Unit

Unit is the list of units of measure - kilogram, metre, piece, litre - that the wider ERP uses on items, stock and maintenance. PeopleNest shares this part of the module with it, which is why the screen is here even though no HR screen asks for a unit.

Where

Organization and Setup › Setup › Unit

Who uses it

The implementation consultant, once during setup

When

Only if the client also runs the inventory, production or maintenance modules

Needs first

Nothing

What it is for

Every quantity in the ERP has to be in something. Unit is where those somethings are defined once, so that a kilogram means the same thing on a purchase order, a stock issue and a maintenance job card.

For an HR only implementation there is nothing to do on this screen. No PeopleNest screen, not payroll, not attendance, not performance, asks the user to pick a unit. The screen appears because Organization and Setup is one shared module across the two products.

If the client also runs the stock or maintenance side, the consultant for that side owns this screen. A unit is also where a customs tariff code can be recorded, for clients who declare goods.

Every field, in plain words

Header

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Unit	Your short code for the unit.	KG	Required. It cannot be changed once anything uses it.
Name	What the user reads.	Kilogram	Required. Translated into each language the client has switched on.
Blocked	Takes the unit out of every list without deleting it.	Leave off.

Classification

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Unit Class	What kind of quantity this unit measures. Picked from a fixed list that includes Mass, Length, Area, Volume, Quantity, Time, Temperature, Pressure and many more.	Mass	Pick the class first. It is what tells the rest of the system that kilogram and gram measure the same kind of thing.
Base Unit	The unit of this class that the others are expressed against.	Kilogram, for a client who buys and stores by weight	Picked from the list of units.

Rounding

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Rounding Precision	How many decimal places a quantity in this unit is held to.	3 for kilogram, 0 for piece	Set 0 for anything that cannot be half of itself.

Controlling

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
Required In Real Estate	Offers this unit on the real estate screens.	Leave off unless the client runs real estate.
Required In Plant Maintenance	Offers this unit on the plant maintenance screens.	Tick it for hour, kilometre and running hour if the client maintains machines.
Required In Plant Maintenance Strategy Unit	Offers this unit as the counter a maintenance strategy is measured in.	Tick it only for the counters a maintenance schedule runs on, such as running hour.

HS Codes

One line per customs code that applies to this unit.

Field	What it means	What to put in it	Notes
HS Code	The customs tariff code.	0402.1000	Required on every line. The same code cannot be entered twice.
Unit Authority Code	The code the customs authority itself uses for this unit.	KGM	The same tariff code and authority code pair cannot be entered twice.

How to configure it

1. Open Unit and create a new record.
2. Type the code, for example KG, and the name, Kilogram.
3. Pick the Unit Class, for example Mass, then the Base Unit for that class.
4. Set Rounding Precision. Use 0 for countable things and two or three decimals for weights and volumes.
5. Tick the Controlling switches only for the modules the client actually runs.
6. If the client declares goods, add the HS code lines.
7. Save, and repeat for each unit the client trades or stores in.

Scenarios

"We only bought PeopleNest for HR"

Then leave this screen alone. Nothing in HR asks for a unit, and an empty unit list breaks nothing on the HR side.

"We buy raw material by the kilogram but sell by the bag"

Both are units here. Create KG in the Mass class and BAG in the Quantity class, each with its own rounding, and let the item setup on the inventory side say how many kilograms are in a bag.

What it is connected to

• Nothing in PeopleNest reads this list.
• On the shared side it is read by the item, stock, production, project, maintenance, real estate, sales and service screens.
• Changing a rounding precision after quantities have been recorded changes how new quantities are held, not the ones already there.

If something looks wrong

• "The save is refused and names two line numbers" - the same tariff code, or the same tariff code and authority code pair, has been entered on two lines.
• "The save says the HS code cannot be empty" - a code line was started and left blank. Either fill it or delete the line.
• "The unit does not appear on a maintenance screen" - Required In Plant Maintenance is not ticked.