AutoClerk User Guide (Version 9: Build 1009) Modules: Utilities and Functions

Transcription

1 AutoClerk User Guide (Version 9: Build 1009) Modules: Utilities and Functions

2 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS... 2 COPYRIGHT INFORMATION UTILITIES... 5 MONTHLY ACCOUNTING REPORT M EXPORT M2 VARIABLE... 6 DETAIL OF MISC POSTING M ENTER BANK DEPOSIT AND OVERAGE/SHORTAGE... 7 DAILY CASH REPORT (DCR)... 8 HISTORICAL FOLIOS... 8 HISTORICAL DATA... 9 MAILING LISTS Historical Folios Current Reservations Travel Agent Historical Folios HISTORICAL NO-SHOWS AND CANCELLATIONS GUEST LETTERS Letter Templates Editor Setup Letter Templates Extended Setup for Letter Templates Print Thank You Letters VIEW PAST NIGHT AUDIT REPORTS PACE REPORT EXPORT TA TO FOURSTAR TA TO QUICKBOOKS GUESTWARE EXPORTS Checkouts File Arrivals File CALL ACCOUNTING REPORT ADMINISTRATIVE EXTENSION REPORT ENCRYPTION KEY/LOGIN EXPIRATION REPORT FUNCTIONS NIGHT AUDIT Pre-Audit Checks Running a Night Audit FUNCTION KEYS F1-Help F2-Guest Lookup a Guest...17 Search...18 Phone Messages and General Messages...18 F3-Rooms Lookup Rooms and Authorize Credit Card...19 Checkin Walkin or Reservation...20 F4-Avail April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 2

3 F7-Maid F8-Notes F9-Post F10-Save ACADMIN BACKUPS PROFILES Home Company Travel Agency Maintenance Merging Profiles...30 LIST OF FIGURES INDEX OF AUTOCLERK V9 ICONS, MENUS, AND COMMANDS FOR UTILITIES AND FUNCTIONS MODULES April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 3

4 Copyright Information Copyright 2011 AutoClerk User Guide Version 9 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of AutoClerk. AutoClerk, Inc. Address: 936 Dewing Ave., Suite G, Lafayette, CA Phone: Fax: URL: April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 4

5 1. Utilities Monthly Accounting Report M2 Use this report to give you detailed accounting information per month per date. For example, you can look on an actual date and see how many rooms were stayed in and how much revenue was generated. This report works for past transactions only (not future). In our example, we are going to focus on the main M2 report. (There are many ways to use this feature, please contact AutoClerk Support for advanced feature procedures: (925) , Option Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Monthly Accounting Report-M2 from the Utilities menu. An AutoClerk Information box appears asking if you would like to show the M2 report sideways on screen. 3. If you click the Yes button, the M2 Report window appears. In the M2 Month/Year field, select a month and year you want the report to pull the information. The Display Only checkbox is checked by default. This means it only displays the report. If it is unchecked, you are prompted to print each individual page of the report. The Total Only? Checkbox is unchecked by default. If it is checked, the report displays the totals only of the categories and not the details. Select your options, and click the OK button. The M2 report window appears. On the left-hand side is the date column containing each day of the month you selected. Across the top of the report are the categories this report provides. For all ledger debits and credits, totals are displayed at the bottom of the report. You may need to scroll down to see all of the days. The Top menu containing the Toolbar command contains submenus of function keys. To close the report, click Escape on your computer keyboard, or click on the X in the right corner. When you close the report, an AutoClerk Information box appears asking if you would like to include M2 details for any sub-categories of any main charge or payment type. Click the Yes button if you want to view these details or the No button if you do not want to see these sub-categories. 4. If you click the No button, the M2 Report window appears. You are prompted again for a month and year you wish to view. Enter the month and year in MMMYY format. Click the OK button. The AutoClerk Information box appears asking if you want to view total only. (Esc returns you to the Main menu.) April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 5

6 If you click the Yes button, the SendTo menu appears, and you can display or print the report. The report lists the monthly totals for each of your primary transactions, as well as ledger debits and credits. If you click the No button, the M2 Reports window appears. On this window you can four specific accounts to display or view individually. For example, if you wish to view the credit card part of the M2 report, you can choose Option 8. Then, when the SendTo menu appears, you can decide to display or print that information. Once finished with printing individual report sections, click the Esc button. If you have sub-categories, you are again given the option to print those subcategories by clicking the Yes button, or you can return to the Main menu by clicking the No button. Export M2 Variable Use this feature to export the M2 report to a CSV (Comma Separated Variable) file, which you can import into Excel, as well as a.txt file (text file). 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Export M2-Variable from the Utilities menu. An M2 Report Option window opens. 3. Enter your desired date range in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past dates only. 4. The Write with Header Description checkbox is checked by default. This places header descriptions on the exported spreadsheet or text file. 5. If you want to include subcategories of expanded charge types, the Charge Type box on the M2 Report Option window allows you to check those subcategories you wish to include. You can use the Select All and Select None buttons, as well as check individual checkboxes. (This variable is optional. You can choose not to check any checkboxes.) 6. Click the OK button. 7. The Export Result box opens displaying the path to the files you exported. Please contact AutoClerk Support if you cannot find this path: (925) , Option In the Top menu bar on the Export Results box, you can select SendTo, and the SendTo menu appears. 9. Select Print to print the file paths. Detail of Misc Posting M3 Use this report to view or print all of the miscellaneous postings you created during a date range you select. For example, a charge that has a label attached to it, such as Restaurant, appears in a charge category on reports. Misc is used for those transactions that require a charge type that does not exist in your configured system. For example, if April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 6

7 a guest requests a bell boy to get a bag of pet food from the market, this charge would be entered as a miscellaneous charge, since there is no category that exists in the system for pet food. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Details of Misc Posting from the Utilities menu. The M3 Report box appears. 3. Enter your desired date range in an MMMYY format in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past and present dates only. 4. Click the OK button. The AutoClerk Information box appears asking if you want to view total only. (Esc returns you to the Main menu.) 5. If you click the OK button, the SendTo menu appears, and you can display or print the report. Enter Bank Deposit and Overage/Shortage Use this function to adjust your deposit if it has any overages or shortages. These changes are only reflected on the M2 report. You can also modify the units rented on a specific day. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Enter Bank Deposit and Overage Shortage from the Utilities menu. The Bank Deposit window opens. 3. Enter the month and year in a MMMYY format. You can enter past month and year only. 4. Click the OK button. The Enter Bank Deposit window opens. 5. Enter in the Day of Month field the number associated with the date. For example, November 2 mean you enter 2. As you move from this field, all of the fields in the bottom half of the window auto fill with revenue numbers for the date you picked. If you need to modify the number of units rented on that day, enter the new number in the units rented field. Adjusted Figures: These fields contain payment types: Cash, Visa, Diner s Club, Discover, American Express, JCB (Japanese Credit Bureau), Mastercard. Totals fields: This shows the addition of all payment types for that date. Difference field: This field contains the actual monetary difference. 6. Click the OK button. An AutoClerk Info box opens informing you the M2 report is now updated. 7. Click the OK button. You are returned to Bank Deposit window. Click the Esc button to return to the Main menu. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 7

8 Daily Cash Report (DCR) The Daily Cash report shows the previous day s transaction totals, as well as occupancy figures. There are additional columns for month-to-date and year-to-date. You can view previous day s reports through UtilitiesView Past Night Audit Reports. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Daily Cash Report from the Utilities menu. The SendTo menu opens. 3. Click the Display or Print button, as needed. 4. You are returned to the Main menu. The DCR report opens in your default browser window. Month-to-Date (MTD) and year-to-date information is available in this report. This window remains open until you decide to close it. Historical Folios You can use Historical Folios to reprint or make adjustments to a checked out guest s bill and or research a guest s stay. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Historical Folios from the Utilities menu. A History for Date window opens. 3. Enter your desired date range in an MMMYY format in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past and present dates only. 4. Click the OK button. The Historical Folio Headers for Checkout <DateYouSelected> appears. The window is divided into two areas. Top Menu bar: o o o File: Edit: Print: Change date: This allows you to change the dates of your search. Exit: This returns you to the Main menu. Post Correction: This allows you to post a correction. You can post transactions, charge credit card on file, or a new payment type. When you click this button, the Post to History window appears. You can enter corrections in the bottom of the window. Before using this feature, contact AutoClerk Support for assistance: (925) , Option 1. Send Folio To: This opens the SendTo menu. You can choose to print or display the folio. Export List To: This opens the Export History Options box. You can choose to export with or without headers. In the Export Fields section, you can choose additional fields to export. Click to OK button. The SendTo menu appears. You can print this April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 8

9 o o report or save as a Comma Separated Variable (CSV) file. This CSV file you can then export to a spreadsheet application. Thank You Letter: This allows you to send a thank you letter. Contact AutoClerk support to configure the Thank You Letter feature: (925) , Option 1. Search: Find: This opens a Find in History box. You can set parameters in this box in order to narrow your search criteria or filter certain variables. Help: This opens a Help window associated with any field you highlight. List of Folios: This top portion shows checked out folios in the date range selected in the History for Date window. You can use your mouse to highlight the appropriate folio. You can sort any of the columns by clicking on the headers. Historical Folio Display: The bottom portion shows the details of the selected folio. o o o Select from the Template menu the template you wish to use. Historical Folio with Data allows you to view all information associated with a folio. Historical folio does not allow you to see note, for example. Post a Correction button: This allows you to post a correction. You can post transactions, charge credit card on file, or a new payment type. When you click this button, the Post to History window appears. You can enter corrections in the bottom of the window. Before using this feature, contact AutoClerk Support for assistance: (925) , Option 1. Folio Send To button: Click this button and the SendTo menu appears. You can choose to print or display the folio. 5. Click on the red X at the top of the window or click the Escape button on your computer keyboard to return to the Main menu. Historical Data You can use this feature to reprint a ticket, research cancelled reservations and City Ledger payments. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Historical Date from the Utilities menu. A History Folios window opens. 3. Enter your desired date range in an MMMYY format in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past dates only. 4. Click the OK button. The Historical Information appears. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 9

10 Button Bar: o o o o o o o Find: This button opens a Search box. You can enter search criteria. Repeat Find: After you set criteria in the Find button Search box, the Repeat Find button uses your criteria. You can repeat a search with this stored criteria by clicking the Repeat Find button. Jump: This button opens a Jump to Day box. This command allows you to jump to a certain day or the start or end of your search criteria. Page Down: This pages down through the data incrementally. Page Up: This pages up through the data incrementally. Next Folio: This button automatically jumps you to the next folio. Show Folio: This button opens the SendTo menu. You can then choose to print or preview a folio. 5. Click on the red X at the top of the window, or click the Esc button on the window to return to the Main menu. Mailing Lists This details features, which allow you to produce lists of guests for marketing purposes. Historical Folios Use this to generate a report about past guest information. This report you can export to a CSV file, which you can then export into a spreadsheet program. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Mailing Lists from the Utilities menu. 3. Select Historical Folios from the Mailing List menu. The Export History window opens. 4. Enter your desired date range in an MMMYY format in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past dates only. 5. The following checkboxes are available. A Folios Only: If checked, only Folio A s are represented on this report. Must have Guest Address: If checked, only folios with guest addresses are displayed. This is checked by default. Must have Guest Address: If checked, only folios with guest addresses are displayed. Must have Company Address: If checked, only folios with company addresses are displayed. Must have Company Address: If checked, only folios with company addresses are displayed. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 10

11 Must have TA Address: If checked, only folios with travel agent addresses are displayed. Must have TA Address: If checked, only folios with travel agent addresses are displayed. 6. Select a template to which you wish to export the data from the Template to Use pull-down menu. (This exports your data as a CSV file to a text file.) 7. Click the OK button, and the SendTo menu appears. 8. Chose a desired option from the SendTo menu, you return to the Main menu. Current Reservations 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Mailing Lists from the Utilities menu. 3. Select Current Reservations from the Mailing List menu. The Export History window opens. 4. Enter your desired date range in an MMMYY format in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past dates only. 5. Click the OK button. The SendTo menu appears. 6. Choose a desired option from the SendTo menu. For example, click on the File option. This opens the Save File window. Name the file. AutoClerk saves the file to export_clerkid\t1\. Then, when you click the Save button, your data is saved as a text file. Contact AutoClerk support, if you have a problem locating saved files: (925) , Option You can import this text file into a spreadsheet program. Travel Agent Historical Folios 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Mailing Lists from the Utilities menu. 3. Select Travel Agent History from the Mailing List menu. 4. The Export History window opens. 5. Enter your desired date range in an MMMYY format in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past dates only. 6. The following checkboxes are available. A Folios Only: If checked, only Folio A s are represented on this report. Must have Guest Address: If checked, only folios with guest addresses are displayed. Must have Guest Address: If checked, only folios with guest addresses are displayed. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 11

12 Must have Company Address: If checked, only folios with company addresses are displayed. Must have Company Address: If checked, only folios with company addresses are displayed. Must have TA Address: If checked, only folios with travel agent addresses are displayed. This is checked by default. Must have TA Address: If checked, only folios with travel agent addresses are displayed. 7. Select a template to which you wish to export the data from the Template to Use pull-down menu. (This exports your data as a CSV file to a text file.) 8. Click the OK button, and the SendTo menu appears. 9. Chose a desired option from the SendTo menu, you return to the Main menu. Historical No-Shows and Cancellations 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Historical No-Shows and Cancellations from the Utilities menu. A No Show/Cancellation Report window opens. 3. No-show and cancelled reservations are not sent by AutoClerk to Historical until 60 days past their date of arrival. 4. Enter date for which you wish to see the report. Use a MMMYY format. For example, if you enter APR11, you see no-shows and cancellations from January and February (60 days past). 5. Click the OK button. The SendTo menu appears. 6. Click the Display or Print button as needed. 7. The No Show & Cancellation report opens in a Report Display window. 8. Click on the red X to close the Report Display window, and you return to the Main menu. Guest Letters The Guest Letter features allow you to create and modify confirmation, cancellation, and thank you letters. However, you must contact AutoClerk Support to use these features. Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Letter Templates Editor Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Setup Letter Templates Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 12

13 Extended Setup for Letter Templates Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Print Thank You Letters Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. View Past Night Audit Reports 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select View Past Night Audit Reports from the Utilities menu. The NA Report Not to Print window opens. Click the OK button. The Past Night Audit Reports window opens. The left pane contains reports for the past 30 days. The right pane lists archive reports beyond 30 days. You can sort the reports by date by clicking on the Date header. This makes finding a report easier. 3. Double-click on a line entry in any of the reports, and the SendTo menu opens. The report opens in a Report Display window. 4. Click Display or Print, as appropriate. The chosen report opens in a Report Display window. 5. Click the red X in the Report Display window when you are finished reading the report, and you return to the Main menu. Pace Report Export AutoClerk can produce a Pace report automatically as part of the audit. This feature allows you to produce the report outside of the audit. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Pace Report Export from the Utilities menu. The Export to CSV Source Projections window opens. 3. Select your export options on this window. 4. The Include Headers checkbox is checked by default, so you Check see headers in the report. Unchecked it if you do not want to see headers. 5. Enter your desired date range in an MMMYY format in the Start Date and End Date fields. You can enter past dates only. 6. From the Rate Inclusion menu, select the rate range you wish for the report. You can choose to use today s rates or not use today s rates. 7. From the Posting Inclusion menu, select the posting range you wish you use. You can choose to use today s postings or not use today s posting. 8. Click the OK button, the SendTo menu appears. 9. Select Display, and a window opens with the Pace Data Export report. 10. Click the red X to close the window and return to the Main menu. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 13

14 TA to Fourstar This is a back-office accounting software interface. Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. TA to Quickbooks This is a back-office accounting software interface. Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Guestware Exports This is a customer relations management (CRM) software interface. This feature is used only when the interface is first enabled at your property. Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Checkouts File Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Arrivals File Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Call Accounting Report Call Accounting categories and charges accordingly for phone calls made from a guest room to the guest s bill. Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Administrative Extension Report The Administrative Extension allows you to generate a report of phone calls made from non-guest rooms. For example, the GM s office phone bills. Contact AutoClerk Support in order to use this feature: (925) , Option 1. Encryption Key/Login Expiration Report Generate this report to find out when your encryption keys and login information for AutoClerk expire. 1. Click on the Utilities icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Encryption Key/Login Expiration from the Utilities menu. The SendTo menu opens. 3. Select Display from the SendTo menu. 4. The Encryption Key Expiration Report opens in your default browser window. You can return to the Main menu whenever you wish. This report stays open until you choose to close it by closing the browser window. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 14

15 2. Functions This section details functions related to managing your property. Night Audit Much of a night auditor s job is property specific. The function of a night audit is to use AutoClerk s features to do as follows: Automatically posts room and tax to inhouse rooms and folios Transmits the sales batch Obtains increases in credit card authorizations as necessary Backs up data Closes out the data for the day Begins a new day cycle of data Run the night audit on Station 1 only. You can t run it on any other station, and you must be on Shift 3. Note: All guests due to check out must be checked out in order to run a Night Audit. If there are guests who are scheduled to check out who are still in the hotel, AutoClerk cannot run the Night Audit. You need to extend the stay of those particular guests for this feature to work. Pre-Audit Checks The pre-audit checks are determined by the auditor s assigned tasks. Check for dirty rooms. Cancel any non-guaranteed reservations. Post any outstanding charges such as parking or pet fees. Balance the day s work. Print reports needed while the audit is running. All guests due to check out are checked out of the system Running a Night Audit You can run the Night Audit at any time but only on the current day. For example, if your front desk is closed from 10pm to 7am, you can run the Night Audit at 9:30pm or 6:30am. 1. On the Main menu, select Hotel from the Top menu bar. 2. Select Night Audit from the Hotel menu. The NA Reports Not to Print window opens. 3. Click the OK button. The Night Audit Access Code box opens. 4. Enter your password. (You got this password during training.) April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 15

16 5. Click the OK button. If you do not have 10 transactions that current day, an AutoClerk Warning box appears. If you click the Yes button, the audit process continues. If you click the No button, you return to the Main menu. The AutoClerk Confirm box opens confirming that a Ledger Check is performed. The General Ledger (GL), City Ledger (CL), and Advanced Deposit (AD) amount appear on the confirmation box to show they are all in balance. If a ledger is out of balance, you receive a warning and need to contact AutoClerk Support immediately at (925) , Option Click the OK button. The Room Posting window opens, as shown in Figure 1. On this window you can view all of the inhouse rooms and folios, to which AutoClerk posts room charges in the next steps of the night audit. Rooms which appear in a red font indicate that room charges were manually posted during the current day. Investigate any rooms or folios in a red font to determine if room charges need to be posted during the audit. Figure 1: Room Posting Window April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 16

17 7. To check those rooms in a red font, press F9 on your computer keyboard. The Post to Room window opens. 8. Enter the room number. 9. Click the Folio-F5 button on the right side of the window. The SendTo menu opens. 10. Click on Display and the guest folio appears. You can review the folio to determine if you need to post the room charges, since by default AutoClerk does not post room charges for those rooms if they appear in a red font. In our example, you are not posting room charges to this room. 11. Click the OK button on the Room Posting window. This starts the audit. An AutoClerk Information box appears informing you that the data backup is complete, room charges are posted, charges are transmitted, and a new day is starting. When the audit completes, you return to the Main menu on a new day on Shift Any reports not suppressed (in ACConfig), print at this time. 13. Make sure to review the sales batch to confirm both the batch and the increased authorizations transmitted without error. 14. Perform any functions related to preparation for the new day. For example, print registration slips for today s arrivals. Function Keys Use the function keys to interrupt any process in AutoClerk. For example, if you are in the middle of a checkin, and someone calls on the phone asking for a guest, you can press F2, and lookup a guest without losing the reservation information. F1-Help 1. This button toggles on when you are in a different window, and if you click it, available help messages appear in a pop-up window. 2. Also, if your cursor is in the following fields, which have a Magnifying glass icon next to them, you can access the Profiles list. F2-Guest Reservation form: Last name, first name, phone number, company name, company phone, travel agent. Checkin form: Last name, first name, phone number, company name, company phone, travel agent. Use this to lookup guests, search, and check messages for guests while you are performing another process in AutoClerk. Lookup a Guest 1. Click the F2 button. The Guest Lookup window appears. This window displays all inhouse, arriving, and checked out guests for the current day. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 17

18 Search 2. You can view the last name and room number of a guest. Click the More Info button to obtain a guest s pay type, current balance, rate class, and guest contact information. 3. The Inhouse (blue), Checked Out (pink), and Arrivals (yellow) buttons at the bottom of the window are filters. If you click on a button with a green checkmark, the checkmark toggles to a red X. So, if you wish to search by Inhouse and Arrivals make sure those two buttons have checkmarks. Then, click the Checkin button to toggle it to an X. AutoClerk then displays inhouse and arrival guests only. 4. The cells in which the guest s names appear are highlighted according to status. If you click on a guest s name, the arrival and departure dates, as well as their contact city and state are displayed by AutoClerk. 5. Click on the column headings to sort them. (The window defaults to last name.) Click on View in the Top menu bar. 6. Click on Show Columns. The default for column headings include Last name, First name, Company, Room number, and Note. You can pick which columns you wish to appear by checking the space next to the column heading. 7. If you want to see the same column headings each time you use F2, click on Edit. 8. Select Save View Set Up As from the Edit menu. The Save F2 Template window appears. 9. Enter a name for the template. 10. To view your saved templates with your customized setups, click on View. 11. The saved templates appear at the bottom of the View menu. 12. To open your setup, click on View, and choose the template you created. You need to do this each time you open the Guest Lookup. 1. Click the F2 button. The Guest Lookup window appears. 2. In the Within Field, select the category in which you wish to search from the pulldown menu. You can search in these categories: Last name, First name, Company, Room number, and Note. 3. Enter applicable text in the Search For field. AutoClerk automatically displays the guest name associate with the search text you entered. Phone Messages and General Messages This feature is set up through ACConfig, and it is not normally enabled. 1. On the Guest Lookup window, if you single click to highlight a guest name, and the Phone Msg button appears in red, it means that guest has a message. For example, someone called the desk to leave a message for the clerk to give to the guest. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 18

19 2. If you click on the Phone Msg button, all undelivered, new messages are marked with New. If a message is delivered to a guest, it is marked with the date and time it was delivered. New, undelivered phone messages also appear in the Checkout screen when you check out a guest. 3. To access new phone messages on the Checkout window, click the Checkout icon. 4. Enter a room number. 5. The Phone text on the screen appears highlighted in yellow. 6. Click on F2. 7. Click on the Phone Msg button associated with that guest s name. 8. If you need to leave a new message for a guest, single click on the guest name. 9. Click the New button. 10. Enter the name of the caller in the Caller field. 11. Enter the callback number in the Phone field. 12. Enter the message in the Message field. 13. Click the Save button to save your message. 14. Click the Print button if you wish to print the message and hand it to the guest. 15. If you click the Delivered button, the status changes from New to Delivered, and the Phone text with a yellow background no longer appears on the Checkout form. F3-Rooms Use this to look up individual, available rooms and their status. You can pick a room when you checkin a guest or checkin a walkin. You can also use F3 to authorize a guest s credit card in order to save time, and then formally checkin a guest at a later time. Lookup Rooms and Authorize Credit Card 1. Click the F3 button. The Rooms window appears. 2. Enter a room type in the Room Type field, or choose one from the pull-down menu. If you leave this field blank, the display shows all room types. 3. Enter the number of days the guest wants to stay. For example, if you need a King room available for 3 days, enter the number Enter a current or future date in the Arrival Date field. The default is the current date. 5. If you leave the Include Dirty Rooms checkbox unchecked, you see only vacant and clean rooms. 6. If the Blocked Room checkbox is checked, you see rooms that are pre-assigned already. If it is unchecked, you see all available rooms. (This feature isn t intended for making reservations. It s a checkin function.) April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 19

20 7. If you need to find a room with a view, and view is a specified room feature, you can filter all available rooms by this feature. To search for rooms with certain features shown in the Room Features list, use the following buttons: All True: Checks all the checkboxes. All False: Unchecks all the checkboxes. Use All: Checks all the checkboxes. This is the default. 8. Click the OK button, and the Rooms Grid window opens. 9. Click on the cell with the room number. The Authorization Amount window appears. In the Folio A field, enter the amount to authorize. The default is the Rack rate and whatever amount your property configures to cover incidentals. 10. If you click the More button, you can enter different authorization amounts in different folios for that room. 11. Click the Save button, and you are prompted to swipe a credit card. If you wish to enter a card number manually, click the Esc button. The Manual Entry of Credit Card window opens. 12. Enter the appropriate credit card information. (After the credit card is authorized, the room is now tagged with a blue background.) 13. Click the Save button. You return to the Main menu. 14. Up to this point, you have chosen the room and authorized the credit card. When you need to checkin the guest, on the Main menu, click the Checkin icon. Refer to the guest s printed registration information, which now includes the room number you gave the guest. 15. On the Checkin with a Reservation form, the Pay Type now contains all of the credit card information you entered previously. Checkin Walkin or Reservation Note: When you checkin a walkin, specifically, make sure to check the F4 availability before you select a room. 1. Click on the Checkin icon on the Main menu. 2. Select either Checkin a Walkin or Checkin a Guest with a Reservation from the Checkin Menu. 3. In the Room field, click F3. The Rooms window appears. If this is a walkin, choose your room type. If it is a reservation, the room type defaults to the room type on the reservation. 4. Click OK. The All Vacant and Clean Rooms Grid window appears. 5. Click on an appropriate room number. The cell background turns blue when you select a room number. 6. Click the OK button. You return to the Checkin screen and can proceed with the checkin procedure. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 20

21 F4-Avail Use this to see the available number of rooms for your hotel broken out by room type. In addition, you can view rates for each particular room type. You can specify rooms by rate class and other variables. You can also view the total number of rooms available as well as the percentage of rooms available. 1. On the Main menu, click on F4. The Projected Availability box appears. 2. The Starting Date field defaults to the current day. However, if you click F4 while in the process of making a reservation, the Starting Date field auto fills with the date in the Arrival field on the Reservation form. 3. The Rate Class defaults to Rack rate. Select the appropriate Rate Class, Adults, Children, Infants, Crib, Rollaway. 4. If the Rates box is unchecked, you will not see rate, only availability. It is checked by default. 5. If there are LOS (Length of Stay) rules set up in AutoClerk, those will show up in yellow under the rates on the Projected Availability box. 6. Click the Display button. 7. If when you set up your rates and add Yield notes, those appear in gray under the rates. For example, if there is a convention in town and you want to offer a certain special rate for those dates. 8. If you have one or more room types that are overbooked, but your house is not overbooked, the availability shows up in blue. If you are completely overbooked and your house is overbooked, the availability shows up in red. 9. If, for example, you want to see what the AAA (Automobile Club of America) rates are for certain dates, select 3A from the Rate Class pull-down menu. 10. Click the Display button, and you can view the 3A rates, which now display. 11. The blue arrows on the right side allow you to scroll down through the screens. F7-Maid Use this after a guest checks out to update the status of the room. The default status is dirty. Housekeeping usually communicates which rooms are now clean. This is a way you can update room status from dirty to clean as well as place rooms out of order. 1. On the Main menu, click on F7. The Maid Status box appears. 2. Enter a number in the Room field. If you leave the Room field blank and click the Enter key on your computer keyboard, you can view a list of all the rooms and their current status. 3. Double-click on the room in the list you wish to update. The Room field auto fills. 4. Enter a status in the Status field or chose a status from the pull-down menu. The status abbreviations are as follows: Vacant (V), Back in order (B), Out of Order (O), Checked-in/Clean (C), Dirty (D). April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 21

22 5. Click the Save button. The room and the new status appear on the right side of the Maid Status box. 6. If you need to place a room out of order or back in order, and you enter an O or B in the Status field. The Out-of-Order Info box or Back-in-Order Info box appears on the Maid Status box. 7. Enter a start date and end date in the appropriate fields. 8. You must enter a reason the room is out of order to save that status. 9. Note: When you place a room back in order, the room status defaults to dirty. You need to change it back to clean after it is cleaned. 10. Another way to change room status is on the Tape Chart or Electronic Room Rack. Once in those forms you can either click F7 or right-click on the particular room with the white background; then, select Modify Status. Then, change the status on the Maid Box box when it appears. 11. Or, if you need to change a room status to out-of-order, you can right click on a Tape Chart or Electronic Room Rack cell; then, select Update Room Status from the menu, and place the room out of order. F8-Notes Use this function to store concierge notes, such as phone numbers for taxis. You can use this feature as a Rolodex. (You can generate a list of all notes from General ReportsGuest ReportsNotesAll Notes.) 1. Click the F8 button. The Notes box opens. Notes related to Concierge procedures appear with a Concierge label in black text. (If you are in City Ledger, and you re modifying a new customer, then click F8. The note you add appears in the F8 Notes box with a Direct Bill label in red.) 2. If searching for a note, enter a note name in the Note Name field. Or select a Note Name from the pull-down menu. 3. If the note doesn t exist, the AutoClerk Confirm box confirms the note is not found. Click the Yes button to create a new note. 4. Enter a name for the note in the Note Name field. 5. Then, click in the white Note Text window. Enter your note text. 6. If you want to replace your note with an external text file, select File from the Top menu. 7. Select Replace Note with External Text File. 8. A browser window opens to your computer files. Navigate to the file you wish to attach it. Click the Save button. 9. If you want to save your note as an external text document, for example, if you created a list of taxi cab phone numbers and want to this list, select File from the Top menu, and select Save As External Text File. 10. Click the Save button. This saves your note. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 22

23 F9-Post Use this feature to post charges to an inhouse room. 1. Click on F9. The Post to Room box opens. 2. The # counter displays the transaction number of the day. For example, #24 is the 24 th transaction of the day. 3. Enter a room in the Room field or click the pull-down menu and a list of inhouse guests appears. Select a guest from the list, and the Room and Folio fields both auto fill. 4. Click the Folio F5 button on the Post to Room box. The Inhouse Folio for that guest appears. You can now see the charges on the room. This is a way to double-check to see if charges were already posted to the room. If the charges were already posted to the room, click the Esc button on the Post to Room box. 5. In the Chrg/Pymt field, enter the charge or payment type. Click on the pull-down menu to select a charge payment type from the Select Charge or Payment box. Click the OK button on the Select Charge or Payment box. 6. Enter the amount in the Amount field. 7. Enter a comment, if applicable, in the Comment field. 8. Click the Save button. The SendTo menu appears. 9. Click the Display or Print button, as appropriate. F10-Save The F10 Save button is available when you need to save your work in various features and functions in AutoClerk. ACAdmin Please see the ACAdmin module for all information regarding ACAdmin. BackUps The AutoClerk program performs a backup of the AutoClerk data at each shift change and during the Night Audit. A copy of the backup is stored on the hard drive of the AutoClerk server and an additional copy is stored on the hard drive of Station 1. Note: AutoClerk does not retain any property data daily backups and is unable to access any backup data that you do not directly provide. If hotel management chooses to have no external device backup, and chooses to have no other online external backup service, the hotel is at risk of catastrophic data loss, in the event of a hard drive crash on the server and/or Station 1. The AutoClerk Night Audit can send an additional copy of the backup to an external storage drive of your choice attached to Station 1. The hotel s administrator can use any backup device of hotel management s choice except optical drives (such as CDs). The hotel s network administrator, not AutoClerk, is responsible for supporting removable backups. Removable backup is disabled by default. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 23

24 There is an option to place a data backup on an extra directory or drive on the hotel s dedicated server or Station 1. The extra backup is in lieu of the removable backup and takes place during the night audit. We recommend the contents of this extra backup directory/drive then be copied to yet another external storage device and stored securely off site. (For example, if you make three backups, but they are all on the physical property and there is a weather event, you could lose all of your backed up data. One third-party backup software solution used by AutoClerk properties is IPVault by GIM Electronics. Online backup is available as an additional service and fee. Please contact AutoClerk Support for more information: (925) , Option 1. The AutoClerk PMS automatically performs rolling purges of the AutoClerk backup files on a nightly basis after a backup file ages beyond a certain set point, as determined by hotel management. Profiles Profiles are a history of stays categorized by home, company, or travel agency. When making a reservation, accessing profiles can streamline the process and make it faster. Home When making a new reservation, do the following: 1. Ask the guest if they have stayed at your property before. If they say yes, enter in the guest s last name and either click on the Magnifying Glass icon to the right of the last name field, or press F1 on the keyboard. 2. If the guest has a common last name, you can refine the lookup by entering the guest s first name and then either clicking on the Magnifying Glass icon or hitting F1 on the keyboard while still in the First Name field. The Profile Addresses by Home screen appears, as shown in Figure 2. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 24

25 Figure 2: Profile Addresses by Home 3. In our example, Julie Wilson is making a new reservation. Highlight her record and click the Copy/OK button. The Profile Field Selection form opens, as shown in Figure 3. This form shows the fields which can be copied to the guest s new reservation. AutoClerk does not copy credit card information so the Payment Type is unchecked by default. If the guest s previous stay has and/or website information, that information appears, and the boxes checked copy to the new reservation. In this example, Julie s last stay had a note attached to it so the Notes button is enabled. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 25

26 Figure 3: Profile Field Selection 4. To view the notes, click on the button. The Profile Notes screen opens with any notes from the past stay. By default, they are all unchecked. Simply check the checkbox to the left of any note you want to copy to the new reservation. 5. If you have a regular guest, and you want to be sure that their room type and/or specific room number are part of their profile, you can make a specific stay Preferred. Then, the next time you access that guest s profile, the preferred stay is the stay copied to the new reservation. Otherwise, the guest s last stay is copied to the new reservation. 6. The guest s rate history appears in a box on the right side. This helps you to determine if the guest is always given a discount, as well as what their rate was on previous stays. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 26

27 7. The information to the right of any checked box is copied to the new reservation. Check and/or uncheck any additional boxes, in order to copy information to the new reservation. 8. Click on the Copy Information button. You are returned to the Reservation form with the selected information copied into the appropriate fields. Company 1. When making a new reservation, regardless of whether or not the guest has stayed with you before, you can access the Company profile. 2. Enter the Company name, and click on the Magnifying Glass icon to the right of the field. The Profile Addresses by Business screen opens. 3. In place of Last Name, First Name as seen in Home profile, the second column is Company, Branch. 4. The process for viewing and copying a Business profile to a reservation is the same as for copying a Home profile. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 27

28 Travel Agency Figure 4: Profile Field Selection AutoClerk also keeps profiles on Travel Agencies. When making a new reservation, regardless of whether or not the guest has stayed with you before, if the reservation is being made by a travel agent, you can access the Travel Agent profile. 1. On the Reservation form, click on the Travel Agent button in the bottom right corner. Enter the travel agency name and click on the Magnifying Glass icon to the right of the field. The Profile Addresses by Business screen opens. If you do not know the agency name and/or only have the ITAT number, AutoClerk can search in Travel Agency profiles by IATA number, as shown in Figure 5. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 28

29 2. In place of last name, first name as seen in Home profile, the second and third columns are Travel Agency, Branch, and IATA#. The process for viewing and copying a Travel Agency profile to a reservation is the same as a Home profile. Maintenance Figure 5: Profile Address by Travel Agency 1. Each time you make a reservation and use a profile, that stay becomes part of that profile record. 2. Once you access a profile, click on the More Info button to view how many past stays are part of that record. The All Stays screen opens and lists all that record s past stays, including no show and cancelled reservations. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 29

30 3. From here, highlight a specific stay. 4. Click on the More Info button to view all versions of that specific stay. This is helpful if you are trying to research a stay. For example, see when a guest s requested room number was changed. 5. When you make a reservation and use profiles for the guest, company and/or travel agency, AutoClerk adds that stay to the profile record. 6. If you do not use a profile, and there is an existing one, when you save the reservation, a new profile record is created. When this happens, you may have multiple records for the same guest and then several stays within each record. The individual profile records may be identical, or it may have as small a difference as Robert vs. Bob as the first name. Merging Profiles AutoClerk gives you the ability to merge profile records so that all stays can be merged into one profile record. This can be helpful if not all users access profiles when making reservations or if the guest has moved and you want to update their profile. To merge profiles, do as follows: 1. Click the Reservations icon on the Main menu. 2. Select Create a New Reservation from the Reservation menu. 3. In the Last Name field, enter the guest s last name 4. Click on the Magnifying Glass icon to the right of the Last Name field. The Profile: Addresses by Home screen appears, as shown in Figure In our example, you can see that John Steinhauser has three (3) profile records. Each with a slight difference in the address. 6. Decide which profile record is the one you want to be the Merge Master. The Merge Master is the record into which you want to merge the other records. This is going to be the last record that you access. For our example, we are going to use the second entry. 7. Highlight the first record. 8. Click on the Tag/UnTag button at the bottom. 9. A Y appears in the first column for that record, and the next record is highlighted. As this is the designated Master, click on the third record and again click on the Tag/UnTag button. 10. Now highlight the second record, and click on the Merge Master button. An AutoClerk confirmation window opens confirming that you want to merge 2 profile records into Steinhauser and are asking for the Merge Access code. 11. If you click Escape, you are returned to the previous screen. 12. Enter the Merge Access code. 13. Click the OK button. April 2011 (Doc. Version 1.0) 30