Like other ERP systems, Acumatica offers users the ability to add new fields to store information specific to their needs and related to their businesses. In Acumatica, these are called Attributes (other systems may call it custom fields or user defined fields). My first encounter with Acumatica attributes was in 2017 R1. Since then attributes have evolved to add additional flexibility in use and how they can be applied. In this 3-part series on Acumatica attributes, I wish to share how you can maximize the benefits of using attributes.
Despite being called different names, they share similar characteristics:
Simple to add/edit/remove – users should be able to manage attributes without programming or complex procedures
No limit – some business processes (e.g. CRM) need to collect large quantities of peripheral data that are not native fields in the application
Allow different field types – text, data/time, checkbox, selection list
Attributes are initially defined in the context of a class for modules that can assign a class to records. Some examples are leads, stock items and customers. For each class, you can define a list of attributes to gather class-specific information. Let me illustrate this with an example of stock items. For an electrical distributor, typical inventory consists of electrical parts such as power supplies and wires. An item class for power supplies collects information like input voltage and nominal current whereas another class for wires collects information like wire gauge and certification. This is intuitive and very practical.
To use attributes, you begin by creating attributes for each piece of information you want to collect. In Figure 1a, I added an attribute called Input Voltage as a combo control with 3 selections.
Figure 1a. Attribute for Input Voltage
Figure 1b. Attribute for certification
The next step is to define a list of attributes for each entity class. Here I have an item class for Power Supply and associated it with 3 attributes. Note that the same attribute can be used for multiple classes. In this case, my Certification attribute also be used for the Wire item class.
Attributes are now ready to be used on the Stock Items form. When a new stock item record is added, choosing an item class will change the available attributes in the Attributes tab.
Acumatica Attributes are easy to setup, come with different control types and do not have application limits. By associating attributes to an entity class, users can dynamically change the attribute list based on the class selected.
But what about forms that are not defined by class, such as Purchase Order and Bills and Adjustments? Excellent question – we'll explore that in part 2 of this series on Attributes.
Eric.