Setting up a bill of materials (BOM)
When to set up a bill of materials
You use the Bill of Materials window to assign material items to the material classes on the Bill of Materials (BOM) report.
The window contains two lists associated with your standard database or estimate, depending on whether you select the Estimate option or the Database option in the window:
-
A list of the items in your standard database or estimate.
Note: If both an estimate and a standard database are open, the estimate BOM information is displayed initially. You can use the options to switch between the estimate and the database BOM. (If only an estimate or a standard database is open, you cannot switch to the other option.)
- A list of the material classes set up for your standard database or estimate. As you assign items, you have complete control over their positions and descriptions on the bill of materials (BOM).
Open the Bill of Materials window in one of the following ways:
- On the ribbon, from the group on the tab, click Bill of Materials.
- In classic view, click Database menu > Bill of Materials.
- On the spreadsheet, in the Material Class or BOM Desc columns (if they contain information), select Edit Bill of Materials from the shortcut menu.
Note: If neither an estimate nor a database is open, you cannot select the icon or the menu command to open the window.
Tips:
- Click [Expand], [Collapse], and [All] to expand and collapse the lists.
- Double-click on an item in one list to find it in the other list.
- To assign an item to a material class, drag it from the Items list to the appropriate Material Class folder. Where you drop them determines their BOM description and position.
- To drag all items in a single folder to the Materials Classes list, press the Shift key and click the selected folder.
- To create a new material class, click [Add].
- To edit a material class or alternate description, click [Edit].
- To edit an item in the list, select the item and choose the edit command from the shortcut menu.