Transcript Inventory Control

Inventory Control
Taking the ComCash® POS System to
new levels of functionality for the
Retail Merchant.
Purpose & Features
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Expand the Capabilities of ComCash for the new POS user.
Simplify the data entry of New Items, Item searches and Purchase
Orders.
Easily create temporary PLU’s and/or unique PLU’s when the actual PLU
is not known or the Item does not have a PLU when received.
Provide the ability to quickly verify data Imported into QuickBooks via
the QBI module and/or have all the information necessary on one report
to make Daily entries into any Accounting program.
Generate more accurate reporting of COGS when the Cost of an item is
either unknown or not entered into ComCash.
Produce better looking Invoices and Purchase Orders.
Create complex analysis reports that may not be possible to produce
using Crystal Reports.
Ability to Merge Items without losing Sales History
And much, much more…
The Interface
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Designed using Microsoft Access and its ability to work
with SQL databases the End User is first presented
with a simple to navigate Menu Structure.
Item Cost
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Problem
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ComCash relies on either what has been entered in the Cost field of
Products or on the Last Cost entered from Receiving to determine COGS
or Inventory Valuations. In a perfect world, this is how it should be.
However in the real world, especially for new users of ComCash, the
actual Cost of an Item is either unknown or too time consuming to
research when Items are first entered. Businesses go for months and
sometimes years before having Costs on all Items. All Reports within
ComCash that involve Cost or COGS do not have any significant value as
long as there are ANY Items that have a Zero Cost associated with them.
Solution
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In a separate Table, have a Default or Target Profit Margin for each
Department. Whenever a report needs to show COGS or Inventory
Valuation, a formula can be used to sum up all Actual Costs and calculate
estimated Costs of Items that do not have a Cost entered based upon that
default Margin.
Default Profit Margins
For each Department you can set a Default Profit Margin by
either entering a dollar amount (as it relates to an Item you
would sell at $1) or a Margin Percent.
Daily Sales Summary
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Problem
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Because some Items may not have Costs
entered, and perhaps for other reasons,
ComCash does not even attempt to
Import Summary COGS information
into QuickBooks via QBI. (Importing
Detail Transactions via QBI into
QuickBooks will, but this is not a
realistic option either as the QBW file
becomes ridiculously big after even a
very short period of time). Without
COGS being entered into an accounting
program, its reports and totals are
useless.
More than a half-dozen different
Reports must be run in ComCash to
either verify QBI data or to make
manual entries into an accounting
program.
Solution
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A one page report that summarizes all
of the day’s activity.
Click here to view a Sample.
Forms…
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The Forms Menu
looks like this…
We will cover the
Products (Live)
form first.
Product Entry
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Problem
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When creating new Product Item entries you must navigate multiple tabbed screens which consumes time and important
fields are often overlooked.
Selecting the Vendor is far more difficult than it should be.
When creating Purchase Orders with new Items, you often do not know the correct PLU number until the product is
received. If Items do not already have a known PLU number, it is difficult to keep track of numbers previously used and you
don’t know if you have created a unique number until you go to save it.
Solution
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Use a form that has all of the most relevant fields; can automatically create new or temporary PLU numbers; can quickly
locate an Item by entering in the PLU number; allow for the changing of the PLU number; and use auto-completing dropdown fields for Dept, Type and Vendors. (When changing PLU numbers, all underling tables are updated so Sales History,
Orders and such aren’t lost or orphaned).
Type
If the
in PLU
a different
No does
PLU
not
No exist…
and…
You
Yougo
arestraight
asked iftoyou
it, if
want to
it exists.
change it or
create a new PLU.
Other relevant
information not
available in ComCash’s
Product screen.
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Just start typing a
Vendor’s name and the
field auto completes.
You can even edit the
On-hand without going
through an Adjustment
Screen.
Product Entry w/Temp PLU
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As stated previously, when adding a new Item and the PLU number
is unknown when ordering, excess thought or input should not be
required to make a temporary PLU number that is unique.
Just go to a new record in the Product Screen and skip the entry in
the PLU field.
Enter the Item No, if
there is one and select
or type in a Dept No.
After leaving the Dept
field
Proper
a Temporary
Case allowsPLU
for
number
longer isDescriptions
automatically
beforedetermined.
wrapping when
printing Receipts and
Reports, using less
paper.
Product Lookup
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The Product Lookup feature opens
from the Product form.
Expands upon the basic search
functions of ComCash
Adds the ability to Merge two Items
(a feature missing in ComCash)
without losing Sales History or Order
information
Deletes PLU’s from ALL underling
ComCash tables.
Both Windows are always open.
Product Lookup - Features
and the Product
Detail Appears above.
Click anywhere
within a Row
And the List Filters…
Type in a Search Word
(or part of a word)
and Click on the Filter
Button .
Flour
Product Lookup - Features
Another way to Filter a
list is by selecting some
Results can be sorted
text in most any column
by using any of the
and clicking on the
A-Z buttons…
“Search by Selection”.
Product Lookup - Features
If duplicate Items are
found…
one can be Deleted…
or they can be Merged
without losing Sales
History or Order Info.
And the List Filters…
DM21213252
997013252
And finally, you can
remove the filtering and
start over.
House Account Invoices
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Problem
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Even when printed on an
80 column printer,
ComCash’s Invoices still
look more like a Sales
Receipt than an Invoice
and does a poor job of
portraying a good
business image.
Payment Terms and other
fields are not present on
the printout.
Information imported via
QBI lacks purchase detail
and has incorrect Invoice
Number, so QuickBooks
is of no use.
Solution
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An invoice that looks like
an Invoice, can be mailed
and shows all pertinent
information.
House Account Invoices
All fields in White and Yellow
can be edited without effecting
the original ComCash data, but
are saved in a separate table.
The “Show Unprinted” button
filters the Records to thoughs
that have not been printed.
Click on the Report Preview
button to see the Invoice(s)
to be printed.
Click here for a Sample.
Purchase Orders
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Problem
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ComCash’s Inventory Order can do
some pretty neat things but its
biggest problem is that features like
adding New Products, Vendors,
Terms, etc. are buried in the
interface. Even locating the Item you
wish to order takes a lot of needless
scrolling, clicking and/or typing.
Although utilitarian, it has the look
and feel of an old DOS based
program. Even the Purchase Order
printout looks like it came from an
old Dot Matrix printer.
Solution
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An interface that puts everything on
one screen; makes extensive use of
auto-completing Drop-down boxes;
shows Sales History along with
Order info; provides Profit Margin
info so Retail can be adjusted prior
to arrival; produces better looking
printouts; and even allows for input
via a Barcode Scanner.
 Since the Inventory Control
Program is tied to the same data
as ComCash, you can use either
program, at any time.
Purchase Order - Header
…a New PO No Start
is Iftyping
you want
a Vendor’s
to see, editDates
or addare
automatically created. Vendor
Name…
information,
automatically
click on entered
Enter or Tab to next …and
field. it the
auto-completes.
appropriate
butbutton.
can be changed.
Hy
The Terms and Freight
The Freight Terms, Ship
Terms drop-downsVia
are and
pre-Comments are
filled with Default
fields
values
that ComCash should
associated with the Vendor
have but don’t.
but can be changed.
When you go to
a New Record…
You can have any…which can
Start typing or Select
number of Ship To
be added ora Buyer from the
addresses…
edited. Drop-down list of
ComCash Users.
Purchase Order - Detail
or
Items
Removed
can
be
from
Edited...
Added...
the PO.
If you haveWhen
accessyou
to have problems
from
locating
Shelf the
Tags,
Item from the
Items can beBarcodes
selected from
Reorder
Tags
Drop-downs,
or
Products,
you can open
the auto-completing dropItems
thescanned.
Product Lookup form.
down
down boxes
boxes of
of
PLU
PLUcan
#,
#,be
Item
Item
Item ##
#or
or
orDescription.
Description.
Description.
1
1
12
Order
12
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670829813107
…or
You can
PrintPreview
the Order.
the
View
Order…
Sample
Select how the
The 3 Item List buttons
Upon selection
Whenwill
you
ofbeare
anPlaced
Item,
finished,
and click on the control
what
appears
in Item
Cost
Cost and
and
Retail
Retail
of
of the
the
Item
…Landed
When
Estimated
Margin’s
are
its Sales History,
Place
Purchase
On
Hand
Order
button.
helpful information is
each
of
the
drop-downs.
can be changed directly on
Freight
updated.
Cost
isisentered
and On And
Order
theinfo
Status
Updated.
displayed
on screen.
this
form without having to
or changed...
automatically appear.
open the Product form.
Purchase Order – Generic PLU’s
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Generic PLU feature is used when you need to place a Purchase Order for multiple
similar Items that will end up with the same PLU No within ComCash but are actually
for different Items from the Supplier when ordering.
The Order the Supplier gets
shows the Ext Desc field instead
of theADescription
field.
sample Purchase
View
Sample
Order follows…
Selecting
Generic
The Extthe
Description
PLU
option
modifies
the
field in the PO is used
appearance
of the
to identify
the Form
Item
andbeing
PO printout.
ordered.
Purchase Order - Receiving
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The Purchase Order to be
Received
bethe
quickly
located by
…or by can
using
Drop-Down.
typing in the PO No...
The actual Receiving of Items is still done in
ComCash Inventory. What ComCash is lacking
is a report that can be used in the Receiving
Area to make notes on PLU No discrepancies,
Qty Rec’d, exceptions and if Items require
Barcode Labels or not.
This kind of report can be generated by
returning to the Purchase Order form in the
Inventory Control program.
1434
99
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If after checking Goods in, you
have to correct PLU No’s or
Cost, you can do it directly on
the line Item.
If the Item does not have a
Barcode, just replace the “??” for
an In-house PLU number.
Clicking on the Notepad Icon
generates the Receiving Report.
View Sample
Purchase Order - Cancellation
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ComCash can Cancel Backordered Items by Closing the Purchase Order, but
what it can’t do is Cancel individual Items from a Purchase Order or Produce
a printout that can be sent to the Supplier.
Canceling
The
Answering
Answering
“Canceled”
a Purchase
No
Yes
column
allows
will
Order
you
isorto
Items
unhidden
automatically
manually
off and
ofset
aput
aPurchase
the
dialog
allQty
BO
appears.
toOrder
Items
Cancel
You
even Undo
a
is asineasy
the
in
the
“Canceled”
ascan
“Canceled”
selecting
column.
thecolumn.
“Order
Cancellation
by re-selecting
Cancellation”
option.
any of the other “Methods
Order Placed”.
If the Vendor needs to be
notified, you can Produce a
Purchase Order Cancellation.
View Sample
Labels & Tags
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Problem
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ComCash’s ability to make
Custom Labels is really
quite good, although there
is a learning curve to get
the most out of it. Where
it needs the most help is in
the selection of Items.
Solution
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Have the ability to select
Items that were recently
Received.
Make manual selection of
Items easier.
Ability to make Shelf Tags
with mixed size fonts.
Make simple Sale Signs
from Index Card stock
and set Promo Info at the
same time.
Labels & Tags - Product
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The Labels & Tags form is capable of producing two different sizes of Product Labels
using your Inkjet or Laser printer; Standard 3 column & 4 column label stock.
The Printout is capable of skipping previously used Labels so partial pages of labels
can be used.
Select
Choose
a Label
Select
how
Type
to
a Label
SelectSize
Items.
The basic process for producing each type
of Label or Tag is the same.
If you need to, you can
modify the Description that
will Print on the Label.
Product Labels can be produced
with or without the Price and you
can even use partial pages of labels.
If you previously marked products
View Sample (Lg)
needing Barcodes within the Purchase
View Sample (Sm)
Order form, it’s just a matter of
selecting that PO.
Labels & Tags - Shelf
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The Labels & Tags form is capable of producing two different sizes of Shelf Labels that fit into
the channels of Retail Shelving; a 1¼ x 1⅞” & 1¼ x 3¼”.
Producing Shelf Labels is much the same as making Product Labels except the Default Quantity
‘To Print’ is now 1 (Qty ‘To Print’ can be anything).
Select a Vendor and an Item List
option.
You then use any of the autocompleting Drop-downs.
You can add to the list by
selecting additional PO’s, Manual
Manual Selection
like it
Selection
or with aworks
Barcode
does in the
Purchase Order
Scanner.
form.
Hyd
Shelf Labels can be produced
using partial pages of labels as
well.
View Sample (Sm)
View Sample (Lg)
Labels & Tags - Sale
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The Labels & Tags form is capable of producing two different sizes of Sale Signs
from Card Stock; 4 to a Page (Index Cards) and 10 to a Page (Business Card Stock).
Promo information such as Sale Price, Start and End Dates can either be set using
ComCash or on the fly within the Label form.
When you select the
Sale Label Type option.
When Items have been
previous setup in ComCash
with Promo info, all you
need do is select a Date on
the Calendar that the Sale
falls between.
752289790508
AWhen
Promo
Items
Date
Sale
have
option
Tags
not can
been
for be produced with or
Selecting
setup with
Items
without
Promo
appears.
the
info,Ending Date on them.
select one of the other
View
twoSample (Sm)
methods. View Sample (Lg)
And all Items are
automatically inserted.
You can even remove Promo
Info on All or Selected
Items by selecting the Reset
UponData
entering
Then
theenter
Sale the number
button.
Price, two dialogs
of appear
Tags to Print.
where you set the Starting
and Ending Dates..
10.00
5
Reports
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Following are samples of the various reports. The Reports with
filtering Dialog. Click on it to see the Dialog.
Open Purchase Orders
Inventory Valuation
Inventory Sales History
Product Summary
Product Reorder Analysis
Sales Reports…
Sales by Customers
Periodic Sales Analysis
Periodic Category Analysis
If your mouse disappears after clicking on a
around until it reappears.
move it
have a
Summary
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The current version of ComCash is showing its age but is still a robust POS
system. ComCash’s main problem is that it was written to accommodate the
largest possible number of users. Because of its installed base and
complexity, it is very difficult to change a feature without adversely affecting
some other feature and/or end user.
Inventory Control was written with Microsoft Access for its ability to connect
to the ComCash’s SQL Database, its ability to improve upon ComCash’s
features without effecting the base program, its capability to be customized to
individual user’s needs, its superior Print Engine for creating attractive
Reports and because it can be distributed with Access Runtime, (a stripped
down version of Access that can be distributed freely), so it is not absolutely necessary
for each of the End User’s computers to have the full blown version of
Access installed. Couple that with ability to share the MDB Access file, (with
all of its specialized programming), across a local area mapped network drive and
you have one powerful solution that the entire Back office can use and
enhances the capabilities of ComCash.