, Jobsheet Item, Quotation Item, or Previous Sales Inquiry so you do not re-key data
• Attach files, add contra lines, and refine pricing and tax-related fields per line before anything is committed downstream

Sales managers and team leads:

• Review open inquiries from the Internal Sales Inquiry Listing with Posting Status, amounts, and key dates visible
• Use FINAL on the listing to post multiple selected inquiries in one action (only rows that are not already final are updated)
• Open the Line Items menu for a cross-document line view when you need visibility without opening every header

Finance and operations staff:

• See transaction amounts and posting status alongside branch and customer context
• Rely on structured Collection and Contra sections when your process ties inquiries to settlement logic
• Use Export (PDF, CSV, DOCX, or ZIP, depending on configuration) for internal checks or handoff

Administrators and configuration owners:

• Control defaults, field visibility, printable formats, branch behaviour, feature visibility, and permissions from Settings
• Let users override layout with Personalization (for example default branch, location, language, tab orientation, and column layout)

What Problems Does This Solve?

The informal inquiry problem:

Without a dedicated inquiry record, early-stage sales work often lives in spreadsheets, chat messages, or ad hoc documents. That makes it hard to know which version is current, who owns the customer context, or what was promised before a quotation or order exists.

The Internal Sales Inquiry Applet solution:

• Single source of truth for each inquiry, with a full header, account, and line structure shared with other internal sales applets in the platform
• Flexible line sourcing so items can be added from catalog search, jobsheets, quotations, or past inquiries for the same customer
• Clear posting state via Posting Status (for example DRAFT when empty) and FINAL when your process locks the document
• Operational depth where you need it: delivery instructions, department header fields, collections, contra, attachments, related documents, and issue links on lines
• Controlled conversion to Internal Receipt Voucher when your business rules call for it, with an explicit on-screen warning about cancelling the inquiry

Key Features Overview

Key Concepts

The inquiry framework

Listing columns you can expect

The main listing is a data grid with advanced search, column layout toggle, and client-side pagination. Columns are driven by your environment but commonly include:

• Document reference (primary document number column on the screen)
• Posting Status (blank values may display as DRAFT)
• Branch, Customer Name, Sales Agent
• Amount Txn
• Updated Date, Created Date, Transaction Date

Tabs versus expansion panels

The create and view screens can show the same information either as horizontal tabs or as stacked expansion panels. Your administrator controls this behaviour through applet and personalization settings (for example vertical orientation and which panels start expanded). If you cannot find a section, scroll the page or expand collapsed panels.

Line item detail tabs

When you add or edit a line, you typically work through Item Details, optional Costing Details (unless hidden by settings), Pricing Details, and Issue Link. Edit Issue, Worklog, and Log Time appear in the dedicated Line Items menu flow when your process uses those features.

Quick Start Guide

For sales staff: create your first internal sales inquiry

Goal: Save a new inquiry with a customer and at least one line.

1. Open Internal Sales Inquiry from the applet menu. You land on Internal Sales Inquiry Listing.
2. Click Create (the + control).
3. On Main, set Transaction Date and complete required fields such as Sales Agent and Credit Terms. Use Select Member or Select CRM Contact if your process requires them.
4. Open Account. Choose Entity Details (Select Customer or Create Customer if allowed), then set Ship To and Bill To as needed.
5. Open Line Items. Use Add to open Add Line Item, or step through Select Line Item first. Pick a source tab—Search Item, Jobsheet Item, Quotation Item, or Previous Sales Inquiry—and select a row to bring into the inquiry.
6. Complete optional sections your company uses (Delivery Details, Collection, Department Hdr, Contra) on the create screen.
7. Click CREATE to save.

What happens next? The inquiry remains editable while in draft. Open it from the listing to add attachments, related documents, or more lines, then use SAVE and FINAL when your procedure allows.

For sales managers: review and finalize inquiries

Goal: Confirm open inquiries and post them when appropriate.

1. From Internal Sales Inquiry Listing, use Advanced Search if you need to filter by criteria your administrator configured.
2. Click a row to open View Internal Sales Inquiry. Review Main, Account, Line Items, and any settlement-related tabs.
3. To post a single document from the view screen, use FINAL when it is enabled.
4. To post several inquiries at once, select multiple rows in the listing (checkbox column) and click FINAL. Only rows that are not already FINAL are sent for update.
5. For line-level questions without opening every document, open the Line Items menu, locate the line in Line Items Listing, and drill into Edit Line Item as needed.

For administrators: first-time setup checklist

Complete these steps when rolling out the applet.

• Feature visibility: Settings → Feature Visibility — show or hide menus (for example Line Items, Settings, Personalization) per your rollout plan.
• Default selection: Settings → Default Selection — set default company, branch, location, and language where applicable.
• Field settings: Settings → Field Settings — align mandatory and visible fields with your sales and finance policies.
• Printable formats: Settings → Printable Format Settings — configure how exported or printed inquiries should look.
• Branch settings: Settings → Branch Settings — align branch-specific behaviour if your organisation uses them.
• Permissions: Settings → Permission listings (client-side permission sets, permission sets, user, team, role) — grant create, edit, finalize, convert, and settings access to the right groups.
• Webhooks (if used): Settings → Webhook — connect external automation only after staging tests.
• Personalization defaults: Encourage users to set Personalization → Personal Default Selection and Sidebar so their layout matches daily work.

Pilot test: Create an inquiry, add lines from each source type you plan to use, save, finalize, export, and—only if required—run a test Convert to Internal Receipt Voucher in a safe environment.

Working with the Inquiry Listing

The Internal Sales Inquiry Listing is the home screen for the applet.

• Create opens a blank document in Create Internal Sales Inquiry.
• Advanced Search runs a configured query; when results are returned as a bounded set of document keys, the grid loads those rows.
• FINAL applies Posting Status FINAL to every selected row that is not already final.
• Column toggle switches between single- and double-column layouts on wider screens.
• Row click opens View Internal Sales Inquiry for the selected document.

Document Structure: Tabs and Panels

View screen (existing inquiry)

On View Internal Sales Inquiry, the main sections appear as tabs (or panels) including:

The view toolbar also provides RESET, FINAL, and SAVE (unless SAVE is hidden by Hide generic document save button in settings). Use Back to return to the listing.

Create screen (new inquiry)

Create Internal Sales Inquiry exposes Main, Account, Line Items, Delivery Details, Collection, Department Hdr, and Contra. Attachments are handled after save flows in your environment; follow on-screen navigation for Add Attachments when it appears in the inquiry journey.

Line Items

Select Line Item

Select Line Item offers four tabs:

• Search Item — find catalog items.
• Jobsheet Item — pull from jobsheet context.
• Quotation Item — pull from quotation lines.
• Previous Sales Inquiry — copy lines from an earlier inquiry for the selected customer.

Choosing a row feeds the Add Line Item flow.

Add Line Item

Add Line Item walks through Item Details, optional Costing Details, Pricing Details, and Issue Link. Costing can be suppressed by applet settings unless a user is allowed to see it for specific cases.

Edit Line Item

Edit Line Item mirrors the add layout with SAVE on the toolbar. Line-level behaviour may respect the inquiry’s posting status (for example stricter edits after finalization—follow your organisation’s rules).

Related documents and contra from the inquiry flow

Dedicated columns in the page stack include Add Related Documents and Add Contra when your navigation reaches those steps—use them to link supporting evidence or contra entries without losing the inquiry context.

Line Items Menu

The separate Line Items route provides:

• Line Items Listing — a grid of lines across inquiries.
• Edit Line Item — focused line editing.
• Edit Issue, Worklog, and Log Time — when issue tracking and time logging are part of your process.

Use this area when operations or support teams need line-centric visibility.

Finalize, Save, and Reset

• SAVE persists header, account, and line changes on the view screen when available.
• FINAL sets posting status to FINAL from the view screen or for multi-selected rows on the listing.
• RESET reloads the document state according to your implementation—use it when you need to discard unsaved UI changes and refresh from the server copy.
• CREATE on the create screen saves a new inquiry for the first time.

Always confirm with your administrator how FINAL interacts with editing, voiding, or downstream documents in your tenant.

Export and Convert

Export

Under Export, choose the format your administrator enabled—typically EXPORT AS PDF, EXPORT AS CSV, EXPORT AS DOCX, or EXPORT AS ZIP. This is useful for internal approval packs or customer-facing summaries when your policy allows.

Convert

Convert shows a clear warning: converting to an Internal Receipt Voucher cancels the current sales inquiry. Use this only when your finance process explicitly requires that path.

Configuration & Settings

Settings are organised under Settings in the applet sidebar (exact labels may vary slightly by tenant).

Applet-level behaviour also honours master flags such as optional Dimension, Profit Centre, Project, Segment, SST, and WHT segments, custom status slots, pricing column visibility, hiding costing details, hiding the generic document SAVE button, vertical versus horizontal orientation, default column layout (SINGLE vs DOUBLE), and which expansion panels open by default—configured through your platform’s settings model for this applet.

Personalization

Under Personalization, users with access can adjust:

• Personal Default Selection — overrides for branch, location, language, default tab orientation, and default column layout (personal choices override applet defaults where allowed).
• Sidebar — shortcut and navigation preferences.

Audit Trail and Compliance

Sales inquiries participate in the platform’s generic document model (header, lines, extensions, and links). Your organisation may rely on that structure for traceability: who created or updated a record, attached files, or changed posting status. Consult your administrator or compliance team for how audit logs, document history, or external reporting tools are exposed in your deployment.

FAQ

What is the difference between an internal sales inquiry and a quotation or sales order?

An inquiry is an early-stage, flexible record used to capture interest, rough lines, and context. Quotations and orders (see the Internal Sales Quotation Applet and Internal Sales Order) are typically the next formal steps when pricing is firm and fulfilment is planned. Your company defines when to move from one to the other.

Why does Convert warn that it will cancel the inquiry?

The Convert action creates an Internal Receipt Voucher and treats the inquiry as completed in that pathway. The warning is intentional so users do not convert by mistake. If you only need a PDF for a customer, use Export instead.

Can I finalize many inquiries at once?

Yes. In Internal Sales Inquiry Listing, select multiple rows using the checkboxes and click FINAL. Rows that are already FINAL are skipped.

Why is the Costing Details tab missing on a line?

Administrators can hide costing through applet settings, or visibility may depend on your role and the item context. If you believe costing should appear, ask your administrator to review Hide costing details and related permission settings.

What should I do if advanced search says the result set is too large?

Add more filters or narrower criteria until the search returns a smaller set. The guard exists to keep the grid responsive and protect server performance.

Who can change field labels or mandatory rules?

Users with access to Settings → Field Settings and related permission screens. Standard sales users should route change requests through that team.

Related Applets

• Internal Sales Quotation Applet — formal quotes and customer proposals
• Internal Sales Order — order entry and fulfilment lifecycle