System Settings

System Settings

System Settings is IM2's control panel: the values the app stamps on new items, the lead times and polling intervals, and the on/off switches for the automatic behaviour (FieldPulse/BuilderTrend watching, PO creation, inventory posting, Rush alerts). It's the System Settings link in the top bar, admin by default (permission key System Settings on the Permissions screen).

The dropdown lists — units of measure, item groups, Gen-Loc, count groups, RO classes, company holidays — moved to their own screen, Tables, on 2026-09-10 with its own permission, so lists can be maintained without giving away these switches.

Changes take effect on the next thing saved. Items already created are not touched.

How a setting works

Every setting has a built-in default, shown in small print under it. The box shows what is in use now, and whether it is the built-in default or Set by someone on a date.

• Type a new value and click Save settings at the bottom. You'll see how many settings were saved, or "Nothing changed."
• Clear a box and save and it goes back to the built-in default. That is how you undo a change — you never have to remember the original value.
• Yes/No settings are dropdowns. Anything other than Yes counts as No.

Every change is written to the change history with your name, the old value and the new one.

The shortcut buttons at the top

• Open Tables — the managed lists (units of measure, item groups, Gen-Loc, count groups, RO classes, company holidays).
• Open Permissions — who may edit each field and run each action, by access level.
• Open Rush Alert Contacts — who gets texted when a Rush request comes in.

What each setting does

• Income account (name) / Expense account (name) — the QuickBooks accounts stamped on items created in IM2. Defaults: Revenue and COGS Material. These must match account names in QuickBooks exactly, or the new item won't be accepted.
• Default lead time (days) — used by the Purchasing Workbench when an item has no lead time of its own. It does not go on new items. Must be a whole number; leave blank for none.
• Default count group — filled in on a new item when nobody picks one.
• FieldPulse polling (hours between checks) — how often IM2 looks at FieldPulse on its own and stages new jobs into the RO Inbox. A whole number, 0 to 24. 0 = off, 1 = every hour, 24 = once a day. This is the schedule: change the number, change the cadence, no one has to touch a timer. It only governs the unattended sweep — Load FP Material on the RO Inbox screen always works, whatever the number says.
• BuilderTrend polling (hours between checks) — same scale, for commercial BOMs out of BuilderTrend. Separate number so either source can be slowed or paused on its own. BuilderTrend has no API, so every sweep is a full browser login: 24 is the sensible setting, not 1. Running the BT import by hand ignores this.
• FP Status Trigger (2026-10-02) — the FieldPulse job status the automatic FP sweep looks for when choosing jobs whose BOM gets imported. Default Pending Material. Type any valid FP job status; it is checked against FieldPulse on Save (capitals don't matter) and a name FP doesn't have is refused. Blank = back to Pending Material. Load FP Material by job number ignores it. BuilderTrend has no status trigger: every open BT job with a BOM/Picklist spreadsheet is scanned.
• Allow Auto-Create POs — three choices (2026-09-17). No: the buy list is saved and printed only. Yes: releasing a purchasing buy list writes purchase orders into QuickBooks, and a reminder that it is on posts to #sa-logistics-mgmt every 15 minutes. Yes (no Slack reminders): the same as Yes, without the reminders.
• Allow Inventory Posting to QB — same three choices. Yes means the Post buttons on Pick Review and Count Review can write to QuickBooks: $0 issue invoices and return credit memos from picks, inventory quantity adjustments from counts, with the 15-minute reminder in #sa-logistics-mgmt while it is on. Yes (no Slack reminders) posts without the reminder. No (the default) disables those buttons and refuses the write even if somebody calls it directly — picks and counts can still be entered and reviewed, they just stay pending. Keep it No during testing. (Dave, 2026-09-07 / 17)
• Ask for a reason note on RO Import actions — No (default): Hold and Reject on the RO Imports inbox and Resolve/Ignore on Issues to Resolve save immediately, no note. Yes: each pops up an optional reason box first. Notes are never mandatory.
• Count before release (Purchasing Workbench) — the state each buy line's CC box starts in. Yes means every line starts out needing a cycle count before it can release; the buyer can still untick a line.
• Slack alert on Rush requests — Yes posts a Slack message when a tech sends a Rush request.
• Text alert on Rush requests — Yes texts the Rush Alert Contacts. Ships No.
• Text the tech when a Rush RO is released — Yes texts the requesting tech once his Rush order has been ordered. A tech with no phone on file is skipped quietly.

Common mistakes

• Typing an account name that doesn't exist in QuickBooks. Nothing checks it here; the failure shows up later as a new item QuickBooks won't take.
• Looking here for the dropdown lists or the RO classes — they are on Tables.
• Turning Text alert on Rush requests on before the texting account is set up. The switch goes Yes and nothing is texted — see the Rush Alert Contacts page.

Poll Alert Contacts (2026-09-17)

Settings → Open Poll Alert Contacts: who gets the one-line Slack DM after every RO intake sweep (imported / errors / links) and when a sweep fails or goes stale. Slack member ID, not phone. Initial list: Dave, Jeff, Shawn, David Shirley.