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Managing dates and times in operations is crucial and requires regular communication between purchase, sales, operations, transportation, and customers. D365’s strong operational processes support different workflows across various industries using the warehouse and transportation modules.

For example, in outbound operations it is essential for time information to move smoothly from sales to customers. D365 includes several fields across forms like sales orders, load documents, and transport appointments that track time needs. These fields help ensure items are ready at the right time, picked before the cut-off, loaded according to carrier schedules, and shipped to meet delivery promises.

While these date-related fields are helpful, it can be difficult to understand what each one is for, when it is used, and whether it updates automatically or manually. In a three-part series, we will explain the fields used in the warehouse operations, what they're for, and how they work in D365. In this first post we will highlight the key fields for the purchase and sales orders, and later on how it works with loads and appointments.

Purchase orders

Here's an overview of the specified fields in the purchase order header in D365:

Accounting Date

What it means: The accounting date determines when the financial transactions related to the purchase order will be recorded in the general ledger.

How it’s used: This date is important for financial reporting. It ensures that expenses are allocated to the correct accounting period and affects when the costs are recognized in your financial statements.

Business view: This is not used for warehouse operations, but it is important to note that using the right accounting date ensures that reports are accurate, helping with budgeting and financial planning, which would impact warehouse operation planning and decision-making.

Calculation - User Input: The accounting date is entered by the user when creating or modifying the purchase order. It may default to the date the purchase order is created but can be adjusted as needed by the user.

Requested Receipt Date

What it means: The requested receipt date is the date by which the buyer expects to receive the goods or services ordered.

How it’s used: This date serves as a guideline for suppliers to deliver the items and helps the purchasing team manage inventory levels and plan for the arrival of goods.

Business view: The requested receipt dates play a key role in ensuring that inventory is available when needed, helping the purchasing team avoid shortage and optimize their purchasing operations.

Calculation - User Input: This date is typically entered by the user based on inventory needs or customer requirements. It is not system-calculated but based on business planning and supplier coordination.

Earliest Confirmed Receipt Date

What it means: The earliest confirmed receipt date is the earliest date the supplier has confirmed they can deliver the items.

How it’s used: This date is useful for planning purposes, allowing the purchasing team to align their inventory needs with supplier delivery schedules.

Calculation - System-Calculated/User-Confirmed: This date is often initially calculated by the system based on lead times and supplier schedules but is then confirmed by the supplier based on their availability, potentially adjusted by the purchasing team if necessary.

Sales orders

It is important to understand that the sales order date field are influenced by the Delivery date control.

The delivery date fields are pre-filled when the sales order is created; the system uses the Delivery date control to calculate the earliest Requested receipt date and Requested ship date. The user can update these dates manually.

The user activates the toggle confirm dates to calculate the confirmed ship and receipt date.

The Delivery date control, which will dictate the calculation of the Requested ship date and the Requested receipt date, will be selected during the sales order creation. The user can change and adjust it afterward on the sales order form.

These options help you set and promise realistic delivery dates to your customers. Here are the main methods:

1. None: No delivery date calculations are made with this option. Use it when you don't need to figure out delivery dates.
2. Sales Lead Time: This method calculates the delivery date by adding a set number of days from the order creation date. It does not look at stock levels, customer demand, or planned supplies.
3. Available-to-Promise (ATP): ATP calculates the delivery date based on how much of an item is available to promise to a customer on a specific date. It considers uncommitted stock, lead times, planned receipts, and any issues.
4. ATP + Issue Margin: This method builds on ATP by adding extra time needed to prepare items for shipment. The shipping date is the ATP date, plus this preparation time.
5. Capable-to-Promise (CTP): CTP provides a more detailed calculation, considering both the availability of materials and production capacity. It calculates the delivery date based on available materials and the amount that can be produced.

Fields from the sales order:

Requested Ship Date

What it means: The customer wants the items to leave the warehouse.

How it's used: When a sales order is created, this date is set to help the warehouse team know when to prepare the order for shipment.

Business view: By setting this date, the warehouse can plan and ensure that items are ready to go out on time to meet the customer's needs.

How it is calculated – Delivery date control:

• None: Today
• Sales lead time: Today + sales lead time
• ATP: ATP date
• ATP + issue margin: ATP + issue margin which is a fixed days set up
• CTP: CTP date

Requested Receipt Date

What it means: The date the customer wants the items to arrive.

How it's used: This date includes the time needed for the shipment to travel from the warehouse to the customer. It helps plan delivery routes and schedules.

Business view: This date gives the logistics team a goal for when the delivery should be made, helping them plan routes and timings to meet customer expectations.

How it is calculated – Delivery date control:

• None: Today + transport days
• Sales lead time: Requested ship date + sales lead time
• ATP: ATP date
• ATP + issue margin: ATP + issue margin which is a fixed days set up
• CTP: CTP date + transport days

Confirmed Ship Date

What it means: The date the system confirms the order will be shipped.

How it's used: Once the warehouse checks inventory and plans resources, this date is set to show the firm shipping schedule.

Business view: This date signals the warehouse to start picking and packing, ensuring the order is ready to ship on time.

How it is calculated – Delivery date control:

• None: Today + transport days
• Sales lead time: Requested ship date + sales lead time
• ATP: ATP date
• ATP + issue margin: ATP + issue margin which is a fixed days set up
• CTP: CTP date

Confirmed Receipt Date

What it means: This is the confirmed date when the items are expected to arrive with the customer.

How it's used: Based on the Confirmed Ship Date and estimated transit time, this date shows when the customer should receive their order.

Business view: This helps the transportation team stay on schedule for delivery and ensures the customer gets a reliable delivery estimate.

Each sales order line has the exact same fields and a header, which carries information from the header to the sales order lines.

How it is calculated – Delivery date control:

• None: Today + transport days
• Sales lead time: Requested ship date + sales lead time
• ATP: ATP date
• ATP + issue margin: ATP + issue margin which is a fixed days set up
• CTP: confirmed ship date + transport days

Caclulation using Delivery date control

The delivery date fields are pre-filled when the sales order is created; the system uses the Delivery date control to calculate the earliest Requested receipt date and Requested ship date. The user can update these dates manually.

The user activates the toggle confirm dates to calculate the confirmed ship and receipt date.

The Delivery date control, which will dictate the calculation of the Requested ship date and the Requested receipt date, will be selected during the sales order creation. The user can change and adjust it afterward on the sales order form.

These options help you set and promise realistic delivery dates to your customers. Here are the main methods:

1. None: No delivery date calculations are made with this option. Use it when you don't need to figure out delivery dates.
2. Sales Lead Time: This method calculates the delivery date by adding a set number of days from the order creation date. It does not look at stock levels, customer demand, or planned supplies.
3. Available-to-Promise (ATP): ATP calculates the delivery date based on how much of an item is available to promise to a customer on a specific date. It considers uncommitted stock, lead times, planned receipts, and any issues.
4. ATP + Issue Margin: This method builds on ATP by adding extra time needed to prepare items for shipment. The shipping date is the ATP date, plus this preparation time.
5. Capable-to-Promise (CTP): CTP provides a more detailed calculation, considering both the availability of materials and production capacity. It calculates the delivery date based on available materials and the amount that can be produced.

Conclusion

Hopefully this post has brought some clarity on many of the date and time fields that exist on the sales and purchase orders in D365. Having a better understanding of how these works can significantly enhance the management of your sales and purchase process, and will improve communication between various departments in your organization.

Check out our learning center for more information on working with dates in D365, specifically for loads and appointments!