BFH> That was a darn good reply. I have only one question, what is "ext."
 BFH> suppose to mean, I know it is extension, but what is it? Does it mean
 BFH> total? 
The abbreviation "ext." CAN be used as _either_ a separate column to
indicate a _cumulative line_ sub-total ("EXTENSION") or as a "TOTAL" column.
It should be apparent from the example in my last message to you how I'm
applying it. It's information comes about as the _direct_ result of
multiplying the numbers in the "QUANTITY" (or "QTY.") column by the * listed
price * ("UNIT" column) to give an overall sum for that _line item_.
In the example, I tally-up all the numbers in the "EXT." column, first
as a "SUB-TOTAL", then give the tax and shipping/handling charges (as
separate items) before adding those all up to arrive at a "GRAND TOTAL"
figure. Doing things this way clarifies _how_ I arrived at the amount
owing...and lends itself to giving a Purchase Order a definitive _value_.
The "DESCRIPTION" column, BTW, also lends itself to putting-in
information * other * than product description: I have sometimes used it
to indicate that the price criteria shown on my purchase order came from
* other than * a firm's "everyday" catalogue (ie - sales brochures,
"bulletins", etc.), just as I have often used it to pre-qualify certain
Specifications (ie - Mil-Spec, ASME, or others).
One thing about purchase orders that I have learned over the years is
that confusions are too easily bought about _because_ a the P.O. form
itself lists too many items ! It doesn't matter if the P.O. itself is
hand-written, typed or computer-generated: if it's cluttered, it's
confusing. I _deliberately_ restrict the number of line items to no more
than seven (7) per sheet: my P.O NUMBER will identify if there is more
than a single order to a multi-paged P.O. and by _sequentially-numbering_
each line-item, I ensure that "everything is in order". Hence, page 1
begins with item number 1 and ends with item number 7, page 2 begins with
item number 8, page 3 begins with item number 16, etc., etc. The forms I
use show the number of pages, too: ie - "Page 1 of 19", for example. In
the specific case of multi-paged P.O.'s, the last page is used to
_always_ indicate SUB-TOTAL, TAX, SHIPPING/HANDLING charges and GRAND TOTAL
information: I don't bother to tally-up each individual page, as that
would just serve to add confusions.
Oh yeah ! One other thing: I * hate * back-orders or supplier-substituted
items. So I make damn certain that I don't suffer these by saying that I
won't accept those situations in the first place. Oft times, I have in
place second or even third sources for many of the items that I do need.
Semper Fi
RTP
~~~ PGPBLUE 3.0 
---
---------------