Managing Orders in Magento

Creating Orders

With Magento, you have the ability to create an Order in the administrative interface, just like your customer does in the front-end. This is useful if you have a call center with operators taking orders directly for your customers, because the process is not much different from the one your customers experience. You have all the same abilities that your customers have when creating an Order in your webstore, including the ability to move products between the shopping cart, wishlist, last ordered items list, products in compare list, recently viewed products, and recently compared products.

Terminology

In addition to creating Orders, there are many features in the Magento admin for Order fulfillment and management, from creating Invoices, Shipments, and Credit Memos, to canceling and editing.

Sales Order

When an order is created, either from the front end, or through the admin, a Sales Order will be created to record this transaction. It will be accessible in the Orders list, by navigating to Sales > Orders in the admin. This is merely a temporary record, however, as the payment has not been processed, and the Order can be canceled.

Invoice

This is a record of the receipt of payment for an Order (in some cases, payment can actually be automatically received simultaneously during the creation of an Invoice), thereby essentially making it a permanent record of an Order. Multiple Invoices can be created per Order, containing as much or little of the purchased item quantity as you desire. However, each unit of each item can only be invoiced one time, so there is a finite limit to the number of Invoices that can be created. Because this is a permanent record of the Order, all quantity that has been Invoiced can no longer be canceled.

Shipment

This is a record of the items in an Order which have been shipped. Like an Invoice, Multiple Shipments can be created per Order, with a finite limit.

Credit Memo

This is a record of a refund. An item cannot be refunded until it is paid (as in an Invoice), so you will not be able to create a Credit Memo until an Invoice has been created. While it is a record of a refund, it is not a record of a return (the actual returning of funds to the customer). In some cases, a return can be given simultaneously during the creation of a Credit Memo (just as a payment is with an Invoice), but it is not a necessary part.

Managing and Editing Orders

This encompasses the remainder of options you have with regard to completed Orders. It includes putting an Order On Hold, Canceling the Order, Editing various aspects of the Order, or creating a new Order using the values from the original Order.

Creating Orders

Accessing the Order Page

There are two ways to access the Order Creation Page. You can navigate through the Orders page, or through the Manage Customers Page.

From the Orders page

1. In the Magento Admin Panel, navigate to Sales > Orders.
2. Click Create New Order in the upper right corner of the page.
3. Locate and select the customer for which you would like to create the order. Or, you can Create New Customer first.
4. Select the store in which you would like the order to be placed. When a customer creates an account in a website, that account will exist either globally, or only within the website in which it was created. This depends on what you select in the Share Customer Accounts drop-down in the Customer Configuration tab of System > Configuration. The Shopping Cart and Wishlist will be shared across the same scope as the account itself, so these will not change between different store views, however the rest of the Customer’s Current Activities are not shared. Therefore, selecting a store determines not only to which product list you will have access when creating the order, but also to which of your Customer’s Current Activities lists you will have access. If you choose a store within a website in which the customer does not have an account, an account will be created for the customer in that website upon completion of the order, with all the customer information duplicated.

You are now ready to create the order.

From the Customers page

1. Navigate to Customers > Manage Customers.
2. Locate and select the customer for which you would like to create the order, and click the Edit link in the Action column.
3. Click Create Order.
4. Select the store in which you would like the order to be placed.

You are now ready to create the order.

Creating the Order

From this one page, you have the ability to edit all aspects of the Order.

• Select the Order Currency from the drop-down list.
• Manage the Customer’s Current Activities in the left column. Select the left checkbox for all products you would like to remove from the Shopping Cart, Wishlist, Last ordered items, Products in Compare List, Recently Compared Products, or Recently Viewed Products, and select the right checkbox for all products you would like to add to your order. Select both if you want to add it to the order and remove it from the list simultaneously, and then click Update Changes.

• To add products that are not in the Customer’s Current Activities section, click Add Products on the right of the page. A list of all products in the store will display. Locate and select the checkbox for each product you wish to add, enter the desired quantity, and click Add Selected Product(s) to Order. Note: Configurable and Grouped Products will not display in this list. Because these are methods for displaying Simple Products, they are not necessary here.
• The Items Ordered section should now contain all the products you want in the order. You can edit the price and quantity, add a discount (and specify which products receive the discount using the checkbox), and add a gift message (if that feature is enabled). You can also remove the product by selecting the desired Action from the dropdown menu. You can simply Remove the product, remove and Move to Shopping Cart, or remove and Move to Wishlist. After you have selected all the edits you wish to make, click Update Items and Qty’s.
• You can edit the customer’s Email or Customer Group in the Account Information section.
• Select the Billing and Shipping Address, or, you can select Add New Address from the addresses dropdown list.
• Select the Payment and Shipping Method.
• In the Order Total section, you can Apply Coupon Code or Add Order Comment. The comment will appear in the completed order information page. Selecting the Apply Comment to the Confirmation Email checkbox will cause the comment to also appear at the bottom of the customer’s confirmation email. However, the customer will only receive this email if you also select the Send Order Confirmation Email checkbox. You can configure the Order confirmation email by navigating to System > Configuration, and clicking the Sales Emails tab in the left column. In the New Order Confirmation Email Sender drop-down, select the address from which the order confirmation email will be sent. For more information on how to configure these email addresses, refer back to Chapter 6. In the New Order Confirmation Template drop-down, select the template which the order confirmation email will use. For more information on how to configure these templates, refer back to Chapter 6. In the Send Order Email Copy To field, you can enter an email address which will receive a copy of the order confirmation email each time one is sent. Order Comments can also be added to completed Orders. If you choose to notify the customer when adding comments, the email notification configuration is located in the same Configuration page as above, in the Order Comments section. The status of the Order confirmation email will display in the completed Order (either sent or not sent), in the Order information box.
• When you have finished reviewing all of your selections, click Submit Order, and the order will be processed. If you wish, Magento will automatically notify you via RSS Feed of the creation of all new Orders, created in the admin or the front-end. In order to use this RSS feed, navigate to Sales > Orders, and click the New Order RSS link at the top of the page. You will be prompted to enter your User Name and Password. These are the same that you use to access the Magento admin panel. You will be redirected to the RSS page, where you can select which reader you would like to use for receiving this feed.

Sales Order Options

Whether an Order has been created by you in the admin, or by your customer in the front-end, you will have the ability to use Magento’s order fulfillment features. This includes creating Invoices, Shipments, and Credit Memos for every Order.

Invoice Options

Create New

You can create an Invoice for an Order by clicking the Invoice button at the top of the Order page. For Orders with online payment methods, this button will not appear if you have chosen to Authorize and Capture in the Payment Action drop-down for that payment method in the Payment Method tab of System > Configuration. This will take you to the the New Invoice page. A new invoice page looks very similar to the completed Order page, with some additional fields that can be edited. When creating the first Invoice for an Order, the shipping amount for the entire order will be included, regardless of how many products are included in the first invoice. If the first Invoice did not include all of the items, all additional invoices thereafter will have no shipping charges attached (there will be no line for shipping in the order totals box). The tax, however, will only be added for the items that are included in the invoice.

• Qty to Invoice - For each line item, there will be a Qty to Invoice field, which will be prepopulated with the total quantity in the order that is still available to be invoiced. This is equal to the full quantity in the order minus the quantity already invoiced. This amount can be reduced, but since it equals the maximum quantity available for invoice, it cannot be increased. If the qty is changed, you must press Update Qty’s to save these changes and recalculate the pricing information. You will not be able to change the quantities for Orders placed with online payment methods (except Google Checkout). For these types of Orders, only one Invoice can be created per Order, which will include the full quantity ordered.

Placed with an offline payment method

• Create Shipment - There is a checkbox in the Shipping Information box called Create Shipment. If it is checked, a tracking number generator will appear (the same as exists in a New Shipment page), and you can attach one of more tracking numbers to the Shipment, which will simultaneously be created upon completion of the Invoice, The Shipment will include the same products as the Invoice.
• Amount - If the Order’s payment is an online method (such as through Authorize.net) there will be a drop-down in the order totals box called Amount. There are three options available.
  • Capture Online - When the Invoice is submitted, the system will capture the payment through the third party payment gateway. You will have the ability to create a Credit Memo, or Void the Invoice.
  • Capture Offline - When the Invoice is submitted, the system will not capture the payment. It will be assumed that the payment is going to be captured directly through the gateway, and you will no longer have the option to capture this payment through Magento. You will have the ability to create a Credit Memo, but you will not have the option to Void the Invoice (even though the Order used an online payment, the Invoice is essentially an offline Invoice).
  • Not Capture - When the Invoice is submitted, the system will not capture the payment. However, it will be assumed that you will capture the payment through Magneto at a later date. Therefore, there will be a Capture button in the completed Invoice. Before capturing, you will be able to cancel the Invoice, and after capturing, you will be able to Credit Memo and Void the Invoice. Note: Do not select Not Capture from the drop-down unless you are certain that you are going to capture the payment through Magento at a later date. You will not be able to create a Credit Memo until the payment has been captured using the Capture button.

Placed with an online payment method

• Just as with an Order, you will have the ability to notify the customer of the creation of an Invoice (by checking the Email Copy of Invoice checkbox) and add comments to the Invoice (in the Invoice Comments field). If you have done both, you can choose to include the Invoice Comments in the Invoice notification email by checking the Append Comments checkbox. You can configure the Invoice email by navigating to System > Configuration, and clicking the Sales Emails tab in the left column. In the Invoice Email Sender drop-down, select the address from which the Invoice email will be sent. For more information on how to configure these email addresses, refer back to Chapter 6. In the Invoice Email Template drop-down, select the template which the Invoice email will use. For more information on how to configure these templates, refer back to Chapter 6. In the Send Invoice Email Copy To field, you can enter an email address which will receive a copy of the Invoice email each time one is sent. The status of the Invoice email will display in the completed Invoice (either sent or not sent), next to the Invoice number.
• When finished, press the Submit Invoice button at the bottom of the page.

Completed Invoices

When an Invoice is completed, it can be accessed in two locations. In an Order page, there is an Invoice tab, which contains a list of all Invoices associated to that Order. If you navigate to Sales > Invoices, you can view a list of all Invoices associated to all Orders. There are several features available for completed Invoices.

• Credit Memo - Completed Invoices created from Orders will have a Credit Memo button at the top of the page, which will take you to the New Credit Memo page. This is almost identical to creating a Credit Memo from the Order page (more about this below), except that the Qty to Refund will be prepopulated with the total available quantity to refund from that particular Invoice, rather than the from entire Order. This amount can be increased up to the total available amount from the Order.
• Cancel - If the Order’s payment is an online method, and you selected Not Capture from the Amount drop-down when creating the Invoice, you will have the option to Cancel the Invoice. There will be a record of the canceled Invoice, but the Invoiced quantity will be able to be re-Invoiced at any time.
• Capture - If the Order’s payment is an online method, and you selected Not Capture from the Amount drop-down when creating the Invoice, you will have the option to capture the payment anytime by clicking the Capture button. Once the payment has been captured, the button will no longer appear.
• Void - If the Order’s payment is an online method, and you have captured the payment through Magento (either automatically during Order creation, during Invoice creation, or after the Invoice has been created), the Void button will appear. Pressing this will void the payment through the third party payment gateway. Unlike Cancel, the Invoiced quantity will no longer be able to be Invoiced again.
• Print - You have the option to print a copy of the Invoice using the Print button. This will open a .pdf file containing all the Invoice information. At the top of the Invoice slip will display a custom image and address. These can be configured by navigating to System > Configuration, clicking the Sales tab in the left column, and opening the Invoice and Packing Slip Design section. Invoices, packing slips, and Credit Memos will use the same image and address. The image will automatically resize to fit the dimensions 200×50.
• Comments - Invoice Comments can also be added to completed Invoices. If you choose to notify the customer when adding comments, the email notification configuration is located in the same Configuration page as above, in the Invoice Comments section.

Shipment Options

Create New

You can create a Shipment for an Order by clicking the Shipment button at the top of the Order page. This will take you to the the New Shipment page. A New Shipment page looks very similar to the completed Order page, although it does not include any price information, and it contains some additional fields that can be edited.

• Qty to Ship - Similar to an Invoice, each line item will have a Qty to Ship field, which will be prepopulated with the total quantity in the order that is still available to be shipped. This is equal to the full quantity in the order minus the quantity already shipped. This amount can be reduced, but since it equals the maximum quantity available for shipment, it cannot be increased. If the quantity is changed, however, you do not need to press Update Qty’s to save these changes (no such button exists on this page), as there is pricing information that needs to be recalculated.
• Add Tracking Number In the Shipping Information box is the tracking number generator. A new tracking number will be added each time the button is pressed, allowing you to add multiple tracking numbers. Each tracking number will have a section to enter the carrier (selected from a dropdown menu), title, and number. There will also be a delete button next to each tracking number in order to remove it from the Shipment.
• Just as with an Order, you will have the ability to notify the customer of the creation of a Shipment (by checking the Email Copy of Shipment checkbox) and add comments to the Shipment (in the Shipment Comments field). If you have done both, you can choose to include the Shipment Comments in the Shipment notification email by checking the Append Comments checkbox. You can configure the Shipment email by navigating to System > Configuration, and clicking the Sales Emails tab in the left column. In the Shipment Email Sender drop-down, select the address from which the Shipment email will be sent. For more information on how to configure these email addresses, refer back to Chapter 6. In the Shipment Email Template drop-down, select the template which the Shipment email will use. For more information on how to configure these templates, refer back to Chapter 6. In the Send Invoice Email Copy To field, you can enter an email address which will receive a copy of the Shipment email each time one is sent. The status of the Shipment email will display in the completed Shipment (either sent or not sent), next to the Shipment number.
• When finished, press the Submit Shipment button at the top of the page.

Completed Shipments

When a Shipment is completed, it can be accessed in two locations. In an Order page, there is a Shipment tab, which contains a list of all Shipments associated to that Order. If you navigate to Sales > Shipments, you can view a list of all Shipments associated to all Orders. There are several features available for completed Shipments.

• Send Tracking Information - Completed Shipments will have a Send Tracking Information button at the top of the page. If you add or edit Tracking Information to the Shipment, you can click this button in order to notify the customer of the changes. This will send an email in the format of the Shipment Email Template.
• Print - You have the option to print a packing slip for this Shipment using the Print button. This will open a .pdf file containing all the Shipment information. At the top of the packing slip will display a custom image and address. These can be configured by navigating to System > Configuration, clicking the Sales tab in the left column, and opening the Invoice and Packing Slip Design section. Invoices, packing slips, and Credit Memos will use the same image and address. The image will automatically resize to fit the dimensions 200×50.
• Comments - Shipment Comments can also be added to completed Shipments. If you choose to notify the customer when adding comments, the email notification configuration is located in the same Configuration page as above, in the Shipment Comments section.

Credit Memo Options

Create New

Once you have created at least one Invoice, you can create a Credit Memo for an order by clicking the Credit Memo button at the top of the Order page. The button will only appear if at least one Invoice has been created. This will take you to the the New Credit Memo page. A New Credit Memo page looks very similar to the completed Order page, with some additional fields that can be edited.

• Qty to Refund - Similar to an Invoice, each line item will have a Qty to Refund field, which will be prepopulated with the total quantity in the order that is still available to be refunded. This is equal to the full quantity that has been invoiced minus the the quantity already refunded. If the Order’s Payment Method is an offline method, or Google Checkout, this amount can be reduced, but since it equals the maximum quantity available for refund, it cannot be increased. If the Order’s Payment Method is an online method other than Google Checkout, this field will not be editable, because Magento currently does not support multiple captures for these Payment Methods out-of-the-box (however, this can be customized). If the qty is changed, you must press Update Qty’s to save these changes, to recalculate the pricing information. There is also a Return to Stock checkbox. This will add the refunded quantity back to the inventory quantity for each item. This is useful if your customer has returned the product to you, and you want to resell it. If the product is damaged or otherwise unable to be resold, you may want to leave this checkbox unchecked. Note: This checkbox will only appear if you have enabled your inventory to Decrease Stock When Order is Placed in the Inventory tab of System > Configuration. You cannot return quantity to stock if it had never been subtracted from stock.

Placed with an offline payment method

• Refund Shipping - In the order totals box is the Refund Shipping field. The value entered here will be refunded from the shipping. It will be prepopulated with total shipping amount in the order that is still available to be refunded. This is equal to the full Shipping Amount from the order minus the Shipping Refund, which is the amount that has already been refunded. Like the quantity, it can be reduced, but not increased.
• Adjustment Refund - Below Refund Shipping is the Adjustment Refund field. The value entered here will add to the total amount refunded as an additional refund, so it will not apply to any particular aspect of the order (shipping, items, or tax). However, the amount entered here cannot raise the Total Refund higher than the Paid Amount.
• Adjustment Fee - Below Adjustment Refund is the Adjustment Fee field. The value entered here will subtract from the total amount refunded, but will not be subtracted from any particular aspect of the order (shipping, items, or tax).

• Just as with an Order, you will have the ability to notify the customer of the creation of a Credit Memo (by checking the Email Copy of Credit Memo checkbox) and add comments to the Credit Memo (in the Credit Memo Comments field). If you have done both, you can choose to include the Credit Memo Comments in the Credit Memo notification email by checking the Append Comments checkbox. You can configure the Credit Memo email by navigating to System > Configuration, and clicking the Sales Emails tab in the left column. In the Credit Memo Email Sender drop-down, select the address from which the Credit Memo email will be sent. For more information on how to configure these email addresses, refer back to Chapter 6. In the Credit Memo Email Template drop-down, select the template which the Credit Memo email will use. For more information on how to configure these templates, refer back to Chapter 6. In the Send Invoice Email Copy To field, you can enter an email address which will receive a copy of the Credit Memo email each time one is sent. The status of the Credit Memo email will display in the completed Credit Memo (either sent or not sent), next to the Credit Memo number.
• When finished, press the Refund button at the bottom of the page. This will complete the offline refund. Currently, there is one instance of online Credit Memos available. If the Order’s Payment Method is Google Checkout, if you clicked the Credit Memo button in the Invoice (rather than in the Order), and if the Invoice has been captured, there will be two Refund buttons. One will be offline and one will be online. Similar to capturing an Invoice, this will “capture” the refund.
• Refund Offline - The systems assumes that the refund will be captured directly through Google Checkout without involving Magento.
• Refund - The system will capture the refund through Google Checkout. There is more information about Magento integration with Google Checkout, including integration of Invoices, Shipments, and Credit Memos, in Chapter 4: Get Ready for Selling.

Placed with Google Checkout

Completed Credit Memos

When a Credit Memo is completed, it can be accessed in two locations. In an Order page, there is a Credit Memo tab, which contains a list of all Credit Memos associated to that Order. If you navigate to Sales > Credit Memos, you can view a list of all Credit Memos associated to all Orders. There are several features available for completed Credit Memos.

• Print - You have the option to print a copy of this Credit Memo using the Print button. This will open a .pdf file containing all the Credit Memo information. At the top of the Credit Memo slip will display a custom image and address. These can be configured by navigating to System > Configuration, clicking the Sales tab in the left column, and opening the Invoice and Packing Slip Design section. Invoices, packing slips, and Credit Memos will use the same image and address. The image will automatically resize to fit the dimensions 200×50.
• Credit Memo Comments can also be added to completed Credit Memos. If you choose to notify the customer when adding comments, the email notification configuration is located in the same Configuration page as above, in the Credit Memo Comments section.

Managing and Editing Orders

In addition to the order fulfillment process of creating Invoices, Shipments, and Credit Memos, there are several other features available for completed orders.

Hold

Changes the order status to On Hold. No changes can be made to the order until it is released from Hold, which can be done by pressing the Unhold button.

Cancel

Cancels all items that have not been invoiced and/or shipped. If some of the quantity of a line item has already been invoiced and/or shipped, only the remaining quantity will be canceled, and this amount will display in the quantity column as Qty Canceled. The item status will remain either shipped or invoiced. If none of the quantity for the line item has been invoiced and/or shipped, all of the quantity will be canceled, and the item status will become canceled. Any time an order is canceled, a notification should automatically be sent to the customer in the format of the order confirmation email. It should also display the status of each line item and the qty ordered, invoiced, shipped, refunded, and canceled.

Edit

You can edit an Order by pressing the Edit button. This will take you to the Edit Order page, which contains all the same fields as an order being created in the admin (including access to the customer’s current activities in the left column), and many of them will be prepopulated with the values from the original order, including order currency, items ordered, customer email, customer group, billing and shipping addresses (whether or not the address is saved in the customer’s address book), and payment method. Shipping method, credit card number and card verification number, if applicable, will not prepopulate. The prepopulated products will only include those from the original order which have not been invoiced and/or shipped. Therefore, if the entire quantity of the order has been invoiced and shipped, you cannot make an Edit. At the bottom of the page, you will have the option to add comments and notify the customer. If the customer is notified, they will receive an email in the format of the order confirmation email. If the customer used guest checkout or an alternative checkout (such as Google Checkout) and does not have an account, there will not be a current activities column. When all edits are complete, press the Submit Order button. This will simultaneously create a new order and cancel the previous order. The new order will have all of the same information as the original order (updated, of course) with a couple of additions. The Order Number will now display the original order number, a dash, and the running number for the order version. For example, if the original order number was Order # 100000005, the edited order number would be Order # 100000005-1. The next edit would be Order # 100000005-2, and so on. Additionally, in the order information box, there will be a “Link the the previous order”.

In the previous order, there will now be a “Link to the new order”.

If an edit is made to Order # 100000005-1, that order will have links to the previous Order # 100000005 and the new Order # 100000005-2.

Reorder

At any stage of the order, whether it has been fully invoiced and shipped, fully refunded, or even canceled, you can make a Reorder by pressing the Reorder button (the button will only appear if you have enabled Reorders, which can be done by navigating to System > Configuration, clicking the Sales tab, and selecting Yes from the Allow Reorder drop-down). This will take you to the New Order page, the same page that you reach when creating an order in the admin. However, it is similar to an Edit in the sense that all the fields will be prepopulated with much of the information from the previous order. Only credit card number and card verification number will not autopopulate. It is also like an Edit because the customer’s current activities column may not appear if the customer does not have an account. Unlike an Edit, however, this is treated as a completely new order. It will receive its own Order #, and there will be no links to the previous order from the newly created order, nor to the newly created order from the previous order.

Batch Updates to Orders

Similar to Batch Updates for products, this feature saves you time by allowing you to change certain settings for multiple Orders at the same time. Batch Updates are made from the Orders list, which can be accessed by navigating to Sales > Orders. Select the Orders to which you would like to make updates. At the top of the Orders list, you have the option to Select All Orders or Select Visible Orders (Orders currently displaying on the page). Or, you can simply check the checkboxes of each Order to which you wish to make updates individually. You can see the number of items selected at the top of the Orders list, and it will update each time a checkbox is checked or unchecked. When you have all the desired Orders selected, chose your preferred Action from the drop-down menu, also at the top of the customers list.

• Cancel - This will cancel the selected Orders when you press Submit. If a selected Order can no longer be canceled, this Order will not be affected by this Action.
• Hold - When you press Submit, this will set the Order status of all selected Orders to On Hold. If a selected Order is already On Hold, this Order will not be affected by this Action.
• Unhold - When you press Submit, this will set the Order status of all selected Orders back to the status they held prior to being put On Hold. If a selected Order is not currently On Hold, this Order will not be affected by this action.
• Print Invoices - When you press Submit, this will open a .pdf file containing all the Invoice information for all Invoices associated to all selected Orders. You can also make batch prints of Invoices by navigating to Sales > Invoices.
• Print Packingslips - When you press Submit, this will open a .pdf file containing all the Shipment information for all Shipments associated to all selected Orders. You can also make batch prints of packing slips by navigating to Sales > Shipments.
• Print Credit Memos - When you press Submit, this will open a .pdf file containing all the Credit Memo information for all Credit Memos associated to all selected Orders. You can also make batch prints of Credit Memos by navigating to Sales > Credit Memos.
• Print All - When you press Submit, this will open a .pdf file containing all the Invoice, Shipment, and Credit Memo information for all Invoices, Shipments, and Credit Memos (respectively) associated to all selected Orders.