The Retail Solution. User s Guide

Transcription

1 The Retail Solution User s Guide

2 The Retail Solution 12.0 Copyright 2014 Northwest Network Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved Reproduction or use of any portion of this manual without express written permission from Northwest Network Solutions, Inc. is prohibited. Disclaimer - Agreement Users of The Retail Solution must accept this disclaimer of warranty: The Retail Solution is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. Northwest Network Solutions, Inc. assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of The Retail Solution line of products and/or documentation. Customer Support Plan The Retail Solution Telephone, Fax, and Technical Support Service is available to all registered users for the first 30 days at no charge. Please call our sales department for current pricing for our yearly technical support plan. Have your program version available before calling. (Displayed on login screen) Support: (503) Hours: M-Th 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Pacific Time; Friday 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM support@nwns.com Webpage: The Retail Solution is a registered trademark of Northwest Network Solutions, Inc. Windows and Microsoft MapPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc. QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit, Inc. Xitami is a registered trademark of imatix Corp. Smartwaiver and WaiverVault are trademarks of SW Development, LLC. All other brands or products are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.

3 Table of Contents Part 1 Getting Started Introduction New Installation Using Demo Data Going Live Completing Your Registration Entering Company Information Company Name and Address Payment Types Sales Tax Point of Sales Options End of Day Options Credit Card Processing Miscellaneous Company Information Membership Tracking Count Tracking Accounts Receivable Control Station Options QuickBooks Interface Entering Employee Information Entering Your First Employee Adding New Employees Time Clock Setup Entering Your Inventory Vendor Information Department Information Inventory Groups Entering Inventory Items Tips for Adding New Items Special Types of Inventory Customizing the Item Search Window Entering Customer Information Address Information General Customer Information Past Purchase Information Customer Notes Customer A/R Information A/R Transactions Membership and Count Tracking PowerStation Setup Printer Setup Pole Display Other Devices Miscellaneous i

4 The Retail Solution User s Guide Power Menu Setup Part 2 Procedures Introduction Required Procedures Opening a Drawer Closing a Drawer End-of-Day Procedure End-of-Month Procedure End-of-Year Procedure Making Backups Restoring a Backup Making Sales Ringing Up a Sale Discount Options No-Tax Sales Mail Orders Checking Stock Status Hold Tickets Recalling a Ticket Ringing up a Return Voiding a Sale Accounts Receivable Payments Recurring Sales Customer Tabs Layaways Quotes Special Orders Importing Tickets Paid Out or No Sale Locking the Register Readings Gift Registry Maintaining Your Inventory Customizing Create Order Settings Creating an Order Master Order Returning Merchandise to a Vendor Customizing Receive Order Settings Receiving an Order Printing Barcode Labels Managing Consignment Inventory Updating Inventory Information Inventory Manager Maintaining Employee Information Editing Employee Information Commission Report ii

5 Table of Contents Employee Work Schedule Using the Time Clock Time Cards Maintaining Customer Information Editing Customer Information Printing Statements Printing Mailing Labels Fax and Setting Up the Fax Agent Creating a Fax Sending a Fax Setup Creating Sending Accounting Setting Up Your Chart of Accounts General Journal Check Register Bills Accounting Reports Exporting G/L Transactions to QuickBooks Part 3 Customizing Reports, Spreadsheets &Forms Using the Report Writer Using an Existing Report Creating a New Report Editing an Existing Report Customizing the Select Report Window Other Report Options Printing a Report Batch Creating Labels Graphs Sharing Reports on the Web Using the Spread Creator Creating a New Spreadsheet Editing an Existing Spreadsheet Using a Spreadsheet Cell Functions Using the Form Creator Creating a New Form Form Settings Checks Tips for Preprinted Forms Editing an Existing Form Importing and Exporting Forms Sharing Forms on the Web Using Forms iii

6 The Retail Solution User s Guide Check Fields Gift Registry Form Fields Invoice Form Fields Purchase Order Form Fields Statement Fields Work Order Form Fields Appendix Data Import Wizard Sample Chart of Accounts Retail Solution Account Types Organizer Troubleshooting Error Messages Log Error Messages Barcode Printing Problems Miscellaneous Checking Out Data Files Electronic Data Interchange Price Lookup Station TRS Backup Agent TRS Picture Lab TRS Tablet TRS Video Agent ASCII Device Code Format Index iv

7 Part 1 Getting Started

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9 Introduction The Retail Solution 12.0 Deluxe includes the following products: PowerStation Manager s Workstation TRS Form Creator TRS Spread Creator TRS Tablet The Agent The Fax Agent The TRS Backup Agent The TRS Video Agent Optional add-ons include Multi-Site FTP (see next page), Rentals, Scheduling, and Web Store. More information about these options is available on our website: Contact your reseller for pricing. Standard and Deluxe Versions The Retail Solution is available in two different feature sets: The Standard version includes our most popular features, including layaway and special order tracking, the ability to interface with QuickBooks and credit card processing software, support for an unlimited number of inventory items, and the option of choosing a network license. Rental, Scheduling, and Webstore options can be added. The Deluxe version combines all the capabilities of the Standard version with additional features such as employee scheduling, accounts receivable, and fax support. The Multi-Site option can also be added. Complete feature lists for each version are available on our website: The Powerstation The PowerStation is The Retail Solution s point-of-sale module. You will use this program to ring up sales and create work orders, special orders, quotes, and more. The PowerStation also has an optional time clock that can be used to track hours worked by each employee. The Manager s Workstation The Manager s Workstation is The Retail Solution s management module. You will use this program to add and update employee, customer, and inventory information, create and receive orders, print accounts receivable statements, create reports, print labels, make backups, and more. The Manager s Workstation also includes an integrated general ledger with check printing. Form Creator This program allows you to create your own customized forms, such as invoices, quotes, work orders, statements, and purchase orders, for use with the PowerStation and Manager s Workstation. For more information, see p Spread Creator This program allows you to create your own customized spreadsheets. See p. 195 for more information. TRS Tablet This program allows you to create orders, receive orders and count inventory using a Windows-based tablet PC. See p. 241 for more information. 3

10 The Retail Solution User s Guide Agent This program allows you to send directly from the Manager s Workstation. You can also a receipt from the PowerStation. For information on setting up the feature, see p Fax Agent This program allows you to send a fax directly from the Manager s Workstation. You can fax a newly created purchase order to a vendor, or send end-of-day reports to a designated fax number. For more information on setting up the Fax Agent, see p TRS Backup Agent If you have an ftp account, this feature allows you to make automatic daily data backups to the cloud. The agent also allows you to easily restore your data if your computer crashes and you need to reinstall The Retail Solution. For more information, see p TRS Video Agent The TRS Video Agent is used in conjunction with your IP or direct connection video camera(s) for video surveillance. Up to six cameras can run simultaneously. Cameras are activated during each point-of-sale transaction, and can also be set to activate when motion is detected. For more information see p Multi-Site FTP Multi-Site FTP is an optional add-on module that allows The Retail Solution to send inventory and customer data to and from other locations via the Internet, using standard File Transfer Protocol with optional FTP firewall support. Transferred information is encrypted for complete data security. Multi-Site FTP runs in the background on one station at each location, and all stores can send and receive information simultaneously. In order to use Multi-Site, you must have a separate, registered copy of The Retail Solution Deluxe at each location, plus one Multi-Site license. Contact your reseller for more information. Rentals This optional add-on allows you to track rental items. Each item can have up to 10 different rent durations using hours, days, weeks and years. Each rent duration can have up to 3 different price levels based on date range or day of the week. Rental items can optionally be sold after a specified number of rentals. The Rental option is integrated with the Scheduling option for easy scheduling of future rentals. Contact your reseller for more information. Scheduling This optional add-on handles schedule management for a variety of different resources, such as tee times, tanning beds, rental items, lessons, campsites, hairstylists, etc. Availability can be viewed for an individual resource or a group of resources. In addition, the Scheduling module handles events (classes, cruises, etc.) and ticket printing. The Scheduling module is integrated with the Rental option for scheduling of individual serialized rental items. Contact your reseller for more information. Webstore This add-on option allows you to create catalog pages for your inventory items on your website. Web customers can place orders and Web Store will notify you so that you can process and ship the orders. Contact your reseller for more information. 4

11 Introduction On-Screen Help The Retail Solution includes extensive on-screen help. The help program allows you to search on any topic, and topics can be printed if desired. To access the help program: Manager s Workstation: Press F1 anywhere in the program. PowerStation: Click on the word Help at the top of the point-of-sale screen to access the Help menu. On other screens, look for the words Click here for help! TRS Form Creator: Press F1 anywhere in the program. Spread Creator: Press F1 anywhere in the program. TRS Tablet: Press F1 anywhere in the program. TRS Backup Agent and TRS Video Agent: Look for the help icon, or press F1. 5

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13 New Installation Recommended Windows Settings Screen Resolution: 800 X 600. Turn off the Taskbar setting Always on Top. It is recommended that you have an 80-column Windows printer installed prior to installing the Manager s Workstation. On a Single Station Prior to installing the software, it is recommended that you exit all other applications. Follow these steps for installation. 1. Insert the CD-ROM. Auto-Play should launch Setup automatically. If not, access your CD-ROM drive in My Computer and double-click on SETUP.EXE. 2. Install The Manager s Workstation. 3. Install the PowerStation. 4. When installation is complete, select the Exit option. On a Network Prior to installing the software, it is recommended that you exit all other applications. Manager s Station Install the Manager s Workstation. If desired, the PowerStation can also be installed on this station, but it is not required. NOTE: If the Manager s station is not the server, make sure that you specify the drive letter of the server when asked where you want the data files to be located. You must create a permanent mapped drive from the Manager s Workstation to the server before installing The Retail Solution. Make sure that the user has full rights to The Retail Solution data folder on the server. For information on drive mapping, refer to your network operating system documentation. Additional information is also available on our website at Additional Stations You will not be able to set up additional stations until you have completed your registration (p. 13). You should also enter an employee (see Step 5 of the Going Live Check List), as you will need an employee password to log in. It is recommended that you log out of the Manager s Workstation and PowerStation on Station 1 prior to setting up additional stations. Follow these steps to set up additional stations: 1. Verify that a drive has been mapped to the server from the workstation. (See NOTE above.) 2. Install The PowerStation. 3. To start The PowerStation, click the shortcut on the desktop. 4. When asked if you have set up your Company Information, answer Yes. 5. If you are sure of the correct pathname for the location of The Retail Solution data files, select Advanced. If not, select Setup Wizard. Follow the prompts to specify the data location. 6. Enter your employee login name and password. 7. Complete PowerStation setup in the Control Room. (See p. 85.) 7

14 The Retail Solution User s Guide Testing Network Connectivity The Retail Solution includes a utility that allows you to verify that your network is set up correctly to allow all stations to access your data files. Follow these steps: 1. At the PowerStation Control Room, click Test on the upper right corner of the Miscellaneous tab. 2. Repeat Step 1 on all remaining workstations except one (which must have Manager s Workstation installed). 3. On the remaining station, from the Manager s Workstation Main Menu, select Control:Company Information. 4. At the Company Information window, select Send Station Test from the Help menu. 5. Wait until you receive a Pass or Fail message before exiting the Test window on your workstations. TRS Time Agent The Time Agent is a program designed to coordinate time settings so that all stations are synchronized. This ensures that time clock transactions, voided tickets, and current sales are all using the correct time. The Time Agent is located in The Retail Solution program folder. You will only need to run the program on one station (obviously, the one that keeps the most accurate time!) You may wish to add the Time Agent to the Windows Startup folder on that station. 8

15 Using Demo Data We recommend that you spend a little time working with sample data so you can explore the program without affecting your live data. To set up the sample data, follow these steps: 1. Start The Manager s Workstation. 2. When asked if your company information has been set up, answer No. 3. Select the type of data you wish to use. 4. Log in with the password DEMO. 5. Exit The Manager s Workstation, or access Start by holding down the Control key as you press the Escape key. 6. Start The PowerStation. The Control Room will be displayed. 7. Select the Printer Setup tab. If you are using an invoice printer, select the Sample Invoice, and select the printer you wish to use from the list. A green light will appear next to each field, indicating that setup is complete. 8. If you have a receipt printer, select the Receipt option and click Device Setup. (If not, skip to Step 12.) You will need to indicate the type of connection (serial or parallel). If it is parallel, select the port (usually LPT1:). If you have a serial receipt printer, refer to your printer documentation for the appropriate settings. Click Apply to return to the Printer Setup tab. 9. Set up the receipt layout. If you wish, you may change the default settings; click the help icon for more information. Click Apply to exit. A green light will appear next to Device Setup and Layout indicating that setup is complete. 10. For electronic cash drawer setup, select the Other Devices tab. Select the Cash Drawer option. Click Device Setup, and indicate whether this is a serial or parallel device. If parallel, indicate the correct port (usually LPT1:). If serial, refer to your cash drawer documentation for the correct settings. Click Apply to return to the Other Devices tab. 11. For help in determining the correct Open Code for your cash drawer, click the Help icon next to the field to access the Code Wizard. Select the type of connection and type of printer, then click Test. If the drawer does not open, you may receive an error message indicating that you have selected the wrong port. You will need to return to Device Setup and enter the correct port. If the drawer does not open, and you do not receive an error message, the code is incorrect. Refer to your cash drawer manual or vendor to determine the correct code. Click Apply to return to the Other Devices tab. 12. Click Exit to exit the Control Room. 13. Log in with the password DEMO. 14. Select Drawer 1. Select the Open Drawer option and enter a zero starting balance. Now you are ready to ring up some sales! See p. 118 for instructions on how to ring up a sale. The demo data includes the following: Customers: Dr. Larry James, Calloway s Day Care Center, John Smith, Tom Smith Inventory Items: Use stock numbers 2 through 18. Of course, you can enter other customers and items. But remember that the demo data will be deleted when you Go Live. Resetting Demo Data If you use up the 50 tickets and want to start over, from the Manager s Workstation Main Menu, select Control:Company Information. At the Company Information window, select Reset Demo Data from the Data Files menu. This will restore the original demo data files (any changes you have made will be lost). 9

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17 Going Live When you are ready to delete the demo data and start entering your own company information, you are ready to Go Live. Follow the steps on this checklist to make sure that you enter information in the correct order. Going Live Checklist Step 1: Select Go Live! at the Manager s Workstation login window (where you enter your password). Step 2: Enter the location of your Retail Solution data files. NOTE to network users: It is only necessary to Go Live on one station (normally the computer on which your data files are located.) When you install the Manager s Workstation and/or PowerStation on your other stations, you will specify the location of your live datafiles on the first station. See p. 7 for more information. Step 3: At the Company Information window, enter your company name, address, phone and fax numbers. Be sure to enter this information correctly, as it will be locked once you have completed your registration. Step 4: Complete your registration. (See p. 13.) If you are not able to complete your registration immediately, you can continue on to the next step. However, you will not be able to set up additional stations or ring up more than 50 invoices until registration has been completed. Step 5: Enter at least one employee with administrative access. (See p. 33.) Note login name(s) and password(s)! Once you have gone live, the password DEMO cannot be used. Step 6: Log in with the login name and password entered in Step 5. Step 7: If you are planning to use The Retail Solution s general ledger, set up your chart of accounts (p. 163.) A sample chart of accounts is included; however, you may need to enter additional accounts based on your accountant s recommendations. Starting balances will be entered later. (See Step 18.) Step 8: Enter the rest of your Company Information. (See p. 15.) Step 9: Enter your vendors. (See p. 41.) Step 10: Enter your departments. (See p. 42.) Step 11: Enter your inventory items. (See p. 41.) For information about importing your inventory, see p Step 12: Enter your customer information. (See p. 79.) For accounts receivable customers, be sure to enter A/R information (p. 81.) For information about importing your customer information, see p Step 13: Take a complete inventory. If you are counting the inventory manually, create an inventory list using the Report Writer. (See p. 177 for instructions for creating a sample Physical Count Report.) Record the quantity for each item on the list, and then update the quantity using Global Update Quantity Adjustment. (See p. 145). A handheld data collector may also be used. Step 14: Make a complete backup of your data files. (See p. 114.) Even if you aren t ringing up sales yet, you don t want to lose the work you ve done so far. You should make backups on a daily basis. Step 15: Enter all outstanding inventory orders. (See p. 137.) Step 16: Start the PowerStation and log in with the login name and password you entered in The Manager s Workstation. 11

18 The Retail Solution User s Guide Step 17: Complete PowerStation setup in the Control Room. (See p. 85.) Step 18: Enter starting balances for your accounts. (See p. 163.) If you have entered your inventory quantities and last cost, your starting balance for the Inventory account has been entered for you. Step 19: Make a complete backup of all files. (See p. 114.) 12

19 Completing Your Registration After completing steps 1 and 2 of the Going Live Check List, you will need to complete your registration. Registration removes the 50-ticket limitation, allows network users to add other stations, and unlocks any additional modules you have purchased, such as Multi-Site, Rental, Web Store, or Scheduling. Registration is a one-time procedure. If you need to re-install the software, you must restore a backup of your registered data files to reregister the software. There are two ways to register: Registering by Phone This option is available during our regular business hours (Monday-Thursday 8AM-4PM; Friday 8AM-3PM). To register by phone, call (800) (U.S.) or (503) (international). Make sure that you have the following information available: Your Retail Solution serial number. Serial numbers for any additional options, such as Multi-Site, Rental, etc. Your company name, address, and phone number. Your screen number. To find your screen number, click the padlock icon next to your company name and address at the Company Information window. The unlock code you receive from our registration department will be entered at the same window. Registering by If you are unable to call during our regular business hours, you can send the above information via to sales@nwns.com. If necessary, you can use the temporary registration code (see below) until you receive your permanent code by return . Temporary Registration Temporary registration removes the 50-ticket limitation for 9 days. The temporary registration code can only be used once. Follow these steps: 1. Click the padlock icon next to your company name and address at the Company Information window. 2. In the Unlock Code field, enter this number: Don t forget to call for your permanent unlock code before the 9 days run out! Restoring Registration If you lose your registration, you can restore it from one of your daily backups (p. 112). Follow the steps for restoring a backup on p. 114, selecting Registration for the file to restore. 13

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21 Entering Company Information To access Company Information, from the Manager s Workstation Main Menu, select Control:Company Information. This is where you tell The Retail Solution basic information about your company. It includes a number of settings to customize the software for your business. For example, the payment types you will accept, sales tax information, etc. Take the time to review the options on each of the following tabs. It will save you time in the long run if you get things set up correctly now. Figure 1: Company Information window showing Payment Types Tab. Company Name and Address Prior to completing your registration, you will enter your company name, address, and phone number as you wish them to appear on your receipts, invoices, and purchase orders. Once you have entered your registration code, these fields will be locked. If you need to make changes to your address information, please call (800) for assistance. You can unlock these fields by clicking on the padlock icon. However, when you do this, the program will be placed in single user demo mode with a limit of 50 tickets. If the ticket number that you are currently using is greater than 50, you will not be able to ring up sales until you have received a new code from us! NOTE to network users: You may not select Yes for Network Version until you have completed your registration (p. 13.) 15

22 The Retail Solution User s Guide Payment Types This is where you tell The Retail Solution which payment types you accept. Up to 10 different payment types may be entered. For each type, enter the following: Code: This can be up to 4 characters. For example, CK, VISA, AMEX. The payment code is printed on the Sample Invoice form to indicate how a ticket was paid. It is also used on the End-of-Day detailed sales report. Payment Name: For example, Check, VISA, American Express. Ask for First and Ask for Next: Identification required with this form of payment. For example, Driver s License Number or Check Guarantee Number. Employees will be prompted to enter the appropriate ID information when accepting these forms of payment. Open: If you are using an automatic cash drawer, indicate whether you want the cash drawer to open when a specific type of payment is received. For example, you might want the drawer to open for cash, check, and credit card sales, but not for Accounts Receivable sales. Click on the field to toggle between Yes and No. Select Yes if you want the drawer to open for this payment type, or No if you do not. D/L: Select this option if you want the user to be prompted to swipe the customer s driver s license when this payment type is selected. See p. 18 for more information. Card: Click the field to toggle to the desired credit card processing option for this payment type: Select this option.. No Yes Debit Ask EBT Gift Tip Auto If this statement is true: This payment type is not a credit card. This payment type is a regular credit card. This payment type is a debit card. A PIN number must be entered to complete the sale. I want the user to be asked if this is a debit card when the card is swiped. (Allows you to use one payment type for both credit and debit cards.) The Retail Solution tracks debit and credit card transactions for our credit card report (p. 170) and for integration with credit card processing software (p. 23). If you want to track debit card purchases separately, use the Debit option. This payment type is a food stamp debit card. This payment type is a gift card authorized through my credit card processor. When a designated tip item is included on a ticket, I want the user to be prompted to enter a tip amount when the payment is processed. I want the card type (debit or credit) to be automatically determined when the card is swiped (Mercury Payment System users only). Discount: If this payment type is a credit card, enter the discount percent amount that you are charged for this card. (For example, if the discount is 2.5 %, enter 2.5.) In the column next to the Discount field, indicate how the discount fee is deducted from your account: enter A if the credit card fee is listed separately on your bank statement, or enter B if the credit card amount, less discount, is listed on your statement. The Retail Solution uses this information for the credit card report and for integration with the general ledger. NOTE: If you accept both debit and credit cards and want to track the discounts separately, do not combine them into one payment type. 16

23 Tips for Specific Payment Types NOTE: To specify end-of-sale print options for each payment type, see p. 95. Entering Your Company Information Cash Payment Type 1 is CASH and cannot be changed. By default, the cash payment type is defined as U.S. currency. For other types of currency, you can change the value and name of each denomination by following the steps below. If you accept foreign currency, you will need to add a payment type for each type of foreign currency that you accept, and then follow the steps below to define the values for each denomination. (This will allow you to use the Quick Count feature when balancing your drawer; see p. 111 for more information.) 1. Click Currency List. 2. Select the payment type you wish to customize from the list. 3. If applicable, enter the exchange rate for this payment type. The exchange rate is the number of units of foreign currency that may be exchanged for one unit of your currency. For example, if $1.50 in foreign currency equals $1.00 of your currency, the exchange rate would be Enter the name and decimal value for each denomination. (For example, Nickel,.05.) Up to 11 denominations may be entered. 5. (Optional) To round the ticket total to the nearest 5 cents, select Round Penny. To print the rounding adjustment amount on the customer's receipt, add the Rounding Amount field to your receipt layout in the PowerStation. 6. Click Exit when you are done. 7. To change the default currency symbol, enter the desired symbol character in the currency symbol field on the Payment Types tab. Accounts Receivable You must use the payment code AR. If you want to track the customer s PO number, you should enter PO Number for Ask for First. You must also complete setup on the A/R Control tab (p. 28), and set up your customer accounts (p. 81). Checks Using CK as the payment code will allow you to use The Retail Solution s Bad Check Tracking feature (p. 25). If you will be using the Driver s License scanning feature (p. 18), Number in the Ask for First field. Credit/Debit Cards If you are using integrated credit card processing software (p. 23), enter Card Number for Ask for First, and Authorization for Ask for Next for your credit/debit card payment types. The Retail Solution will automatically prompt the user to enter a CVV2 number for the card if it is entered manually rather than swiped. Select the appropriate option in the Card column (see p. 16). If you select Debit, the customer will be required to enter a PIN number, and may ask for cash back. See page 93 for information about supported PIN pad models and setup. Specify the Maximum payment amount over amount due on the Point-of Sale Options tab. Food Stamps If you include food stamps as one of your payment types, indicate the Payment Option for Food Stamps. When you enter your inventory, you will specify which items can be paid for with food stamps (p. 49). If you are using integrated credit card processing, for food stamp debit cards, select EBT in the Card column. 17

24 The Retail Solution User s Guide Gift Certificates If you sell gift certificates, in addition to creating one or more gift certificate inventory items (p. 60), you must set up a gift certificate payment type so that gift certificates can be redeemed for merchandise. If you are using Gift Card Tracking (p. 61), you must set up a Gift Card payment type; enter Gift Card Number for Ask for First. Store Credit If you want to be able to issue store credit for returned merchandise (p. 128), you must create a store credit payment type. Indicate the Payment option for store credit so The Retail Solution can track available store credit for each customer. To limit the amount of store credit a customer can apply to a purchase, specify the Maximum store credit percent used per sale on the Payment Types tab. If sales tax will not be charged on the portion of the sale paid for with store credit, select Credit tax when using store credit on the Payment Types tab. To manually enter store credit balances for multiple existing customers, select Issue customer credit from the Options menu at the Customer Global Update window. Driver s License Scanning If the state you live in issues driver s licenses with magnetic strips that can be scanned, this feature allows you to define the information encoded in the strip so it can be interpreted by The Retail Solution. When you set up your payment types, you will indicate the types for which you require the customer s driver s license to be scanned (p. 16). For example, you might require a driver s license as identification with a check or credit card payment. At point of sale, when the user selects one of the designated payment types, he will be prompted to scan the customer s driver s license before proceeding. Follow these steps for setup: 1. Determine the fields of information included in the magnetic strip (for example, driver s license number, name, address, etc.), including the number of characters used for each field. This information should be available from the issuing authority. 2. Select the D/L option (p. 16) for each payment type for which you will require a license to be scanned. It is not necessary to set Ask for first/next to Driver s License Number. The user will be prompted to scan the license before those prompts appear. However, if you want to store the number as one of the authorization numbers for the payment (available to the Report Writer, receipts and invoices, etc.), enter the Number in the Ask for First field. 3. Click Driver s License Scanning on the Payment Types tab. The setup window will be displayed. 4. Select the first information field from the drop-down list. Fields should be defined in the order they will appear when the license is scanned. 5. Enter the starting position for the first character of this field. (For example, the starting position of the first character in the first field would be 1.) 6. Enter the length (total number of characters) for this field. 7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 until all fields have been defined. Remember that you can determine the starting position of a field based on the starting position and length of the previous field. For example, if the previous field started at position 7 and was 6 characters long, the starting position of the next field would be Indicate whether you want driver s license information used to look up a customer or add information for a new customer if scanned at the end of a Quick Sale. If you want to be able to reference the customer with this information, you must use the driver s license number as the customer lookup code (p. 80). 9. When all codes have been defined, click Exit. 10. Ring up a test sale with an appropriate payment type and scan your own driver s license to verify that the fields have been defined correctly. 18

25 Entering Your Company Information Shipping Rates This option is used to update the shipping rates you charge your customers. For more information, see p. 74. Sales Tax Basic Sales Tax Setup Basic sales tax setup allows you to enter up to three different types of taxes. For example, you might have a state tax of 6.25 percent, a county tax of 1.25 percent, and a city tax of 2.0 percent. This means that on a regular (taxable) item, a regular customer will pay a total of 9.5 percent tax. When you enter your customers, you will specify whether their tax type is Regular (tax paying) or No Tax. When you enter your inventory items, you will specify whether their tax type is Regular (taxable) or No Tax. Follow these steps for setup: 1. For each tax type, enter the name (for example, Oregon ) and the tax percent (for example, 6.25 ). NOTE: Enter your state tax first. If you are using the Web Store option, web customers with addresses within your state will be charged the first tax. 2. Enter the word you want to use when referring to tax. For example, TAX or GST. 3. Indicate whether you want the tax amount printed on the receipt as a total (Show Total Tax) or listed individually. 4. Indicate the tax type. In the United States, tax is usually based on the item s retail price, and the tax amount is not included in the retail price of the item. If you select one of the VAT tax types, The Retail Solution will assume that the retail price of your inventory items includes the sales tax. Figure 2: Sample Basic Sales Tax setup. Tax Matrix The optional tax matrix allows you to charge different tax rates for different customers or inventory items. For example, your state tax might be 8.3 percent on beer and 9.0 percent on cigarettes. Or, you may charge different tax rates for customers from different areas: For example, customers living in Linn County might pay a 1.25 percent county tax; customers residing in Lincoln County might pay 2.7 percent county tax. The tax matrix allows you to set up 4 additional inventory tax types (besides Regular and No Tax ), and an unlimited number of customer tax types. Follow these steps to set up the tax matrix: 19

26 The Retail Solution User s Guide 1. Complete Basic Tax Setup. The tax percent entered for each type of tax will be the default paid by regular customers.the tax percent you entered above will be automatically filled in for the Regular Customer Type/Regular Inventory Type. 2. To set up additional inventory tax types, click the first blank line in the Inventory Type column, and enter the name for this inventory type (for example, Gas ). If you don t need to set up additional inventory tax types, skip to step For each type of tax, enter the tax percent charged for this item type. 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for any additional inventory tax types. 5. (Optional) Specify the desired G/L account for each tax type. (Default accounts are Sales Tax Payable 1, Sales Tax Payable 2, and Sales Tax Payable 3.) You have now completed tax setup for regular customers. That is, you have specified what tax rates regular customers will pay on different types of inventory items. (See Figure 3.) Now you are ready to add other customer tax types. Figure 3: Sample Tax Matrix showing tax amounts a Regular customer will pay on different types of inventory items. 6. To add a new customer type, click New and enter the name for this customer type. For example, Lincoln Cty. for Lincoln County residents. 20 Figure 4: Tax matrix showing tax rates for a Lincoln Cty. customer.

27 Entering Your Company Information 7. Specify the G/L account for each customer tax type. You can specify a different G/L account for any or all of the three tax types. For example, if you collect Linn County Sales Tax from Linn County residents, and Lincoln County Sales Tax from Lincoln County residents, you would want to set up a separate account for each tax so you know how much is due to each county. Select the desired account from the drop-down list. For information on setting up new accounts, see p For each type of inventory, enter the percentage for each tax type that will be paid by this customer type. 9. Repeat steps 7, 8 and 9 for each of your remaining customer types. When you enter a new inventory item, you will specify its tax type (p. 47). When you enter a new customer using The Manager s Workstation, you can specify his tax level (p. 80). If you want to be prompted to enter the tax level for a new customer entered in the PowerStation, select the option At the start of a new sale, ask for customer tax level on the Point-of-Sales Options tab. Editing the Tax Matrix To change the name of an inventory type, double-click on the field and enter the new name. To edit tax rates, select the customer type, and then double-click the rate field and enter the new rate. To edit the customer type names, select the desired customer type from the drop-down list, and then click Rename to change the name, or click Delete to delete that customer type. Point of Sales Options This tab contains a number of settings that affect the way you ring up sales: Last Ticket Number: When you first set up The Retail Solution, you can enter the desired starting ticket number. You should not change this number after you start ringing up sales. Track all purchases over: The Retail Solution will keep track of all purchases made by a customer that exceed the dollar amount you enter here. Months invoice history is saved: When you bring up a customer at the point-of-sale screen, you are given an option to recall past tickets. Enter the number of months you want The Retail Solution to store past tickets. For example, enter 24 if you want to save invoice history for two years. If you enter zero or leave this space blank, no invoice history will be saved. Default retail price level: New customers added at point-of-sale will automatically be assigned this price level. Start/End each ticket with this item: This option allows you to automatically start or end each ticket with a particular item. (Click the field label to toggle between Start and End.) Enter the stock number of the desired item in this field. Maximum payment amount over amount due: If you allow debit cash-back transactions, or allow customers to write a check for over the amount due, enter the maximum dollar amount of cash change a non-cash customer can receive. Cash drop when over starting balance by: If you want the user prompted to remove cash from the drawer when it reaches a certain dollar amount over the starting balance, enter the amount here. Cash drop information is available to the Report Writer (p. 175), and a Search Point entry is made for Video Surveillance tracking (p.?). Days from last sale points will be set to zero: Using TRS Rules (p. 121), you can set up a program for customers to earn points based on quantity or dollar purchases. Accumulated points can be redeemed for discounts on future purchases. You can specify an optional expiration date for points based on the customer's last purchase date. Ask for second address line: Select this option if you want to be prompted to enter a 2 nd address line for each new customer that you enter at point-of-sale. Ask for ship-to address: Select this option if you want to be prompted to enter the customer s Ship To address each time you ring up a sale. Do not include discounted items in percent ticket discount: Select this option to exclude items that are already 21