## Zoho Inventory Documentation Index

Access the complete documentation index at:
https://www.zoho.com/us/inventory/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available documentation pages before proceeding.

# Transacting with your contacts

When you select a contact from your ‘**Contacts**’ list, a detailed view of that contact is displayed. A host of functions can be performed here, most notably recording a new transaction for that contact.

##### Guide Layout:

*   [Types of Transactions](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#types-of-transactions)
*   [Adding a transaction](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#adding-a-transaction)
    *   Transactions for a customer:
        *   [Sales Orders](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#sales-orders)
        *   [Invoices](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#invoice)
        *   [Invoice Payment](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#invoice-payment)
    *   Transactions for a vendor:
        *   [Bills](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#bill)
        *   [Purchase orders](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#purchase-orders)
        *   [Bill payment](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#bill-payment)
*   [Performing a reorder from a preferred vendor](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#vendor-reorder)
*   [Emailing your contacts](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#email-your-contacts)
*   [Sending out customer statements](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#send-out-customer-statements)
*   [Sending out vendor statements](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#send-out-vendor-statements)

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### Types of transactions

Depending on the type of contact you deal with, you will able to create sales and purchase transactions from here.

For a contact who is a **Customer**, you will be able to record the following sales transactions:

*   [Sales Orders](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#sales-orders)
*   [Invoices](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#invoice)
*   [Invoice Payment](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#invoice-payment)

For a contact who is a **Vendor**, you will be able to record the following purchase transactions:

*   [Bills](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#bill)
*   [Purchase orders](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#purchase-orders)
*   [Bill payment](/us/inventory/kb/sales-order/transactions.html#bill-payment)

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### How to add a transaction

You can create a transaction for a contact either from the contacts module or from their respective modules(sales/purchases etc).

To add a new transaction from the contacts section,

*   Navigate to the **Contact** module from the left hand sidebar.
*   On the Contacts list pane, choose the appropriate filter(Customers, Vendors etc.) from the filter tab on the top-left corner to narrow down the contact you are looking for.
*   Select the preferred contact.
*   Click on the **New Transaction** button on the top right corner.
*   Select one of the transaction types as mentioned above, from the drop down options provided on the top of the detail page.
*   Doing this will trigger the creation page of the selected transaction.
*   Fill in the required details.
*   Once you are ready, click on the **Save** button to finish.
*   You will be able to find this transaction as a draft under its appropriate module.

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### Transactions for a customer:

##### Sales Orders

To create a sales order for a customer from the contacts module,

*   Navigate to the preferred customer.
*   Click on the **New Transaction** button.
*   Choose the **Sales Order** option from the dropdown.

![Choosing sales order option from transaction dropdown](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-drop-so.png)

*   The new sales order creation page opens up.

![Sales Order Transaction](/inventory/help/images/sales-orders/so-new-1.png)

*   Fill up the necessary information.
*   Click on the **Save** button to save the sales order as a draft.
*   You can also click on the **Save and Send** button inorder to email the order to your customer upon the creation of the sales order.

##### Invoices

To create an invoice for a customer from the contacts module,

*   Navigate to the preferred customer.
*   Click on the **New Transaction** button.
*   Choose the **Invoice** option from the dropdown.

![Choosing invoice option from transaction dropdown](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-drop-inv.png)

*   The new invoice creation page opens up.

![Invoice Transaction](/inventory/help/images/sales-orders/invoice-top-half.png)

*   Fill up the necessary information.
*   Click on the **Save** button to save the invoice as a draft.

##### Invoice Payment

To create an invoice payment receipt for a customer from the contacts module,

*   Navigate to the preferred customer.
*   Click on the **New Transaction** button.
*   Choose the **Invoice Payment** option from the dropdown.

![Choosing invoice payment option from transaction dropdown](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-drop-invp.png)

*   The invoice payment receipt creation page opens up.

![Invoice Payment Transaction](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-inv-pay.png)

*   Fill up the necessary information.
*   Click on the **Save** button to save the invoice payment receipt.

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### Transactions for a vendor:

##### Bills

To create a bill against an invoice sent by your vendor from the contacts module,

*   Navigate to the preferred vendor.
*   Click on the **New Transaction** button.
*   Choose the **Bill** option from the dropdown.

![Choosing bill option from transaction dropdown](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-drop-bill.png)

*   The new bill creation page opens up.

![Bill Transaction](/inventory/help/images/purchase-orders/bill-new-page.png)

*   Fill up the necessary information.
*   Click on the **Save** button to save it as an open bill.

##### Purchase Orders

To create a purchase order for your vendor from the contacts module,

*   Navigate to the preferred customer.
*   Click on the **New Transaction** button.
*   Choose the **Purchase Order** option from the dropdown.

![Choosing purchase order option from transaction dropdown](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-drop-po.png)

*   The new purchase order creation page opens up.

![Purchase Order Transaction](/inventory/help/images/purchase-orders/po-new-1.png)

*   Fill up the necessary information.
*   Click on the **Save** button to save the purchase order as a draft.
*   You can also click on the **Save and Send** button inorder to email the order to your vendor upon the creation of the purchase order.

##### Bill payment

To record a bill payment for your vendor from the contacts module,

*   Navigate to the preferred customer.
*   Click on the **New Transaction** button.
*   Choose the **Sales Order** option from the dropdown.

![Choosing bill payment option from transaction dropdown](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-drop-billpay.png)

*   The bill payment record creation page opens up.

![Bill Payment Transaction](/inventory/help/images/contacts/trans-bill-pay.png)

*   Fill up the necessary information.
*   Click on the **Save** button to create a record of the bill payment.

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### Performing a reorder from a preferred vendor

You can tag an ideal vendor as a preferred vendor for every item. When the item drops below its reorder point, the item will be listed as a low stock item. When this happens, you will receive a reorder notification email alert.(Note: you must have enabled re-order notification alerts from item preferences under the Settings module for this to work)

When an item that has a preferred vendor goes to the low stock zone, you gain the ability to perform reorders from the preferred vendor. Let’s see how:

*   Navigate to the **Contacts** module.
*   Apply the filter called **Vendor - Reorder Items**.

![Vendor reorder items filter](/inventory/help/images/contacts/vendor-reorder-1.png)

*   Doing this will list out only those preferred vendors who have atleast one items associated with them in the low stock zone.
*   Select a preferred vendor.

![Preferred vendor](/inventory/help/images/contacts/vendor-reorder-2.png)

*   You will notice an option called **Order Now** below the primary information of the vendor on the left pane of the vendor details page.
*   Click on the **Order Now** option.

![Reorder PO](/inventory/help/images/contacts/vendor-reorder-3.png)

*   Doing this will trigger a new purchase order creation page along with a pop-up containing all the low stock items associated with this vendor.
*   Select the required items and specify the required quantity

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### Emailing a Contact

To email a contact in Zoho Inventory:

![Email contact option](/inventory/help/images/contacts/email-contact-option.png)

*   Navigate to the **Contacts** module.
*   Open your preferred customer.
*   Click on the **More** button from the top right corner of the page.
*   Select **Email Contact** option from the dropdown.
*   A new email pop-up window opens.
*   Here you can add or select from the pre defined contact email address.
*   Provide subject matter and write the email body text.
*   Use the rich text editor to customize the email as you see fit.
*   If you are emailing a customer, you can also add the customer statement as an attachment.
*   In case you wish to attach some other document, click on the attachment icon to browse and add the file.
*   Click on the **Send** button to send an email to your contact.

![Sending an email to a contact](/inventory/help/images/contacts/email-contact.png)

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### Sending out customer statements

You can send a transaction statement of a desired period to a customer very easily.

To send out a customer statement:

*   Navigate to the **Contacts** module.
*   Open your preferred customer.
*   Click on the **Statement** tab below the customer name.
*   This opens the Customer Statement report.

![Customer statement report](/inventory/help/images/contacts/customer-statement-page.png)

*   **Note:** Customer Statements can only be published and sent out to contacts marked as **Customer**.
*   Select the date range for the report.
*   You can share the statement by creating a PDF, take a print of it or sending by email to the contact by clicking on the respective icons. **Note:** All these options are available right on the top, above the report.

![Sending customer statements](/inventory/help/images/contacts/customer-statement-sending.png)

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### Sending out Vendor Statements

You can send a transaction statement of a desired period to a vendor very easily.

To send out a vendor statement:

*   Navigate to the **Contacts** module.
*   Open your preferred vendor.
*   Click on the **Statement** tab below the vendor name.
*   This opens the Vendor Statement report.

![Customer statement report](/inventory/help/images/contacts/vendor-statement-page.png)

*   **Note:** Vendor Statements can only be published and sent out to contacts marked as **Vendor**.
*   Select the date range for the report.
*   You can share the statement by creating a PDF, take a print of it or sending by email to the contact by clicking on the respective icons. **Note:** All these options are available right on the top, above the report.

![Sending customer statements](/inventory/help/images/contacts/vendor-statement-sending.png)

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