Custom Fields for Transactions
Transaction Custom Fields let you add your own fields to several Sales, Purchases, Inventory, Service, Accounting, Fixed Assets, Manufacturing and Maintenance screens at once, to capture extra information that AdmCloud does not offer natively (for example, an internal reference code, a control date, or a classification of your own). You define the field only once and choose which screens it should appear on, instead of creating a separate field for each one.
What are they and what are they for?
A Transaction Custom Field is an extra field that you define and can enable on any combination of transaction screens across several modules of the system. Once you create it and check which screens it should show on, every document on those screens (for example, every Credit Invoice and every Purchase Order) can have its own value for that field.
This feature is useful when you need to store the same extra data on several transactions without repeating the definition, or when a developer is building a plugin or a custom integration that needs extra information on those transactions.
How to use it
- Open the screen. Go to Transaction Custom Fields from the Customization menu.
- Create the field. Enter the Field Name, the Label users will see, and the Data Type.
- Check which screens it should appear on. The form shows a Sales tab (always available) and, depending on which modules your company has active, tabs for Purchases, Inventory, Service, Accounting, Fixed Assets, Manufacturing and Maintenance, each with one checkbox per available screen. Check as many as you need; the same field can appear on several screens across several modules at the same time. Save: the field becomes available immediately on the checked screens.
- Fill in the value on each transaction. When creating or editing, for example, a Credit Invoice or a Purchase Order, complete the new field along with the other data and save as usual.
- Review or edit the field's definition. From this screen's list you can open any field to review its configuration or edit the data that can still be changed (see "What you can't change" below).
Where this field can appear
Each checkbox on the form's tabs enables the field on a different screen:
| Tab | Checkbox | Screen it appears on |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | Quotes | Quotes |
| Sales | Sales Orders | Sales Orders |
| Sales | Credit Invoices | Credit Invoices |
| Sales | Cash Invoices | Cash Invoices |
| Sales | Recurrent Invoices | Recurrent Invoices |
| Sales | AR Opening Balances | Accounts Receivable Opening Balances |
| Sales | Returned Checks | Returned Checks from Customers |
| Sales | Cash Receipts | Cash Receipts |
| Sales | Cash Returns | Cash Returns |
| Sales | Historic Invoices | Historic Invoices |
| Sales | Customer Credit Notes | Customer Credit Notes |
| Sales | Customer Debit Notes | Customer Debit Notes |
| Sales | Customer Prepayments | Customer Prepayments |
| Sales | Customer Credit Applications | Customer Credit Applications |
| Sales | Customer Return Authorizations | Customer Return Authorizations |
| Purchases | Purchase Requests | Purchase Requests |
| Purchases | Quote Requests | Quote Requests |
| Purchases | Purchase Orders | Purchase Orders |
| Purchases | Vendor Bills | Vendor Bills |
| Purchases | Purchases with Reception | Receptions |
| Purchases | Vendor Return Authorizations | Vendor Return Authorizations |
| Purchases | Vendor Credit Notes | Vendor Credit Notes |
| Purchases | Vendor Debit Notes | Vendor Debit Notes |
| Purchases | Vendor Prepayments | Vendor Prepayments |
| Purchases | Vendor Credit Applications | Vendor Credit Applications |
| Purchases | Vendor Payments | Bill Payments |
| Purchases | Expenses | Expense Reports |
| Inventory | Inventory Receptions | Receptions |
| Inventory | Dispatches | Dispatches |
| Inventory | Inventory Adjustments | Inventory Adjustments |
| Inventory | Location Transfers | Location Transfers |
| Inventory | Location Transfer Requests | Location Transfer Requests |
| Inventory | Stock Allocations | Stock Allocations |
| Service | Service Requests | Service Requests |
| Service | Service Orders | Service Orders |
| Service | Service Contracts | Service Contracts |
| Accounting | General Journals | Journal Entries |
| Accounting | Deposits | Deposits |
| Accounting | Account Payments | Account Payments |
| Accounting | Bank Charges | Bank Charges and Credits |
| Accounting | Bank Transfers | Bank-to-Bank Transfers |
| Fixed Assets | Depreciations | Depreciations |
| Manufacturing | Manufacturing Orders | Production Orders |
| Manufacturing | Finished Product Constructions | Finished Product Constructions |
| Manufacturing | Production Builds | Production Builds |
| Manufacturing | Raw Material Dispatches | Raw Material Dispatches |
| Maintenance | Maintenance Orders | Maintenance Orders |
| Maintenance | Maintenance Requests | Maintenance Requests |
| Maintenance | Maintenance Dispatches | Maintenance Dispatches |
The Sales tab is always available. The Purchases, Inventory, Service, Accounting, Fixed Assets, Manufacturing and Maintenance tabs only show up if your company has the matching module active.
Key fields
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Field Name | The field's internal identifier (no spaces or special characters). Cannot be changed once created. |
| Label | The text users see next to the field on every screen where you check it. |
| Data Type | Defines what kind of information the field accepts (text, number, date, yes/no, a reference to another entity in the system such as Customer, Vendor, Item or Account, a Custom List, a Custom Record, or a transaction, among others). Cannot be changed once created. |
| Custom List | Only applies when the Data Type is "Custom List": indicates which of your custom lists the options come from. |
| Custom Record | Only applies (and is required) when the Data Type is "Custom Record": indicates which custom record the field points to. |
| Document Type | Only applies when the Data Type is "Transaction": indicates which document type in the system the reference points to (for example, to link to an invoice or another transaction). |
| Required | When enabled, the field becomes mandatory when saving the transaction on every screen where it's checked. |
| Allow changing it in consult mode | When enabled, the field can be changed straight from the document's consult screen, without opening it for editing (see "Changing the field without editing the document" below). It only shows up for the data types that are captured with a list or a selector. |
| Default Value | Optional value automatically proposed on new transactions. It must be valid for the chosen Data Type. |
| Owner | The user responsible for the field's definition (defaults to whoever creates it). Used together with the "Protected" option. |
| Protected | When enabled, only the Owner user can view and edit the field's structure; other users won't see its configuration details (they can still fill in its value on the transactions where the field is checked). |
Changing the field without editing the document
Normally, changing the value of a custom field means opening the document for editing, changing the data and saving. The Allow changing it in consult mode checkbox offers a shortcut: the field is also shown enabled on the document's consult screen, just like Status and Group on Service Requests.
It is useful for follow-up data that changes over the life of the document and is not part of its accounting content: the status of a task, who reviewed it, an internal classification, and so on. That way users don't have to open an already issued invoice for editing just to record a follow-up.
What happens when you turn it on
- On the document's consult screen the field is no longer greyed out and is drawn with its normal control (dropdown, search box, checkbox, text box...), depending on its Data Type.
- When you pick or type the new value and leave the field, the change is saved on its own: there is no Save button and the page is not reloaded. AdmCloud shows a confirmation notice.
- If the save fails (for example, because the value is not valid or you lost the permission), the field goes back to its previous value and the error message is shown.
- The change is recorded in the document's log, like any other modification.
Who can use it
- Only users with edit permission on that document type. Everyone else still sees the field as read-only.
- Never on voided documents.
- Only on the data types captured with a list or a selector. It is not available for Rich Text or File, because those fields need their own capture flow; if you pick one of those types, the checkbox disappears from the form.
Validations when saving
- Field Name is required, with no spaces and no special characters.
- Field Name must be unique: you cannot reuse the same name on two transaction custom fields.
- Label is required.
- Owner is required.
- If the field is "Protected", only the Owner can save changes to its structure.
- The Default Value must be valid for the chosen Data Type (for example, you cannot enter text in a numeric field).
- Custom Record is required when the Data Type is "Custom Record", and cannot be set if you chose a different data type.
What you can't change after creating it
To protect the information already captured on the transactions that use it, once you save the field for the first time the form locks editing of these items:
- The Field Name.
- The Data Type.
- The associated Custom List.
- The associated Custom Record.
You can still change, at any time, which screens the field appears on (the checkboxes on the tabs), its Label, whether it's Required, whether it can be changed in consult mode and its Default Value. If you need to change the Name, the Data Type or the associated Custom List/Record, create a new field with the correct configuration instead.
Deleting a custom field
Deleting a custom field also deletes the values captured on every transaction that had it filled in, on any screen where it was checked; this action cannot be undone. AdmCloud won't let you delete a field that is being used by a Plugin; you must unlink it from that plugin first.
Transferring the field to another company
If your company is part of a group of companies in AdmCloud, the field's Owner can transfer (copy) its definition — along with its associated Custom List, if any — to another company in the group, without having to recreate it manually. This option shows up on the field's Details screen and is not available in companies still in their evaluation period.
Availability, plan and permissions
- This feature requires the Enterprise plan. In addition, to be able to check which screens the field appears on you need the module matching each tab active (the Sales tab is always available). If your plan does not include it, the option won't appear in the menu and the screens will show a "not available in your edition" message.
- Access is controlled by the "Customization" permission on the user group, with separate levels for view, add, edit and delete.
- A field marked as "Protected" can only be viewed and edited by its Owner (ForTech users are not subject to this restriction).
Tips and common pitfalls
Take advantage of one field covering several screens and modules. If you need the same data on, say, both Purchase Orders and Credit Invoices, don't create two fields: create one and check both boxes.
Think through the Data Type before saving. Since you won't be able to change it afterward, take the time to decide what kind of information you need to capture (text, number, date, a custom list, a reference to another entity, etc.) before creating the field.
Deleting a field deletes its data. Before deleting a custom field, make sure you no longer need the captured information: deletion removes the entire column from every screen where it was checked and it cannot be recovered.
Don't see the option in the menu, or a module's tab is missing? This feature requires the Enterprise plan, and each tab only shows up if the matching module is active on your company. If your company should have it enabled and it's not showing up, contact AdmCloud support.