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In today’s video, we are going to cover how to run the Previous Requests function in Prophet 21. 

What is the Previous Requests function?

This function allows you to retrieve a list of items or previous customer orders based on selected criteria. You are then able to quickly add the items to a new order by default.

Step 1:

With an order open, right-click on the Item ID line, and select Previous Requests.

About Default Settings:

If you had a very old P21 system, this function would automatically pull in a lot of records. To help manage this, Prophet 21 has a default setting in place so that when somebody opens a Previous Requests list, they do not accidentally run it wide open.

By default, my system is set to six months. You can change that default date setting manually whenever you would like.

Step 2:

You may choose to remove quotes or only look at quotes. In addition, you can filter by approved or unapproved orders (or select both).

Step 3:

Finally, check to ensure the customer’s Purchase Order Number is in a good spot. If you know exactly what their PO number is, you can also bring it back.

Right-click and apply the query.

Results:

The system populates a summary that shows all the individual items from that query. If you click on an item, the Query Results Details show all the times a customer has purchased that item.

The summary shows you the most recent results.

If you wanted to pick a different one (maybe you had a special pricing deal or something important to note), back on the main screen, you can individually select items for the unique case.

Right-click and hit Select

The checkbox ensures that (regardless of what they paid in the past), customers will get their new pricing, based on how they are set up.

All the items selected will then be automatically populated in the sales order.

Notes:

  • If you have a large number of items you are bringing over, processing this function may take a while.
  • If a line is canceled but still on an approved sales order that happens to be canceled, it will still appear in this query.
  • There is a quirk with the Recalculating pricing (potentially just in this version). If you Right-Click and Select All, the system doesn’t automatically select them all. But if you select one of them and then Right-Click and Select All, it will select them all.

Advanced Operators in the Previous Requests Function:

Within Prophet 21’s Previous Requests Function, there are advanced processes you can run called Operators.

Right-click anywhere on the grid in the Previous Requests Query window. From the menu, select Operators, and Prophet 21 will populate a list of Allowed Operators to choose from.

You can’t click on the options in the list, Allowed Operators simply shares which ones are available for use.

How to use the ‘Contains’ Advanced Operator:

Returning to the Previous Requests window, in the Item Description, type Contains + an identifier (i.e. Contains Bolts).

You will not change anything else in the query.

Hit Apply Query.

In the example above, the only things that will come back are any bolts that we have purchased or any description that claims ‘bolt’.

You can repeat this process with any of the other Operators (Item ID, Begins With, etc…) displayed in the Allowed Operators box.

Continue learning: How to use Prophet 21’s tool for reversing Purchase Order Receipts.

If you have questions on this video or would like to see some different topics, put a comment below.