The “unkit” option in the GM (General Merchandise) module was designed to allow you to order items that contain many sub-items in it. An example of this is a display case containing highlighters of several colors.

Setup & Maintenance

Step 1. Setup the UNKIT SKU. This is the SKU that defines the bulk order unit.
Step 2. Assign the SKUs that will be received when he UNKIT SKU is received.

Enter each SKU that will be received/sold.

Field Definitions

Distribution SKU Enter the SKU or use the XREF look up to locate each individual item.

Description This is a display of the item.

Qty to Receive Enter the number of units to be received at time of receiving.

Item Cost Enter the Cost value that will be used when this item is received.

Total Cost This is a display of the total of the extended costs.

QOH This is a display of the current QOH of the SKU

Receiving

When the UNKIT is received each SKU on the list will be updated based on the QRcv and the Cost specified in the UNKIT screen.

If 10 of the UNKIT SKU are received then the QRcv values will be multiplied by 10.

Each Distribution SKU will be updated with the receiving quantity and the costs will also be updated.

Unpost Receiving

If you unpost a receiving then the distribution SKU will be updated appropriately.

Auto Orders

Do not set up auto order/replenishment values for the UNKIT SKU. If you will be selling the UNKIT SKU then you are not using this feature how it was intended.

Preparing for rush can always be a challenge, especially for general merchandise. One of the reports that we have is the Pre-Order Worksheet (GM-01-28) report in GM. This report will look at the sales from a previous date range and show you how many you need to purchase to stock the quantity needed if you meet the same sale figures.

Enter the information; Beginning Date and Ending Date are the sales dates for the comparison. Enter the desired sort sequence. If you wish to limit the report to only certain vendors or for certain classes then enter in the filter criteria information as needed, enter as many vendors and/or classes as desired.

Select “R” to run. Keep in mind that you can run this report as many times as needed with different filter criteria to meet your needs.

The report will show the quantity sold during the dates entered, current quantity on hand, current quantity on order, quantity that you are over compared to the previous sales and the quantity that you need to order to meet the previous sales. Adjust your orders based on what you feel you will sell this term.

1. From the Accounts Receivable master menu, choose option 1 for Customer Maintenance.
2. Enter a period “.” to let the system assign the next available sequential number for the Customer #.
   1. To enter your own number, type an ‘A’ into the Customer # field and then enter your customer number
3. Enter the customer’s First Name and Last Name in the appropriate fields.
4. All the fields up to the Status field are optional, though it is recommended to fill in the Soc Sec Num field. You may come back and Modify the customer record at any time.
5. Enter an A for Active in the Status field.
6. Enter in the Customer Type for this customer.
   1. This is the Customer Type you have already created, or as discussed in the Accounts Receivable Training Guide.
7. If the Customer Type that you have selected for this customer requires an Agent / Bill Code, enter in the appropriate Agent code.
8. Enter a Y or N to both the Charge Interest, and Send Statement fields.
9. Enter a Credit Limit if required by Customer Type.
   1. To create an unlimited account fund, type in a limit of 999,999.99
10. The Opening Date will default to the current date, but you may change it if you wish.
11. The Closing Date is a date in the future as chosen by you.
12. The Statement Cycle field may be left blank, as well as the Miscellaneous Information field.
13. If you had wanted only Authorized persons available to charge toward this account, enter the names of the Authorized People in the Authorized Persons list.
14. Choose the Save option to save the customer record.

1. The first step in creating an Agent is that you must have an Agency To do this, choose option 5 for Agent Processing in the Accounts Receivable main menu.
2. Next choose option 22 for Agency Maintenance.
3. Enter in the Agency Code you wish to assign.
   1. This Agency Code may be either alpha or numeric.
      1. If you want the system to assign the numeric code, simply enter a period “.” to let the system assign the next sequential number available.
   2. If the Agency Code is a new code you are adding to the system, you will receive the prompt that the item is not on file. Choose the Add option to add the item.
   3. Type in the description for the Agency.
   4. Choose the Update option to finish adding the item.
   5. Next, choose option 21 from the Agent Processing menu for Agent Maintenance.
   6. Enter a period “.” to let the system assign the next sequential number for the Agent #.
   7. You must fill in all the required fields in the Agent Maintenance The required fields are:
      1. Last Name
      2. Status
         1. Use A for active
      3. Agency Code
         6. This is the Agency Code as described in steps 1-6.
      4. Statement Format
         1. Enter a double question mark (??) and choose from the list.
      5. All other fields are optional and may be filled in later if you choose by Modifying the record.
      6. Make sure you choose the Save option to save the Agent you created.

Overview

Background Processing allows you to run recurring reports as background processes to be run immediately or at scheduled times. This tool can be used to schedule your daily and weekly recurring reports to run after hours.

Background Processing Menu

(POS-UU-3)

1. Job Parameters – Each background process is called a job. Each job has certain parameters consisting of the job name, the times and days to run, etc. You will set all parameters necessary for each job using this menu option.

2. List Jobs – Compiles a list of jobs that are setup to process. You may output this list to printer, terminal or file.

3. List Job History – Compiles a history of jobs that have been processed, giving the dates and times that the job1 started.

21. Background Control – Gives you the ability to stop or start processes. This is where you will start and stop the background processor.

Note – There is a flag that can be set to notify you if the background processor is on. The menu path is System Administration Menu and then option 1) User Maintenance. Set the flag in User Maintenance to ‘Y’ and when you log on, the program will pause for a seconds after you enter your password to display the status.

There are two parts to background processing. The first part is to start the background processor through background control. The second part is to set up and specify the job parameters.

Managing the Background Process (BG-21)

There should be a background process running in each account that has a job to run. You will have to start the processor in each account. This can be set up to start automatically if your system is rebooted.

This screen is where you control jobs.

Start a Job – This will start a new occurrence of BG.PROCESSOR. It can start any job on the list.

Stop a Job – This will stop the job you specify. In GUI mode you must highlight the job to stop. In non-GUI mode you are prompted for the line number to stop.

Refresh List – This will remove all jobs from the JOBS file that have a status other than RUNNING or ABORT. See the following screen.

JOB SETUP

You can setup a background report in one of two ways.

You can create your report through the Report Menu by choosing the report you wish to run then entering the report parameters and selecting <R>=Run Procedure followed by G= Background Processor in the Output Options menu then <S>=Schedule and entering a name for the process. This will then put you in the Job Parameters screen with the fields populated from your report parameters where you can change any parameters as needed.

2. You can create your report manually by going directly to the Backgrounds menu and choosing Job Parameters and entering the information for your report.

JOB PARAMETERS

(POS-BG-1)

Background ID: Enter the id (alpha/numeric without spaces) to identify your background process. For example, if this was my nightly tender report then I might give it the id of TENDER.REPORT.

Account: Enter the account name the background will run in. All files used by the process must exist in the specified account.

Sender Port: This is the port that starts this process. If this process was made and started from another process, this port is automatically entered. The field serves no purpose at this time.

Notify Sender: Set this flag to ‘Y’ if you want to notify the sender every time that the process runs.

Run Status: Your options here are ‘I’ (Immediate), ‘R’ (Repeat), or ‘X’ (Cancel).

I = Run immediately, once the process has ran once, this changes to a status of ‘R’ and repeats according to intervals.

R = Repeat according to the time and day intervals that you set up. daily, weekly, monthly, hourly or any interval type of process.

X = Cancel, and stop running.

Start Date: Enter the date to start this process. (Only valid with status ‘R’)

Start Time: Enter the start time for the process to start. (Only valid with status ‘R’)

Day Intervals: Enter the interval as ‘1’ for daily, ‘7’ for weekly, etc. If run status is ‘I’, and you only want this process to run once then leave this interval blank.

Exclude Days: Enter any days that you do not want this process to run. For example, if this were a daily sales report, and the store is not open on Sundays, then you would enter ‘SUN’ to exclude the report from running on Sundays. Enter each day one at a time.

Time Interval: Enter the time interval 24:00:00 for once a day, 1:00:00 for hourly, etc…

Exclude Times: Enter the time that you do not want this process to run. This works similar to excluding days. If you run this process hourly, then you may want to exclude the hours that you are closed.

Group Code: Some processes require running a program then reporting on the outcome. For example a batch closing, you close the batches and then run the batch detail or summary reports. Here you can enter some unique code that will group the batch closing process together with the batch summary reports.

Sequence in Group: If you have entered a group code, then you will want to designate which process will run first, second, etc. (i.e. Batch closing would be sequence of ‘1’, report would be ‘2’, etc.)

Process Type: Enter P for Proc or T for TCL.

P = Proc (usually from the reports menu)

T = TCL. A cataloged program or anything else you can run from TCL with standard Pick INPUT statements. This uses a Pick DATA statement.

TD = TCL. Same as T except the inputs would come from a standard TCS input. (This populates DATA.LIST and is processing by CHAR.INPUT.)

I = ISD processsor (entry screen). Requires release 5.3 or Patch 1237.

Process ID: Enter the process id for the process you are going to run. If this is a report, enter the report id. If this is a program, enter the program name.

Output Tag: Enter here where you want the output to go. The valid options are:

T= Terminal, ‘T132’ for 132 column output to the terminal (this is like entering ‘TW’ in the reports)

P,a,b,c,d,e,f,g = Printer

a – printer number

b – L=landscape, P=Portrait

c – number of copies

d – D=Direct, H=Hold (suspend printing)

e – lines per inch (6 or 8)

f – characters per inch

g – lines per page

It is easy to set the values for a-g; simply enter P in the field and the printer assignment box will pop up, enter the values you want and they will automatically populate this field.

Inputs: Enter any parameters here that you would as if you were running the process from a menu. This means you must know the order of the parameters.

Acceptable values include:

“” = blank

DATE-n or DATE+n = Today –n days, or today +n days.

Other data is accepted as entered. I.E. “[sam]”, 05.22.03, 001, etc.

This document describes the history process for:

1. Removing old invoices and payments from the active lookup and placing them into an index for each year.
2. Purging old invoices and payments from the system to never be accessed again.
3. Looking up inactive invoices and payments.

Setup

Prior to running the history process you should enter your history preferences in the General Parameters screen found in AR-SU-03 (General Parameters).

There are two fields.

1. Months to keep on-line. This is to designate how many months of data will be in the active index. This should probably be about a year although it can be as small as 1 month.
2. Months in history files. This is the maximum number of months to keep the invoices and payments on your system. Anything older than this is purged and no longer available. This could be for as many years as necessary, perhaps somewhere between 3 and 5 years depending on your needs.

There are 12 months in a year. So for 5 years enter 60 for the value.

The Process

(Main Menu # 6)

When you want to move invoices & payments to the annual indexes then choose this menu option. Also, when you want to purge invoices and payments completely from your system this is where you do it. You can run this option as often as desired.

After you make your selections you will see the following screen.Range of Process and Purge

The range is based on the data you entered in the General Parameters setup screen.As the process runs and is completed you will see the follow screen.

Accessing the History Data

Customer Inquiry (Main Menu #2 and CI), select IH for Invoice History.

You will then be prompted for the year to search.

If there are any invoices in the year you selected they will appear at the bottom of the screen.

You can then access the invoice by choosing clicking on the line number or entering it in the entry box.

Accessing Payment History

From the main inquiry screen choose “P” for payments then choose “PH” for payment history. You will be prompted for the year to use after which the Payment history screen will appear.

You may choose a payment line number to look at the payment detail.

This document describes how to use the specialized report for special formatting of invoice data to be “normalized” and exported into an Excel spreadsheet.

Step 1. Select AR-RP-02-08

Step 2. Enter the reporting criteria you want for the report.

Step 3. Click on the save Icon and save the report.

1. Save the report in any folder you wish.
2. Give it name that will be meaningful.
3. Save it as a Text File

Step 4. Click “Save”
Step 5. Open the item with Excel.
The import Wizard will come up automatically.
Make the following adjustments

Click “Next”

Click “Next”

Highlight the column over the SSN/Contract and flag it as “Text”

Click “Finish”

With a little Excel magic you can now create sub totals and sort the report anyway that you like.

Prerequisite to End of Month Closing: all of the necessary G/L account codes must be setup in the following modules:

Point-of-Sale
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
General Ledger

There is no requirement to close the modules in any particular order, other than G/L needs to be last.

The steps within a module should all be completed in the sequence listed.

General Merchandise

End of Period Processing

This process sets the week-to-date, month-to-date, and year-to-date sales quantity values in GM. This should be performed at the end of the day on the last day of business, or before the first day of business for each week, month, and year. (GM-23)

OR

You can run the utility to rebuild the numbers whenever you wish. (GM-SU-01-06)

Point of Sale

Use menu path POS-23-29 (POS, End of Day Functions, General Ledger Interface)

Create G/L Distribution

This process resolves the sales transactions with all of the associated G/L codes and creates a file for reporting and posting. ^(a)

• 1. Enter the sales date for the first date to be included.
  2. Enter the sales date for the last date to be included.
  3. If you want to include the Over/Short results from your daily register reconciliation then enter a “Y”, otherwise enter “N”. ^(b)
  4. If you enter “Y” for repost then the process will ignore any prior posting of data for the date range you’ve entered. Entering “N” will cause this process to skip sales records that were posted previously.
  5. Run the procedure.

If this process encounters any errors they will be displayed on the screen. You will need to correct the cause of the error before an accurate Journal Entry can be created.

Notes: ———————————————————————————————————————

1. All G/L codes should have been set up during and after initial training.
2. Register Reconciliation is done at menu path POS-23-02 (POS, End of Day Functions, Register reconciliations.)

Print G/L Distribution

This report uses the data created by step 1, above.

• 1. Enter a store number. If you only have one store then leave this field blank.
  2. Enter a register number. This field is almost always left blank.
  3. Enter a beginning date for the report. This date will appear on the report header. It should also fall within the range of the dates that you entered in step 1, above.
  4. Enter an ending date for the report. This date will also appear on the report header and should also be within the range of dates that you entered in step 1, above.
  5. Summary, Detail, or Errors.
     1. Enter “S” to get a summary report. This will show one line for each G/L account. Any errors are easy to find because there will not be G/L account description.
     2. If you enter “E” for errors then the 1^st 10 errors will be on the screen. Fix those then run the report with the “E” option again until there are no errors.
     3. If you enter “D” for report details you get a report that is hard to read unless you are familiar with the data. Usually this is run by TCS personnel for advanced trouble shooting.
  6. Enter a G/L account number to limit the output for specific accounts. This only works in the “D” mode.
  7. Run the procedure. Select your printing or email destination.

Create G/L Journal Entry

This process will use the data created in step 1, above.

1. Enter a store number. If you only have one store then leave this field blank.
2. Enter a register number. This field is almost always left blank.
3. Enter a beginning date for the report. This date will appear in the Journal Entry Comments field. It should also fall within the range of the dates that you entered in step 1, above.
4. Enter an ending date for the report. This date will also appear in the Journal Entry Comments field and should also be within the range of dates that you entered in step 1, above.
5. Enter the Accounting Period that this Journal Entry will apply to.
6. Run the procedure.

This will create a Journal Entry in the format of POS*nnnn, where nnnn is a unique sequential number. This will need to be posted in the G/L module. (GL-01-01)

Accounts Payable

The first step is to find any transactions that were posted to A/P from receiving and returns (in Text, Trade, and GM) that are missing valid A/P vendor numbers.

This is done by running report AP-RP-02-01 (Unpaid Transactions by Vendor). Leave all fields empty except for Vendor Number. Use Vendor Number 99999, this is the “suspense” vendor. If the report has any lines on it then you will see in the last column which inventory vendor needs to have an A/P vendor assigned to it. You can also see this and more detail if you look up the transaction (AP-01). If there are any corrections to be made then:

1. Assign them the correct A/P vendor code. (AP-04, Change Vendor or Invoice). ^(a)
2. Correct the Inventory vendor record. (VM in Text, Trade, or GM.) ^(a)

Use menu path AP-03. (A/P, End of Month)

Pre-posting Report

Use this report to review if G/L account numbers, amounts, and vendors appear to be correct. (Ex. You probably do not want the G/L account number for cost of goods sold being assigned to a vendor that only sells you cleaning supplies.) Invoices with a status of “U” (unreconciled) will not appear on this report. Only the status codes of “O” (open for payment) and “H” (hold for payment) will be included. See note (a).

1. Enter an invoice cutoff date. All transactions older than, and including, this date that have not been journalized will be on the report.
2. Select a report type. This report has three format options depending on your level of need.
3. S = Summary. This will create a report that summarizes all of the amounts for each G/L number into one amount. This creates a shorter concise report.
4. D = Detail. This will create a report that has the G/L account number for each transaction. This report is very long but does show all of the account detail.
5. E = Errors. This will create a report of transactions that have invalidG/L account numbers on them.
6. Run the procedure. Select your printing or email destination.
7. Make any invoice corrections if necessary.

Post Transactions

Invoices with a status of “U” (unreconciled) will not be journalized. Only the status codes of “O” (open for payment) and “H” (hold for payment) can be journalized.

1. Enter an Invoice cutoff date. You should use the same date you used in the Pre-posting Report.
2. Enter the accounting period that the transactions will be posted to.
3. Run the procedure.

This will create a Journal Entry in the format of AP*nnnn, where nnnn is a unique sequential number. This will need to be posted in the G/L module. (GL-01-01)

Once a transaction has been journalized you cannot change the G/L distribution on the transaction and you cannot change the transaction amount.

If you completely mess up you can choose number 6 to remove the posting flag from all transactions for a specific Journal Entry number. Be sure to delete or void the original Journal Entry so you don’t have a double posting. This is done in GL-01-01 using a Journal Type of “V”.

Notes: ———————————————————————————————————————

1. In order for you to stay on top of your adjustments you can run these reports daily if desired. To see your “U”nreconciled and “H”old invoices run report AP-RP-02-01; it is sorted by status so that each status code is grouped together.

Accounts Receivable

This process copies miscellaneous cash receipts from the A/R module to the G/L module. They are then posted in the G/L module. Generally, most users enter their cash receipts at the cash register and this step is not necessary.

Use menu path AR-03-24 (A/R, Invoices & Payments, Post Payments to G/L).

1. Enter a valid store number.
2. Enter a cutoff date. All miscellaneous payments that have not been copied to the G/L cash receipts file that are older than or equal to this date will be copied.
3. Enter a valid bank code. If you have multiple bank codes then run this process once for each bank code.

General Ledger

This module is the last one to process and is only done after completing all of the above steps. If your system is not configured for a specific module you can skip that section.

Use menu path GL-22 (General Ledger, End of Period) for steps 1-4.

Post Cash Disbursements (checks)

1. Run this process for all of your Bank Types.
2. Enter a check date to start with.
3. Enter a check date to end with.
4. Enter the accounting period that pertains to the date range in b and c.
5. Select Summary
6. Run the process.

Post Miscellaneous Receipts

• 1. Run this process for all of your Bank Types.
  2. Enter a beginning receipt date.
  3. Enter an ending receipt date.
  4. Enter the accounting period that pertains to the date range in b and c.
  5. Select Summary
  6. Run the process

Bank Reconciliation

If you are using the bank reconciliation option then complete this task and then post the journal entry that you create.

21. Close a Month (1-11)

Select this option now to close any or all prior months to bring their YTD, QTD account balances forward into the current month. (This could have been the 1^st step in G/L. It is not critical when you run this as long as it is before you begin running reports or doing AI (account inquiry).) Many users do this step multiple times – beginning of the period, end of the period.

• 1. In the Month to Close field you can enter either a specific month to close or for ease of use enter an “*” to close all months. The “*” option is preferred in case you have posted any entries to a prior period/month.
  2. Enter the 4-digit year that you are working with.
  3. Run the process.

Journal Entry Creation, Correction, and Posting.

After you have created journal entry records with several of the above process it is now time to review them for reasonableness, make any necessary corrections, and then post the entry.

Posting the entries updates the YTD, QTD, and MTD account balances.

Use menu option GL-01.

21. List Unposted JEs

This will give you a complete list of journals that have not been posted.

Journal Entries

• 1. Review each entry, make any necessary corrections, enter “P” to post.

Batch Post Open Journals

• 1. This allows you to skip the tedium of processing #1 multiple times and posting all open journals at once.

Year-End Closing

Prior to closing the year you will need to close your last month – month 11 following the Month-End Closing guide.

G/L Account Numbers are broken into two general categories – real and nominal. Real accounts are assets, liabilities, and equity. Nominal accounts are income and expenses.

When the year is closed the ending balance of real accounts are closed to their each real account, i.e. cash closes to cash, payables close to payables, etc. Nominal accounts close to a single common equity account, something like retained earnings (equity).

The Year-End Closing is very simple but it is important to first ensure that all of your income and expense G/L Account Numbers are set to close to the correct equity account number. This is done by running the Account Master report with all columns (GL-RP-01). Print this report if possible and go down account by account and very that the Closing Account is correct. If you need to make any adjustments do this in Account Master (GL-02).

Make certain that any Journal Entries for your 12^th month are posted. (GL-01-21).

Print your Income statement and Balance sheet to make sure that they are correct. Make any necessary corrections with Journal Entries (GL-01-01), be sure to post them.

When you are satisfied that the year is ready to close then select menu option GL-22-22. Use month 12.

Do Account Inquiry (AI) and have a look at your closing account for the new year, period 1 and make sure that it looks correct.

Rental Steps

The following steps must be followed before setting up rentals for the first time. There are various videos available on the videos page that cover these steps with direct links to pertinent videos in each section below.

1. Setup the textbook rental department POS-22-3-1
2. Setup the Textbook Class POS-22-3-2
3. Setup Fee Codes POS-22-23
   1. It is recommended to have a different fee code for each type of fee.
      1. Late fee code to use when an item is returned late
      2. Fee code used when an item is rented
      3. Fee code used when an item is charged out un-returned or sold

Setting up rentals: POS-27-21

This is the main parameter screen for setting up your rental program. A video going over these steps can be found here.

1. Enter your store number.
2. Enter the Barcode Format you will be using to print serial number barcodes (for serialized Text rentals only).
3. Enter the Barcode Format you will be using to print serial number barcodes (for serialized GM rentals only).
4. Grace Period – Set the number of days to wait before late fee is charged
5. Late Fee Processing – Set the late fee type, ‘D’ = Daily or ‘F’ = Flat (this can be changed at the item level).
6. Typically, the restrict rentals to DB Flag is set to “Y” – Some stores choose to manage textbook rentals independently from the textbook database, so the option exists to set it to “N”
7. Purchase Formula – Select the appropriate formula to use to calculate the purchase price when an item is purchased instead of returned.
8. Rounding – Set your rounding calculation, .01, .05, .10, .25, .50, .75, .00.
9. Select whether you want your guarantee method to be CC (credit card) , AR (Accounts Receivable), CC/AR to use both methods, NONE if no method of Guarantee is used, or NONE/CC/AR will prompt the cashier to ask for the method to use.
10. Change New to Used (Serial) – If you are using a serialized rental program, enter a ‘Y’ if a New item is rented then when it is returned to TX inventory do you want the title returned as a ‘Used’ item otherwise enter ‘N’.
11. Turn off COF prompt – Enter ‘Y’ to prompt for a new card for each transaction, enter ‘N’ if a customer has already rented and you want to always use the CC guarantee that you have from the first rental transaction.
12. Enter the TX and GM Late Fee codes to use.
13. Enter the RENTAL Fee Codes to be used for TX items and GM items.
14. Enter the Fee Codes to use for Rental Purchases
15. Enter the class codes to used for New and Used rentals
16. Default Rental Pricing – Enter the default calculation for rental price – This is used when you are creating a new item or when recalculating the rental price. There is a separate field for New and Used.
17. Setup general due dates to be used on rentals.
18. These can be overridden when setting up individual rental items.
    • These lines are referred to as P# (P1 for line one, P2 for line two, etc.) when specifying a due date. If I want all TX rentals due by the date specified in line one, I would enter P1 as the due date when setting up an item.
    • If certain items are to be rented for a different period of time (e.g. line 2 or P2) then that can be entered into the Rental Days field in the rental item master maintenance (POS-27-1)

Email Notifications

The Email notifications section displays the last time the notice was sent out and how many emails were sent.

To create/edit the notice select one of the E1/E2/E3 options from the bottom prompt, a screen similar to below will be displayed dependent on the option chosen.

Enter what you would like the email subject line to be in the Email Subject, next enter what you would like the Body of the email message to be. Once completed, on a new line enter =BODY then on a new line enter in what you would like your signature closing to be.

Repeat this for each of the 3 types of notifications.

Setting the Rental Condition Codes: POS-27-22

This screen is where you set up the “Condition Codes” for rental items. Typically, most stores will only use 2 Rental Condition Codes, Good and Fair.

1. Setup the Rental Condition codes used to describe the condition of the rental item when it is returned.
2. You can use the existing codes, or create your own code and description for the rental items. For example: Code: G Description: Item is in Good Condition

 

Creating a Rental item: TX-MF

There are two different methods to renting textbooks, Dynamic and Serialized. Dynamic has the least amount of overhead and maintenance while Serialized has the greater amount of control. Dynamic rentals fulfill the needs of the vast majority of our users and is the recommended method to use. Serialized is available to meet a few special use cases that we have needed to provide a solution for.

Dynamic rentals allow a bookstore to flag an ISBN as a rental item and rent that item without any further effort. A student rents the book, and when it comes time to return the book they simply need to have that same title available to return.

Serialized controls the rental exchange at the item level. An ISBN is flagged as a rental item and unique serial numbers are generated for that ISBN. Barcode labels with that serial number are then attached to a book which then makes that book a unique item. When it is time to return the rental that specific physical copy of the book must be returned.

The drawback is that a serial number must be generated for each copy of the book, printed, and applied. Each serial number needs to be invnetoried as well. If you wish to rent more of that book then you must generate more serial numbers and affix the labels to each individual book. In contrast, dynamic allows for any number of copies to be rented without any addition overhead beyond flagging the book as a rental.

There are more points of interest on Dynamic vs Serialized rentals that aren’t covered above. Any customer considering the use of serialized rentals should contact TCS support to go over the topic further.

For Dynamic rentals. A video covering these steps can be found here.

The best way to create a dynamic rental is through the TX-MF menu. It’s possible to create one in POS-27-1 but it is much more common to create a dynamic rental from the MF record.

1. Go to TX-MF and enter the ISBN that you would like to rent.
2. Select the R for rental option at the bottom of the screen
   1. The system will then populatethe Mast SKU, Module and SKU/ISBN fields
   2. These fields are not automatically generated if creating the rental in POS-27-1
3. Enter the New and Used replacement price, this is the price used in the replacement calculation if the title is not returned.
   1. This defaults to the full price of the item
4. Enter a “D” for Dynamic rentals in the Dynamic or Serialized field
5. Maximum to Rent: this is used to limit the quantity of titles for rental
6. Late Fee Processing – You can override the late fee processing option that was set in POS.27.21 General Parameters.
7. Enter the New and Used prices for the rental
   1. The system will automatically generate the prices based off of the percentage set in the Rental General Parameters in POS-27-21
   2. Different prices can be set for a different number of rental days or rental periods
8. Select the number of days to rent the item at this price point.
   1. Typically either P1 or P2. Selecting the ?? button will allow you to select which rental period from the Rental General Parameters in POS-27-21. These will appear as P1, P2, etc. based on the line position of that price in the Rental Period table.
      1. Enter your store number at the store prompt and then select the appropriate rental period
   2. You can also enter P1, P2 etc. to reference the dates entered in the table located in POS-27-21 or you can enter the number of days you wish to rent the item.
9. Enter the late fee. This fee will be applied daily and when the book is returned, the POS module will calculate this fee against the number of days past due.
   • You may enter as many entries with differing amounts as you would like. i.e. a P1 period entry which costs $20 and a $1.50 late fee, then a 30 day rental which costs $30 with a $2 late fee, etc.
10. Save the new record.

For Serialized Rentals:

1. Enter a ‘.’ for a new record. The system will generate a 6 digit number which is the master SKU for the rental item. (The ISBN will get used if you have selected the ‘Rental’ option while in the TX MF screen. This will be discussed later in the manual). If a 6-digit number is not generated then contact TCS support.
2. Enter the module in which the item resides, GM or TX.
3. Lookup/Enter the ISBN or SKU of the item you would like to rent.
4. Enter the New and Used replacement price, this is the price used in the replacement calculation if the title is not returned.
5. Enter an “S” for Serialized rentals.
6. Enter the number of days the rental is good for. You can also enter P1, P2 etc. to reference the dates entered in the table located in POS-27-21 or you can enter the number of days you wish to rent the item.
7. Enter the late fee. This is applied daily, when returning the book the POS module will calculate this fee against the number of days past due.
   • You may enter as many entries with differing amounts as you would like. i.e. a P1 period entry which costs $20 and a $1.50 late fee, then a 30 day rental which costs $30 with a $2 late fee.
8. Choose C to Create serial #’s.
   1. Enter the number of serial numbers to be generated. If you are going to rent 10 of this textbook, enter 10. Each serial number is unique followed by a check digit. The total number of digits will be 12.
   2. Print tags, Y/N. If Y is entered, then tags will be printed in the format specified in POS-27-21.
   3. If you don’t want to print the serial numbers here you can also print them on the Rental Detail Screen (POS-27-2).
   4. Choose which store to remove the quantity from. The QOH for this store will be reduced by the number of serial numbers generated. Later when creating want lists you will enter how many of the rental items you expect to have on hand for rush.
   5. Enter the New/Used status of the books. This is so we know whether to reduce your new QOH or your used QOH. When you hit enter it will bring up the cost of the book. If you want to enter a new cost you can always change the cost. The cost shown here is used in calculating your rental profits or rental revenue. Be sure the cost is correct.

When you select and view a master SKU which you previously created, the right of the screen shows the statistics related to this particular rental item, including how many serial numbers have been generated for this master SKU and the number of items sold, rented, retired, and the items currently available.

 

Serial Number Maintenance: POS-27-2

This screen is for viewing information on a specific rental item, referenced by serial number.

1. All the serial numbers generated in POS-27-1 can be seen here.
2. You can enter “//” or “??” to select a particular serial number.
3. The screen displays all the details on this serial number like author, title, status, rental revenue, details of the customer who rented the item, rented date and due date etc.
4. You can also view customer details who rented this item from this screen.
5. Enter M and it will take you to the LU (LookUp) field on the far right.
6. Enter Y in the LU field to view the details of a transaction with a specific customer. Once done press enter a couple of times and it will take you back to the Rent Detail screen.
7. If you want to print new tags for this specific rental item, enter ‘P’.
8. You can also view the Status of the item on this screen. The Status can be “ I – IN, O – OUT, S- Sold, R-Rented’
9. The status changes automatically when you Rent, Sell, Return or Retire an item.

 

 

Creating a rental from the Textbook Module

Look up a title as usual, select the R=Rental from the list of prompts and the system will jump you to the Rental Item Master screen and have most of the information entered for you.

Mass update of Replacement Price and Rental Price

POS.27.24.21 – Update Rental Prices

1. Enter your Primary store
2. Enter a secondary store if you have multiple stores
3. Enter a ‘Y’ if you wish to update the Rental Prices using the rental percentages set in POS.27.21, If you enter an ‘N’ then the next 3 fields will be skipped.
4. Enter the Periods that you wish to update,
   1. You can enter P1 (or any other P# option) if you only wish to update the rental price for the titles that have P1.
   2. Enter a line number, such as 1, if you wish to only update line 1 for each rental title master.
   3. Enter ‘All’ to update the rental price for all of each title’s rental line options.
5. Enter ‘Y’ to only update the new rental price if there is an increase, ‘N’ will update the price if it goes in either direction.
6. Enter ‘Y’ to only update the used rental price if there is an increase, ‘N’ will update the price if it goes in either direction.
7. Enter a ‘Y’ if you wish to update the ‘Replacement Prices’. This is used when the TX New/Used prices have increased. You should run after you have seen a lot of price increases, Price increases in TX do not update the rental prices. If you enter ‘N’ the next 2 items will be skipped.
8. If you only wish to update New replacement prices if there is an increase then enter ‘Y’, otherwise enter an ‘N’ and it will update for increases and decreases.
9. If you only wish to update Used replacement prices if there is an increase then enter ‘Y’, otherwise enter an ‘N’ and it will update for increases and decreases.

Expected Rental Returns

These screens are used to set the expected rental return quantity. This needs to be set AFTER the items are rented or after rush, probably just before you start the Wantlist process for the upcoming semester.

Auto Calculate Rental Inventory

From menu TX-2-30-1, here you will mass update all the ISBN’s expected rentals with a percentage of the rented quantity as the expected rental return quantity.

Enter Store#, Term to update, Beginning/Ending rental Due Date, and then the Percentage of the rental quantity to set as expected return.

This process will update the rental inventory quantity on the want list. It will include rentals that have not been returned and are due during the date range entered. Any manually entered quantities will be overwritten.

Rental Inventory Entry

From menu TX-2-30-2, here you can update the expected rental return quantity for any single item. This is useful when you mass update titles with a percentage, but you have a title that does not fit that percentage amount. If you manually enter a quantity and then run the auto calculate process, the manually entered quantity will be replaced so you should enter these quantities after running the auto calculate process.

Enter the Store#, Term to update, ISBN and then enter in the Estimated Qty.

Rental Inventory Logic explained

Serial

1. Removes QOH when the serial numbers are created.
2. When item is rented QOH is not affected.
3. When dropped off QOH is not affected.

Dynamic

1. When item is rented QOH is decreased.
2. When items is dropped off QOH is increased.

OTB (Serial)

1. You MUST enter the number of units you expect to have dropped off.  This only has to be done once, but may be more frequently.

OTB (Dynamic)

1. You MUST enter the number of units you expect to have dropped off.  This must be repeated whenever beginning inventory is recalculated and probably before publisher orders are submitted.

 

Renting an item from the register:

For Dynamic rentals. A video covering these steps can be found here.

1. Scan the item.
2. The system will bring up a small window showing the rental price and purchase price, and ask whether the customer wants to rent or buy the item
3. The first time you select a rental, the customer information screen will appear. If it is a new customer, you can enter an N to create a new customer record. If it is an existing customer, enter the name or account number and select the appropriate customer.
4. Enter all the required fields in the customer information screen. Once you are done, hit enter and it will bring you the card or account details screen.
5. Enter the appropriate information for the payment guarantee method you have chosen.
   1. Note: A credit card expiration date must be greater than the due date + 30 days
      • For example. If a rental is due back on 7/1/22 the card must have an expiration date on or after 8/1/22
6. At this point, you can complete the transaction, or continue to enter additional items for this sale.
   1. You will only see the customer screen once per transaction.
7. Once you are done, total the transaction and enter the tender type.
8. Once the tender is processed you are done with the transaction.
9. If you want to cancel the transaction select the ‘EXIT’ or “ABORT” key.
10. Rental transactions may be Postvoided or returned if necessary. Do not do a return for a drop off.
11. Dynamic also sees the pricing and period window that is displayed on the next screen capture.

For Serialized rentals:

1. Scan the serial number and press enter.
2. The register will bring up a small window with rental price, rental days and due date which you created before in POS-27-1 (setting up rentals)
3. Select the option for number of days you wish to rent the item and press “OK”. This option only appears if the item has multiple rental periods.
4. Now you get the customer information screen. If it is a new customer, you can enter an N to create a new customer record. If it is an existing customer, enter the name or account number and select the appropriate customer.
5. Enter all the required fields in the customer information screen. Once you are done, hit enter and it will bring you the card or account details screen.
6. Enter the appropriate information for the payment guarantee method you have chosen.
   1. Note: A credit card expiration date must be greater than the due date + 30 days
      • For example. If a rental is due back on 7/1/22 the card must have an expiration date on or after 8/1/22
7. At this point, you can complete the transaction, or continue to enter additional items for this sale.
   1. You will only see the customer screen once per transaction.
8. Once you are done, total the transaction and enter the tender type.
9. Once the tender is processed you are done with the transaction.
10. If you want to cancel the transaction select the ‘EXIT’ or “ABORT” key.
11. Rental transactions may be Postvoided or returned if necessary. Do not do a return for a drop off.
12. Serialized do not see the “This book is available to rent” message shown on the prior screen. (With
    1. Dynamic the ISBN barcode is scanned, with Serialized the serial number barcode is scanned.)

Dropping Off a Rental Item:

Dynamic Rental Drop off at the Register:

1. Press your DropOff key or type |DDROP and press enter. It will take you to the Dynamic Rental Drop off screen. (If a key is not on your keyboard, contact support to help set one up)
2. Enter the customer name or account number and select the correct customer.
3. Scan the SKU of the item. If the SKU matches the SKU displayed on the drop off screen it will then display a list of the condition codes available for returning the book.
4. Chose the appropriate code and press enter.
5. The system will prompt for another SKU to return. Press Enter or “OK” if no more items are being returned.
6. Select “P” to post the return and the system will take you back to the transaction screen.
7. If the item is past due then the number of days past due and the late fee are automatically calculated and displayed on the transaction screen.
8. You can complete the transaction for any late fees or you can make adjustments, ring up additional items, etc. before tendering.
9. Once the drop off transaction is complete, the item is automatically returned to inventory.

Serialized Rental Drop off at the Register:

1. Start a regular Sale transaction (this is not a Return unless you are turning all amounts paid for the rental)
2. Press the DropOff key/button or type |DROP and press enter. It will take you to the Serialized Rental Drop off screen. (If a key is not on your keyboard, contact support to help set one up)
3. Scan the serial number.
4. Scan the SKU of the item if the bar code is visible. Otherwise manually enter the SKU. If the SKU matches the SKU assigned to the serial number entered it displays the message as SKU matched. Then enter the return date.
5. Enter the condition code of the book.
6. Hit enter a couple of times and it will take you back to the transaction screen.
7. If the item is past due then the number of days past due and the late fee are automatically calculated and displayed in the transaction screen.
8. You can then add any additional books, adjust late fees as necessary as well as ring up additional items, etc. all in the same transaction.
9. Tender out the transaction to complete the drop off
10. Once the drop off transaction is complete, the Status for the item on the POS-27-2 (Rent Detail) screen is changed to ‘I’ and the return date and return condition of the book is also displayed.
11. You can do multiple drop offs in the same transaction as well as sell other merchandise.

Returning a Rental Item

In some instances, a customer may wish to return a rented item within your grace period. This process will work like other returns, and allow you to reverse any charges or refund any cash payments.

Returning a Dynamic Rental Item

1. Select the appropriate return transaction at the register.
2. Scan the SKU or ISBN of the item – then confirm that the item was rented.
3. Select the appropriate customer for the return – the system will return you to the register screen
4. Complete the return transaction as normal.

Returning a Serialized Rental Item

1. Select the appropriate return transaction at the register
2. Scan the Serial Number of the item – it will process like any other return transaction.

 

Charge a Non-Returned Rental (Dynamic)

This process is done when the item is rented but not returned. This process will charge the customer’s guarantee method with any late fees plus the replacement price. (If a key is not on your keyboard, contact support to help set one up)

1. Start a regular sale transaction.
2. Press your Purchase key or enter |PURCH and press enter.
   1. Some customers may have this as |PURCHASE
3. Enter the customer account number or search by their name by typing a ; and then their first, last or entire name
4. Enter the ISBN of the book to be purchased.
   1. If the customer has additional dynamic rentals that need to be purchased then those ISBN numbers can be entered at this time.
   2. After all ISBN items have been entered press enter and then a ‘P’ to post the items on the register screen.
5. The register will show the customer information and any late fees.
6. Make sure the amount is correct.
7. Press the Total key.
8. If the customer is not present then enter COF (Card On File) as the tender and press enter.
9. You will now see the customer details, make sure it is the right customer before proceeding.
10. Press enter and it will automatically process the credit card or the customer account with the amount shown.
11. After the transaction is completed the status will be updated to ‘P’ (Purchased) in the rent detail screen.
12. If the customer is present and has decided to purchase the book then proceed with normal tender operations.

Charge a Non-Returned Rental (Serial)

1. Start a Sale transaction
2. Press your Purchase key or enter |PURCH and press enter.
   1. Some customers may have this as |PURCHASE
3. Enter the serial number for serialized rentals
4. The register will show the customer information and any late fees.
5. Make sure the amount is correct.
6. Press the Total key.
7. If the customer is not present then enter COF (Card On File) as the tender and press enter.
8. You will now see the customer details, make sure it is the right customer before proceeding.
9. Press enter and it will automatically process the credit card or the customer account with the amount shown.
10. After the transaction is completed the status will be updated to ‘P’ (Purchased) in the rent detail screen.
11. If the customer is present and has decided to purchase the book then proceed with normal tender operations.

 

Converting Sale item to a Serialized Rental Item (RSI)

1. Press your Convert Item key or type |RSI and press enter it will take you to the Master Maintenance Screen.
2. Enter ‘.’ to generate a new Rental SKU.
3. Scan the SKU/ISBN of the sale item.
4. If the item exists in another Master SKU the system will indicate what Master SKU(s).
5. If the item is part of a Dynamic Master SKU then you will not be able to create a new SKU.
6. If there is no master, continue creating the new master SKU for this item as described above.
7. Create a single serial number.
8. Note the number that was created.
9. You can now enter that number on the POS screen and rent the item.

Converting Serialized Rental Item(s) to Sale Item(s): POS-27-5

1. Enter the master SKU for the rental item.
2. Enter the range of serial numbers you wish to convert.
3. Enter N for new books or U for used books.
4. Enter the appropriate store number.
5. Pick the appropriate option to complete the process.
6. The number of items removed from inventory will be displayed.
7. Press enter to exit the process.

Note: This can be done at the register for an individual item using the following procedure if necessary, although it is not recommended

1. Scan the serial number of the rental item.
2. Enter the customer and guarantee information as illustrated above. This information will not be used when the rental item is converted to a sale item, but must be entered to return to the register screen.
3. Enter |SRI
4. This will bring a window with NEW, USED and Replacement Price of the item.
5. Select the price.
6. The rental transaction will be reversed and the appropriate ISBN entered on the screen.
7. Now you will be able to sell the item.
8. After the transaction is completed the status of this item will be ‘S’ (Sold) in your Rent Detail Screen.

 

Setting Email Subject and Body: POS-27-21
A video covering these and other back office steps can be found here.

1. You will find three options for setting up emails on the rental parameters screen

E1-Pre Notice (Emails Due), E2- Past Due (Emails past due), E3- Purchase (Email that Guarantee

Method was Charged)

1. Choose option E1 for sending emails for rental items coming due.
2. Enter the Subject which you wanted to appear on the Email.

For example Email Subject : TCS Rental Return Notice

1. Enter the text you want to send in the Email.
2. Once you are done with the text enter the command =BODY in a new line.
3. You can also have text after the Body which appears at the end of your Email.

For Example: Thanks for your business with TCS.

1. When you have finished with the email, press enter on a blank line to finish and return to the Parameters screen. Press enter to save your changes.
2. TCS rental Software will automatically attach the Rental Serial number, Item title, Author, Cost, due date, Replacement price, and late fee charge when sending the emails.

The procedure is the same for the other options E2 and E3.

 

Sending Emails: POS-27-23

1. As discussed before, the emails can be sent to customers with items coming due, with items past due and where their guarantee method has been charged.
2. Select 1 to send emails for items coming due.
3. Enter the store number, date and run the process
4. The emails are automatically sent to the customers whose items are due by the date.
5. The same procedure is followed for emails past due and emails charged card.

Reports: POS-27-25

For all the reports enter the store number, date if required and run the report.

1. Report for the rental items which are due by a specific date POS-27-25-1
2. Reports for rental Items which are past due by a specific date POS-27-25-2
3. Reports for rental items whose Guarantee Method is charged POS-27-25-3
4. Reports for the Master List of rental items POS-27-25-4
5. Reports for Daily Rentals POS-27-25-5
6. Reports for Daily Returns POS-27-25-6
7. Reports for rental items which are currently in store or whose Status is ‘I’ POS-27-25-21
8. Report for rental items which are sold for Serialized Rentals POS-27-25-22
9. Report for rental items which are sold for Dynamic Rentals POS-27-25-23
10. Report for rental items which are retired. POS-27-25-24
11. Report for rental inventory POS-27-25-25
12. Report for Daily Dropoffs POS-27-25-26
13. Report for Daily Rentals and Returns POS-27-25-27

 

Setting up Item Retirement: POS-27-4

1. When you think the item is no longer rentable or is in a very bad condition then you need to use the Item Retirement screen.
2. Enter the serial number of the item to be retired.
3. Enter the retirement date. You can use ‘0’ for today’s date.
4. Enter the retirement reason.
5. Save the screen and once you are done then it will automatically change the Status of this item as ‘R’ which means the item is retired and you cannot rent the item.
6. This is helpful in keeping track of your rentable quantity.

RedShelf User Guide

This guide provides instructions to implement RedShelf with the Total Computing Solutions (TCS) point of sale and web store systems. RedShelf is an online only E-book access provider. Before using this guide, assure that all RedShelf files and programs are in place by following and completing the RedShelf Setup Manual. The three RedShelf access points that will be covered in this guide are host registers, Smart Lane registers and web transactions.

Labels

RedShelf will provide tags to place on or by your textbook shelves. The RedShelf Setup Manual describes how to print RedShelf barcode labels to stick onto the RedShelf tags. These labels will typically print a 13-digit number that begins with 278, the associated bar code, available usage periods and prices as well as the title, author and course information. Since different types of printers and label size may limit some information, your labels may differ slightly from the above description. The system is intended for the student to bring a label with them to the register to be scanned or manually entered.

Host Registers

If your operation includes host registers, access your POS cash register screen and enter SA for sale. When prompted for an ISBN, enter or scan the 13-digit number on the label. If there are multiple usage periods for that E-book title, these will be displayed on the screen along with a price for each usage period. Select the desired usage period, and continue the transaction as usual. If multiple accesses to the same title are required, they must be entered on separate lines since quantity will always be 1 for each RedShelf item. After the transaction has been tendered, a unique RedShelf access code will print on the receipt along with instructions on how to redeem the code. This access code and instructions will also be available if the receipt needs to be reprinted. If multiple RedShelf E-books are requested, multiple access codes will print on the receipt.

Smart Lane Registers

If your operation includes Smart Lane Registers, follow the same procedures outlined in the Host Registers section. Your Smart Lane register will automatically communicate with RedShelf to receive the appropriate access codes and with the host machine to permanently store transaction information.

Web Store Transactions

When RedShelf is properly setup and activated on a system, an “E-Book” button will automatically show up when a textbook title with that option is accessed.

Version 2.x

In version 2.x of the online web store application, only one RedShelf option will be available. That option will be the longest usage period that is not a Purchase. A Purchase option will only show up if there are no other usage periods for that textbook.

Version 3.x

The new version 3.x of the online web store application is in Beta testing and is not available for general release at this writing. It will create a drop-down menu with all available usage period options and prices when the E-Book button is activated. At that point the user may select their desired usage period.

Completing the transaction

When the transaction is completed at a register and the payment is processed, an email will automatically be sent with the access code(s) and redemption instructions to the person who ordered the E-Book. It is advisable that a copy of the email be sent to an accessible in-house email address in case a review or resend is necessary.

Refunds

The receipts and emails containing access codes also contain a message explicitly explaining that once the access code is used there are no refunds for that product. If an access code has not been used, process refunds just as if a textbook were being returned for a refund. RedShelf is excellent to work with in case of exceptional circumstances where a student may request a refund after accessing their E-Book, and they will consider each case individually.

If you do decide to give the customer a refund after the code has been accessed then you will need to do the refund to the CLASS CODE that is assigned to E-Books. You will process the refund as a normal refund but use the class code instead of the ISBN/SKU.

Testing

Before allowing students to order textbooks via RedShelf, we highly recommend that the POS E-Book process be tested on all host registers, Smart Lane registers and the web store. Process a transaction to purchase a RedShelf item. If the purchase is successful and has printed an activation code and redemption instructions on a receipt or email, post void that transaction and continue to the next register until all registers and the web store have successfully processed a RedShelf E-Book. If any of these point of sale, receipt printing or email processes is unsuccessful, contact the Total Computing Customer Support Team for assistance.