BACK OFFICE INTRODUCTION REVISION 1.1
Contents Contents... 2 BEACON BACK OFFICE INTRODUCTION... 4 BEACON BACK OFFICE SCREEN LAYOUT... 4 BACK OFFICE MENU LAYOUT... 5 BACK OFFICE TOOLBAR ICONS... 5 TOOLBAR ABOUT ICON... 6 TOOLBAR POS ICON... 6 TOOLBAR SALES ICON... 7 Example Transaction Search... 8 TOOLBAR STOCK ENQUIRY ICON... 10 Example Stock Enquiry... 11 TOOLBAR DAILY REPORTS ICON... 12 Example Daily Reports... 13 TOOLBAR STOCKTAKE ICON... 15 TOOLBAR RECONCILE SHIFTS ICON... 15 TOOLBAR SYNCHRONISE PDA ICON... 16 TOOLBAR LABEL QUEUE PRINTING ICON... 17 BACK OFFICE ACTIVE WINDOWS... 18 BACK OFFICE MESSAGE WINDOW... 18 Example Messages... 19 Clearing Messages... 19 BACK OFFICE DESKTOP... 20 BACK OFFICE PROCESS MONITOR... 20 FILE MENU OPTION... 21 EDIT MENU OPTION... 21 VIEW MENU OPTION... 21 POS MENU OPTION... 21 DATA ENTRY MENU OPTION... 22 STOCK MENU OPTION... 22 CUSTOMERS MENU OPTION... 22 SUPPLIERS MENU OPTION... 23 GENERAL LEDGER MENU OPTION... 23 REPORTS MENU OPTION... 23 Page 2 of 28
SETUP MENU OPTION... 24 PERIODIC MENU OPTION... 24 TOOLS MENU OPTION... 25 TOOLS MENU RESTRICTED FUNCTIONS... 25 LOGOFF MENU OPTION... 25 WINDOW MENU OPTION... 26 HELP MENU OPTION... 26 Websites... 26 Database Snapshot... 27 About Beacon... 27 Page 3 of 28
BEACON BACK OFFICE - INTRODUCTION BEACON BACK OFFICE SCREEN LAYOUT The following page will introduce you to the Beacon Back Office and help to familiarise yourself with the layout of the Back Office and the numerous functions that the Beacon System has to offer. Below is a screen shot of Beacon Back Office System (BOS) with the various parts of the screen highlighted to explain their usage. Beacon Back Office Menu Options Beacon Back Office Toolbar Options Beacon Back Office Active Windows Beacon Back Office Desktop Beacon Back Office Message Area Beacon Process Monitor Page 4 of 28
BACK OFFICE MENU LAYOUT The Beacon Back Office Menu layout is designed as a standard Windows application with all of the functions available under the menu options across the top of the screen. Each of the menu options contain functions specific to the area listed on the Menu. Example clicking on Stock will display all of the available stock functions. To access the options under the Menus, Click on the top entry and the available options will display. Some menus display a character this indicates that this item on the menu has a Sub-menu that can also be displayed. Clicking on the line with the character will display the Sub-Menu. BACK OFFICE TOOLBAR ICONS The Beacon Back Office Menu also has several larger icons showing just below the menu bar. This area is known as the Toolbar. This area contains the Beacon Back Office Toolbar Icons The icons displayed on the Toolbar provide access to certain functions in Beacon Back Office. Several of the often used functions in Beacon Back Office have been linked to the icons on the Toolbar this provides quick access to these often used functions. Clicking once on one of these icons on the toolbar is the same as selecting an option from the menu. The following section shows a listing of each of the Beacon Back Office Toolbar Icons and the functions that are linked to each of these. Page 5 of 28
TOOLBAR ABOUT ICON The first Icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is the About Icon. Clicking on the About Icon will display the About Beacon window. Below is an example of this window. It lists all the versions of the applications that Beacon is currently running. To close the About Beacon window click on the OK button. TOOLBAR POS ICON The second icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is the POS Icon. Clicking once on the POS Toolbar Icon will load the Beacon Point of Sale application on the Beacon Back Office Machine. Page 6 of 28
TOOLBAR SALES ICON The third icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is the Sales Icon. Clicking once on the Sales Toolbar Icon will load the Transactions Search window. Using this window you can search for transactions that have been performed in the Beacon POS and transferred to the Beacon Back Office. Using this screen you can search for transactions based on any of the selections available by clicking on the search details and then providing the search criteria. You can use any of the numerous options available through this screen to drill down on the transaction you require. Below is an example of how to use the Sales Transactions Search screen. Page 7 of 28
Example Sales Transaction Search The following search will identify all transactions performed by the User Code: POS on the 22 nd February 2008. Click on the All Dates tick box in the Date Range area to display the following screen which allows you to select the dates that you require. To set the date click the Drop-Down list in the From section this will open a calendar as shown below. Use the calendar to select the From Date that you wish to Search from. Click on the Date you require as shown below. Repeat the above steps in the To date section in the Date Range area. If you are searching for transactions on a specific date then the To date would be set for the same date as the From selection. Or if you require searching over a period of days or weeks then you would select the dates you require and Beacon will search inside the date range you have provided. Now to set the User Code to search for, click on the tick box in the User section. This will give you access to the User Code Entry box. If you know the specific User name to search for this can be entered in or you can click the magnifying glass to open a search window to locate the User Name. Now clicking the OK button will initiate the search. Page 8 of 28
Below is an example of the Search results that Beacon back Office has located. Once the results are displayed on the screen you can use the scroll bar on the right of the display window to scroll through the list to locate specific transactions. Various fields in this display window will allow you to drill down to specific details about the transactions. These fields can be identified by the mouse cursor turning into a pointing finger. Any of these fields will allow you to click on them to access the information. If you require a printed copy of the information then select File Print from the Back Office Menu This will allow you to select the printer and print the report you need. Page 9 of 28
TOOLBAR STOCK ENQUIRY ICON The fourth icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is the Stock Enquiry Icon. Clicking once on the Stock Enquiry Toolbar Icon will load the Stock Item Enquiry window. Using this window you can search stock items in the Beacon Back Office. Note: This screen is only used to lookup and perform enquiries on stock items. Details of the stock items cannot be changed in this window. Below is an example of how to use this screen. Page 10 of 28
Example Stock Enquiry If you know the specific Stock Code for the item you want to enquire on this can be keyed into the Product Code text entry box and then press enter to display the item details on the screen. As per the example screen below: Enter Stock Code in this example Stock Code 2 Unleaded is keyed in and then the Enter key can be pressed to access the details. These buttons become available only when an item is displayed. Once the details for the Stock Item are displaying on the screen (as above), the system will give you access to the Sales, Orders, Supplier Trans and Transactions buttons across the bottom of the screen. Clicking on these buttons will show various details about the specific stock item. Page 11 of 28
TOOLBAR DAILY REPORTS ICON The fifth icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is the Daily Reports Icon. Clicking once on the Daily Reports Toolbar Icon will load the Reporting window. Using this window you can display and print the various Daily reports that have been configured in the Beacon Back Office Setup option. The example above shows that the Finalisation Summary, Fuel Sales Summary & Total reports have been selected plus we will select specific shifts in February 2008. Page 12 of 28
Example Daily Reports In the bottom section of the screen are the available shifts that you can report on. For this example we need to select the February 2008 entry as shown below. To see the information that you have selected you can also double click on the February 2008 entry and this will display all the shifts that are available in February 2008 as shown below. In this screen you can also select and deselect certain shifts as you require. Once the Report options have been set click the OK button. A progress bar will display as shown below. The report viewer will now display as shown below. Beacon Demo System The Daily Reports can be displayed by clicking on the report name in the Report Viewer screen. Below is the example Finalisation Summary report. Page 13 of 28
Beacon Demo System You can print this report by clicking on the Print icon on the menu bar. To close this report, click on the X in the top right of the screen. This will take you back to the Report Viewer screen where you can access the other reports that were produced. Beacon Demo System Page 14 of 28
TOOLBAR STOCKTAKE ICON The sixth icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is the Stocktake Icon. Clicking once on the Stocktake Toolbar Icon will load the Stocktake window. Using this window you can perform the Beacon Back Office Stocktake function. This will be covered in detail later in this document. TOOLBAR RECONCILE SHIFTS ICON The seventh icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is Reconcile Shifts Icon. Clicking once on the Reconcile Shifts Toolbar Icon will load the Reconcile Shifts Stage #1 Select Shifts window. Using this window you can perform the Beacon Back Office Shift Reconciliation function. This will be covered in detail later in this document. Below is an example of the Shift Reconciliation screen. Page 15 of 28
TOOLBAR SYNCHRONISE PDA ICON The eighth icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is Synchronise PDA Icon. Clicking once on the Synchronise PDA Toolbar Icon will load the Synchronise PDA window. This is used to transfer data from the Back Office to your PDA device unit and from the PDA unit to the Back Office. This will be covered in detail later in this document. Page 16 of 28
TOOLBAR LABEL QUEUE PRINTING ICON The ninth icon on the Beacon Back Office Toolbar menu is Label Queue Printing Icon. Clicking once on the Label Queue Printing Toolbar Icon will load the Label Queue window. Below is an example of the Label Queue window. The function and use of the Label Queue Printing window will be covered in detail in a later section of this reference guide. Page 17 of 28
BACK OFFICE ACTIVE WINDOWS The Active windows area of Beacon Back Office will list all the active windows that are currently open. New windows can be opened and stacked in this area and can be recalled quickly as they are required. An example of this would be having the Stock Maintenance - Enquiry window open checking stock items as well as having the Stock Maintenance Add window open to add any items that are not found in the Enquiry window. Using the Active Windows section allows you to alternate between these windows by clicking on them in this area. You can quickly change screens by clicking on one of the open screens in the Active Window box BACK OFFICE MESSAGE WINDOW The Back Office Message Window is the area where any system generated messages will display. There are numerous messages that can be displayed in this area. To view a Message simply Click on the message in this window Page 18 of 28
Example Messages Clicking on a Message will display the full Message details as shown below. The 2 messages listed in the previous example are displayed below. Both of the messages below relate to Promotions that have ended in the system. Example Promotion Messages in Beacon Clearing Messages To clear the messages in Beacon BOS Message window select the messages that you wish to delete or click on the Select All button and then press the Delete button. With the messages to be deleted selected Click the delete button to clear the messages Page 19 of 28
BACK OFFICE DESKTOP The Beacon Back Office Desktop is the Window in which the application runs as shown in the example screen below. This is where all input to Beacon is performed and where any results are displayed by the Beacon Back Office application. BACK OFFICE PROCESS MONITOR Located in the bottom right hand corner of the Beacon Back Office screen is the Back Office Process Monitor area. The Back Office Process Monitor constantly displays the status of the following items: Internet Ensuring that the Internet is available Mega-Link Communication between the POS and BOS. Inbox Processor Process the data transported by Mega-Link. Below is an example of the Back Office Process Monitor: The above example indicates that the Megalink process is disconnected and the Inbox Processor is currently suspended. Page 20 of 28
FILE MENU OPTION The File Menu option on the Beacon Back Office Menu is shown below. This menu option provides access to the following functions: Print, Report Viewer, Print Setup, Send, Exit EDIT MENU OPTION The Edit Menu option on the Beacon Back Office Menu is shown below. This menu option provides access to standard Windows functions: Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste VIEW MENU OPTION The Edit Menu option on the Beacon Back Office Menu is shown below. This menu option provides access to standard Windows functions: Toolbar, Status Bar POS MENU OPTION The POS Menu option on the Beacon Back Office Menu is shown below. This menu option provides access to Beacon POS function on the Back Office machine. Page 21 of 28
DATA ENTRY MENU OPTION The Data Entry Menu option provides access to a number of the major functions that are performed in the Back Office system. The Data Entry Options available in Beacon BOS are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 2. Beacon Data Entry Reference Guide. STOCK MENU OPTION The Stock Menu option provides access to the Stock related functions available in the Beacon Back Office system. The Stock Menu Options available in Beacon BOS are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 3. Beacon Stock Reference Guide. CUSTOMERS MENU OPTION The Customer Menu option provides access to the Customer functions available in the Beacon Back Office system. The Customer Menu options in Beacon BOS are covered in detail in Section 4. Beacon Customer Reference Guide. Page 22 of 28
SUPPLIERS MENU OPTION The Suppliers Menu option provides access to the Supplier functions available in the Beacon Back Office system. The Supplier Menu options available in Beacon BOS are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 5. Beacon Supplier Reference Guide. GENERAL LEDGER MENU OPTION The General Ledger Menu option provides access to the General Ledger functions available in the Beacon Back Office system. The General Ledger Menu options available in Beacon BOS are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 6. Beacon General Ledger Reference Guide. REPORTS MENU OPTION The Reports Menu option provides access to the Report functions available in the Beacon BOS these are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 7. Beacon Reports Reference Guide. Page 23 of 28
SETUP MENU OPTION The Setup Menu option provides access to the Setup functions available in the Beacon Back Office system. Below is a screen shot showing the menu options available under Setup Menu option. These options are usually only required during the initial setup of your Beacon system and should only be accessed by users with Administrative system access and with guidance from Beacon Support Staff. The Setup Menu options available in Beacon BOS are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 9. Beacon Setup Reference Guide. PERIODIC MENU OPTION The Periodic Menu option provides access to the Periodic functions available in the Beacon Back Office system. Below is a screen shot showing the menu options available under the Periodic Menu option. The Periodic Menu options available in Beacon BOS are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 10. Beacon Periodic Reference Guide. Page 24 of 28
TOOLS MENU OPTION The Tools Menu option provides access to the numerous additional functions available in the Beacon Back Office system. These functions would usually be used after consultation with Beacon Support staff. The Tools Menu options are covered in detail in a separate section of this reference guide - Section 11. Beacon Tools Reference Guide. TOOLS MENU RESTRICTED FUNCTIONS The functions available under the Tools Restricted Functions Tab are for use by Beacon Support staff and require a password to access these functions. LOGOFF MENU OPTION The Log off Menu option is used primarily to log off the Beacon Back Office system. There is also an option on this menu to change the Current User logged into Beacon BOS password. The use of these functions should already be familiar with any computer user operating in a Windows environment. If you require assistance with this then please speak to your Beacon Trainer regarding its use. Page 25 of 28
WINDOW MENU OPTION The Window menu option allows the Back Office desktop to be customised. This is not advisable and the screen should be left on the current settings. HELP MENU OPTION The Help Menu in Beacon BOS contains several options, these are covered briefly below. Websites When this menu Option is selected there are 2 Sub-Menu listed Beacon Website and Your IP. Beacon Website: The Beacon website will take you to the external Beacon website and if you have registered for the Knowledge Base you will be able to login and browse through the documents available in the Beacon Knowledge Base. Your IP: This website will take you to a Beacon Utility that will display the IP Address of your site. This will be needed from time to time when dealing with Beacon Support staff. Page 26 of 28
Database Snapshot The database snapshot as the name suggests provides an instant snapshot of the Beacon Database and would usually be only used by Beacon Support in the process of investigating an issue with your Beacon BOS system. The database snapshot screen is divided in two parts, the left side of the screen provides a quick glimpse of important Beacon data contained in the System Control file and the right hand side provides a glimpse of the current Database tables and also the record count of each of the tables. Below is an example of the screen that displays when this option is selected. System Control file data is displayed on the left hand side of the screen. This can assist in identifying a possible cause to a system problem in your Beacon BOS. This is usually used acon Support Abouo nly t Beacon by The right side of the display contains a listing of all the Database tables in your Beacon BOS system and shows the current record count and also the specific file name that contains each table. Page 27 of 28
The remaining option under the Help menu is the About Beacon option. When this option is selected another window will be displayed. This shows information relating to the version of Beacon Executable files that are running on your system. Below is an example of the screen that will display: This screen displays important information relating to the versions that are running on your Beacon System. Once again this is usually used in diagnosing a problem by Beacon Support Staff. Page 28 of 28