About customer discounts and series for discounts

In Visma Net, you create discounts in two stages:

1. In the Discount codes window, define the following characteristics for all types of discounts used in your organisation.
   
   • Unconditional or conditional
   • Conditions
   • Automatic or manual
   • Application level (documents, groups, or lines).
     
     For more information, see The principles of customer discounts.

2. In the Discounts window, create discount series for each discount code.
   A discount series defines a discount that can be updated or is promotional, and simple or tiered.
   
   Multiple series of the same discount can only be effective at the same time if they have non-intersecting sets of conditions.
   For example: a line-level discount is defined as a conditional discount that applies to items. You can configure the series to have the same start date, but apply to different items.

For each discount code, you can create multiple discount series, as long as you use a unique identifier for each series.

If you have configured auto-numbering for the discount code, the system automatically assigns its series ID when you create a new series for this discount code. By default, the discount code is used as a prefix for generating series IDs.

Alternatively, you can specify another string to be used as a prefix for auto-numbering.

For each discount series, you specify the following:

• How the discount is tiered: by amount (for discount codes of all types) or by quantity (only for the line and group discount code types).
• How the discount is expressed: as a percentage, as an amount, or as a certain quantity of free items.
• Whether the discount is a promotional discount with an expiration date, or whether it is an updatable discount.
• Which conditions apply. The types of conditions are defined by the discount code.
  For example: if you have decided that the discount code should apply discounts to specific items, you can see the Items tab in the Discounts window. On this tab, you can create a list of items to which each series is applicable.

Each discount series has an effective (start) date and will apply only on and after this date.

You can enter a simple discount within a series that you can apply to any amount or quantity, or enter a tiered discount based on quantities of items/amounts.

In order to configure tiers for a discount, you specify break points to define a range of amounts or quantities. For each range you can apply different discount percentages, amounts, or quantities of free items.

For more information on how the system calculates discount amounts, see Calculate document-level discounts with tiers defined by amounts and Calculate line-level discounts for tiers defined by amounts.

If you want to specify the series break points as amounts or quantities, you set 0 as the first break point, as in the following example:

• 0: 10% discount

As an example of tiered discounts, consider a discount that is based on the quantity of goods purchased.
If you want a discount series with three tiers you can specify it like this:

• 100 units: 5% discount
• 200 units: 7% discount
• 300 units: 10% discount

Consider a series for a discount based on the document total and tiered by amount (in GBP).
You can specify the series as follows:

• £1000: £10 discount
• £2000: £25 discount
• £3000: £40 discount

A discount series can define updateable or promotional discounts.

Promotional discounts are effective for a limited time period. You need to set start dates and expiration dates.
After the expiration date, the promotional discounts no longer apply.

If you do not select the Promotional check box, it means series can be updated. They only have the start (effective) date.
However, for each series that can be updated, you can have multiple versions:

• The active version: the discount that is currently in effect.
• The pending version: the discount will be in effect starting on the pending date.
• The last version: the discount that previously was in effect before the current discount.

You cannot create all such versions of a series at the same time.
You can specify new break amounts (or quantities) as pending amounts (or quantities) and the new effective date as the pending date.
Then, when the new start date arrives, you can update the current series with the pending values.

Once you update the series in the Update discounts pop-up window in the Discounts window, the active series version becomes the last version, and the pending version becomes the active one.