Allen -
Apologies for this not getting answered sooner. Honestly, it looks like it fell between the cracks somehow. I'll make it up to you by going over and beyond the call of duty.
"I created a report for a Purchase Order in the report designer and then went to use it in the Purchase Orders and there is no button like there is in my estimates and sales orders for "More Actions". How do I get the purchase order that I created in there?"
-Just click the Print... button on the left hand side. You'll get your Customize templates option there.
"How do I set it up so that my estimate numbers increase incrementally each time a new estimate is prepared? I want to be able to start the number for our estimates at around 100000 and then want it to increase incrementally from there. Is there a way to accomplish this?"
First of all, I need to explain why we don't do this by default. We let QuickBooks be the creator of estimate numbers, so after it syncs to QuickBooks, it will get assigned the next number in sequence and deliver that back to you. This eliminates the chance of duplicate estimates numbers. If you assign the number in Method, you run the risk of a QuickBooks user creating an estimate and assigning the same number. If you are pretty sure, however, that nobody will be creating estimates in QuickBooks directly, here is how I would customize the Estimate screen:
1. I would edit the Customer dropdown list.
2. Go to actions.
3. And add an action Start Conditional Statement. For this I would specify if Value From Screen:RefNumber, is Equal to, Type In, (leave this empty). What we are saying here is "only perform the next few actions if the estimate number is blank".
4. Add a Retrieve Value From Table action. Table: Estimate; From Field: RefNumber; Where Field: RecordID; Type In; ">0"; If Multiple Results: Retrieve Last (IMPORTANT); Place value In: Action Result; Action Result: call it "resultLastEstimateNumber". What we are saying here is "find the last estimate number and store it in an action result so that I can do something to it".
5. Add a Basic Math Calculation action. First value: Action Result - resultLastEstimateNumber; Equation: "+"; Second Value, Type in: 1; Action Result name: call it "resultNewEstimateNumber".
6. Add a Enter Value Into Field On Screen action. Update Field or Object: RefNumber; with the Value: Action Result; resultNewEstimateNumber
7. Add an End Conditional Statement action. We are closing the "Start Conditional Statement".
8. IMPORTANT: Move the existing "Insert New Row Into Grid" action so that it is still the LAST action.
9. IMPORTANT: Move the existing "Save All Sections" action so that it is the SECOND LAST action.
(If you don't do step 8 and 9 you'll always be adding 1 to itself since it is always the last estimate saved!)
In layman's terms:
When you create a new estimate, the first thing you do is select a customer. When you do this it will check to see if RefNumber (the estimate #) is empty. If it is empty it will find the last saved estimate's RefNumber. Then it will add 1 to that value. Then it will put that into the RefNumber field. Finally it will save the estimate and prepare for entry of line items. That way if another user on your system adds an estimate a second after you do, they'll get an estimate number that will be 1 higher than yours.
That's what I would do. There's many ways to skin the cat. I'm going to go wiki where the "skin the cat" term came from as it seems overly barbaric for everyday conversation.
Paul