Support Hours: M - F 5:00AM - 4:00PM PST Support Phone: (949) 567-7030 Support Email: [email protected]
BirchStreet Advanced Buyer Training
Training Outline
I. Supplier Review
A. BirchStreet Login Link: http://fourseasons.birchstreet.net
B. Four Types of Suppliers
1. Punchout Suppliers
a) Supplier Has Own Marketplace Website. Buyer accesses this marketplace through a link in BirchStreet.
b) Once Shopping is Done, a PO is Brought Back Into BirchStreet to Submit for Approvals(except US Foods) and Receive Against
2. Adopted Suppliers
a) Supplier’s items are searchable in the BirchStreet Catalog
b) SUPPLIER Maintains these Products and Pricing in BirchStreet
3. Non-Catalog Suppliers
a) Supplier’s items are NOT searchable in BirchStreet Catalog
b) BUYER Maintains Items & Pricing in BirchStreet Order Guide
4. Supplier on the Fly’s (SOTF)
a) A Supplier that the Buyer chooses to add to the system.
b) SOTF Suppliers are hotel specific.
c) SOTF Suppliers are typically Local (as opposed to Regional and National Suppliers which typically are adopted
d) NOTE: New SOTFs must also be entered into Oracle. Email is sent to Finance with information on New Supplier to facilitate this process
1 Support Hours: M - F 5:00AM - 4:00PM PST Support Phone: (949) 567-7030 Support Email: [email protected]
e) Buyer Maintains Programs and Pricing in BirchStreet Order Guide
II. Catalog Searching
A. Catalog Search By Product Attribute
1. Non-Food
2. Food
B. Catalog Search by Supplier
1. Additional Search Text Pop-Up is required if Supplier has More Than 1,000 Items in Their Catalog
C. Catalog Search by Category
1. Alternate UOM’s For Items Can be Changed in the Order Guide or on the PO Tab Using the Print/View/Edit Button Prior to Submission
D. Drill Down Through Catalog
III. How to Manage an Order Guide
A. Create and Name Order Guides
1. Create a Private Order Guide
2. Create a Shared Order Guide
a) Benefits of a Shared Order Guide include
(1) Reduced Time Required to Find Items and Create Purchase Orders
(2) Order Guides can be Created to only Contain Items that Should be Ordered
b) Only the Owner/Creator of an Order Guide can Change, Edit, or Delete it
2 Support Hours: M - F 5:00AM - 4:00PM PST Support Phone: (949) 567-7030 Support Email: [email protected]
3. BirchStreet Order Guides can’t contain Punchout Supplier items. Note: Many Punchout Sites support Order Guides/Favorites List specific to that site.
B. Add an Adopted Supplier Item to an Order Guide
1. Preset GL Account On Items When Adding Them to the Order Guide
a) Items Will Be Placed on the PO With the Preset GL
b) You Can Override a Preset GL Using the Checkbox on the PO Header
c) Emphasize the importance of this to the flow of accounting information into Oracle.
d) Pay attention to the GL account field on the OG tab when formulating order. Items without GL Accounts will be added to the order with the GL account selected in the PO Header.
C. Sharing and Copying Order Guides
D. Manually Create vs. Import
1. Manual Order Guides Can be Sent to Supplier to Populate, Saving Time
2. Do Not Add, Remove, or Edit Column Headers in Order Guide Template
3. First Three Rows in Order Guide Template Should Not Be Touched
E. Editing Items
1. Maintaining Catalog Items
a) Setting Target Prices (Items Marked in Yellow)
(1) Can be Used to Monitor Seasonally Fluctuating Food & Beverage Products
2. Maintaining Non-Catalog Items
a) Making Items Tax Exempt for Non-Catalog, Non-Taxable Items (I.e. Food)
b) Maintaining Non-Catalog Item Prices, Descriptions, UOMs, etc.
F. Catch Weight Items
3 Support Hours: M - F 5:00AM - 4:00PM PST Support Phone: (949) 567-7030 Support Email: [email protected]
a) Alternate UOM’s for Items Can be Changed in the Order Guide or on the PO Tab Using the Print/View/Edit Button Prior to Submission
G. How to Sort the Order Guide and Add Par Values and Update button
1. Par Values are Useful for Tracking Sheet-to Shelf
H. Order Guide Print/View
1. Use with all Non-Food Items
I. Order Guide Prices and item availability (red items) are updated nightly
J. View Price History and Item History
1. Difference between Price History and Item History
a) Price History shows historic Supplier Pricing Trends
b) Item History shows historic Purchasing Data
2. View History Across Years
3. View History Across Departments
4. Punchout Item History Can Be Viewed Using Monthly Item Usage Report or Monthly Item Dept Usage Report
IV. BirchStreet Shopping Cart
A. Searching for items
B. Copying items from a PO through Cart into an OG
1. This Will Put Items with the Most Current Prices Into the Order Guide
C. Copying items from an OG into the Cart
D. Copying items from the Cart into a PO
E. Other Cart Buttons
4 Support Hours: M - F 5:00AM - 4:00PM PST Support Phone: (949) 567-7030 Support Email: [email protected]
1. Update
2. Create PO
3. Item History
4. Price History
V. Purchase Order Tab
A. Purchase Order Header Update – Confirm the following is Complete and Correct:
1. Required Delivery Date
a) You Cannot Submit a PO with a Passed Required Delivery Date
b) If You Have Left a PO in the New Status For Some Time, You Must Update the Required Delivery Date to be a Future Date
2. Purchase Type
3. Bill to and Ship to
4. Department/GL Account Information
5. Tax Percentages and Freight Values
6. If your required delivery date or number of items required changes for a Punchout PO, you will need to call the Punchout Supplier directly to notify them of the change
B. Purchase Order Print/View/Edit
C. Budget Impact Button (Summary)
1. Summary overview of departments and GL’s affected by the PO will be displayed with the remaining available budget
2. Budgeted Amount is the Forecast
3. The status of other departments with a full list of GL’s can also be selected from the drop down list
4. Zero-Based Budgeting
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a) Some Properties will be using zero-based forecast only for specific Food and Beverage GLs that do NOT require approvals
D. Prop Summary Button (Dashboard)
1. Detailed checkbook dashboard
2. Review forecast information for all departments including color legend
3. Use this view to see an overall review of entire hotel checkbook status
E. Checkbook Button (Detail)
1. Detailed checkbook drilldown information including purchase orders and products impacting the forecast
2. Review forecast information for other budget periods and departments
3. Use this view to determine how the account in question will be impacted prior to making this purchase
F. Other PO Tab Buttons
1. Notes
2. Attachments
3. Buyer Contact
4. Supp Contact
5. Send Message
6. Create Items
7. Transfer
8. Add Addt’l Info
9. Add to Cart
10. Add to OG
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