Your logo, your fields, your workflow: make a business document fit the company instead of the other way around

Professional branding is not only cosmetic

A logo does not make a weak document correct, but recognizable identity reduces friction. The recipient can immediately see who issued the document, and the sender does not need to recreate a letterhead in Word every time goods move. The useful combination is logo plus real business details: company or sender name, contact information, address and relevant registration or tax identifiers. 5SOLO keeps those details in the browser so they can be reused without turning the delivery tool into an account system. For a small business, that means faster document creation while keeping control of the data on the current device.

Standard fields create consistency; custom fields handle reality

The core form should cover the common structure: document type, reference, sender, recipient, destination, shipment data, items, prices where relevant and acceptance information. Then custom fields handle the exceptions. A gallery may need artist name, a food supplier may need temperature or batch details, an equipment rental operation may need asset tags, and a reseller may need showroom or campaign codes. Building all of those into the universal form would make the interface unusable. Custom fields let each business add the few pieces that actually matter.

• Text for identifiers, references and short notes
• Number for measurable business values
• Date for deadlines, expiry or review points
• Checkbox for yes/no confirmations
• Required and PDF-visible controls for each custom field

Scope the field to the place where it belongs

A custom field is much more useful when it has context. A purchase-order reference belongs to the document. A recipient department belongs to the recipient. A loading-zone instruction belongs to shipment. A serial specification may belong to one product line. 5SOLO lets custom fields be attached to the document, sender, recipient, shipment, consignment terms or a specific item. This prevents the classic custom-form problem where every extra field is dumped into one notes box and nobody knows which value refers to which product or party.

Item-level flexibility becomes essential as the document grows

A one-product delivery can survive a lot of ambiguity. A twenty-line delivery cannot. If only some items have serial numbers, only one batch has an expiry date, or one product requires a special storage instruction, the information should travel with that line. Item-level custom fields keep the relationship intact when the PDF is printed, forwarded or reviewed months later. That is far safer than adding a paragraph at the bottom that says item three uses batch A, item seven requires refrigeration and item twelve belongs to a different promotion.

• Keep product-specific data on the product line
• Use standard SKU and quantity fields whenever possible
• Add custom attributes only when they affect the handover
• Hide internal-only custom fields from the PDF when appropriate
• Make genuinely mandatory operational fields required before printing

The PDF should look stable even when content is not standard

Flexibility creates a layout problem: longer company names, RTL languages, CJK text, many custom fields and product descriptions can break a rigid template. The delivery PDF is designed as its own A4 renderer with repeatable table headers, controlled column widths, wrapping rules and print-specific spacing. The aim is practical rather than artistic. A branded document should still be easy to scan, print and archive after the user adds business-specific information.

Build a lightweight operating standard for your team

Once the document matches the business, write a simple internal rule: which fields must always be completed, when a custom field is used, who checks quantities, and when the PDF is generated. That turns customization into a repeatable process rather than personal preference. The biggest benefit is not that every document looks different from a generic template. It is that every document from your business contains the information your team has decided is necessary.