How to Create Pre Sale Inspections for Serialized Stock

Pre Sale Inspections let you check a serialized machine against a checklist before it leaves the yard, so nothing goes out to a buyer without a documented condition and function check.

Overview

Selling a machine is not the same as hiring one out. There is no return inspection to catch a missing manual or a leaking hose, so the check has to happen before the unit ships. Latner can raise that check for you automatically, off the back of the sales order.

Pre Sale Inspections are raised against a Serialized Stock line on a Sales Order, not against an equipment number.
They are switched on in two places: a global setting, and a tick box on each Serialized Stock record.
Latner creates the inspection when the Sales Order leaves Open status - normally when you use Mark as Quoted or Email Sales Order.
The checklist that gets attached is the Pre Sale Checklist named on the Serialized Stock record. There is no class or model fallback for this inspection type.
Only one Pre Sale Inspection is ever raised per sales order line.
The inspection cannot be completed until a Serialized Stock Item (a serial number) is on it.

Before You Begin

Three things need to be in place before Latner will raise a Pre Sale Inspection.

Requirement	Where to Find It
Create Pre Sale Inspection after adding Serialized Stock to Sales Order switched on	Security › Settings › Global › Equipment
A checklist template of type Pre Sale	Equipment › Configuration › Checklist Templates
Serialized Stock and Edit Serialized Stock permissions	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups › Stock
Inspection and Complete Inspection permissions	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups › Equipment

The Equipment settings module, filtered to Pre Sale. The setting is global, so it applies to every branch

If you turn the setting off later, inspections that already exist are left alone - Latner simply stops raising new ones. Existing Open inspections still have to be completed or cancelled.

Setting Up the Serialized Stock

The global setting decides whether the feature is available. Each Serialized Stock record decides whether it applies to that product.

Step 1 - Open the Serialized Stock record

Go to Stock › Serialized Stock and open the stock number you sell as a machine, for example a generator or a compressor.

Step 2 - Tick Pre Sale Inspections and choose a checklist

In the General Details card, click the Pre Sale Inspections row to put it into edit mode, tick the box, then search the Pre Sale Checklist field for the checklist you want to use.

Pre Sale Inspections - the switch. With this unticked, no inspection is raised for this stock number no matter what the sales order does.
Pre Sale Checklist - the checklist template copied onto every inspection raised for this stock number.

The Pre Sale Checklist search lists every checklist template, so use the Type column to pick one of type Pre Sale

Step 3 - Save

Click Save in the card header. The saved row shows the tick and the checklist name together.

The saved record - the checklist name sits beside the tick, so you can confirm the pairing at a glance

This is the only place a Pre Sale checklist can be set. Unlike Run Up and Return checklists, a Pre Sale Inspection does not fall back to the Equipment Class or Model, so a stock number with the box ticked but no checklist named raises an inspection with no checklist on it.

Creating the Pre Sale Inspection

With the setup done, the inspection comes out of the normal sales process.

Step 4 - Add a Serialized Stock line to the Sales Order

Open the Sales Order and choose Options › Add Sales Order Detail. Set Line Type to Serialized Stock and fill in the line.

Serialized Stock Type - required. The stock number you set up in Step 2.
Serialized Stock Item - optional here, but the inspection cannot be completed without it. The search only offers items with a status of In Stock.
Unit Price and Quantity - default from the stock record and the serial number you pick.
Accessories - anything ticked here is added as its own stock line under the machine.

The Add Details dialog with Line Type set to Serialized Stock - picking the serial number fills the unit cost and price for you

Step 5 - Mark the Sales Order as Quoted

Nothing happens while the order is still Open. Choose Options › Mark as Quoted, and Latner raises a Pre Sale Inspection for every Serialized Stock line on the order that doesn't already have one. Email Sales Order does the same thing, because sending the quote also moves the order to Quoted.

Mark as Quoted only appears while the order is Open and has at least one detail line

Step 6 - Check the Inspections tab

The new inspection is listed on the Sales Order's Inspections tab, with a status of Open and a type of Pre Sale Inspection.

The Sales Order after quoting - the Inspections tab count goes from 00 to 01

Working the Inspection

Step 7 - Find it on the Inspections screen

Go to Equipment › Inspections and use the Pre Sale quick filter to see only this type. The default My Branch filter uses the Sales Order's branch, so clear it if you are looking at another yard's work.

The Inspections screen with the Pre Sale quick filter applied

Step 8 - Review the inspection

A Pre Sale Inspection looks a little different to the others. There is no Equipment Number field, because you are inspecting stock rather than a fleet asset.

Serialized Stock - read only, taken from the sales order line.
Serialized Stock Item - the serial number being sold. You can pick it here if the sales order line doesn't have one yet; once the line has a serial number, the field is locked.
Sales Order Details - a link straight back to the order, plus the customer and site.

The Pre Sale Inspection - Serialized Stock and Serialized Stock Item replace the usual Equipment Number field

Step 9 - Answer the checklist

Open the Checklists tab and expand the checklist to see its tasks. Every task starts as TODO. Right click a task's response to set it to Pass, Fail or N/A - a left click just reminds you to right click.

The Checklists tab, expanded - the Tasks column keeps a running Pass / Fail count

Right clicking a task response opens the Fail / Pass / N/A menu

Step 10 - Complete the inspection

Choose Options › Complete Inspection, confirm the Inspector and Completed Date, enter the Time Taken (minutes) and click Save.

The Complete Inspection dialog - no meter reading is asked for, because a Pre Sale Inspection is not tied to an equipment number

After Completion

The inspection moves to Completed and the Completion Details card records who completed it and when.
A checklist PDF is generated and filed under the Inspection PDF History tab.
A timesheet entry is created for the inspector from the time taken.
If a checklist task was marked Fail and Failed Inspection Checklist Points Require Approval is switched on, the inspection goes to Pending Approval instead of Completed, and someone with the Approve Inspection Completion permission has to sign it off.
Nothing on the serialized stock item's status changes - completing the inspection records the check, it does not move or reserve the machine.

The completed inspection, still linked to SO0004 through the Sales Order Details card

Cancelling the Sales Order automatically cancels any Open or Pending Approval Pre Sale Inspection on it, with a cancellation note explaining why. A cancelled inspection cannot be reopened, and Latner will not raise a replacement for that line. If the sale is going ahead after all, raise a new Sales Order rather than trying to revive the cancelled inspection.

FAQs

I added a Serialized Stock line but no inspection was created. Why?

The most common reason is that the Sales Order is still Open. Latner deliberately holds off until the order is quoted, so that lines you are still editing don't fill the inspection queue with work. Use Options › Mark as Quoted. If the order is already quoted, check that the setting is on and that the Serialized Stock record has Pre Sale Inspections ticked.

Mark as Quoted isn't in the Options menu.

It only shows while the Sales Order is Open and has at least one detail line. Add the line first, and the option appears.

The inspection has no checklist on it.

The Serialized Stock record has Pre Sale Inspections ticked but no Pre Sale Checklist named. Unlike Run Up and Return inspections, there is no Equipment Class or Model fallback for this type. Set the checklist on the stock record - Latner will attach it to any Open inspection the next time the sales order line is updated.

Latner won't let me complete the inspection.

A Pre Sale Inspection needs a Serialized Stock Item before it can be completed - you are certifying a specific serial number, not a product line. Set the serial number on the Sales Order line, or on the inspection itself. Separately, if Completed Checklists Required For Inspections is switched on, every checklist task has to be answered first.

Can I raise a second Pre Sale Inspection for the same line?

Not automatically. Latner checks for an existing inspection on the line - Open, Completed or Cancelled - and skips the line if it finds one. If you need another check, create an inspection manually from the Inspections screen.

The unit failed the check. What now?

Use Options › Convert to Work Order from the inspection to turn the findings into repair work. Chargeable and Customer Damage work order types are not available here - those are only offered on inspections raised against a Rental Contract.

Does this work for equipment sales as well as stock sales?

No. Pre Sale Inspections are raised only for Serialized Stock lines. An Asset/Equipment line on a Sales Order sells a machine from your fleet and does not raise one.

Watch the Demo

Prefer to watch it? Step through the same flow here.