DP Tool Club 26/CD_ASCQ_26_1295.iso/vrac/retail51.zip/RETAIL51.DOC

Text File | 1995-06-05 | 132KB | 2,615 lines

                     R E T A I L   P L U S +  Version 5.1
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                 Retail Sales And Inventory Management System
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                                    K. EGGER
                          TRUE NORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
                        PO BOX 423, 31 ADELAIDE ST. EAST
                             TORONTO CANADA M5C 2J5
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TELEPHONE - [phone]                            COMPUSERVE ID - 71223,641
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                            FEATURES OF RETAIL PLUS

If you have been looking at sales and inventory software you have probably
voiced some of the following concerns:

  - Why is it so complicated?
  - Why is it so expensive?
  - Why does it take so long to create a simple invoice?

The goal of retail management software should be to help you concentrate on
your sales and your customers. Retail Plus serves that goal. It is designed
for those who spend too much time making up purchase orders, counting stock,
tracking sales, or preparing invoices. It is more than an inventory system with
a point-of-sale screen. It is an organizer, an analyzer and a time saver.
Retail Plus has the following features:

> Easy to use with pull down menus and pop-up windows.
> Built in help system - press the F1 key at any time for assistance.
> Complete sales and inventory data for each item in each location.
> Full-featured POS system with slip printer and cash drawer support.
> Data imports and exports.
> Support for multiple points of sale without a network.
> Weekly and monthly sales figures for each product.
> History of daily sales and POS totals.
> Sales tracked by product, department and client.
> Accounts receivable/invoicing system with customer statements.
> Three fast & easy ways to find and print an invoice.
> Auto-generated PO's with five methods of calculating order quantities.
> On-screen review and editing of purchase orders.
> Customer's back orders.
> Client database keeps a purchase history & mailing list of your customers.
> Fast client lookups using name, company or phone number.
> Set up 2 sales taxes and optional add-on charges.
> Set up automatic discounts, tax rates or tax exemptions for any customer.
> Set up a bonus points system to identify and reward your best customers.
> Create, print and save price quotes that you can later process as sales.
> Flexible sales and inventory reports with on-screen viewing.
> Print price tags, bin labels, shipping labels and Code 39 bar code labels.
> Print detailed invoices on fan fold paper stock or on your own letterhead.
> Create catalogue output with product description, stock numbers, and prices.
> Printer output transfers to your word processor for custom formatting.
> Sales data exports to database or spreadsheet programs for further analysis.
> Handel any size of inventory - limited only by disk space.
> Compare stock levels across multiple locations.
> Easy transfer of stock from one location to another.
> Optional password system with three levels of access.
> Inventory displayed by record view or table view.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

> Any MS-DOS microcomputer.

> A hard disk drive with at least 2MB of free space.

> 640 KB of memory.

> A printer capable of compressed print (15 cpi), or a wide carriage printer
  (132 columns). For printing bar code labels you will need an HP LaserJet or
  work-alike printer.

> Optional Accessories - a POS printer for sales slips or an automatic cash
  drawer.

                     QUICKSTART INSTALLATION OF RETAIL PLUS

Retail Plus version 5.1 is supplied as an archive file called "PLUS51.ZIP".
It contains all the files you need. Follow these steps to get a functioning
system onto your hard drive:

1 - At the "C:>" prompt create a new directory on your hard drive and go to
that directory:
                     MD RETAIL              <press enter>
                     CD\RETAIL              <press enter>

2 - Using an archive un-packing utility such as UNZIP.EXE, unpack the contents
of PLUS51.ZIP into the new directory:

                     UNZIP A:PLUS51        <press enter>

3 - Now check for a file called "CONFIG.SYS" in the root directory of the
startup drive. If it is there it should contain the following statements with
the at least minimum values shown (they can be greater but not smaller):

                     FILES = 30
                     BUFFERS = 10

You can check the contents of CONFIG.SYS just by typing:

                     TYPE CONFIG.SYS        <press enter>

If the files & buffers statements are absent you can use any text editor to
insert them.

                            STARTING RETAIL PLUS

To start Retail Plus go to the directory where it is found and enter R51
at the DOS prompt:
                     CD\RETAIL              <press enter>
                     R51                    <press enter>

Explanation: The installation process creates a file called R51.BAT that
contains the following two lines:
                                  SET CLIPPER=F:30
                                  RETAIL51

Retail Plus should always be started up with this batch file, otherwise your
system may not allow it to open enough files. If at some point in the program
you press F1 for help, and instead of a help screen you get a DOS Error 4 (too
many files open), then you know that you cannot open enough files. If this
happens try typing SET at the DOS prompt. You should then see CLIPPER=F:30 on
the screen along with the other DOS environment setups. If it is not there the
program was not started up using R51.BAT. If the file R51.BAT is missing you
can create it with any text editor such as the DOS Edit command.

The first time you start Retail Plus it will ask you to enter your company
name. This will be used to put your business name on the screen titles. The
program is initially configured to start without requiring a password. If it
does prompt you for a password just type "TEST" and press ENTER. You can remove
this password later and set up new ones if you need security. If this password
does not give you access then someone has already set up the system for
security.

                               TABLE OF CONTENTS


                         Section 1 - Getting Started

Starting Retail Plus.............. 1     Exploring The Menus................ 2


                        Section 2 - The Inventory Menu

Finding An Item/Using Pick Lists.. 2      Updating On-Order Data........... 10
Using The Edit Window............. 3      Receiving Stock - Method 1....... 10
Adding A New Item................. 4      Transfering Stock/Copying Items.. 11
Using The Browse Window........... 5      Receiving Stock - Method 2....... 11
Creating A Purchase Order......... 5      Adjusting On-Hand Quantities..... 12
Working With An Order............. 7      Re-Stocking Customer Returns..... 13
Reviewing An Order................ 7      Importing New Inventory Records.. 13
Printing An Order................  9

                          Section 3 - The Sales Menu

Entering Sales Manually.......... 14      Printing Price Tags And Labels... 28
Importing Sales From Multiple POS 15      Printing A Price List............ 28
Using The Point-Of-Sale Function. 15      Creating A Sales Catalogue....... 29
Point-Of-Sale Setup.............. 23      Doing The Year End............... 29
Marking Items.................... 27      Reviewing Archived Sales Data.... 29


                         Section 4 - The Reports Menu

Sales Report..................... 30      Over/Understock Reports.......... 31
Inventory Report................. 30      Receivables Report............... 31
Top 10% Report................... 30      Stock Orders & Back Orders....... 32
Sales Analysis................... 31      Supplier List.................... 32
Stock Value Report............... 31      Stock Received................... 32

                         Section 6 - The Utility Menu

Sorting Inventory Data........... 33      Setting Up Printer Control....... 36
Re-Building Index Files.......... 33      Switching Color And Monochrome... 36
Exporting  Data.................. 33      Creating An Inventory Backup..... 37
Printing To A Text file.......... 34      Rolling Back Your Data........... 37
Viewing A Text File.............. 35      Checking For Code Duplications... 37
Creating & Changing Locations.... 35

                         Section 6 - The Access Menu

Using The Login Command.......... 38      Changing A Password.............. 39
Adding A User Password........... 38      Turning Protection On Or Off..... 39
Deleting A Password...............38


                       Section 7 - General Program Notes

About The Client Database........ 40      Cancelled Orders & Back Orders... 43
Setting Up Client Discounts/Taxes 40      Memory Considerations............ 45
About Invoicing And Exit Totals.. 42      READ THIS PAGE................... 46
About Using Stock Codes.......... 43      Order Form....................... 47

                                                                     - Page 1 -

                         SECTION 1 - GETTING STARTED
                         ---------------------------

When Retail Plus is started you will see the Main Menu. Each of the Main Menu
choices has a pull-down menu that provides access to a group of related
commands. The Inventory menu is already pulled down.

To help you explore the system it has been pre-loaded with sample data. The
sample data simulates a store called Outbound Equipment, which sells products
for hiking, camping and mountaineering.

Sales and inventory records can be maintained for multiple locations. Each
location is identified by a three character code which is visible at the
bottom right of the screen. You can delete the sample location (SL1) after you
have set up one of your own.

At the bottom of the screen is a descriptive line about the highlighted menu
item. This line changes according to which command is highlighted.

You can move around the menus using the following keys:

> Press the RIGHT and LEFT ARROW keys to move from one menu to another.
> Press the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select a command on a pull-down menu.
> Press ENTER to execute the highlighted command.
> Press ESCAPE to clear a pull-down menu, and ENTER to make it appear again.

You can also select commands from the menus by pressing the first letter of
the command you want. This method executes the command without waiting for you
to press ENTER. For example, if the Inventory menu is pulled down but you wish
to print a sales report you would press:

                    ESCAPE    (to clear the Inventory menu)
                    R         (to pull down the Reports menu)
                    S         (to execute a sales report)

                                                                     - Page 2 -

                             EXPLORING THE MENUS

This manual has a section for each of the six Main Menu choices. It will
describe each one in turn, going from left to right across the screen.
As you explore, you can press F1 at any time for help. This is particularly
useful if the program asks for input and you are not sure what to enter. In
most cases you can press ESCAPE to quit a command and return to the menus.



                       SECTION 2 - THE  INVENTORY MENU
                       -------------------------------

                    INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 1 -> FIND ITEM

Use this command to locate any item in the inventory. When you select it, a
menu pops up with the following choices:

> Code - Use this to find an item by stock code. If you are not sure of the
  code press F3 to select the item from a sorted list (called a pick list).
  See the bottom of this page for more information on how you can use pick
  lists.

> Name - Use this to find an item by product name. If you are not sure of the
  name press F3 to select the item from a sorted list (called a pick list).
  See the bottom of this page for more information on how you can use pick
  lists.

> First Item or Last Item - Use one of these to go to the top or bottom of
  your inventory.

> Quit - Use this to return to the Main Menu. Pressing ESCAPE will do the same.


                          A NOTE ABOUT PICK LISTS

Pick lists are simply windows that appear on the screen which show a few
columns of data from each record in the inventory or client database,
depending on the context. The list is sorted alphabetically and is meant to
help you locate an item or a person quickly if you don't remember an exact
name or stock number.

There are two ways to move around the list.

1 - Use the UP/DOWN ARROW keys and PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN to locate the item you want.

2 - Press the first character in the name or the stck number you are looking
    for. The list moves to the first item that starts with that character. Now
    press the second one, then the third, etc. In this way the list will home
    in on the target. Press DEL (delete key) to clear the search characters and
    start over. If the list is not homing in on the target then press the Caps
    Lock key and try again (the list is case sensitive).

When the correct item is highlighted press ENTER  (this key is labeled RETURN
on some keyboards). To leave a pick list without selecting an item press
ESCAPE. For more help with pick lists press F1 when a list is on the screen.

                                                                     - Page 3 -


                               THE EDIT WINDOW

Once an item has been located it is displayed in the Edit Window. A set of
function key commands is now shown across the bottom of the screen:

> F1 - Help - use this to get help with what you see on the screen.

> F2 - View - change the display from record view to table view. Your
  inventory is now displayed in rows and columns.

> F3 - Find - find another item.

> F4 - Edit - edit the fields above the TEXT line. Use the ENTER key or the
  UP/DOWN ARROW keys to move from one field to another. As each field is
  highlighted you can press F1 (Help) for an explanation of what the field
  should contain.

> F5 - Dele - delete an item or undelete it again. Deleted items are not
  removed from the records until the next time the records are indexed. An
  item should not be deleted when you stop stocking it. If you do, the revenue
  it generated will not be included in your year-to-date sales reports. Wait
  until you run a year-end closing to delete discontinued items.

> F6 - Comp - compare the stock levels for this item in all store locations.

> F7 - Mark - mark or unmark the item. You can mark items to identify the ones
  you want included in various print jobs or in creating purchase orders. See
  the Set Marks command under the Sales menu for fast and easy ways to mark
  large numbers of items.

> F8 - Hist - view or edit the sales history of the item. You can display
  either the weekly or monthly sales figures.

> F9 - Text - enter or edit notes about the product. You could use this to hold
  a product description, which can be used to create a catalogue of your
  product line (see the Catalogue command under the Sales menu). This field
  will store hundreds of lines of text so don't worry about running out of
  space. Press F1 while you are in the text field for help with the editing
  keys. If you press ESCAPE while in the text field the following message
  appears at the top of the screen: "Abort Edit (Y/N)". Press Y to abandon your
  changes or N to return to the text field.

> F10 - Exit - Return to the Main Menu.

> DOWN ARROW - skip to the next item.

> UP ARROW - skip to the previous item.

                                                                     - Page 4 -

                     INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 2 -> NEW ITEM

This command brings up the screen where you can enter new items into the
inventory file. If the printer is on it will ask you if you want to print an
audit trail of your entries. Press Y if you need a hard copy list for any
reason.

Now type the product information in the appropriate fields. Use the ENTER key
or the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to move from one field to another. As each field is
highlighted you can press F1 (Help) for an explanation of what each field
should contain.

At the bottom of the screen you will see function keys set up for a Department
lookup (F3) and a Supplier lookup (F4). These will bring up pick lists from
which you can select the right one. This is meant as a convenience so that you
can get consistent department names and supplier names and help eliminate the
possibility that inconsistent names will be treated as new ones.

Press F10 when you are finished. You will then see a new set
of options at the bottom of the screen.

                 F1Help   F4Edit   F8Hist   F9Text   F10Exit


> F1 - Help - get help with what you see on the screen.

> F4 - Edit - edit or add to the data you have already entered.

> F8 - Hist - enter any historical sales figures for this product. Entering a
  sales history here is optional. You will not need any sales history if you
  use the RE-ORDER POINTS or BLANK ORDER method of ordering stock. You will
  need 3 week's worth to use the weekly ordering options. As you use Retail
  Plus it will automatically keep an on-going weekly and monthly sales
  history for each item.

> F9 - Text - enter notes about the product that are useful to you, or a
  product description for use later with the Catalogue command (see under the
  Sales menu). This field will store hundreds of lines of text so don't worry
  about running out of space. Press F1 while you are in the text field for
  help with the editing keys. If you press ESCAPE while in the text field the
  following message appears at the top of the screen: "Abort Edit (Y/N)".
  Press Y to abandon the entry or N to return to the text field.

> F10 - Exit - this pops up a box where you can tell Retail Plus to save or
  discard the new record. In order for a record to be saved it must contain
  at least an item name and the unit price. You will now be asked if you want
  to enter a new item, copy the last item or quit. Choose the first option if
  you want to start with clear fields and the second option if you want to
  copy the information from your last entry. This is provided as a convenience
  in case the next entry contains much of the same information as the last.

                                                                     - Page 5 -
                      INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 3 -> BROWSE

The Browse command shows your inventory in table view. You can use this window
to scan and edit your records. You can choose to view all records or only the
Marked items (see the Set Marks command under the Sales menu).


> Use the following keys to move around the screen and scroll the columns:

  RIGHT ARROW, LEFT ARROW, UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW, CTRL-RIGHT ARROW, CTRL-LEFT
  ARROW, PAGEUP, PAGEDOWN, CTRL-PAGEUP, CTRL-PAGEDOWN, HOME, END, CTRL-HOME,
  CTRL-END

> To edit your data, move the highlight to any field and start typing.

> Press ENTER to accept the changes in a field or press ESCAPE to restore the
  previous contents. If you press DOWN ARROW or UP ARROW instead of ENTER the
  highlight will automatically move to the next row down or up.

> F1 - Help - use this to get help with what is on the screen.

> F2 - View - to change the display to single record view.

> F4 - Print - to print the information about the current item.

> F5 - Dele - to delete the current item. It will not be removed from the
  inventory until the next time it is indexed. Press F5 again to undelete the
  item.

> F6 - Lock - to lock the columns in place when you scroll the screen to the
  right. Move the cursor to column 2, 3, or 4 then Press F6 to freeze the
  display at the selected column. Press F6 again to unlock the frozen columns.

> F7 - Mark - to mark or unmark the item. You can mark items to identify the
  ones you want included in various print jobs, copying items from one location
  to another, or in creating purchase orders. See the Set Marks command under
  the Sales menu for fast and easy ways to mark large numbers of items.

> F8 - Hist - to view or edit the sales history of the item.

> F9 - Text - to edit the text field. This is used to store either notes about
  the product that are useful to you or you can enter a catalogue style
  product description for use later with the Catalogue command (under the
  Sales menu). Press F1 while you are in the text field for information about
  the editing keys it uses.

> F10 - Exit - to return to the Main Menu.



                      INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 4 -> ORDERS

This command leads to the purchase order functions. In the first window you
can choose to create a new order, work with an existing order or delete old
orders to free up disk space.

                                                                     - Page 6 -
                             Auto Create An Order

Use this command to generate a new order. A menu appears where you elect to
generate an order using Marked items only, a selected supplier, or for back
orders only.

If you choose "Back Orders Only" then the system looks for items that have been
back ordered for your customers. It then creates a purchase order for only
those items.

If you choose "Selected Supplier" you will see a pick list of suppliers to
choose from. Press the UP / DOWN ARROW keys to move the highlight to the
supplier you want then press ENTER.

In the next step choose the method of calculation you want to use for this
order:

> 1 Week Of Stock - this orders one week's worth of stock based on a formula
  that looks at average sales over the past 3 weeks, the amount of stock on
  hand, and the base stock.

> 2 Weeks Of Stock - this is the same as the above but orders 2 week's worth.

> Monthly Sales - calculates orders based on sales for the same month last
  year, the anticipated percent increase in sales over last year, the amount
  of stock on hand, the base stock, and the amount of stock already on order.
  It relies on the availability of monthly sales figures for last year. Retail
  Plus automatically saves monthly sales figures for the current year but you
  will have to enter these for last year if you need to use this method right
  away. The Monthly Sales formula orders a large amount of stock and should be
  used for suppliers who only ship to you once a month.

> Just-In-Time - order based on the classic Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)
  formula. This orders the least amount of stock. To use it you should be
  familiar with the principles of Just-In-Time inventory management. Use it
  for suppliers who can ship to you quickly and frequently with relatively low
  shipping costs.

> Re-Order Points - There are two ways to use this. Both ways look at the RE-
  ORDER POINT and RE-ORDER QUANTITY fields in your inventory records.

  1 - If you have a number greater than zero in the RE-ORDER QTY field: when
      the ON HAND quantity falls below the RE-ORDER POINT, this orders the
      RE-ORDER QTY. Use this to order a fixed amount of stock each time.

  2 - If you leave the RE-ORDER QTY field at zero: when the ON HAND quantity
      falls below the RE-ORDER POINT, this orders enough stock to bring it
      back up to the BASE STOCK quantity. Use this to order a variable amount
      of stock depending on how much you have on hand and what you need as
      your base stock.

> Blank Order - This option creates an order file where all the order
  quantities are zero. You can simply review the blank order. When you see an
  item you want shipped, change the order quantity to a number greater than
  zero. When you print the final order Retail Plus will omit all the items
  you have skipped.

                                                                     - Page 7 -

Once you have selected an ordering method you can accept the default order
file name or change it to conform with your own PO numbering or naming system.

Please note that you can change the order file name but not the file extension
(the three characters after the dot). These will always be the three-character
location code that Retail Plus uses to tell which orders belong to each
location.


How The Default Order File Names Work:

> If the order is for one supplier only then the default order filename is the
  name of the supplier and the date the order was created. The first four
  characters of the filename are the first four letters in the supplier's name.

> If an order is created using the "Monthly Sales" method of calculating order
  quantities then the order filename is the name of the supplier plus the month
  for which the order was created. This is useful if you are making up your
  Christmas orders in August, as many retailers must. You can use the "Monthly
  Sales" option and specify that you are ordering for December. See example 2
  below.

> If an order is for marked items then the order file name begins with "MRK".
  The last four characters are the month and day the order was created (MMDD).

> If the order is for customer back orders only the file name begins with
  "BKOR" plus the month and day the order was created. See the General Program
  Notes at the end of the manual for more information about how customer back
  orders can be handled.

The file extension (the 3 characters after the period) is the location code of
the store for which the order was created.

The following examples illustrate this. In all cases the active location is :

Example 1 -  if the supplier chosen is OUTBOUND DISTRIBUTORS, and if the date
is March 28th, then the order file will be called "OUTB0328".

Example 2 -  if the supplier chosen is OUTBOUND DISTRIBUTORS, and you use the
monthly sales method of calculating the order, and you select December as the
month you are ordering for, then the order file will be called "OUTB-DEC".

Example 3 - if the order is for marked items and if the date is April 3rd then
the order file will be called "MRK-0403".

Example 4 - if the order is for customer back orders only, and if the date is
November 3rd then the order filename will be "BKOR1103".

                                                                     - Page 8 -
                         Work With An Existing Order

Once you have created an order there are a number of options for working with
it. To begin, choose the order you want to work with from a pick list.

To select an order file from the list use the UP / DOWN ARROW keys to
highlight the one you want then press ENTER.

Once an order file has been chosen you have the following options:

> Review The Order - Select this to review the order, which is presented in
  table view. Retail Plus supplies you with the information you need to make
  a judgment about the quantities being ordered and gives you an opportunity
  to adjust those quantities. You can change only the first two column of
  numbers, which are the order quantity and the package quantity. If any of
  the other fields need to be changed it should be done in the inventory file,
  not in the order file.

  More information is available than is initially displayed on the screen.
  Press the RIGHT ARROW key until the remaining columns come into view. Use
  CTRL-END and CTRL-HOME to jump between the first column and the last.

  The columns displayed when reviewing a purchase  order are as follows:

  > QTY - The number of items or packages being ordered. If the PACK quantity
    is 1, this is the number of items. If the PACK quantity is more than 1,
    this is the number of PACKAGES, not the number of items being ordered. Note
    that the ordering formula rounds this off to the nearest full package but
    you can change this to a split package if you wish. For example, if the
    pack quantity is 10 and you order 1.5 then your PO will show one and a half
    packages (15 items).

  > PACK - The number of items that the supplier ships in one package. This is
    the same PACK field as the one in your inventory records.

  > ITEM - The name of the item.

  > SIZE - The size as shown in the inventory records.

  > CODE - The stock number.

  > ONHAND - The quantity you have in stock.

  > ONORDER - The quantity you already have on order.

  > BASE - The quantity shown in the inventory records as base stock (the
    minimum to keep in stock).

  > ROP - The re-order point as shown in your inventory records.

  > ROQ - The re-order quantity as shown in your inventory records.

  > UNITCOST - What you pay the supplier for one of this item.

  > ORDERCOST - The result of multiplying QTY times PACK times UNITCOST.

  > SUPPL CODE - The supplier's stock code if you have entered one.

                                                                     - Page 9 -
  When reviewing an order you will see the following options at the bottom of
  the screen:

  > F1 - Help - use this to get information about what is on the screen.

  > F6 - Lock - to lock the columns in place when you scroll the screen. Move
  the cursor to columns 1, 2, 3, or 4 then Press F6. Press F6 again to unlock
  them.

  > F10 - Exit - to return to the previous menu.

  The items with an order quantity of zero are displayed so that you can add
  them to the order just by changing the QTY field to any number greater than
  zero. Similarly, you can remove an item from the order simply by changing
  the QTY field to zero. Items with an order quantity of zero will be excluded
  when you print the final order.


> Display An Order Summary

  Once you have created and reviewed an order you can see a short summary of
  how it breaks down by department in percentage terms.

  The columns displayed are as follows:

  > Dept. - Each merchandising department on the order.
  > Products - How many products are being ordered in each department.
  > Order Cost - The cost of the order in each department.
  > Percent Of Total - The percentage of the total order cost in each
    department (rounded to two decimals).

  This display allows you to see if the order is reasonably balanced in terms
  of the amount you spend on the products in each department. It should be
  fairly consistent with your percentage of sales in each department.


> Printing The Purchase Order

  There are two main options here - you can print a trial order or a final
  order. A trial order shows the items for which the order quantity is zero
  plus the percent of the order cost in each department. This allows you to
  review a hard copy of an order in progress and see which items are not being
  ordered.

  Orders can be printed by department or by the current sorting order (item
  name or item code). You will also have an opportunity to type any text you
  wish to appear at the top of the order such as shipping instructions, an
  address or a PO number. This text will be saved and can be used again as-is
  or with changes.

  You can also choose to print the supplier's stock codes on the order instead
  of your own stock codes. This option will appear only if the current sorting
  order is by ""Alpha Code" or by "Numeric Code". Use the Sort command under
  the Utility menu to select one of these before you print an order.

  Please Note: If there are items in an order from different suppliers then
  the items for each supplier will start on a new page.

                                                                    - Page 10 -
> Update To Records

  Use this command when you are ready to record an order in your inventory
  file. Some people call this "posting the order". For each item it adds the
  purchase order quantity to the "On Order" field and updates the "Order Date"
  quantity. CAUTION: If you cancel an order you should subtract the order
  quantity from the "On Order" field. Otherwise the next order calcula- tion
  might be too low.

  You may be wondering why a final order is not automatically updated to the
  inventory file when it is printed. Consider this situation: say that you need
  to prepare December orders in August to make sure you have enough stock for
  Christmas. You create the order, print it, and send it off to the supplier.
  The supplier can now make sure he has enough stock in December to fill your
  Christmas order. If you post this order to your inventory in August, the
  orders you generate for September, October and November will be too small
  because the data shows a large amount of stock already on order. Orders
  created for September to November will be correct only if you to post the
  December order when December actually arrives.

> Enter As Shipment

  When a shipment comes in you can choose the order file which is associated
  with that shipment and update your inventory data to reflect the new stock.
  This means that the "On Order" field will be decreased and the "On Hand"
  field will be increased by the amount of stock received. Under the RECEIVED
  column you will see the number of each item that was ordered. Using the
  packing slips as your guide, verify the quantities in the RECEIVED column and
  change them only if the number received is not the same as the number
  ordered. Note that the number in the first column is the total number of
  items, not the number of packages.

  You can change only the numbers in the first column. Use the UP / DOWN ARROW
  keys and PAGEUP / PAGEDOWN to scroll the screen. Press F10 to exit. You will
  be asked if you want to record the shipment in the master inventory. Select
  YES if you have finished verifying the quantities received, or NO if you
  want to come back  and finish it later.

  If you select YES you will be see a window containing the options available
  for recording a shipment. The options are:

  > Print A Record Of This Shipment - press Y if you want a printout of the
    items you are putting into inventory, otherwise just press ENTER.

  > Mark These Items For Label Printing - press Y if you want to mark these
    items for label printing, otherwise just press ENTER.

  > Unmark All Previously Marked Items - press Y if you want the items in the
  shipment to be the only Marked items in the inventory. Press N if you want to
  leave other items Marked.

  > Add Shipping Costs To These Items - press Y if you want to distribute your
    shipping costs to the inventory for each item, otherwise just press ENTER.

                                                                    - Page 11 -

  > Total Costs To Add To These Items -  you only need to type a number here
    if you answered Y to the previous option. Usually you would enter the
    shipping charges that you paid, but you can also enter any other overhead
    charges you like. The amount you enter is distributed to the total
    inventory for each item received. This can be seen as  a "last in - first
    out" method of distributing costs and the result is reflected in your
    records as the ADJUSTED COST.


                       INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 5 -> COPY

Use this command to copy items from one location to another. You will asked if
you wish to copy the inventory numbers and the sales history as well as the
product information. Press Y if you want all data transferred or press N if
you want the product information only. After the transfer is complete the
destination location will become the active location.


                     INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 6 -> TRANSFER

Use this command if you have more than one store location and wish to transfer
some stock from one store to another. It is also useful if you want to set up
one location in Retail Plus as the warehouse from which all other stores are
stocked. When you select this command you will be asked if you want to print
an audit trail of your entries. This creates a hard copy on the printer which
can be a permanent record of the stock transfers made.

You have the option to transfer items one at a time (single transfers) or to
transfer all Marked items (batch transfers).

  > Single Transfers - A window appears in which you can identify the item to
    transfer, the quantity to transfer, the source location and the destination
    location. Items must be identified by their codes. If you are not sure of
    the code you can press F3 and choose it from a pick list.  If the item is
    found, Retail Plus checks to see that the name of the item is the same in
    both locations. If the name is not the same you will be able to tell Retail
    Plus to proceed or abandon the transfer. If the item is not found in the
    destination location you will be asked if you want to create it.

  > Batch Transfers - This assumes that you have used the Marks command or the
    Browse window to select the items to be included. You will then be
    presented with a window where you can scan the items to be included and
    adjust the transfer quantity of each one. If you specify a transfer
    quantity that is greater than the amount you have on hand then the item is
    simply ignored and no transfer takes place. The default quantity is the
    number you transferred the last time you used this function. If the item is
    not found in the destination location you will be asked if you want to
    create it.

Whether you use the single or batch method, the items you transfer will
automatically be Marked in the destination location. This allows you to perform
other operations on the transferred items like printing labels or adjusting
prices.

                                                                    - Page 12 -

                     INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 7 -> SHIPMENT

This command gives you an alternate way of entering a shipment into your
inventory records. A much faster way of doing this is with the "Enter As
Shipment" command under the "Orders" menu, but it needs an order file to
associate with each shipment. If you receive stock which was not included in a
purchase order or was back-ordered use this command to record it. In your
inventory records the "On Order" field will be decreased and the "On Hand"
field will be increased by the amount of stock received.

When you select this you will be asked if you want to print an audit trail of
your entries. This creates a hard copy on the printer which can be a permanent
record of the stock received. You will also be asked if lyou want the items in
the shipment Marked for label printing and whether you want all other items in
the inventory unmarked first.

A window then appears in which you can enter the code of each item in turn. If
you are not sure of the code you can press F3 and choose it from a pick list.
Next you will see a window in which to enter the quantity received. Please note
that this should be the total number received, not the number of packages.

Also displayed is the wholesale cost of the item and the adjusted cost. These
can be updated here if desired. The wholesale cost is the price charged by the
supplier and the adjusted cost is the wholesale cost plus any overhead(i.e.
shipping) costs you want to add. How the adjusted cost is calculated is up to
you. Often a store owner just divides the shipping cost by the total number of
items in the shipment and adds the result to the wholesale cost of each item
received. Not everyone uses the adjusted cost field - it can be ignored if you
wish and it will simply show the same value as the wholesale cost.

When you have supplied this information press ENTER to go on to the next item.
When you are finished press ESCAPE.

                      INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 8 -> ADJUST

These commands allow to change some of your inventory data without having to
find each record you want to change. The three options are:

> Onhand Quantities - Use this when you need a fast way to add or subtract a
  quantity from the ON HAND figure for any item. Once again you will be asked
  if you want to print an audit trail of your entries. Select "Yes" to get a
  hard copy list of the stock adjustments. A window appears where you can enter
  the code of the item you want to adjust. If you are not sure of the code
  press F3 to choose it from a pick list. Next you will see a window where you
  can enter the number to add or subtract from the ON HAND quantity. Type a
  number and press ENTER to add stock. Type a negative number to subtract stock
  (i.e. -10). When you have finished press ESCAPE to return to the Main Menu.

> Price Changes - Use this to adjust the price on a range of items by a given
  percentage. Use the Set Marks command or the Browse window to Mark the items
  to be included. To increase the price enter the percentage increase you want.
  To decrease the price enter a negative value i.e. -10 for a ten percent
  decrease.

                                                                    - Page 13 -

> Cost Changes - Use this to adjust the wholesale cost on a range of items. For
  example, if Jones Distribution tells you they are discounting their entire
  line by 10 percent you would use the Set Marks command to Mark all items from
  Jones Distribution then use the Cost Changes command to adjust the wholesale
  cost figure for each one. Please note that the Adjusted Cost figure is not
  revised until new stock actually arriives.


                     INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 9 -> RETURNS

The Returns command provides an alternate method of re-stocking an item that
has been returned by the customer (see the POS system for the other method). A
window appears where you can enter the code of the item returned. If you are
not sure of the code press F3 to choose it from an pick list.

Next you will see a window where you can enter the quantity returned. The item
name will appear under the window. Type the quantity returned and press ENTER
or press ESCAPE to go back to the Main Menu.

In order to maintain accurate sales figures, Retail Plus also needs to know
the price at which the returned item was sold to the customer. If more than
one price for the item is listed in your inventory records you will be
prompted to select one.

Use the UP / DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the price you want then press ENTER.
The inventory and sales figures will be adjusted accordingly and you will see
a confirmation of the transaction.


                     INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 10 -> IMPORT

This Import command lets you bring inventory items in from another database
system. Since most databases can export to a comma-delimited data file, Retail
Plus can import this format. The import file must have a filename ending in
".DTA" and field structure should be as follows:

         FIELD #  CONTENT         TYPE               MAX WIDTH    PICT
         -----------------------------------------------------------------
            1     ITEM NAME       CHARACTER               30
            2     STOCK CODE      CHARACTER               12
            3     DEPARTMENT      CHARACTER               13
            4     SIZE            CHARACTER               6
            5     PACK QTY        NUMERIC                 4       9999
            6     UNIT COST       NUMERIC                 7       9999.99
            7     RETAIL PRICE    NUMERIC                 7       9999.99
            8     BASE STOCK      NUMERIC                 5       99999
            9     ON HAND QTY     NUMERIC                 8       99999.99

Before you read an import file you should have a backup of the inventory you
are adding to. Also make sure that the file you are reading is not going to
produce any duplicate stock codes in your inventory.

HEALTH WARNING - stock code duplications may cause severe headaches. After
importing new items use the Duplicate command under the Utility menu to check
for them.

                                                                    - Page 14 -
                         SECTION 3 - THE  SALES MENU
                         ---------------------------

There are three different ways to enter sales into this system:

1 -  Manually from the keyboard -  this would involve taking your cash register
tapes to the computer and punching in each sale. Once you have done this a few
times it goes quite quickly.

2 -  Importing sales data files from other Retail Plus points of sale.

3 -  From the Point-Of-Sale function -  if you set up your keyboard and screen
at the sales counter you can enter sales, print slips or invoices, and update
your data all at the same time.

Each of these methods is described on the following pages.


                        SALES MENU COMMAND 1 -> MANUAL

This command brings up the window used to enter sales information from the
keyboard. You will be asked if you wish to print an audit trail of your
entries. Select YES to get hard copy of the sales as they are entered.


Before you begin you are asked to supply the date of sales for your entries.


> Press ENTER to accept the date shown (today's date).

> Change it if you want the sales posted under a different date.

> The date format is the international format (YYMMDD). The system will not
  allow you to enter an invalid date.

This date option is intended to allow you to briefly roll back the date so you
can enter sales made last week or last month without having them added to this
week's sales figures.

Note that Retail Plus does not store daily sales with this method, only weekly
and monthly sales. Therefore you are not required to enter sales figures for
every day that your store is open. If you wish, you can enter a week's worth of
sales all at once. If you want reasonably accurate sales tracking you should
enter sales data at least once a week.

The next window prompts you for the code of an item for which you want to
enter sales data. If you are not sure of the code press F3 to choose it from a
pick list.

The next window displays information about the item and prompts you for the
quantity sold. This window also shows the current sticker price and gives you
an opportunity to change it.

Once you have supplied the data it is recorded and the previous window appears
again. It  now contains some information about your last entry so you won't
loose your place. Then you are ready to do the next item. Press ESCAPE to
return to the Main Menu when you are finished.

                                                                    - Page 15 -
                         SALES MENU COMMAND 2 -> IMPORT

This command allows you to read sales made at other locations. If you have
multiple points of sale but wish to keep your data in one master inventory then
you would use this feature. The sales data is exported to a text file at the
other sites and sent to you on a diskette, via modem file transfer, as an
e-mail attachment, or in a shared directory on a network server.

The default data filenames show the date and location where the file was
created. They all have the file type".DAT". For example, a sales file created
at location SL1 on May 1st would be called "SL10501.DAT". Use the help screens
to guide you in locating the data files. If any sales data files are present in
the specified location you can select one from a pick list on the screen.

WARNING: Since it is hard to undo batch changes made to inventory files you
should always have a fresh backup before proceeding. See the backup command
under the Utility menu.

While the sales data is being scanned the printer produces what is called an
Exception Report. It mostly contains information about the sales data including
non-existent stock codes, depleted stock, voided sales, and discounts applied
to a subtotal. You must act on a non-existent stock code but the other
information may or may not be useful to you. The system will warn you if you
try to read the same sales file more than once.

After a data file has been read you will be given an opportunity to print a
summary of the sales information it contains. See also the following related
commands on the POS menu:

> Write Stock Updates - to send inventory additions & changes to remote sites.
> Read Stock Updates - to read additions and changes from the master inventory.
> Export Sales Log - to create a sales file to send to the master inventory.


                        SALES MENU COMMAND 3 -> P.O.S.

This is the point-of-sale function for Retail Plus, which also incorporates
the receivables and invoicing function. Use it to enter sales transactions
and print invoices or sales slips if desired. The first item that appears is a
menu with the following options:

> Point Of Sale - start using the P.O.S. feature.
> Itemized Sales - see a running log of all your sales.
> Customer Accounts - use receivables functions, print invoices & statements.
> View Exit Totals - view or print your POS receipts.
> Back Order Log - view a list of items you have back ordered for customers.
> Personnel Totals - view or print the staff sales totals.
> Export Sales Log - write sales data to an export file.
> Write Stock Updates - send stock updates to remotes sites.
> Read Stock Updates - read in stock updates sent from the master inventory.
> Setup Menu - configure the system to your needs.
> Quit - return to the Main Menu.

Before using the P.O.S. function for the first time you should select the
Setup Menu command. If you have more than one location you must use Setup Menu
for each one.

                                                                    - Page 16 -
                              Point Of Sale

The P.O.S. function consists of a single central screen on which all sales
transactions can be conducted. Before the screen appears you will be shown the
system date. Press ENTER to accept the date shown, or change it if some other
date of sales is wanted. The date format is (YYMMDD).

If you have elected to use the client database the top of the P.O.S. screen
will include a section for client information. If you are not using the client
database this section will be omitted.


The POS screen is controlled using letter commands and function keys. The
letter commands are:

> A -  Press A to enter an account number for this sale. Use this to hold the
  account number of a customer who has an account with you or to record the
  credit card number if the sale is being charged.

> C -  Press C to open the cash drawer if it is not set up to open
  automatically.

> S - Press S to enter a name in the "Sold By" field on the screen. This name
  will remain in effect until it is changed and will appear on all invoices and
  sales slips. If your sales staff is earning commissions this offers a method
  of tracking each person's sales.

> UP /  DOWN ARROW -  Use this to select the Method Of Payment (MOP) for the
  current sale. The choices are : Cash, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Debit
  Card, Cheque, On Account and Quote Only. PLEASE NOTE: INVOICES ARE ONLY
  STORED IN CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS IF THE METHOD OF PAYMENT IS SET TO "ON ACCOUNT".


The function keys at the bottom of the screen are:

> F1 -  Help - view the Help windows for this screen.

> F2 -  Client - Use the client database. A menu appears with the following
  options:

  > Add A New Client - Enter a new name in the client database.
  > Name Finder - Find a client by name.
  > Company Finder - Find a client by company name.
  > Phone No. Finder - Find a client by phone number.
  > Find By Cust No - Find a client by customer number.

                                                                    - Page 17 -

  If a client name is already on the screen the following options also appear:

  > View Sales History -  Review a client's sales history.

  > Show Invoices - Browse all the invoices on file for this client. Once the
    browse screen is displayed press F1 for a description of the functions
    available to you. You will have the opportunity to view the items on any
    invoice, make payments on invoices and reprint them if you wish. You can
    also press F2 to retrieve the items on an invoice to the POS screen, where
    they can be processed as a new sale (if you do this be careful that the
    invoice does not contain any stock codes or prices that are out of date).
    See Section 7 (General Program Notes) for more information about how the
    invoicing system works.

  > Quotes On File - Use this to review and retrieve any price quotes you have
    on file for this client. Quotes can be retrieved back onto the POS screen
    and processed as sales when the client decides to buy. Quotes are produced
    simply by making sales with the MOP (Method Of Payment) set to Price Quote.

  > Print Record - You can choose to print all the client's data or just the
    address for a shipping label. LPT1 is used for labels so you can print
    invoices on the POS printer and shipping labels on the default printer. Use
    label size three and a half by fifteen sixteenths (one up), such as Avery
    Label #5615.

    If you choose to print all the client's data you can further choose to
    print their itemized purchase history, their invoicing history, or both.

  > Delete Record - Delete the current client record.

> F4 -  Add - Add an item to this sale. A window appears where you can enter
  the stock code of the item. If you do not know the stock code you can press
  F3 to select the item from a pick list. Move up and down the list with the
  UP / DOWN ARROW keys, PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN, or by typing the first few
  letters of the item name. When the item you want is highlighted then press
  ENTER. A window now appears listing the particulars for the chosen item.

  Type the quantity sold. If you are going to discount the item press the UP
  ARROW once and type the percentage discount. If you want to charge a
  different price from the one shown, and you have an access level of 3, press
  the UP ARROW key again to the Retail Price field then type the price you want
  to charge. The fields labeled Taxable T1 and T2 show which sales taxes, if
  any, apply to the item. You can change these if you need to make a special
  tax-exempt sale. A user with access level less than 3 cannot change the price.

  If you set the amount in "Quantity Sold" to a higher number than is shown for
  "On-Hand" then you will be given a opportunity to create a customer back
  order. A window appears showing the amount of stock that you are short and
  offering the following options:

                                                                    - Page 18 -

     > Back Order Qty X   - where x is the difference between what the customer
                            wants and what you have on hand. Example: if you
                            have 10 and the customer wants 12, then 10 are put
                            on the sale and 2 are back ordered.

     > Back Order Qty Y   - where y is the entire amount the customer wants.
                            Example: if you have 10 and the customer wants 12,
                            then 0 are put on the sale and 12 are back ordered.

     > Back Order None    - proceed with the sell quantity as shown and ignore
                            the low stock condition. Example: If you have 10
                            and the customer wants 12, then 12 are put on the
                            sale, 0 are back ordered, and your on hand quantity
                            runs into negative numbers.

     > Specify Quantities - lets you enter the quantities to put on the sale
                            and to back order. This option will not allow you
                            to put more on the sale than you have in stock.

     > Skip Item          - cancels the item and returns to the POS screen.

    Note: The first two options will be the same if your on hand quantity
    has already hit zero.


  Repeat the "Add Item" step for each item the customer is buying. As you
  proceed, an itemized list appears on the screen. Right after the price of an
  item there may appear some codes which provide information about it. These
  codes are:

   > T1 - Tax 1 only applies to this item
   > T2 - Tax 2 only applies to this item
   > TB - Both taxes apply to this item
   > TR - Returned item - tax refundable
   > NR - Returned item - non tax refundable
   > CR - Customer credit
   > D  - Discount applies on this item
   > D1 - Discount applies on this item, tax 1 charged on discounted price
   > D2 - Discount applies on this item, tax 2 charged on discounted price
   > DB - Discount applies on this item, both taxes charged on discounted price
   > N  - Identifies an item added to the sale using the Non-Stock Item option
   > BO - The item will be back ordered due to short stock

  Both taxable and non-taxable items can be included in any sale. The tax is
  charged according to whether the item is shown as taxable in the inventory
  records. Note that the user can over-ride that setting at the time of the
  sale if taxes and charges are set up as optional in the POS Setup screen.

  As you proceed a running total of the amount payable is displayed in the
  upper right corner of the screen. It includes all taxes, charges, and
  discounts that apply so it is the actual amount owing. This makes it more
  convenient for customers who are counting dimes at the sales counter.

                                                                    - Page 19 -

> F5 -  Dele -  delete an item from the sale. A cursor appears on the screen
  which you can move with the UP / DOWN ARROW keys. Just point to the item you
  want to delete and press F4. Press F10 when you have finished deleting.

> F6 -  Menu - This produces a menu with the following options:

  > Enter A Non-Stock Item - Use this to add a Non-Stock Item to the sale. It
    is included so that you can add items that are not in the inventory
    records. A window appears where you can enter a stock code (this is
    optional), an item name, the quantity sold, and the price. Items that are
    added to the sale as Non-Stock Items will appear on the invoice (or sales
    slip) but will not be added to the inventory. To add new items you should
    use the New Item option under the Inventory menu.

  > Enter A Credit / Coupon - Use this to enter any type of customer credit
    such as coupons, gift certificates, or cash credit for a trade-in.

  > Enter A Customer Return - Use this to credit the customer with a returned
    item. You will see the current selling price, which you can change if it is
    not the price the customer paid. You will also see the Taxable T1 and T2
    fields. Set the corresponding field to Y if sales Tax 1 or Tax 2 was paid
    and you want to refund the tax. Set them to N if you do not need to refund
    the tax. While taxes are refundable, the two add-on charges are treated as
    non-refundable and you do not have an option to refund them here.

  > Apply A Discount To Subtotal - Use this to discount everything on the sale,
    (as opposed to discounting selected items). You will be given a window in
    which to type the percentage discount.

  > View Summary Of POS Receipts - See how much you have made since last
    clearing the Exit Totals.

  > Toggle Client Database On/Off - Clear the client database off the screen or
    bring it back as needed.

  > Toggle Auto Page Eject On/Off - If On, Retail Plus sends a page eject to
    the printer after every sales slip or invoice.

  > Change Printer Outputs - Direct the printer output as needed to conform
    with printer setups.

  > Verify Printer Outputs - Use this to check on printer and port settings.

  > Select Taxes And Charges - This will display a window where you can select
    the taxes and charges to apply to your sales. The options shown are those
    that you entered in the POS Setup screen. These choices will remain in
    effect for each sale until they are changed again, unless the client
    database is in use and you have set up a tax configuration for the current
    client (see Section 7 - Setting Up A Client's Discount And Tax Status).
    This allows you to control which taxes and charges are applied to any given
    sale or for any given customer. If you need help using this window press F1
    while it is on the screen. Please note that entering a "1" on this screen
    enables taxes to be applied where items are identified as taxable in the
    inventory. It does not force tax to be calculated on items that have not
    been set up as taxable. Think of it as a switch that you can use to turn
    tax calculation on and off.

                                                                    - Page 20 -

> F7 -  Total - Use this to total up the current sale. A window appears with
  the subtotal and totals and you can enter the amount tendered by the
  customer. Any change owing will be calculated and displayed.

  If you wish to cancel out of this and return to the previous screen just
  press ESCAPE. If you press any other key Retail Plus  will print the sale.
  If the customer changes his or her mind you can still add or delete items
  and total the sale again if Auto Save has not been turned on. With Auto Save
  turned off, nothing is recorded in the inventory database until you press
  F9 to save it (see below).

> F9 -  Save - Use this to tell the system that the sale is complete. The sale
  (or price quote) is now posted to the database and the POS screen is cleared
  for the next transaction. If the client database is active the sale is
  recorded in the client's purchase history as well. If the MOP (Method Of
  Payment) is set to On Account or Price Quote then an invoice or quote is put
  on file. If Auto Save is turned on these steps are automatically executed.

> ESC - Cancel -  Press ESCAPE  to cancel a sale in progress.

> F10 -  Exit - use this to exit from the Point-Of-Sale function. When you
quit the POS screen you are asked if you wish to clear the exit totals. These
are the same numbers you see when you "View Summary Of POS Receipts" as
described above. If you do not clear them they will be saved for you and
Retail Plus will pick up where you left off the next time sales are made. If
you do choose to clear these numbers they are saved to a file called
SALESLOG.DBF which you can read with the "Exit Totals" command under the
P.O.S. menu. If you have configured the POS setup screen to print exit totals,
and the printer is on, then you will get a hard copy of these totals.

Please note that you should always clear the exit totals if you are going to
make sales from a different location. Otherwise you may get sales from two
different locations lumped together in one set of exit totals.


                                Itemized Sales

This displays the contents of a text file called SALESLOG.TXT. It contains an
itemized list of all sales and will continue to collect them until you clear
the file. We recommend that you print it and clear it periodically so that it
does not get too big. When it reaches 400,000 bytes in size you will start
getting messages that it is growing too big. When it reaches 600,000 bytes it
is automatically cleared and the system starts a new log.

                                                                    - Page 21 -
                              Customer Accounts

This command leads to another menu from which you can find, review and clear
out invoices as well as quotes (a quote is like an invoice waiting to be
processed as a sale). The choices on this menu are:

> Payment On Invoice - Retail Plus requires all payments to be applied to an
  existing invoice, so you will be asked to enter the invoice number to which
  the payment applies. The payment date defaults to the current date but you
  can adjust this to any date you wish. You can also find invoices and make
  payments on the using the POS screen. Just press F2 to find the client
  record, press F2 again and then select "Show Invoices".

> Browse Receivables - Use this to see a listing of all the invoices on file.
  If you want to see the most recent ones first then choose to sort them by
  invoice number. If you want to see the older invoices first then sort by
  invoice date. The options available to you include printing an invoice,
  viewing the items on an invoice and deleting an invoice. You will be asked to
  confirm any invoice deletion before it is carried out. Once confirmed, an
  invoice is removed even if it has a non-zero balance.

> Batch Print Invoices - This will print all invoices that have a balance owing
  and an invoice date that falls between two given dates. Please note that an
  invoice will only be printed if it is associated (via customer number) with a
  customer in the client database. You can print individual invoices by
  locating the client in the POS screen or with the Browse Receivables command.

> Delete Old Invoices - This command deletes invoices that are older than a
  given date and have a balance of zero. The default date is 90 days before
  the current date but you can change it to any date you wish.

> Browse Quotes - This command allows you to view and re-print price quotes
  that are on file.

> Delete Old Quotes - This command deletes quotes on file that are older than a
  given date. The default date is 90 days before the current date but you can
  change it to any date you wish.

> Print Client List - Use this to get a hard copy of everyone's name, address,
  phone number and customer number.


                                View Exit Totals

This contains a history of your POS receipts. These are displayed as a table.
The date and time shown for each set of totals is when the numbers were saved
and cleared in the POS system. This table can be edited simply by moving the
highlight to a cell you want changed and typing the new data. At the bottom of
the screen you will see an option for printing totals, which can be printed for
one date or a range of dates. If you print totals for a range of dates then
the columns will be added up for you and the sums will appear on the page.

If there have been discounts on any subtotals of your sales these are included
in the column labeled DISC/RETURNS/CREDITS. What is NOT included are the
discounts applied to individual items within a sale. These are handeled like
below-list price points rather than customer discounts.

                                                                    - Page 22 -
                                 Back Order Log

This command displays and prints the back orders that have been created for
your customers. Each back ordered item is listed separately with the customer
information. Print and clear this log regularly. See the General Program Notes
at the end of the manual for more on how customer back orders can be handled.

                                Personnel Totals

This contains a history of each staff person's sales totals and can be used for
calculating commissions. Each time a sale is made the selling price of all
items (minus the discounts) is added to that person's total. If there is no
name in the "Sold By" field then the sale is credited to "No Name". At the
bottom of the screen you will see an option to print the totals. If you do this
then you will also be given an opportunity to clear the totals. The common
practice is to print out these totals once a week and re-set them to zero.


                                Export Sales Log

If you have multiple points of sale you can use this command to write sales
data to an export file which can then be sent back to the main office, or
wherever you keep the master inventory. This allows you to centralize your
data without having to connect everything to a network server.

If you already have a network, this feature allows you to centralize your data
by having each point of sale export it's sales data to a common directory where
it can be picked up by the master inventory. The advantage of this system is
that the point-of-sale computers can keep making sales even if the network goes
down. The disadvantage is that you do not get instant updates to your inventory.

The default name assigned to the export file shows the location and date on
which the file was created. If you want to write this file to a floppy disk
just change the directory path shown to a floppy drive i.e.:

                               A:\XXXXXXX.DTA

When the sales export file has been written the Itemized Sales Log is cleared.
Note that the export file contains the same data and format as the Itemized
Sales Log, and can be read with any text editor.

                                                                    - Page 23 -

                              Write Stock Updates

In order to run multiple points of sale without a network you will need to keep
the inventory data on each computer up to date. Mostly you will want to add new
items and make sure all prices are current. This command would be used when you
have made additions and changes on the master inventory and wish to synchronize
the other computers running Retail Plus.

All you need to do is Mark the items you want included in the update and then
run this command. The updates are written to a pair of files which must always
remain together. The files have the same name but different file types - ".DBF"
and ".DBT".

You can accept the default filename or supply one of your own. The default
filenames start with a "U" and includes the location and date on which they
were created. For example, if a stock update was created at location SL1 on May
1st, the name of the two files would be "USL10501.DBF" and "USL10501.DBT".

If you want to write the files to a floppy disk just change the directory path
to point to a floppy drive i.e.:

                               A:\UXXXXXX.DBF

Once created, the files can be distributed to all your points of sale via
diskette, modem, as an e-mail attachment, or in a common network directory. The
recipients of the file can synchronize their inventory by running the Read
Stock Updates command (see below).


                               Read Stock Updates

This is the other half of the stock updates feature. It allows you to
synchronze your data with the master inventory. Simply read in the files
sent from the master inventory and the update is done.

Use the help screens to guide you in locating the data files. If any update
files are present in the specified location you can select one from a pick list
on the screen.

WARNING: Since it is hard to undo batch changes made to inventory files you
should always have a fresh backup before proceeding. See the backup command
under the Utility menu.

                                                                    - Page 24 -
                                 Setup Menu

A menu appears from which you can choose which setup screen you want. The
options are:

> Select Printer Output - This allows you to choose invoices, sales slips, a
  continuous audit trail of sales or no printer output at all.

> Change Control Codes - This brings up a screen with seven fields where you
  can enter setups for the printers and the optional cash drawer. In those
  fields where a device control string is required you must enter the decimal
  equivalents of the ASCII codes to be sent separated by commas. For more
  information on how this works read the Help screens for these fields or see
  page 31 for an example.

  > In the first field type the port on which the Point-Of-Sale printer is
    connected. The choices are LPT1, LPT2, LPT3.

  > In the second field type the control string (if any) to send to the
    printer when printing sales slips.

  > In the third field type the control string (if any) to send to the printer
    when printing invoices

  > In the fourth field type the control string (if any) that activates the
    tape cutter on the sales slip printer. In practice you can put any codes
    here that you want sent to the POS printer after every sale.

  > In the fifth field type the port on which the automatic cash drawer is
    connected, if you have one. The choices are LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, or
    COM2. Usually cash drawers are connected to either COM1 or it plug into
    the back of the POS printer, in which case the cash drawer and the POS
    printer would both be on the same port. The Star SP200 POS printer, for
    example, has a cash drawer jack that looks like a modular telephone jack.

  > In the sixth field type the control string (if any) that triggers the cash
    drawer. For example, the code for a cash drawer connected to the back of
    the Star SP200 POS printer is 27,07,49.

  > In the seventh field type the number of times the cash drawer trigger
    needs to be repeated in order to open the drawer. This can be any number
    as specified in the instructions for your cash drawer.

                                                                    - Page 25 -

> Bonus Points Program - This is a feature that you can turn on and off. It is
  meant to provide the means to set up a rewards system for your best customers
  by giving them bonus points with every purchase. This qualifies them for a
  discount when they have accumulated enough points (max 99,999.99).

  When you turn on the bonus points program you will be asked for the
  following:

  > Point Factor - the number of bonus points the customers will receive for
    every dollar they spend (before taxes and charges). If you enter 1 they
    will get one point per dollar. If you enter 0.10 they must spend ten
    dollars to get one point. Points are still awarded on sales that contain
    discounted items but not on sales where there is already a discount on the
    subtotal.


  > Discount Threshold - the number of points a customer needs to qualify for a
    discount on their next purchase. The points a customer has accumulated will
    be displayed on the screen at the end of the line containing the Customer
    number. When that number reaches the discount threshold you will be
    notified the next time they make a purchase, and they can decide whether to
    use the discount now or let the points keep adding up. If a bonus points
    discount is taken on a given sale, the customer's point total is decreased
    by the same number as the discount threshold. For example, if the threshold
    is 500 and the customer has 600 points, they will have 100 points left
    after they take their discount. If a customer returns an item the point
    total is reduced again.

    > Discount Rate - the percentage discount customers will receive when they
      have enough points to qualify for a bonus points discount. In order for a
      customer to qualify two conditions must be satisfied:

                  1 - the customer must have earned enough bonus points.
                  2 - there cannot already be a discount applied to the
                      subtotal of the sale.


    > Print Point Totals - Answer Y if you want a customer's accumulated points
      to appear on their sales slips, answer N if you don't.

    There is another useful way you can use this feature. By setting the point
    factor to 1 the system will display the total amount that customers have
    spent whenever you pull up their names on the POS screen. The number shown
    represents the cumulative subtotal on their purchases (before taxes and
    charges). If you want to see this running total but do not actually want to
    use bonus point discounts then simply set the Discount Threshold to zero
    and the points printing option to N (no).

> Other Configurations - this brings up a screen where you can set up a number
  of preferences for the POS system. Please note that each location you have
  set up in Retail Plus can have a different POS configuration. The
  information you enter will be applied to the current location only. As you
  move through this screen you can press F1 at any time for an explanation of
  what each field is for. In the first section there are fields where you can
  enter the name and amounts for two types of sales taxes and two types of

                                                                    - Page 26 -

  add-on charges. These will all be added as a percentage on the invoice
  sub-total, except for Charge 1 which is applied as a flat fee. Use these
  fields as follows:

  > Tax 1 Name - enter the name of any sales tax that applies in your area.

  > Tax 1 Percent - enter the percentage amount of Tax 1.

  > Tax 2 Name - enter the name of a second sales tax that applies in your
    area (if any).

  > Tax 2 Percent - enter the percentage amount of Tax 2.

  > Charge 1 Name - enter the name of a flat fee such as a handling charge.

  > Charge 1 Amount - enter the amount of Charge 1.


  > Charge 2 Name - enter the name of a percentage add-on fee such as a
    service charge or commission.

  > Charge 2 Percent - enter the percentage amount of Charge 2.

  Please note that when an invoice is totaled up the charges are added after
  the taxes are calculated. It is assumed that any fee you add to a sale will
  not be taxable along with the merchandise. If you have a range of service
  fees that you add to customer invoices, set them up as items in a service
  fees department and add them to invoices as needed. In this way you can set
  up a service fee as either taxable or non-taxable.

  The remaining items on the setup screen are:

  > Auto Save After Printing ? - press Y to have the sales & inventory data
    automatically updated after every sale. Press N if you want the print and
    save operations to be on separate keys (F7 and F9). For more information,
    read the Help screen for this field.

  > Start At Inv # - type the number at which you want Retail Plus to start
    numbering the invoices. These numbers will also appear on sales slips as
    transaction numbers.

  > Invoice Header (Up to 5 lines) - enter anything that you want to appear at
    the top of your invoices or sales slips. If you do not have pre-printed
    paper stock then you may use this to print the store name and address. If
    you are going to print sales slips you will have to limit the length of
    each line to 38 characters maximum.

  > Invoice Footer (1 line) - enter anything you want to appear at the bottom
    of your invoices or sales slips. If you are going to print sales slips you
    will have to limit the length of this line to 38 characters maximum.

  > Top Margin (0-6) - enter the number of lines you want the printer to skip
    when printing invoices or sales slips. This allows room for your company
    logo if you use pre-printed paper stock.

                                                                    - Page 27 -

  > Center Header - press Y if you want the contents of the invoice header
    (and footer) centered on the invoice or sales slip. Press N if you want
    them left-justified.

  > Invoice Copies (1-9) - enter the number of copies of the invoice that you
    want printed. Generally it is easier to use duplicating NCR paper in your
    printer, unless you are using a laser printer. If you print more than 1
    copy they will be numbered as they come off the printer.

  > Print Exit Totals - Press Y if you want the system to print a breakdown of
    receipts each time you exit the point-of-sale function. Your receipts will
    be shown first by source and then by method of payment (Cash, Visa,
    Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Debit Card, Cheque or On Account).

  > Eject Page After Printing - press Y if you want the printer to eject after
    printing each invoice or sales slip. Press N to suppress the page eject.


  > Use Client Database -  Press Y if you want the client database to appear
    on the POS screen when you start it up. Press N to leave it out. If you
    choose to leave it out you can still call it up at any time from within
    the POS screen.

  > Auto Drawer Trigger - Press Y if you want Retail Plus to open the cash
    drawer when each sale is saved. Press N if you have a manual cash drawer.

  > Print Signature Lines For Charge Card Sales - Press Y if you want the
    standard message and signature line on the sales slip for charge card
    payments. Press N to omit it. To use this feature you should put NCR paper
    in your POS printer and you should make the necessary arrangements with
    the card issuer to accept this form of credit slip.


When you have finished with this screen press F10.

See Section 7, "General Program Notes" at the end of this manual for more
information about what the client database can do for you.



                      SALES MENU COMMAND 4 -> SET MARKS

Use the Set Marks command to flag items in the inventory for inclusion in
reports or various operations such as printing labels and reports, making
purchase orders or copying items from one location to another. A menu appears
with the following options:

> Mark All Items - set the Mark field to Y for all items in inventory.

> Unmark All Items - set the Mark field to N for all items in inventory.

> Select Criteria - Use this to mark or unmark items that satisfy a given
  criteria. First you are asked to choose whether you want your selections
  Marked or Unmarked. You can then choose one of six methods to target the
  items you want. You can use a two-pass strategy to make more complex choices.
  For example, lets say you want to make a purchase order for a given supplier

                                                                    - Page 28 -

  but wish to exclude the items in a given Department. You would Mark all items
  from that supplier on the first pass then Unmark all items in the target
  Department on the second pass.

  PLEASE NOTE: Marking records can be a cummulative activity. If you Mark all
  the items in one department and then Mark all the items from one supplier you
  have Marked all the items that contain either one of these targets. Remember
  to use the "Unmark All Items" command before targeting a new set of items.


                        SALES MENU COMMAND 5  -> LABELS

Use this command to print price tags, bin labels and bar codes. Price tags show
the item name, code number and price. Bin labels show the product name, size,
code, price, department and supplier. If printed on a LaserJet the bin labels
also show the base stock, re-order point and re-order quantity. Bar code labels
(which can also be used as price tags) show a Code 39 bar code, the stock
number, the item name, and the price. Bar codes can only be printed on an HP
LaserJet or work-alike printer. Labels are printed in the current sorting order
(see the Sort command under the Utility Menu).

When you begin, you will see a reminder that labels will be printed for Marked
items only. You will then have an opportunity to print labels for each item in
the last shipment or to select the number of copies of each label (maximum
999). If you are using a dot matrix printer you can print test labels to adjust
the position of the label stock in the printer. If you are using a LaserJet you
can chose manual or auto sheet feeding. There will, of course, be an option to
cancel any print job in progress. If you cancel a print job in Retail Plus
expect the printing to continue for a few more lines until the printer's
memory buffer is empty.

The label sizes used for dot matrix printers are: For price tags: 2-1/2 by
15/16 (three-up, Avery Label 04144 or M40153A). For bin labels: 4 by 1-7/16
(one- up). These are standard size labels and are available from any office
supplies store.

The label sizes used for LaserJet printers are: For price tags: Avery Label
5267 (AL-90M in Canada). These are 1/2 by 1-3/4 (four-up, 80 per page). For bin
labels: Avery Label  5163 (AL-130 in Canada). These are 4 inches by 2 inches
(two-up, 10 per page). For small bar code labels: Avery Label  5160 (AL-100 in
Canada). These are 2-5/8 by 1 (three-up, 30 per page). For large bar code
labels: Avery Label  5162 (AL-125 in Canada). These are 4 by 1-1/3 (two-up, 14
per page). All these labels may be available from other manufacturers as well.
Make sure you are using labels specifically made for laser printers.

                      SALES MENU COMMAND 6 -> FAST LIST

This command will print a basic price list of your product line for fast
reference. The information included is the stock code, product name, size (if
applicable), the number on hand, and the retail price. It will also show which
items, if any, are taxable (1, 2 or B for tax 1, tax 2 or both). Keep it by
your cash register for fast price and stock lookups.

                                                                    - Page 29 -
                      SALES MENU COMMAND 7 -> CATALOGUE

Use this command to print a catalogue of your product line. When you begin, you
will see a reminder that only marked items will be included. Be sure you have
marked only the items for which you want catalogue output.

You can send catalogue output directly to the printer or to a text file for
custom formatting with your favorite word processor. To send printer output to
a text file see the Text File command under the Utilities menu. Very
sophisticated catalogues can be prepared by loading this output into desktop
publishing software where professional looking layouts can be added. Catalogue
items will be printed in the current sorting order unless you specify that they
should be listed by department, in which case the department will be the
primary sort key and the current sorting order (by name or by code) will be the
secondary sort key.

                        SALES MENU COMMAND 8 -> YEAR END

This command runs the fiscal year-end closing routine. It saves data to an
archive file and gives you the opportunity to print a cumulative sales report
for the year. The inventory file is then set up for the new fiscal year. In
order to create sales projections, you are given an opportunity to supply an
anticipated percentage increase in sales in each department for the new year.
This is presented in tabular form and you need only type the percentage
increase in the appropriate field. These percentages are used to calculate your
sales projections for the next year. When you have finished filling out this
table press ESCAPE to continue.

Sales data archived by this process can be displayed with the Review command
(see below).

                        SALES MENU COMMAND 9 -> REVIEW

When the Year-End command is used, a dBASE III compatible data file is created
that archives sales data for the year being closed. The file is named according
to the store location and the year (i.e. SL1-1993.DBF).

Use the REVIEW command to look at the contents of any archive. The first thing
you will see is a pick list of available archive files.

Use the UP / DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the archive you want then press
ENTER. The information will be displayed in tabular form and the following
options appear at the bottom of the screen:


> F1 - Help - to get information about how to use this screen.

> F4 - Print - send the highlighted record to the printer.

> F6 - Lock - lock the scrolling display at column 1,2,3 or 4. The display
  will freeze at the column where the cursor is located. Press F6 again to
  unlock.

> F10 - Exit - return to the Main Menu.

                                                                    - Page 30 -
                         SECTION 4 - THE REPORTS MENU
                         ----------------------------

The Reports menu contains the options you have for printing routine reports.
These are described below in order of appearance. In most cases you will be
reminded that only marked items will be included in the reports. If you have
not marked some or all items in your inventory you can press ESCAPE to go back
and do it. For more information on Marks, see the Set Marks command under the
Sales menu. Note that you will have an option to send any of these reports to
the screen, the printer or to a disk file for loading into your word processor.


                      THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 1 -> SALES

You have an option to print weekly or monthly sales figures. If you choose
monthly figures you will get a year-to-date report. If you choose weekly
figures you can choose the starting week and ending week for the report. The
output is listed by Department and you will get a summary of sales in each one.
This is a wide report so you will be asked to switch your printer to compressed
mode unless you have entered your printer control codes in the Get Info window
under the Utility menu.


                     REPORTS MENU COMMAND 2 -> INVENTORY

This report prints inventory numbers for each Marked item. At the end of each
line a space is provided where you can write in the physical count. This allows
you to take inventory simply by printing this report and filling in the blanks.

Before printing you will be asked if you want the report to contain the
inventory for the current location only or for all locations. If you select
"All Locations" you will then be asked if you want the figures combined for
each product  or to show the quantity in each location. Please note that items
in any location must be marked to be included in the report. For example, if
you want the report to include everything in the same department in all
locations you must bring up each location separately and use the Set Marks
command to mark the items in that department.

You will then be asked if you want the output sorted by department. If you
answer YES you will get a summary of the cost of all items in the department,
the retail value of the items in the department, and the percentage of the
inventory cost they represent. If you answer NO the inventory will be printed
in the current sorting order with no department summary. This is a wide report
so you will be asked to switch your printer to compressed mode unless you have
entered your printer control codes in the Get Info window under the Utility
menu.

                    THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 3 -> TOP 10%

It is sometimes said in retail that 10% of your stock produces 80% of your
cash flow. This is usually an over simplification but this report shows you
which products are your top performers.

The options available are:
   > To report all sales this year or only for a given month.
   > To list the items by gross sales or by volume.
   > To rank all items or only the top 10%.

                                                                    - Page 31 -
                      REPORTS MENU COMMAND 4 -> ANALYSIS

This report provides the information needed to analyze sales performance with
respect to inventory cost. For each item it shows the year-to-date gross
sales, margin, average percent margin (as a fraction of cost), unit sales,
value of the on-hand inventory (at cost), stock turnover rate, the percent of
total sales produced by each item, and the percent of the total inventory cost
invested in each item.


You are given a choice of listing the items by gross sales or by department.
If you choose to list by department the report will also show the percent of
total sales produced by each department and the percent of total inventory
cost invested in that department. This is a wide report so you will be asked
to switch your printer to compressed mode unless you have entered your printer
control codes in the Get Info window under the Utility menu.


                       REPORTS MENU COMMAND 5 -> VALUES

This is a straightforward listing of the cost and retail value of your
inventory. It is included mostly for the benefit of the auditors.

You are given a choice of listing the items by department. If you choose to
list by department the report will show subtotals for each department and the
percent of total inventory cost invested in that department. This is a wide
report so you will be asked to switch your printer to compressed mode unless
you have entered your printer control codes in the Get Info window under the
Utility menu.
                       REPORTS MENU COMMAND 6 -> LEVELS

Run this report to find out which items may be over stocked or under stocked.
This is a wide report so you will be asked to switch your printer to
compressed mode unless you have entered your printer control codes in the Get
Info window under the Utility menu.

In the overstock report, items with normal on-hand quantities may be listed as
overstocked if they have not had sales in the last three weeks or have large
amounts of stock on order.

In the under stock report items are considered low in stock if the onhand
quantity is less than or equal to the base stock or the re-order point.


                      REPORTS MENU COMMAND 7-> BILLINGS

This report lists the invoices you have on file. There is an option to report
only the invoices that have a non-zero balance. If you wish to print customer
account statements you can do so in the POS menu. Just locate any invoice that
belongs to the desired customer and press F4.  You will be asked if lyou wish
to print just the invoice or a statement of account.

                                                                    - Page 32 -
                      REPORTS MENU COMMAND 8-> ON ORDER

Run this report to find out which items have open orders. If you want to look
at just one supplier then use the Set Marks command to mark the items from the
supplier you want. Please note that the field labeled On Order in your
inventory represents the quantity currently on order.


               REPORTS MENU COMMAND 9-> CUSTOMER BACK ORDERS

Run this report to find out which items have been back ordered for your
customers.

In the normal course of making sales within the POS system you will run into
situations where the client wants more than you have on hand. In those
situations there is an option to create a back order. This report tells you
how many of each item was back ordered.

Note that the report contains only back orders for which no purchase order has
been created. Once a purchase order has been made this back order quantity is
added to the On Order quantity. See the General Program Notes at the end of the
manual for more information on how back orders work.

                   THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 10 -> SUPPLIERS

If you need a list of who supplies you with which products, this report will
produce it. You will be asked if you want the list sorted by supplier name or
by item name. This can also serve as a reference list for supplier's stock
codes.

                   THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 11 -> RECEIVED

This report prints the last date received and last quantity received for all
marked items.

                                                                    - Page 33 -
                         SECTION 5 - THE UTILITY MENU
                         ----------------------------


                        UTILITY MENU COMMAND 1 -> SORT

Use this to tell Retail Plus the order in which you want your inventory
displayed or printed. A window comes up which gives you a choice of three
sorting options:


> Product Name - Products appear alphabetically by name.

> Alpha Code - Products appear by alpha-numeric stock codes. Choose this if
  you use stock codes that contain any characters that are not numbers.

> Numeric Code - Products appear by numeric stock codes. Choose this if you
  use stock codes that always contain numbers only.


                      UTILITY MENU COMMAND 2 -> INDEXES

Use this to re-build a damaged index file. Retail Plus creates a number of
index files for each inventory file. They allow you to select the current
sorting order and to find records quickly. In any database system it can
happen that index files become damaged because they are constantly being read
and modified. If this happens the damaged file must be re-built. The symptoms
of a damaged index file is that you cannot find an item you know is in the
database or the program gives you an error message. If this happens select the
Indexes command and the problem will clear up. Please note that this command
not only re-builds the indexes but also makes a fresh copy of the inventory
data files so it may take a few minutes.


                       UTILITY MENU COMMAND 3 -> EXPORT

Use this to create data files to export your sales information to a
spreadsheet or a database management system. In many cases the export function
is not needed since many spreadsheets and database systems can directly read
dBASE files, which is the format used by Retail Plus.

You will be asked to supply the name for the new data file. The default name
is SALES.DTA. You can accept this by pressing ENTER or you can change it by
typing a new name. Please note that only the filename can be changed. The file
extension (.DTA) is automatically supplied. You will then be asked if you wish
to export weekly or monthly sales figures. Select one of these then press
ENTER.

Next you can tell Retail Plus  whether you want the field names on the first
line of the export file. Select YES if you are going to export to a
spreadsheet that needs to contain the correct column headings.

                                                                    - Page 34 -

If you answer NO you will be given a choice of two data formats. The first is,
once again, a standard comma-delimited data file. The second is called System
Data Format (SDF) which uses fixed-length fields instead of delimiters. Check
the manual for the program into which you want to import the data to see which
formats it can handle.


you choose to export monthly sales data, the export file has the following
structure:


  FIELD       NAME          TYPE   WIDTH   DECIMAL
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1         ITEM            C      30       0
    2         CODE            C      10       0
    3         SIZE            C       6       0
    4         SOLD            N       7       0
    5         GROSS           N       9       2
    6 - 17    Jan94 - Dec94   N       6       0  (monthly sales current year )
   18 - 29    Jan93 - Dec93   N       6       0  (monthly sales previous year)


If you choose to export weekly sales data, the export file has the following
structure:


  FIELD       NAME          TYPE   WIDTH   DECIMAL
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1         ITEM            C      30       0
    2         CODE            C      10       0
    3         SIZE            C       6       0
    4         SOLD            N       7       0
    5         GROSS           N       9       2
    6 - 58    WK1 - WK53      N       6       0   (weekly sales current year)



                     UTILITY MENU COMMAND 4 -> TEXT FILE

Use this to re-direct all the printer output to a disk file. You will be asked
to supply the name of the file. The default is REPORTS.TXT. You can accept this
by pressing ENTER or you can change it by typing a new name. Please note that
only the filename can be changed. The file extension (.TXT) is automatically
supplied. As long as output is being re-directed, the name of the text file
appears in the bottom right corner of the screen. All printer output will be
sent to this file until you select the Printer command (which does not appear
on the Utility menu unless you are currently re-directing output to a text
file). It is possible to keep writing to this file until it becomes quite
large, so watch your disk space.

                                                                    - Page 35 -

                     UTILITY MENU COMMAND 5 -> VIEW FILE

Use this command to look at the contents of a text file in the Retail Plus
directory of your hard drive. You can use it to read the output that results
from using the Text File command above.

Only files that have an extension of .TXT or .DOC can be read. The following
keys can be used while looking at a file:

> ARROWS -  Use the arrow keys to scroll up, down, right or left.
> PAGEUP / PAGEDOWN - Use these to skip up and down the file.
> HOME / END - Use these to go to the top or bottom of the file.
> F - press F to find a word or character string in the file. The line where
  it is found will become the top line on the screen.
> N - Press N to find the next occurrence of the search string.
> P - Press P to print the file.
> ESCAPE - use this to exit the file.


                      UTILITY MENU COMMAND 6 -> LOCATION

This command allows you to select the store location you want to work with,
create a new location, or delete an existing location. A menu appears with the
following options:

> Change Location - This displays the store locations that have been set up in
  Retail Plus. Use the UP / DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the one you want
  then press the ENTER key. You will then be prompted to choose the manner in
  which you want the inventory sorted.

> New Location - Use this to create a new store location. First you will be
  asked to assign a three-character code to represent the new location. If
  there are locations already set up you will see a list of location codes
  that have been used. You will then be asked if you want to copy the product
  line from an existing location (if there is one).

  Answer YES if the new location is going to carry substantially the same
  products as an existing one. A window appears from which you can select the
  location whose product line you want to copy. When you are done the new
  location will be the active location and you can access it's records
  immediately. The information copied includes product name, code, department,
  size, unit cost, adjusted cost, unit price, the text field and the sales
  projections. If there are minor differences in the product line carried in
  the new location you can use the Browse window or the Find command to make
  the necessary changes.

> Delete Location - Use this command to remove a location from Retail Plus.
  When you select this you will be asked to confirm your choice. If the
  location you deleted is the active location (the one shown in bottom right
  corner of the screen) you will be asked to change to another location first.

  If you delete all the locations set up in Retail Plus the New Location
  command automatically comes to the screen and you will be asked to set up a
  new one immediately. This reflects the fact that Retail Plus requires
  inventory files to work with at all times. The system will not run if there
  is no active location available.

                                                                    - Page 36 -

                     UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 7 -> GET INFO

Use this when you need some information about the state of Retail Plus and
the state of your computer.

This is also where you can enter printer setup strings to use with the default
printer. Since many of the reports produced by Retail Plus are more than 80
characters wide you should enter the command your printer requires to switch
to condensed print (at least 15 characters per inch) and the command it
requires to switch back to normal print.

These printer commands can be found in your printer manual and usually consist
of 2 or three characters that begin with the ESCAPE character (printer
commands are often called escape sequences). These sequences are expressed in
terms of the decimal ASCII numbers of each character in the sequence. For
example, if your printer requires ESCAPE - M for normal print then you would
enter 27,77 because the decimal equivalent for ESCAPE is 27 and the decimal
equivalent of M is 77. These numbers can be found on the ASCII chart in your
printer manual.

More Examples:

> An Epson command for condensed print is:

     27,15

> An Epson command for normal print is:

     27,64,27,69      (27,64 resets the printer and 27,69 makes nicer print)

> An HP Laserjet command for condensed print is:

     27,38,108,50,54,65,27,38,107,50,83

> An HP Laserjet command for normal print is:

     27,38,108,50,54,65,27,38,107,48,83

These examples may or may not work for your model of printer. Please check the
manual for the corresponding commands.



                      UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 8 -> COLOR

Use this command to change between color and monochrome display.

                                                                    - Page 37 -

                      UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 9 -> BACKUP

File security means making backup copies of your data files. First you will be
asked to enter the drive\directory where you want to put them. The default is
on the current drive, in a directory called BACKUP. If the specified directory
does not exist it will be created. You will then see a display of the space
needed and the space available for the backup. If you do not want to proceed
just press ESCAPE to go back to the menu.

If you have more than one location then you will need to run the backup command
for each one. For example, lets say you have two locations called SL1 and SL2
and that the active location is SL1. To back up everything you need, run the
Backup command using the "All Of The Above" option. Then change locations to
SL2 and run the Backup command again using the "Current Location" option.

Please note that the Backup command does not use any file compression schemes,
so floppy diskettes may not have enough capacity to hold a large inventory.

The easiest way to maintain file security is to make your backups in the
default directory. Then you can use these copies to roll back your data to the
last saved version if you run into a problem. You will also have everything in
one place so you can easily use a hard disk backup program to put it on
diskettes or a tape drive.

Please do not neglect to back up the contents of your hard disk. Do it
frequently and you will never have cause for regret when it breaks down. If you
have employees who run Retail Plus, be sure that backups are part of the daily
routine for a designated person.



                     UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 10 -> ROLLBACK

If you keep regular backups you will always be able to roll back the
inventory data to a previous session. This ability comes in handy if you or
one of your employees does something that is hard to undo, like recording a
large shipment twice or deleting 20 items then realizing they were the wrong
twenty. Everyone who works with computers (bar none) has moments like that, and
an easy way out saves much heartache.

Just follow the prompts to indicate the drive\directory where the backup files
can be found. The one shown in the screen is the default backup directory.
Press F1 if you need help entering this information.


                     UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 11 -> DUPLICATE

This command checks your inventory for items that have identical stock codes,
and also for items with no stock code at all. Both conditions can cause
problems and should be avoided. Run this feature after importing new items of
inventory from another database.

If you enter stock using the New Item command, the stock code is check for
duplication on the spot. This does not prevent you from changing a stock code
in the Browse window later, so use the Duplicate command periodically to ensure
consistency.

                                                                    - Page 38 -

                         SECTION 6 - THE ACCESS MENU
                         ---------------------------

Use of password protection in Retail Plus is optional. It is turned on and
off using the Protect/Unprotect commands under the Access menu. The password
system provides three levels of access that give varying levels of protection
against data deletion and modification. If you do not use the password system
any user can access and modify your inventory data.


                        ACCESS MENU COMMAND 1 -> LOGIN

Use this to change the login name and access level without having to exit and
log back in.

                      ACCESS MENU COMMAND 2 -> ADD USER

Use this command to add another user to the password system. A window appears
where you can enter the following:

> User Name - type the first name only then press ENTER. User names should be
  unique. Avoid using two identical names for different users or two different
  passwords for one user.

> Access Level - type the access level you want to give this user then press
  ENTER. Level 1 grants looking privileges only. Use this for someone who is
  training in your store and who wants to see what the computer system is all
  about. They may practice using the POS function but are not able to save any
  sales data. Level 2 grants data entry and editing privileges. Use this for
  someone who needs to enter and update your data but who may not delete
  anything. Level 3 grants all privileges. This level is required to delete
  records and to disable the password requirement. It is also required to
  assign access privileges to other users.

> Password - type the users password then press ENTER. Passwords should be at
  least three characters long. All users may change their own password at any
  time.

Press ESCAPE at any time to return to the Main Menu.


                     ACCESS MENU COMMAND 3 -> DELETE USER

Use this command to remove a user's name and password from the system. A
window appears listing the current users.

Use the UP / DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the user name you want removed then
press ENTER. Press ESCAPE to exit without any changes. This command is
available only to users with an access level of three.

                                                                    - Page 39 -

                       ACCESS MENU COMMAND 4 -> CHANGE

Any user may change his or her password at any time. The users are prompted
for their old password then the new one. Passwords should be at least three
characters long. The most secure passwords are a mixture of numbers and
letters.


                     ACCESS MENU COMMAND 5 -> SHOW LEVEL

Use this to see what access level you currently have.


                 ACCESS MENU COMMAND 6 -> PROTECT / UNPROTECT

If the password requirement is turned off this menu item will display as
"Protect" and any user can to turn the password requirement on again. This is
because all users are assigned an access level of three when no passwords are
being used. If the passwords are in use this menu item will display as
"Unprotect" and users must have an access level of three to turn it off again.

                                                                    - Page 40 -

                      SECTION 7 - GENERAL PROGRAM NOTES
                       ---------------------------------


                           ABOUT THE CLIENT DATABASE

This consists of two files called CLIENT.DBF and CLIENT.DBT. They are
compatible with dBASE, FoxBASE, and DMAIL, the professional mailing list system
supplied with Retail Plus. By using the client database each time you make a
sale in the POS screen, the sales information is saved under the client's name.
Using this purchase history you can always find out who bought what, when ,how
many, and what they paid for it. There are several standard ways to use this
information for marketing, and you can probably think of a few of your own.

Example 1 -  Lets say you are having a special promotion on the latest widgets.
You have some flyers printed to get the word out, but now you have to get those
flyers into the right hands. Using DMAIL you can easily find everyone who ever
bought a widget from you and generate mailing labels for them.

Example 2 - Mr. Jones brings back his widget for a warranty repair. He says he
lost his sales slip and can't prove that it is still under warranty. Using the
client database you can look up his name and find out the exact date he bought
the item and whether or not he bought it at discount.

The client database does have a limitation - it can only hold about 400 sales
per client. Retail Plus will warn you when you are getting close to the limit
for any given client. At that time you should use DMAIL to clear out some of
the old data from their records. If you do not do this, Retail Plus will clear
the client's purchase history when the limit is reach and will start over with
a clean slate.


                  SETTING UP A CLIENT'S DISCOUNT AND TAX STATUS

In the client section of the POS screen you will see a field called CUST NO
which is a 28-character text field. The system uses the first five characters
to store the customer number (which is automatically assigned) and the last
eight characters to store the number of bonus points a customer has accumulated
if the points feature is turned on. The rest of the field can be used to set up
a customer's tax and discount status. What follows is a description of why you
might want to do this and how to do it.

The problem: When you get Retail Plus ready for use you can set up the default
taxes and charges which are applied to all sales. You do this in the POS screen
by pressing F6 then 0 to bring up the window where the default settings are
entered. You can over-ride these settings at the time of sale but this usually
means a few extra keystrokes. Any discounts on a subtotal must also be manually
selected for each sale. This can be inconvenient if you have regular customers
who usually get a certain tax rate, tax exemption, or discount rate.

                                                                    - Page 41 -

The solution: If you set up a customer's discount and tax status in the CUST NO
field you will always have the right taxes, charges and discounts automatically
charged to the right people. All you do is insert the appropriate command,
after the customer number, in the CUST NO. field. The commands are:

         /T1      - use tax 1 when selling to this client
         /T2      - use tax 2 when selling to this client
         /C1      - use charge 1 when selling to this client
         /C2      - use charge 2 when selling to this client
         /CA      - use no taxes or charges for this client
         /DXX.XX  - apply an XX.XX percent discount when selling to this client

For example, if you have a customer that is subject only to tax 1 and charge 1,
and usually gets an eight and a half percent discount then you would enter:

                               /T1/C1/D08.50

If you are just setting up a client's name and address the customer number has
not yet been assigned by the system. Just type the tax and discount status at
the beginning of the field and the system will insert the customer number in
the right place when you save the record. After the system has inserted the
customer number at the beginning, and any possible bonus points at the end, the
field will look something like this:

                   Cust No:10002 /T1/C1/D08.50  2125.00

Any discounts or taxes you set up in this fashion can be over-ridden at the
time of sale if the need arises. To change the taxes simply press F6, then 0 to
get the window for taxes and charges. To change the discount rate press F6 then
4 to get the discount window, then set the discount rate to zero or whatever
number you wish. Remember that you can also turn either of the taxes on or off
for any individual item as you add it to the sale.

Reminder: You can set up all possible taxes and charges by going to the POS
Setup Menu, selecting "Other Configurations", then entering any taxes and
charges that might apply to your business.

                                                                    - Page 42 -
                               ABOUT INVOICING

PLEASE NOTE: INVOICES ARE ONLY STORED IN CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS IF THE METHOD OF
PAYMENT IS SET TO "ON ACCOUNT".

Customer's account statements can be printed any time when browsing invoices.
just move the highlight to any one of the customer's invoices and press F4. You
will be asked if you wish to print just the invoice or a statement of account.
Each invoice is listed on the screen by invoice number and shows the invoice
date, the total, the balance, the last time a payment was made on the invoice,
the amount that was paid, and any penalty applied for overdue charges.
Penalties are optional and you will be asked what monthly interest rate you
want to charge (1 to 1.5 percent per month is common). Once you enter an
interest rate it remains the default rate until you change it again. The system
will calculate the number of months the invoice is overdue but you can change
this before printing if necessary. You are only asked if you want to add the
penalty if the invoice date is more than 30 days behind the current date.

If a partial payment is made on an invoice that already has a penalty on it the
payment is applied to the penalty first, and the rest is applied to the balance
owing. For this reason the follow-up invoice with the new balance does not show
a penalty calculated from the original invoice date, but rather from the last
payment date.

When re-printing an invoice, the same taxes and charges are applied that were
in effect at the time of the original sale, and this cannot be modified later.
Changing a customer's tax status does not affect previously unpaid invoices.


                           ABOUT THE POS EXIT TOTALS

When a sale is made where the method of payment is "On Account" there are
several things to keep in mind:

- the POS exit totals only show the amount paid, not the entire sale.
- The sales person is still credited with the entire subtotal.
- The exit totals show the value of returned goods purchased on account. The
  following fields are adjusted downward to reflect the return: total "On
  Account" receipts, the departmental net sales, and the overall total
  receipts.

Now consider the scenario where an item is returned that was purchased "On
Account" and the invoice still shows a balance owing. If you process the return
in the same manner as you would a cash sale then the exit totals will be
adjusted downward by the total sale, not by the amount paid on the invoice. The
better way to do it is as follows:

- Set the method of payment to "On Account".
- Press F2 and find the customer's name in the client database.
- Press F2 and select "Show Receivables". Delete the invoice or set the balance
  owing to zero.
- Using the F6 menu enter a customer return but set the "Selling Price" to zero.
- If there was a partial payment on the invoice then, using the F6 menu, issue a
  credit to the customer and under "Description" you can type in "Credit on
  invoice #12345".
- Print and save.

                                                                    - Page 43 -
                       A NOTE ABOUT USING STOCK CODES

When choosing a stock code numbering system you should consider the following:

> If you want to use alphanumeric codes (letters and numbers) you may use any
  combination of keyboard characters you wish. Examples such as "A100-123" are
  valid. When this coding system is used and the data is sorted by ALPHA CODE
  it will appear according to it's alphabetic order. This means that "A99" will
  come AFTER "A100" for the same reason that ABC comes after AABC. This is due
  to the fact that, in an alphabetic sort, the number of characters is not as
  significant as their ordinal value from left to right, while in a numeric
  sort the number of characters is more significant than their ordinal value.

> If you want to use  numeric sorting you should not put any characters in the
  code except for the numbers 0 to 9.  Otherwise they may not sort properly.
  If there are characters other than numbers in your stock codes and you
  select "Numeric Code" from the Sort menu, Retail Plus will still attempt to
  do a numeric sort. If it encounters a character in a stock code that is not
  a number it will ignore that character and everything that follows it. The
  result may be that the item will be left in the physical order of the
  inventory (i.e. in the order that it was entered).


                       A REMINDER REGARDING CANCELED ORDERS

There is a field called "On Order" in your inventory records. Every time you
post a purchase order it is added to this field. Every time you receive a
shipment it is subtracted from this field.

If you place an order and then receive a partial shipment, the number in this
field represents the amount of stock that was back ordered by your suppliers.
If you then cancel the back order, the "On Order" field shows a number that is
incorrect. This could affect the next order calculation, resulting in an order
quantity that is too low. If you cancel a back order you must subtract the
back-ordered quantities from the "On Order" field.

                           ABOUT CUSTOMER BACK ORDERS

When making sales within the POS system you will run into situations where the
client wants more of something than you have in stock. If this happens you will
be able to create a back order, and the POS screen will show you what the
options are. Note that the option to create a back order is not presented if
the client database is turned off. This is due to the fact that any back order
must be associated with a client who wants the item.

                                                                    - Page 44 -

A back order is not created until a sale containing a back ordered item is
actually saved. When the back order is created four things happen:

 1 - The back order appears on the customer's invoice or sales slip as a line
     item, but is not charged to the total. The line item is tagged with the
     characters "BO" to identify it as back ordered.

 2 - The back order is listed in the customer's purchase history and is visible
     whenever the history is called to the screen.

 3 - The Back Order Log (found on the POS menu) shows the client and item
     information in readable and printable form.

 4 - The "CUST ORDER" field for the item is incremented by the amount of the
     back order.


The following is one method you can use to track and fill your customer's back
orders:

  > At the end of each business day check the Back Order Log to see if there
    are any items in it. If there are, print and clear the log. Put the pages
    containing the printed log into a loose leaf binder.

  > Go to the Inventory menu, select "Orders", then auto create an order using
    the "Back Orders Only" option. This creates purchase orders just for the
    back ordered items. Review the purchase orders and post them to the
    inventory with the "Update To Records" option. The last step does two
    things:

      - it updates the "On Order" field in the inventory records so the system
        knows that more stock has been ordered.

      - it returns the "Cust Order" field to zero so that the back orders are
        not duplicated.

  > When a shipment arrives, check the loose leaf binder to see if any of the
    stock received is on a back order. If it is, create an invoice for the
    customer, send out the item, and cross it off the Back Order Log in the
    binder.

Retail Plus does not automatically fill back orders when shipments are
received. Every business seems to handle them differently and this is our
attempt to give you some basic functions that can be adapted to your way of
doing things.

                                                                    - Page 45 -

                         SYSTEM MEMORY CONSIDERATIONS

Retail Plus is a large application. The executable program (RETAIL51.EXE)
occupies over 700 KB of disk space. Because it was created with the Clipper 5
compiler it takes advantage of Clipper's code paging features so it occupies
much less space when it is loaded into memory (325 KB). To allow sufficient
working space in memory, your computer should have at least 500 KB of free
memory before you start the program. If you are running memory-resident
programs along with Retail Plus they should not require more than 80 KB.
Where there is a need to load multiple memory-resident programs, try using the
DOS "load high" feature to move DOS and other programs into high memory.

                      OUR MISSION IS TO DO IT YOUR WAY

Retail Plus was designed by store owners, not by computer programmers. Your
comments and suggestions will guide the future development of the software and
we welcome feedback about what you would like to see in it. If you have a need
that is very specific to your business we can and will customize the software
for you.

                                                                    - Page 46 -
                                READ THIS PAGE

Retail Plus can be a valuable tool in helping you manage your business. It
does not supply you with sound business practices and does not substitute for
your own mastery of what goes on in the store. Test it mercilessly to satisfy
yourself that it is the right tool. If you have any doubts please set it aside
and try something else. We will make every effort to help you use Retail Plus
successfully and will promptly correct any deficiencies that may come to light.
We will not respond to any claims that our software is to blame for your
business losses. Please read the following software license. If it is not
acceptable to you please do not order this product.

                               Software License

1.   True North Computer Services (the "Licensor") grants a non-exclusive
License to the registered user (the "Licensee") to use Retail Plus, (the
"Software") which comprises computer programs, supporting documentation, and
any copies thereof. The Licensee acknowledges that the Licensor is the sole
owner of the Software and that neither title to nor ownership of the Software
is transferred to the Licensee.

2.   The Licensee agrees that the Software and all copies will be used only to
manage retail outlets directly or indirectly held by the Licensee. The Licensee
shall not permit the Software or any part to be disclosed in any form to any
third party and shall not permit unauthorized copying and distribution.

3.   This License may not be assigned to a third party.

4.   The Licensor's sole warranty to the Licensee is that the Licensor has the
right to grant a License of the Software in the manner set out here. The
Licensor gives the Licensee no other warranties, express or implied, including
any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
In no event arising from the performance or non-performance of the Software
shall the Licensor be obligated or liable to the Licensee in any manner for
consequential, special or incidental damages, including, but not limited to,
loss of profits or suits by third parties. Furthermore, in no event shall the
Licensor be liable to the Licensee for amounts in excess of the amounts already
paid by the Licensee to the Licensor.

5.   The Licensee further acknowledges that the Software is not a tool which
enables the user to carry out all the steps needed to conduct profitable trade.
The Licensee acknowledges that the Software is merely a system which can store
and retrieve information, the accuracy, security, and integrity of which cannot
be guaranteed by the Licensor.

6.   The Licensor may terminate this License if the Licensee fails to comply
with these License terms.

7.   Any License Of Software is subject to the terms of this Software License
Agreement and those terms supersede any other agreement between the Licensors
and the Licensee.


                                                                    - Page 47 -

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                RETAIL PLUS 5.1
                              SOFTWARE ORDER FORM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    K. EGGER
                          TRUE NORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
                                ADELAIDE PO BOX 423
                              31 ADELAIDE ST. EAST
                             TORONTO CANADA M5C 2J5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TELEPHONE - [phone]                           COMPUSERVE ID - 71223,641
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you order Retail Plus you will receive a new version of the software,
unlimited telephone support and a typeset manual. You will also receive dMail,
our professional mailing list manager which works with the client database in
Retail Plus to manage your customer contacts.


Sold To:_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________ PHONE __________________________



 QTY  ITEM                                                    PRICE    TOTAL

 ___  Retail Plus and dMail / Retail Management System       125.00  _______


      Check One: [ ]  Shipping & handling - First Class Mail    7.00  _______

                 [ ]  Shipping & handling - Federal Express    35.00  _______


                          TOTAL  (Cheque or money order) ------->     _______
                                 (payable to True North C.S.)"



      Check One: [ ]  5.25 inch diskettes
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