Purchasing A Used Unit That You Will Finance

As we all know, there are many ways to purchase a used unit directly from a customer (or auction) and we have a Used Unit Purchase option in the invoicing section to speed it up. However, there are times when using this option might have the wrong effect. In this post we’re going to list one such example and then give you an easier way to solve the issue.

If you are buying a bike from the customer and paying for it with cash or check then use the Used Unit Purchase feature in Lizzy. However, if you are not actually purchasing the unit, but are instead financing the purchase with a bank note (such as purchasing units at auction), this can cause an issue. To illustrate the problem, let’s see what happens when we try to use the quick purchase feature in this scenario.

1) We buy the unit but need to enter how we’ll be paying for it. The problem here is that we will also need a purchase order to let Lizzy know we owe the bank and we can’t really do this from the invoice. To finalize the unit purchase, we need to put in a payment type from this invoice, so for our example we’ll choose cash.

2) The problem now is that our cash drawer is off from what Lizzy thinks we have, so we either need to create a manual entry in the cash drawer or we need to create an AR to the bank saying they owe us the money. I’m sure you can see that this is quickly snowballing into a larger issue.

So what is the proper way to purchase a used unit in Lizzy when we’re financing the unit? The answer is that we’ll treat it like any other major unit purchase. You will need to make sure it’s set as used when you’re done and you’ll need to set the bank up as a supplier of major units so that you can choose the proper model number on the PO. In the end, handling your used unit purchases this way will give you the proper GL hits with a lot less work. Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

1) Locate the bank’s contact record in Lizzy (or add them as a contact), set them as a supplier, and save it. Then click the supplier link and check the “major unit supplier” box.

2) Go to the contact record for the manufacturer of the bike you’re purchasing (ie Harley-Davidson) and click the manufacturer link. From here, select the bank as a supplier of those types of units. Now when you enter Harley model numbers on the bank’s PO, you’ll see the proper type to pick.

3) Next, create a major unit purchase order to the bank in Payables and enter the model number you’re buying.

4) Order and receive the PO just like any other major unit purchase order. Note: you can actually mark the unit as used while creating or editing the PO by clicking the magnifying glass by the unit line & marking the “used unit” checkbox. This box is also available on each unit line when receiving the PO as well.

5) After you’ve received the units, process the received units (via Payables or Serialized > Management) and enter the VIN or serial number for the unit you just purchased and click process.

That’s it. The GL hits should now exist for the unit to be put into stock and the PO will be sitting there awaiting payment in the future.

Hope that speeds things up a little for you.