A Company is broken down (structurally with respect to the Abacus 21 System) into one or more Outlets -- and, in turn, each Outlet is broken down into one or (potentially) more Sections/Locations.
Example: Company-Outlets-Sections Chart
The screen below shows a typical list of Outlets -- with the Administration Outlet highlighted:
An Outlet must have at least one Section -- because it is the Outlet-Section combo that identifies a physical operating entity with a Company.
Notice that the Administrative Outlet (which is Outlet Code 00) has only one Section within it -- namely itself (Abacus 21 Admin, which is Section Code 00).
It is typical to construct an Administration Outlet -- to 'house' the location of Administrative Function -- including Membership & Billing.
The following screen shows the setups for a standard Administrative-type Outlet:
Outlet Code: A unique (up to 6-character, alphanumeric) Code for the Outlet.
Outlet Name: The Name of the Outlet.
Address: The Street Address of the Outlet (up to three lines). Optional, except when using Purchasing module.
City: The City of the Outlet. Optional, except when using Purchasing module.
State/Province: Enter the State/Province or select from the Dropdown. Optional, except when using Purchasing module.
Postal/Zip Code: Enter the ZipCode or Postal Code. Optional, except when using Purchasing module.
Country: Enter the Country. Optional, except perhaps when using Purchasing module.
Director: Reserved for future use. Will be a non-validated Text-field.
Outlet Type: Select a Outlet Type:
Administrative
Food/Beverage
Retail
Spa-Salon, Fitness, Tennis
Inventory System: Select the appropriate (User-defined) Inventory System to be associated with this Outlet.
An Outlet (and consequently all of the Outlet's Sections/Locations) may be associated with only one Inventory System -- so this topic bears contemplation (please consult with Abacus 21 Installation Department).
Inventory Requisition Account Center: The default Section/Location (from the list of Sections/Locations defined for the Outlet) that should be used when Item Requisitions targeted 'to' this Outlet do not have an explicit Distribution Code reference (for instance on an Inventory-to-Expense Transfer).
Inventory Adjustment Account Center: The default Section/Location (from the list of Sections/Locations defined for the Outlet) that should be used when Item associated with this Outlet.
The following fields are informational (and Optional, except perhaps when using Purchasing module):
Phone: Enter Phone Number
Fax: Enter Fax Number
Cellular: Enter Cell Phone Number
Email: Enter Email Address
The screen below highlights the Food/Beverage Outlet with multiple Sections -- an illustration of a configuration that has aligned all Food/Beverage Areas (that is, Sections) under one Outlet.
Example: Chart of Outlet (Food/Beverage) with multiple Sections
Note that Central Receiving is excluded from the Food/Beverage Outlet. Rather, it is an Outlet of its own (in this case, at least) since it services not only Food/Beverage operations, but also Retail and Administrative Outlets.
The following screen shows the Food/Beverage (Code: FB) Outlet setup:
Sections - See the related topic of Sections.