Bill of Materials Setup

  • The Bill of Materials (BOM) can be defined for Assembly, Kit and Template Product types.
    • For assembly products, the BOM consists of Inventory, Non-inventory and Process steps.
    • For kit products, the BOM consists of Inventory and Process steps.
    • For template products, the BOM consists of Inventory only.
  • The BOM is always modifiable. It changed be changed either on a global level through the Product record or on a one-off basis on a Sales Order or Work Order.
  • The BOM is sometimes referred to as a Recipe.

See THIS ARTICLE for more info on the differences between Assemblies, Kits and Templates.

1. Create a product that will use a bill of materials

In order to set up a Bill of Materials, on the Product Info tab, the Product Type must be either an Assembly, Kit, or Template. See the examples below.

Once a Product has been saved, the Product Type can not be switched between Assembly, Kit or Template.

Assembly example
Assembly - Product Info tab
Kit example
Kit - Product Info tab
Template example
Template - Product Info tab

2. Set up the bill of materials

To define the BOM, open an Assembly, Kit or Template Product record and then go to the Bill of Materials tab. The BOM will look slightly different depending on the Product Type. See the examples below for each type:

Assembly BOM example

The BOM for assemblies can include inventory items, non-inventory G/L expenses and a set of process steps.

Inventory items

  1. On the Bill of Materials tab, click on the Inventory sub-tab to modify the inventory portion of the BOM.
  2. Click the ➕ icon to add an inventory component or the 🗑️ icon to remove an inventory component.

Optionally, you can enter a Default Setup Cost that will be added to each Work Order. This is a flat rate cost that is applied to the Work Order regardless of how many assembly units are being built. This cost will be added to the value of the finished assembly inventory.

Assembly Product - Bill of Materials - Inventory
  1. Enter the following info for each Assembly component. Part Number, Product Name and Quantity are required.
  • Part Number: The part number of the assembly component.
  • Product Name: The product name of the assembly component. This will auto-fill when the part number is entered.
  • Line memo default: The default line item memo for the BOM component. This is different than the component's own default line memo.
  • Reference: A text field similar to the memo that only exists here on the BOM.
  • Quantity: The quantity of the Product that will be included in the BOM.
  • Custom fields: Optional custom fields.
  • Notes: Optional text field.
Add an Assembly Component

Non-inventory expenses

  1. On the Bill of Materials tab, click on the Non-inventory sub-tab to modify the non-inventory portion of the BOM (i.e. G/L expenses). These costs will be added to the value of the finished assembly inventory.
  2. Click the ➕ icon to add a G/L account or the 🗑️ icon to remove a G/L account.
Assembly Product - Bill of Materials - Non-inventory

Process steps

  1. On the Bill of Materials tab, click on the Process sub-tab to modify the assembly process steps.
  2. Click the ➕ icon to add a step or the 🗑️ icon to remove a step.

For more details on setting up the Process, please refer to Work Order Assembly Process feature.

Assembly Product - Bill of Materials - Process
Kit BOM example

The BOM for kits can include inventory items and a set of process steps.

Inventory items

  1. On the Bill of Materials tab, click on the Inventory sub-tab to modify the inventory portion of the BOM.
  2. Click the ➕ icon to add an inventory component or the 🗑️ icon to remove an inventory component.
Kit Product - Bill of Materials - Inventory
  1. Enter the following info for each Kit component. Part Number, Product Name and Quantity are required.
  • Part Number: The part number of the kit component.
  • Product Name: The product name of the kit component. This will auto-fill when the part number is entered.
  • Line memo default: The default line item memo for the BOM component. This is different than the component's own default line memo.
  • Reference: A text field similar to the memo that only exists here on the BOM.
  • Quantity: The quantity of the Product that will be included in the BOM.
  • Custom fields: Optional custom fields.
  • Notes: Optional text field.
Add an Kit Component

Process steps

  1. On the Bill of Materials tab, click on the Process sub-tab to modify the kit process steps.
  2. Click the ➕ icon to add a step or the 🗑️ icon to remove a step.

The Process steps for a Kit look identical to the Assembly Process. However, unlike the Assembly Process, the Kit Process is not used elsewhere (i.e. there is no Work Order for Kits.)

Kit Product - Bill of Materials - Process
Template BOM example

The BOM for templates only includes inventory items.

Inventory items

  1. On the Bill of Materials tab, click on the Inventory sub-tab to modify the inventory portion of the BOM.
  2. Click the ➕ icon to add an inventory component or the 🗑️ icon to remove an inventory component.

Non-inventory and Process are not used for Templates.

Template Product - Bill of Materials - Inventory
  1. Enter the following info for each Template component. Part Number, Product Name and Quantity are required.
  • Part Number: The part number of the template component.
  • Product Name: The product name of the template component. This will auto-fill when the part number is entered.
  • Line memo default: The default line item memo for the BOM component. This is different than the component's own default line memo.
  • Reference: A text field similar to the memo that only exists here on the BOM.
  • Quantity: The quantity of the Product that will be included in the BOM.
  • Custom fields: Optional custom fields.
  • Notes: Optional text field.
Add an Template Component