Setting Up Advertising Product Categories and Products

An advertising product is generally an advertisement for a publication or magazine. This advertising publication or magazine is not the same product as a publication product sold for subscriptions. The advertising product belongs to a new product category that is created during the setup of the advertisement module. Other advertising products that are sold as additional options to a regular advertisement product can also be created but are not considered advertising products, rather they are advertising option products. Advertising option products can belong to any non-extended product category.

This topic covers the following sub-topics:

• Creating an Advertising Product Category
• Creating an Advertising Product
• Creating an Advertising Option Product

Creating an Advertising Product Category

Follow these steps to create an Advertising product category (of one already exists, review and modify its GL accounts as necessary):

1. Open a new record from the Product Categories service.
2. In the Name field, enter Advertising to name the new product category.
3. Enter a Description of the advertising product category.
4. Enter General in the Default Product Type field.
5. Verify the Active option is selected to ensure that the product category is available to be sold.

6. On the GL Accounts tab, add the following general ledger (GL) accounts necessary for this product category:

   Advertising GL Accounts

   Accounts Receivable (if not using the default)

   Deferred Income

   Discounts

   Sales

   
   
   

7. Click Save to finish creating the Product Categories record.

Creating an Advertising Product

Creating an advertising product involves creating a Products record that is associated with the Advertising product category. These products are sold as a display or classified advertisements in the Advertising module. Note that these advertising products are distinct from the publication product you create to sell subscriptions to customer/members. Pricing information is not determined at the product level for advertising products, rather, pricing is determined by the combination of size, color, and position codes defined later in the setup process.

Follow these steps to create an Advertising product:

1. Open a new record from the Products service.
2. In the Name field, enter a name for the advertising product.
   Typically, the product's name should indicate the product's corresponding publication and the type of advertising (display ads or classified ads).
3. Enter or select Advertising for the Category field.

4. Click the Accounting > GL Accounts tab and modify the product's GL accounts, as necessary. 
   By default, the GL accounts from the Product Categories record transfer down to the product level.
   
   

   Note

   See About GL Accounts and Products and Adding GL Accounts to the Product Category for more information on the setup of GL accounts for product categories and products.

   
   
   
   

5. Click Save to finish creating the new Products record.

Note Concerning Advertising Product Inventory

If an organization wishes to track inventory for a particular advertisement product, this may be done by selecting the Require Inventory option on the Inventory > General tab and creating the necessary inventory location, Product Inventory Ledger (PIL) and Product Inventory Ledger Entry (PILE) records. See Managing Product Inventory for detailed information on inventory setup.

Creating an Advertising Option Product

Advertising option products may be sold when ordering an advertising product, such as a display advertisement or a classified advertisement. Advertising option products are not for purchasing the advertisement itself, but for an optional supporting feature, such as a blind box. 

The advertising option product can be any non-extended product type in the Aptify module. This means the advertising product cannot be an Expo product, a Publication product, a Meeting product, or other such extended product. Nor can the advertising option product be a kit product or product grouping. Unlike regular advertising products, advertising option products need prices defined at the product level.

Follow these steps to create an advertising option Products record:

1. Open a new record from the Products service.
2. Enter a name for the advertising option product in the Name field.
3. In the Category field, select any non-extended product category other than Advertising.
4. Click the Accounting > GL Accounts tab and modify the GL accounts as necessary for this product.
5. Click the Prices tab and create prices for this product as required by the organization's business practices. See Assigning Product Prices for detailed information on Prices records and matrices.
6. If the Allow Price Overrides option on the Prices tab is not selected, the price for the option product can still be changed later when ordered through the Advertising Insertion Orders record.
   
   
   
   
7. If inventory is to be tracked for the option products, select the Require Inventory option on the Inventory tab. Create the required PIL and PILE records to add the initial inventory. During the ordering process for an advertising option, the Advertising module alerts the user if there is insufficient inventory.
8. Save and close the new advertising option's Products record.

Note Concerning Creating an Advertising Blind Box Option Product

To utilize the blind box advertising option that is shipped with the Aptify Advertising module, create the option product as described in the steps above but name it to indicate it is a blind box product.