Set Up Your Operations Lists

These are the lists you build a sale from: the containers you supply, the units you charge in, the departments you report on and the extras you add. Every waste line on a sale or job needs a container, and every extra needs a unit type, so these lists have to exist before you can raise your first real sale.

Before you start

• You are an organisation Owner. References is open to organisation Owners only. See Set up your organisation and team.
• Step 5 is done. Container types and extra types can carry nominal codes, and nominal codes need tax rates and account types first. See Set up tax rates, payment terms and nominal codes.
• You know your switches. If you switched on Require a department on sales and jobs or Lock accounting codes in invoicing on step 4, departments and extra types below are compulsory, not optional. See Choose your core settings.

Work through the lists in the order below. Some lists point at others: a container needs a container type, and an extra type can point at a nominal code and at departments. In References, open the list, click the add button at the top — named after the list, for example Add department — fill in the form and click Add.

Add your departments

Departments split your sales and jobs by part of the business. The short code goes into the sale number, so a sale in a department with the short code OPS is numbered like DSP-OPS-2610001.

Open Departments and click Add department

In References, open Departments and click Add department.

Enter a Name and Short code

Enter a Name, for example "Operations", and a Short code, for example OPS. Both are required, and the short code can be up to 20 characters. Description, Colour (a hex value such as #427cbe) and Cost centre code are optional. Click Add.

Departments are required only if you switched on Require a department on sales and jobs. If you did not, you can skip them and add them later.

Add your unit types

A unit type is what an extra is charged per, such as a tonne or each. Every extra needs one, so this list is required.

Open Unit Types and click Add unit type

In References, open Unit Types and click Add unit type.

Enter a Name and click Add

Enter a Name such as "Tonne". Description is optional.

A suggested starter set is Tonne, Each, Load and Hour.

Add your waste types (optional)

Waste Types are reusable named wastes, for example "Mixed municipal", that you can pick on a waste line instead of typing a description each time. They are optional. Add the handful you quote most often, or skip the list entirely. Each has a Name and an optional Description.

Add your container types

A container type is a category of container, such as a skip, a bin or an IBC. Containers belong to a container type, and the type decides how a line is coded and labelled.

Open Container Types and click Add container type

In References, open Container Types and click Add container type.

Enter a Name

Enter a Name such as "Skip". Description is optional.

Set the optional fields that apply to you

• Label count is how many waste labels print per container of this type. Leave it blank for one.
• Collectable with other containers is for small containers that go on one vehicle together, such as drums or bags. Leave it off for skips, which are collected on their own. It decides which waste lines an agreement can hold together.
• Revenue nominal code (optional) and Expenditure nominal code (optional) are the ledger codes a line is invoiced and bought under. Pick the ones you made on step 5. The revenue code is also where an invoice line's VAT comes from when the customer and site have no tax rate.
• DWT container type (optional) matters only if you will submit to Digital Waste Tracking. See step 12.

Click Add

Repeat for each kind of container you supply, for example Skip, Bin, Roll-on roll-off and IBC.

Add your containers

A container is the actual product you quote: for example an 8 yard skip.

Open Containers and click Add container

In References, open Containers and click Add container. A container cannot be saved without a container type: you will see "Container type is required".

Fill in the form

Enter a Name, for example "8 yard skip". Short code and Description are optional. Choose the Container type.

Switch on Is sited for containers you leave on site

Switch on Is sited for skips, bins and anything else you leave at a customer's site and collect later. Leave it off for containers that arrive and leave in one visit. Only sited containers show up in Asset tracking, and only sited containers can carry siting actions. Click Add.

Every waste line on a sale or job needs a container. With no containers, you cannot price a single waste line.

Add your siting actions

A siting action says what a job does to a sited container. Asset tracking reads it to know which containers are standing on which sites.

Open Siting Actions and click Add siting action

In References, open Siting Actions and click Add siting action.

Enter a Name and choose its Asset tracking meaning

Enter a Name. Choose an Asset tracking meaning:

• Delivery — leaves a container at the site
• Exchange — swaps a full container for an empty one
• Collection — removes a container from the site
• Disposal — removes a container from the site for disposal
• Not classified — never appears in Asset tracking

A new action starts as Not classified, which is inert, so remember to change it. A suggested starter set is one action for each meaning: Delivery, Exchange, Collection and Disposal.

Once a sale's waste line offers siting actions, the job created from it must choose one for each line, or Paperwork says "Choose the action this job is for on each waste line". See Asset tracking for how they are combined and how a sited container is cleared.

Add your extra types

An extra type categorises the extra charge lines on a sale or job, such as a delivery charge or waiting time.

Open Extra Types and click Add extra type

In References, open Extra Types and click Add extra type.

Enter a Name and say what it is Used for

Enter a Name, for example "Delivery charge". Under Used for, tick Cost, Revenue or both. Ticking only one lets you reuse the same name on the other side later.

Choose a nominal code and departments

Pick a Nominal code (optional). It supplies the extra's ledger code and its VAT when nothing else does. Under Departments, leave the list empty to apply the extra to all departments, or choose some. Click Add.

Extra types are required only if you switched on Lock accounting codes in invoicing. Then every priced extra on a sale or job must have one, or Paperwork refuses with "Extra type is required when an extra is priced under strict accounting."

Leave the optional lists for later

None of these block anything. Add them when you need them.

• Methods — templates of ordered Tasks for jobs and quotes.
• Caveats — reusable boilerplate for document lines, marked as used for Waste, Extras or both.
• Contact Methods — the ways you contact people, such as email and phone.
• Customer sectors — industry sectors to tag customers with.
• Lead sources and Lost reasons — where opportunities come from, and why they are lost. These only matter if you use Opportunities.
• Assets — company equipment, each with a Container type and a Fixed location switch.

Vehicles and their types are on step 7, with drivers, because you need them for booking.

If you skip this

• No containers — you cannot price a waste line, so you cannot finish a sale.
• No container type — you cannot save a container ("Container type is required").
• No unit types — you cannot add an extra to a sale.
• No departments, with the switch on — sales and jobs fail with "A department is required".
• No extra types, with strict accounting on — a priced extra is refused with "Extra type is required when an extra is priced under strict accounting."
• Containers not marked as sited — they never appear in Asset tracking, however they are used.
• Siting actions left as Not classified — they are chosen on jobs, but never move a container in Asset tracking.
• No DWT container type — a job using that container type cannot be submitted to Digital Waste Tracking later.

Check it worked

• On the References index, the Active counts for Unit Types, Container Types and Containers are above zero. So are Departments and Extra Types if you turned those switches on.
• Open Containers. The Container type column is filled in for every row, and the Sited column says Yes for the skips and bins you leave on site.
• Open Siting Actions. No row still shows Not classified unless you meant it to.

What to do next

Step 7, Add your vehicles and drivers, sets up the fleet and the people you book onto jobs. After that come suppliers and customers, the two parties every job needs.

• Reference Data — every list, with archive and delete rules
• Asset tracking — siting actions and sited containers in use
• Sales — where containers, extras and siting actions are used
• Finance settings — the strict accounting rule