Enter Negative Quantities in Bills

The use of negative quantities in standard bills is normally not advisable because they tend to distort cost calculations and may introduce errors when forecasting future requirements.

The Bill of Materials module, however, allows you to control the use of negative quantities in bills. Negative bill quantities are typically used to accommodate bills with options. A common method of defining bill options is to first create a base bill that represents the standard configuration and then create an option bill by defining those components that will be added to (positive quantity) or deleted from (negative quantity) the base bill. This type of structure defines an add/delete bill.

To enter negative quantities in bills

Select Bill of Materials Setup menu > Bill of Materials Options.
Select the Allow Entry of Negative Quantities check box. For more information, see Bill of Materials Options - Fields.
Click Accept.
Select Bill of Materials Main menu > Bill of Materials Maintenance.
Create a bill and select the Bill Has Options check box. For more information, see Bill of Materials Maintenance - Fields.
In the Options Categories field, enter the option category information.
Click the Lines tab.
In the Component Item Code field, enter the items to create the base bill.
At the More drop-down button, select Option Bill Maintenance.
In the Option Category field, enter the Option Category field (1-9). For more information, see Option Bill Maintenance - Fields.
In the Option Code field, enter the option code for the option category selected. Each option code within a category is identified by a two-character code.
Complete fields on the Header tab to identify the option, and then click the Lines tab.
In the Component Item Code field, enter the item you want to delete. If adding a component to the bill, enter the item you want to add.
In the Quantity/Bill field, enter the quantity as a negative quantity. If adding a component to the bill, enter the quantity as a positive quantity.
Click Accept.

A bill with a negative quantity has been entered.