The following is a step-by-step guide to contract entry in CATS. You may enter the examples to follow along with the tutorial, or you may use actual codes appropriate to your needs.

From the Main Menu, select Contract, then Purchases (or Sales for a sales contract), then Add to add a new contract.

CATS will ask you to “Add Purchase No” (or “Add Sale No”)– that is, enter a purchase or sale number. CATS will automatically supply a number. You may accept it, or enter a different number. If your contract numbers are assigned automatically, you cannot change this number unless you have access to the unlocking procedure.

CATS will ask if you want to copy data from an existing contract. You can use a purchase or sale for this purpose. You can copy just the contract and items with zero weight, the units and weight, or the latest contract confirmation. Pick Apply to continue.

Enter the codes if necessary, then pick Apply. To cancel adding this contract, pick Cancel or [Esc] from this process.

Now CATS will display the contract general information screen, where you can go to see detailed information and the current status of this contract.

Use this screen to enter contract information. A number of fields use codes. If you do not know the code, enter any letter, then tab or click out of the field to see a list. You must fill in the Vendor, Terms, and Payment fields to proceed.

We will discuss some of these fields below. The first entry field is the Date. CATS defaults to the current date. The date may be changed to any date prior to the system date.The date will be used for the Contract Confirmation (Printed Contract) date.

Use the tab key, arrow keys, or the mouse to move from field to field.

The next field is the Vendor code for a purchase contract. For a sales contract it will be the Buyer code.

Enter seller (or buyer) account code. This will be the counterparty for your contract.

The next field is Terms, for shipment terms.

Enter FOB, C&F, CIF, XD or EXWH, etc., or create your own shipment terms.

The next field is Payment Terms. The payment terms are a coded field used to determine the due date or the payment terms language when invoicing. The payment terms may also be entered for each account, but the contract terms will override the terms showing in the account file. Enter CAD, LC, NET10, etc.

For each code there is a number that determines how many days from the date of the invoice that payment is due.

The next field is Weigh, for weighing terms. If a product is bought/sold with specific weighing terms and this information is necessary for the contract confirmation or for general operations information, weighing terms should be entered here. This field may be skipped.

Next enter the code for the country or origin.

This field contains the reference number of the vendor, or for sales it will be the customer reference. This number will appear on the printed contract,invoices and delivery/release orders. Our reference in CATS refers to our contract number.

The next field is Trader. Enter the CATS ID (or initials) of the trader, salesperson or responsible party. This field is optional.

Measure: BAGS, UNITS, CTNS, BOXES, etc.

The measure field denotes the type of units that you are buying or selling. You can leave it blank and CATS will use the basis on the grade when you add items.

This area allows you to write memos and notes of unlimited length that will not appear on the printed contract.

Once the general information screen fields are completed, press Save. Next you will now enter the contract's item information.

When you finish entering information in the general information screen, you will see a box like the one pictured below.

Entering the Product Description Code Add an Item. Specify the Grade and Optional Code

Enter the grade (description) code in the Grade field. (6 characters). The crop year can be hidden if it is not applicable to the product you are using.

As with other codes, if the full code is not known a partial code can be entered and CATS will list known codes.

Use the Optional Identifier field to distinguish between two or more items on a contract that may have the same grade. Leave this blank if there is only one item on the contract.

Select Save when entries are complete. To top Contract Quantity

You will now see a contract quantity entry screen. Enter the contract weights and units. Entering contract quantity Entering the contract quantity

Each item/grade has a default unit and a default weight per unit from the item/grade code table. You can select the weight basis for the contract LB, KG, MT, Kg/Unit and MT, ST from the toolbar menu at the top.

When entering or changing quantity, set one of the fields to zero and press Enter. CATS will use the other 2 values to calculate the third field. In the example below, CATS calculates the total quantity. If the total quantity and number of units are known, enter these and set the weight per unit field to zero.

In the Units field (the first field on the left,) enter the number of units (crates, pallets, chests, cartons) to be shipped. In the next field, fill in the weight per unit (weight per pallet, carton, etc.) In the last field, fill in the total quantity to be shipped. Leave this field blank and CATS will calculate the total quantity 69,000 KG or 69 MT. Entering contract quality Entering the Contract Quantity

If you make a mistake and would like to start over, use the Reset button on the toolbar.

Select Apply when the item quantities are correct.

Now CATS will display a screen for more item information. This screen is referred to as the item screen. To top The Item Screen Contract item screen The Contract Item Screen

The term “item screen(s)” is used to identify the part of the contract where the grade, price, and shipment period are entered. There can be multiple items and item screens for a contract. More information on multiple item screens.

For more information on item screens, including detailed explanations of fields and codes, see the item screen help file. Note

The Note field provides a short description of the item code which will default from the grade/description code table. This field can also be overridden. This description appears on invoices and other traffic documents. The & toolbar selection allows you to edit the note later. Crop Yr

Crop Year. An optional field you can fill in to distinguish between items from different harvests. Trading Position

The trading position will determine where this contract appears in position reports ordered by trading position. Destination (10 characters)

This is the item destination field. It is a coded field and works like the other coded fields described above. Carrier (10 characters)

Optional field to specify the carrier (for use with costings.) This field is used to calculate costs/reserves and will be explained in that section. Exchange (Exc) The Exchange field comes next (3 characters). Enter the exchange code here, if applicable. The Exchance field is used where valuation is based on an exchange futures contract. Shipment Position

The next 5 fields are used to enter the shipment position. Enter the 2 character shipment position code from the choices listed at the bottom of the screen.

For more help, see a list of all shipment position codes along with descriptions.

In the next three fields, enter information about the shipment delivery time.

Mn (Month) Enter the shipment month (numerically), or zero (0) for immediate or spot shipment.

Fr (fraction of the month). This field further defines the Shipment Period (if needed) by the shipment week within the month (1st half, 2nd half, etc.). Yr (Year) Shipment year. This is a double digit field which indicates the last two digits of the shipment year. If zero is the first of these digits, as in “2009”, CATS automatically drops it; “2011” would appear as “11”. More (10 characters)

Optional note to specify shipment position. If more information than the standard month/date fields is needed, it can be added in this field (e.g., early Jan, Jan/Feb etc. This is an information field – it does not affect position.

To top Entering Price

You will now be given the choice to Enter Price as Amount or Enter Price as Differential. Select the appropriate choice from the toolbar. Price as Amount

If you opted to enter the price as an amount then enter the amount. Enter the basis. The default basis is from the grade/description file. You can override it here. If you enter a partial or invalid basis you will be able to choose from a list. Entering Contract Price Entering the Contract Price

Currency- Leave this field blank to select the default code (usually USD for US dollars.) Price as Differential

If you selected to enter the price as differential, you will be asked to input:

Differential Price- in cents/lb or dollars for other units of weight (a positive number means over, a negative number means under).

-2.00

Per- units of weight (price basis- can be left blank to default to lbs.)

Currency- leave blank to choose default code (US Dollars).

YYYY-MM - differential year and month.

The last field is Fix Date– leave this blank. CATS will automatically put the date in later when all the appropriate lots are fixed.

You may be asked to select the Futures Position. Price-Fixing Select Whether to Create Price-Fixing

You may be asked if you want to create price fixing. If you answer Yes, a record will be created which will indicate that price-fixing is required.

In some cases you may wish to indicate the differential that existed at the time of the trade even though there will not be any price-fixing. If this is the case, answer No.

Contract entry is now completed. If you wish to perform price fixing or hedging, see the Price Fixing Tutorial.

The item screen is now complete. Select Save. Entering contract item Item Screen after Data Entry

Costs to Exdock

For a more detailed explanation of the cost and value fields see the section of the item screen menu help file on market cost and destination value. Costing Information Costing Information

Select Exit on the Item screen to return to the Contract Main Screen to enter broker information. Enter Broker Commission Enter Broker Commission

Fill in a broker code and enter information about the broker's commission in these fields. Broker Info on Main Screen Broker Info on the Main Contract Screen

To print the contract, see the Creating and Printing Written Contract Confirmations tutorial.