The purpose of this section is to enter all of the tasks, activities, materials and services for which you bill clients. This is one of the most important sections of e·silentpartner – it links each item you sell to a specific account on the general ledger.

Under the Items section, you can find previously entered items searching by specified selection criteria or by simply clicking Search – display all previously added items.

Or add new items by clicking Screenshot 2025-01-29 135023.png on the Items line under the Setup menu.

The majority of information on this window is optional except item code, description, category and group, company and general ledger account numbers. Let's review the information in detail.

  • Company. Each item must be assigned to a company for accounting reasons.
  • Item Code. A unique code assigned to this item.
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Once an Item Code is entered (added to your database), it cannot be changed. The code can only be changed when adding a new item. Once entered, it is there forever! (Unless you delete the item – provided it is not already used in your database.)
  • Description. Contains the name of the item (material, service, task) and appears on the detailed client estimate and invoice. Up to 40 characters can be entered to describe this particular item.
  • Category/Group. This is how you link an item to its appropriate category and group. These specify what line this item's amount should be accumulated into -- on the client estimate and invoice formats. Either type in the category and group numbers or use the category/group pop up window to select the category and group combination.
  • Net (Cost of Sales/Direct Expense)/Gross (Sales/Revenue)/Accrual (Work in Process). These are the general ledger accounts to which any cost of sales and revenue from this item will be posted. The billing amount is always posted to the Gross (revenue) account. 
  • InDirect (InDirect Expense) This is the account that would be used for any charges distributed to internal jobs on expense reports and only needs to be defined if an item is checked as ‘Expense’ to be used on expense reports. 

e·silentpartner uses the work in process method for posting of client invoices. This method tracks billing, cost of sales and work in process for each item. Accordingly, the method requires three accounts for general ledger postings. Review the Accounting of e·silentpartner for a complete review of this requirement.

  • Overhead Account. Used to record an internal expense on a vendor invoice that is posted to a job
  • Billable. Indicates whether or not this item is chargeable. Click on the box if the item is to be charged to the client. Leave blank if the item is not chargeable.
  • Inventoried. Indicates this item is part of the company’s physical inventory. If this is checked, the quantity from the purchase order is added to Qty on Order. The quantity from the entry of a vendor invoice is subtracted from quantity on order and added to quantity on hand. The quantity from the entry of an internal charge is subtracted from quantity on hand.
  • Taxable/Tax2. Indicates whether this item is taxable. Click on the box if the item is taxable. Leave blank if the item is not taxable.
  • Time. Indicates whether this item is considered a time item. Click on the box if the item is a time item. Leave blank if the item is not a time item.
  • Expense. Indicates this item can be selected when an associate is entering an expense report.
  • Is Calculated. Indicates that this item is used to generate an additional cost on an estimate. If this is selected, you must specify the items and percentages that are used in the calculation.
  • Media. Indicates whether this item is considered a media item. Click on the box if the item is a media item. Leave blank if the item is not a media item. Be sure to define the media item from the drop down accordingly as Broadcast, Print or Online (Digital)
  • Type. Is an optional field you can use to group like materials and services together (for reporting purposes.) An example would be using 'time' as a Type to group all items, which involve hourly charges. Up to 6 characters can be entered.
  • Print Sequence. This gives you the opportunity to decide how items should appear on an estimate. Detail estimates are printed in alphabetical sequence by item code. However, you can specify the sequence in which you want the line items to appear. Review the Estimate section under jobs for specific examples of how this is applied.

Item Rates/Mark-ups

Rates are listed under the item content and show either the rates or markups for the item under Items to set rates or mark-ups for an item.

Click Screenshot 2025-01-29 135023.png to add new rates/markups for the item. Be sure to select the currency (USD for U.S. Dollars or CAD for Canadian Dollars, as examples) from the drop down and set an effective date earlier than any charges you will be entering. For time and internal items, enter Rates. For external items, enter Mark-Up percentages.

  • Cost. Your calculated average standard cost for this item. This field is optional.
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Standard cost is applied to a client job in two situations: (1) when you enter internal charges against a client job, and (2) when you enter time charges for a staff member for whom no standard cost was entered on the employee master record. In this situation, e·silentpartner will extend the hours entered at the standard cost entered for the item. In both situations, these costs will be added to the Job’s spent (Cost) field.
  • Rates and MU. Three rates and mark ups (MU) can be established on each item. If you have more than 3 rate structures, see documentation on the unlimited rate structure flexibility of Client Rates where you can set different rates for every client, if necessary. 
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You can set a client’s preferences to default the “Bill at” to a specified rate - Rate 1, 2, 3 or Client Rates - when jobs are added for the client. Accordingly, staff time and internal charges will always be posted (quantity x rate) to a job at the billing rate schedule specified on the Job record. Vendor invoice Job charges will be posted to the job using the markup percent entered.