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-1- TransAct 5.7 - (C) 1993 Data-Labs Transactions Management System. Documentation: (C) 1987-1993 Data-Labs, Philadelphia, Pa. U.S.A. -PLEASE READ IMPORTANT INFORMATION- DISCLAIMER: DATA-LABS and its assigns CAN NOT be responsible in any way for any loss of data or any other consequential damages resulting from the use of our programs. It is highly recommended that file copies (back-ups) of this program be made for your protection against loss of the program and that frequent back-ups of the various files generated by this program be performed. LICENSE AGREEMENT: Only use by the original owner is sanctioned and back-ups must not be sold, loaned-out, or modified in any way. Only one computer station may be used with any of our programs unless each copy used for each additional station is purchased separately for such use. No warranty is expressed or implied except that we will replace any damaged distribution diskettes. The terms of this agreement exist between the TransAct 5.7 user and Data-Labs as long as the program is being used. -2- CUSTOMER SERVICE: Write a short description of your problem and mail it with a self-addressed stamped envelope to: DATA-LABS 10610 Evans St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19116-3910 We will reply promptly. Please include your area code and telephone number and the best time to call you, in case that becomes necessary. For any questions you may call Data-Labs customer service Voice / Fax at: (215) 698-2933. You pay for the call, but our time is free. COPYRIGHT LAWS: The program/s enclosed in the TransAct 5.7 distribution package are all easily back-up-able for your convenience and protection. Do not sell, modify, loan or give these programs to any person, company or corporation. To do so would constitute a copyright infringement. TransAct series programs have taken many years to develop and test. We need your support to stamp out software piracy. DATA-LABS, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. reserves all rights to TransAct and the other programs it develops. -3- IMPORTANT: Check Operation Warnings on page 29. Please read these warnings carefully to avoid problems or malfunctions in your program. Please read this entire documentation booklet to understand TransAct's features. TransAct 5.7 Program Description / Configuration: CUSTOMER DATABASE, INVOICER and INVENTORY SYSTEM FOR THE IBM PC XT, AT, PS-1, or PS-2 computers. TransAct Supports: MS DOS 3.1 - 6.x. Any hard drive and any IBM/Epson or HP Laserjet compatible printer. 80 column color or monochrome CGA, EGA, VGA, HGC boards/monitors. Microsoft compatible mouse. Laser or dot-matrix printers on LPT1. Hayes compatible modem on COM port 1. COM port 2 required for mouse when modem Dial-Out feature is used. -4- TABLE OF CONTENTS: Page # Description 1 Disclaimer/License agreement 2 Customer Service, Copyright 3 Description / Configuration 4 Table of Contents 5 - 7 Overview 8 - 10 Main Features Summary 10 Before Running TransAct 5.7 11. Getting Started & Installation 12 - 13 Accessing the Main Menu 14 Create Record Mode 15 - 17 Customer-Record Data Entry 17 - 18 Back-ups 19 Transactions Explained 20, 22-23 Look-up Mode / Edit Records / Security Code 21 Earnings / Statements 25 - 26 Print-outs, Deletions, Cloning records 27 Sort Fields 28 - 29 Proper Operation Warnings 30 - 34 Search/Cross Search Fields 35 - 37 Utility menu, Change field headings Mailing Labels 38 - 41 Invoices - Operating Procedure 42 Sales Tax Exemptions during invoicing 43 - 44 Editing Invoices & invoice integration 45 'All Fields' searches, searching by invoice# 46 - 47 Inventory / Accts. Receivables 48 - 49 How to end a session / Registration / The Future -5- OVERVIEW: TransAct 5.7 is a unique data-base record keeping system designed just for small-business. It is a dedicated, turn-key (non-programmable system) designed for storage and retrieval of customer and company data. Specifically, three types of data are managed; customer data-base records, customer invoices, and company inventory records. Also, accounts received files are generated by the TransAct system and may be analyzed by the built-in accounts received ledger utility. A customer record is first entered and stored using CREATE MODE. Once stored, individual or batches of data-base records meeting certain criteria may be retrieved by search or cross-search, or by fast Look-up. Once found, records may be displayed and/or screen dumped. Invoices for any record (up to four) can be created, displayed, edited and printed. Invoices may be customized to contain a company letterhead and/or a closing remark. Invoices may be printed to serve as a customer receipt or bill. It should be mentioned here that customer data-base records are stand-alone records. Invoice records are not 'Stand Alone' files. Invoices can not exist without data-base records since some of the data used by invoices are data-base derived and indexed information. Customer data-base records contain information about the customer, whereas invoices contain customer financial transaction information (charges, materials, etc) and are the basis for accounts receivables. -6- OVERVIEW continued from last page To operate the system you must first install it to a sub-directory on your hard disk. Then start-up TransAct 5.7 and enter your company header as prompted. Set-up your printer with paper. Statements can be printed by selecting "Reports" from the main menu and selecting the appropriate option. Make a blank company letterhead if your paper has been prepared by a printing company in advance with your company letterhead. Instead, select CHANGE CO. HEADER from the Utils. menu. Then press <Enter> four times in succession to provide blank headers on customer invoices and statements. Next select change field headings from the Utils. menu. Change whatever main data-base field headings to new headings that better match your unique information demands. Keep in mind that only the main data-base records fields can be searched, cross-searched and sorted. Now you can write your first customer record by selecting "CREATE" from the main menu. Enter your data on the screen and follow prompts. Press <Esc> quickly. Then press 'Y' . Then press the <F3> key to write an invoice to this record. There are two main parts of an invoice; the main screen and the materials screen(s). The second part, materials / code-items part of an invoice are fully integrated with inventory. continued next page... -7- OVERVIEW continued from last page Enter your stock and/or service codes to inventory before creating invoices so that point-of-entry pricing for the items are available to you. Select INVENTORY from the main menu. Then ADD INVENTORY. Then enter inventory data as prompted. Once an invoice is entered and stored to disk, you may print it as many times as desired. Then follow the on-screen prompts to make a payment or debit to the invoice. Customer statements may be run at any interval. Statements are based solely on open invoices. ie. invoices with a balance due. Closed 'PAID IN FULL' invoices do not generate data for statements. Statements will indicate whether the balance due is OVER 30, 60, 90, 120 DAYS, or current. See STATEMENTS for more details. A pop-up Memo-pad, Calculator, and other utilities are available. See the opening screen or click on the Happy Face icon on the far left side of the main menu bar for more details. Press the F1 function key for menu sensitive help screens while operating TransAct 5.7. -8- MAIN FEATURES: DATA-BASE RECORDS: * Instant Look-up Mode * Read / Write / Display / Print * Automatic record # assignment. * 80 column displays with invoice summary windows. * Convenient Screen Dumps / Reports. * Up to 14,000 records per data-base. * Fast searches and sorts on any field. * Mailing labels based on last search. * Automatic calculations for totals, earnings and balances due. * Easy full-screen editor. * Record cloning. * Password protection. * Previous Search / Sort Memory . * Sort Previous Search * 20 Record fields (12 user re-definable) * Fully Mouse - aware Menu driven. * Data-base record data-transfer to invoices for efficiency. * Real-time updating of main data-base records to reflect activity to invoices, accounts receivables and accounts received files. -9- Main Features continued from last page- INVOICE FILES: * Point-of-entry / Point-of-sale or Service transactions. * Automatic data sharing of data-base records. / Auto invoice# assignment. * Includes up to 30 items per invoice. * Customized company heading and closing remarks * Up to 4 invoices per record. * Up to 50,000 invoices per system. * Automatic disk compression. * Automatic sales tax calculations. * Sales tax-exempt capability. * All Functions are FULLY Compatible with TransAct 5.7 inventory files for fully automated inventory deletions. * Invoices are Integrated with accounts received and accounts receivables. * POE (point of entry) pricing from inventory files. Invoice data fields: 30 Part number or Service Code Numbers, integrated with up to 5000 inventory Items. Quantity sold, 25 character descriptions, unit price, automatic extended prices, 4 Comments, and 4 Description / Chgs. text lines. Other Charges; shpg. & handling (mktg. format) or Service charge (service format). Other invoice data are automatically copied from main data-base records avoiding time-consuming duplication. Separate shipping or job location information is supported. -10- Main features continued from last page- Monthly Statements: * Customized statements printed for all open invoices with flags for OVER 30, 60, 90, and 120 Days. * Allows for #10 windowed envelopes for easy customer billing. Accounts Received and Accounts Receivables: * Fully integrated with invoice files, data-base records and with built-in Accts received ledger utility. * Up to 25 transactions (payments and/or debits) per invoice. BEFORE RUNNING TransAct 5.7 Copy all files from your TransAct 5.7 distribution disk to another floppy disk using any copy program, or the DOS Diskcopy command. Copyright Laws prohibit distribution of any copy you make. Discounts for multiple copies are available. Once a back-up floppy disk has been made, proceed to "Getting Started and Installation. -11- Getting Started and Installation: DO NOT run this program until it is properly installed to your hard drive. We further recommend that you have at least DOS version 3.1, and at least a 20 megabyte hard disk drive in your computer to allow storage space for TransAct 5.7 files and your other programs and data files. Turn on the IBM-PC or compatible computer, printer, and 80-column monitor. Boot off your hard drive and wait until you have the DOS C> prompt on your monitor screen. Now you are ready to install TransAct 5.7. Perform the following installation procedure. Installation: 1. Place distribution disk (TransAct 5.7) into drive A 2. Type A:INSTALL. Then press <Enter>. 3. Wait until Installation is complete. Drive light will turn off and DOS prompt will appear on display. ACCESSING THE MAIN MENU: Now that the program is installed, you are ready to begin. continued next page... -12- ACCESSING THE MAIN MENU: continued from last page- If you will be using a mouse, be sure the mouse-driver software that came with the mouse is properly loaded before using Transact. Be sure that you are in the TransAct directory. To do this, simply type cd\Transact. Then press <Enter>. Note: The third character is a backslash - not a forward slash. Now that you are in the proper directory, you are ready to run the program. Type TransAct. Then press <Enter> to start- up the TransAct 5.7 system. To start a session once your computer has been turned off, move from your root directory to the proper directory by typing cd\TransAct <Enter>. Then type TransAct to run. Shortly, the TransAct 5.7 opening screen will appear. Press any key for the main menu. The main menu will appear as a bar at the top of the screen. Several options are listed on the menu bar. WARNING: Do not bypass the Transact start-up batch file by typing T57MN. Instead, be sure to type TRANSACT with no extension. Note: Ignore the message, 'Sub directory already created' when starting TransAct 5.7. This message does not mean that there is anything wrong. -13- THE MAIN MENU: The Main Menu has 10 options. There are 3 methods you can use to select an option. 1. Use <Alt> combination keys. For example, to do a Look-up hold down the ALT key and press L. Invoice is <Alt>-I, iNventory is <Alt>-n, etc. 2. Press the right or left cursor keys until your desired option is highlighted. Then press <Enter>. 3. Use the mouse by pointing the mouse pointer at the desired option and click once. Once you select an option, a pull down menu will be displayed. Use the up or down cursor keys or point and click the mouse to select one of the options on the pull-down menu. You may return to the Main Menu anytime by pressing the <ESC> key or by double clicking the mouse on the 'happy face icon' (far left on the main menu bar). Mouse usage: Point and click the mouse on any desired option. For example, if the prompt at the bottom of the screen says <TAB> to dial-out then you may point at the word TAB and click to dial-out. Also, When a prompt says Press any key..., you may simply click the mouse to continue. -14- CREATE RECORD MODE: Before creating records, determine which field headings you want to change by selecting CHANGE FIELD HEADINGS from the Utility menu. You may then change twelve of the twenty main record field headings. Seven of the twenty field headings are dedicated, and CAN NOT be changed. These are DATE, NAME, CO. NAME, ACCT. #, ADDRESS, CITY - ST - ZIP, PHONE #, and Tax Rate. The other headings can be changed. Although the headings (titles) can be changed, the data lengths on those fields CAN NOT be altered. So, before selecting a field to change, keep size limitations of that field in mind. Note that most record field data will later be copied to printed invoices associated with that record. The 'Remarks' field doesn't copy to the invoice. So, this field can contain confidential or proprietary information. Also, enter data only in lower case (Do not use shift key). This allows for case insensitive searches and cross-searches to data-base records. Press <crsr> right key to highlight, or point and click to select the 'CREATE' option. Then press <Enter> and the main data-base data-entry screen is displayed. The first active record may now be entered. All records are automatically assigned a record # by TransAct 5.7 . -15- DATA-BASE RECORDS - DATA ENTRY: Once the data entry editor screen is displayed, look for the blinking cursor next to 'DATE' and enter the current date as mm-dd-yy or press the <F2> key for automatic system dating. Then type the customer name in last name, first name format. eg. smith, joe. DO NOT USE CAPITAL LETTERS. They will become capitalized automatically when retrieved. Then type in the Customer Company Name. Then you may optionally enter any account number of at least 6 digits. Then press <Enter> or <Crsr Down>. If you make a mistake before you press <Enter> use the backspace key to delete the unwanted characters or <Ins> to insert characters that are missing. If you already pressed <Enter>, don't worry. You may use your up or down cursor keys. Press <Enter> or the <crsr down> key after each line. When finished entering data to this record, briefly press the <Esc) key. Then answer the prompt IS INFORMATION CORRECT? by pressing 'Y' to store the customer record to disk. -16- Writing effective customer records: The use of codes entered into customer records will allow you to perform effective field searches to dept. codes, status field, estimates, etc. In the TRANS TYPE field, we recommend that you store information describing the type of transaction. Some suggested codes for this record field are: For service businesses - FRESH, SVCCALL, RECALL, Warranty, etc. For sales businesses - SALE , RETURN, EXCHANGE, MOTO, etc. You can make up your own codes to suit your needs. Even use more than one. eg. SALE/COD. When you later search for codes in the proper field the appropriate records will be found. In this fashion, it is possible to create records that can be retrieved in batches that describe select types of transactions or customers. The TRANS STATUS FIELD should contain information as to the current status of an account. eg. COMPLETE (COMP), INC, SHIPPED, WAITING PARTS (W/P), etc. In Edit Mode, a field of data can be easily changed. Update any field to show the current status of an account. continued next page... -17- continued from last page- NOTE: If you wish to change the headings of the main data-base record fields, select the Utils. option from the main menu and choose "Change Default Headings". Then follow the prompts. Only field headings 8 - 19 may be changed. eg. If you are managing an auto repair shop, you may wish to change the MANUF / TYPE field to Vehicle / Model. A special data field heading that can be changed is the OTHER CHARGES field. The OTHER CHARGES field can be found only in invoice files. A service business may want to change this field to SVC CHARGE. A mail order company may want to change this field heading to SHPG. / HNDG. Select field # 27 in the CHANGE FIELDS MODE of the Utility Menu. Back-ups: Frequent copies of your data should be made. A copy program should be used or DOS's BACK-UP and RESTORE commands. The files to back-up are: Record.dta (holds data-base records). Stock.dat (inventory), and all other files in your main directory labeled 01/93, 02/93, 03/93 etc. These are the accounts received files needed by the Accounts Received Ledger Utility program. Other important files include Toprec.dat, Cohead.dat, and others. continued next page... -18- continued from last page- Also, back-up the INVOICE sub-directory for all files. These are your invoices grouped into clusters. Each invoice cluster has 10 invoices in it. eg. Invoices 100001 to 100010 will be stored in file 100001. Invoices 100011 to 100020 are stored in file 100011 etc. Each TransAct 5.7 directory has a separate INVOICE directory below it called INVOICE. Do not forget to back-up the files contained in this directory. For reliable back-ups we suggest a tape system or at lease a high density disk drive, but even 5 1/4" diskettes will do. Account Status and Estimate Tracking: Suppose you enter W/P (waiting parts), WCB (will call back) OK, or NOT-OK in the Est. Status field, or to the Trans-status field. These fields can be searched and cross-searched or edited to reflect the current status of estimates etc... In fact, any field can be searched and cross-searched. See SEARCH FIELDS for more information. -19- Transactions: Whenever money changes hands you must write an invoice associated with the appropriate record. Then you must select ACCTS from the main menu to make any payments, or debits to that invoice. Remember to follow all prompts on screen. These prompts guide you through each function. You must first write or read a data-base record to be able to attach an invoice (up to 4 maximum) to that record. See INVOICES for more details. or simply follow the prompts following a CREATE or LOOK-UP display screen. After creating a customer record a prompt appears, "Press <F3> to Create a new invoice". Press F3 as prompted. Or after reading a record using LOOK-UP, press <F10> to speed key directly to invoice mode. Or simply point the mouse at the appropriate invoice summary and click to read the invoice. In any case, Once the invoice has been read into the system, go to the ACCTS menu to post payments or debits to that invoice. See ACCTS for more details. -20- Editing Records: After reading a record (Look-up), press the space bar to go to EDIT MODE to update any of the fields in that record. Make these changes in the same fashion as you entered the original data and press <Esc> when finished. Then follow the prompts. Note: In edit mode you may use the <HOME> and <END> keys to go to the beginning or end of the field the cursor is on. Also, you may use the up or down cursor keys instead of <Enter> after typing each line. Also, the <Backspace> and <DEL> keys are active in the full screen editor in write or edit modes. PASSWORD (SECURITY CODE): Use default security code '199' to allow access to editing functions. You may change the default security code to your own unique code in the Utils. menu. Keep the security code short for expediency. You need this code to EDIT customer records, and inventory, and to delete records. The security code may be any combination of alpha-numeric characters. -21- EARNINGS: Earnings are calculated by the SEARCH FIELDS and CROSS-SEARCH FIELDS modes. When calculating, TransAct 5.7 uses the initial transaction dates of records only, not actual invoice or payment dates contained in the other fields. This means that when you have a split transaction involving a payment on a later date, the system will calculate all payments as if they occurred on the original data-base record date. As an alternative, and to list and calculate actual earnings as they occurred, use the Accounts Received Ledger Utility, available from the Utility menu. CUSTOMER STATEMENTS: Balances due on open invoices may be displayed by selecting REPORTS from the main menu. Then select DISPLAY STATEMENTS. To produce a hard copy of this display press 'H' when prompted. To print customer statements select PRINT STATEMENTS instead of DISPLAY STATEMENTS from the REPORTS MENU. Make sure your printer is turned on an loaded with 8 1/2" x 11" paper. Statements will be printed for all accounts having any open invoices. (An open invoice is an invoice with a balance due.) You may also select PRINT INDIVIDUAL STATEMENT to produce a statement for one customer rather than all customers. -22- LOOK-UP Record Mode: You may LOOK-UP a customer data-base record that was previously stored. This is the first option on the TransAct 5.7 Main Menu. Select CUSTOMER/CO.NAME or ACCT#/FILE#. Then type in the customer's last name or company name. Or type in the record# or account number that you wish to Look- up. Account numbers, if used, must be unique to any customer. The system will automatically check for duplication. A customer only needs an account number if they will owe your company money on multiple invoices. Once the chosen customer record is displayed, follow the prompts for your options. You can go into edit mode (Press <Spc Bar>) to change any part of the displayed record, or you can delete the entire record ( F9 removes it from the disk), or you can <CRSR RIGHT> to see the next record number , or <CRSR LEFT> to go back one record number. You may press the <TAB> key to dial-out through a modem. Or you can simply press <Esc> to go back to the Main Menu. If you entered a customer or company name, the most current record with a match is displayed... Consider this example. Enter SM. The first record found with a match might be SMITH, SMITHE, or or any name starting with SM. Then notice the blinking prompt at the top of your display, Press Enter to READ NEXT MATCH. If you press the <Enter> key, or click the mouse on the blinking prompt, the next available match is displayed. If there are no additional matches, the following message is displayed; NOT IN FILE. Then the Look- up record dialog box is re-displayed waiting for a new entry. -23- Edit Main Records: To edit a customer record, first LOOK-UP the record you wish to edit. Then press the <space bar>. Then enter your security code. The default security code is 199. You may change this code in the UTILITY MENU if desired. You will see the current record data on the full-screen editor. Simply follow on-screen prompts as follows: Press <Enter> or <crsr down> to move down one line. Or hold down the <Enter> key until the blinking cursor moves down to the field (line) requiring changes. Then using the cursor right key, position the cursor over the first character to be replaced. Then simply type in your new characters. Use the <DEL> key to erase any number of characters to the right of the blinking cursor. You can also use the <Ins> key to insert characters. Once all fields have been edited, quickly press <Esc> once. And prompt 'IS INFO CORRECT?' appears. Typing 'Y' for a Yes response will automatically up-date this record on disk and includes all changes you may have made. Pressing 'N' (no) at this prompt will return the cursor to the DATE field to enable further editing. When editing a record you can use the <Home> or <End> keys for desired placement of the cursor on the current line. When the edited record is stored to disk you will be returned to the main menu. -24- Helpful Editing Hints: Edit Mode is a very useful tool, not only to correct errors in data entry, but especially to up-date records. ie. changes in a customer's account status, address, etc... In this fashion, edit the job STATUS or sales STATUS to follow the flow of a transaction. Change the trans-status field from 'W/P' (waiting for parts) to COMP (completed) or from BO (back-order) to SHIPPED etc... Other data may be edited into fields such as Est Ok, WCA (waiting credit approval), MC/VISA, etc. Press <F2> to insert the current system date on any line. -25- Hardcopy: Any time you want a print-out of a customer record or any non-scrolling screen, press <Shift><Prt Sc> to screen dump to printer. This is useful for customer claim checks, sales & service orders, etc. Deleting Data Base Records: As with EDIT MODE, a record must first be Looked-up before it can be deleted. This helps to assure that records are not deleted until they are inspected. After reading a record in LOOK-UP mode, simply press <F9> to delete. Then enter your security code. Then the prompt, 'Are you sure you want file deleted?' is displayed. Simply press 'Y' (yes) and the record will be deleted from disk. When deletion is complete, the Main Menu appears. Do not delete records that have invoices associated with them. Deletion of data-base records DOES NOT delete any associated invoice files that you have stored.. SEE INVOICES for more information. Note: If a record has been deleted, the next record entered fills that record number slot. This can be confusing if you're accustomed to records being stored consecutively as they are entered. The recommended use for delete mode is to only delete a record if your customer cancels an order and no invoices were created and no money changed hands. -26- Record Cloning: An advanced feature of TransAct 5.7 is 'Record Cloning'. This function is available only in Look-up mode. Press the <F6> function key or click on CLONE when a data-base record is displayed. This automatically clones (copies) this record to the next available record slot. This feature provides for repeat customers and saves typing time... Great for multiple invoice requirements too... Caution: Make changes to your cloned record only after cloning. Then press the <Esc> key until the prompt `IS INFO CORRECT'is displayed. Press 'Y' and the edited cloned record will be copied to the next available record number and the original will remain undisturbed on disk. Remember - First clone. Then edit. Otherwise, you will inadvertently edit the original record. Note - when a record is cloned the date and all invoices associated with that record stay with the original record, and are not copied to the new record. This feature provides more invoice space. You may create up to 4 more invoices for the new cloned record. (Great for repeat customers requiring more than 4 invoices). In other words, Each time a data-base record is full with the maximum of 4 invoices, and you need to write a new invoice for that account, simply Look-up the record. Clone the record. Then if necessary edit the new cloned record. Finally, create a new invoice. -27- SORT FIELDS: SORT is an option on TransAct Main Menu. Highlight this option and press <Enter> for SORT MODE. Use the <crsr down> or <crsr up> keys to get an alpha-numeric sort on any field. Press <Enter> and answer the next prompt to determine if this sort will use all records on disk or only those found from the last search. Once sorted, you may display or print all records in the order in which they were sorted. Suggestion: Search all records from a certain month or year. And once found, sort on the name field...In a repair shop setting, search for all units in the shop. Then sort to obtain a sorted list of these records. SORT FIELDS only works with main data-base record fields. Sorting of inventory by code-item (SKU) is provided automatically by the Inventory Control Module. This happens as new labor or stock items are added. So, inventory reports are printed in alpha-numeric order automatically. -28- OPERATION WARNINGS: 1. All data entry to main records must be entered in lower case. ie. Never use the <shift> key. Data will later be printed in upper case as needed. 2. Be sure each record has a date in format mm-dd-yy. Press <F2> for system date on any data-entry field. 3. Be sure each data-base record has a tax rate (last field of the main db records). If the tax on a record`s tax rate field (last field of any record) is zero, type 0.00. 6.5% must be entered as 0.065 etc... Do not leave this field blank. 4. Back-up all files often enough to feel secure. Remember - All invoices are stored in a sub-directory called INVOICE and contain clusters or groups of ten invoices. You must back-up all files in the TRANSACT sub-directory as well as all files in the INVOICE sub-directory. 5. Never use more than 31000 qty. on invoices, on inventory quantities or re-order points or on qty,s on invoice code items (materials or service codes). continued next page... -29- Warnings continued from last page- 6. When entering money amounts never use a dollar sign and be careful to use a period for the decimal point. 7. Never use commas in money data. eg. 1,255.59 8. Do not attempt to install TransAct 5.7 in the root directory. Never name a sub-directory 'INVOICE', since this is reserved for TransAct. 9. Never change the tax rate of a data-base record once invoices have been assigned to it. 10. If an error occurs, Call DATA-LABS customer service Voice / Fax line at 215-698-2933 before resuming operation. -30- SEARCH FIELDS MENU: The SEARCH FIELDS MENU is accessed from the Main Menu. Select this option and the SEARCH FIELDS MENU will appear. This menu operates in the same fashion as the Main Menu. Just move the cursor up or down to highlight a field search option and press <Enter> to select that option. Each option performs a disk search to every record on the data disk (not including invoices). The search is confined to whichever field is chosen in the SEARCH FIELDS MENU. eg. If you choose SEARCH STATUS the computer then prompts, Enter Search String. You then enter a status code like COMP (complete), W/P (waiting parts), SHPD (shipped), SVC (Svc Call), DEL (delivered), etc. Before entering the search-word a prompt appears to press the space bar for a search or the <'X'> key for a cross-search. You must search before performing a cross-search. Each search or cross-search is stored in memory as the LAST search. Mail labels print 15/16" standard labels from the results of the last search or cross-search. See Utils. The REMARKS FIELDS can also be searched and/or cross- searched. continued next page... -31- continued from last page- The search will find all records that contain any word or code the operator entered into those records. For example, put PREV in remarks for any customer that is a previous customer (repeat customer). Then when searching the Remarks Fields for PREV, every record of all previous customers on your data disk are displayed. When any Search is completed, the total number of records found are displayed, as well as Total Money Earned and Bal. Due. On completion of any search or cross-search the operator has the option of sorting records found by selecting SORT from the main menu. After sorting is complete, the sorted list of field data may be displayed. Simply follow the prompts carefully. Suggestion: When prompted for search string during field searches or cross-searches, simply pressing <Enter> will find all records in the data-base. SEARCH ALL FIELDS is the next to the last choice in the SEARCH FIELDS pull-down menu. Choose this option instead of a specific field choice to search every field in the data-base records. This is very powerful. It allows you to search for invoice #'s or invoice dates that are shown in the invoice summary boxes (top right of data-base records). -32- LAST SEARCH: LAST SEARCH ( previous search ) may be displayed from the Search Fields Menu. The LAST SEARCH is erased by any current search. Also, the last Search is drawn upon for data when compiling mailing labels, or when performing a Cross-Search. The last search is also available to the accounts received ledger utility. CROSS-SEARCHING DATA-BASE FIELDS: After performing a Search, you may go back to the Main Menu and again select SEARCH FIELDS MENU. Then you will be returned to the SEARCH FIELDS MENU. Select the correct field to search and press <Enter>. Then instead of pressing the <spc> bar, press <f8> as prompted so that only records found in the previous search will be re-searched (cross-searched). Consider the following example: Suppose the system has many records stored in it. Now, let's say that about half of these were written in 1992 and the remainder in 1993. Now let's try to find all records from 1992 that contain a status field entry of DEL (DELIVERED). -33- Cross-Search continued from last page- First choose the SEARCH FIELDS OPTION and when the Search Fields Menu appears, select 'SEARCH STATUS FIELD'. Then when prompted for SEARCH STRING, type DEL. TransAct 5.7 will then search all records on disk for STATUS DEL. In the example above, we wanted only 1992 records but the search returns all years included in our data. Now go to the main menu. Select The SEARCH FIELDS option and then press F9 for a cross-search. Then Select DATE. Then when prompted, type 91 and press <Enter>. Now the system will cross-search ( only scan records from the last search ) and display only records with 1991 in their date fields. Of course, these records also have 'DEL' in their status fields due to the previous search. Searching enables the user to find any code. Then by cross-searching, narrow down these records even further. -34- More about Searches/Cross-searches: Another good use for search and cross-search techniques would be to compile a list of all customers who made purchases in a certain month. Note: This would also provide Total Earnings and the Total Balance due from all such transactions found during the search. Similarly, a service business may wish to compile in-shop records. ie. all units ( TV's, VCR's, Automobiles, etc...) that are in the shop for repair. Or perhaps a search for all widgets sold. Or for scheduling purposes, a customer record field could be used to reference a service call appointment date and time. Later searching that field for a schedule date will yield all customers scheduled on that day. The useful possibilities of Searches and Cross-Searches are almost endless... -35- UTILS MENU: The UTILITIES menu is accessed from the Main Menu. Select the desired option by highlighting the appropriate option and pressing <Enter>. Or simply point and click with the mouse. Mailing labels: Select this option from the Utilities menu to compile and print mailing labels for 1 across x 15/16" standard labels. First perform a search and if needed, a cross-search to find the desired customers. Follow the prompts. Mailing labels are based on the 'Last Search' performed. This makes it easy to compile mailing lists taken from select groups of records. eg. Mail to all customers living in a certain city, state, or zip code, etc... Change Security Code (password): The password is needed to access EDIT modes for invoice or records and for deleting records. Here the password is called a security code. The present code is '199' and can be changed to any password that you want to use. But you must know the existing code. The default security code is 199. continued on next page... -36- Utils. Menu continued from last page- Once changed, the message which appears as you start to run TransAct 5.7, `Use default code 199` will no longer appear and access speed to your program will increase. CHANGE HEADINGS: Use this option to change many of the headings on your main customer records. Choose these changes carefully to reflect data your company needs. Be sure to choose fields with sufficient lengths. Note: You can not change the first six fields or the last field in the records. Also, a special field is headed OTHER CHGS. on your invoices and may be changed. This is considered as field # 27. A typical change to this field heading would be to change to `SHPG/HNDG` for a sales/mktg business, or `SVC CHG:' for a service oriented business. OTHER UTILS OPTIONS: Other options in the utility menu can be selected and will provide more flexibility. Simply select option and follow prompts. continued next page... -37- Utils. Menu continued from last page- Invoice/Statement length defaults to 11 inches but can easily be changed to 7, 8, or any length desired. Note: This change affects the customer invoices and customer statements lengths, but can be changed at any time prior to printing invoices or statements. When you change the page size you may also ADD LASER PRINTER support by answering the prompt that follows the page size prompt. Select Accounts Received Ledger Utility. Other Utils. options are available and are self explanatory. Simply follow the prompts. Calculator: A pop-up calculator is available anytime by pressing the F5 key. This handy utility CAN NOT be selected from the Utils. Menu. Press <Esc> to remove the calculator display and return to the exact place you were at prior to using the calculator. Note - When The calculator is displayed, entries and results may optionally be printed to a printer on parallel port LPT1 just like an adding machine by pressing the F7 key as prompted. Memo-Pad: Press F8 to pop-up the TransAct Memo-Pad This provides you with a full-featured word processor for short files. -38- Invoices: Invoice Mode can be accessed from the main menu, or by using the <F3> key after CREATE record or the <F10> key after LOOK-UP record. Invoice data should not be confused with main data- base records. Up to four invoices may be created for each main data-base record. An Invoice on hard-copy (printed form) can serve as a transaction record for you and your customer. And they are customized; Each printed invoice will have your company heading and a closing remark. The main body of the invoice contains shipping data, other charges, text lines and amounts. Then there are three comments fields. Then materials or code items (up to 30) are printed. Then the sub-totals, other charges, tax amounts, and grand totals are printed. Then a closing remark, "Thank You For Your Valued Patronage." is printed. The closing remark may be changed to a different remark in the Utils. menu. Invoices may be printed on single feed sheets or tractor feed. Simply select PRINT INVOICE from the invoice menu after creating or reading an invoice. If you need more than one copy, simply type 'Y' in response to the printer prompt, PRINT AGAIN? (Y/N). -39- Invoice Mode Operating Procedure: When an invoice is created and stored to disk, the amount of the invoice is applied to accounts receivables. To create an invoice, a data-base record for this transaction must first be written to the main data-base. Go to the MAIN MENU and select `CREATE'. Then enter the main data-base record information for this customer. Once the main data-base record is written, select the <F3> option. Then follow all prompts. To write an invoice to an existing record, simply read that record by first using LOOK-UP from the main menu. Then press <F10> to speed to Invoice mode. Then select CREATE INVOICE. After entering data to the main body of your invoice, press <Esc> and "y" just as you did with main record data entry. Then write invoice materials (code items) or just press <ENTER> (or click the mouse) to store the invoice. Once an invoice is created, read, or edited, you must press <Enter> or click the mouse to read each page of the invoice before being able to store the invoice and go to the main menu. continued next page... -40- Invoice Mode continued from last page- Once an invoice is either displayed or created and you go back to the main menu, you must select ACCTS. to make any payments or debits to that invoice. To add a return or discount credit to an invoice you may read/edit the invoice. Then enter your security code and press <Enter> as prompted at the bottom of the invoice opening screen. Then add a text line to a description field such as 1% credit. Then enter the appropriate credit amount on the next AMT. line as minus (-) the appropriate amount. If an error was made in posting a payment or a bad check is returned, apply a debit in ACCTS. mode. To edit the code-items of an invoice, read the main record, then the invoice, and choose EDIT MATERIALS from the invoice menu. Then Select A or E as prompted. Then follow the prompts to add or edit existing code items on the invoice. INVOICE DATA ENTRY: There are up to four separate invoices associated with each main record to allow for 4 separate transactions. For example, your company sell widgets to Mr. Smith. He gives you a deposit. So you CREATE his main record and an invoice to give him a record of his transaction. continued on next page... -41- continued from last page- You also apply his deposit to ACCTS. Later his widgets are shipped. Now he pays the balance due to your company. You apply this payment to accounts without creating a new invoice. Later Mr. Smith places another order. Now instead of having to write a new data-base record, you simply read his previous customer record in LOOK-UP Mode (from the main menu), edit to indicate the new status of the account, create a new invoice, select ACCTS., then apply appropriate payment. Later, you may 'READ/EDIT' invoices to see any invoices for the current record. Remember, the current record is the last record found when you used LOOK-UP from the customer data-base. You will see that a printed invoice contains much data from its' associated data-base records as well as all the regular invoice data. When you create an invoice, you will be prompted for pertinent information about materials used or sold; quantity (qty), code-items (P/N), and unit price. But first you enter description data, amounts, comments, etc. The best way to get fully acquainted with using invoice mode is to experiment. -42- SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS: An advanced feature of the Invoice Mode is the sales tax exemption features. To exempt all sales taxes for a given customer invoice, simply type 0.00 for the tax rate on the data-base record. This is the last field on any data-base record and tells invoice mode what tax rate to apply to invoices that are created. To only exempt shpg & handling, svc charges, description charges or other charges press <F9> instead of <Enter> when entering description / amount, or code-items to the invoice. Doing this will make that item non-taxable. Note: When entering invoice data for Date, Name, Address, City, St, Zip press the <F9> key which copies data to your invoice from the main record. This avoids duplication of effort. -43- More about Invoices: It should be mentioned that you CAN NOT use all of the program functions of the main customer data-base with invoices. ie: You can not Search / Cross-search, Sort, etc. Invoice data is only for retrieving, displaying, and printing. Any special customer data that is to be analyzed, searched, or sorted should be written to the main customer record. However, invoice money data and accounts received data generated by invoices are automatically posted to the main records so that searches and/or cross- searches will yield earnings, bal`s due, and sales tax collected for the group of records found during the last search or cross-search. EDIT INVOICE: To edit an invoice select READ/EDIT from the INVOICE MENU. Read the appropriate invoice and Enter your security code. and press <Enter>. Then edit the main body of the invoice. If you need to edit existing code-items on an invoice or to add new code-items lines to an invoice, select EDIT Code Items from the invoice menu. You will be prompted to select (A)dd materials line or (E)dit existing materials line. Type A or E. Then follow the prompts...re-type the entire new field you are editing if editing an existing materials field. continued next page... -44- Integration of Invoices with Inventory: Part-number quantities that are entered on invoice materials screens are automatically deleted from inventory if found in the inventory list. A unit price is offered when found. Answer prompt to accept the unit price from inventory or not. If not found in inventory, a prompt will ask you to press <Enter> to continue or <Esc> to try another code item. So, Point of entry pricing is available from inventory, but is optional. ie. It can be over-rided. And you can even write items to an invoice that are not in your current inventory list. Also, items in inventory may be service or labor codes with flat or hourly rates. Automatic invoice pricing is derived from inventory price data and can be used on any invoice or easily overwritten by following the prompts when creating invoice code-items. If a price is overwritten while invoicing, the unit price is only overwritten on the invoice. The item remains unchanged in inventory. To change the actual price in inventory select edit inventory from the Inventory menu, accessible from the main menu. -45- Searching for invoice numbers: When searching or cross-searching the main customer data-base you may select `ALL FIELDS` as the search field. Then follow prompts. When prompted for the search string, enter the invoice number you are looking for and a disk-search will find the record associated with that invoice. This method can be slower than using Look-up mode by account number or name or company name, but allows you to find the record when only the invoice number is known. Some Notes about TransAct 5.7: Just as Mailing Labels use data from main data-base records, invoices share data too. The remarks fields in data-base records are not shown on the invoices. So these are considered to be proprietary remarks. (Remarks that you never want your customer to see.) Comments lines are also available when writing the invoices to write remarks that you want your customer to see. -46- INVENTORY CONTROL MODULE: Select INVTY from the main menu and choose options by selecting the appropriate first letter of the command option or by pointing and clicking. eg.(F)IND stock item, (A)dd stock item, etc. Simply select the desired option and follow the prompts. We suggest that even if you do not use the inventory control module, add one dummy inventory file. Doing this will eliminate the message that appears when starting the program `NO INVENTORY RECORDS`, and will speed access to the main menu. In Add Code Item mode, you may enter a re-order point for each item. Later, that item will be printed from the inventory print-mode when performing a re-order point analysis if its current quantity on hand is equal or less than the re-order point. Other report options are available. WARNING: Be sure printer is ON-LINE when selecting REPORTS. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES & ACCTS RECEIVED: Accounts receivables represent money owed to your company. These balances are automatically generated when writing an invoice. Accounts received data is generated whenever a payment or debit is posted to ACCTS. -47- continued from last page- To post an account payment to a customer's existing open invoice, the customer's data-base record containing the invoice must be displayed in LOOK-UP mode. Then the invoice, must be read into the system by pointing the mouse at the appropriate invoice summary. Then go back to the main menu by pressing <Esc>. Then select Accts. from the main menu and follow the prompts to post a payment or debit. Or, you may make a payment in ACCTS without a Look-up by selecting CREDIT BY ACCOUNT NUMBER from the ACCTS menu. Up to 25 payments & debits may be posted to ACCTS. for any given invoice. Each open invoice to be posted to must be read previous to posting as outlined above. Accounts Received Ledger Utility: This utility is accessed from either the UTILS menu or the ACCTS menu. Once selected, follow prompts to display and/or print a ledger of all payments or debits made in any chosen month/year. This ledger separates taxable, non-taxable and sales tax collected. An advanced feature of this utility is the (L)ast search option selected by pressing 'L' at the appropriate prompt. This will return data based on the last data-base field search. Thus any given criteria for accounts received ledger output can be displayed or printed. -48- How To End a TransAct 5.7 Session: When you are finished using TransAct 5.7, DO NOT TURN OFF THE COMPUTER until you select the 'EXIT' option from the main menu. This assures you that any open files will be properly closed. Once exited, TransAct 5.7 will return you to the root directory. The system will then instruct you to turn the computer off or resume in your root directory with DOS commands. Registration: As with any program, despite our best efforts, a glitch may appear somewhere. We would greatly appreciate TransAct 5.7 users to report any problems by writing a short summary of what happens that you think shouldn't. We will correct any bugs. Users must send enclosed registration to be on our mailing list, or to be helped by our customer service department. So, please fill-out the registration and mail it today. -49- The Future: DATA-LABS is dedicated to you the PC business user. We will be developing new utility programs for TransAct 5.7. All registered users will be notified. We also intend on publishing accounts payable module to TransAct 5.7 as well as LAN version in the near future... We now provide customizing of TransAct 5.7. For example, you may need to use TransAct with special pre-printed invoice or statement forms. Call customer service for price quotes. Any comments should be directed by mail to our Customer Service Department. Or Call Voice / Fax 215-698-2933 for anything more urgent. We will answer all questions and try to solve your problems, but we urge you to review this documentation thoroughly before calling or writing. On some occasions, we may not be able to talk to you when you first call for assistance. In such a case, you will get our answering service. Please DO NOT HANG UP without leaving a message. Please leave your Name, Address, and telephone # (including area code), the reason for your call and the best time to return your call. We can call back in the evening if desired. When we call back, you will be instructed to call us again immediately on our service line so that we can help you. We regret that we can't help you toll free. But, our time is free... Thank You For Your Valued Patronage. CLINT WAX Chief Executive Officer DATA-LABS 10610 Evans St. Philadelphia, Pa. 19116 (215) 698-2933 TransAct (C) 1987-1993 DATA-LABS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.