Module Description

The Promotions module allows you to manage additional promotions and discounts on sales lines, and to manage any periodic discounts linked to specific campaigns.

The module is completely parameterizable based on customers and/or types of articles and the calculation is completely manual in order to be more flexible.

Setup

Promotions Setup

To activate the use of Promotions in Business Central, search for “Promotion Setup” and activate the “Activate discount/promotions” flag:

• Sell-In Reference Date:
• Sell-In Start Tolerance (days): Indicates the tolerance of the Sell-In start period
• Sell-In End Tolerance (days): Indicates the tolerance of the Sell-In end period.

Promotions Groups

Promotion Groups are “non-static” groupings of Items or Customers for which a promotion applies.

You can create a list of items and then associate them with a Group that can then be used in the discount application rules.

Then search for “Promotion Groups” in the Search function.

Click New:

So you need to enter:

• Type: Article or Customer, depending on the type of list you want to insert,
• Code
• Description

Inside the rows you can insert the actual list of articles/customers, based on the selection made in the header:

Promotions

Within this section, the actual rules that allow the system to calculate discounts within documents are inserted.

Then search for Promotion in the appropriate section and then select the New action:

Insert:

• Code: enter the promotion identification code
• Description
• Promotion Priority: Identifies the placement of the promotion in the net amount calculation at the document level
  • After discounts: Discounts resulting from promotions are calculated AFTER standard discounts related to sales price lists.
  • Before discounts: Discounts from promotions are calculated BEFORE standard discounts related to price lists.
  • Replace discounts: discounts from promotions will replace any list price discounts.
• Status: identifies the status the promotion is in
  • Open: Editable and promotion not active
  • Released: Uneditable and active promotion
  • Closed: not editable and promotion not active
• Discount/Promotion Type: You can enter a categorization of the promotion
• Sell-In Start Date and Sell-In End Date: identifies the period in which the promotion is applicable
• Sell-Out Start Date and Sell-Out End Date: identifies the period in which the promotion is applicable
• Priority: identifies the priority of the promotion itself in the event that more than one promotion is simultaneously applicable to the document row.

By populating the header fields, automatically, some of them will be reported on the rows:

The fields present on the rows are:

• Sorting Sequence
• Article type
  • All items: Indicates that the promotion line is valid for any item inserted within the document
  • Item: The promotion line is specific to a single item
  • Discount group: the promotion line is valid only for the entered discount group
  • Article promotion group: indicates that the line is valid only for a group of articles that must be specified in the specific "Promotion group" list (paragraph 4)
  • Item Category: The promotion specified in the line is valid only for a specific item category
• Item Code: the field will be activated for all the types of choice in the previous field (except for the 'All items' option). Depending on the option chosen, a different table will open to allow the selection.
• Variant code: this field allows you to select a specific variant for which to activate the promotion. The field can only be edited if Item type = Item.
• Description: Automatically populated
• Customer type:
  • All Customers: indicates that the rules on the promotions row are valid for all customers in the system.
  • Customer No.: the promotion line is valid for the specified customer only
  • Customer Price Group: indicates that the promotion is valid only for the price group specified below
  • Customer Discount Group: the indicated discount group will be the only one that can take advantage of the promotion
  • Customer Promotion Group: indicates that the line is valid only for a group of customers that must be specified in the specific "Promotion Group" list (paragraph 4)
• Customer code: the field will be activated for all the types of choice in the previous field (except for the 'All customers' option). Based on the option chosen, a different table will be opened to allow the selection.
• Shipping address code: if the Customer type = customer option is chosen, in this field it will be possible to identify the only shipping address for which the promotion will be active
• Customer description: will be automatically populated by the system based on the choices in the previous fields
• Currency code: indicate the currency for which the promotion will be active
• Sell-In Start Date and Sell-In End Date: identifies the period in which the promotion is applicable
• Sell-Out Start Date and Sell-Out End Date: identifies the period in which the promotion is applicable
• Min/Max Value Type: Indicates the type of minimum and maximum value indicated in the following fields
  • Quantity: in the case where the minimum and maximum values indicated in the two following fields are related to the quantity indicated in the document line
  • Amount (without discounts): in case the values are identifiers of the document line amount. In this case the amount considered is the one gross of any discounts already applied at the document line level.
  • Amount: in case the values are identifying the amount of the document line. In this case, however, the amount will be considered net of any discounts already applied at the document line level.
• Minimum value: indicates the minimum value for which the promotion line is valid. This field refers to the previous field
• Maximum value: indicates the maximum value for which the promotion line is valid. This field refers to the previous field
  Example:
  Type Min/Max Value = Quantity
  Minimum value = 3
  Maximum value = 20
  The promotion line is applied if the order line quantity is between 3 and 20
• Discount type: indicates the type of discount that you want to apply for the promotion line
  • % discount: the promotional discount applied will be a percentage of the taxable amount of the document line
  • Discount amount: the discount indicated will be as a defined amount which will then be deducted from the taxable amount
  • Discount amount per unit: in this case the discount amount defined will be considered for each unit inserted within the document line.
  • Discount amount for net weight: the amount indicated will be considered based on the net weight indicated in the document line
• Merchandise discount type: This field allows you to set a merchandise discount at document level. This discount will always be on a defined amount and never as a percentage.
  • Additionally: The option allows you to make a charge at document level
  • In deduction: the option allows you to apply a discount on the document
• Merchandise discount line type: indicates the type of line that will be created on the document for the merchandise discount indicated in the promotion line. The possible options are the same as those present within the document line
  • C/G Account
  • Item
  • Resource
  • Asset
  • Charge (item): In this case the charge will not be assigned automatically
• Goods discount number: the field will open a different selection table based on the type of row chosen in the previous field (Chart of accounts table, items, charges, etc.)
• Value: In this field you can indicate the value of the discount. The field is the same for both the merchandise discount and the promotion, so if a promotion and a merchandise discount are to be assigned to the same Customer Type – Item Type combination, two separate lines must be managed.
• Note: the field is available to insert any notes
• Priority: if the Priority field is populated in the header, all promotion lines created will inherit the same priority. The field remains editable at the single line level.
• Exclusive: Enabling this flag sets the discount for the promotion line as the only one valid for the Customer Type – Item Type combination.

Calculate promotions on sales document

The calculation of promotions is done manually and can be done either from the header or from the order line.

The function present in the header of the sales order simultaneously calculates the promotions on all the lines present in the document, and any discounts on goods or charges.

The action present in the row instead acts only on the row selected at the moment in which the action is started. Therefore, in the case in which there are multiple rows within the document on which an active promotion insists, the action will be repeated for each of them.

The action is also present on sales invoices. The operation is the same for each document:

The promotion applied on the rows is displayed inside the “% Row Discount” field:

The “Row Discount and Promotion” field instead reports the total of the discounts applied. By navigating this field it is possible to see all the discounts and promotions applied on the row:

In case the promotion calculated by the function needs to be deleted, it is possible to delete it directly from the “Discount Row Detail” view:

The option indicated in the “Promotion Priority” field at the promotion header level has no effect in the event of a manual addition of a discount in the “% EXTRA Discount” field, which will always be calculated as the last discount at the document line level.

Examples of promotions

Promotion in % to default customer

The promotion entered leads to the calculation, at sales document line level, of an additional discount in % on the final taxable amount (already reduced by any price list discounts).

The “NATIONAL” promotion will therefore be calculated for customer 60000 – TEN Tel. Services for all orders issued with a document date (or order date based on the setting entered in setup, paragraph 2) between 01/01/2020 and 31/08/2020, for item 1000 - Bicycle.

The promotional discount will be applied in % form to the net taxable amount as it is to be calculated "After discounts" and will be 10%:

At the sales order level, the calculation will be performed manually using the appropriate actions at the header or line level.

In the example case, a discount had already been set for the customer at the discount list level in the master data. Therefore, when the line is inserted, as per standard, 5% will be calculated on the bicycle item:

The promotion will then be added afterwards and will be incorporated inside the “% Row Discount” field:

By navigating the “Discount Line and Promotions” field, all the discounts will be visible with the sequence in which the system calculates the net amount:

In the event of entering a possible “% EXTRA Discount”, this will be the last discount calculated and will be added to the “Discount Details Row”:

Value Promotion for Customer Promotion Group on an Item Category

Discount / goods charge examples