Professional 6.0
User’s Guide
Copyright © 2000-2005, Design Manager, Inc. / Franklin-Potter Associates, Inc.
Table of Contents
INSTALLATION ...6
OVERVIEW...11
Important Definitions ... 11
Short Cut Keys & Other Useful Features ... 11
Compatible Forms, Envelopes, and Labels ... 13
PRELIMINARY SETUP...14
Company Information... 14
Passwords ... 15
Fiscal Month Setting ... 16
Chart of Accounts ... 17
Sales Categories... 18
Sales Tax Codes... 20
Opening Balances Overview... 21
PROJECT MANAGEMENT ...24
Overview ... 24
Project Setup - Basic ... 24
Project Setup - Advanced ... 27
Specifying ... 31
Proposals ... 45
Proposal Editing and Reprinting... 47
Purchase Orders... 48
Creating Purchase Orders ... 48
Editing Purchase Orders ... 50
Fax/Email POs... 51 Order Tracking ... 53 PO Status Window ... 54 Delivery Tickets ... 55 Other Tools ... 56 To Do List ... 56 Appointment Calendar... 57 Rolodex®... 57
SIF File Import ... 59
Introduction... 59
Importing a SIF File ... 59
Options and Settings ... 59
Vendor Translation ... 60
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE...62
Overview ... 62
Setting up Vendors ... 62
Entering Vendor Invoices... 65
Operating Expenses ... 65
Enter PO Related Vendor Invoices ... 66
Miscellaneous Project Expenses... 68
Vendor Deposits ... 70
Paying Bills ... 71
Printing Checks ... 71
Check Book... 75
Check Reconciliation ... 75
Bank Service Charges... 77
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ...78
Overview ... 78
Cash Receipts... 78
Client Deposits, Retainers & Payments ... 78
Miscellaneous Receipts... 80
Editing Cash Receipts ... 81
Client Invoicing... 82
Invoicing Clients ... 82
Credit a Client Invoice ... 85
Adjusting a Client Invoice ... 85
Finance Charges ... 86
GENERAL LEDGER...88
Overview ... 88 T-Accounts... 89 Journal Entries ... 90 Transaction Search... 92PAYROLL ...93
STOCK INVENTORY...96
Overview ... 96Company Information - Inventory Setup... 96
Inventory Cost and Freight ... 97
New Stock Items... 98
Inventory Adjustments ... 98
Inventory Status... 100
Purchasing For Stock Inventory ... 100
Receiving Inventory ... 102
EMPLOYEE TIME BILLING ...103
Overview ... 103
Time Activities ... 103
Employees (Time Billing)... 103
Entering Hours... 105
Time Entry Edit ... 106
RETAIL SALES ...107
Point Of Sale... 107
Gift Certificates & Store Credits ... 111
PORTABLE DATA COLLECTOR ...113
Overview ... 113
Setting Up the Portable Data Collector ... 113
Lot Types ... 114
Using the Portable Data Collector... 116
Data Collection Window... 120
Point of Sale Invoicing With the Scanner ... 121
Printing Bar Code Labels ... 121
Scanner Tips and Troubleshooting ... 124
Overview ... 125
Creating a Quote... 126
Making the Quote into an Order... 130
Delivery Tickets for Orders ... 131
Invoicing Orders... 132
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS / HOW TO...133
Overview ... 133
How to Print Payroll Checks ... 133
How to Convert to a Cash Basis ... 134
How to Enter Vendor Deposit Refund ... 135
How to Enter Vendor Invoice Refund... 136
How to Enter a Client Return for Project... 138
How to Enter a Client Return for a Point of Sale Purchase ... 139
How to Enter a Returned Item Transferred To Inventory ... 140
How to Process Manual Credits for Returned Inventory Items ... 140
How to Split Payments on a Point of Sale Purchase ... 143
How to Close the Fiscal Month ... 143
How to Close the Fiscal Year... 143
How to Add/Remove an Item on a Proposal with a Deposit ... 144
How to Refund a Retainer... 144
Installation
Before You Start
The Design Manager Installation works with Microsoft Windows Installer to guide you through the installation process. The Installation Wizard automatically recognizes your computer’s operating system and updates files as required. Note:Design Manager Pro 6.0 no longer supports Windows 95 or Windows 98, all workstations need to be running Windows 98se or higher with a minimum of 800MB of local disk space (see installation requirements below).
Design Manager can be installed on a local (stand-alone) computer from the CD, on a peer-to-peer network using the CD, on a LAN (local area network) with a dedicated server using the CD, and on a workstation attached to a peer-to-peer network or LAN with or without the CD, or on Microsoft Windows Terminal Server. There are a few guidelines to follow when installing any program under Microsoft Windows:
x Make sure that your computers are equal to or better than the installation requirements (see below).
x All programs that you are using should be closed before beginning the installation. Make sure you close the program completely and save any work.
x Be prepared to restart your computer. All of the Design Manager installations require you to restart your computer except the dedicated server installation.
Installation Requirements
Local Computer / Workstation (Single User)
x Pentium 233 Mhz or higher processor, 64MB of RAM
x Video adapter and monitor should be able to comfortably display 800 x 600, small font screen resolution
x Windows compatible laser or inkjet printer
x Windows compatible mouse
x Windows 98se, Windows NT Workstation Version 4.0 (service pack 6), Windows 2000 (service pack 2), Windows Me, Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Home
x 4x CD ROM Drive
x At least 800MB of free disk space
x WinFax 10 or higher and fax modem required for automatic faxing of Purchase Orders. See Fax/Email POs later in this manual for more information.
When using speech recognition:
x Windows compatible sound card and microphone certified for speech dictation
x Pentium 400 Mhz or higher processor, 128MB of RAM
Peer-to-Peer Server Requirements
x Same requirements as workstation (see above) except Pentium 500 Mhz (machine with shared drive), 128MB of RAM (RAM requirements may be higher depending on the number of users and the number of applications that are run on the server).
x 100 Mbit Ethernet or equivalent speed network. Wireless Networks are NOT acceptable.
x We do not recommend peer-to-peer architecture for more than 3 users.
Dedicated Server (2 - 7 users)
x Pentium 500Mhz (machine with shared drive), 128MB of RAM (RAM requirements may be higher depending on the number of users)
100 Mbit Ethernet or equivalent speed network. Wireless Networks are NOT acceptable.
x Microsoft Windows NT Server Version 4.0 (service pack 6), Windows 2000 Server (service pack 2), Windows.Net server
Dedicated Server (8 or more users) – For Terminal Server installation
x Pentium 500 Mhz (machine with shared drive), 512MB of RAM (RAM requirements may be higher depending on the number of users)
x 10 Mbit Ethernet or equivalent speed network. Wireless Networks are NOT acceptable.
x Windows NT Terminal Server 4.0 (service pack 6), Windows 2000 Terminal Server (service pack 2).
After the Installation Completes
After the installation completes and your computer has been re-started a Design Manager Pro 6.0 icon should appear on your desktop. Double click the icon to start Design Manager. Design manager will then require you to enter a product code found on the back of your CD case. This code only needs to be entered once or whenever you re-install Design Manager on a new computer.
Installing on A Stand Alone Computer
If you have a stand-alone computer or computer that is not to be used in conjunction with a network, you can install Design Manager by following this procedure:
1) Insert the CD into the CD drive. If your computer is set to auto run then you will see the Design Manager welcome window after a short wait.
2) If you do not see the welcome window then click on Start, select Run and type D:\setup.exe. If your CD drive is not drive letter "D" then substitute the correct letter in place of D.
3) Click on the first gold button "Install Design Manager"
4) Choose the first choice on the install menu, "Setup Design Manager Pro (Standalone Setup)." Follow the setup wizard.
Installing On A Peer-To-Peer Network
If you have a peer-to-peer network you can install Design Manager using the following procedure:
1)You must identify which computer is to act as the server or main computer. This computer
should be the fastest or most modern computer on your network. If you have different versions of Windows on the computers then the main computer must have the most advanced version. For this purpose the Windows versions are rated least advanced to most advanced as follows: Win 98se, Win Me, Win XP Home, Win NT4, Win 2000 and Win XP Pro. The computer selected as the main computer will always have to be turned on and running when anyone is using Design Manager.
2) Insert the CD into the CD drive on the main computer. If your computer is set to auto detect then you will see the Design Manager welcome window after a short wait.
3) If you do not see the welcome window then click on Start, select Run and type D:\setup.exe. If your CD drive is not drive letter "D" then substitute the correct letter in place of D.
4) Click on the first gold button "Install Design Manager"
5) Choose the first choice on the setup menu, "Install Design Manager Pro (Standalone Setup)." Follow the setup wizard.
6) After the server computer is installed you need setup each of the workstations (clients). See Installing on a Workstation (Setting Up Clients) below.
Installing On A LAN With a Dedicated Server
To install Design Manager on a network with a dedicated server you will need to do an installation on the server computer then do a workstation installation on each network workstation that will use Design Manager. The server will not be able to actually execute Design Manger as it is simply used to store that data and main program files.
1) Insert the CD into the CD drive on the server computer. If your computer is set to auto detect then you will see the Design Manager welcome window after a short wait.
2) If you do not see the welcome window then click on Start, select Run and type D:\setup.exe. If your CD drive is not drive letter "D" then substitute the correct letter in place of D.
3) Click on the first gold button "Install Design Manager" 4) From the main install menu choose "Network Setup." 5) Choose "Run the Server Setup."
6) Direct the setup wizard to load the files onto a shared drive of your choosing.
7) Each workstation will also have to be set up before running Design Manager. Follow the instructions below…
Installing on a Workstation (Setting Up Clients):
Whether Design Manager has been installed on a peer-to-peer network or a LAN, each workstation computer (client) attached to the server must be set up. If you are using Windows Terminal Server then skip this section and see below. To run the client (workstation) setup, follow these steps:
1) Go to the workstation computer that you wish to make run Design Manager. (You do not need the Design Manager CD.)
3) Find the network drive that received the Design Manager Server Installation and double click on it. Next, find the Design Manager folder (usually named "DMPRO60") and double click on it. 4) Find a folder named "Client" and double click on it.
5) Finally, double click on the Setup executable to run the setup.
The setup wizard will eventually ask you to set the location of the server files. This must be set to the Design Manager directory (usually called "DMPRO60") on your server. An example is of this setting is "N:\DMPRO60" where "N" is your network drive letter and DMPRO60 is the Design Manager folder. This folder is also the same as the one that you browsed to in order to find the "client" folder (see #3 above).
The client installation can also be run from the CD by choosing "Network Setup" and then "Run the Client / Workstation Setup" from the install menu.
The setup will have to be run under each user account that logs into the computer. To run the setup for all user accounts, log in as the administrator and the run the setup using the
/V"ALLUSERS=1" switch. For example, at a command prompt and in the client subdirectory type:
C:\DMPRO60\Client> setup.exe /V”ALLUSERS=1”
Installing On a Terminal Server
Windows Terminal Services are recommended if you have the need for remote workstations, need more than 8 workstations, or have a network with poor performance or that is prone to data corruptions. It is recommended that an experienced hardware consultant or network
administrator be used to set up Terminal Services.
The following are step-by-step instructions for installing Design Manager on Windows 2000 Terminal Server (SP3) including special steps necessary for Crystal Reports. Note: These instructions may need to be adjusted for future releases of Windows Terminal Server. Be prepared to restart the server during this procedure. Design Manager uses Crystal Reports 8.5 as its reporting engine, for details about where Crystal Reports files should reside on a Terminal Server installation, see the following web based article from Crystal Decisions:
http://support.crystaldecisions.com/communityCS/TechnicalPapers/Cr_citrix_terminal_servers.pdf
1) From the Terminal Server computer, log on as the Administrator.
2) Double click on My Computer (for Windows XP click on Start and then My Computer). 3) Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Click on Add New Programs, then on the CD or Floppy button. The Install New Programs Wizard should find the setup.exe file on the CD-ROM drive.
4) From the Design Manager CD’s Main Menu, choose Install Design Manager, choose Network Setup, choose Run the Server Setup.
5) Place the server installation wherever you would like the Design Manager database to reside.
Note: C:\DMPRO60 will be used throughout the rest of this example; you may substitute your drive letter and path. Unless you wish the data to reside on another server on your network, this path must be on a local physical drive (do not use network drive mappings that map back to physical locations on the same machine). We will also assume that your windows directory resides on C: and is called WINNT.
6) After the Server Setup completes make sure that the Next button is clicked to complete the Add New Programs Wizard. The Add/Remove Programs and Control Panel windows can then be
7) Open a Command Prompt Window (usually this done by choosing Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt).
8) Change to the C:\DMPRO60\Client directory (i.e.: cd \dmpro60\client). 9) Type the following two commands:
change user /install
setup.exe /V"ALLUSERS=1"
10) The Design Manager Client Setup will start, point the destination to the location specified during the Server Setup (in this example: C:\DMPRO60).
11.) After the Client Setup completes and you restart the computer, log in as the Administrator again.
12.) Start up a Command Prompt and change to the Windows/Crystal directory (i.e.:cd\winnt\crystal). 13.) Type: change user /install
14.) Use the copy command to copy the contents of the Crystal directory to the System32 directory (i.e.: from the c:\winnt\crytsal prompt type: copy *.* c:\winnt\system32). Answer "All" if asked whether to overwrite files.
15.) After the copy completes, type: change user /execute
16.) The Command Prompt window can be closed. This completes the Design Manager Setup for Windows Terminal Server.
Each workstation must have the Windows Terminal Client installed on it to access Terminal Services and before running Design Manager. Again, it is recommended that an experienced hardware consultant or network administrator set up Terminal Services.
Overview
Important Definitions
The following is a list of significant terminology used in Design Manager.
Client – This is the business or person to whom you are selling your services and merchandise. A client may have one or more projects or orders in process at a time.
Project – This is a collection of items that you are purchasing and selling to the client. Usually it is tied to a physical location such as a summer home, main residence or branch office. There may be several projects for a client.
Items – These are the individual things you are selling to the client. They are entered under
specifications on the item window. They will show on the Proposal and Invoice but will not show on the Purchase Order.
Components – Sometimes referred to as PO Components, these are the things you order from your vendor. Components are printed on the PO but are not printed on the Proposal or Client Invoice. Often the component description will be the same as the item description. Components can be one of 6 types (Merchandise, Design Fee, Freight, Installation, Labor and Time). The user can redefine these titles.
Orders – Used by the showroom and consists of the items and components.
Quote – Used by the showroom module and serves a similar function to the proposal.
Specifications – The combination of items and components that define what you are proposing / selling to your client and those things you are purchasing from your vendor.
Reference # - This is a sequential number starting at 1 for each project that is used to identify an item in a project. The computer assigns the reference number and deleted numbers cannot be reused. Transaction # (TX#) – This is a number assigned by the computer to each accounting transaction. It can
be used as a cross-reference between accounting journals, general ledger and various analysis reports.
Cost – This is the amount you are going to pay the vendor for a component. Price- This is the amount you are going to charge your client.
Default – This is a term that describes a setting used when new records are created in Design Manager. Usually it is something set at the company or project level and then used when creating new records. An example is setting the client deposit % in the project setup window. That % will be used on each item setup for that project unless you tell it a different % for specific items.
Short Cut Keys & Other Useful Features
The following keys and combinations of keys on your keyboard may be used in place of clicking on items with the mouse. Using these shortcut keys can speed up data entry and overall use of Design Manager.
Tab Key – This is usually on the left side of your keyboard above the Caps Lock key. Using the tab key on an entry or edit window will make the cursor or focus move from field to field. It is an easy way to get the next field when doing data entry.
to move to the previous field. It is the reverse of using the Tab key. It is useful if you push the Tab key one time too many and want to backup.
Esc Key – The Esc key is in the upper left on the keyboard. It can be used to exit from many windows without saving the information. On many windows it works like the Cancel button. Enter Key – This key is usually on the right side of your keyboard about half way up from the bottom. It is often used to save information and is equivalent to clicking on the OK button when entering or editing items. For it to work the OK button must be highlighted:
(note the dark line around the OK button). If another button on the window is highlighted then the Enter key will activate that button instead. When entering descriptions, the Enter key will cause the cursor to move down a line similar to a word processor. On search windows, it is often used to choose a highlighted selection.
Space Bar - When pressed on a check box it will change the state from unchecked to checked or from checked to unchecked. The check box must have focus for this to work. A dotted line will appear around the check box label when it has focus as shown: (Note dotted line around Show Markup)
Alt Key – The Alt key is located on either side of the space bar on your keyboard and you can use either one. You use the Alt key in conjunction with another key, usually one of the letter keys by holding down the Alt key and pressing the letter key. You will find on many Design Manager windows that certain letters within labels will be underlined such as the "x" in Fax.
By holding down the Alt key and pressing x from anywhere on the window, the cursor will jump to the Fax field so you can type the fax number. Another example is the "e" in Special.
Doing an Alt e would be like clicking on the Special Ins. Tab of this window. If you watch for these underlined letters you can do most of your work without using the mouse.
Alt S – In all windows within Design Manager the Alt S key is reserved for opening search grids. Whenever the cursor is in a field for entering a lookup code you can use the Alt S keys to open the search window. This is equivalent to clicking on the search button
Sorting – Design Manager makes use of many grids to display lists of data. On all grids, the data may be sorted by any column that is displayed. This is done by clicking on the column label.
This picture shows the top portion of the project spec window. It will default to a sort by Project Code (note the ">>" symbol next to the word Code). If you want to sort this list by
salesperson then simply click on the word "Salesperson". The list will now be sorted in ascending order by salesperson. If you click on salesperson again it will change to descending order. The ">>" and "<<" symbols indicate weather the sort is descending or ascending.
Text Formatting – In all of the Design Manager description boxes and remarks you are able to apply certain formatting tools to the text. These show as a series of buttons to the right of the description window and include Underline, Bold, Italic and Color. To use these buttons, you highlight text then click on the appropriate button. Clicking a 2nd time will reverse the effect. You can also run a Spell Check and insert the current date.
F1 – This is the help key located at the top of most keyboards. Pressing the F1 key will open the help system to the page upon which you are working.
Compatible Forms, Envelopes, and Labels
Computer Checks and Deposit Slips along with envelopes for the Checks and for the other documents that can be produced from Design Manager are available from NEBS. To contact NEBS call 1-800-388-3810 and use mail code 95200 when ordering. The following is a list of NEBS product numbers for Design Manager.
Laser Check #LM102C/LM102
Check Envelops #9380 or #5029
Laser Deposit Ticket #13618
Standard Envelopes #720-1 or Single Window #741-1
All labels including inventory or mailing are compatible with Avery #5260. Labels for inventory labels printers purchased from Design Manager, Inc. are Direct Thermal 2.25” X 2.00” and are available directly from Design Manager. Rolls of receipt (4” wide continuous thermal) paper for the receipt printer purchased from Design Manager are also available from Design Manager. Call 1-800-836-2999 to order.
Preliminary Setup
Company Information
Design Manager maintains some basic information about your company that needs to be entered before using the software. This may be edited at a later date and some of the information is filled in before we ship the software. The company information will automatically come up the first time you use Design Manager or you can choose it from the G/L menu. You should see the following window:
The Company window is used to record the company name, address and phone numbers. This information will be used on forms and reports to identify your company.
From the company window you can select the 3 account windows (Sales Accounts, COGS Accounts and Other Accts) by clicking on the appropriate tab. These windows hold the general ledger account numbers to be used for such things as accounts receivable, accounts payable, vendor deposits and etc. These accounts are all preset when the software is shipped and may need no further maintenance. If you delete one of these accounts from the G/L accounts glossary, the computer will automatically ask for an alternate to use and make the necessary changes in company information for you.
On the Company window is also an Advanced… button. When you click on this button, you will enter the system for presetting and formatting many of the operational parameters used by Design Manager.
The Update Projects button is used to change all projects in the system to reflect changes in the company setup.
The Password window is used to set up passwords for each Design Manager user. You must have a unique password for each user as Design Manager will not let two users use the same password at the same time.
the section on Inventory Setup. Design Manager Pro allows for multiple warehouses and you can designate one for the default warehouse.
The Fiscal Month window is used to set your fiscal month if you are not on a calendar fiscal year. Design Manager is shipped with a fiscal year end of 12/31. If your fiscal year end is different then you need to set the correct fiscal year before entering any accounting data. If you need to change your fiscal year after accounting data has been entered it is highly recommended you check with Design Manager technical support.
The final window is for Point Of Sale and optional Showroom settings. This window allows you to set default values for many features in these modules.
Passwords
Design Manager requires you to have a unique password for each user. If an operator tries to enter Design Manager using a password that is already in use an error message will be displayed and the operator will not be permitted to enter.
To setup passwords click on G/L and select Company Information. You will see the company window. Click on the Password tab at the top of the window. You will see a list of passwords that have previously been entered. If you have just started using Design Manager then there will be only the one password that is shipped with the system (DM). This is the administrator
password and the code can be changed from something other than DM. Although it cannot be deleted.
To enter a new password click on the Add button on the right side of the window. You should see the password entry window.
The list of items displayed when you first enter this window corresponds to the drop down menus on the main Design Manager window. To set the password attributes click on the + to the left of a menu item and you will see the following: and a list of functions under the key. This means that the password owner will be able to view and access the menu item. By double clicking on the gold key you will see it replaced with a lock and the owner of the password
will be completely locked out of this menu item and all functions under it. Double click a 2nd time and the gold key comes back providing access. You can then click on the + to the left of any function and repeat the process. As long as you see the + next to an item or function you can click on it to go to the next level down. In the sample above I have opened the Project menu, opened specifications and I can now set which attributes I want this password to have. By double clicking on the gold key next to Delete I have placed a lock on this attribute. This password will be able to Add, Edit and Store project specifications but not Delete any.
You may want to set the specifications so they can be viewed but no changes, deletions or additions. You can think of this as a "View Only" setting. To accomplish this you would follow the directions above but also lock the Add, Edit and Store functions as shown below:
This setting would allow you to view the project specifications but make no additions or deletions. Once you have set all of the password attributes you need to click on the OK button to save your work.
Fiscal Month Setting
If your company is not on a December 31 year end you will need to change the fiscal month setting. Click on G/L and select Company Information. This will put you into the Company Information window. Next click on the tab labeled Fiscal Month. You should see the following window:
The top part of this window is used to set your fiscal month if you are not on a calendar fiscal year. Design Manager is shipped with a fiscal year end of 12/31. If your fiscal year end is
different then you need to set the correct fiscal year before entering any accounting data. If you need to change your fiscal year after accounting data has been entered it is highly recommended you check with Design Manager technical support.
The lower part of this window is used to block out all entries to prior years. If you leave this field blank then all previous years may be edited. If you fill in a year then postings to that year and all previous years will be blocked.
To change the fiscal month, click on the large button in the center of the window after reading the warning. This will open up the fiscal month field for you to change. The month that you select is the current fiscal month that corresponds to the current calendar month in your computer. As an example, if your fiscal year end is June, 2003 and the current calendar month in your computer is May, 2003, then the Fiscal Month should be set to 11/2003. From that point on the computer will automatically advance the fiscal month.
If you are unsure about this setting, contact the Design Manager technical support group for further explanations.
It is very important that this setting be made correctly.
Chart of Accounts
Before entering any information into Design Manager it is a good idea to set up the chart of accounts. Design Manager is shipped with a basic set of accounts already installed. You can work with these accounts or delete them and use your own account numbers.
To manage the account file click on G/L and select Accounts. You should see the following window:
This will show a listing of G/L accounts. You can use this window to add new account numbers, edit existing numbers or delete unwanted account numbers. When you select Add, you should see the following window. The lower section of the window may vary depending on the Account Type.
To enter a new account you must first assign an account number. You may use any numbering scheme made up of 5 digit account numbers. Punctuation is not allowed. The accounts shipped with Design Manager use numbers starting with 1 for assets, 2 for liabilities, 3 for equity, 4 for revenue, 5 for cost of goods sold and 6 for expenses. You may continue this system or create your own. Once assigned, the account number cannot be changed.
The name is used to identify the account. It will print on most reports and financial statements where account information is shown. The name may be edited at a later time.
The account type must be selected from the drop down window. You may choose any of the standard account types or two special settings. For assets there is a special setting if the account is for a bank / checking account or any account from which you issue checks. If you select the bank / checking type you will be given the option to fill in a bank number and checking number. These are optional fields and may be left blank. For liabilities there is a special setting for credit card clearing accounts. You will probably want to set up a clearing account for each credit card used by your business. If you select credit card clearing account, fields will open to allow you to enter a credit card payee and account number. The CC Payee is a vendor code that is used to make payments to the credit card company. This is usually a bank or credit card company. A check box is provided to designate an account as a payroll account. Check this box if the account is part of the payroll system such as tax withholding accounts or salary expense accounts. Accounts designated as payroll accounts will factor into some of the payroll reports. They are also used in the employee glossary to set up default payroll information.
The Budget tab may be used to enter monthly budget amounts for income statement accounts. These budget numbers will print on the income statement.
Sales Categories
Design Manager uses a system of Sales Categories to link the project items with the general ledger. A sales category consists of a code and a set of g/l account numbers to define the sales accounts and the COGS accounts associated with the code. Many management reports may also be sorted and subtotaled by sales category. During the specifying step in project
management, the designer need only know the code for the item being entered. The code is usually something the designer can relate to such as ‘TIME’, ‘FURN’ (for furniture) or ‘LIGHT’ (for lighting).
Before entering items into a project you should decide on the codes you want to use and set up those codes so they will be available to the designer or design assistant. Design Manager is shipped with a set of codes already set up. These are codes typically used by design companies but you can delete them and set up your own codes or simply modify the list shipped with your software. You can get a list of the codes shipped with Design Manager by going to reports for
accounts receivable and select Sales Category Listing.
To add a new sales category click on Glossaries then select Sales Categories. You should see the sales category search window. Click on the Add button at the bottom to enter a new category or press the Edit button to edit a highlighted category. Shown below is the edit window for floor coverings:
The code is the first field on the window. It may be up to 5 numbers or letters and should be somewhat descriptive to help operators remember it. A longer description may be entered in the Name field to more specifically identify the code. You may edit the name at a later date but not the code. Once the code is assigned you cannot edit it.
There is a section for each type of component (merchandise, freight, design fee…) used in project specifications. For each component type you can designate the sales (revenue) general ledger account and the COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold) account. The sales account is used for invoicing to the client. COGS account is used for vendor invoices.
There is a check box labeled Company Default for each component type. In the company information section (see G/L) you will find a window for Sales Accounts and a window for COGS accounts. When setting up your sales categories you can check the Company Default box and the accounts from the company information window will be inserted. A good example of how this might be used is freight. If you have a single common account used for all freight sales and a separate account for freight costs then enter these accounts into the company information section. Now go to each sales category and check the Company Default box for freight. All freight will go to the correct accounts designated in the company information window.
Accounting: The sales accounts are used during client invoice posting. Design Manager will lookup each item on an invoice and get the correct sales account numbers from the sales category for that item. Each sales account will be credited for the portion of the item sale associated with each component types. These are found under project specifications. A credit invoice will debit the sales accounts. The COGS accounts are posted from vendor invoices. This may be done at the time a vendor invoice is posted to a/p or during client invoice posting. The timing on this is based on the WIP processing (see Work In Process). Normally debits will go to
The sales account for an item being invoiced to a client is looked up at the time the posting journal is printed or when the invoice is posted, whichever comes first. This means if you create a new client invoice then change the sales account in the sales category before posting the invoice or printing the journal, the sale will go to the new account.
The COGS account for a vendor invoice is looked up at the time the posting journal is printed or when the vendor invoice is posted. If the vendor invoice goes into WIP (work in process) it will be posted to the original account even if the COGS account in the sales category is changed. In all cases the COGS account at the time the vendor invoice is posted will be used.
Sales Tax Codes
After the chart of accounts is in place, you will need to setup sales tax profiles for each tax authority to which you report. Typically this will be one profile for each state. In some states there are different rates for different counties. In these states you will then need a profile for each county that has different rates.
If you are not required to collect sales tax you will still need to set up at least one tax code that has a rate of 0%. You will not be able to enter a project without at least one sales tax code entered.
To set up your state or county, click on Glossaries and pick Sales Tax Codes. You should see the following window without the entries:
You will need to assign a code (PA in this example) and fill in a state or county name. The State Abbreviation is used to sort the tax codes where you have multiple counties within a state. You must also enter the G/L account where the tax is to be recorded (21000 in this example). At the bottom of the window you will find a row of checkboxes, one for each type of item component recognized in Design Manager. For each of these types you can mark is as taxable (put a check in the checkbox) or exempt (clear the checkbox). To enter the tax rate click the Add button on the right side of the window.
Based on your state requirements, fill in the rate for each category (Merchandise, Freight …). All rates are entered as whole number amounts such as ‘8.25’ for 8¼ percent.
If your state has a base rate plus a surtax rate on amounts above or below a certain dollar value then you will need 2 or more of these entries. The first will hold your base rate and the second will hold the surtax rate. Use the Below,Between and Above buttons to indicate the cutoff dollar amount if required for the surtax.
The Taxable Defaults are used to indicate the types of things that are taxable and non-taxable for this state. A check in the check box indicates that that type is taxable. In many states Design Fee and Freight are not taxable.
The inactive check box may be used to deactivate this as a sales tax code. It will remain in the computer but will not show on search screens or most reports. You may reactivate the code if needed.
Opening Balances Overview
Before you begin using Design Manager you should consider how you are going to get opening balances into the system. There are two general methods from which to choose. These are explained below and you should choose the method that is best for your company. Before proceeding to this section you should be sure you have set up your chart of accounts, sales categories and sales tax codes.
PARALLEL METHOD
You should use this method if your old software or system is still operational. This method is used by most of our new clients and is by far the more successful of the two methods. This method involves the parallel use of both systems. You will use your old system to complete any work already in process on the old computer. This would be any item that has a deposit from the client, a purchase order or is waiting to be billed to the client. All new items and proposals are entered into Design Manager. This method allows for a gradual but steady migration to Design Manager. After some amount of time, usually between 3 and 6 months there will be a relatively small number of items left to be billed in the old system. These can then be keyed into Design Manager for completion and your old system shut down at that time.
During this transition time you will have to give special attention to your accounting records. At the beginning of the transition period you will need to print a trial balance from your old system. This trial balance is then entered into Design Manager using a general ledger journal entry (see
G/L module). This will get the account balances correct on the day you begin using Design Manager. As bills and receipts come in and client invoices are processed they should be entered into either the old system or Design Manager but not both. It is very important that entries are not duplicated in both systems. At the end of the first month you will need to record the activity for the month from the old system into Design Manager. Print another trial balance from your old system for the end of the month. Compare each account on this trial balance to the previous month’s trial balance. If there are any differences, you will need to make a general ledger journal entry to record the difference in each account that has changed. By doing this step you will record in Design Manager the activity that has taken place in the old system during the month. At the end of the second month you will need to compare the old system’s trial balance for the second month to the first month and make a general ledger journal entry to the activity on the old system for the second month. This will continue until the old system is shut down or it has no more activity.
One problem you may run into is reconciling your checking account to the bank statement. When you get your bank statement you should clear any outstanding checks on the old system. This will give you a list of outstanding checks from the old system. Next clear the checks and do a reconciliation in Design Manager. Write out the reconciliation by hand on a separate piece of paper. You will need to add the outstanding checks from both systems to get the correct list of outstanding checks. Subtract this total of outstanding checks from the bank statement balance and add back any deposits in transit. The result should equal the book balance in Design Manager.
CUT OFF METHOD
This method may sound less complicated but it is much more difficult to complete. With the cutoff method you simply stop using your old system on one day and start with Design Manager the next day. The difficult part of this system is that all of your ongoing work must be loaded into Design Manager before you can start using it effectively. The overall process is to enter all of your vendors and clients, the outstanding vendor and client deposits, Purchase Orders,
Proposals, Accounts receivable and accounts payable. Finally, a general ledger journal entry is used to make the account balances equal your account balances from your old system. You should make all of these entries with a date and fiscal month prior to the starting month. If you are starting Design Manager on January first then you may want to date and post all of the startup information to December of the previous year.
After entering vendors, clients and projects you will need to generate proposals for which you have a client deposit. Once these are generated, use the client deposit section to enter the existing deposits. You should print the client open deposit report to ensure it agrees with the report from your old system. As you enter these deposits be sure to match them to the correct proposal.
Next you will need to generate in Design Manager all open POs from your old system. To generate the POs you must enter any item not already entered for generating proposals then use the Design Manager PO generation system to process the POs. You will have different PO numbers compared to your old system as Design Manager has a unique PO numbering scheme. Once you have the POs generated, you will have to make checks for any open vendor deposit. Use the vendor deposit window for this purpose and you can use the hand check feature so you are able to enter the actual check number that was issued to the vendor. Be sure to print the Open Vendor Deposit report and compare it to your old system. They should be equal.
Accounts payable is next. You will need to create vendor invoices for all items in open A/P. The easiest way to do this is to enter the invoices through the operating expenses. If the invoice is a true operating expense such as a telephone bill you will just need to enter the vendor code, and invoice number and date, an expense account and amount. If it is a purchase for a project be sure to click on the Project Related button and fill in the project information. Once all of the payables are entered be sure to print a Aged Accounts Payable and compare to the old system for accuracy.
item in project specifications for each project. This would be a balance forward item with a 0 sell price and no vendor or costs specified. When you bill the item, change the billing price to the total amount due from the client. These balance forward invoices will then show up in accounts receivable.
Work in process is optional. If you wish to setup detail work in process you will have to enter project specifications for each WIP entry, create a PO for each entry then enter a bill for that item. An alternate method is to use the operating expense and check the Project Related button. Fill in the project information and enter a hand check number and date so the invoice does not end up in accounts payable.
The final step is to make a general ledger adjusting entry to adjust your account balances to the correct amounts. As you have been entering all of the startup information, Design Manager has been posting the work to the general ledger. You will need a trial balance from your old system with accurate balances. Next print a trial balance from Design Manager. Compare each account and make a journal entry that will make the Design Manager trial balance come in line with the trial balance from the old system.
Project Management
Overview
The structure of a project in Design Manager starts with the client. A client may have one or more projects. Within the project are items, which are things you are selling to the client. The items appear on proposals and invoices to the client. The item is made up of one or more components. Components are things you purchase from a vendor. You may have situations where the item being purchased from the vendor is the same as the item being sold to the client, but you may have to issue several purchase orders in order to complete a single item.
Components appear on the PO but do NOT appear on proposals and invoices.
The client is set up first. Under the client you can have one or more projects. Usually a project is set up for each major grouping of work done for the client. An example is a client that may have a main residence and a summer home. Normally you would set up 2 projects for this client, one for the main residence and the other for the summer home. An example for commercial clients might be a bank with several branches. You would then set up a project for each branch all under the bank (the client). With residential projects you may have a client that has on-going work that is continuous. In this case you might set up a project at the beginning of each year to help organize the work by year.
Within the project you enter Items. These are the things you are selling your client such as antiques, window treatments, furniture and accessories. The items will be printed on the proposal and the invoice. The items may be assigned to a Room Location in which case it will be listed under that location on the proposal and invoice. Items may also be assigned to a Group. Groups are used to list and subtotal items that make up a single entity. An example of a sofa might include a frame, fabric, trim and upholstering. You can setup each of these as an item so they will each show on the proposal and then by assigning them to a group you can get a total for the sofa.
Within each item you can enter one or more PO Components. Components are printed on the purchase order sent to your vendor. They do not show on the proposal or client invoice. The description for the PO is separate and will only be seen by the vendor. Often the component has the same information as the item so that the PO is similar to the proposal and client Invoice. The component can also contain special instructions to the vendor that will not be seen by the client.
Project Setup - Basic
To set up a new project begin by entering some basic information about the project such as addresses, phone numbers and project defaults. To get to the window for entering this
information, click on the Project menu and select Projects. This will bring up the project search window with a list of active projects displayed. You can edit an existing project by highlighting the project and clicking on Edit.
I have filled in a sample project that is shown here. The Project Code in the upper left corner is non editable once it has been assigned. You want to pick project codes that are easy to remember, as it will be used throughout Design Manager whenever a reference is made to the project. All other information regarding the project setup may be edited.
The name should be something descriptive of the job such as "Main Residence" or "Summer Home". Normally it is not the client’s name. See the window pictured above as an example. Next enter the client. With the cursor in the client code field you can click on the search button
or press the Alt-S keys on the keyboard to bring up the search window to find a client code. You can also use this window to set up a new client. When the client is entered, the client name, address, phone and contact information will come forward from the client file. You can edit any of this information for a particular project. Note that this is the billing address and will be used on proposals and invoices generated for this project.
The Salesperson / Mgr. Field is used to designate who is responsible for a project. Many of the management and tracking reports may be selected or sorted by this manager field. You can use the lookup to get a list of managers and to add new managers to the system.
After completing the information for this window, click on the Site / Ship To tab. This will allow you to continue entering information for the project. You will see the following window:
This window allows you to specify a site address and default ship to information. The site address may be printed on proposals and client invoices (see advanced options) and is used for
references.
The Ship To Code is used to select the default ship to address for purchase orders. When specifying components for this project the system will use the ship to address specified here unless an override is selected for each item component. You can use the search button to look up or enter a new ship to code. The button labeled Create From Site will allow you to create a new ship to code from the project’s site address. This new ship to record will be given the same code as the project.
The Defaults tab can be used to access additional default information to be set up for the project. Clicking on the Defaults tab will bring up the project defaults window:
The Sidemark is the default side mark that will be printed on the PO. If you check the box labeled Append Loc. To Sidemark then the computer will append the room location for each item to the side marks for that item. As with other defaults, you can override these setting for individual items.
A space is available for the designer or project manager to enter their name and direct phone number. This will print on the PO if it has been entered.
The advanced button will be covered in the section on Advanced project setting. Clicking on this button will bring up a series of 6 tabs where advanced settings may be entered. These are all preset from the factory with the most commonly used settings.
The final tab on the project setup window is for notes and additional information. Clicking on the Notes / Info. tab will bring up the following window:
This is all optional information but may prove useful to you. Room is available for two additional phone numbers. You do not have to use these for phone numbers; you can simply use them to hold other information. We have also included a place for a website and email address.
The Notes section is a handy place to record all sorts of information about the project such as additional phone numbers, security codes and important dates. You can type up to 16,000 characters (about 4 single spaced typed pages) for each project. The row of buttons down the right side is used to help you format and print the text. The notes normally not printed on any reports except the project listing and then you must specify that the notes should be included.
Project Setup - Advanced
Design Manager has a system for setting many advanced options in order to fine tune calculations and information flow within a project and to tailor your forms. You will find these advanced settings in company information (G/L menu) and also in the project setup. The settings in the company information are used to preset any new projects being set up. Changes in the company settings will not alter current projects, only new projects. As you set up new projects, the company settings will be loaded into the project. You can then modify the settings for that specific project if needed.
We will review the first two tabs (Print and General) in this section. Refer to the section on proposals for explanation on the proposal tab. Similarly the other tabs will be explained in their sections of the manual.
Advanced Options – Print Tab
To establish the company settings click on G/L and pick Company Information. You should see the main company information window with your company’s name, address and phone numbers. In the lower right of this window click on the Advanced… button. You should now see the Print window of the company advanced options as shown below. You may not see the showroom tab if you do not have this option.
The Print tab is used to format your forms. In the upper sections the forms are listed down the side and consist of the Proposal, Invoice, PO, Monthly Statements, Quotes and Order
Acknowledgement (Showroom option only).
TheCopies column allows you to preset how many copies are to be printed for each form. The number of copies may be changed at the time the form is printed.
TheCommrcl. settings for the Proposal and Invoice are used to select either the residential or the commercial style (check the box for commercial style). The information produced on the two styles is the same, it is just a different look. The commercial style is more like a business form while the residential is more of a letter format.
TheLttrhd. column is used if you plan to use blank paper or print on letterhead paper that has your company logo, name and address preprinted. If you check the box then the computer will assume that you are printing on letterhead. It will suppress printing of your company information and leave extra space at the top for the preprinted information.
TheAbr. Header column should be checked if you want abbreviated heading information on the 2nd and subsequent pages of the document. If the boxes are unchecked then the full heading will print on every page.
The column labeled PG. X of Y is used in numbering the pages of the document. If the box is not checked you will get just plain page numbers (page 1, page 2, page 3 …). If the box is checked then the page numbers will be in the format of page _ of _ (page 1 of 3, page 2 of 3, page 3 of 3). TheCollate column allows you to control collating of the documents. If you are printing a 2 page PO and you want 3 copies you will get the following results:
With collating the order will be page1, page2, page1, page2,page1, page2. Without collating the order will be page1, page1, page1, page2, page2, page2.
If you are using multicolored paper to designate various copies then you will want to be sure that collating is turned on (box checked).
TheRef. No. (reference number) column lets you indicate if you want the item/component reference number to print. The reference number is the 4-digit number assigned to each item and component. It is a very useful number as it is the primary means of tracking items throughout the system. It is very easy to find an item if you know the reference number. If your projects tend to be very small such as 20 or 30 items then you may not need to use the reference numbers.
On larger projects it will be difficult to find things without using the reference number. The reference number will show on all reports and windows within Design Manager that show item or component information.
In the lower left of the Print window you will see a section labeled Letterhead (LH) / Margins.
You can use this section to set the top and bottom margins. The column labeled LH will be used wherever you have selected letterhead and the No LH is used when you do not use letterhead. There are no controls for setting the left and right margins as they have been preset by the factory.
On the lower right of the Print window are additional settings for printing other forms and reports. TheTrim Check Alignment allows you to make adjustments to the check form to move the check printing up or down. The most you are able to move the printing is 1" to –1". Using a "-" will move the printing up the form while a positive amount will move the printing down on the form. Design Manager is programmed to use three styles of check forms. The Check Position can be used to select a check form style. Setting it to Top will print the check portion at the top with two lower stubs. Middle will print the check in the center of the page and provide an upper and lower stub. Bottom will print the check at the bottom of the page and print two upper stubs. You cannot use check forms with three checks per page. Design Manager requires a stub in order to list the invoice information for all of the invoices being paid by the check. Normally the check and one stub is mailed to the vendor and the other stub is filed with the invoices that it paid.
TheHighlight box can be checked if you want your reports to be printed with alternating light and dark lines. This can make it easier to read some of the reports with long lists of entries.
Check the Time Stamp box if you wish your reports to include the time of day they were printed. This may be helpful if you print a report, make some changes to the information on the report then print the report once more. With a time stamp, you will be able to tell at a glance which copy of the report was printed first.
Advanced Options – General Tab
From the Company Advanced Options section click on the General tab. This window holds both settings that apply to your company overall and some that get passed to the project setup at the time a new project is entered. In the descriptions below each entry is marked either (Company) or (Company and Project). Ones marked Company will operate on all project all of the time and make now allowance for customization by project. The ones marked Company and Project are used as defaults when setting up a new project and can be changed on individual projects. The window appears below:
When you enter a cost for a project it can go into one of six categories that are Merchandise, Freight, Design Fee, Installation, Labor, and Time. The upper part of this window allows you to setup profiles for each type of charge.
Screen Title (Company setup only) is used to pick different names for the component types. As an example you might wish to call Design Fee by the title Purchasing fee. If you change the Design Fee title to Purchasing Fee then you will always see Purchasing Fee on Design Manager windows and reports. This is set only in the company profile but effects all screens and reports.
% Type and % fields (both Company and Project) are used to set the type of pricing and percentages you use. These are default settings and may be changed for each project and for each item component within a project. The type may be set to Markup, Discount or Fee. Markup is used where you markup a cost to get sell price to the client. Discount is used where you use list price and deduct a discount to arrive at the selling price to the client. Fee is used where you are not doing the purchasing for the client and charge a straight percentage of the cost as your design fee.
Inc. in Dep. Column (both Company and Project) lets you choose which type of item components to include when calculating client deposits.
Auto check boxes should be checked if you always have a particular type of component. If you will always have freight then check the Auto box next to freight. When you are specifying a component for freight will automatically be set up for every item. You may override this setting as you enter specifications.
The Options section of this window lets you make a number of setting that will be used company wide. The company wide settings are:
Include Tax in Dep. Should be checked if you want the Design Manager to include sales tax when calculating the client deposit requested. If you uncheck this box then the client deposit will be based on the sell price only.
Item Groups check box is used to activate the Design Manager groups feature. See the section on groups for an explanation of this system.
Update Proposals is used to keep your proposals in sync with the project specs. With this box checked, you can make changes in the project specifications and they will automatically update the proposal. If you make changes to your specifications and this box is not checked you will need to manually make the changes to the proposal or create a proposal revision. Proposal
revisions are useful if you have to keep a history of changes to the proposal. It is recommended that this box remains un-checked as it will cause the system to run slower as the system must constantly update the proposals.
Require Journals can be checked if you want to force the printing of posting journals prior to actually posting. The journals must be printed to a printer, not just displayed on the window. If you uncheck the box then posting journals can be printed but they are optional.
The two User Date titles allow you to set up two custom dates that you want to track. These would be in addition to all of the Design Manager tracking dates (project open, proposed, ordered, CFA, acknowledged, expected ship, received, delivered, vendor invoice and client invoice dates). An example of how this might be used is to track when components are delivered to a workroom. You might change title 1 to "Del to Wkrm" . This will then become one of the tracking dates you can use in the order tracking system.
Bypass WIP is used to tell the accounting system never to post costs to the Work In Process account. This causes all purchases to be posted directly to Cost of Goods Sold.
Require Mgr. and Require S. Cat. are used to require the entry of a Manager/Sales Person code on each new project created in the system and to require the user to enter a Sales Category on each item that is entered into Project Specifications.
Show Discount and Show Markup are defaults for the advanced options in the project setup. Each project will default to the company settings and then they may be set independently for each project. If Show Discount is checked the proposal and invoice will show the list price and the amount of discount used to arrive at the selling price for each item. If Show Markup is checked the proposal and invoice will show your cost for each item and the amount of markup to arrive at the sell price. If you use this setting the client will see how much you paid your vendor for each item on Merchandise type items.
Specifying
Specifying in Design Manager refers to the entering of information about the materials that will be used in your client’s project. At the time that you begin specifying, you may not know all of the details about these materials. For example, you may know that a custom sofa you intend to use on this project will require a certain number of yards of fabric. You may also know the vendor you intend to use. But you may not yet know the specific fabric that will be used. It is not necessary to enter all of the information about the sofa at the same time. In our example you can enter the yardage and the intended vendor. The specific fabric may be entered later when the client has made a final decision. If you should decide to use a different vendor for this fabric, you may also change the vendor. From this example you can see that entering of specifications is a dynamic process.
After setting up the project in the computer, which was done under Project Setup in the previous section, you can begin entering the specification information. This information is broken into two areas. The first area consists of project items which will be proposed and later invoiced to the client. The second area consists of project components, which will be purchased from vendors to create the items that will be sold to the client. We will look at each of these areas in detail.
From the main Design Manager window, begin by clicking on the word Project at the top of the window. From the menu that drops down, choose projects. A list will appear showing all of the projects that have been defined in the system, and your project should be among them. Highlight your project by clicking on it one time and then Click on the items button at the bottom of the window. A new window, titled specifications, will appear. The specifications window will list all of the items that are to be proposed or sold to your client for this project. When you first begin, this list will be blank. Click the Add button in the lower left of this window to create a new item in your
on the toolbar and entering the project code at the top of the window.
The Add button should be used to create a new item in the project, see Entering Project Items, below. The Inventory, Catalog, and Group buttons allow items to be added from you stock inventory, catalog list, or from a pre-defined group of items from both stock and the catalog. Each of these buttons is described in detail in the following sections of this manual. The Edit button can be used to make changes to the highlighted item on the grid and the Delete button will delete the highlighted item. The Store button stores the highlighted item into the item catalog. The Tree View tab displays the items in a hierarchy format.
At the top of the window there is a Show selection. This selection defaults to Active. Active means that the grid will display only items that are not marked inactive and not marked
completed. Items can be marked inactive by click on the box in the inactive column next to the item in the grid. Inactive items do not show on any reports or windows. Completed items are items that are completely billed and shipped to the client. Items can be marked complete by placing a check into the complete column next to the item. Completed items show on most reports but do not show as items that can be proposed, purchased, or billed. To display inactive or completed items, change the Show drop-down list to inactive or complete. Items can be made active again by un-checking the respective box next the item.
Inactive and completed items and well as the Tree View tab are describe in more detail at the end of this section.
Entering Project Items
When you click the Add button, a new window, titled Item, will appear. You will use this window to enter information about the merchandise that will be sold to the client. The information we enter here is what will be seen by the client on proposals and invoices. Begin by entering the
description of the item in the large white box in the upper left corner of this window. Always keep in mind that this description is what will be seen by your client. The symbols on the right side of this large white box may be used for special printing features such as underlining, bold print, and italics. You may also choose to have some of the printing appear in color if you have a color printer.
There are several optional boxes to the right of this large description area. Use the Location box if you would like to assign this merchandise to a particular room or area of the building. To see which locations are available, simply place the cursor in the Location box and click the binoculars in the lower left area of this window. If the list of choices is blank, or if your choice does not appear on the list, you may add it at this time by clicking the Add button. The list of locations you are viewing will apply to this project only. You may view a company wide list by clicking on the Global List button at the bottom of your list of choices.
On the item window a quantity may be entered in the Quantity box if appropriate, and a unit of measure may also be entered into the Units box.
The Sales Category box is used if you would like to organize your sales into various types, such as furniture, antiques, wall covering, case goods, etc. Again, you may choose the sales category from the list of possibilities by placing the cursor and the Sales Category box and clicking the binoculars in the lower left area of this window. Keep in mind that these boxes we have been discussing are optional and they may all be left blank if desired. If you always want to specify a sales category there is a setting in the company advanced settings you can use. It will force you to enter a sales category before you save the item (see Company Information).
If you have Groups selected in the company information you will also have a Group field displayed (see the section on groups).
The purchase order component grid appears next and is used to list the materials and
components that must be purchased to create the item we are entering. We will describe its use shortly.
The Deposit % box in the lower left portion of this window will have been filled in by the computer based upon the information that you entered when defining the project. At the time that you defined the project you indicated a default deposit percent that the computer should assume. That default percent automatically appears in the Deposit % box. If you choose to request a different deposit percent for this item for some special reason, simply type the percent you would like to receive into this box. If you would like to request a specific dollar amount as deposit rather than a specific percentage, you may type the dollar amount in the Deposit Amount box just to the right of the Deposit % box. The Total Estimated Cost box, which is the amount you expect to be charged by the vendor, will be filled in by the computer as you enter information about purchasing this merchandise. If you are not ready to enter the purchasing information but would still like to see an estimated cost, you may enter the cost directly into this box now. Similarly, the total estimated price will be filled in by the computer as you enter purchasing information. If you are not ready to enter purchasing information, but would like to prepare a proposal, you may enter the
