Sales & Purchase Master Data
Beyond basic customer and vendor setup, Business Central has fields that control shipping, lead times, and delivery logistics. Learn the master data settings that drive sales and purchase document behaviour.
Master data that controls document behaviour
Think of customer and vendor cards like detailed contact entries on your phone.
Your phone stores a name and number. But in business, you need much more: Where does this customer want goods delivered? Do they have multiple delivery addresses (head office, branch, warehouse)? Which courier do we use for them? How long does this vendor take to deliver?
At Summit Distribution, Raj’s team ships to customers with multiple warehouses, and buys from vendors who have different order desks. These settings live on the customer and vendor cards — and they flow automatically onto every sales order and purchase order.
Customer shipping settings
Shipping agents and services
A shipping agent is the carrier or courier that delivers goods to customers. Each shipping agent can have multiple services with different delivery speeds.
| Shipping Agent | Service | Shipping Time | Example Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| DHL | Express | 1D | Urgent parts for Nordic Manufacturing |
| DHL | Standard | 3D | Regular deliveries |
| FedEx | Overnight | 1D | Premium customers |
| Local Courier | Same Day | 0D | Auckland metro deliveries |
Setting up shipping agents:
- Search for Shipping Agents and create your carriers (DHL, FedEx, etc.)
- For each agent, open Shipping Agent Services and define the service levels
- Each service gets a Shipping Time — a date formula like
1D(one day),3D(three days), or1W(one week)
On the Customer Card, set the default shipping agent and service. These flow automatically onto every new sales order for that customer.
How Shipping Time affects order promising
The Shipping Time from the shipping agent service feeds into Business Central’s order promising calculation. When Leo at Summit Distribution creates a sales order, BC calculates the Planned Delivery Date by adding the Shipping Time to the Planned Shipment Date.
Planned Shipment Date + Shipping Time = Planned Delivery Date
This means accurate shipping agent services directly improve the dates you promise to customers.
Ship-to addresses (multiple delivery addresses)
Many customers have more than one delivery address. A retailer might have a head office, three stores, and a warehouse — all needing different delivery locations.
Ship-to addresses solve this. Each customer can have multiple ship-to codes:
| Customer | Ship-to Code | Name | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal Traders | HEAD | Head Office | 100 Queen St, Auckland |
| Coastal Traders | WHSE | Warehouse | 45 Industrial Ave, Penrose |
| Coastal Traders | STORE-1 | Ponsonby Store | 12 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby |
On each sales order, the user selects which ship-to address to use. The address, shipping agent, and location code from that ship-to record populate the order.
If no ship-to code is selected, the customer’s main address from the customer card is used.
Location code on the customer card
The Location Code on the customer card sets the default warehouse from which orders ship. When Leo creates a sales order for Coastal Traders, BC automatically fills in MAIN as the shipping location if that’s what’s set on the customer card.
This can also be set per ship-to address — so deliveries to Coastal Traders’ Ponsonby Store might always ship from the AUCKLAND location, while warehouse deliveries ship from MAIN.
Vendor purchasing settings
Order addresses
Just as customers can have multiple delivery addresses, vendors can have multiple order addresses — different locations where you send your purchase orders.
| Vendor | Order Address Code | Name | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Steel Co. | HEAD | Head Office (China) | Large orders, negotiated pricing |
| Global Steel Co. | NZ | NZ Distribution Centre | Quick replenishment, local stock |
| Global Steel Co. | AU | Australia Branch | Backup supply |
When Nina at Summit Distribution creates a purchase order, she selects which order address to use. This changes where the PO is sent — but the vendor posting group, payment terms, and other vendor settings stay the same.
Lead time calculation
The Lead Time Calculation field on the vendor card uses the same date formula syntax as payment terms:
| Formula | Meaning |
|---|---|
5D | 5 days |
2W | 2 weeks |
1M | 1 month |
1M+5D | 1 month and 5 days |
This drives the Expected Receipt Date on purchase orders:
Order Date + Lead Time Calculation = Expected Receipt Date
Lead time priority: which one wins?
Lead times can be set at multiple levels in Business Central. When calculating the expected receipt date, BC uses the most specific lead time available:
- Item Vendor Catalog lead time (most specific — this item from this vendor)
- SKU lead time (this item at this location)
- Vendor card lead time (default for everything from this vendor)
- Item card lead time (general lead time for this item)
The exam may present scenarios where lead times are set at multiple levels. The most specific wins.
Default location on the vendor card
The Location Code on the vendor card sets which warehouse receives goods from this vendor by default. If Summit Distribution always receives steel from Global Steel Co. at the MAIN warehouse, setting Location Code = MAIN on the vendor card means every purchase order automatically routes receipts there.
Customer vs vendor master data — key fields compared
| Concept | Customer Card | Vendor Card |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple addresses | Ship-to Addresses — where you deliver goods TO the customer | Order Addresses — where you send purchase orders TO the vendor |
| Carrier/logistics | Shipping Agent + Shipping Agent Service (carrier and speed) | Not applicable — vendor controls their own shipping |
| Default warehouse | Location Code — which warehouse ships goods out | Location Code — which warehouse receives goods in |
| Delivery timing | Shipping Time (from shipping agent service) — transit time to customer | Lead Time Calculation — how long until vendor delivers |
| Date calculation | Shipment Date + Shipping Time = Delivery Date | Order Date + Lead Time = Expected Receipt Date |
| Shipment method | Shipment Method Code — FOB, CIF, etc. (Incoterms) | Shipment Method Code — same concept for inbound goods |
How these fields flow onto documents
When a user creates a new sales order and selects a customer:
- Shipping Agent and Shipping Agent Service auto-populate from the customer card
- Ship-to Address defaults to the customer’s main address (user can change to any ship-to code)
- Location Code fills from the customer card (or the ship-to address if one is selected)
- Shipment Method Code fills from the customer card
When a user creates a new purchase order and selects a vendor:
- Order Address defaults to vendor’s main address (user can change to any order address code)
- Location Code fills from the vendor card
- Expected Receipt Date calculates from order date plus lead time
- Shipment Method Code fills from the vendor card
Knowledge check
Coastal Traders has three stores and a warehouse. Olivia wants every sales order to default to the right delivery address per store. What should Priya configure?
Nina creates a purchase order for steel bolts from Global Steel Co. The vendor card has Lead Time = 2W. The Item Vendor Catalog for this item from this vendor has Lead Time = 10D. The item card has Lead Time = 3W. Which lead time does BC use?
🎬 Video coming soon
Next up: Master data controls defaults. Now let’s explore how Business Central handles pricing and discounts — sales prices, purchase prices, line discounts, and invoice discounts.