Unit of measure type

Whenever an item is set up, it must be defined in at least one unit of measure. A unit of measure indicates the amount of an item processed on transactions such as sales and purchases, as well as the available quantity of the item.

Some units of measure represent nothing more than an amount. Examples are units such as "Case," "Box," or "Each." These indicate the quantity of an item being used in a transaction. For example, you might purchase 100 cases of an item. The significance of the case unit depends on the item itself.

Other units of measure denote not only a per-unit amount but also a specific physical property, such as weight or volume. Examples include kilograms, litres, pounds, and gallons. Like any other unit of measure, these can record the quantity of an item in a transaction. For example, you might purchase 100 kilograms of an item. This value has significance beyond the unit of measure, because a kilogram is a measurable quantity that denotes the item's weight.

When you set up a new unit of measure, you can assign a type of length, weight, or volume to it. You can then define standard conversion factors between that unit and the established base unit for the assigned type.

Base units of measure

A base unit of measure (not to be confused with the base unit of measure assigned to each item as its primary unit) is a unit from which other units of the same type are derived. For example, a pound is typically the base unit of weight for conventional measurement systems. All other units of weight are defined in terms of pounds, an ounce is 1/16 of a pound, a ton is 2,000 pounds, and so on.

Base units of measure are defined and stored in the Measuring System table. This is an internal table not accessible through a page. Six base units are defined in this table, units of length, weight, and volume for both conventional and metric measuring systems.

When setting up a company, choose between conventional and metric measuring systems as the basis for all unit of measure calculations. Make this selection on the Inventory Setup page. All length, weight, and volume units of measure are defined in relation to the base units stored for the corresponding measuring system in the Measuring System table.

Unit of measure setup

When a unit of measure record is entered in the Unit of Measure table, you can assign a unit of measure type to it. Once a type is assigned, establish a conversion between that unit of measure and the base unit of measure for the assigned type. For example, if you use a conventional measuring system and the conventional base unit of weight is pound, any units of measure you set up with a type of weight must be defined in relation to a pound.

Set up unit of measure records for base units if you want to assign them to items. Using the previous example, set up a unit of measure record for pounds if you want to measure items by this unit. In this instance, establish a conversion factor of 1.

The code you set up for a base unit of measure in the Unit of Measure table must be identical to the code set up for the corresponding unit in the Measuring System table. If the pound unit in the Measuring System table has a code of "LB" and the pound unit in the Unit of Measure table has a code of "LBS," the program does not recognise them as the same unit.