ANTE User ManualDocument Types
Every numbered document — a quotation, a sales order, a delivery receipt, a purchase order — is a document type. This is where you decide how each type behaves: its number format, where it may be created, the rules checked when a form is submitted, the fields on its form, and its print layout. The documents themselves are listed under Documents.
Where to Find It
- Settings → Documents → Document Types — a read-only overview of every type in the company.
- Orders → Settings → Document Types, Assets → Settings → Document Types and Treasury → Settings → Document Types — the types whose home is that module. Each type is set up only in its home module.
You need Company settings access to open these pages and to change anything on them.
The All Document Types Overview
Settings → Documents → Document Types lists every document type in one table so you can compare them. Nothing is edited here; click a row (or Set up in <module>) to open the type's set-up page in its home module.
PFI-000001. Types that take their number from their own record (Sales Orders, Open POs, Purchase Orders, Invoices and so on) show From its own record instead.If two types draw numbers with the same prefix, the Next number cell adds prefix used twice so you can spot look-alike numbers before they are issued.
A Module's Own Document Types
In a module, Settings → Document Types lists only the types that module is home to, grouped as Sales & Fulfillment, Purchasing, Treasury & Payments and Inventory. Each row shows how documents of the type are created, how many workflow steps use its form and how many documents exist. Click a row to set the type up. Open documents at the top right jumps to the module's document lists.
Setting Up One Document Type
The set-up page has a header with the type name and a line such as Sales · 12 documents, a row of tabs across the page — Rules, Dates & reminders (types with a watched date), Form & fields, Workflows and Print layouts — and a Summary panel on the right that stays visible on every tab. The page opens in the module you came from: from Orders → Settings → Document Types a Purchase Order's settings stay under Orders.
On a wide page (its content 1,440 px or more — about a 1,840 px window with the module menu open), the first tab is Rules & dates: Rules on the left and Dates & reminders on the right, in two equal halves — Dates opens under Dates on this document, level with General rules — on every document — with one Find a rule or date box above both (a side with nothing matching says No rules match or No dates match). Each side says how it saves: rules apply as soon as you change them; each date keeps its own Discard · Save Changes. The Summary then folds into one row under the tabs. On a narrower page the two stay separate tabs with the Summary on the right; a link to the Dates tab opens Rules & dates at its Dates side on a wide page. A reminder reads like 7 days after the date · repeat once — pick every 7 days (or another interval) to repeat it until the document no longer needs it.
The Summary Panel
Below the counts the panel also shows the type's Direction (Sales, Purchase or Internal), where it is stored and who can see it — any one of the listed access rights is enough. Numbering, Where it can be created and where its information comes from are set on the Rules tab (below).
Changing a Number Format
DR).| Prefix | Digits | Next number | Next document |
|---|---|---|---|
| DR | 6 | 1 | DR-000001 |
| DR | 4 | 25 | DR-0025 |
| PFI | 6 | 1 | PFI-000001 |
Rules
The Rules tab is in eight groups, in the order you set them up: Starting a new one, Before it can be submitted, Checks and limits, Approvals, Lines, Where its information comes from, Margins (internal) and Always on. Each group's title line says what is on in it, so the page can be read with the groups closed (click a title to open or close it; groups with something on open by themselves). Type in Find a setting to show only the settings that match, in every group.
Starting a new one holds the Numbering (the next number, and Edit for the number format — see Changing a Number Format) and Where it can be created: Workflow only, Standalone only or Both (workflow and standalone). It saves as soon as you pick a value; types whose record is created by a workflow step (Sales Order, Open PO, Invoice…) can only be created from a workflow.
Every check uses the same words for how strong it is: Off, Warn (the person sees it and may go on), Needs approval (it goes to an approver) and Block (it can't be submitted; a manager can override where the check allows it). A check offers only the steps it has — the duplicate-quotation check is Off or Warn. Choices and toggles save at once; numbers save when you leave the box or press Enter. A number outside its range is refused with a message naming the range.
Where its information comes from lists the earlier documents that fill a new one — Comes from (in priority order) — each with where your workflows use it (Order to Cash · step 4) or not in your workflows (shown fainter), then the workflow steps that start empty, and the documents this one fills. It is for reference: which step a form fills from is chosen on the step in the Process Builder. The customer's PO number on prints is set under Starting a new one.
| Rule | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Require at least one line item | Types with lines | The form can't be submitted without a line. |
| Require a supporting file on the step | Types with lines | At least one file must be attached to the workflow step before submitting. |
| Default validity (days) | Quotation | Pre-fills a new quotation's validity date to today plus this many days (1–3650). Empty = no default. |
| Maximum line discount (%) | Quotation | Submitting is refused if any line's discount is above this (0–100). Empty = no cap. |
| Re-quote approval | Quotation | A changed quotation waits for approval before it is issued. Edit opens the quotation settings; see Quotation Revisions and the Final Quotation. |
| Require requested delivery date (RDD) | Sales Order | The Sales Order can't be submitted without its requested delivery date. On by default. |
| Require the customer's PO # | Sales Order | The Sales Order needs the customer's PO number. An earlier "Customer PO #" answer fills it in. An approved Advance Order satisfies it in the meantime (see Advance Orders). |
| Compare with the accepted quotation | Sales Order | When a Sales Order on a standard order is submitted, its lines are checked against the quotation the customer accepted (items, quantities, unit prices after the line discount, and UOM). Off (no check), Flag the differences (the default — the Sales Order is submitted and the result is shown on it) or Block until it matches (submitting is refused and the message lists each difference). An order on an Advance Order is checked on the Advance Order instead. See Checking the Sales Order Against the Quotation. |
| Require remarks | Sales Order | The Sales Order can't be submitted with empty Notes / remarks. |
| Require payment terms | Quotation, Sales Order | Off: payment terms may be left empty (the dropdown starts on Not set yet) and are set or changed on the Invoice, which always requires them. See Payment Terms. |
| Invoicing before the customer's PO | Invoice | For orders that went ahead on an Advance Order whose customer PO is not recorded yet. Allow (no check), Warn (the default: submit with a Customer PO not received yet warning kept on the invoice) or Block (refused until the customer's PO is recorded on the Sales Order). |
| Needs approval before it is fulfilled | Advance Order | On (the default): nothing is bought, delivered or invoiced on an Advance Order until someone approves it. In a workflow, an approval step must review the Advance Order step, or the workflow can't be published (running orders keep working). An Advance Order made on its own (Documents → New Advance Order) goes through the Advance Order Approval workflow (change it in Settings → Workflows used) and reads Awaiting approval, then Approved or Rejected; an order can use it only once it is approved. Off: an Advance Order counts as approved once it is submitted (no approval step needed). |
| Ask when the customer's PO is expected | Advance Order | On (the default): the Advance Order asks for Customer PO expected by (required; the PO reminders run around it). Off: the date isn't asked and no PO reminders run. |
| Ask why we go ahead without the PO | Advance Order | On (the default): the Advance Order asks for the reason (required). Off: it isn't asked. |
| When issued for delivery, start | Delivery Receipt | The workflow each Delivery Receipt starts when it is issued for delivery (one per receipt), whose steps the order's delivery step waits for: Delivery (default) — the company's own Delivery workflow, created from the starter the first time it is needed and editable in the Process Builder —, Don't start one, or any active workflow. A workflow step can choose another one or opt out. |
| Signed copy needed to mark Delivered | Delivery Receipt | When marking a receipt Delivered and signed needs the customer's signed copy on file. Always: every way of marking it (the step's Order Delivered button, Move to next stage on the document, a Delivered and signed workflow step) needs the copy, whatever the step's Attachments setting. Only on steps that take files: the copy is needed only where the step takes files (the default for companies set up before this rule). Never: it can be marked Delivered without the copy; the receipt then shows Signed copy pending (attach it there when it comes back) and the order's Documents list names it for follow-up. New companies start on Always. |
| Over-receipt tolerance (%) | Receiving Report | An item may be received up to its outstanding quantity plus this percentage (0–100). 0 = exact quantity only. Receiving more than that needs Accept extra with a reason on the receipt (see Receive Goods and QC Approval Steps). |
| Print the customer's PO number | Invoice, Delivery Receipt, Collection | On by default: the standard printout shows the customer's PO number (taken from the Sales Order) — the invoice also prints its Billing reference, and a payment receipt prints the PO number of the invoice it pays. Switch it off to leave it off the standard printout. A saved print layout shows it only if the design includes that field. |
| Tolerance | Most you can receive on the line |
|---|---|
| 0% | 100 |
| 5% | 105 |
| 10% | 110 |
How This Document Always Behaves
Under the editable rules, the panel How this document always behaves lists the rules that always apply to the type and can't be switched off. They are grouped into small cards, and only the groups that apply to the type are shown:
- Changes & revisions
- Approvals
- Numbering
- Required information
- Limits
- Who can act
- Currency
- After you submit
Each rule has three parts:
- A short title.
- What it means for you.
- An example. For a Quotation: "Every change after the first submit creates a new revision (QT-000012 → QT-000012-R1, R2…), so the customer's earlier version is never overwritten."
The examples use the type's own number format. Some rules depend on a setting and show that setting's state with a way to change it:
- Re-quote approval (Quotation) shows On or Off with Change.
- The exchange-rate rule links to Settings → Currency.
Click Hide to fold the panel away. Ante remembers this for you on this browser.
Without Company settings access the rules are shown but can't be changed.
Form & Fields
Lists every field of the type's form once, for all workflows: Field, Source (Built in or Custom), Level (Header or Line), Type, Required, Used in and Searchable. Workflow steps then choose which of the custom fields to show — in the Process Builder, not here.
The Built in rows are read-only and list what that type's form really captures — each document type has its own list of header fields and, where the form has line items, its own line columns (for example Item, Quantity, Unit price, Discount and Amount), plus a Subtotal, VAT and total row when the form computes totals. Forms that carry a currency list Currency and Exchange rate. Only the custom fields you add can be edited or archived.
- Click Add field
The field dialog opens. Existing custom fields have an edit action, and an archive / restore action.
- Fill in the fieldLabel*textWhat users see, for example "Ship via".Key*textUsed to store the value: lower-case letters, digits and
_only. Cannot be changed after the field is created, and must be unique on the form.LeveldropdownHeader (once per document) or Line (once per line). Fixed after creation.TypedropdownText, Number, Date, Dropdown, Catalog item, Currency or Calculated — or Attachments (files & links) on the Header level: on the form people drop or choose files (up to 10 MB each — a bigger file is refused with a note to put it on a shared drive and click Add Link instead) and add links; each shows its size, who added it and when. The document's Overview shows them in a card of their own (click to open), and a Sales Order made from the quotation shows Attachments from QT-… — linked, not copied. They print only where a print layout places the field. A form can have several Attachments fields. Fixed after creation.OptionslistFor a Dropdown: type each option and click Add (several can be separated by commas). At least one is required.If left emptydropdownAllowed (default) — the form can be submitted without it. Warn before submitting — submitting asks once Submit anyway?and the choice is recorded. Required — the form can't be submitted without it, on every form; steps can also make it required just for themselves. The Required column of the field list shows Warn before submitting for a warning field.When left blank, usedropdownOnly for a Line field of type Text. A blank cell takes this value when the form is submitted, so it never blocks: Nothing — leave it blank (default), Our item code or Our item name. A workflow step can override it for itself.SearchabletoggleLets you find documents by this value in the list. Only header fields can be searchable.End-customer detailtoggleShown only on the Purchase Order type. Tick it for a field that describes your end customer (for example End User Name or Factory): it is left off a Purchase Order sent to a supplier — printout and Excel file — unless that supplier (or that PO) allows end-customer details. - Save
The field appears on the type's forms. Custom fields you add are also printable on the document's print layout.
Archive removes a field from every form and workflow step but keeps the values already stored on documents; Restore brings it back with those values. Archived fields are hidden until you click Show N archived.
Renaming a Built-in Field
Every built-in field has one default name, used on the form, the lists, the document view and the printouts. Your company can use its own word instead — for example RDD for Requested delivery date.
- On the Form & fields tab, click the rename icon on a built-in field's row.
- Type the English name and, if you like, a Japanese name and a Thai name. A language left empty uses the English name.
- Click Save name. To go back, open it again and click Reset to default.
- The new name shows on the forms, the lists, the document view and the standard printouts. Field keys, exports, integrations and saved print layouts (their own text) don't change.
- Printouts use the English name you set; the Japanese and Thai names show on screen for users working in those languages. If you only set a Japanese or Thai name, printouts keep the default English name.
- Money fields — amount, unit price, discount, totals, rates — keep their name; their rename icon is greyed out.
- Every rename is listed under Renamed fields on the tab: the field, the old and new name, who and when.
- Renaming needs the company settings permission.
Workflows
Shows every workflow step that uses this type's form: Workflow, Step, the Approvals reviewing it, Only assignees can complete and the Custom fields shown on that step, with chips such as Client finalizes and Proof required. Open in Builder jumps to the workflow in the Process Builder. If no workflow uses the form yet, the tab tells you to add a step with this form in the Process Builder.
Print Layouts
Lists the saved print layouts (Name, Kind, Status, Last updated). The Active design is used when a document of this type is printed or exported; with none saved the standard layout is used. Preview renders the design with sample data, Edit print layout opens it for editing and Create a layout starts a new one.
A type can have several designs. Which one prints:
- The one picked in the Design dropdown of a document's Preview (then Download PDF saves exactly that print). Standard layout prints without a saved design.
- Else the workflow step's Print with design… (set on the step in the Process Builder).
- Else the Active design; with none, the standard layout.
On the generic printout (the standard layout of types without a dedicated one), money prints with two decimals (for example 1,234.50). A document with lines shows an Amount column (the line's total, or quantity × unit price − discount) and a Total row under it, and a currency prints as its code with the exchange rate when it is a foreign currency.
The Design dropdown appears once the type has at least one saved design. Every print and Excel export is recorded with the design used and why (picked when printing, the step's design, or the active design); the order's History tab lists them. In the quotation dialog, a Design dropdown next to Export PDF offers the same choice, including before the quotation is submitted.
Customer line numbers
Some customers number every line of their PO and want the number back on our documents. On the customer (Customers → edit), tick Uses PO line numbers: their Sales Order lines get a Customer line # column (first). Tick Every order line needs a customer line # as well and the Sales Order can't be submitted until each line has one ("This customer needs a customer line # on every line: …").
The number stays with the line: the Delivery Receipt (also its Lines table once issued, where Logistics checks the goods), Pro-forma and Invoice made from the order show it in their own Customer line # column, and a print layout shows it with the line-table column Customer Line # (add it from Table settings…, beside the customer material no. / description).
Replaced lines
A Quotation, Sales Order or Invoice line can say which line of the customer's earlier quotation or Sales Order it replaces (Replacing a Line). A print design shows it with the line-table column Replaces (Line 3 of QT-…), added from Table settings…; like Customer Line #, it prints only when a line replaces one.
Equivalent in a second currency
Some customers want their documents to also show the amounts in another currency. On the customer (Customers → edit), Show equivalent in (e.g. USD) turns it on for all their documents. A document can override it from its Preview: the Equivalent dropdown beside Design offers the customer's setting, None, or another currency (kept on that document; the preview re-renders and shows the rate that will print).
A design prints it with the line-table column Equivalent: each line's amount in that currency, its total on the total row, and a note under the table such as "USD at BSP rate 56.1200 · Oct 20, 2026" — the company's rate for the currency on the document's own date (a reprint shows what the first print showed; never 1). With no equivalent, or no published rate, the column is left out. The default Invoice and Delivery Receipt designs carry the column; add it to any other design in Configure table…. The rate note can also be placed on its own (field Equivalent rate note).
A chosen equivalent always prints. A design without the column gets it added right after the amount. A document with no design of its own (the standard print) shows Total (USD) under its total, with the rate note.
The note names the rate source the company actually used (here BSP). To print it without the source ("USD at rate 56.1200 · Oct 20, 2026"), untick Show the rate source in the design (it appears once the design has the Equivalent column or the rate note). It is on by default.
This replaces the former Exportable Documents tab of the Processes page: an old link to that tab now opens Settings → Documents.
How It Connects
Set up first
- Settings → Form Registry — lists the forms a type can use; each document type is built on one of these forms.
Gets its data from
- Processes (Process Builder) — workflow steps choose which of a type’s custom fields to show and attach the type’s form.
Feeds into
- Documents — the number format, rules, fields and print layout set here govern every document listed there.
- Order Fulfillment — orders create documents that obey these rules (for example the required delivery date on a Sales Order).