How to import orders from BrokerForceŽ

When you supply price list and catalog data to reps using BrokerForceŽ, their orders can be returned to you for direct import into your accounting and distribution system with your bill to and ship to customer numbers.  We'll help you set it up.  No more re-typing of their orders. 

Pending your agreement to return invoice copies directly to the agencies without cost to the agencies, there are no setup or transaction fees for your standard format electronic orders.

BrokerForce Faster, Better, Cheaper

Formats for EDI 850 transactions, Intuit Quick Books, MAS 90, MAS 200, Microsoft Navision, Microsoft Small Business Financials, Microsoft Great Plains, Oak Street, Point Force, Sage ACCPAC, SAP,  CSV, Fixed width, Delimited, and many others are already supported.  A quotation for a custom format is available upon request.

If you have QuickBooks, take a look at Sync Ware (consulting service will set it all up for you with a reasonable monthly fee), or the Atandra Data Hub product and this How To screen shot, or Bay State Consulting Import Wizard/a>.

Prevent expensive variances!  

When you return invoices in an electronic format:

ˇ         Agencies must update their customer numbers and contact information with the information sent with invoices before they can import the invoices!  All future orders for any invoiced customer will have your customer numbers on them.

ˇ         You save printing and mailing costs

ˇ         Put accurate item sales information in the hands of the road reps for the best customer service and larger orders

ˇ         Sending invoices electronically reduces your costs of importing orders because BrokerForceŽ validates on the rep side

ˇ         Reduced your costs when your sales reps can answer retailers' shipping questions instead of calling your service desk


How to get it done:

Our experts at BrokerForceŽ will consult without charge (for vendors who have agencies and reps using BrokerForceŽ) regarding automation of importing and validating orders.  Our team published data exchange formats before any other software company in any specialty industry.   

BrokerForceŽ has several order export formats built-in that can send orders to your company in any one of the common file formats.  Fixed width (columnar) is the most commonly requested format and comma separated value (CSV) formats are also available with the header information included or excluded in the first row.

If you use a proprietary format for importing orders electronically, please send a sample with a list of fields, data types/lengths, and transport method e.g. FTP or e-mail to support@brokerforce.com subject: “your company name” and subject Order Exchange.  Almost all formats and parameters can be accommodated. 

 If you have any questions, contact us support@brokerforce.com or info@brokerforce.com .  Data exchange is our expertise.  

How it is sent - The resulting file(s) may be e-mailed or uploaded to your FTP drop box.  If the file is sent directly from a BrokerForceŽ user via e-mail, the subject line will be "Orders" plus the date and time of the export, and the rep group's name.  The body of the message will contain the name of the rep who exported the order along with any special instructions. 

Your Specifications - Let us know if you want new customer orders included in the electronic batches or if those orders should come through another channel.  Does your software have a restricted list of Terms, FOB, or Ship Via values?  If so, please provide those lists, so that we can assure that only those values are returned.  If using an FTP site, you will need to provide a user name and login for FTP transfers. 

If your software requires a format other than those currently provided, please provide us with the contact information for your solution provider including a list of your specifications, and notify your provider with our contact information; we will discuss a solution with them and provide a quotation. 

Sample Orders Fixed Width Layout
The following table describes the columnar layout of an Orders.txt file that can be exported from BrokerForceŽ. This is a flat file, and all header information is repeated on every row.  All details are grouped together by OrderID, the agency's unique order identifier.  Other formats are available including order headers in one file and details in another.

If you would like to have Bill To information included, click here or, use the layout below for orders without these fields.

Note: Your customer number (VendorCustNo) will be empty for a new customer.

Field Name

Start

Width

VendorCustNo

1

10

PONumber

11

30

RequiredBy

41

10

ShipContact

51

40

ShipName

91

40

ShipAddress

131

40

ShipAddress2

171

40

ShipCity

211

50

ShipStateOrProvince

261

50

ShipPostalCode

311

20

ShipCountry

331

50

ShipPhone

381

24

ShipFax

405

24

ShipVia 

429

50

Terms

479

25

Freight

504

21

Notes

525

255

Orders_Discount

780

22

BillContact

802

40

BillPhone

842

24

BillFax

866

24

FOB

890

30

Department

920

25

VendorItem

945

12

ProductName

957

40

Quantity

997

22

Unit

1019

10

UnitPrice

1029

21

OrderDetails_Discount

1050

22

PriceList

1072

15

BillingQty

1087

22

PkSz

1109

12

Accrual

1121

22

Status

1143

12

OrderID

1155

11

DateToShip

1166

10



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