An item's sales price can depend on certain conditions that exist when the item is entered on a sales document. A common example is the customer for whom the sales order is placed, different customers or groups of customers are often given different pricing criteria. Pricing is also frequently determined for specific dates or periods of time. This can be a regular change (pricing is recalculated weekly based on changing material costs) or a particular circumstance (promotional pricing on a new product line for a three-month period). Sales pricing can vary based on a single condition, or different pricing can be defined for certain combinations of conditions (for example, a single customer group receives certain pricing for a specific group of items over a particular period of time.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central lets users define sales pricing according to several different criteria. Tools are also available to assist users in quickly updating sales prices based on changing conditions or new data.
Sales price conditions
Set up and maintain prices on the Sales Prices page. Both the conditions necessary for sales pricing to take effect and the pricing methods themselves are entered here.
Every sales price must be defined for a customer and item type. The available parameters extend beyond individual customers and items, however. For example, define a sales price for an entire customer price group or item category (including the hierarchy below). At the broadest level, define a sales price for all customers or items. Assign these pricing levels in different combinations) for example, sales pricing for a specific item that applies to all customers.
Every sales price line must have a start date, which represents the date on which the sales pricing takes effect. You can also assign an ending date, but it is not required if you want the sales pricing to continue uninterrupted until specified by a user.
Pricing methods
You can define several different pricing parameters for a particular sales price. If there is a single value you want to assign, set this up as a fixed price.
You can also set up sales pricing that instructs the program to calculate a price based on a value called a cost reference. Examples of cost references are an item's standard, average, and last direct costs. Enter the type of calculation you want the program to perform against a cost reference to obtain a sales price. For example, set up a sales price line that instructs the program to calculate an item's sales price by applying a percent markup to the item's last direct cost.
There is a unique type of cost reference called a cost calculation method. Cost calculation methods contain item costs from sources other than the various costs maintained in the Item table (for example, external sources and values calculated from historical cost data. The options for instructing the program on how to obtain cost values and then calculate a cost reference support varying levels of complexity.
Contract pricing
In many instances, a single sales order line may meet the conditions of several sales price records. If a sales price for Item A exists for the entire year but a second sales price for the item category that includes Item A is set up for the month of July, a sales line for Item A in July meets the conditions of both sales prices. Note that for pricing on item categories, the hierarchy is respected) children of a specific item category inherit the settings for that category.
In such a scenario, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central's default behaviour is to assign the Best Price to the item. Best Price represents the lowest possible price that meets the conditions of the sales line.
Best Price is not always an appropriate way to select an item's sales price. If a specific pricing arrangement is agreed upon with a customer, ensure that this arrangement is always used by the program when determining sales prices. Achieve this by setting up a sales contract. The sales price lines for the items included as part of a sales contract are designated as contract prices. A contract price is always used by the program, regardless of whether there are lower prices that also meet the conditions of the sales line. In addition, you can set rules that prohibit the customer from ordering non-contract items.
You can also indicate that a sales price be treated as a soft contract price. A soft contract item follows the program's standard Best Price rules but retains the contract designation, including it in Anywhere Mobility Solutions contract item-only rules established for the customer.
Sales price assignment
When a new sales order line is created, the program determines a sales price based on the existing sales price records that meet the conditions of the sales line. If one or more sales contracts exist, a list of these contracts is presented and the user must select one to calculate a sales price. When no contract prices exist, the program uses Best Price rules to determine which price is assigned to the sales line.
If a sales price is fixed, the program enters the fixed price on the sales line. If the selected sales price contains a pricing method that involves a calculation, the program calculates the sales price when the item is entered on the sales order.
When several sales prices exist for a sales line, select an alternative price using the Get Price feature. You can also always override all sales prices by manually entering a value in the Unit Price field on the sales line if necessary.
Sales price maintenance
While changes to sales prices may be entered directly on the Sales Prices page, this can be time-consuming if there are a large number of records to change. For example, a company may update the sales prices of all items annually.
To facilitate the process of maintaining sales prices, use the Sales Price Worksheet to perform global pricing updates. After specifying certain adjustment factors, the program suggests new sales prices by applying these factors to existing prices. If these new prices are satisfactory, instruct the program to implement price changes by copying them from the worksheet to the Sales Price table.
The Sales Price Worksheet also lets you specify a set of pricing conditions and then copy sales pricing from an existing set of conditions to it. This lets you quickly set up sales pricing for a new record (such as an item or customer) if that pricing is the same as what exists for a current record.
Recurring price templates
Sales prices may be updated on a regular basis. For example, every Friday a company may calculate prices for the upcoming week.
Set up recurring price templates for pricing scenarios updated according to a set schedule. Use these templates to create new sales price lines when necessary. The fields on the template are the same as those on the Sales Prices page, and the entries you make serve as default settings for the sales price lines generated from the template.
In addition to these defaults, indicate the frequency with which sales prices from the template should be created. When you instruct the program to suggest recurring prices in the Sales Price Worksheet, the template's frequency settings determine the start and end dates for the new sales prices.
Each recurring price template maintains a record of all existing sales prices generated from it. This lets you view complete pricing history on a template-by-template basis.