Streamlined Invoicing: Visual Shipping & COA Indicators
Stephen Woods
Currently, our invoice page lacks clear visual indicators for tracking the shipping status of artwork and the completion of Certificates of Authenticity (COAs).
This leads to inefficiencies in communication between sales, shipping, and administration, and increases the risk of errors.
The current process for Purchase Orders (POs) is manual and paper-based, creating extra work for shipping personnel.
Proposed Solution:
Enhance the invoice page with the following features:
- Visual Shipping Indicators (see images attached):
Implement a system of visual indicators (e.g., color-coded icons, labels) on the invoice page to represent the shipping status of each item.
Provide pre-defined shipping status options:
-Ship (ASAP): Requires immediate shipping.
-Took (Client Took Same Day): Client took possession of the artwork at the time of purchase.
-Hold/Pickup (Hold in Gallery for Pickup): Artwork is being held at the gallery for client pickup.
-Hold/Ship (Ship at a Later Date): Artwork will be shipped to the client at a later, specified date.
-Install (To Be Installed by Gallery): Artwork requires professional installation by gallery staff.
Ideally, allow administrators to customize these indicators or create new ones, similar to the "stages" feature in Opportunities under Sales and Marketing.
- Shipping Portal for Shipping Personnel:
Create a dedicated shipping portal accessible to shipping personnel.
This portal should display all relevant PO information in a digital format, eliminating the need for printed POs.
Within the portal, shipping personnel should be able to:
Mark individual items as "Boxed and Shipping" or "Soft Wrapped and Ready for Pickup."
Mark items as "Shipped," automatically updating the shipping status on the corresponding invoice.
- Certificate of Authenticity (COA) Checkboxes:
Add checkboxes to the invoice page to track COA completion:
* Made: Indicated the COA is created but not printed.
* Printed: Indicates the COA has been printed.
* Mailed: Indicates the COA has been mailed to the client.
Benefits:
-Improved Communication: Clear visual indicators will streamline communication between sales, shipping, and administration.
-Reduced Errors: Real-time tracking of shipping and COA status will minimize the risk of errors and omissions.
-Increased Efficiency: A digital shipping portal will eliminate the need for manual PO processing, saving time and resources.
-Enhanced Customer Service: Accurate and readily available information will enable us to provide better service to our clients.
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Oh Be Joyful Gallery
Love this idea - this was better addressed on our hand-written paper invoices pre-ArtCloud, and now is lacking in being properly tracked due to not having a good way to do it, and one that isn't making more work somewhere else.
Canyon Contemporary
Indeed an essential need for this complete system.
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Elizabeth Harris
This would be very helpful! Fantastic suggestion.
Meyer Gallery
This Idea is a must! Make it happen Artcloud.
David Ethridge
Great suggestion. Not having visual status icons (shipped, hold, layaway, picked up, etc.) on the invoice page causes major headaches. We’ve resorted to naming staff after invoice statuses—completely ridiculous. I’ve been told to use PO/Logistics instead, but that system doesn’t work well in real-world gallery operations. My staff hates it, and it adds unnecessary steps and room for error. To track invoice status via POs, we have to create one after the invoice, which is slow and error-prone. I’ve been asking for a better solution for nine years, but it still isn’t a priority.
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Michelle Cassens
This is a fantastic amazing idea. I would love this implementation.
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Melissa MacDonough
I agree that we need so much more flexibility and options within invoicing and item status. This would be especially helpful to note when 1 item is to order and ship and another has been taken. Item status vs-invoice status?