Point-of-Sale Tips: Working Faster and Smarter

 New Training CD Available

On-Screen Tutorial- This is an interactive on-screen tutorial that describes in great detail how to use the Inventory Control and Accounts Receivable modules. It also includes instructions on how to setup Genesis Advantage during the installation process. The tutorial communicates through the use of screen snapshots and animated highlights. It's an excellent tool for beginners and experienced users alike.

User's Guide- We have developed a nearly 400 page User's Guide that covers almost every aspect of using the Genesis Advantage system. The guide is packaged on the CD in Adobe Acrobat format so you can view it on your screen, or print a hardcopy on your printer.

Quick Start Guide- This brief booklet describes how to get up and running with Genesis Advantage in just a few pages. Its a great aid for experienced users.

Report Packets- Copies of the Inventory Control and Accounts Receivable Report Packets are included on the Training CD. These booklets contain examples and descriptions of the reports in these two modules. The Report Packets are a terrific tool for discovering the vast amount of information Genesis can provide to you, where you will find it, and how to use it!

Adobe Acrobat Reader- A copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader is included on the CD so you can view and print the User's Guides and Report Packets.

The Training CD is available free of charge to all existing Genesis Advantage clients. Just call the office at 509-536-4739, or e-mail Michelle at sales@genesis4windows.com and ask for your copy.

Top of Page

 Point of Sale Tips- Working Faster and Smarter

ü Duplicating Customer Name/Address Info- There are variety of ways to avoid typing and retyping a customer's address information. Press the Page Down key while your cursor is in the first or last name field and choose an option from the drop down list:

• Search for a customer's address information in history and select it from a list.

• Duplicate the information from the most recently entered sales invoice.

You can also duplicate information from individual fields in the previous sales invoice by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing Enter while your cursor is in one of the address information fields.

ü Select City, State, and Zip From A List- Press the Page Down key while your cursor is in the City, ST, or Zip field and then select a commonly used city/state/zip combination from the drop down list. This feature must be set up ahead of time in the ICS Setup program.

ü Looking Up a Salesperson's Number- Press the Page Down key while your cursor is in one of the salesperson number entry fields. Select a salesperson by name from the lookup list on your screen.

ü Inserting a Line on a Sales Invoice- Right click on the quantity for any item on your sales invoice and then select "Insert a Line" from the pop-up menu.  New in Advantage 3.0 

ü Deleting a Line on a Sales Invoice- Right click on the quantity for any item on your sales invoice and then select "Delete a Line" from the pop-up menu.  New in Advantage 3.0   

ü Select Multiple Items From the Item List- You can select more than one item at a time from the list of items by holding down your Ctrl or Shift key while clicking on items in the list. Click on the Continue button in the upper right corner of the Item List Window to insert all of your selected items on the sales invoice.

ü Duplicating the Dep. and Mfg. Numbers From a Previous Line- Enter a quantity and then hold down the Ctrl key and press Enter. The department and manufacturer numbers from the previous line will be inserted and the Item Number List will be automatically displayed.

ü Automatically Calculate a Discount- Click on the Price column header to display the pricing options window. Click on the Calculate a Discount tab, enter a discount rate, and then click OK.

ü Automatically Calculate an "Out The Door" Price- This is a great feature when you sell a bunch of items on a sales invoice for a single "out the door" price. Click on the Price column header to display the pricing options window. Click on the "Out The Door" Pricing tab, enter a price, and then click OK.

ü Keyboard Shortcuts- There are a couple of keyboard shortcuts for those of you that don't like using your mouse all of the time:

• Saving an Invoice- Pressing the F10 key on your keyboard has the same effect as clicking on the Save button.

• Jumping to The Payment Method Prompts- Press the F6 to move your cursor to the payment method prompts.

• On-Screen Help- Press the F1 key to display on-screen help for sales invoice entry.

Top of Page

 Reading the Daily Sales Report

Your Daily Sales Report provides an extensive amount of useful information for your business. Understanding how to read it will help make the process of finalizing your days faster and more efficient. It will also help you manage the day-to-day aspects of your business as you see information for the day unfolding in real-time.   Section #1 - Invoices & Payments The first section appearing on your Daily Sales Report shows the detail for each invoice, return and payment entered for the day. Before finalizing the day, scan through the Profit % column to make sure the margins are within an acceptable range. This will help identify erroneous costs and prices. If you find a problem, change the item master and then reenter the item on the invoice. A 100% profit margin could indicate that the cost was never entered onto the Item Master. A high margin could mean that landed costs weren't calculated when receiving. A low margin may indicate a salesperson is selling an item for too little money. Section #2 - Recorded Deliveries This section lists the deliveries that have been recorded since the last time you finalized a day. Keep in mind that even if you change your processing date when recording the delivery, it will still appear on the Daily Sales Report for the next day you finalize, no matter what date it is. Section #3 - Miscellaneous Entries Entries that you make through the Accounts Receivable module (such as late charges) and miscellaneous bookkeeping entries made through the Inventory Control module will appear in this section. Keep in mind that, just like deliveries, miscellaneous entries will appear on the next Daily Sales Report you finalize, no matter what date it is. Section #4 - Account Analysis Summary This section contains your bookkeeping totals for the day as well as your month-to-date bookkeeping totals. These amounts reflect the actual debits and credits which get posted to the General Ledger module. The daily totals get reset to zero after you finalize the day. The monthly totals get reset to zero after you close the month. Additional Sections Additional sections may be printed with the Daily Sales Report by checking the corresponding box on the Daily Sales Report printing screen. Written Sales Totals: This section provides a very useful summary of your daily and monthly sales, based on a written accounting basis. It provides the total cost, total retail, profit percentage and percentage of sales for each department. Cost of Goods Sold - If you work on a Written Accounting Basis, the total cost shown at the bottom of this section is the amount that will be posted to the General Ledger as Cost of Goods Sold. Sales Report - Whether you work on a Written or Delivered Accounting Basis, this section is a good place to go for an overall view of sales for the day/month. Salespeople's Summary: This section provides a view of each salesperson's performance, broken down by department, special orders and miscellaneous sales. It also provides the average sale amount, average profit margin and the percentage of total sales for each salesperson. Payment by type summary: Each payment recorded through the Inventory Control System can be classified as "Cash," "Check," "M/C or Visa," or as two other user-defined categories. This section of the Daily Sales Report provides the totals for each category. The total cash amount should match the total cash to be deposited for the day. The totals for credit card payments should match your total batch amount for the day on your merchant account report (if available). You can also refer to this section later when reconciling your bank statement.   What Should I Do Before Finalizing? Be sure your "Processing Date" is set to the same day that you are finalizing. This will either be your computer's system date, or date you have specified for an active processing date. For most of you this will be your computer's system date. Make sure no one is using using the Accounts Receivable module or entering invoices, returns or payments into the Inventory Control System. Make sure you are not finalizing a day in a new month when the previous month has not yet been closed. Note: You may enter invoices into the new month, but just don't finalize the day. Balance your daily bank deposit amount, check profit margins and ensure your sales invoices and receipts were entered correctly.   What Happens When I Finalize A Day? Invoices are moved to the history area. The daily bookkeeping totals are posted to the G/L (if your system is setup to post Daily). The commissions for salespeople are added to the commission report (if you are working on a written accounting basis). Special order items are placed in the special order pending file. The customers on your sales invoices are added to your mailing list. The cash deposit amounts you specified in the ICS Setup program are automatically added to the Bank Reconciliation screen in the General Ledger module. The report is saved to the Report Warehouse area for later viewing.   Is It OK to Finalize a Day Twice? If you find additional information that needs to be entered after you have already finalized your day, it is okay to finalize the day again. You will just have an additional report to keep for that day. Note: If the day is not part of your current month, you will need to do a manual journal entry to move the amounts to the correct month.

Top of Page

 Printing Vendor Account Numbers on A/P Checks

1. Click on the Vendors button on the A/P main screen and then take the appropriate steps to create a new vendor record or display an existing record.

2. Click on the Factor Address/Notes tab.

3. Enter the vendor’s account number at the Vendor Account Number prompt. Click on the option titled “Print the vendor’s account number on checks” if you want the vendor’s account number to print on the memo line of printed checks for this vendor.

Top of Page

 Making Automatic Backups

1. Start the Genesis Backup program by right clicking on the Genesis logo that appears on the opening system screen and then selecting "Backup/Restore" from the pop-up menu.

2. Click on the Setup tab.

3. Select the "Use Automatic Scheduled Backups" option and then enter the time of day when you want Genesis to create a backup copy of your data. Remember to use military style time (i.e. 3:00 PM is entered as 15) when entering your start time.

4. Select the "Make Separate Backups For Each Day of The Week" option.

5. Click on the Backup Files tab.

6. Click on the Start button and then click on the minimize button. Genesis backup will wait until your selected time and then automatically create a backup copy of your data. A separate backup will be made for each day of the week.

Top of Page

 Genesis Partners With Exim Technologies

Top of Page

 Questions and Answers

A. The amount of customer history you can keep on-line is only limited by the amount of free space on your hard disk. A typical year of customer history might take 70-100 megabytes of storage space. The capacity of hard disk drives has increased dramatically in the last few years. Today's hard disk drives will allow you to easily store up to 50 years of history on-line.

Q. My Office Manager wants to install a wireless network in my store. I went shopping and noticed that two basic types of wireless networks exist. What's the difference between the 802.11b equipment and the 802.11g wireless equipment?

A. In a word: speed. The "g" equipment will transmit data between your workstations and your server up to 10 times faster than the "b" equipment. 802.11g is the current standard for wireless networking and is your best choice at this time.

Q. Is there a way I can list all of the service calls I have made for a particular manufacturer?

A. Sure! Start the Customer Service program and go to the Reports section. Click on the Service History tab and select the option to print history by manufacturer.  Select a date range, a manufacturer name, and then click on the Start Printing button.

Q. What happens when Genesis reorganizes its files?

A. This is an important housekeeping process that Genesis needs to complete on a routine basis. Many of your most important data files are sorted and checked for data integrity issues during this process. Genesis also counts your current inventory levels and updates the average inventory levels that appear on various inventory reports. Reorganizing your files in Genesis is just like changing the oil in your car. Doing it on a routine basis will keep things running smoothly!

Top of Page