The quick answer
Enter the sales order for the kit as one line and click Fulfill. The Item Fulfillment lists the kit and, beneath it, one row for each component. Click the Inventory Detail icon on a serialized component, choose a serial number in Serial/Lot Number, click Add, then OK, and repeat for each component. Save the fulfillment as Picked, then click Mark Packed and Mark Shipped. The kit has no stock of its own, so only the components' on-hand quantities go down.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and company names are fictional. Use your own items, customers and values when you follow the steps.
Before you start
You need a role that can enter sales orders and fulfill them. The kit's components have to be serialized inventory items with serial numbers in stock at the location you fulfill from. The statuses Picked, Packed and Shipped come from the Pick, Pack and Ship feature, so it has to be on for the buttons in step 5 to appear.
Example Supply Co. sells a Furnace Install Kit made of one Blower Motor and one Control Board. Alex Morgan sells one kit from the Main Warehouse, where each component has three units on hand.
01. Check the kit and its components
Go to Lists > Accounting > Items. Furnace Install Kit is a Kit/Package, and Blower Motor and Control Board are Serialized Inventory Items. Open the kit and look at Purchasing / Inventory > Components. Each component is listed with quantity 1, so one kit needs one serial number for each.
In the account used for this test the Display Components on Transactions box was cleared, and the components still appeared on the fulfillment.
02. Enter the sales order
Go to Transactions > Sales > Enter Sales Orders. Choose the customer and the Location, add Furnace Install Kit with quantity 1, and save. The kit stays one line on the order.
The saved order is Pending Fulfillment and shows a Fulfill button. This order form had no approval step. If your form requires approval, approve the order first.
03. Start the fulfillment
Click Fulfill. The Item Fulfillment lists Furnace Install Kit and, below it and indented, Blower Motor and Control Board. The kit's On Hand is 0, because a kit holds no stock. Each component shows its own On Hand, 3 here, with Remaining 1, Committed 1 and an Inventory Detail icon.
04. Pick a serial number for each component
Click the Inventory Detail icon on Blower Motor. In Serial/Lot Number, open the list. It offers only the Blower Motor's serial numbers. Choose BM-1001. Status fills in with Good and the quantity is 1. Click Add, then OK.
Do the same on Control Board and choose CB-2001. The serial number belongs to the component row, not to the kit line, which has no Inventory Detail. Click Save. The fulfillment is saved with the status Picked, and Mark Packed appears.
05. Pack and ship
Click Mark Packed. The confirmation reads Shipment successfully Packed and the status is Packed. Click Mark Shipped. The confirmation reads Shipment successfully Marked Shipped, the status is Shipped, and Bill appears.
If Mark Shipped stops with a notice that no UPS registration was found for the location, the fulfillment is using a UPS shipping method the location is not registered for. Open the Shipping subtab, choose a shipping carrier and method that are not integrated, save, and mark it shipped again. In this test that was the carrier More with a company truck method.
06. Check what shipped
On the shipped fulfillment the components' On Hand went from 3 to 2, and the kit still shows 0. On Hand stayed at 3 while the fulfillment was Picked and Packed. It dropped when the fulfillment was shipped. Open the Inventory Detail icon on a component to see its serial number, Status Good and quantity 1.
Check the result
- The fulfillment status is Shipped and the confirmation says Shipment successfully Marked Shipped.
- Each serialized component row has an Inventory Detail icon, and its popup shows the serial number you chose.
- Each component's On Hand is one lower than before, and the kit is still 0.
Common questions
Do I need a serial number for the kit or for each component?
For each serialized component. The kit line carries no Inventory Detail, and each component row opens its own popup. A kit with one of each component needs one serial number for each.
Why does the kit show an On Hand of 0?
A Kit/Package has no stock of its own. The inventory sits in its component items, so the fulfillment shows the kit at 0 and the components with their own quantities.
Why do the components appear as separate rows on the fulfillment?
The kit is sold as one line, but the items that ship are its serialized components. The fulfillment lists them so you can assign their serial numbers. Plain components that need no inventory detail may not appear as rows, even though they ship with the kit.
When do the components' on-hand quantities go down?
When the fulfillment is shipped. In this test On Hand stayed at 3 while the fulfillment was Picked and Packed and became 2 after Mark Shipped. Available quantity can change earlier, at the pick.
Does Display Components on Transactions control this?
It controls how components display on transactions and printed forms. It is not what adds the serial number to the kit line. In this test the components appeared on the fulfillment with the box cleared.
Why do I not see Mark Packed or Mark Shipped?
Those statuses come from the Pick, Pack and Ship feature. Check that it is on under Setup > Company > Enable Features.