Copyright: (C)opyright 1998/99 Suresoft


Maincontents

Welcome to Empire Builder Help.  Simply click on one of the pictures below for help on the required part of the system.

  Customers         Suppliers         Financials            Bank

      Invoice                  Stock                 Purc. Orders

Please click below on other parts of the system you would like help on.

Introduction

Using Help

System Setup

Document Designer

Reports Designer

Utilities

(C)opyright 1998/99 Suresoft

Contact Suresoft

Use of this help system and the Empire Builder software is subject to the terms of our License Agreement.

Empire Builder Help Last Updated - 19/6/99

If you are having problems with the size or appearance of the help window, text or pictures please read through the README.TXT file which is supplied with the software to help you correct this.


MainCustomer
Customers

The Customer module window is used as the main access point for all the features available for dealing with your customers.  From entering a new customer to entering transactions, from viewing enquiries to producing reports, the Customer module gives you easy access to all these facilities on in the Options Bar at the top of the form.

Ofcourse all the options available here are also available from the main menu or from the toolbar (providing you have included them on it, see Customising The ToolBar).  The Customer module simply makes it much easier to get at the features you need quickly.

The Options Bar at the top of the form indicate the main options which are available to select from and provide access to all the main features of the Customer module.  Click on any of the button below for a detailed explanation of each of the options in the Customer module.

Like all the module forms available in the system which are accessible from the ListBar on the left hand side of the screen, you will have a list of the records in the module, in this case customers.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which customer in the list is presently selected.    If you click on the data grid which lists your customers or use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the customer you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars up or down with the mouse to scroll through the list.  At the bottom of the form you will see a summary of the currently selected customer.

You can also use the horizontal scrollbars at the bottom of the data grid to move the grid and view other information in different columns.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to a more convenient position.

You can also change the order in which the customers are listed in the data grid by clicking the mouse on the header of the column you want to sort by.  The column which is currently sorted displays a downward arrow on the column header.  The columns which you can sort by are Supplier Reference, Supplier Name and Postcode.

You can also select several of the facilities which are available on the buttons on the Options Bar using the pop-up menu.  You can pop-up the menu by clicking the right-mouse button on the required customer.  This will give you several additional options such as Email for emailing the currently selected customer, Opening Balance for quickly entering an opening balance for the customer and Change Grid Colour to alter the colours of the data grid.


Mainsupplier
Suppliers

The Supplier module window is used as the main access point for all the features available for dealing with your suppliers.  From entering a new supplier to entering transactions, from viewing enquiries to producing reports, the supplier module gives you easy access to all these facilities on the Options Bar at the top of the form.

Ofcourse all the options available here are also available from the main menu or from the toolbar (providing you have included them, see Customising The ToolBar).  The Supplier module simply makes it much easier to get at the features you need quickly.

The Options Bar at the top of the window indicate the main options which are available to select from and provide access to all the main features of the Supplier module.  Click on any of the button below for a detailed explanation of each of the options in the Supplier module.

Like all the module forms available in the system which are accessible from the ListBar on the left hand side of the screen, you will have a list of the records in the module, in this case your suppliers.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which record in the list is presently selected.   If you click on the data grid which lists your suppliers you can use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the customer you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars with the mouse to scroll through the list.  At the bottom of the form you will see a summary of the currently selected supplier.

You can also use the horizontal scrollbars at the bottom of the data grid to move the grid and view other information in different columns.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to a more convenient position.

You can also change the order in which the customers are listed in the data grid by clicking the mouse on the header of the column you want to sort by.  The column which is currently sorted displays a downward arrow on the column header.  The columns which you can sort by are Customer Reference, Customer Name and Postcode.

You can also select several of the facilities which are available on the buttons on the Options Bar by using the pop-up menu.  You can pop-up the menu by clicking the right-mouse button on the data grid with the required supplier selected.  This will give you several additional options such as Email for emailing the currently selected customer, Opening Balance for quickly entering an opening balance for the customer and Change Grid Colour to alter the colours of the data grid.


Mainfinancial
Financials

The Financials module window is used as the main access point for the features available for dealing with your financial accounts.  In accounting terminology the Financials module in Empire Builder is referred to as the nominal ledger.

The Options Bar at the top of the window indicate the main options which are available to select from and provide access to all the main features of the Financial module.  Click on any of the button below for a detailed explanation of each of the options in the Financial module.

The Financials module maintains a record of where the financial figures for a company are assembled in such a way as to illustrate the profitability and financial base of a company.  The system accumulates this information through entries made from every part of the system.  As the Financials module maintains  strict double entry methods it makes sure your system always balances.  Financial accounts include various types of elements which make up your business operation.  For example you have sales accounts which record the sales your company makes and overhead accounts to record the overheads in your business ie electricity, rent etc.  These can then be summarised through management reports such as profit & loss and balance sheet to highlight the position and profitability of your business.  For a thorough insight into how Empire Builder's Financial module works see How The Financial Module Works.

All of the options available through the Financials module window are also available from the main menu or from the toolbar (providing you have included them, see Customising The ToolBar).  The Financial module simply makes it much easier to get at the features you need quickly.

Like all the module forms available in the system which are accessible from the ListBar on the left hand side of the screen, you will have a list of the records in the module, in this case your financial accounts.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which record in the list is presently selected.   If you click on the data grid which lists your account you can use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the account you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars with the mouse to scroll through the list.

You can also Move Columns in the grid to a more convenient position.

You can also change the order in which the accounts are listed in the data grid by clicking the mouse on the header of the column you want to sort by.  The column which is currently sorted displays a downward arrow on the column header.  The columns which you can sort by are Account Reference, and Account Type.

You can also select several of the facilities which are available on the buttons on the Options Bar by using the pop-up menu.  You can pop-up the menu by clicking the right-mouse button on the data grid with the required account selected.  This will give you several additional options such as Opening Balance for quickly entering an opening balance for the selected account and Change Grid Colour to alter the colours of the data grid.


Mainbank
Bank

The Bank module window is used as the main access point to all the features available for dealing with your bank and cash accounts.  From creating a new bank account to entering payments, from  reconciling your bank accounts to setting up recurring entries the Bank  module gives you easy access to all these facilities on the Options Bar at the top of the form.

The system can maintain upto 10 different bank accounts all of which can be controlled through this window.

All the options available here are also available from the main menu or from the toolbar (providing you have included them, see Customising The ToolBar).  The Bank module simply makes it much easier to get at the features you need quickly.

The Options Bar at the top of the window indicates the main options which are available to select from and provide access to all the main features of the Bank module.  Click on any of the button below for a detailed explanation of each of the options in the Bank module.

Like all the module forms available in the system which are accessible from the ListBar on the left hand side of the screen, you will have a list of the records in the module, in this case your bank accounts.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which bank in the list is presently selected.   If you click on the data grid which lists your bank accounts you can use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the account you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars with the mouse to scroll through the list.

You can also Move Columns in the grid to a more convenient position.

You can also select several of the facilities which are available on the buttons on the Options Bar by using the pop-up menu.  You can pop-up the menu by clicking the right-mouse button on the data grid with the required account selected.  This will give you several additional options such as Email to send  emails and Change Grid Colour to alter the colours of the data grid.


Maininvoice
Invoice

The Invoicing features in Empire Builder provide you with extremely comprehensive yet easy to use facilities to maintain and produce invoices, credit notes, proforma invoices and quotations.  The Invoice module is ideal whether you need product based invoices, service based or a combination of both.  Features include the proforma/quotation to invoice conversion, non-account customer invoices, unlimited printing of invoices and, in conjunction with the Document Designer facility, unlimited and completely customisable document layouts and much more.

The Invoice module window is used as the main access point for all the features available for dealing with your customer invoices.  The Options Bar at the top of the form gives easy access to all these facilities.

Click on any of the buttons below for a detailed explanation of each of the options in the Invoice module.

Like all the module forms available in the system which are accessible from the ListBar on the left hand side of the screen, you will have a list of the records in the module, in this case your invoice transactions.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which transaction is presently selected.   If you click on the data grid which lists your invoices you can use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the transaction you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars with the mouse to scroll through the list.

Double-clicking on the required invoice will take you into editing the transaction.

You can also use the horizontal scrollbars at the bottom of the data grid to move the grid and view other information in different columns.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to a more convenient position.

You can also select several of the facilities which are available on the buttons on the Options Bar by using the pop-up menu.  You can pop-up the menu by clicking the right-mouse button on the data grid with the required account selected.  This will give you several additional options such as Change Grid Colour to alter the colours of the data grid.

The section at the bottom of the window displays details about the currently selected transaction allowing for instant enquiries.  This consists of three tab pages.

The Header tabpage shows details of the header information on the transaction such as the customer's name and address, delivery address details and customer order number.

The Items tabpage provides another data grid listing the items on the selected transaction.  You can use the sub-data grid to scroll through the items.  If there is a free-text item on the transaction (the stock code will be blank) then double-click in the Description column on the line required to view the complete free-text.  The sub-grid also has it's own pop-up menu.  Right click on the required item and you have options of entering a Stock Adjustment for the item and viewing the Stock Picture for the item.

You can also change the colours of the sub-grid.

The Footer tabpage displays the totals of the transaction including any carriage amount.


Mainstock
Stock

The Stock module window is used as the main access point for all the features available for dealing with your stock items.  The Stock items stores details of all your stock items by holding information such as sales and cost prices, reorder levels, stock levels and extensive sales and profit figures for upto 3 years.  These details can then be used in the Invoice and Purchase Order modules to pull description and price details onto the transactions which inturn automatically update you stock and sales levels.

The options available here are also available from the main menu or from the toolbar (providing you have included them, see Customising The ToolBar).  The Stock module simply makes it much easier to get at the features you need quickly.

The Options Bar at the top of the window indicate the main options which are available to select from and provide access to all the main features of the Stock module.  Click on any of the button below for a detailed explanation of each of the options in the Stock module.

Like all the module forms available in the system which are accessible from the ListBar on the left hand side of the screen, you will have a list of the records in the module, in this case your stock items.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which transaction is presently selected.   If you click on the data grid which lists your stock items you can use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the item you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars with the mouse to scroll through the list.

Double-clicking on a stock item will take you into editing it.

You can also use the horizontal scrollbars at the bottom of the data grid to move the grid and view other information in different columns.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to more convenient positions.

You can also select several of the facilities which are available on the buttons on the Options Bar by using the pop-up menu.  You can pop-up the menu by clicking the right-mouse button on the data grid with the required account selected.  This will give you several additional options such as viewing the selected item's Stock Picture and Change Grid Colour to alter the colours of the data grid.


Mainpo
Purchase Orders

The Purchase Orders module provides you with extremely comprehensive yet easy to use facilities to maintain and produce purchase orders and record deliveries received.  Using the Document Designer you can use unlimited and customisable layouts to print your purchase orders.

The Purchase Orders module window is used as the main access point for all the features available for dealing with your supplier orders.  The Options Bar at the top of the form gives easy access to all these facilities.

Click on any of the button below for a detailed explanation of each of the options in the Invoice module.

Like all the module forms available in the system which are accessible from the ListBar on the left hand side of the screen, you will have a list of the records in the module, in this case your purchase orders.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which order is presently selected.   If you click on the data grid which lists your orders you can use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the order you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars with the mouse to scroll through the list.

Double-clicking on the required order will take you into editing it.

You can also use the horizontal scrollbars at the bottom of the data grid to move the grid and view other information in different columns.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to a more convenient position.

You can also select several of the facilities which are available on the buttons on the Options Bar by using the pop-up menu.  You can pop-up the menu by clicking the right-mouse button on the data grid with the required account selected.  This will give you several additional options such as Change Grid Colour to alter the colours of the data grid.

The section at the bottom of the window displays details about the currently selected order allowing for instant enquiries.  This consists of three tab pages.

The Header tabpage shows details of the header information on the order such as your delivery address details and order number.

The Items tabpage provides another data grid listing the items on the selected order.  You can use the sub-data grid to scroll through the items.  If there is a free-text item on the order (the stock code will be blank) then double-click in the Description column on the line required to view the complete free-text.  The sub-grid also has it's own pop-up menu.  Right click on the required item and you have options of entering a Stock Adjustment for the item and viewing the Stock Picture for the item.  You can also change the colours of the sub-grid.

The Footer tabpage displays the totals of the order including any carriage amount.


Mainutil
Utilities

There are number of useful utility features available in Empire Builder that are outside of the main module windows.  These options are available from the Utilities menu.  Click on the utility below that you would like help on.

Quick Analysis

Transaction Search

Mail Merge

Address Book

Email

Customising The Toolbar


Maiddd
Document Designer

The Document Designer is an invaluable tool to help you design the layout of your business' documents such as invoices, purchase orders, statements, remittance advice notes etc.

The Document Designer uses the same design layout tool as the Reports Designer.  A full help system is provided with the designer to give you full details of how to use this.

When printing documents in Empire Builder you are asked to select the document layout you want to use in printing a batch of documents.  You can then select any of the one's you have setup.  The can setup as many document layouts as you require.

In the Document Designer the first prompt is for you to select the Document Type.  Click on the

downarrow button to pull down a list of available types.  As you select a document type the available documents are listed.  You can select the document you want to work on by clicking on it in the document list grid.

The buttons at the bottom of the window are used to operate the document designer.  Click on the buttons below for details of what each one is used for.


Mainiqa
Instant Q&A


InstQA_Pop
Instant Q&A is a quick feature which lists all the common questions which users of Empire Builder have asked and the answers to these questions.  If you're stuck on a particular part of the system then this should be your first port of call to find an answer.


System Setup

Setting up the system for Empire Builder includes setting up various parameters which the system will use in order to automate many of the day to day operations carried out by the system.

Select File from the main menu and then select System Setup.

The system setup dialog form consists of several tab pages each containing various settings you can use to tell the system how you want to set it up.

While most of the settings in this form can be altered at any time you should take some time to setup all the details in this option before using the system regularly.

Click on the tab page below you want to find out more details

Company

Transactions

Control Accounts

VAT Control

Miscellaneous


SysSetup_Company
System Setup - Company

The company tab page is used to setup the basic details of your company such as company name, address, telephone numbers etc.

You can also enter a Company Password which enables you to limit access to the company's accounts.


CompPassword
Company Password is used to limit access to the company's accounts.  If you set a password up here then when you login to the system you will have to enter your personal User ID and Password as usual.  When you have selected the particular company in question (if you have access to multi-company facilities) you will be asked to enter this password separately.  This adds another level of security for any or all companies information.


SysSetup_Trans
System Setup - Transactions

The Transactions tab page is used to record default details which are used in the Invoice and Purchase Order modules.

Click on any of the headers below for details of the field you want to view help for.

Invoice Notes

Purchase Order Notes

Invoice No.

Credit Note No.

Proforma No.

Quotation No.

Purchase Order No.

Carriage Default Amount

Carriage Default VAT Code

Carriage Default Account Reference


SysSetup_InvNotes_Pop
Invoice Notes is a free-format text box with no reasonable limits to the amount of text you can enter.  When you create a transaction in the Invoice module the system provides these notes as a default however you can enter individual notes on each invoice at the point of entry.  You can then print

these notes on each invoice document you send to customers.


SysSetup_PONotes_Pop
Purchase Order Notes is a free-format text box with no reasonable limits to the amount of text you can enter.  When you create an order in the Purchase Order module the system provides these notes as a default however you can enter individual notes on each order at the point of entry.  You can then print these notes on each invoice document you send to suppliers.


SysSetup_InvNo_Pop
Invoice Number is used to enter the next invoice number which will be generated when you enter your next new invoice.  This value can be increased however it cannot be reduced lower than the current number.


SysSetup_CredNo_Pop
Credit Note Number is used to enter the next credit note number which will be generated when you enter your next new credit note.  This value can be increased however it cannot be reduced lower than the current number.


SysSetup_ProfNo_Pop
Proforma Number is used to enter the next proforma invoice number which will be generated when you enter your next new proforma invoice.  This value can be increased however it cannot be reduced lower than the current number.


SysSetup_QuoNo_Pop
Quotation Number is used to enter the next quotation number which will be generated when you enter your next new customer quotation.  This value can be increased however it cannot be reduced lower than the current number.


SysSetup_PONo_Pop
Purchase Order Number is used to enter the next order number which will be generated when you enter your next new supplier order.  This value can be increased however it cannot be reduced lower than the current number.


SysSetup_DefCarrAmt_Pop
Default Carriage Amount allows you to specify a default carriage charge which you will put on most if not all your invoices.  It then enters this carriage amount automatically on each sales invoice you enter although it can be changed on each individual invoice as you require.


SysSetup_DefCarrVC_Pop
Default Carriage VAT Code represents the VAT rate percentage at which is to be charged on the carriage amount on sales invoices.  You can alter this on each transaction at the point of entry.  The default is 1 which is generally used as the standard rate of 17.5% (at time of writing).


SysSetup_DefCarrAcc_Pop
Default Carriage Account is for to entering the reference of the financial account which will be the default account used to assign the carriage charge to when you saving the invoice and posting to your financial ledger.  Use the Search facilities to locate the relevant account you require.  You can assign a different account to individual transactions as required.


SysSetup_CtrlAccs
System Setup - Control Accounts

The Control Accounts tab page enables you to specify which financial accounts the system should use to automate double entry processing within your accounts system.  For example when entering a customer invoice the system will update a debtors control account to deal with the increase in the customers's debt to you and also a VAT control account for any VAT element.  Both of these entries are automated by using the control accounts entered into this tab page.

You can use the Search facility to locate the required account for each prompt.  For system integrity purposes once a transaction has been posted to any control account it cannot be later amended.

Click on any of the fields below for more information on each prompt in this tab page.

Default Bank

Debtors Control

Creditors Control

Cash Control

VAT Control

Profit & Loss Control

Discount Control

Accruals Control

Prepayment Control

Mispostings Control

Suspense Account

P&L Balance Forward

Bank Accounts


SysSetup_DefBank_Pop
Default Bank is for you to select which bank account you will use the most and which the system will use as the default selection whenever you need to select a bank for entering transactions or enquiry purposes.  You can use upto 10 bank accounts in Empire Builder which are defined on the right hand side of the Control Accounts tab page.  The system will initially assign just one bank account and this can be used as the initial setting in this field.  When you have setup more banks you can change this field.  You may wish to simply use the standard defaults.


SysSetup_DebtCtrl_Pop
Debtors Control is used to select the financial account you want to use as the debtors control account which is used to record the total amount of money owed to you by customers.


SysSetup_CredCtrl_Pop
Creditors Control is used to select the financial account you want to use as the creditors control account which is used to record the total amount of money owed by you to suppliers.


SysSetup_CashCtrl_Pop
Cash Control is used to select the financial account you want to use to control the cash functions of your business.  When allocating bank accounts to transactions you are also given this option to select from as well to make cash payments and receipts.  You can use this account to transfer money from any bank account into cash and vice versa.


SysSetup_VATCtrl_Pop
VAT Control is used to select the account you want to use to control the VAT on your system.  Each time you enter a VAT amount on a transaction that amount is automatically posted to this financial account.


SysSetup_PLCtrl_Pop
Profit & Loss Control is used to select the account you want to use to transfer the total of all your profit & loss accounts accumulative balances into at the end of a period. See How The Financial Module Works in the manual for full details.


PL_Overview
Profit & Loss

The profit & loss is primarily a report which accumulates the totals of all your financial accounts to give you the figures which tell you how much profit or loss you have made or any selected month, year, quarter etc.

It adds up your company's income for a given period and then takes the total of purchases to give you your gross profit.  It then adds up all direct costs (advertising, sales promotions, commissions etc.) and your overheads (wages, insurance, rent, electricity etc.) and takes the total of the two away from the gross profit to give you the net profit/loss of your business.

Sales - Purchases = Gross Profit - (Direct Costs + Overheads) = Net Profit

Each financial account which is to be included in the profit & loss report is often referred to as a p&l account and must categorised as a sales, purchase, direct cost or overhead account.

In your profit & loss report you can further categorise your figures to highlight groups of accounts according to your business reporting requirements.  See Financial Report Setup for details.


BalSheet_Overview
Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a report which contains all the items in your business which can be sold or turned into cash at some time in the future and debts owed to you by debtors and debts owed to you by creditors.

The report is split into four categories, fixed assets (motor vehicles, computer equipment, property etc.), current assets (money in bank, debtors etc.), liabilities (VAT liability, bank overdraft, creditors etc.) and financed by (capital introduced, profit etc).

This allows you to see a record of your financial accounts in such a way as to give you a true picture of the financial base of your business by highlighting the value of your assets, liabilities and how it is all financed.

Each financial account which makes up the balance sheet is referred to as a balance sheet account and must be specifically assigned to one of the four categories mentioned above.

In your balance sheet report you can further categorise your figures to highlight groups of accounts according to your business reporting requirements.  See Financial Report Setup for details.


SysSetup_DiscCtrl_Pop
Discount Control is used to select the account you want to use to control the postings of any discounts entered through the customer and supplier payment forms ie settlement discounts.


SysSetup_AccrCtrl_Pop
Accrual Control is used to select the account you want to use to control the total of accruals on the system.  Accruals are used to spread costings across a number of periods but for which full payment is to be made only at the end of the specified number of months. See Prepayments & Accruals for more details.


SysSetup_PrePayCtrl_Pop
Prepayment Control is used to select the account you want to use to control the total of prepayments on the system.  Prepayments are used to spread costings across a number of periods but for which full payment is to be made at the beginning of a specified number of months ie. quarterly rent.   See Prepayments & Accruals for more details.


SysSetup_MisPCtrl_Pop
Mispostings Account is used for you to select the financial account you want to use to control the postings of any misposted entries in the system.  This account is normally used by the system for intermediate postings when corrections are being made.  The balance of this account should always be zero.


SysSetup_SuspCtrl_Pop
Suspense Account is used to control any opening balance transactions which are posted to the system.  This is generally for double entry purposes where the opposite entry account is not known.


SysSetup_PLBalFor_Pop
P&L Balance Forward Account is used for you to specify the account which the system will use as the reserved p&l balance forward account used exclusively by the system to balance profit & loss figures in each of your accounting periods.  A further explanation of how this control account is used in included in the section How The Financial Module Works.


HowFinModWorks
How The Financial Module Works

The financial module is made up of an unlimited number of accounts, each one representing a particular aspect of your business which needs to be recorded and accounted for.  These accounts represent things such as Product Sales, Vehicle Costs, Property, Loans, Bank Accounts, Advertising Costs, Rent, Salaries, Import Purchases.

Each account must be categorised as being either a profit & loss account or a balance sheet account.  Accounts which are categorised as being profit & loss (P&L) are used to makeup the report which gives you the profitability of your business for any particular period.  These accounts include sales accounts which account for income, purchases for cost of sales, direct costs to account for costs directly attributed to sales such as advertising, sales commissions etc. and overheads such as wages, rent, vehicle costs, professional fees etc.

Accounts which are categorised as being balance sheet accounts are used to record the financial base and worth of the company by including fixed assets such as property, vehicles etc, current assets such as money in the bank & debts owed by customers (debtors), liabilities such as bank loans, and money owed to suppliers (creditors).  Finally they can be categorised to show how the worth of the company has been financed (financed by) such as capital introduced, director's shares, profit etc.

The Financial module allows you to enter transactions into as many periods as you require without the need to close a period before you open a new one.  The following section explains how the system works in order to achieve this level of flexibility.

Each financial account has 37 separate fields to store the balance values.  You can imagine these as pigeon holes with each one storing a particular month's balance for 3 years (36 months).  An additional pigeon hole is maintained for the accumulative balance.  You can also view and report on financial years, quarters etc. however these figures are calculated when needed and are not stored.  When updating the system as transactions are entered the system updated the accounts in different ways.


SysSetup_Banks_Pop
Bank Accounts fields are used to key in the account references for the accounts you want to use as banks.  You can upto 10 separate bank accounts in EB which can all be accessed and used through the Bank module on the listbar.  You can add new bank accounts to the system using the Bank Details window in the Bank module or you can enter them into the next available empty field in this form.  The bank reference you enter must not already exist in your financial module.


SysSetup_VATControl
System Setup - VAT Control

The VAT Control tab page in System Setup is used to enter and set the parameters which will be used to control the VAT processing within your system.

The system maintains upto 10 different VAT rates which are identified by a one digit code starting at 0 upto 9.  Each of these codes can be assigned to any particular percentage VAT rate you require and you can also tell the system which rate is to be assigned as the standard rate, the rate to deal with EC sales and so on.

Click on the field prompt below to indicate which one you would like to see more information for.

VAT Rates

VAT Registration Number

Standard Rate

Exempt Rate

EC Sales Rate

EC Purchase Rate

EC Purchase Zero Rate

None VAT Rate


SysSetup_VATRates_Pop
VAT Rates are used to setup upto 10 different VAT rates which are to be used by the system from 0 to 9.  You are expected to enter in the rates corresponding to the VAT code when entering transactions.  For example VAT rate 1 is generally used the standard rate of 17.5% at the time of writing.  Therefore any transaction you enter with VAT code 1 will have the VAT calculated at 17.5%.

In the settings on the right hand side of the dialog form you can assign certain rates for specific purposes such as EC sales used to produce your VAT EC Sales List.


SysSetup_VATRegNo _Pop
VAT Registration No. is used for you to enter your company’s VAT registration number or leave it blank if you are not registered for VAT.


SysSetup_VATStdRate_Pop
Standard Rate is used to setup the standard rate code which the system will use as default standard rate on transactions.  The code you enter will ultimately represent the percentage you assigned to the code in the VAT Rates on the left hand side of the dialog form.  The default is 1.


SysSetup_ExemptRate_Pop
Exempt Rate is for you to enter the VAT rate number which is used for identifying VAT exempt items.  The code you enter will ultimately represent the percentage you assigned to the code in the VAT Rates on the left hand side of the dialog form.  The rate of the code you enter here should always be zero.  The default is 0.


SysSetup_ECSalesRate_Pop
EC Sales Rate is used to setup the VAT code which is used to identify transactions that are sales to other EC member states.  This is extremely important to producing your VAT Return and VAT EC Sales List.  The code you enter will ultimately represent the percentage you assigned to the code in the VAT Rates on the left hand side of the dialog form.  The default is 5.


SysSetup_ECPurcRate_Pop
EC Purchase Rate is used to key in the VAT rate number to identify transactions that are standard rated purchases from other EC member states.  This is important in calculating your VAT Return.  The code you enter will ultimately represent the percentage you assigned to the code in the VAT Rates on the left hand side of the dialog form.  The default is 7.


SysSetup_PurcZeroRate_Pop
EC Purchase Zero Rate is used to setup the VAT code to identify transactions that are zero rated purchases from other EC member states.  This is also important in calculating your VAT Return.   The code you enter will ultimately represent the percentage you assigned to the code in the VAT Rates on the left hand side of the dialog form.  The default is 8.


SysSetup_NonVATRate_Pop
None VAT Rate is used to enter the VAT code to identify transactions which have nothing to do with VAT for example paying wages, entering bank charges etc.  This code normally uses VAT code 9 which should always be zero.


SysSetup_Misc
System Setup - Miscellaneous

The Miscellaneous tab page is used to enter settings in the system which are grouped together as they have no particular subject heading.

Click on the Misc tab page to see this page of settings.

Click on the below field headers for an explanation of what each one is used for.

Customer Statement Notes

Suppliers Remittance Advice Notes

Auto Open Financial Period

Stock Quantity Decimals

Stock Unit Price Decimals

Minimum Markup %

Free Text Default Account Reference

Free Text Default VAT Code

Unallocated Payment VAT Code

Preview All Reports

Start Report Date Range

Background Picture


SysSetup_CustStatNotes_Pop
Customer Statement Notes is used to enter unlimited into free-format text box for the notes which you want to have printed on your statements.  To have these printed on your Statements to suit your stationery or preferences you will need to use the Document Designer.


SysSetup_SuppRANotes_Pop
Supplier Remittance Advice Notes is for you to key in the unlimited text notes you want to have printed on your supplier’s remittance advice notes.  To have these printed on your Remittance Advice Notes to suit your stationery or preferences you will need to use the Document Designer.


SysSetup_AutoOpenFinPer_Pop
Auto Open Financial Period This checkbox field is used for you to inform the system if you want to open a new financial period automatically when you enter the system.  In EB you do not have to close a financial period before opening a new one however you do have to tell the system to open the period in order to enter transactions into it.  Instead of having to do this manually you can check this box and each time you enter the system it will check on today’s date.  If today’s date is in a new financial period then it will open the new period immediately without you hardly noticing it.

If you leave this field unchecked then whenever you attempt to enter a transaction into a date which is in an unopened period you will be informed of this and, depending on the access rights of the user (See User Setup), you will be asked if you want to open it there and then.  You can also open a new financial period manually, see Opening A New Financial Period.


SysSetup_QuanDec_Pop
Stock Quantity Decimals is used to setup the number of decimal places you need on the quantity fields within your stock control system.  In the Stock and Invoice modules the quantity fields are 8 digits in length with a default of two decimal places (5 numbers before the decimal point).  If you require a different number of decimal places or if you don’t need any then key this in.  The minimum is 0 and the maximum is 4.  You should note that the length of the field remains static therefore the more decimal places you have the less numbers prior to the decimal point you have to enter.


SysSetup_PriceDec_Pop
Stock Unit Price Decimals is used to setup the number of decimal places you need on the price fields within your stock control system.  In The Stock and Invoice modules the price fields are 10 digits in length with a default of 2 decimal places (7 digits before the decimal point).  If you require a different number of decimal places then you can key this in here.  The minimum is 2 and the maximum is 5.  You should note that the length of the field remains static therefore the more decimal places you have the less numbers prior to the decimal point you have to enter.


SysSetup_MinMarkup_Pop
Minimum Markup % is used in the Invoice module when entering sales prices.  The system will check the price against the currently entered cost price and if the percentage profit markup of the entered price is below the minimum entered here then the user will see a warning message.  Leave this field as zero if you have no need for this facility.


SysSetup_FreeTextAcc_Pop
Free Text Default Account Reference When entering invoices you can enter free-text items onto transactions as well as stock items.  In the same way as stock items can be given individual financial accounts this setting enables you to enter the financial account which you can use as the default for the free-text item to be posted to although it can be changed uniquely on each free-text line.


SysSetup_FreeTextVC_Pop
Free Text Default VAT Code In the Invoice module of the system you can enter free-text items onto transactions as well as stock items.  In the same way as stock items can be given individual VAT codes this setting enables you to enter the VAT code which you can use as the default for the free-text item although it can be changed uniquely on each free-text line.


SysSetup_UnallPayVC_Pop
Unallocated Payment VAT Code is used to tell the system what VAT code you should assign to unallocated payments ie. payments that were not allocated against invoices.  This is useful mainly if you are using VAT cash accounting.  Payments that are allocated against invoices use the VAT rates on the invoices they are allocated against to determine their VAT code(s), used when producing the cash based VAT return.  However where a payment has no invoices allocated against it the system will use this VAT code and relevant rate.  The default is 1.


SysSetup_PrevReps_Pop
Preview All Reports checkbox setting is used to tell the system when printing a report if it should preview the report on the screen giving the option to print it or if it should simply print it directly.  Checking this box will indicate you want to preview all reports first.


SysSetup_StRepDate_Pop
Start Report Date Range is a date setting which is used on setting report ranges on your system.  Each time you use a report where it involves setting a range of dates ie transaction histories, daybooks etc.  the system uses this date as the default start date so you don’t have to plough through months and years on the calendar to select a start date for the report.  Use the Calendar to select a date.


SysSetup_BgndPic_Pop
Background Picture is used to setup a background wallpaper in EB for each company.  You may want a blank background, a patterned background or your company logo displayed.  If you have a favourite background picture in the form of a bitmap file then you can select the path and filename for where the file is stored on your system.  You can click on the button with the file icon to the right of the field to browse the directories and find the file you need.  As this field is stored for the current company only, if you have more than one company then you can specify the company logo for each company you are working on.


CustomerDetais
Customer Details

The Customer Details window is used to enter, edit, view and delete customer information.

If you selected to add a new customer to the system you will first of all be asked for a new Customer Reference.  The Reference is the main way of accessing customer information and must be unique for every customer added to the system.

If you selected to edit an existing customer, the details of the currently selected customer will be displayed in the form for you to edit.  Entering a different customer reference will not change the reference of the selected customer.  Instead it is used to search for a different customer.  You can use the Search facility to locate a different customer.

If you are entering a batch of new customers then you can use the New button on the Options Bar at the top of the Customer Details Form after entering each one.

The three tab pages which make up the Customer Details form are used to display different information.  Whichever tab page is selected the details displayed on the left hand side of the form are always visible, it is only the details on the right hand side which change.

The Details tab page is the default page which contains important information which you can enter.  The Balance tab page displays customer balances and other information which is for display purposes only.  The Notepad tab page is used for a large, free-text and unlimited notepad to enter various details regarding each customer.

The Options bar at the top of the window provide various options for processing customer details.  Click on the required button below for help on each option.

Click on the field header below to find out more information about each field.

Name & Address

Telephone & Fax Numbers

Email Address

Contact Name

Details	Balance

Credit Limit	Balance

Terms	Current

Settlement Days	30 Days

Settlement Discount	60 Days

On Stop	90 Days

Price Code	Older

Account	Current Month Turnover

Discount	Current Year Turnover

Use This Financial Account ....	Last Payment Date

VAT ID                                               Last Sales Date

VAT Code	Amount Paid

EC Country	Amount Due For Payment

Use This VAT Code ...	Total Amount On Query


Search

The search facility is used to find the record you require.  Whilst the type of data you are searching for is dependent on the current part of the system you are using the search dialog is available to give you a great deal of flexibility in finding the information you require.

Normally you will be given a field, as below, with a magnifying glass button at the side of the field which you can click on to to invoke the Search dialog.  You can also display the Search dialog by pressing [Ctrl + S].

If you know the reference of the record you are searching for then you can key this directly into the field and press [RETURN] or [TAB] .  If the system finds a direct match with your entry then the Search dialog need not be displayed.  If the system finds only a partial match or no match or all it will display the Search dialog on the nearest record.

In the search dialog you will see a list of data relevant to what you are searching for ie customers.  You will see a combobox with the prompt Search By.  If you click on the combo button you will see a list of the fields you can search by to find the required record.

The Search For field to the right of the Search By combo is where you enter what you want to search for on the field you have selected.  As you type each letter of number the data will jump to the nearest match until you find the record you require.  For example type D and the system will find the first record beginning with D.  Then enter E and the system will find the first record beginning with DE.  This is what is referred to as incremental searching.

When you have found the record you want you can click on the OK button or click on Cancel to abandon your search.

On many occasions there will also be a New button which enables you add a new record if you find that the record you want has not been previously entered.


CustDtl_NameAddr_Pop
Customer's Name & Address is used for you to enter the customer's basic information for use later in printing invoices, statements and in enquiries.


CustDtl_TelFaxNo_Pop
Telephone & Fax Numbers are used to you to enter two different telephone numbers and a fax number for reference.  These numbers are 20 characters in length and should be adequate for storing long international numbers.  However if they are not then you should add them to the free-text notepad under the Notepad tab page.


CustDtl_Email_Pop
Customer's Email Address is used to store the customer's email address which can be used when you use the Email facilities available in Empire Builder.


CustDtl_Contact_Pop
Customer's Contact Name stores the name of your primary contact within your customer's organisation.  If you have more than one contact then you should use the customer's free-text notepad to store other names.


CustDtl_CreditLimit_Pop
Credit Limit is used if you want to assign credit limits for your customers.  In various parts of the system and in different reports and enquiries you can use this to list customers whose balance has exceeded their credit limits giving you the facilities to keep a tigher control on customer credit.


CustDtl_Terms_Pop
Terms is used for you to enter the typical number of days you allow for this customer before a transaction becomes due for payment.  These payment terms allow you to track outstanding and due invoices.  You can also give each individual transaction different payment terms later for greater flexibility.


CustDtl_SettDays_Pop
Settlement Days are used to enter the number of days in which the customer can settle (pay) in full each invoice in order to receive the Settlement Discount entered.


CustDtl_SettDisc_Pop
Settlement Discount is used to enter the discount percentage you will award to the customer if they settle (pay) in full any invoices within the number of Settlement Days.


CustDtl_OnStop_Pop
On Stop is a checkbox for you to specify if you want to place the customer on credit stop.  This is extremely useful for reporting and enquiry purposes.  Check this box if you want to place the customer on stop.


CustDtl_PriceCode_Pop
Price Code is used for you to enter the number of the price level you want to use when selling this customer stock items.  The Stock module maintains upto 3 different selling prices per stock item which you can use as retail, trade etc.  This price code should be 1, 2 or 3 indicating the price level this customer is to use.


CustDtl_Account_Pop
Account is used to specify an account in your Financial module which is to be used mainly when entering transactions for this customer.  Use the Search facilities to help find the required account.  This is not a compulsory entry, however it can be used in conjunction with the Use This Financial Account In All Transactions checkbox to force the system to use this account all the time.


CustDtl_UseFinAcc_Pop
Use This Financial Account In All Transactions is a checkbox used to force the system to use the financial account specified in all transactions for the customer.  If this is checked it will overwrite, for example, the financial accounts on stock items when raising invoices.


CustDtl_Disc_Pop
Discount is used to specify a standard discount percentage used in the Invoice module as a default discount percentage on each transaction raised for this customer.


CustDtl_VATID_Pop
VAT ID is used to enter the VAT registration number or identity, particularly important when dealing with customers from EC member states for producing your VAT EC Sales List.


CustDtl_VATCode_Pop
VAT Code Key in the VAT code which will be used as a default when entering transactions for this customer.  When dealing with customers from EC member states you should use the EC Sales Rate code which you can set using System Setup.  You can also force the system to use this code on all transactions overwriting any VAT codes on individual stock items by using the Use This VAT Code In ALL Transactions checkbox.


CustDtl_UseVAT_Pop
Use This VAT Code In ALL Transactions is a checkbox used to force the system to use the VAT Code specified in all transactions for the customer.  If this is checked it will overwrite, for example, the individual VAT codes  on stock items when raising invoices.


CustDtl_ECCountry_Pop
EC Country is used to specify which EC country the customer operates from.  You can click on the combobox arrow for a list or press [Alt + DownArrow] on the keyboard .  You can then select the relevant country for the customer.  If the customer does not operate from an EC member state you can leave this blank.  To add more countries to the EC Country list then use the EC Country Codes option on the Records menu from the main menu.


CustDtl_Balance_Pop
Balance displays the total amount the customer owes you from all the transactions entered.


CustDtl_Current_Pop
Current displays the total which the customer owes you for the current month, before it is 30 days old and becomes effectively due for payment.


CustDtl_30Days_Pop
30 Days displays the amount the customer owes you which has aged more than 30 days.


CustDtl_60Days_Pop
60 Days displays the  total the customer owes you which has aged more than 60 days.


CustDtl_90Days_Pop
90 Days displays the total the customer owes you which has aged more than 90 days.


CustDtl_Older_Pop
Older displays the total  the customer owes you which has aged more than 120 days.


CustDtl_MthTO_Pop
Current Month Turnover displays the customer's turnover for the current month.


CustDtl_YrTO_Pop
Current Year Turnover displays the customer's turnover for the current year.


CustDtl_LastPayDate_Pop
Last Payment Date displays the date on which the last payment made by the customer was recorded.


CustDtl_LastSaleDate_Pop
Last Sale Date displays the date on which a sales was recorded for the customer.


CustDtl_AmtPaid_Pop
Amount Paid is used to display the total amount which the customer had paid you.


CustDtl_AmtDue_Pop
Amount Due For Payment displays the amount which is actually now due for payment by the customer by calculating the payment terms on the outstanding transactions.


CustDtl_AmtQuery_Pop
Total Amount On Query displays the total value of the outstanding invoices which have been marked as being queried.


CustTrans
Customer Transactions

When you click on the Transacs button in the Customer module you will see a menu of the available transactions which you can enter into the system.

The Invoice and Credit Note options are used for entering transactions through the Invoice module to produce documents and update stock etc.  The Manual Trans option is used to manually enter customer Invoices and Credit Notes where no stock items or quantities are involved and there is no need to produce a document.  Click on the option below for help on the required transaction.

Invoice

Credit Note

Payments

Manual Trans

Refunds

Opening Balance


CustHist
Customer/Supplier History

The History enquiry is used to view and print a history of customer/supplier transactions.  You can set a range of dates for the enquiry and also other criteria such as listing due invoices etc.  It is a pivotal enquiry form within the system and it contains many more features within it to help you to enquire in as much depth as possible.

At the top of the History form you will see various prompts for you to set a range of customers/supplier, a range of dates and also select which types of transactions to include.

Click on the relevant field headers below for more help on each field.

Start Customer/Supplier

Finish Customer/Supplier

Start Date

Finish Date

Include...

The buttons on the Options bar are particularly useful in enabling you to make indepth enquiries, to print and email the report and to move through the different customer's/supplier's histories.  Click on the buttons below to see a detailed explanation of what each option is used for.

If you want to jump to a particular customer/supplier to view their history then you can use the field displayed just below the Option Bar, which always displays the customer/supplier whose history is currently listed.  You can use the Search facility to find the customer/supplier you require.

The data grid displayed just below the Customer/Supplier Ref. prompt is where the customer's/supplier's history is displayed.  As with all the data grids in the system you can move through the transactions data using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.

The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each transaction.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.

The buttons on the Options Bar are also available in a pop-up menu.  To bring up this menu right-click on the required transaction in the data grid and select the relevant option on the menu.  There is also an option to Change The Data Grid Colours if required.


CustRep_StartCust_Pop
Start Customer/Supplier is used to key in the customer/supplier reference at which the report/enquiry should start at.  The system will default the first customer's/supplier's reference.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer/supplier you want.


CustRep_FinCust_Pop
Finish Customer/Supplier is used to key in the customer reference at which the report/enquiry should finish at.  The system will default the last customer's reference.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.


CustRep_StartDate_Pop
Start Date is used to tell the system the date at which you want the report to start at.  All transactions dated before this will not be included.  The default date will be the Start Report Date you entered in System Setup.


CustRep_FinDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to tell the system the date at which you want the report to finish at.  All transactions dated after this will not be included.  The default date will be the system date you entered when you logged onto the system.


CustRep_IncTrans
Include Transactions

Use the Include..... combo box to select exactly which types of transactions you want to include in the transaction history.

You can click on the Combobox arrow button to drop down the list of available options as above or press [ALT + DownArrow] from the keyboard.

All Transactions is used to display all transactions within the specified range of dates.

Outstanding Transactions is used to list only those transactions which were outstanding for payment, including any unallocated payments and credit notes.

Due Invoices is used to list invoices which are now due for payment by using the payment terms (days) on each invoice to decide which invoices are due.

Queried Invoices is used to list invoices which have been marked as being queried.  Any queried invoices are highlighted in red within the list.  To put a transaction on query see Query Transaction.

Credit Notes is used to list only credit note transactions.

Payments is used to list payment transactions.

Refunds is used to list only refund transactions.


Zoom In

The transaction Zoom-In facilities in Empire Builder are extremely powerful and allow tremendous insight into the processing and history of each and every transaction in the system.  EB tracks every aspect of each transaction in order to provide this information and additional processing.

Zoom In (often referred to as "drill-down") enables you to start off looking at a base transaction and drilling into the details of the transaction to find out more.  You can also "drill-across" to other related transactions whilst you are making an enquiry about a transaction.  The Zoom-In facilities are available throughout the system, normally by right clicking on a required transaction on a data grid and selecting an option on a pop-up menu, although it does depend on where it was selected from.

The various options of zooming into a transaction are given below.  Click on the one you want to know more information about.

Customer/Supplier Transaction

Financial Transaction

Double Entry Distribution

Payment Allocations

VAT Breakdown

Original Document


ZoomIn_CustTrans
Zoom In - Customer/Supplier Transaction

The Customer/Supplier Transaction detail window is used to display all the basic details regarding the selected transaction.  If the transaction has been put on query you will see a red query message.

The buttons on the bottom of the form enable you to zoom-in further into the transaction.  Click on the below option for an explanation of what each button does.

Distribution

Payment

Document

VAT

Query


ZoomIn_DED
Zoom In - Double Entry Distribution

The double entry distribution form is used to display how the selected transaction has affected the Financial module by listing all the accounts which were updated and the amounts involved allowing for greater detail particularly in auditing.

The buttons at the bottom of the form are used to display further information about the selected transaction.  The Detail button gives a greater insight into the affect on the selected distribution financial account on the data grid.  Click on the relevant option below for an explanation of each button.

Detail

VAT


ZoomIn_FinTrans
Zoom In - Financial Transaction

The financial transaction window gives some greater detail on the selected distribution transaction and provides access to other zoom-in facilities for the transaction.

The Distribution button  Zooms-Out by giving the full details of the double entry distribution which this transaction is part of.

Click on the option below which represents the button you want to see an explanation for.

Distribution

Customer

Document

VAT


ZoomIn_VAT
Zoom In - VAT Breakdown

The VAT breakdown form is used to display a total analysis of the selected transaction VAT amounts.

It displays what the VAT values were on the transaction giving the net, VAT and total values by each VAT code and rate.

The buttons at the bottom of the form allow for additional zoom-in to the transaction.  Click on the option below you want to see an explanation for.

Transaction

Distribution


ZoomIn_PayAlloc
Zoom In - Payment Allocations

The Payment Allocations zoom-in form is used to display exactly which customer/supplier transactions have been paid off or allocated against the selected transaction.

If you looked up an invoice then you would see any payments, credit notes and refunds which were allocated against it.  If it were a payment then a list of invoices and refund transactions would be displayed.

You can then, by selecting the transaction in the grid and clicking on the Details button, "drill-across"  to enquire about the allocation transaction.  For example you may be looking at a payment which has an allocation against two invoices.  You could select one of the invoices in the grid and click on the Details button to view the details of the selected invoice.


ZoomIn_OrigDoc
Zoom In - Original Document

The original document enquiry form is used when a transaction has been entered and updated through the Invoice module.  This enables you to see exactly which items were on the transaction, prices, quantities, profit margins etc.

If you wanted to print or email the invoice document there and then you can use the Print button to do so .

If any items on the document are free-text items then click on the item in the items data grid and click on the Free Text button to display a dialog window with the full description.

Click on the Distribution button for an analysis of the double entry distribution breakdown of the full transaction.


ZoomIn_Query
Query displays the description and notes detailing the reason for the query and a history of the progress of the query which have been entered.


CustHist_OptMenu
Options

The options menu gives you a list of available processing choices you have in the enquiry adding greater flexibility.

The option you select and the subsequent processing you do is relevant to the currently selected transaction in the data grid so ensure you select the correct transaction before selecting from the Options menu.

For an explanation of the choices on the menu click on the options below.

Query

Payment Terms

Undo Transaction


QueryTrans
Querying Transactions

When you query a transaction the system will highlight it in reports and enquiries for ease of reference and it will also prevent any user from paying off a queried transaction.   You can also produce queried invoice lists providing you with a useful and effective way of processing queries.

When you are querying the current transaction you should click the Query Transaction checkbox to put a transaction into query or uncheck it to take it out of query.

You can then enter as much detail about the query as you require into the free-text notepad provided.  When you finally take a transaction out of query the system retains the query notes entered for future reference purposes.

To confirm that you are putting the transaction into or out of query click on the OK button.

Click on the Cancel button to cancel any changes.


CustHist_PayTerms
Payment Terms

Each customer and supplier transaction can have it's own payment terms to cater for one-off deferred credit transactions or for shorter credit terms ie 7 days etc.  This enables the system to give you accurate details of transactions which are due for payment.

The customer/supplier stores the standard number of days credit allowed before payment is due.  When you enter a transaction these terms are automatically stored on the transaction as standard.  This dialog enables you to alter the standard terms on the currently selected transaction.

The Payment Terms dialog simply asks you to key in the number of days after the original transaction date that the transaction become due for payment.

Click on OK to confirm the new payment terms for the transaction.

Click Cancel to abandon any changes.


UndoTrans
Undo Transaction

The undo facility in Empire Builder is a unique and powerful feature enabling you to undo any transaction entered into the system at any time, even in different financial periods and the system will handle all the processing automatically for you.

When you select to undo a transaction the system will display a small dialog form giving you the basic details of the transaction you have selected to undo.  If there are any allocations against the transaction you have selected, for example an invoice which has been paid, then the system will warn you of this.

As the system stores every single detail about every transaction it can very easily track back this information to remove it from your system.  When a transaction, for example an invoice, has one or several payments allocated against it you can still undo the invoice.  Empire Builder will remove the allocations to the payment.  The part of the payment (or credit note) which was previously allocated to the invoice is now unallocated and can later be allocated against another invoice.  It is important to remember that linked transactions are not undone, just the transaction you selected and any links.

action you undo is linked to a refund transaction then this too will be undone.

Click on the OK button to proceed with undoing the transaction.  If the transaction was entered from the Invoice module then the system will warn you that the stock control may be affected by undoing the transaction.  If you select then to proceed the system will undo the entire transaction including any effect on stock control including stock levels, transactions and sales figures.

Click on Cancel to abandon the undo.


CustRep_Print
Print is used to print the selected report.  If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.  If you have not selected to preview the report the system will provide a dialog form for you to select the required printer etc.


CustRep_Email
Email is used to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  It will attach the file along with Reports Viewer software which can be used  by the recipient to view and print the report.  The inbuilt Email and Address Book facilities can be used to the select the recipient and to enter any messages similar to standard email software such as MS-Mail and MS-Outlook.


CustRep_Previous
Previous is used to move to the previous customer on your files (in customer reference order) and to display their history.  The Start Customer setting dictates if the system can move to the previous customer or not.


CustRep_Next
Next is used to move to the next customer on your files (in customer reference order) and to display their history.  The Finish Customer setting dictates if the system can move to the first customer or not.


CustStats
Customer Statements

The Customer Statements dialog is used for you to set up the range of customer and their transaction that you want to print statements for.

The actual print layout of statements, and indeed any document produced by the system, can be designed to your own requirements using the Document Designer.

For an explanation of each field available to specify the range of statements to print click on the relevant field header below.

Start Customer Reference

Finish Customer Reference

Start Transaction Date

Finish Transaction Date

Ignore Zero Balances

Include All Transactions

Include Outstanding Transactions Only

Document Layout

When you have specified your range of statements you have a number of options available.

Click on Print to directly print the statements

Click on Preview if you want to view the printed output on screen before printing.

Click on Email to store the output in a .SRW format file which will be attached along with the Reports Viewer software so the recipient can view and print their own statement.


CustStat_IgnoreZeroBal_Pop
Ignore Zero Balances checkbox is used to tell the system if you want to ignore customers/suppliers who have zero balances regardless of whether or not they have transactions in the specified date range.  Check this box if you want to ignore customers with zero balances.


CustStat_IncAll_Pop
Include All Transactions radio button should be selected if you want to include all transactions in the specified date range as opposed to just those which are outstanding for payment.


CustStat_IncOutTrans_Pop
Include Outstanding Transactions Only radio button should be selected if you only want to include transactions which are outstanding for payment as opposed to all transactions.


CustStat_DocLayout_Pop
Document Layout is used to specify which document layout you want to use to print this batch of customer statements.  Click on the combobox arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pull-down a list of available document layouts.  You can have an unlimited number of different statement layouts.  See Document Designer utility for details on how to layout your own statement designs.


CustFilter
Customer/Supplier Filter

The customer filter form is used to filter the list of customers displayed in the Customer/Supplier module to whatever criteria you require.  This enables you to view only a subset of customers/suppliers which you need to work on at a particular time allowing for extensive enquiries.

For example you may only wish to list those customers or suppliers who have exceeded their credit limits, or those who have outstanding debts longer than 60 days, or those who have spent over £1,000 this month etc.

Please note that any filters you set are solely for use in the list on the Customer/Supplier module Window.

The fields on the form enable you to set up the filter using a series of ranges.  Click on the field header below for details of each field range on the filter form.

Customer/Supplier Ref.

On Stop

Credit Limit Exceeded

Monthly Turnover

Yearly Turnover

Balance

Current

30 Days

60 Days

90 Days

Older

Click on the OK button when you setup your filter and want to execute it for the Customer/Supplier module.

Click on the Reset button if you want to set the filter to it's original default values.  When you do this you can click on OK to reset the filter in the Customer/Supplier module to list all customers/suppliers.

Click on the Cancel button to abandon any filter settings made and close this window.


CustFilt_Ref_Pop
Customer/Supplier Ref. is used to specify the range of customers/suppliers by using start and finish references.  The start and finish reference is defined in the alphabetical order of the customer/supplier reference.  Enter the customer/supplier on which you wish to start the list into the From field and the customer/supplier reference where you want the list to end in the To field.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer/supplier you want.


CustFilt_OnStop_Pop
On Stop is used to specify that you only want to include customers/suppliers who are marked as being on stop in the list.  Check this checkbox if you want to want to include this condition as part of the filter.


CustFilt_CLExceed_Pop
Credit Limit Exceeded is used to specify that you only want to include those customers who have /suppliers with whom you have their credit limit.  Check this checkbox if you want to want to include this condition as part of the filter.


CustFilt_MTO_Pop
Monthly Turnover is used to specify a minimum and maximum value of the customer's/supplier's monthly turnover to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/suppliers whose monthly turnover is above for example £1,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start turnover value and the To field is used to specify the end turnover value.


CustFilt_YTO_Pop
Yearly Turnover is used to specify the minimum and maximum values of the customer's/supplier's yearly turnover to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/suppliers whose yearly turnover is above for example £1,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start turnover value and the To field is used to specify the end turnover value.


CustFilt_Balance_Pop
Balance is used to specify the minimum and maximum values of the customer's/supplier's total balances to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/suppliers whose balance is above for example £2,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start balance value and the To field is used to specify the end balance value.


CustFilt_Current_Pop
Current is used to specify the minimum and maximum values of the customer's/supplier's current month balance to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/suppliers whose current balance is above for example £1,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start current balance value and the To field is used to specify the end current balance value.


CustFilt_30Days_Pop
30 Days is used to specify the minimum and maximum values of the customer's/supplier's 30 days aged balance to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/supplier whose 30 days balance is above for example £1,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start  30 days balance value and the To field is used to specify the end 30 days balance value.


CustFilt_60Days_Pop
60 Days is used to specify the minimum and maximum values of the customer's/supplier's debt which has aged 60 days or more to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/suppliers whose 60 days balance is above for example £1,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start  60 days balance value and the To field is used to specify the end 60 days balance value.


CustFilt_90Days_Pop
90 Days is used to specify the minimum and maximum values of the customer's/supplier's debt which has aged 90 days or more to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/suppliers whose 90 days balance is above for example £1,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start  90 days balance value and the To field is used to specify the end 90 days balance value.


CustFilt_Older_Pop
Older is used to specify the minimum and maximum values of the customer's/supplier's debt which has aged 120 days or more to include in the filter.  You can therefore view a list of customers/suppliers whose aged debt older than 120 days balance is above for example £1,000 etc.  The From value is used to specify the start 120 days balance value and the To field is used to specify the end 120 days balance value.


CustRepMenu
Customer/Supplier Reports

The customer/supplier reports menu is used to gain access to the reports and enquiries available in the Customer and Supplier module quickly and easily.

The reports available on this  menu are also available on the system main menu by selecting Reports and then Customer/Supplier.

Click on the report titles below to find more information on each report on the menu.

Aged Debtors/Creditors

Daybooks

Customer/Supplier List

EC Sales List

Turnover Report

Mailing Labels

History


CustADRep
Aged Debtors/Creditors Report

The Aged Debtors/Creditors report enables you to produce a list of outstanding account balances listing aged balances and credit limits.  This is useful to quickly see who owes you money, how much and for how long.  This is extremely useful for efficient credit control.

You can select this report by selecting Reports on the system menu, select Customers/Supplier and from the submenu select Aged Debtors/Creditors.

The Aged Debtors/Creditors report also includes a graphical report enabling you to see the information given in the form various graphs,  see Aged Debtors/Creditors Graph.

The prompt on the top of the report form enables you to specify exactly which customers/suppliers you want to have included in the report as per the screen shot below.

Click on the relevant field headers below for more help on each field.

Start Customer/Supplier

Finish Customer/Supplier

Include

Above

View Balance At

Any changes you enter into the above range settings will immediately effect the information displayed on the report and in the graph, dependant on which is selected.

Underneath the range setting prompts you will see two available tab pages.  The first is Report which is used to view and print the straightforward report information and the second tab is Graph which enables you to see the various graphs available.   Click on the Graph tab page to view the Aged Debtor/Creditor Graph.

The buttons on the Options bar underneath the range settings are there to give you additional facilities.

Click on the buttons below for further help on what each option does.

The data grid displays the actual customer/supplier information which you have requested.  You can also select the options which are available on the Options bar explained above by using the pop up menu.  You can invoke the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected customer/supplier is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required customer/supplier or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.  You can move through the customer/supplier data using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each customer/supplier.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


CustADRep_Include_Pop
Include is used to specify which balance field you want to use to set a criteria for which customers are included in the list.  Click on the combobox arrow or press [ALT + DownArrow] for the list of options.   This is used in conjunction with the Above field.   For example if you want to see which customers/suppliers have a balance of over £500 then you would select Balance in the Include combobox and enter 500.00 into the Above field.  There are also options on the Include list for only including customers/supplier on stop or who have exceeded their credit limit which are not used with the Above field.


CustADRep_Above_Pop
Above is used to specify an amount above which you want to include customers/suppliers in the aged debtors/creditors report.  This is used in conjunction with the Include combobox.   For example if you want to see which customers/suppliers have a balance of over £1000 then enter 1000.00 into the Above field and then select Balance in the Include combobox.


CustADRep_ViewBalAt_Pop
View Balance At is a date setting you can specify if you want to see the customer's/supplier's balances as at a particular date.  This will not have any effect on which records are included in the report but instead will add an additional column in the enquiry grid giving each customer's/supplier's balance as at the given date.


CustRep_ZoomIn_Pop
Zoom In enables you to zoom into the selected customer's/supplier's transaction history.  Further Zoom In facilities are then available for each transaction.  You can also double-click on the required customer in the data grid to zoom-in.


CustDayBooks
Customer/Supplier Daybooks

The Customer/Supplier Daybooks report enables you to produce a list of sales/purchase transactions which have been posted to the Customer/Supplier module for a specified range of dates.

You can select this report by selecting Reports on the system menu, select Customers/Suppliers and from the submenu select Daybooks.

This can be used as a daily, weekly or monthly list for auditing, checking and totalling up sales in a specified period.

At the top of the enquiry form you will see several fields which you can use to specify a range of transactions which you want to have included in the daybook listing.  Click on the field headers below for help on how you should use these fields.

Start Customer/Supplier

Finish Customer/Supplier

Start Trans Date

Finish Trans Date

Include ...

The buttons on the Options bar just underneath the transactions are used to zoom-in to a selected transaction and to print and email the daybook report.  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The currently selected transaction is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required customer/supplier or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the transaction data using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each transaction.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.

The data grid displays the actual customer/supplier information which you have requested.  You can also select the options which are available on the Options bar explained above by using the pop up menu.  You can invoke the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours  to your preference.


CustRepsDB_Include_Pop
Include is used to specify which types of transaction you want to have included in the daybook reports.  This will total up the transaction types you specify.  If you specify All Transactions the system will add up all invoices and subtract all payments and credit notes to give you the total.


CustAgedDebtGraph
Aged Debtors/Creditors Graph

The Aged Debtors/Creditors Graph gives a pictorial representation of the Aged Debtors/Creditors Report which is used to produce details of who owes what and for how long enabling efficient credit control.

The first graph you will see is the summary of the totals of your aged debtors/creditors report by period ie current, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days etc.

If you want to see how each period is made up you can point at the period you want and double-click.  This will drill-in to the data and present a detailed graph of how the selected period is made up customer by customer or supplier by supplier.

You can now drill-in further by selecting a particular customer/supplier and double-clicking on the element (bar or the portion of the graph representing the customer) to see a full breakdown of the selected customer's/supplier's aged debt.

To drill-out a level you can right-click on the bar or pie, dependant on what type of graph is displayed.

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar work see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


UsingGraphs
Using Graphs In Empire Builder

Graphs present an attractive and pictorial way to view your important reports in the system.  The graphical reports available in Empire Builder are extremely flexible and comprehensive and provide many options for printing and saving graphs.

Graphs can be exported or copied to the clipboard for use in third party products such a spreadsheets, word processors and desktop publishing packages.

Each graph can also be viewed in a variety of different formats to present the graph in the way you require, for example you can view it as a vertical bar chart, a pie chart etc.

The Options bar on the top of each Graph represents various function which you can use.  Click on the buttons and options below for more information on each facility.

Toggle Marks

Graph Types

Operating The Graphs

The use of the mouse buttons is key to operating the graphs in Empire Builder.  Most graphs show general data at first but you can drill-in to a specific element of a graph, for example a bar or a portion of a pie chart, to get a more detailed graph.

To drill-down or to drill-up to a specific element you must double-click on an active element in the graph, not on the white backdrop to the graph as this performs a completely separate function which will be explained later.

Normally to drill-down to a graph you will point the mouse to the required element in a graph which many represent, for example, a customer's balance.  Double-click with the left mouse button to drill-down for further detail.  You will know that the graph will not drill-down any further if you double-click with the left mouse button and nothing happens.

To drill-up from a particular level within a graph you need to point to an element in the graph, does not matter specifically which one, and click on the right mouse button.  This will then drill-up a level.

If you had 200 customers to be displayed on a bar chart how would you view all of them?  Well this is where the white backdrop comes in.  You click the right mouse button anywhere on the white backdrop and keep it pressed down.  You can then drag the mouse left and right, up and down to view the remainder of the data displayed in the graph.  This is similar to using scrollbars when viewing textual information which cannot all be displayed at once in a data grid.

You can also zoom-in to graphs using the left mouse button.  Point the mouse at the portion of the graph you want to zoom-in to view.  Click on the left mouse mouse and keep it pressed.  Now drag the box (which will appear) to the rightand up or down depending on the area you want to zoom-in to and release the mouse button.

If you want to reset the proportion of the graph to it's original state after zoom-in then click on any part of the white backdrop of the graph with the left mouse button and keep it pressed while you drag it to the leftand down slightly.  Then release the mouse button and the graph will be reset.


Graphs_ToggleMarks_Pop
Toggle Marks is a checkbox used to tell the system if you want view the total indicator marks which display the total value for each element in the graph.  For example in a vertical bar chart a total mark will be displayed above each bar giving the total value of each bar.  In a pie chart the marks will display the total of each portion of the pie.  Check this box if you want to view these marks on the graph and uncheck it if you do not.


Graphs_Types
Graph Types

Select the graph type you want to view the graphical report in from the combobox provided with each graph.  Not all of the above listed graph types will be available on all graphs as some, such as the pie chart, are not always applicable.

Below are pictures of each of the types of graphs available in the system.

         Vertical Bar                  Horizontal Bar                 Pie Chart

         Line Chart                Fast Line Chart                  Point Chart

         Area Chart


Graph_Element_Pop
Element is a term used to describe a particular part of a graph which is active.  For example when viewing a vertical or a horizontal bar chart an element is a bar in the graph representing a particular piece of information.  When viewing a pie chart or an area chart an element is a coloured portion of the chart representing data.  An element is not any part of the graph such as the white backdrop, it is a coloured portion representing actual information.


Graphs_Save
Saving Graphs

The Save graph menu enables you to save the presently displayed graph in three different formats which can then be used to import into other applications (including the Empire Builder utility programs Word Processor, Report Designer and Document Designer).

Click on each of the options below for a description of what they can be used for.

Save As Bitmap

Save As Metafile

Save To Clipboard


Graphs_Save_BMP_Pop
Save As Bitmap option is used to save the presently displayed graph to a .BMP format picture file which is compatible and can be read into all graphics packages, word processors, spreadsheets and desktop publishing software.  You will be asked to specify a filename and location of where to store the new file.


Graph_Save_Clipbrd_Pop
Save To Clipboard is used to Copy the currently displayed graph as a picture into the clipboard.  If you then load any other application such as a word processor, graphics package or reporting tool you can simply Paste it into the document etc using the standard [Ctrl + V] shortcut.


Graph_Print
Print Graph is used to print the currently displayed graph.  You will first be presented with a print dialog to select the printer to output the picture to before it is printed.


Graphs_Email_Pop
Email Graph is used to Email the graph to a specified email address.  The system saves the graph into a bitmap (.BMP) picture format  file.  It will attach the file to an email and you can use the inbuilt Address Book facility to select the recipient  and to enter any messages, similar to standard email software such as MS-Mail and MS-Outlook.


Graph_Save_WMF_Pop
Save As Metafile option is used to save the presently displayed graph to a .WMF format picture file which is compatible and can be read into all graphics packages, word processors, spreadsheets and desktop publishing software.  Many people prefer to work with metafiles as opposed to bitmap files.  Please note all the utility programs for Empire Builder including Document Designer will not read the metafile picture format.


ChangeGridColours
Changing Data Grid Colours

Every grid which displays data in the system is displayed using a colour background on one row and a white background on the next.  This makes the data much more readable and it is more difficult to get mixed up with the data on each row.  The colour row on each data grid can be changed for each individual grid in the system.

The option to change the data grid colours is always available on the pop-up menu which can be invoked by right-clicking on the data grid.  You will then see the colour selection dialog shown below.

You can set colour of the background, the font colour (which is the colour of the text displayed) and the highlight colour (which is the text colour of the currently highlighted data field).

You can click on the down arrow at the side of each colour prompt and you will see a drop-down colour palette for you to select the colour you require.  Click on the relevant colour in the palette.

If the colour you require is not in the available palette you can click on the Other button to bring up the standard Windows colour configuration dialog where you can make up your own colour selection.

When you have finished making all the colour selections you need for the currently selected data grid then click OK or if you want to cancel the colour settings you have made click on Cancel.


MoveGridCol
Moving Grid Columns

In each data grid displayed in the system the order of the columns (or fields) are displayed in a predefined order.  If you want to move the columns to a more relevant position in the data grid then you can achieve this very easily.

You simply click the mouse on the header of the column you want to move and keep it pressed.  Then drag the header to the left or right and "slot" it into the new position.   The above screen shot indicates how moving the column appears on the screen.


CustReps_List
Customer/Supplier List

The Customer/Supplier List report is used to produce a list of your customers/suppliers.  You have the option of producing a straightforward list of customer/supplier names and telephone numbers or producing a list of names and addresses.

If you want to print customer/supplier address labels you can use the Mailing Labels option.

You will be asked at the top of the form to set the specified range of customers/suppliers.  Click on the field headers below for details of how to use each one.

Start Customer/Supplier

Finish Customer/Supplier

Include Address Details

The data grid displays the actual customer/supplier information which you have requested.  You can invoke a the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected customer/supplier is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required customer or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the customer/supplier list using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each customer/supplier.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


CustList_IncAddrDetails_Pop
Include Address Details is a checkbox which is used to specify if you want to list the full address details in the list or not.  Check this box if you want to include the address details and uncheck it if you do not want to include them.


EC Sales List

The EC Sales List report enables you to produce a report of your EC customer sales suitable for completing the appropriate VAT form.

The system produces the report by checking each customer to see if they have any transactions with the VAT code representing EC sales (see System Setup) to calculate the totals.

The EC Sales List report also includes a graphical report enabling you to see the information in the form of various graphs,  see EC Sales List Graph.

You will be given prompts at the top of the enquiry form for you to specify what period you want to produce the EC Sales List for.  Click on the field headers below for an explanation of each field.

Start Date

Finish Date

Underneath the range setting prompts you will see two available tab pages.  The first is Report which is used to view and print the straightforward report information and the second tab is Graph which enables you to see the various graphs available.

Click on the Graph tab page to view the EC Sales List Graph.

The buttons on the Options bar are used to zoom-in to a selected customer and to print and email the EC Sales List report.  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The data grid displays the actual EC sales which you have requested.  You can also select the options which are available on the Options bar explained above by using the pop up menu.  You can invoke the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option available on the pop-up menu is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected customer is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required customer or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the customer data using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each customer.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


ECSalesList_Graph
EC Sales List Graph

The EC Sales List Graph gives a pictorial representation of the VAT EC Sales List which is used to

list customers from other EC member states who have purchased goods and services from you and the total amount of the sales.

The graph you will see is the summary of each customer included in the EC Sales List and their totals.

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar work see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


CustTurnoverRep
Turnover Report

The Customer Turnover Report can be used to display your customer's turnover figures for the current month, current year and also for a selected period which you can specify.   This will total up the turnover figures for all or a selected group of customers.

The Turnover report also includes a graphical report enabling you to see the information in the form of various graphs,  see Turnover Graph.

You will be given prompts at the top of the form for you to specify exactly which customers to include and to specify a period you want the system to calculate turnover figures for as shown below.  Click on the field headers below for an explanation of each field.

Start Customer

Finish Customer

Start Date

Finish Date

Include ...

Above

Underneath the range setting prompts you will see two available tab pages.  The first is Report which is used to view and print the straightforward report information and the second tab is Graph which enables you to see the various graphs available.

Click on the Graph tab page to view the Customer Turnover Graph.

The buttons on the Options bar are used to zoom-in to a selected customer and to print and email the Customer Turnover report.  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The data grid displays the actual customer turnover information which you have requested.  You can invoke the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected customer is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required customer or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the customer list using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


CustTO_StartDate_Pop
Start Date is used to specify the start of the period in which you want to start calculating customer turnover figures.  Any transactions before this date will not be included when calculating each customer's turnover for the selected period.


CustTO_FinishDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to specify the end of the period for which you want to calculate customer turnover figures.  Any transactions later than this date will not be included when calculating each customer's turnover for the selected period.


CustTO_Include_Pop
Include is a combobox used to specify which turnover figure you want to filter the report on.  This is used in conjunction with the Above field.  For example if you select This Month in this field and enter 1000.00 into the Above field then the system will only include those customers who have spent more than £1000 in the current month.  You can also select the Yearly Turnover figure and the Selected Period Turnover figure which is calculated from the specified date range.


CustTO_Above_Pop
Above is used to specify an amount above which only customers who have a turnover value greater than this will be included.  You select which value you want to filter on by using the Include field.   For example if you wanted to only see customers who had spent more than £5,000 in the current year then you can select This Year in the Include combobox and enter 5000.00 into the Above field.


CustTO_Graph
Customer Turnover Graph

The Customer Turnover Graph gives a pictorial representation of the Turnover Report which is used to display your customer's turnover figures for the current month, current year and also for a selected period which you can specify.

The first graph you will see is the summary of each customer included in the Customer Turnover Report displaying the figure which is selected in the Include prompt on the report form.

You can zoom-in further to the graph by double-clicking on the customer you want to see more detail for to display a summary graph of the customer displaying the three turnover figures included in the report which are the current month, the current year and the selected period.

To zoom-out a level click with the right mouse button on any coloured bar or portion of the chart.  For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar work see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


MailingLabels
Address Labels

The Labels option is a flexible way of printing mailing labels.  By supporting over 50 of the most popular standard Avery label formats you can be confident that the label types you have will be supported.

In the rare cases where the label formats you use are not included in this facility you can use the Reports Designer which supports dozens more formats.

To use this option select Reports from the system main menu, then select either Customer or Supplier depending on who you want to print labels for and from the submenu select Labels.

There are various prompts as you can see from the screen shot above to specify which customer you want to specify address labels for and the format of the labels.  Click on the field headers below for an explanation of the field.

Start Customer

Finish Customer

Label Type

Label Layout


MailLabels_LabType_Pop
Label Type is a radio button choice for you to select the type of labels you are going to use.  Dependent on the label type you specify here will decide which label formats will be available in the Label Layout combobox list.  The Avery Standard option will give you the main standard address labels which Avery provide.  The A4 option contains the label formats used to support the Avery labels based on the A4 paper size.  The Continuous option contains the label format normally used for printing on dot matrix printers.


MailLabels_LabLayout_Pop
Label Layout is a combobox used to specify the exact label type you want to use.  The options available in the combobox list are dependant on the selection you made in the Label Type radio button.

The options listed are the Avery label type code which will have come with the labels you have purchased.


ManualTrans
Manual Transactions

The Manual Transactions option is used to enter invoices and credit notes directly into the system.  You can distribute each invoice or credit note across an unlimited number of financial accounts and across various VAT codes and rates.

This form cannot be used to invoice stock items or to enter detailed product information nor can it be used to enter quantities or produce transaction documents.  It is used as a manual and internal way to update your accounts with transactions.  If you do not want to use EB to produce documents and maintain stock items or if you want to update the system, for example, from written receipts then this option provides the method to do this.

If you want to enter customer invoices and credit notes to produce documents, enter products and quantities or enter service details then you must use the Invoice option.

As with most input forms in the system you have a series of buttons on the Options bar at the top of the form which can be used to carry out various tasks on the entry form.  Click on the required button below for more information.

The fields in the top half of the form represents overall details for the transactions you are entering.  Click on the field prompts below for help on each field.

Customer/Supplier Ref

Transaction Type

Reference

Details

Date

Pay Now

Bank Ref.

Payment Terms

The data entry grid at the bottom of the form is used to enter the distribution of the transaction across different financial accounts.  If for example you are selling or purchasing a product and need to also add a charge for installation then you may want to allocate these different charges across different accounts in your financial ledger.  You may also need to allocate the sale or purchase across different VAT rates if you are, for example, selling a combination of standard rated and zero rated items on the transaction.

As you enter the transaction splits the totals of the transaction will be displayed at the bottom of the data entry grid.

Click on the column header below for help on how to use each column.

Account

Comments

Net

VC

VAT

When you are entering more than one line "split" on a transaction it may be necessary for you to duplicate some of the information for example in the Comments column.  You can do this automatically by pressing the [F8] key when the required column is highlighted.


ManTrans_Save_Pop
Save button is used to save the transaction details you have entered.  This will automatically post the transaction across all the distributed accounts to update the financial module and update the relevant customer's balances.


ManTrans_Abandon_Pop
Abandon button is used if you don't want to save the entered transaction and you want to clear the window ready for a new transaction.


Trans_VATRev_Pop
VAT Reverse is used when you want to calculate the VAT amount on the transaction inclusive of VAT.  For example you are recording a sale for £200 gross.  You would enter 200.00 into the Net field and then click on this button (or press [ALT + V]) to calculate the net and the VAT amounts with 200.00 as the total.  This button is not a toggle between reversing and undoing the reverse, it will always reverse based upon the net value.  This button will always work on the current "split" line which is highlighted.  The calculation is always based upon the VAT Code which has been specified on the "split" line and represents the predefined VAT rates.


ManTrans_Remove_Pop
Remove button is used to remove the currently highlighted line on the "splits" data entry grid.


ManTrans_Close_Pop
Close button is used to abandon any transaction currently entered and close the window.


Trans_CustRef_Pop
Customer/Supplier Ref. is used to specify which customer/supplier you want to enter the transaction for.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.   When selected the relevant customer/supplier name will be displayed.


ManTrans_TransType_Pop
Transaction Type is a radiobutton control used to select if you want to enter an invoice or a credit note.  You should click on the option you require or press [TAB] to move to the option you want and press [SPACE] to select.


Trans_Ref_Pop
Reference is used to key in a 10 character reference for the transaction.  This can be anything you feel appropriate in order to identify the transaction, for example a receipt number etc.


Trans_Details_Pop
Details is used to key in a brief description of upto 30 characters about the transaction.


Trans_Date_Pop
Date is used to enter the date of the transaction.  This will initially default to the system date you entered when you first logged in.  You can use the Calendar button to select a date.  Please Note : If you enter a date which is outside of the currently opened financial periods you will not be able to use that date on the transaction.  See Open New Financial Period for details.


ManTranns_PayNow_Pop
Pay Now is a checkbox used to specify if you want to pay the invoice off in full now if, for example, you received payment with the invoice immediately.  This saves you having to later record a separate transaction.  Tick this if you want to pay the transaction immediately.


ManTrans_BankRef_Pop
Bank Ref. is used if you have ticked the Pay Now checkbox.  You are given a combobox which enables you to select which bank or cash account you want to pay the money against.  Click on the combobox arrow button to pulldown the list or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard and select the bank or cash account you want to use.


ManTrans_PayTerms_Pop
Payment Terms is used to enter the number of days from the transaction date on which this transaction will become due for payment.  This will default to the customer's standard terms but can amended for each transaction.


Trans_Account_Pop
Account is used to enter the required financial account reference to use on this transaction line "split".  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the financial account you want.


Trans_Comments_Pop
Comments is used to enter a brief comment on the current transaction "split" of upto 30 characters.  You can press the [F8] key to duplicate the Comments field from the previous line.


Trans_Net_Pop
Net is used for you to enter the net value of the current transaction "split".  This is the figure before the VAT is added.  If you intend to calculate the VAT inclusive of the gross value then enter the gross value into this field rather than the net.  You can use the VAT Reverse option to then calculate the net and VAT values.


Trans_VC_Pop
VC is used to specify the VAT Code which represents the rate required to calculate the VAT value.   You can enter the VAT Code for the rate you require and the VAT values will be calculated accordingly.

The VAT rates are defined through the System Setup window.


Trans_VAT_Pop
VAT is used to enter the VAT value on the current transaction line "split".  The value is normally calculated automatically however on occasions when your paperwork ie supplier invoices may not match the automated calculation you can manually adjust the VAT value on the line using this field.


Payments

The Payments option is used to record payments received from your customer or paid to your suppliers.  Empire Builder is run on an "open-item" basis therefore payments (and credit notes) are allocated against outstanding invoices.

The Payments window enables you to enter payment amounts and to allocate payments and credit notes against invoices.  There are many facilities available to cater for every aspect of making and allocating payments.

You must enter the following fields to enter details about the payment.  Click on each of the following field prompts for help on the fields.

Bank/Cash Ref.

Customer/Supplier Ref.

Payment Date

Payment Ref.

Payment Amount

The following fields are for display purposes only to give you details on the progress of the payment.  Click on them for a full description.

Payment Balance

Discount

When the above details are entered you can now proceed to allocate the payment against outstanding invoices.  The buttons on the Options Bar will help you with allocating your payments.  Click on the buttons below for help on each of the buttons on the Options Bar.

The Total column in the transaction data grid displays the total value of each transaction.

The Payment column in the transaction data grid displays the actual amount which has been allocated to each transaction on this payment.

The Balance column displays the amount which is still left outstanding on the transaction after the current payment has been allocated.  Therefore the Total column minus the Payment column will give you the Balance value for each transaction.

You can enter the amount you want to allocate against the currently highlighted transaction by entering the amount into the Payment column or use the facilities on the Options bar as explained above.

If you want the system to automatically allocate the payment against outstanding invoices then use the Auto button on the Options bar.

To move to the relevant transactions click on the correct transaction.  If it is not immediately displayed then you can use the vertical scrollbars to drag the transaction list or press the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to move to the required transaction.  The currently selected transaction is indicated by the black arrow displayed on the far left of the data grid.

Transactions which are highlighted in red are On Query and cannot be paid.  Transactions which are highlighted in green have a Discount allocation.

You can also use the pop-up menu to select the options on the Options bar.  Right-click on the relevant transaction to invoke the pop-up menu.  You can also Change The Data Grid Colours from the pop-up menu.


Payments_BankCash_Pop
Bank/Cash Ref. is used to specify which bank or cash account you want to record the payment against.  For example if a customer has paid you by cheque you will need to select which bank account you want to pay it into.  You can click on the combobox arrow button to pull-down a list of available options or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard.  You can then select the required account.


Payment_CustRef_Pop
Customer/Supplier Ref. is used to specify which customer/supplier you want to enter the payment for.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer/supplier you want.  When selected the relevant customer's/supplier's name and balance details will be displayed.


Payment_Amount_Pop
Payment Amount is used to specify the amount being paid.  If you are not entering a payment but are allocating payments and/or credit notes against invoices then leave this field as zero.  If, at time during entering the payment, you make a change to the payment amount all allocations made will be cancelled (similar to using Undo All).


Payment_PayBal_Pop
Payment Balance displays the payment amount which is still available to be allocated against outstanding invoices.  If you are allocating a payment or a credit note then this amount will be increased, giving you more money to allocate against invoices.  If you are allocating an invoice then this balance figure will decrease.


Payment_Disc_Pop
Discount displays the amount which is being used as a discount on the payment.  There are facilities in the Payments window to allocate a discounted amount against invoices if, for example, you wish to record settlement discounts etc.


Payment_Save_Pop
Save will save all the payment details you have entered.  It will record the allocations against all the selected transactions and also record the link between allocations, enabling you to later see which invoices were allocated against which payments/credit notes.  It will also distribute the payment across all the relevant financial accounts.


Payment_Abandon_Pop
Abandon is used if you wish to cancel the payment details and refresh the window for a new payment entry.


Payment_Full_Pop
Full is used to fully pay the currently highlighted transaction in the transaction list.  If there is enough money to fully pay the transaction it will fully allocate the outstanding value.  If there is not enough money then it will allocate the remaining Payment Balance to part pay the transaction.


Payment_Undo_Pop
Undo is used to cancel any allocation which has been made against the currently highlighted transaction.


Payment_Auto_Pop
Auto is used to automatically allocate the payment amount against the outstanding invoices starting at the first invoice in the list.  This will run through the invoice transactions until either all the invoices have been allocated or all the money has been allocated.  This facility ignores any non-invoice transactions and any invoices which have been placed on query (displayed in red).


Payment_UndoAll_Pop
Undo All is used to cancel all allocations made on the payment.  This includes any allocations for payment and credit notes and any discounts entered.  This is useful if you want to start allocating a transaction from scratch.


Payment_Discount
Discounts

The Discounts dialog window is used to allocate a discount value, along with a payment against an outstanding invoice.  This is useful if, for example, you are paying £200 off an invoice and allocating £10 discount for early settlement.  You do not necessarily need to fully pay an invoice to allocate a discount.

The window displays the payment balance you have remaining on the payment and the outstanding amount on the selected invoice.  You can first of all enter the payment amount which you are actually paying on this invoice.  The discount value will then default to the remaining value of the invoice which you can confirm or enter a different value.

Click on OK to confirm the discount allocation or select Cancel to abort.  When you select to confirm the allocation the system will highlight the transaction in green to indicate it has a discount allocation.


Refunds

The Refunds window is used to record refund transactions enabling you to record cash out of your Customer module and record cash into your Supplier module.  You can refund paid invoices and unallocated payments and credit notes.

The Refunds window enables you to enter an amount and to select the paid invoices, payments and credit notes to refund.   For example you may wish to refund a customer part or all of an invoice they have previously paid or if you have overpaid a supplier then you can record a refund for the part of a payment which has been repaid.  There are many facilities available to cater for every aspect of making and allocating refunds.

Entering a Refund is very similar to entering a Payment except you cannot enter an unallocated refund.  The amount you enter must be fully allocated against the relevant transactions.

You must enter the following fields to enter details about the refund.  Click on each of the following field prompts for help on the fields.

Bank/Cash Ref.

Customer/Supplier Ref.

Refund Date

Refund Ref.

Refund Amount

The Refund Balance value is used to display the amount which is still to be allocated against transactions.  This is reduced with each transaction you allocate.

When the above details are entered you can now proceed to allocate the refund against the relevant transactions.  The buttons on the Options Bar will help you with allocating your refunds.  Click on the buttons below for help on each of the buttons on the Options Bar.

The Total Paid column in the transaction data grid displays the total value of each transaction which is available to be refunded.  In the case of payments and credit notes this will be amount which has not been previously allocated against invoices.

The Refund column in the transaction data grid displays the actual amount which has been allocated to each transaction on this refund.

The Balance column displays the amount which is still left outstanding on the transaction after the current refund has been allocated.  Therefore the Total Paid column minus the Refund column will give you the Balance value for each transaction.

You can enter the amount you want to allocate against the currently highlighted transaction by entering the amount into the Refund column or use the facilities on the Options bar as explained above.

If you want the system to automatically allocate the refund against outstanding transactions, starting at the first and working through to the last, then use the Auto button on the Options bar.

To move to the relevant transactions click on the correct transaction.  If it is not immediately displayed then you can use the vertical scrollbars to drag the transaction list or press the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to move to the required transaction.  The currently selected transaction is indicated by the black arrow displayed on the far left of the data grid.

Transactions which are highlighted in red are On Query although they can be refunded.

You can also use the pop-up menu to select the options on the Options bar.  Right-click on the relevant transaction to invoke the pop-up menu.  You can also Change The Data Grid Colours from the pop-up menu.


Refund_BankCash_Pop
Bank/Cash Ref. is used to specify which bank or cash account you want to record the refund against.  For example if you are refunding a customer by cheque you will need to select which bank account you want to pay out of.  You can click on the combobox arrow button to pull-down a list of available options or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard.  You can then select the required account.


Refund_CustRef_Pop
Customer/Supplier Ref. is used to specify which customer/supplier you want to enter the refund for.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  When selected the relevant customer's/supplier's name and balance details will be displayed.


Refund_Amount_Pop
Refund Amount is used to specify the amount being refunded.  If, at time during entering the refund, you make a change to the refund amount all allocations made will be cancelled (similar to using).


Refund_Save_Pop
Save will save all the refund details you have entered.  It will record the allocations against all the selected transactions and also record the link between allocations, enabling you to later see which

refunds were recorded against which invoices and payments.  Where previously paid invoices are refunded the system will record a credit note for the refunded amount and then record a refund which is allocated to the credit note.  It will also distribute the refund and other transactions necessary across all the relevant financial accounts.


Refund_Abandon_Pop
Abandon is used if you wish to cancel the refund details and refresh the window for a new refund entry.


Refund_Full_Pop
Full is used to fully refund the currently highlighted transaction in the transaction list.  If there is enough money to fully refund the transaction it will fully allocate the outstanding value.  If there is not enough money then it will allocate the remaining Refund Balance to part refund the transaction.


Refund_Undo_Pop
Undo is used to cancel any allocation which has been made against the currently highlighted transaction.


Refund_Auto_Pop
Auto is used to automatically allocate the refund amount against the available transactions starting at the first one in the list.  This will run through the transactions until the refund amount has been fully allocated.


Refund_UndoAll_Pop
Undo All is used to cancel all allocations made on the refund.  This is useful if you want to start allocating a transaction from scratch.


OpenBals_CustSupp
Customer/Supplier Opening Balances

When you start using an accounts system you obviously have to enter the starting balances for your customers and suppliers.  The Opening Balance option is used to quickly enter these to the system.

To invoke this facility click on the Transacs button on the Customer/Supplier form and select Opening Balance from the menu.  Alternatively right-click on the required customer/supplier in the relevant module window and select Opening Balances from the pop-up menu.

The details for inputting an opening balance are entered for you and you simply have to enter the amount of the opening balance for the selected customer/supplier.

Today's date will be defaulted to the system date, the Reference will default to O/Bal and the Details field will default to Opening Balance.

In the Amount field you can enter the total balance of the customer/supplier to start processing future transactions.  If the customer/supplier has a credit balance then you must enter a minus value ie -100.00.

Click on OK to save the opening balance or Cancel to cancel the entry.

The system will use the Suspense Control account to post the entry to the financial module (see System Setup for defining financial control accounts)

If you want to enter a history of each customer and supplier to record outstanding invoices etc. then you should not use this option but instead use the Manual Transactions option to record each transaction individually.  This option is used to lump the total balance for each customer and supplier together and input it as a starting point.

If you want to record opening balances for your financial accounts see Financial Opening Balances.

See Opening Balances for details of the recommended process in starting using the system.


OpenBals_Fin
Financial Opening Balances

The Opening Balance option is used to quickly enter opening balance transactions for your financial accounts.  When you start using an accounts system you obviously have to enter the balances for your financial accounts at the point of starting.

The details for inputting an opening balance are entered for you and you simply have to enter the amount of the opening balance for the selected account.

You are first of all asked for a date which will default will be the system date. The Reference will default to O/Bal and the Details field will default to Opening Balance.

You are then asked to enter an amount into either the Debit or the Credit fields.  You cannot enter values into both.  If you enter a value into the debit field and then enter a value into the Credit field the system will set the Debit field to zero.

Click on OK to save the opening balance or Cancel to cancel the entry.

The system will use the Suspense Control account to post the opposite entry to (see System Setup for defining financial control accounts).

You can also use the Journals option to record opening balances if you want to enter all together in a batch.

If you want to record opening balances for your customers and suppliers see Customer/Supplier Opening Balances.

See Opening Balances for details of the recommended process in starting using the system.


Opening_Balances
Opening Balances

When you start using a computer accounts system such as Empire Builder you obviously need to record the opening financial details of your company into the system.  These details are often referred to as opening balances.

At the starting point you should have list of all your customers who owe you money (or vice versa) and a list of your supplier whom you owe money to.  Alongside this list you should have their balances available.

You can now enter the details of each customer into the Customer module (see Customer Details).  When you have done this you can enter the amount each customer owes you using the Opening Balance facility.  You can now do the same for your suppliers in the Supplier module.

When you have done this you must now zeroise all the financial account balances which have been updated by the entries made from the above opening balances for customers and suppliers.  To do this you will need to produce a Trial Balance report giving you balances of the updated accounts.

Now use the Financials Module window to select each account on the trial balance and use the Financials Opening Balance facility to record opposite entries ie if the account has a Debit balance in the trial balance then enter the same amount into the Credit field and if the account has a Credit balance then enter the same amount into the Debit field.  This will zeroise all the balances.

You now must key in your opening trial balance for the Financials module.  First of all prepare a manual trial balance to enter onto your computer or have your accountant prepare one for you.  Once again you will use the Financials Module window to select each account and then use the Financials Opening Balance to record the opening balances for.

Once you have entered your opening trial balance details you are now ready to use the software on a day-to-day basis.


SuppDetails
Supplier Details

The Supplier Details window is used to enter, edit, view and delete supplier information.

If you selected to add a new supplier to the system you will first of all be asked for a new Supplier Reference.  The Reference is the main way of accessing supplier information and must be unique for all suppliers added to the system.

If you selected to edit an existing supplier, the details of the currently selected supplier will be displayed in the form for you to edit.  Entering a different supplier reference will not change the reference of the selected supplier.  Instead it is used to search for a different supplier.  You can use the Search facility to locate a different supplier.

If you are entering a batch of new suppliers then you can use the New button on the Options Bar at the top of the Supplier Details Form after entering each one.

The three tab pages which make up the Supplier Details form are used to display different information.  Whichever tab page is selected the details displayed on the left hand side of the form are always visible, it is only the details on the right hand side which change.

The Details tab page is the default page which contains important information which you can enter.  The Balance tab page displays supplier balances and other information which is for display purposes only.  The Notepad tab page is used for a large, free-text and unlimited notepad to enter various details regarding each supplier.

The Options bar at the top of the window provide various options for processing supplier details.  Click on the required button below for help on each option.

Click on the field header below to find out more information about each field.

Name & Address

Telephone & Fax Numbers

Email Address

Contact Name

Details	Balance

Credit Limit	Balance

Terms	Current

Settlement Days	30 Days

Settlement Discount	60 Days

On Stop	90 Days

Account	Older

Discount	Current Month Turnover

Use This Financial Account ....	Current Year Turnover

VAT ID                                               Last Payment Date

VAT Code	Last Purchase Date

EC Country	Amount Paid

Use This VAT Code ...	Amount Due For Payment

Total Amount On Query


SuppDtl_NameAddr_Pop
Supplier's Name & Address is used for you to enter the supplier's basic information for use later in printing orders, remittance advice notes and in enquiries.


SuppDtl_Email_Pop
Supplier's Email Address is used to store the supplier's email address which can be used when you use the Email facilities available in Empire Builder.


SuppDtl_Contact_Pop
Supplier's Contact Name stores the name of your primary contact within your supplier's organisation.  If you have more than one contact then you should use the supplier's free-text notepad to store other names.


SuppDtl_CreditLmt_Pop
Credit Limit is used if you want to assign credit limits for your suppliers.  In various parts of the system and in different reports and enquiries you can use this to list suppliers with whom your balance has exceeded your credit limits to ensure you keep within your supplier's limits.


SuppDtl_Terms_Pop
Terms is used for you to enter the typical number of days your supplier allows before a transaction becomes due for payment.  These payment terms allow you to track outstanding and due invoices.  You can also give each individual transaction different payment terms later for greater flexibility.


SuppDtl_SettDays_Pop
Settlement Days are used to enter the number of days in which you can settle (pay) in full each invoice in order to receive the Settlement Discount entered.


SuppDtl_SettDisc_Pop
Settlement Discount is used to enter the discount percentage your supplier will award you if you settle (pay) in full any invoices within the number of Settlement Days.


SuppDtl_OnStop_Pop
On Stop is a checkbox for you to specify if your supplier has placed your account on credit stop. Check the box if you are on stop with your supplier.


SuppDtl_Account_Pop
Account is used to specify an account in your Financial module which is to be used mainly when entering transactions for this supplier.  This is not a compulsory entry, however it can be used in conjunction with the Use This Financial Account In All Transactions checkbox to force the system to use this account all the times when dealing with this supplier.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the account you want.


SuppDtl_Disc_Pop
Discount is used to specify a standard discount percentage used in the Purchase Order module as a default discount percentage on each transaction raised for this supplier.


SuppDtl_UseAcc_Pop
Use This Financial Account In All Transactions is a checkbox used to force the system to use the financial Account specified in all transactions for this supplier.  If this is checked it will overwrite, for example, the financial accounts on stock items when raising purchase orders.


SuppDtl_VATID_Pop
VAT ID is used to enter the VAT registration number or identity, particularly important when dealing with suppliers from EC member states.


SuppDtl_VATCode_Pop
VAT Code Key in the VAT code which will be used as a default when entering transactions for this supplier.  You can  force the system to use this code on all transactions overwriting any VAT codes on individual stock items by using the Use This VAT Code In ALL Transactions checkbox.


SuppDtl_UseVC_Pop
Use This VAT Code In ALL Transactions is a checkbox used to force the system to use the VAT Code specified in all transactions for this supplier.  If this is checked it will overwrite, for example, the individual VAT codes on stock items when raising orders.


SuppDtl_ECCountry_Pop
EC Country is used to specify which EC country this supplier operates from.  You can click on the combobox arrow for a list or press [Alt + DownArrow] on the keyboard .  You can then select the relevant country for the supplier.  If the supplier does not operate from an EC member state you can leave this blank.  To add more countries to the EC Country list then use the EC Country Codes option on the Records menu from the main menu.


SuppDtl_Balance_Pop
Balance displays the total amount the supplier owes you from all the transactions entered.


SuppDtl_Current_Pop
Current displays the total you owe the supplier for the current month, before it is 30 days old and becomes effectively due for payment.


SuppDtl_30Days_Pop
30 Days displays the amount which you owe the supplier which has aged more than 30 days.


SuppDtl_60Days_Pop
60 Days displays the amount you owe the supplier which has aged more than 60 days.


SuppDtl_90Days_Pop
90 Days displays the amount you owe the supplier which has aged more than 90 days.


SuppDtl_Older_Pop
Older displays the total you owe the supplier which has aged more than 120 days.


SuppDtl_MthTO_Pop
Current Month Turnover displays your turnover with the supplier for the current month.


SuppDtl_YrTO_Pop
Current Year Turnover displays your turnover with the supplier for the current year.


SuppDtl_LastPayDate_Pop
Last Payment Date displays the date on which the last payment was recorded.


SuppDtl_LastPurcDate_Pop
Last Purchase Date displays the date on which a purchase was last recorded for the supplier.


SuppDtl_AmtPaid_Pop
Amount Paid is used to display the total amount which you have paid this supplier.


SuppDtl_AmPayDue_Pop
Amount Due For Payment displays the amount which is actually now due for payment to the supplier by calculating the payment terms on the outstanding transactions.


CustDtl_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the customer details you have entered.  If this is a new customer you will be prompted as to whether you want to add the customer to the Address Book.  The Address Book is used primarily as an Email tool which can be used for selecting required recipients of emails sent within the system.


SuppDtl_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the supplier details you have entered.  If this is a new supplier you will be prompted as to whether you want to add the supplier to the Address Book.  The Address Book is used primarily as an Email tool which can be used for selecting required recipients of emails sent within the system.


CustDtl_Abandon_Pop
Abandon can be used if you want to discard the details you have entered.


CustDtl_New_Pop
New is used to tell the system that you want to create a new customer/supplier.  If you select this the system will give you empty fields to enter the new details into.


CustDtl_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to delete this customer/supplier.  You will be asked to confirm the deletion first.


CustDtl_Prev_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous customer/supplier on the system.  The move order is based upon the customer/supplier reference.


CustDtl_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next customer/supplier on the system.  The move order is based upon the customer/supplier reference.


CustDtl_EmailBtn_Pop
Email is used to send an email, via Empire Builder's email facilities, to the selected customer/supplier (or indeed anyone in your Address Book).  See Email for further information.


SuppTrans
Supplier Transactions

When you click on the Transacs button in the Supplier module you will see a menu of the available transactions which you can enter into the system.

Click on the option below for help on the required transaction.

Invoice

Credit Note

Payments

Purchase Order

Refunds

Opening Balances


SuppRAN
Supplier Remittance Advice Notes

The Supplier Remittance Advice Notes dialog is used for you to set up the range of suppliers and their transactions that you want to print advice notes for.

The actual print layout of advice notes, and indeed any document produced by the system, can be designed to your own requirements using the Document Designer.

For an explanation of each field available to specify the range of statements to print click on the relevant field header below.

Start Supplier Reference

Finish Customer Reference

Start Transaction Date

Finish Transaction Date

Ignore Zero Balances

Include All Transactions

Include Outstanding Transactions Only

Document Layout

When you have specified your range of remittance advice notes you have a number of options available.

Click on Print to directly print the advice notes

Click on Preview if you want to view the printed output on screen before printing.

Click on Email to store the output in a .SRW format file which will be attached along with the Reports Viewer software so the recipient can view and print their own remittance advice note.


SuppRef_StartSupp_Pop
Start Supplier is used to key in the supplier reference at which the report/enquiry should start at.  The system will default the first supplier's reference.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  See Search facilities in the main help.


SuppRep_FinSupp_Pop
Finish Supplier is used to key in the supplier reference at which the report/enquiry should finish at.  The system will default to the last supplier's reference.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  See Search facilities in the main help.


SuppRAN_DocLayout_Pop
Document Layout is used to specify which document layout you want to use to print this batch of supplier remittance advice notes.  Click on the combobox arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pull-down a list of available document layouts.  You can have an unlimited number of different layouts.  See the Document Designer utility for details on how to layout your own remittance advice designs.


FinAccDtl
Financial Account Details

The Financial Account Details window is used to enter, edit, view and delete account information.

If you selected to add a new account to the system you will first of all be asked for a new account reference.  The reference is the main way of accessing account information and must be unique for every account added to the system.

If you selected to edit an existing account, the details of the currently selected account will be displayed in the form for you to edit.  Entering a different account reference will not change the reference of the selected account.  Instead it is used to search for a different account.  You can use the Search facility to locate a different account.

If you are entering a batch of new accounts then you can use the New button on the Options Bar at the top of the window after entering each one.

The four tab pages which make up the Account Details window are used to display different information.  Whichever tab page is selected the details displayed on the left hand side of the form are always visible, it is only the details on the right hand side which change.

The first tabpage displays the current year's budgets and balances, the second displays last year's budgets and balances and the third displays the previous year's budgets and balances.  The final tabpage is used as a free-text notepad for each account.

The Options bar at the top of the window provide various options for processing customer details.  Click on the required button below for help on each option.

The following fields are available for entering details about financial accounts.  Click on the relevant field prompt for more information.

Name

Type

Asset/Liability

Balance

Budgets (Monthly)

Balances (Monthly)


FinDtl_New_Pop
New is used to tell the system that you want to create a new financial account.  If you select this the system will give you empty fields to enter the new details into.


FinDtl_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the account details you have entered.  If you have created a new account you must also make sure you add to your Financial Report Setup if you want it's details to be included in the profit & loss and balance sheet reports.


FinDtl_Abandon_Pop
Abandon can be used if you want to discard the details you have entered.


FinDtl_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to delete this account.  You will be asked to confirm the deletion first.


FinDtl_Prev_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous account on the system.  The move order is based upon the account reference.


FinDtl_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next account on the system.  The move order is based upon the account reference.


FinDtl_Name_Pop
Name is used to enter a brief description of the account.  For example if you wanted an account to track sales of a type of product or service then enter the details of this etc.


FinDtl_Type_Pop
Type is a combobox used to specify the type of account you are entering.  It is important that you enter the correct type as it will effect the type of processing carried out on this account and cannot be changed later once you start processing transactions.  Selecting a type of account is straightforward.  If you are creating an account which deals with recording sales information then select Sales.  If you are creating an account which deals with recording bills such as electricity, road tax, insurance etc. then you would select Overhead.  Click on the combobox down arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard for a dropdown list of available types.


FinDtl_AssLiab_Pop
Asset/Liability is used if the Account Type you have specified is either Current Asset or Liability.  It is a checkbox which is used to tell the system if the account is to be treated as either a current asset or a liability depending on it's balance.  For example your bank accounts can be a current asset if you have money in the bank but can be a liability if you have an overdraft.  This tells the system when producing your financial reports to include the account in the right section depending on it's balance.

Tick the checkbox if this is the type of account that will use this facility.   For this to work correctly you must also include the account in both the Current Assets and Liabilities sections in the Financial Report Setup.


FinDtl_Balance_Pop
Balance is used to display the current balance of the account.  This is the figure used when you select to print Current Balances in reports such as the Trial Balance.


FinDtl_BudPer_Pop
Budgets (Period) enables you to store budgeted figures for each of the 36 different periods held by the system.  This is an extremely useful feature when producing the Budget Variance report enabling you to see details of budget vs actuals to analyse your businesses performance.  For example if you have an account which records sales then you would budget to turnover, for example, £7000 per month or you may enter different values into different months to cater for seasonal fluctuations or to coincide with a promotion.  In the first period's budget field you can enter an amount for the entire year and press [F8] (before pressing [RETURN] or [TAB]) and the system will divide this by the 12 months and enter the divided value into each month's budgets automatically.


FinDtl_BalPer_Pop
Balances (Period) are used to display the account's period balances for each of the 36 months held by the system.  You can compare quickly on-screen balances vs budgets between periods.


Journal Entries

Journal Entries are used to make direct entries into your Financial module.  The Empire Builder Financial module insists on double-entry processing to balance your books and this option is the only one the system where knowledge of double-entry bookeeping is required.

The use of direct journal entry processing is kept to a minimum by using other options such as bank and cash payments and transfers, recurring entries and prepayments and accruals which automate the double entry processing for you.  However there will always be circumstances where you will need to manually post to your Financial module for example processing opening and closing stock.

The buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window give you various options to use when processing your journals.

The fields in the top half of the form represents overall details for the transactions you are entering.  Click on the field prompts below for help on each field.

Date

Reference

The data entry grid at the bottom of the form is used to enter the individual entries to the required accounts.  In each line you can enter a value into either the Debit or the Credit column, not into both.  If you enter a value into both then one will be automatically be zeroised.

As you make the entries into the data grid the totals of both the Debit and Credit columns will be updated and displayed at the bottom of grid.  In order to save the entry both values MUST be equal.  This is to ensure that the system always balances in keeping with a true double-entry accounting system.

Click on the column header below for help on how to use each column.

Account

Comments

VC

Debit

Credit

It may be sometimes necessary for you to duplicate some of the information from line to line for example in the Comments column.  You can do this automatically by pressing the [F8] key when the required column is highlighted.  This will duplicate the value in the current column of the previous line into the current column of the highlighted line.


JnlEnt_VC_Pop
VC is used to enter the VAT code for the journal line.  Journal entries rarely have anything to VAT and therefore in most circumstances you can accept the default, the No VAT Rate (see System Setup).  However in circumstances where you need to post journals to the VAT control account then you need to enter the relevant VAT code in order to include it in your VAT Return.  Any journals entered with the No VAT Rate code will be ignored on your VAT return.


JnlEnt_Debit_Pop
Debit is used to key in value you want to debit the financial account specified in the Account column.  Leave this column as zero if you want to enter a Credit value to the account.


JnlEnt_Credit_Pop
Credit is used to key in the value you want to credit the financial account specified in the Account column.  Leave this column as zero if you want to enter a Credit value to the account.  If you enter a value in both the Debit and Credit columns the Debit column will be zeroised.


JnlEnt_Save_Pop
Save is used the save and post the journal details you have entered to the Financial module.  This button will only be available if the totals for both the Debit and Credit columns are equal to ensure the entries balance.


JnlEnt_Remove_Pop
Remove button is used to remove the currently highlighted line on the journal data entry grid.


CustomiseToolBar
Customising The Toolbar

The toolbar, which is displayed underneath the menu near the top of the main Empire Builder window, provides a lot of default options which give you quick and easy access to many of the facilities in the system, without the need to select an option from the menus or by using the module options from the listbar.  You can select options which are on the toolbar at any time.

As you become more proficient in your use of the system you may like to use the toolbar more and more to quickly get around the system and select your commonly used options.  Ofcourse there are more options in the system than will actually fit on the toolbar.

By enabling you to customise the toolbar you can place the options you most commonly use on it.  It can be as sparse or as busy as you like.  If you have more than one person who will use the system regularly then the toolbar is configured for each user, therefore someone else who may tend to do different activities in the system can have their most commonly used tasks on the toolbar separately from anybody else.

To customise the toolbar select Utilities from the main menu and then Customise the Toolbar.  You can also right-click on the toolbar at any time.

On the left hand side of the Customise window you will see a list of categories.  To the right of this is a list of available buttons.  The available buttons change according to the category you select.  So if you select the Invoicing category (as above) then you will get all the available buttons for the Invoicing module etc.

Removing Buttons From The Toolbar

If you want to remove buttons from the toolbar you can click on the button you want to remove and simply drag it off the toolbar and release the mouse button to discard it.

Adding Buttons To The Toolbar

To add buttons to the toolbar select the category you want and then select the button you want to add.

You may need to scroll down the available buttons list to get to the required button.  Click on the actual icon of the button and drag it onto the position on the toolbar you want and drop it there by releasing the mouse button.  Simple as that!  If you try to add a button which is already on the toolbar you will see a circle with a line through it, instead of the button, when you drag it and you will not be able to drop it onto the toolbar.

If you want to move buttons around on the toolbar you can simply click on the one you want and drag and drop it on the new position.  You cannot do this at any time in the system, you must be in the Customise Toolbar facility to do this.

The buttons on the toolbar, like all other options in the system, are available to each user subject to their access rights (see User Setup) and if a module has been switched off or not (see Toggle Modules).


Address Book

The Address Book is used as a simple way to maintain a list of contacts to be used mainly in connection with the email facilities in Empire Builder.  When you want to send an Email in the system you can pull up a list of email addresses from the Address Book to select from.  It can also act as a very simple contact manager.

When you select the Address Book you will be shown a rudimentary entry screen consisting of the contact's name, address and telephone numbers.  There are also prompts for email address and for URL Address which is basically the contact's website.    On the right hand side of the window is a free-text notepad for you to type any additional information into.

The Reference field is used as a unique identifier for the contact and if you select to enter a new contact by clicking on the New button on the Options bar.  If you want to bring up a different contact then you can use the Reference field to locate it or use the Search facilities.

Click on the buttons below for details of how to use each option.

Click on the Close button to finish with the address book.


Email

The Email facilities in Empire Builder can be used to email reports, documents such as customer invoices and statements, other types of files and simple messages.  Used in conjunction with the Address Book facilities you can pull the required email address from your contacts list.

Whenever you email a report or a document the system will automatically attach two files to the email.  The first is the actual report file containing the information (given the extension .SHZ) and also the Report Viewer program.  The Report Viewer is a freely distributable piece of software which must be used by the recipient of the email to view and print the report or document file.   All file attachments are displayed in the bottom panel of the window.

There are several buttons on the Options bar at the top of the email dialog.  Click on the buttons below for help on each option.

There are several prompts in the upper panel of the email window for to specify essential elements to sending an email message.  Click on the field prompts below for help on each one.

To :

Cc :

Subject

In the middle panel of the email window you can enter the email message text you want to send.  This is a free-text notepad and there is no limit to the length of the message.

Please Note :  The email facilities provided with Empire Builder are wrappers around the underlying email configuration of your Windows operating system.  EB provides front-end functionality (as explained above) to call the email facilities of your system which may differ from PC to PC.  If you find that you are having problems sending emails from Empire Builder then this is caused solely by incorrect configuration of your Windows email setup and in this event you should contact your PC supplier for help in setting up the right software and configuration.


Email_Send_Pop
Send Email is used to invoke the email software which have setup in your Windows system which, provided it is setup correctly, will send the email to the selected recipient along with all selected attachments.


Email_Attach_Pop
Attach is used for you to specify a file to attach to the email which you want to send along with any message.  This will invoke the standard Windows file selection dialog window for you to find and select the required file.  Any attached files will be displayed in the bottom panel of the email window.  If you are sending a report or document the system will already have attached two files.


Email_Unattach_Pop
Unattach is used to remove any previously attached files from the email.  Attached files are displayed in the bottom panel of the email window.  To unattach you must click on the file you want to unattach and click on this button.


Email_To_Pop
To : is used to specify the email address of the recipient.  You can key this directly into the field or you can click on the [image] button to popup the list of contacts in your Address Book for easy selection.


Email_Cc_Pop
Cc : is used to specify the email address of an additional recipient to the one you specified in the To prompt.  You can key this directly into the field or you can click on the [image] button to popup the list of contacts in your Address Book for easy selection.


Email_Subject_Pop
Subject is for you to specify a headline type description of the email message which the recipient will see first when they receive the email.  If you are emailing a report or document then the system will automatically have entered a Subject for you although you can change this if required.


FinAccHist
Financial Account History

The History enquiry window is used to view and print a history of financial account's transactions.  You can set a range of dates for the enquiry and also other criteria such as listing a particular type of transaction.  It is a pivotal enquiry form within the system and it contains many more features within it to help you to enquire in as much depth as possible.

At the top of the History form you will see various prompts for you to set a range of accounts, a range of dates and also select which types of transactions to include.

Click on the relevant field headers below for more help on each field.

Start Account

Finish Account

Category

Start Date

Finish Date

Include ...

The buttons on the Options bar are particularly useful in enabling you to make indepth enquiries, to print and email the report and to move through the different account's histories.  Click on the buttons below to see a detailed explanation of what each option is used for.

If you want to jump to a particular account to view it's history then you can use the field displayed just below the Option Bar, which always displays the account that has it's history currently listed.  You can use the Search facility to find the financial account you require.

The data grid displayed just below the Account Ref. prompt is where the account's history is displayed.  As with all the data grids in the system you can move through the transactions data using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.

The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each transaction.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.

The buttons on the Options Bar are also available in a pop-up menu.  To bring up this menu up right-click on the required transaction in the data grid and select the relevant option on the menu.  There is also an option to Change The Data Grid Colours if required.


FinReps_StartAcc_Pop
Start Account is used to key in the financial account reference at which the report/enquiry should start at.  The system will default the first account's reference.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the account you want.  See Search facilities in the main help.


FinReps_FinAcc_Pop
Finish Account is used to key in the account reference at which the report/enquiry should finish at.  The system will default the last account's reference.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the account you want.  See Search facilities in the main help.


FinAccHist_Category_Pop
Category is used to specify which categories of accounts are going to be included in the history report.  For example if you select Sales then only accounts of type Sales will be printed on the report.  The window also uses this to control the Previous and Next buttons on the Options bar, so only accounts included in the selected category can be viewed on the screen.


FinAccHist_Include_Pop
Include ... is used to select which type or types of transactions you wish to include in the enquiry/report.   All other types of transaction will not be displayed or printed.  This is useful for filtering a report of, for example, customer invoices.


FinAccHist_Options
Options

The options menu gives you a list of available processing choices you have in the enquiry adding greater flexibility.

The option you select and the subsequent processing you do is relevant to the currently selected transaction in the data grid so ensure you select the correct transaction before selecting from the Options menu.

For an explanation of the choices on the menu click on the options below.

Undo Transaction


TranHist_Search
Search

The Search option in the Transaction History enquiry window is used to search for a particular transaction in the current list.

When you select this option you are given two entries to make.  Click on the field headers below for details on how to Search for the required transaction.

Search By

Search For

Click on OK to confirm the search you have made and the transaction you have found will be highlighted in the the underlying history window.

Click on Cancel to abort the search and return to the original transaction in the history window.


TransSearch_SearchBy_Pop
Search By is a combobox control used to specify the field by which you want to search for a transaction.  For example is you want to search for a transaction on a known date you can select Transaction Date and enter what you want to search for in the Search For field.  Click on the down arrow button on the control or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pull-down the list of available search fields.


TransSearch_SearchFor_Pop
Search For is used to enter the data you want to search for in the field specified in the Search By

combobox.  The system searches incrementally which means as you type your search entry the transactions in the underlying history window will move automatically to the nearest match.  The search is case sensitive depending on the data in your system therefore if you search for 'SALES INVOICE'  and the actual data is 'Sales Invoice' then your search will fail.


FinAccHist_Prev_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous account on the system (in account reference order) and to display it's history.  The Start Account setting and the specified Category dictates if the system can move to the previous account or not.


FinAccHist_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next account on the system (in account reference order) and to display it's history.  The Finish Account setting and the specified Category dictates if the system can move to the next account or not.


PrepayAccrual
Prepayments & Accruals

The prepayments/accruals window is used to record your prepayment and accrual template details onto the system ready to processing and posting to your accounts.

Prepayments and accruals can be used to account for costs and expenses which are to be spread over several monthly accounting periods but where the bill for the total amount is to be paid in advance or at the end of a number of periods.

Prepayments

A prepayment is used to record a payment for a number of months at the beginning.  A good example is rent.  Lets say you pay £1440 once, every three months (£480 per month) in advance.  However instead of processing the entire amount in one month on your accounts you want to spread it across the three months ie £480 in May, £480 in June etc. instead of one amount £1440 in May.

Accruals

An accrual is used to account for an expense over a number of specified months but where the full payment is not to be made until the last month.  As with the prepayment this ensures that each month has an amount posted to it so it appears to truly account for the period it was meant for as opposed to one lump sum in one month which may distort the financial picture of your business.

The Options bar at the top of the window provide different facilities to help you in entering and processing your prepayments/accruals.  Click on the buttons below for help on each option.

You are first of all asked to key in some header details of the prepayment/accrual entry.  Click on the field headers below for details of what they are used for.

Description                                                          Last Posted

Type                                                                      No. Postings

No. Months                                                          Next Post

You can then enter the values of the prepayments and accruals and "split" each template across as many different financial accounts as required.  You can enter these onto the data grid.  Each of the column headers used to enter the splits are explained below.

Account

Comments

Value

The total of the prepayment/accrual template will be displayed at the base of the data entry grid and is updated with each entry made.  This is the total of the prepayment/accrual template which is to be spread across the above specified No. Months.

If you want to post all your prepayment and accrual templates in one batch see Post Prepayments & Accrual which is available under the Period End menu on the File menu.

Processing

When setting up and using prepayments and accruals in the system it is important to understand how they updates your accounts.

For prepayments you will first of all record the payment through your bank either by recording a Cashbook Payment or if you are recording it through a supplier then by recording a Supplier Payment.

This will account for the payment and update the relevant financial accounts.  When you post a prepayment template to your accounts for the first time the system will post a reverse journal which will reverse the immediate effect of the payment on the specified accounts.  Then for each month the installment amounts will be posted to the relevant accounts.

Accruals are posted in exactly the same way except the reverse journal will be recorded for the last month to reverse the effect of the payment you will make for the expense at the end of the specified period.


PPAcc_Desc_Pop
Description is used to enter a brief description of the prepayment/accrual template you are entering.  This will be used to reference the template.  If you want to find a different template then click on the Search button or press [CTRL + S] to invoke the Search dialog to help you find the required Description.


PPAcc_Type_Pop
Type is used to specify if the template is a prepayment or an accrual.  Click on the combobox downarrow button to drop-down the list.


PPAcc_NoMth_Pop
No. Months is used to specify the number of months over which the prepayment/accrual is to be processed over.  The total amount of the template will be divided by this to give monthly values.  The system is careful to avoid rounding conflicts when calculating monthly values.  For example if you want to process £100 over 3 months then the system makes sure that you have 2 months at £33.33 and the third month at £33.34.


PPAcc_LastPost_Pop
Last Posted is a display only field which displays the date on which the prepayment/accrual template was last processed and posted to your accounts.  If this is blank then no previous postings have been made.


PPAcc_NoPost_Pop
No. Postings displays the total number of postings which have previously been processed from the prepayment/accrual template.


PPAcc_NextPost_Pop
Next Post displays the value which is to be posted when the prepayment/accrual template is next processed.  The system is careful to avoid rounding conflicts when calculating monthly values.  For example if you want to process £100 over 3 months then the system makes sure that you have 2 months at £33.33 and the third month at £33.34.


PPAcc_Account_Pop
Account is used to specify the reference of the financial account you want to record the split to when processing the prepayment/accrual split.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the account you want.


PPAcc_Comments_Pop
Comments is used to enter a description of the "split" of upto 30 characters which will be used on the transactions which are created when the prepayment/accrual template is processed.


PPAcc_Value_Pop
Value is used to specify the total value you want to post to the account specified on this line.  This should be the total value to be spread across the number of months specified and not the monthly value.  The total of the prepayment/accrual template will be displayed at the base of the data entry grid with each update made.


PPAcc_New_Pop
New is used to create a new prepayment/accrual template.  This will provide you with blank input fields to enter the new details into.


PPAcc_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the details you have entered to the prepayment/accrual template.  This does not generate any postings or updates of your accounts.


PPAcc_Abandon_Pop
Abandon is used to discard any changes you have made to the prepayment/accrual template.


PPAcc_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to delete the current prepayment/accrual template.  If there are any postings made from this template then this option will not be available.  If you have finished with a template and you want to delete, if there have been previous postings then you must change the No. Months field to the same value as the No. of Postings field.


PPAcc_Post_Pop
Post is used to process the next installment of the current prepayment/accrual template to increment the number of postings made.  This will update your accounts with one month's values.  To post all your prepayment and accrual templates in one batch see Post Prepayments & Accruals which is available under the Period End menu on the File menu.


PPAcc_Remove_Pop
Remove is used to delete the currently highlighted account line "split" displayed in the data entry grid.  This will update and display the prepayment/accrual template totals.


Trial Balance

This option enables you to produce a full trial balance from the figures on your financial accounts information and for whatever period balances you choose.

Every transaction entered in the system effects your trial balance by updating the relevant accounts.  Unlike many reports in the system the figures are not calculated "live" before running the report.  Instead the balances are held for each financial account and updated automatically when a transaction is posted to it.

The system maintains balances for upto 36 months for each account and the trial balance enables you to produce a report for any of these periods or any combination of these periods ie quarters, half years, years etc.  For details of how the system stores, processes and maintains these balances see How The Financial Module Works.

When you first select the Trial Balance report the system will use the Current Balance figures from each of the accounts on your Financial module.  It will ignore any accounts which have no balances.

The total debits and total debits displayed at the bottom should always balance.  These figures give you a raw financial picture of your business and are used ultimately to produce management reports such as Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet which can be organised and arranged to give you a highly informative picture of your business.

The prompts at the top of the window are used to select which periods you want to view.  You can use the combobox options to drop-down a list of the most common periods you will want to display and print.  This Month will display the currently opened financial period.  You can select upto 3 periods.

If you want to select different periods other than the ones available in the combobox or if you want to view a trial balance for a combination of periods ie. quarters then you must use the Period Selection button which is located to the right of each period's combobox.  If you click on this button you can select the period(s) you want.  See Select Periods for details.  When you choose a period this will be displayed in the relevant combobox for reference.

The Options bar on the enquiry window provide additional functionality.  Click on the buttons below for help on each option.


TrialBal_Zoom_Pop
Zoom In is used to drill down into the currently highlighted account's transactions by bringing up the History enquiry window.


SelectPeriod
Select Periods

The Select Period window is used to choose which months or combination of months you want to report or enquire on.

The system stores figures for upto 36 months and each of these are available to be selected from this window.  Any months which have an asterisk at the side (*) is an unopened period and cannot be selected.

If you want to select a month which is not currently displayed then drag the vertical scrollbar, on the right of the list, to move through the months until the one you want to select is displayed.

If you want to select just one month then click on it so it is highlighted.  If you want to select a combination of months then click on the first or the last month and drag the mouse over the months you want until all the months in the period you want are completely highlighted.

If you want to pass the selected period back to the underlying report or enquiry then click on the OK button.  If you want to abandon your selection and close the window click on Cancel.


FinDayBooks
Financial Daybooks

The Financial Daybooks report enables you to produce a list of transactions which have been posted to the Financial module for a specified range of dates.

You can select this report by selecting Reports on the system menu, select Financial and from the submenu select Daybooks.

This can be used as a daily, weekly or monthly list for auditing and checking transactions for a specified period.

At the top of the enquiry form you will see several fields which you can use to specify a range of transactions which you want to have included in the daybook listing.

Click on the field headers below for help on how you should use these fields.

Start Account

Finish Account

Start Date

Finish Date

Include ...

The buttons on the Options bar just underneath the transactions are used to zoom-in to a selected transaction and to print and email the daybook report.  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The currently selected transaction is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required customer/supplier or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the transaction data using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each transaction.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.

The data grid displays the transactions which you have requested.  You can also select the options which are available on the Options bar explained above by using the pop up menu.  You can invoke the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours  to your preference.


FinancialReps
Financial Reports

The financial reports menu is used to gain access to the reports and enquiries available in the Financial module quickly and easily.

The reports available on this module menu are also available on the system main menu by selecting Reports and then Financial.

Click on the report titles below to find more information on each report on the menu.

Trial Balance

Daybooks

Accounts List

Financial Reports

Budget Variance

Report Setup

VAT Return

Account History


FinDayBook_Include_Pop
Include is used to specify which types of transaction you want to have included in the daybook report.  Click on the down arrow button at the side of the control or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard for a pull down list of available transaction types.


FinAccList
Accounts List

The Accounts List  is used to produce a straightforward list of your financial accounts which can be printed.

You will be asked at the top of the form to set the specified range of accounts.  Click on the field headers below for details of how to use each prompt.

Start Account

Finish Account

Category

You can use the buttons on the Options bar for additional functionality.  Click on the buttons below for help on each option.

The data grid displays the actual accounts which you have requested.  You can invoke a pop-up menu, containing similar options to those on the Options bar, by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected account is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required account or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can click on the column headers to change the list order of the displayed accounts.  An downward arrow will be displayed on the currently sorted column.

You can move through the accounts list using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking  the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.   You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


PLBalSheet
Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet

The Financial Reports in the system are used to produce two important management reports, Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet.  You can produce these reports for any period and combinations of periods which ultimately gives you the information you need to see the performance and financial base of your business.  You can also produce a graphical representation of your financial reports.  See the Financial Reports Graph option.

The figures used to make up your financial reports are taken from your financial account's balances which are updated whenever transactions are entered onto your accounts.

The Financial Reports use the configuration of accounts which can be defined using the Financial Report Setup where you can group your accounts together to produce reports in a format which best suit your business.  If your Trial Balance balances then your balance sheet must also balance.  If you find that it does not then you must make sure that your financial report setup has been correctly configured to include all financial accounts.

The financial report dialog window asks you to specify upto 4 different  periods you want to produce reports for.  Any periods which has None in the entry field will not be included in the report.

You can click on each period's down arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pulldown a list of the most commonly used periods.  This Month represents the currently opened period and not necessarily the month of the current system date.

If you want to select different periods other than the ones available in the combobox or if you want to print financial reports for a combination of periods ie. quarters, half years etc. then you must use the Period Selection button which is located to the right of each period's combobox.  If you click on this button you can select the period(s) you want.  See Select Periods for details.  When you choose a period this will be displayed in the relevant combobox for reference.

Display Individual Accounts is used to specify if you want each financial account to be included in the financial reports.  If you do not tick this checkbox then the system will print a grouped report where account balances in each group are accumulated to print groups and their totals only.  If you tick the checkbox to print individual accounts then each individual financial account will be printed as well as group totals.

Click on the Print button to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Report (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.  If you have not selected to preview the report the system will provide a dialog form for you to select the required printer etc.

Click on the Email button if you want to email the report to a specified recipient.

Click on the Graph button to view and print the Financial Reports Graph for the selected periods.


BudVar
Budget Variance Report

The Budget Variance Report gives you a complete analysis of budget versus actuals for any period or combination of periods you select.  As with the Financial Reports option this report uses the layout of financial accounts predefined in the Financial Report Setup option.

The Budget Variance Report uses the same figures as the Profit & Loss report to provide actual figures and takes the budget figures from those defined for each account in the Financial Account Details option.  The report will show the budgeted figures, the actual figures, the budget vs actual figures and the difference ratio.  A very useful feature for businesses who set targets and budget for sales and costs.  This can help provide crucial information as to the performance of your business.

You can also see a graphical representation of this report using the Budget Variance Graph facility.

The Budget Variance report dialog window asks you to specify upto 2 different periods you want to produce the report for.  Any periods which has None in the entry field will not be included in the report.

You can click on each period's down arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pulldown a list of the most commonly used periods.  This Month represents the currently opened period and not necessarily the month of the current system date.

If you want to select different periods other than the ones available in the combobox or if you want to print financial reports for a combination of periods ie. quarters, half years etc. then you must use the Period Selection button which is located to the right of each period's combobox.  If you click on this button you can select the period(s) you want.  See Select Periods for details.  When you choose a period this will be displayed in the relevant combobox for reference.

Display Individual Accounts is used to specify if you want each financial account to be included in the report.  If you do not tick this checkbox then the system will print a grouped report where account's budget and actual figures in each group are accumulated to print groups and their totals only.  If you tick the checkbox to print individual accounts then each individual financial account will be printed as well as group totals.

Click on the Print button to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Report (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.  If you have not selected to preview the report the system will provide a dialog form for you to select the required printer etc.

Click on the Email button if you want to email the report to a specified recipient.

Click on the Graph button to view and print the Budget Variance Graph for the selected periods.


FinRepSetup
Financial Report Setup

The Financial Report Setup window is used to setup the sections and groups of accounts which make up your core financial management reports, Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet.  This enables you to organise these important reports in a manner that best reflects your business.

The system splits the setup into two reports, profit & loss and balance sheet which are first of all displayed in the panel on the left of the window.  This is referred to as the Setup Tree as it can be exploded to view related "branches".

To explode an option you can either double-click on the name of the node for example Profit & Loss or click on the small plus sign (+) in the box to the left of the option name.   When exploded the symbol in the option's box will change to a minus sign (-) and you can unexplode the branches in the node by clicking on this.

Each report is split into 4 different sections.  For the Profit & Loss these sections are Sales, Purchases, Direct Costs and Overheads.  For the Balance Sheet these sections are Fixed Assets, Current Assets, Liabilities and Financed By.  When you explode either report's node you will see sub-branches for each of the relevant report sections.

Each section will have their own plus symbol boxes, indicating that each of them can be exploded to reveal more sub-branches.  Each of the eight sections can have an unlimited number of groups which you can define to be as detailed or as summarised as you feel necessary.

When you select a group within a section by clicking on it or by using the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard you will see displayed in the right hand panel of the window the individual financial accounts which make up the highlighted group.  For example you may want to include all accounts dealing with the sale of products into a group called Product Sales and so on.

You can add groups to sections and add accounts to groups by using the buttons at the bottom of the window.  There are also options to remove groups and accounts and to run a check to make sure all financial accounts are actually included in the reports.  The system comes with an example financial report setup which you can change to suit your business.

If you want to change the name of a group then double-click on the required group.  This will give you a window to enter the group's new name.

Click on the buttons below for help on how each option can be used to help you setup your financial reports.

When you produce your financial reports the system will collate all your accounts in each group and calculate their totals to produce group totals.  These are then added with all other group totals in each section to produce section totals which in turn are calculated to produce your profit & loss and balance sheet totals.


VAT Return

The VAT Return facility enables you to calculate and view the VAT return as required by the UK HM Customs & Excise on the VAT 100 form.  The window is designed to look identical to this form.

This option enables you to breakdown your VAT return in various formats to justify the calculated VAT figures right down to transaction level and further!  The VAT Return caters for both the standard and cash accounting VAT formats.  See VAT cash accounting for how the system deals with this scheme.

When you first view this window the VAT values (displayed on the right hand side of the form as per your VAT 100) are all zero.  You must first of all specify the period and the type of the VAT return you want.  Click on the field headers below for help on each option.

Period Start Date

End Date

By Invoice

By Payment

Include Reconciled Transactions

When you have specified all the above you must use the Calc button on the Options bar for the system to go and actually calculate the return.  Click on the buttons below for help on each option.

When the VAT figures have been displayed you can zoom-in to fully analyse and justify the VAT figures.  The figures displayed for each VAT box are on buttons which you can click on to zoom-in into that particular VAT box.  Boxes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 can all be clicked on for zoom-in purposes.  For example if you wanted to see how your Purchases are calculated you would click on Box 4 for VAT values and Box 7 for net values.

When you click on one of the VAT box buttons a further breakdown of the selected VAT Box will be displayed.  For help on how to use this analysis window and further details of how to zoom-in right down to transaction level see VAT Breakdown Analysis.


FinAccFilter
Financial Accounts Filter

The Filter option on the Financial module is used to filter the list of accounts displayed in the module to the a criteria you specify.  For example you may only be interested in Sales accounts or in Purchase accounts whose balance is above £5,000 etc.  This filter will only effect the accounts in the list on the Financials module form and will not have any effect on other options such as reports etc.

Click on the prompts below for help on each field in the Filter window.

Start Account

Finish Account

Category

Balance From

Balance To

If you have an active filter set and you want to reset this so the list includes all financial accounts then click on the Reset button to reset all the field values in the filter window.

When you want to activate the filter to the settings entered click on the OK button.

Click on the Cancel button to cancel any setting entered into the filter window.


FinAccList_Category_Pop
Category is used to specify which categories of accounts are going to be included in the list.  For example if you select Sales then only accounts of type Sales will be printed on the report.


FinSetup_AddGroup
Add Group

This option will add a new group to the currently highlighted section of the selected report.  You are asked to enter the name of the new group.  If you click the OK button the new group with the given name will be displayed in the Setup Tree.  You can now proceed with adding financial accounts to the new group.


FinSetup_DelGroup
Delete Group

This option will remove the currently highlighted group from the report setup tree.  You will be asked to confirm the deletion.  You should note that when you delete a group you automatically remove all accounts in that group from the financial report setup.  Therefore unless you include these accounts in other groups they will not be included in your financial reports and your reports may not reflect the true figures on your accounts.  Be sure to use the Check button to make a check for any accounts which have not been included.


FinSetup_AddAccount
Add Account

This option enables you to add an account to the currently highlighted group in the setup tree.  This financial account's balances will therefore be included in the group's totals when the financial reports are produced.

The currently highlighted group will be displayed in the caption of the window.  You will be asked to key in the reference of the account you want to add to the group.  You can enter this directly or use the Search facilities to help find the account you need.  When selected the account's name will also be displayed.

Click on the OK button and the account will be added to the group and will be displayed, together with other accounts already in the group, on the right hand panel of the report setup window.

If the account's type is not compatible with the section you are adding it into ie. adding a Sales type account into a group in the Overheads section you will warned of this but allowed to continue if this is what you want to do.  You should be careful to add accounts into groups in the relevant sections as if you do not your reports may not reflect the true figures on your accounts.


FinSetup_DelAccount
Delete Account

This option enables you to remove the currently highlighted account from the financial report setup.

You can then add this account to another group in the report layout.  It will display a window with the selected account's reference and name and you will be asked to confirm the deletion by clicking on the OK button.

If you do not include this account later in another group it may not be included in your financial reports and therefore your reports may not reflect the true figures on your accounts.  Be sure to use the Check button to make a check for any accounts which have not been included.


FinSetup_Check
Check

This option enables you to make a check for any discrepancies in the financial report layout.  This includes checking for any financial accounts which have not been included in any group or any account which has been duplicated in the layout and any account which is not included in the relevant section of the layout.  Ideally you should not have any warnings displayed here before running your financial reports.

Certain accounts can be duplicated in the layout with any warning messages appearing in this option.  These accounts include those which are included in both the Current Assets and Liabilities sections and have the Asset/Liability checkbox ticked on their record.  See Financial Account Details.


PLBalSheetGraph
Financial Reports Graph

The Financial Reports Graph gives a pictorial representation of both the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet Reports for the periods you have previously selected.

The initial graph displayed will be Profit & Loss.  To view the Balance Sheet you can click on the Balance Sheet tabpage just above the graph.

The graph will show the totals for all the selected periods broken down by section ie Sales, Purchases, Direct Costs and Overheads for the P&L Graph.  You can drill-in further by double clicking on the relevant section's graph element (bar, line etc).  This will breakdown the figures further to display an analysis of each Group ie. Product Sales, Miscellaneous Sales etc in the selected section as predefined in Financial Report Setup.

To drill-out a level you can right-click on any element in the graph (bar, line etc).  For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar work see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


BudVarGraph
Budget Variance Graph

The Budget Variance Graph gives a pictorial representation of your budget vs actual figures for the periods you have previously selected.

The graph will show the totals for all the selected periods broken down by section ie Sales, Purchases, Direct Costs and Overheads.  You can drill-in further by double clicking on the relevant section's graph element (bar, line etc).  This will breakdown the figures further to display an analysis of each Group ie. Product Sales, Miscellaneous Sales etc in the selected section as predefined in Financial Report Setup.

To drill-out a level you can right-click on any element in the graph (bar, line etc).  For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar work see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


VATReturn_PerStartDate_Pop
Period Start Date is used to specify the start date of the VAT return period you want to calculate figures for.  All transactions before this account are not included in the calculations.


VATReturn_FinDate_Pop
End Date is used to specify the end date of the VAT period you want to calculate the return for.  Any transactions after this date will be included.


VATReturn_ByInv_Pop
By Invoice is a radio button used for you to specify that you want to calculate the VAT return using the standard VAT scheme ie. accrued based upon invoices issued and received.  Click on this radio button (or press [SPACE] on the keyboard) if this is the method you want.  If you want to use VAT cash accounting then select By Payment.


VATReturn_ByPay_Pop
By Payment is a radio button used for you to specify that you want to calculate the VAT return using the VAT cash accounting scheme ie. accrued based upon payments received and invoices received.  Click on this radio button (or press [SPACE] on the keyboard) if this is the method you want.  If you want to use standard VAT scheme then select By Invoice.


VATReturn_IncRecTrans_Pop
Include Reconciled Transactions is a checkbox used to specify if you want to included transactions which have already been reconciled.  As you go through the VAT return process you will automatically reconcile the transactions which make up this period's VAT return, although you can mark transactions as not being reconciled.  If you tick this checkbox then all transactions within the specified range of dates will be included.  If you untick this checkbox then transactions within the specified period which were previously reconciled using this option will not be included.  This is useful if you entered any transactions too late for a return and want to include them on the next.  Due to the way the cash accounting scheme is calculated this option is not available when By Payment is selected.


VATReturn_Calc_Pop
Calc is selected when you have specified the criteria you want to produce your VAT return figures for.  When clicked the system will go and calculate the VAT figures and display them on the right of the form.


VATReturn_Summary
VAT Return Summary

The Summary dialog window is used to breakdown your VAT return figures by outputs and inputs to give a more detailed insight into your VAT return.

Outputs signify sales and other transactions where you have issued goods and/or services and have received the VAT amount which you are now liable for.  Inputs are purchases and other transactions where you have received goods/services and have paid the VAT amount which you can claim back.

The Summary windows displays the values against each VAT code and gives you the percentage rate of each code.

The VAT rate with the asterisk next to it (*) is the Non VAT Rate (see System Setup) which signifies transactions which have nothing to do with VAT.  The default code for this rate is 9.  No figures will ever be calculated for this VAT code.

The Summary window stays on top of the VAT form so if you changed the VAT criteria ie. dates and clicked on the Calc button on the main return window then the figures would automatically be displayed on this window after recalculation.

Click on the Close button to close this window and return to the main VAT return window.


VATReturn_Print_Pop
Print is used to print the VAT 100 return form which you can use for your records.  DO NOT use this as the actual return which you send to the HM Customs & Excise.  You must fill the figures in manually onto the form provided by Customs & Excise.


VATReturn_BkdnAnalysis
VAT Box Breakdown Analysis

The Breakdown Summary is used to give you further analysis of the selected box on your VAT return.  This breaks down the box figure by VAT code and by transaction type.

You can move around the "spreadsheet" grid using the mouse or the cursor keys on your keyboard.  The analysis window displays the values of each transaction type relevant to the selected box against each VAT code and gives you the percentage rate of each code.

The VAT rate with the asterisk next to it (*) is the Non VAT Rate (see System Setup) which signifies transactions which have nothing to do with VAT.  The default code for this rate is 9.  No figures will ever be calculated for this VAT code.

You can further zoom-in to see the transactions which actually make up the value in each cell in the analysis spreadsheet.  For example if you wanted to see the sales invoices for VAT code 1 then you would highlight this cell.

To zoom-in to the transaction level you can either double-click on the relevant cell or click on the Zoom-In button when the required cell is highlighted.  See VAT Transactions for details.

When you have finished viewing the breakdown analysis for the current box click on Close.


VATReturn_Trans
VAT Transactions

The VAT Transactions window displays all the transactions used to calculate the selected analysis breakdown.  For example if you selected to zoom-in to Sales Invoices for VAT code 1 and show their Net amounts then these are the transactions you will see.

You can zoom-in further to the transactions which are listed.  To do this click on the Zoom-In button and all the options to view every detail of the selected transaction is available.

If you want to unreconcile or reconcile the transactions which are listed click on the Reconcile button.  This will reverse the current reconciled setting for each transaction which is displayed on the right of each transaction.  All transactions are marked as reconciled by default.  To reconcile/unreconcile an individual transaction then double-click on the required transaction.

The data grid also has a pop-up menu which contains the options on the buttons as well as an option to Change The Grid Colours.  You can use this by right-clicking on the required transaction in the grid.


FinAccFilter_StartAcc_Pop
Start Account  is used to specify the start reference of the range of accounts you want included in the list.  This is done in account reference order.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the account you want.  See Search facilities in the main help.


FinAccFilter_FinAcc_Pop
Finish Account  is used to specify the finish reference of the range of accounts you want included in the list.  This is done in account reference order.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the account you want.  See Search facilities in the main help.


FinAccFilter_Category
Category is used to specify which categories of accounts are going to be included in the list.  For example if you select Sales then only accounts of type Sales will be printed on the report.  You can click on the combobox down arrow button to pull-down a list of available categories.


FinAccFilter_BalFrom_Pop
Balance From is used to specify the minimum balance value of the accounts you want to include in the list.  For example you only want to include accounts who have a minimum balance of £500 etc.


FinAccFilter_BalTo_Pop
Balance To is used to specify the maximum balance value of the accounts you want to include in the list.  For example you only want to include accounts who have a maximum balance of £2,500 etc.


BankDtls
Bank Details

The Bank Details window is used to enter core details about each bank account you have in the system.  You can store upto 10 different bank accounts in Empire Builder.

Each bank account must be linked with a financial account of the type Bank in the Financials module.  This window will automatically create this for you when you save.  The system will then add the account into the list of banks in your control accounts (see System Setup).

The Options bar at the top of the window provide additional functionality.  Click on the buttons below for help on how they work.

If you select to add a new bank account you will be asked to key in a unique reference.  As mentioned above this is also the reference which will be used for the linked account on the Financials module.  Therefore it must be unique not only within the Bank module but the Financials module too.

If you are editing the details of an existing account then you can select a different account than the one displayed by using the Bank Ref. combobox.  You can click on the control's down arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pulldown a list of the available accounts to be edited.  You can select accordingly.

When a new or an existing bank has been selected you can fill in the details of the bank, most of which are purely for reference and enquiry purposes.  Click on the field headers below for help on each field.

Bank Name

A/C Name

A/C Number

Limit

Sort Code

Address

Telephone & Fax Numbers

Email

Contact


BankDtls_New_Pop
New is used to tell the system that you want to create a new bank account.  If you select this the system will give you empty fields to enter the new details into.


BankDtls_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the bank account details you have entered.  If this is a new bank you will be prompted as to whether you want to add the bank to the Address Book.  The Address Book is used primarily as an Email tool which can be used for selecting required recipients of emails sent within the system.


BankDtls_Abandon_Pop
Abandon can be used if you want to discard the bank details you have entered.


BankDtl_Previous_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous bank account on the system.  The move order is based upon the bank account reference.


BankDtls_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next bank account on the system.  The move order is based upon the bank account reference.


BankDtls_Email_Pop
Email is used to send an email, via Empire Builder's email facilities, to the selected bank  (or indeed anyone in your Address Book).  See Email for further information.


BankDtls_Name_Pop
Bank Name is the name of the actual bank ie Natwest, Barclays, AIB etc.  This will be used as the actual name on the equivalent financial account so you may wish to add additional information to identify the account.


BankDtls_AccName_Pop
A/c Name is used to record the name of your account at the bank as opposed to just the name of the actual bank itself.


BankDtls_AccNo_Pop
A/c Number is used to key is in the account number for the currently displayed bank account.


BankDtls_SortCode_Pop
Sort Code is used to key in the sort code of the bank.


BankDtls_Addr_Pop
Address is used to key in the full address of the bank or branch your account is with.


BankDtls_TelFaxNo_Pop
Telephone & Fax Numbers is used to key in upto 2 different telephone numbers for the bank/branch and their fax number.


BankDtls_EmailAddr_Pop
Email Address is used to key in the email address of the bank/branch.  You can then use the Email button to issue email messages and reports and documents.


BankDtls_Contact_Pop
Contact is used to key in the name of your contact at the bank/branch.


BankPayRec
Bank/Cash Payments & Receipts

The Cashbook Payments & Receipts window is used to record entries directly to your bank accounts without using the Customer or Supplier modules.

Payments can be used to record payments for goods and services which are not covered by the Supplier module for example petrol bills, stationery etc.  By entering a payment you are recording a withdrawal from your bank account.

Receipts can be used to record sales transactions which are not covered by the Customer module for example cash sales etc.  By entering a receipt you are recording a deposit into your bank account.

Each payment and receipt is entered by keying in the main transaction details into the fields in the top half of the window.  You can then distribute each payment or receipt across an unlimited number of financial accounts and across various VAT codes and rates using the data entry grid in the bottom half of the window.

As with most input forms in the system you have a series of buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window which can be used to carry out various tasks on the entry form.  Click on the required button below for more information.

The fields in the top half of the form represent overall details for the transaction you are entering.  Click on the field prompts below for help on each field.

Bank Ref.

Date

Reference

Transaction Type

The data entry grid in the bottom half of the window is used to enter the distribution of the transaction across different financial accounts.  If for example you are recording a payment for stationery and you need to also record a carriage charge  you may want to allocate these different charges across different accounts in your financial ledger.  You may also need to allocate the transaction across different VAT rates if you are, for example, buying a combination of standard rated and zero rated items on the transaction.

As you enter the transaction splits the totals of the transaction will be displayed at the bottom of the data entry grid.

Click on the column header below for help on how to use each column.

Account

Comments

Net

VC

VAT

When you are entering more than one line "split" on a transaction it may be necessary for you to duplicate some of the information for example in the Comments column.  You can do this automatically by pressing the [F8] key when the required column is highlighted.


BankPayRec_BankRef_Pop
Bank Ref. is used to enter the bank or cash account reference you want to record this transaction for.  Click on the prompt's combobox down arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard for a pulldown list of available accounts to select from.


BankPayRec_Date_Pop
Date is used to enter the date of the transaction.  This will initially default to the system date you entered when you first logged in.  You can use the Calendar button to select a date.  Please Note : If you enter a date which is outside of the currently opened financial periods you will not be able to use that date on the transaction.  See Open New Financial Period for details.


BankPayRec_Ref_Pop
Reference is used to key in a 10 character reference for the transaction.  This can be anything you feel appropriate in order to identify the transaction, for example a receipt number etc.


BankPayRec_Account_Pop
Account is used to enter the required financial account reference to use on this transaction line "split".  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.


BankPayRec_VAT_Pop
VAT is used to enter the VAT value on the current transaction line "split".  The value is normally calculated automatically however on occasions when your paperwork ie. receipts may not match the automated calculation you can manually adjust the VAT value on the line using this field.


BankPayRec_Save_Pop
Save button is used to save the transaction details you have entered.  This will automatically post the transaction across all the distributed accounts to update the financial module and update the relevant bank account's balance.


BankPayRec_VATRev_Pop
VAT Reverse is used when you want to calculate the net amount on the transaction "split" inclusive of VAT.  For example you are recording a payment for £50 gross.  You would enter 50.00 into the Net field and then click on this button (or press [ALT + V] on the keyboard) to calculate the net and the VAT amounts with 50.00 as the total.  This button is not a toggle between reversing and undoing the reverse, it will always reverse based upon the net value.  This button will always work on the current "split" line which is highlighted.  The calculation is always based upon the VAT Code which has been specified on the "split" line and represents the predefined VAT rates.


BankTransfer
Transfers

The Transfers window is used to transfer money between bank accounts or from bank to cash or vice versa.  This will then record the necessary journals to make the adjustments to your account balances.

Click on the field prompts below for help on each prompt.

Transfer From

Transfer To

Date

Reference

Details

Transfer Value

When you have entered the above details you can click on the Save button to post the transaction to the two accounts specified.

Click on the Abandon button to discard the entry and enter a new one from scratch.

Click on Close to discard any changes and close the Transfer window.


BankTransfer_From_Pop
Transfer From is used to select the bank or cash account you want to transfer money from.  Click on the control's downarrow button to pulldown a list of available accounts to select from.


BankTransfer_To_Pop
Transfer To is used to select the bank or cash account you want to transfer money to.  Click on the control's downarrow button to pulldown a list of available accounts to select from.


BankTransfer_Ref_Pop
Reference is used to key in a 10 character reference for the transaction.  This can be anything you feel appropriate in order to identify the transaction, for example a cheque number etc.


BankTransfer_Value_Pop
Transfer Value is used to key in the value you want to transfer between the two accounts.


Recurring
Recurring Entries

The Recurring Entries window is used to record templates for repeated transactions such as standing orders, direct debits, recurring journals and more.  You can then post the entries to your accounts either through this window, through the Post Recurring Entries (on the Period End submenu of the File menu) or through a reminder window which will popup when you first log onto the system if any recurring entries are due for processing.

You first of all set up template header details and then you can then enter transaction splits to record each template across an unlimited number of financial accounts and VAT rates.

The buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window provide additional functionality in entering your recurring entry templates.  Click on the buttons below for help on each option.

The field prompts in the top half of the window are used to enter the header details of the recurring entry template.  Click on the field prompts below for help on each field.

Description                                   Next Due

Type                                                No Postings

Frequency

Bank Ref.

Customer Ref.

Supplier Ref.

Reference                                     Details

You can then enter the values of the recurring entry and "split" each template across as many different financial accounts and VAT rates as required.  For example you want to record a recurring entry for computer equipment lease and support.  You can therefore enter a line to post an amount to the Computer Equipment Lease account and a separate amount to the Computer Support account.

You can now enter these details onto the data grid.  If you have selected to enter a recurring entry template of type Journal then the template splits data entry grid will contain different columns on the right hand side of the grid than if you are entering a template type of Payment or Receipt.  This is shown below.

           Payments/Receipts                             Journals

For help on entering information into each column click on the field prompts below.

Account

Comments

Net

VC                                   Debit

VAT                                 Credit

It may be necessary for you to duplicate some of the information from line to line for example in the Comments column.  You can do this automatically by pressing the [F8] key when the required column is highlighted.  This will duplicate the value in the current column of the previous line into the current column of the highlighted line.

As you make the entries into the data grid the totals of the relevant columns will be updated and displayed at the bottom of grid.

In the case of entering Journal templates both the Debit and the Credit totals MUST be equal before you can save.  This is to ensure that the system always balances in keeping with a true double-entry accounting system.


Recurring_New_Pop
New is used to create a new recurring entry template.


Recurring_Save_Pop
Save is used the save the details of the recurring entry template you have entered.  This does not post any updates to your accounts.  You must use the Post button to update your accounts with the entries on the recurring entry template.


Recurring_Abandon_Pop
Abandon is used to discard any changes you have made to the current recurring entry template.


Recurring_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to delete the currently displayed recurring entry template.  After selecting this option you will be asked to confirm the deletion.


Recurring_VATRev_Pop
VAT Reverse is used when you want to calculate the net amount inclusive of VAT on the highlighted template "split" in the account distribution data entry grid in the bottom half of the window.   This button is not a toggle between reversing and undoing the reverse, it will always reverse based upon the net value.  This button will always work on the current "split" line which is highlighted.  The calculation is always based upon the VAT Code which has been specified on the template line and represents the predefined VAT rates.


Recurring_Remove_Pop
Remove is used to remove the currently highlighted line on the recurring entry template "split" data entry grid.


Recurring_Prev_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous recurring entry template.  It will always move in the order of the template name.


Recurring_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next recurring entry template.  It will always move in the order of the template name.


Recurring_Post
Post Recurring Entries

The Post option is used to post the details of the recurring entry template to your accounts using the accounts specified on the "splits" data entry grid.

This dialog window has two options to select which templates you want to post to your accounts.

Select Post Current Entry (by clicking on it so the radio button is filled or press [SPACE] on the keyboard) to just post the template which is presently displayed in the Recurring Entries window.

Select All Due Entries if you want to post all the recurring entry templates that are now due for processing.

When you want to post the selected template(s) then click on the OK button or click Abandon to cancel.

You may want the system to remind you of any recurring entries due for processing automatically.  It does this whenever you go into the system by checking for due templates and if any are due it will pop up a window for you to select which ones need processing.  See Posting Recurring Entries.


Recurring_Desc_Pop
Description is used to enter a brief description of the recurring entry template you are entering.  This will be used to reference the template.  If you want to find a different template then click on the Search button or press [CTRL + S] to invoke the Search dialog to help you find the required template.


Recurring_NextDue_Pop
Next Due is used to enter the next date on which the recurring entry is due to be processed to update your accounts.  After the initial setting the system will automatically update this date based upon the Frequency you set the template to be posted for.


Recurring_Type_Pop
Type is used to specify what type of recurring entry template you are entering.  You are given three options which you can select by clicking on the control's downarrow button.  These are Payment, Receipt and Journal.  Payments are used for recording withdrawals, Receipts are used for recording deposits and Journals are used to process recurring journal entries.


Recurring_Freq_Pop
Frequency is used to select the frequency on which the recurring entry template is due to be processed.  You are given various options by clicking on the control's downarrow button to view the pulldown list.  The options include Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half Yearly and Yearly.  There is also an option called When Required for entries which may have no particular frequency but are used as regular repeated transactions.


Recurring_NoPost_Pop
No. Postings displays the total number of postings which have previously been processed from the recurring entry template.


Recurring_BankRef_Pop
Bank Ref. is used to specify the bank or cash account you want to update the recurring entry with when posting to your accounts.  This field is not available if you have selected Journals for the Type field.  You can click on the downarrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] for a pulldown list of available accounts.


Recurring_CustRef_Pop
Customer Ref. is used to specify the customer's reference you want to assign the recurring entry template to.  When processing this template the system will post the entry to the selected customer's account in the Customer's module.  This option is only available if you are entering a recurring entry template of Type Receipt.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  If you want to record the recurring entry for a non-account customer then simply leave this field blank.


Recurring_SuppRef_Pop
Supplier Ref. is used to specify the supplier's reference you want to assign the recurring entry template to.  When processing this template the system will post the entry to the selected supplier's account in the Supplier module.  This option is only available if you are entering a recurring entry template of Type Payment.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the account you want.  It is not compulsory to enter a supplier reference ie. if you want to record the recurring entry for a non-account supplier then simply leave this field blank.


Recurring_Reference_Pop
Reference is used to key in a brief reference of upto 10 characters to identify the transaction posted when this template is processed.


Recurring_Details_Pop
Details is used to record a brief description of the recurring entry template of upto 30 characters.  This will be recorded on the header transactions created when the template is posted to the accounts.


Recurring_Account_Pop
Account is used to specify the reference of the financial account you want to update when processing the recurring entry split.


Recurring_Comments_Pop
Comments is used to enter a description of the "split" of upto 30 characters which will be used on the transaction for this account created when the recurring entry template is processed.


Recurring_Net_Pop
Net is used for you to enter the net value of the current line "split".  This is the figure before the VAT is added.  If you intend to calculate the VAT inclusive of the gross value then enter the gross value into this field rather than the net.  You can use the VAT Reverse option to calculate the net and VAT values.


Recurring_VC_Pop
VC is used to specify the VAT Code which represents the rate required to calculate the VAT value.   You can enter the VAT Code for the rate you require and the VAT values will be calculated accordingly.

The VAT rates are defined through the System Setup window.


Recurring_VAT_Pop
VAT is used to enter the VAT value on the current template line "split".  The value is normally calculated automatically however on occasions where the relevant VAT amount is not the same as the the automated calculation you can manually adjust the VAT value on the line using this field.


Recurring_Debit_Pop
Debit is used to key in the debit entry to the financial account specified in the Account column.  Leave this column as zero if you want to enter a Credit value to the account.


Recurring_Credit_Pop
Credit is used to key in the value you want to credit the financial account specified in the Account column.  Leave this column as zero if you want to enter a Credit value to the account.  If you enter a value in both the Debit and Credit columns the Debit column will be zeroised.


BankRecon
Bank Reconciliation

The Bank Reconciliation window is used to reconcile the bank records on your computer system with those on your actual bank statements.

The Bank Reconciliation window works by displaying all transactions which have been entered to a specified bank account since the last time you reconciled the bank.  There is also an option to enter adjustments should there be items on your bank statement which you have not yet entered onto the system ie. bank charges etc.

You will first of all be asked to select the bank or cash account you want to reconcile in the Bank Reference combobox.  You can click on the control's downarrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to get a pulldown list of the available accounts and select the required one.  The unreconciled transactions for this account will then be displayed.  You can now start to reconcile your bank.

Displayed at the bottom of the window are various figures which display the current status of the reconciliation.  Click on the field headers below for a description of what each one is used for.

Total Deposits

Total Withdrawals

Opening Balance

Statement Balance

Uncleared Items

Account Balance

Transactions that have been reconciled are given a tick in the Reconciled column in the data grid and those which are unreconciled are given a cross.  To reconcile or unreconcile a transaction you simply place the mouse in the Reconciled column of the required transaction and click the mouse.  To do this on the keyboard use to up and down cursor keys to move to the required transaction and press [RETURN].  The currently selected transaction is shown by an arrow in the left hand border of the data grid.

The Options bar at the top of the window provides additional functionality in reconciling your records.  Click on the buttons below for help.

There is also a pop-up menu which contains the facilities on the Options bar and some others.  Right-click on the required transaction in the data grid and select the required option.  An Additional option on this menu is Zoom In which enables you to drill-down into the full details of the selected transaction.  As always there is an option to Change The Grid Colour of the data grid.


BankRecon_BankRef_Pop
Bank Reference is used to specify the bank or cash account you want to reconcile.   You can click on the control's downarrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to get a pulldown list of the available accounts and select the required one.  When selected the relevant transactions will be listed in the data grid.


BankRecon_OpenBal_Pop
Opening Balance is used to display the closing balance from your last bank statement and is therefore the opening balance for the new statement.


BankRecon_StatementBal_Pop
Statement Balance is initially the same as the Opening Balance.  As you start reconciling transactions this is altered to give you the total of transactions you have reconciled.  This should be the difference between Account Balance and Uncleared Items.  If everything is properly reconciled then it should match the closing balance on your bank statement.


BankRecon_Uncleared_Pop
Uncleared Items is the total of items which have not yet been reconciled and is therefore the difference between the Statement Balance and Account Balance.


BankRecon_AccBal_Pop
Account Balance displays the actual balance of the selected bank account in your Financial accounts.


BankRecon_TotDeps_Pop
Total Deposits is used to display the total amount of unreconciled deposits.  As you reconcile receipt items this value will decrease until it is zero when all receipt transactions have been reconciled.


BankRecon_TotWith_Pop
Total Withdrawals is used to display the total amount of unreconciled withdrawals.  As you reconcile payment items this value will decrease until it is zero when all payment transactions have been reconciled.


BankRecon_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the reconciliation which will mark those transactions which you have reconciled.  No updating of your accounts is actually performed.


BankRecon_Aban_Pop
Abandon is used to discard any changes to the selected bank account's reconciliation.  However if you have entered any Adjustments during the abandoned reconciliation session they will remain on your accounts as they are entered as a separate process and updated there and then.


BankRecon_Adjust_Pop
Adjustment is used to enter any transactions which are on your bank statement but have not yet been entered onto your system for example bank charges and interest.  This uses the Cashbook Payments/Receipts window to enter adjustments which immediately update your accounts and are added to the current reconciliation session when completed.


BankRecon_Reverse_Pop
Reverse is used to reverse the current reconciled status of each transaction listed.  Therefore by selecting this option all currently reconciled transactions will be unreconciled and vice versa.  This is useful if you prefer to reconcile everything at first and work backwards.


Invoices

The Invoice window provides all the features you need to enter, edit and print customer invoices, credit notes, proforma invoices and quotations.  This window is used to enter stock items for product invoicing or free-text items for service invoicing, enter quantities and prices, assign carriage charges and settlement discounts.  Finally you can print the transaction on a document designed to your exact requirements using the Document Designer.

The Invoice entry window is split into three sections which are separated by tab pages.

The Customer Details tabpage is used to enter the header details of the invoice by specifying the customer to invoice and entering a delivery address.

The Items Details tabpage is used to enter the actual product or service details which make up the invoice.  In this tabpage you enter stock codes, free-text, quantities, prices etc.

The Footer Details tabpage is used to enter the finishing details of the transaction such as entering carriage charges, settlement discounts etc.

Click on the relevant tabpage below for the one you want to see help for.

The facilities available on the Options bar at the top of the provide additional functionality.  Click on the buttons below for help on each one.


InvCustDtls
Invoice Customer Details

The Customer Details tabpage on the Invoice window is used to setup the header details of the transaction you are entering.  This includes specifying a customer and their details and selecting the required type of transaction.

The system will first of all generate a new invoice for the transaction and display this at the top of the page.  You can now proceed to key in the transaction header details.

Click on the field prompts below for help on each one.

Customer Ref.

Date

Customer Order No.

Invoice Type

Customer Name & Address

Delivery Name & Address

When you confirm the last field you will be moved onto the Item Details Tabpage.


InvCustDtls_CustRef_Pop
Customer Ref. is used to enter the reference of the customer you want to record the transaction for.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  See Search facilities in the main help.  If you want to record a transaction for a non-account customer then leave this field blank.  If you specify a customer their name and address details will be displayed as will their balance and credit limit details.  If the customer is on stop you will also be informed of this.


InvCustDtls_CustOrdNo_Pop
Customer Order No.  is used to enter the customer's order number which you may be required to quote on their invoice and in dealing with the transaction.  You will also be able to search for the transaction using this field.


InvCustDtls_InvType_Pop
Invoice Type is a radio button control for you to select one of four possible types for the transaction you are entering.  You can select from Invoice, Credit Note, Proforma Invoice and Quotation.  Proformas and Quotations can later be converted into full invoices without retyping, see Invoice Conversion.  To select click on the type you require so the relevant type is filled.  On the keyboard press [TAB] to move to the required type and press [SPACE] to select.  According to the type you select the Invoice Number will change to the numbered sequence defined in .


InvCustDtls_NameAddr_Pop
Customer Name & Address can be used if you are entering a transaction for a non-account customer (by leaving the Customer Ref. field blank) then you can enter the name and address of the customer in the provided fields.


InvCustDtls_DelAddr_Pop
Delivery Name & Address is used to key in the details of where the goods in the transaction are to be delivered.  If you have no need for any of these fields ie. telephone number but want to record additional information, for example Job Number, to be printed on the invoice then key this into the unwanted fields and these can be dragged on to the printed document.


InvItemDtls
Invoice Item Details

The Items tab page is where you actually enter the details of your items.  You can enter items from the Stock module or enter free-text items for service invoicing.  You can combine both types of items on an invoice.

There is no limit to the number of lines you can enter on an invoice and there is no limit to the amount of text you can enter into each free-text item.

At the bottom of the tab page the totals of the invoice are displayed.  These totals are updated as you add items to the invoice.  The full summary of invoice totals are displayed on the Footer tabpage.

Above the data entry grid (where you actually enter your items) on the left you can see the details of the customer for your reference as you go through the invoice.  You are kept up-to-date with the customer's credit status at the bottom of your screen.

On the right you are given details about each stock item including stock levels and price levels and also a longer description to give you more information on the highlighted item than space will allow in the data entry grid.  As you enter items onto the transaction you enter quantities and prices.  If the quantity in stock is insufficient to supply the quantity requested the system will highlight the In Stock field in green to indicate this.  If you enter a price which falls below the defined minimum markup percentage (see System Setup) then the Markup % will be highlighted in red to warn you of this.

For stock items the Cost Price field is for display purposes only.  However for free-text items you can enter a manual cost price which the system will use to calculate the profit and margins.

You can now proceed to enter in the details of the items you want on the transaction.  Click on the data entry grid column headers below for help on each one.

Stock Code

Free-Text Description

Quantity

Price

Discount

Account

VC

Cost Price

On the data entry grid you also have a popup menu which can be invoked by right-clicking the required item line.  You are then given the options to make a Stock Adjustment (to make on-the-fly adjustments to the item's stock levels), view the Stock Picture (to view a picture of the selected stock item if one has been imported for the item) and to also Change The Data Grid Colours.


InvItemDtls_StockCode_Pop
Stock Code is used to specify the stock code of the item you want to enter onto the transaction.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the stock item you want.  If you leave this field blank you can enter a Free-Text Description onto the invoice.  When an item has been selected from your Stock module all the details including stock levels, prices and margins will be displayed above the data entry grid.  These will change to the current item as you move through different item lines.


InvItemDtls_FTDesc
Free-Text Description

The Free-Text Description entry window pops up when you leave the Stock Code field blank and is used as a memo dialog to enter an unlimited amount of text into the current item line.

If you want to go back at any time to edit the free-text details then double-click on the Description column of the required item line.

When you want to add the free-text to the transaction line click on the OK button.

If you want to discard any changes you make to the free-text line click on the Cancel button.


InvItemDtls_Quantity_Pop
Quantity is used to specify the quantity you want to record on the transaction for the specified item.  This will initially default to 1.  If you are invoicing an item which is greater than the quantity in stock the the In Stock field displayed above the data entry grid will be highlighted in green.  You will be able to proceed with the entry and to save the invoice but you will not be able to post the transaction to the Stock module or your accounts.  You can enter a Stock Adjustment by right-clicking on the data grid and selecting the option from the popup menu.


InvItemDtls_Price_Pop
Price is used to enter the price for the item you are invoicing.  If you are entering an item from your Stock module the system will display a drop-down list of the available three prices on the selected item.  You can select one of these prices or enter a different price altogether.  When a price has been entered the system will calculate the markup percentage on the line and display it above the data grid.  If it is below the pre-defined minimum markup (see System Setup) then the Markup % field will be highlighted in red.


InvItemDtls_Disc_Pop
Disc % is used to enter the percentage discount you want to offer the customer for this item line.  If you are entering an item from your Stock module the system will display a drop-down list of the available three discount levels on the selected item.  You can select one of these discounts or enter a different discount altogether.  If you have discount percentage for the customer (see Customer Details) then this will be the default discount.  The markup percentage will be adjusted and displayed accordingly.


InvItemDtls_Account_Pop
Account is used to specify the financial account you want to post this item line to.  This will default to the stock item's sales account (see Stock Details) or to the account specified on the customer's record depending on certain settings (see Customer Details).  If this is a free-text item then this column will default to the predefined free-text account setting in System Setup .  You can enter the account reference directly or use the Search facilities to help find the one you want.


InvItemDtls_VC_Pop
VC is used to enter the VAT code you want to use on this item's line.  This will default to the VAT code on the stock record (see Stock Details) or to the VAT code on the customer's record (see Customer Details) depending on certain settings.  If this is a free-text item then this column will default to the predefined free-text VAT code setting in System Setup.  You can enter the VAT Code for the rate you require and the VAT values will be calculated accordingly.


InvItemDtls_CostPrice_Pop
Cost Price is used to specify the cost price for free-text item lines.  You may wish to account for the cost of the free-text line to record the profit and margin on the line to give you a truer picture of the profit levels on each transaction.


InvFtrDtls
Invoice Footer Details

The Footer Details tabpage is used to enter finishing details to the transaction such as carriage charges, notes and payment details.  You can also see the totals of the transaction.

The totals displayed in the top half of the tabpage are the totals of the goods you have invoiced for, taking into account any settlement discounts.  The totals in the bottom half of the tabpage display the complete totals of the invoice taking into account the carriage charges.  The Total Invoice field display the full transaction total.

Click on the prompts below for help on what you will use each field for.

Carriage

VAT Code

Account

Notepad

Settlement Days

Settlement Discount

Pay Now

Payment Method

Bank Ref.

Payment Amount

Post Now

Early Settlement


InvFtrDtls_Carriage_Pop
Carriage is for you to enter the carriage charge for this transaction.  This will default to the predefined carriage charge in System Setup.


InvFtrDtls_VATCode_Pop
VAT Code is used to specify the VAT code you want to use for the carriage charge using the predefined VAT rates.


InvFtrDtls_Account_Pop
Account is used to specify the financial account you want to post the carriage charge to.  This will use the predefined default in System Setup.


InvFtrDtls_Notepad_Pop
Notepad is used to key in general free-text notes about the transaction.  These can be a simple thank you message or your terms and conditions.  These will default to the Invoice Notes defined in System Setup by can be changed here for each transaction you enter.


InvFtrDtls_SettDays_Pop
Settlement Days are used to enter the number of days in which the customer can settle (pay) in full each invoice in order to receive the settlement discount entered.  This will default to each customer's standard setting.


InvFtrDtls_SettDisc_Pop
Settlement Discount is used to enter the discount percentage you will award to this customer if they settle this invoice in full within the number of Settlement Days.  This will default to the customer's predefined setting.


InvFtrDtls_PayNow_Pop
Pay Now is a checkbox used to tell the system if the customer is paying (or in the case of credit notes if you are refunding) an amount on this invoice.  If they are then tick this checkbox.  When you tick this the fields below will become active.


InvFtrDtls_PayMethod_Pop
Payment Method is used to specify if you want to record the payment into cash or into a bank account ie paid by cheque or credit card etc.  Click on the control's downarrow button to pulldown a list of available options to select from.


InvFtrDtls_BankRef_Pop
Bank Ref. is used if you selected Bank for the Payment Method prompt and you now want to choose the bank account you want the payment amount to be posted to.  You can select the bank you want by clicking on the control's downarrow button or pressing [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pulldown a list of bank accounts to select from.


InvFtrDtls_PayAmount_Pop
Payment Amount is for you to specify the amount being paid for the invoice.  The default will be the invoice total.  If you are invoicing a non-account customer and they do not pay the full value (ie a deposit) the system will insist you create an account for them before saving the invoice.


InvFtrDtls_PostNow_Pop
Post Now is a checkbox that tells the system you want to post the transaction to your accounts and stock immediately when you save the transaction.  Tick this prompt if you want to do this or untick it if you want to post the transaction later.


InvFtrDtls_EarlySett_Pop
Early Settlement is used to give you the total amount which is due to be paid only if the customer pays within the number of Settlement Days.


Invoice_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the transaction.  If you have selected to Post Now then the system will also post the transaction to your accounts and stock.  If you are entering a transaction for a non-account customer and have entered a payment amount which is less than the total then you will be prompted to create an account to post the unpaid amount to.


Invoice_Abandon_Pop
Abandon is used to discard any changes you have made to the transaction.


Invoice_New_Pop
New is used to create a new transaction when entering a batch of invoices.


Invoice_Remove_Pop
Remove is used to remove the currently selected line in the item's data entry grid.  The selected item is shown by a symbol in the left hand border of the grid.


Invoice_VATRev_Pop
VAT Reverse is used when you want to calculate the price on the currently selected item line inclusive of VAT.  For example you are recording a price of £99 gross.  You would enter 99.00 into the Price field and then click on this button (or press [ALT + V]) to calculate the Net and the VAT amounts with £99 as the gross price.  This button is not a toggle between reversing and undoing the reverse, it will always reverse based upon the price.  This button will always work on the current item line which is highlighted.  The calculation is always based upon the VAT Code which has been specified on the item line and represents the predefined VAT rates.


Invoice_Print
Print Transaction

This window is used to select the document layout you want to use in printing, previewing on screen or emailing the selected transaction.

Click on the Document Layout combobox's downarrow button (or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard) to pull-down a list of available invoice layouts and select accordingly.  To change any of the document layouts or to add new layouts you can use the Document Designer .

Click on the Print button to print the transaction on your chosen printer.

Click on the Preview button to view the document on screen before printing.

Click on the Email button to send the document as an Email attachment to a specified recipient.

Please Note :  Whether you print, preview or email a transaction the system has to generate a document and in doing so it marks it as being printed.  Therefore when you preview the transaction whether you physically print it or not the document has been generated and is marked as printed.


PrintInvoice
Print Invoices

The Print Transactions window is used to print transactions using the selected document layout of your choice.  This window enables you to print large numbers of invoices in a batch or just single transactions.

To specify the range of the transactions you want to print you must enter the criteria into the available fields in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Transaction No

Finish Transaction No

Start Customer Ref

Finish Customer Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

Current Transaction Only

Ignore Printed Trans

Document Layout

Click on the Print button to print the range of transactions on your chosen printer.

Click on the Preview button to view the document on screen before printing.  This will only display the first transaction in the range which is used to show you how the document will appear when printed.

Click on the Email button to send the document as an Email attachment to a specified recipient.  This will create one report file to be emailed for every transaction in the range.

Please Note :  Whether you print, preview or email a transaction the system has to generate a document and in doing so it marks it as being printed.  Therefore when you preview the transaction whether you physically print it or not the document has been generated and is marked as printed.


PrintInv_StartTranNo_Pop
Start Transaction No. is used to enter the transaction number you want to start printing invoices from.  This is useful if you know the range of transaction numbers you want to print.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help you find the required transaction.


PrintInv_FinTranNo_Pop
Finish Transaction No. is used to enter the transaction number you want to finish printing invoices.  This is useful if you know the range of transaction numbers you want to print.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help find the required transaction.


PrintInv_StartCustRef_Pop
Start Customer Ref. is used to specify the customer you want to start printing invoices from.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  Any transactions for customers before this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to print documents for a particular customer or a range of customers.  Non-account customer invoices will only be included in the batch if you leave the range of customers as the default.


PrintInv_FinCustRef_Pop
Finish Customer Ref. is used to specify the customer you want to finish printing invoices at.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  Any transactions for customers after this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to print documents for a particular customer or a range of customers.  Non-account customer invoices will only be included in the batch if you leave the range of customers as the default.


PrintInv_StartDate_Pop
Start Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to start printing from.  Any transactions dated before this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to print transactions for a range of dates.


PrintInv_FinDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to finish printing at.  Any transactions dated after this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to print transactions for a range of dates.


PrintInv_CurrTranOnly_Pop
Current Transaction Only is a checkbox used to specify if you only want to print the transaction you have currently selected in the Invoice module form.  Tick this if you only want to print the one invoice.


PrintInv_IgPrintTrans_Pop
Ignore Printed Trans. is a checkbox used to specify if you want to ignore transaction in the range which have already been marked as printed.  This is useful if you want to select only transactions which you have not already printed.  Tick this checkbox only if you want to ignore previously printed transactions.


PrintInv_DocLayout_Pop
Document Layout is used to specify the document layout you want to use to print the specified range of transactions.  Click on the combobox's downarrow button (or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard) to pull-down a list of available invoice layouts and select accordingly.  To change any of the document layouts or to add new layouts you can use the Document Designer.


PostTrans
Post Transactions

The Post Transactions window is used to post or unpost transactions to your accounts and stock.  This window enables you to post and unpost large numbers of transactions in a batch or just single transactions.

To specify the range of the transactions you want to post you must enter the criteria into the available fields in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Transaction No

Finish Transaction No

Start Customer Ref

Finish Customer Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

Current Transaction Only

Post Transactions

Unpost Transactions

Any proforma invoices and quotation transactions will not be posted in the batch.  If you choose to post then any previously posted transactions will be ignored and if you choose to unpost then any unposted transactions will be ignored.

Click on the Post button when you are ready to process the specified criteria.

Please Note : Any posted transactions cannot be edited.  If you find you have made mistakes in a transaction and want to change them then you need to unpost before you make the changes.


PostInv_StartTranNo_Pop
Start Transaction No. is used to enter the transaction number you want to start posting/unposting invoices from.  This is useful if you know the range of transaction numbers you want to post.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help you find the required transaction.


PostInv_FinTranNo_Pop
Finish Transaction No. is used to enter the transaction number you want to finish posting/unposting invoices.  This is useful if you know the range of transaction numbers you want to post.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help find the required transaction.


PostInv_StartCustRef_Pop
Start Customer Ref. is used to specify the customer you want to start posting/unposting invoices from.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  Any transactions for customers before this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to post transactions for a particular customer or a range of customers.  Non-account customer invoices will only be included in the batch if you leave the range of customers as the default.


PostInv_FinCustRef_Pop
Finish Customer Ref. is used to specify the customer you want to finish posting/unposting invoices at.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  Any transactions for customers after this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to post transactions for a particular customer or a range of customers.  Non-account customer invoices will only be included in the batch if you leave the range of customers as the default.


PostInv_StartDate_Pop
Start Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to start posting/unposting from.  Any transactions dated before this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to post transactions for a range of dates.


PostInv_FinDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to finish posting/unposting at.  Any transactions dated after this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to post transactions for a range of dates.


PostInv_CurrTranNo_Pop
Current Transaction Only is a checkbox used to specify if you only want to post or unpost the transaction you have currently selected in the Invoice module form.  Tick this if you only want to print/post the one invoice.


PostInv_PostTrans_Pop
Post Transactions is a radio button which you can select if you want to post the transactions in the specified range.  If you want to unpost a range of transactions then click on the Unpost Transactions radio button instead.  If you click this option then any previously posted transactions in the range will be ignored.


PostInv_UnPostTran_Pop
Unpost Transactions is a radio button which you can select if you want to unpost the transactions in the specified range.  This will undo the postings in the accounts and stock created when the transaction was originally posted.  When a transaction has been unposted it can then be edited.  If you want to post a range of transactions then click on the Post Transactions radio button instead.  If you click this option then any unposted transactions in the range will be ignored.


ConvertTrans
Converting Transactions

The Convert Transactions Windows is used to automatically convert proforma invoices and quotations into full invoices without the need to retype all the details.

The system will use the currently selected transaction in the Invoice module to convert.  However if this transaction is not a proforma or a quotation then you will be asked to select the transaction you want to convert.

When you have selected the transaction you want to convert you can also specify some details about the newly created invoice as to how it will be processed.

Click on the field headers below for help on what each one is to be used for.

Transaction No. To Convert From

New Invoice Date

Customer Order No

Pay Invoice Now

Payment Method

Bank Ref

Payment Amount

Post Now

Click on the Convert button to convert the transaction.  If you click on Post Now the transaction will be posted to your accounts and stock immediately.  If you are converting a transaction to create a non-account invoice and you have selected to partially pay the invoice then you will be prompted to create a new account to post the unpaid amount to.

The new invoice will be given the number displayed in the New Invoice No. field in the window.

Click on the Cancel button to abort converting the transaction.


ConvertTrans_TNoFrom_Pop
Transaction No. To Convert From is used to specify the number of the proforma or quotation you want to convert into an invoice.  If this is not already filled in for you then you will need to enter a number.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help find the required transaction.


ConvertTrans_NInvDate_Pop
New Invoice Date is used to enter the date (tax point) you want to use on the new invoice.


ConvertTrans_COrdNo_Pop
Customer Order No. is used to enter the customer's order number for the new invoice if it differs from or has been provided since the original proforma or quotation.


ConvertTrans_PayNow_Pop
Pay Now is a checkbox used to tell the system if the customer is paying an amount on this invoice.  If they are then tick this checkbox.  When you tick this the fields below will become active.


ConvertTrans_PayMeth_Pop
Payment Method is used to specify if you want to record the payment into cash or into a bank account ie paid by cheque or credit card etc.  Click on the control's downarrow button to pulldown a list of available options to select from.


ConvertTrans_PostNow_Pop
Post Now is a checkbox that tells the system you want to post the transaction to your accounts and stock immediately when you create the newly converted invoice.  Tick this box if you want to do this or untick it if you want to post the transaction later.  If you intend to make some amendments to the new invoice then do not tick this box.


CopyTrans
Copy Transactions

The Copy Transactions Window is used to copy the details of a transaction to create a near identical one.  In this window you can give the new transaction a different date and even create it for a different customer.  This is useful in recording repeated transactions without the need to retype the details manually.

The currently selected transaction in the Invoice module will be the default transaction to copy however you can specify a completely different transaction if required.  You can then specify different setting for the new transaction.

Click on the field headers below for help on what each of the prompts in the window are used for.

Transaction No. To Copy

Customer Ref

New Transaction Date

Customer Order No

New Transaction Type

Click on the Copy button to create the new transaction from the details on the original.  The new transaction will not be posted to the accounts and stock even if the original was marked as Post Now.  You will have to do this separately.

Click on Cancel to abort copying the transaction.


CopyTrans_TrNoCopy_Pop
Transaction No. To Copy is used to specify the number of the transaction you want to copy to create a new one.  If this is not already filled in for you then you will need to enter a transaction number.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help find the required transaction.


CopyTrans_CustRef_Pop
Customer Ref. is used to enter the reference of the customer you want to record the new transaction for.  This will default to the customer on the transaction you are copying from.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.


CopyTrans_NewTrDate_Pop
New Transaction Date is used to enter the date (tax point) you want to use on the new transaction.


CopyTrans_CustOrdNo_Pop
Customer Order No. is used to enter the customer's order number for the new transaction if it differs from order number on the original transaction.


CopyTrans_NewType_Pop
New Transaction Type  is a radio button control for you to select one of four possible types for the new transaction you are creating.  The default will be the same as the original transaction you are copying from.  You can select from Invoice, Credit Note, Proforma Invoice and Quotation.  To select a type click on the option you require so it is filled.  On the keyboard press [TAB] to move to the required type and press [SPACE] to select.


DeleteTrans
Delete Transactions

The Delete Transactions window is used to delete a range of transactions.  This is to remove old and unnecessary transactions on the Invoice module.  This window enables you to delete large numbers of transactions in a batch or just single transactions.

You can specify a range of transactions you want to delete by entering the criteria in the fields provided in the window.  Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Transaction No

Finish Transaction No

Start Date

Finish Date

Current Transaction Only

Confirm Deletions Individually

Click on the OK button if you want to proceed with deleting the transactions in the specified range.

If you ticked the Confirm Deletions Individually check box then another window will be displayed for you to Delete Invoices Individually in the specified range.

Click Cancel if you want to cancel the deletion process.

Please Note :  The Customer and Product History reports available in the Invoice module use the data on your invoice files.  Therefore when you delete invoices from the module these details will no longer be available in these reports.


DeleteTrans_StartTrNo_Pop
Start Transaction No. is used to enter the transaction number you want to start deleting from.  This is useful if you know the range of transaction numbers you want to delete.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help you find the required transaction.


DeleteTrans_FinTransNo_Pop
Finish Transaction No. is used to enter the transaction number you want to finish deleting from.  This is useful if you know the range of transaction numbers you want to delete.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help you find the required transaction.


DeleteTrans_StDate_Pop
Start Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to start deleting from.  Any transactions dated before this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to delete transactions in a range of dates.


DeleteTrans_FinDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to finish deleting at.  Any transactions dated after this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to delete transactions in a range of dates.


DeleteTran_CurTranOnly_Pop
Current Transaction Only is a checkbox used to specify if you only want to delete the transaction you have currently selected in the Invoice module form.  Tick this if you only want to delete the one transaction.


DeleteTrans_ConfDelInd_Pop
Confirm Deletions Individually is a checkbox you can tick if you want to confirm deletion of each transaction in the specified range individually.  This will display another window with all transactions in the range listed for you to work through selecting the ones to be deleted.  This is useful if you don't necessarily want to delete all transactions in the specified range.


DelInvInd
Delete Invoices Individually

This window is used to list the transactions in the specified range as defined in the Delete Transactions window.  You can then work through them to select the transactions you want to delete.

The data grid in the top half of the window lists the actual transactions and the grid in the bottom half displays the items on the currently selected transaction.

Transactions which are marked for deletion are given a tick in the Delete column in the main data grid and those which are not marked for deletion are given a cross.  To mark or unmark a transaction for deletion you simply click the mouse in the Delete column of the required transaction.  To do this on the keyboard use the up and down cursor keys to move to the required transaction and press [RETURN].  The currently selected transaction is shown by an arrow in the left hand border of the main data grid.

You can use the Reverse button at the bottom of the window to reverse the current deletion status of each transaction.  Therefore all transactions marked for deletion will be unmarked and vice versa.

When you are ready to delete all the transactions listed which have been marked for deletion you can click on the Delete button.

Click on the Cancel button to abort deleting any transactions.


InvReps
Invoice Reports

The invoice reports menu is used to gain access to the reports and enquiries available in the Invoice module quickly and easily.

The reports available on this menu are also available on the system main menu by selecting Reports and then Invoice.

Click on the report titles below to find more information on each report on the menu.

Daybooks

Takings Summary

Customer History

Product History


InvDayBooks
Invoicing Daybooks

The Invoicing Daybook report is used to produce a detailed list of all transactions within a specified range.  This lists all the details about each transaction including the customer details, items, totals and payment details.

You can setup a criteria for the range of transactions you want to include in the report.  Click on the field prompts for help on how to use each one.

Start Customer Ref

Finish Customer Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

Include

When you have selected the range of stock items and periods you want you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to choose what you want to do with the report.

Select Print to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


Refund_Balance_Pop
Refund Balance value is used to display the amount which is still to be allocated against transactions.  This is reduced with each transaction you allocate.


SelectPer_Pop
Select Period is used to drop-down a list of the most common periods you will want to display and print in the report.  This Month will display the currently opened financial period.  If you want to select different periods other than the ones available in the combobox or if you want to view a report for a combination of periods ie. quarters then you must use the Period Selection button which is located to the right of each period's combobox.


DataGrid_Click
Double-click on the required record on the data grid to zoom-in to the transactions.


Payment_Discount_Pay_Pop
Payment is used to key in the amount you are paying on this transaction.  The discount will be calculated as the difference between this and the outstanding amount.


Payment_Discount_Disc_Pop
Discount is used to enter the amount you want to record as a discount on this transaction.  This will default as the difference between the payment amount you entered and the outstanding amount.


Payment_Discount_PayBal_Pop
Payment Balance displays the amount of money you have remaining to be allocated against transactions on the payment.  This will restrict the amount you enter in Payment.


Payment_Discount_TotOut_Pop
Total Outstanding displays the amount which is outstanding (still to be allocated) on the selected transaction.


PLBalSheet_DispIndAcc_Pop
Display Individual Accounts is used to specify if you want each financial account to be included in the financial reports.  If you do not tick this checkbox then the system will print a grouped report where account balances in each group are accumulated to print groups and their totals only.  If you tick the checkbox to print individual accounts then each individual financial account will be printed as well as group totals.


PLBalSheet_Period_Pop
Periods are used to select the periods you want produce financial reports for.  You can click on the period combobox's  down arrow button or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard to pulldown a list of the most commonly used periods.  This Month represents the currently opened period and not necessarily the month of the current system date.  Click on the Select Periods button to select other periods other than those available in the pull-down list.


BudVarGraph_SelPer_Pop
Select Graph Period is used to specify which of the two possible periods you have selected for your Budget Variance Graph are to be displayed.  You can click on the required radio button option to select and the graph will change accordingly.


BankPayRec_TransType_Pop
Transaction Type is a radiobutton control used to select if you want to enter a payment or a receipt.  You should click on the option you require or press [TAB] to move to the option you want and press [SPACE] to select.


BankDtls_Limit_Pop
Limit is used to enter the credit limit you may have on the bank account.  This is useful in calculating how much cash you have available to you at any one time.  See Quick Analysis.


StockDtls
Stock Details

The Stock Details window enables you to enter details about each of your stock items.  This helps provide a very comprehensive system of maintaining stock prices, levels and other useful details held by the system.

If you selected to add a new stock item to the system you will first of all be asked for a new Stock Code.  The Stock Code is the main way of accessing stock item information and must be unique for every item added to the system.

If you selected to edit or view an existing stock item, the details of the currently selected item will be displayed in the form for you to edit.  If you want to edit or view a different stock item you can use the search button or enter the required Stock Code directly.  See the Search facility to locate a different stock item.

If you are entering a batch of new stock items then you can use the New button on the Options Bar at the top of the Stock Details Window after entering each one.

There are four tab pages which make up the Stock Details window each of which is used to display different information about the item.  Whatever tab page is selected the details displayed on the left hand side of the form are always visible, it is only the details on the right hand side that change.

The Details tab page provides additional fields to enter core information about each item.

The Stock tab page displays the current stock levels and provides some additional fields for you to help process stock quantities and levels.

The Notepad tab page is used to enter unlimited free-text notes about each items.

The Picture tab page is used to insert and view a bitmap picture image of the item.

The Options bar at the top of the window provide various options for processing stock details.  Click on the required button below for help on each option.

Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each field in the Stock Details window.

Stock Code

Description

Product Group

Sales Prices

Cost Price

Discounts

Show Price Including VAT

Full Stock Item

Details	Stock

Sales Account	In Stock

Purchase Account	On Order

Sales VAT	Projected Stock

Purchase VAT	Reorder Level

Preferred Supplier	Reorder Quantity

Supplier Stock Ref	Unit Of Sale

Location	Unit Of Purchase

Commodity	Last Sale

Last Delivery

The Picture tabpage is particularly useful if you want to maintain an actual picture of your stock items on file.  You must first of obtain the pictures of your items in bitmap format (.BMP).  Your supplier may have a catalogue of product pictures available to you or if you have a scanner you may wish to scan pictures from your product catalogue.

Please Note :  To scan in pictures you must use 3rd party scanning software as Empire Builder allows you to attach existing pictures to the stock items on the system, it does not include any scanning software.

When you click on the Picture tabpage you are given a white space where the picture will be displayed and three buttons above it.  Click on the picture options below for help on how to use each one.

Paste    Load    Stretch


StockDtls_StockCode_Pop
Stock Code is used to specify a unique reference for the new stock item or to search for an existing item.  The stock code can be upto 16 characters in length.  If the Search button is not shown then you must enter a new stock code for the new item.  If you are searching for an existing item click the Search button or directly enter the full or partial stock reference or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to help find the item using the Search facilities.


StockDtls_Desc_Pop
Description is used to enter a full description of the stock of upto 40 characters.


StockDtls_ProdGroup_Pop
Product Group is used to specify the reference of the product group you want to include this stock item in.  You can click on the Search button, enter the product group reference directly or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to invoke the Search facilities to locate the group you are looking for.  When selected the name of the product group will be displayed below.


StockDtls_SalesPrices_Pop
Sales Prices are used to specify the three separate prices you can record for each stock item.  You can select from these prices when recording customer invoices and each price level can be setup for each customer.  These can be used to record different price levels, for example, retail prices, trade and wholesale etc.


StockDtls_CostPrice_Pop
Cost Prices is used to specify the current cost price of the item.


StockDtls_Discounts_Pop
Discounts are used to specify three separate discount percentage levels for each stock item.  These can be be used when entering customer invoices to specify a set discount level.


StockDtls_ShowPriceIncVAT_Pop
Show Price Including VAT is a checkbox that you can tick if you want to display the three sales prices as gross (including VAT) as opposed to net (excluding VAT).  This is useful for items where the gross price is more useful for enquiry and quotation purposes.


StockDtls_FullStkItem_Pop
Full Stock Item is used to specify if the item is to be treated as a full stock item or not.  Tick this checkbox if you want to maintain stock levels and keep a track of quantities etc.  If you just want to maintain the details of the item for price and description purposes and don't want to keep track of stock quantities then untick this box.  Full sales and profit figures are maintained regardless of this setting.


StockDtls_SalesAcc_Pop
Sales Account is used to specify the financial account you want to use when processing sales for this stock item.  You may want to record sales of different types of products and services into different account for financial analysis and reporting.  Click on the Search button or directly key the full or partial reference or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to invoke the Search facilities to help you find the required account.


StockDtls_PurcAcc_Pop
Purchase Account is used to specify the financial account you want to use when processing purchases for this stock item.  You may want to record purchases of different types of products and services into different account for financial analysis and reporting.  Click on the Search button or directly key the full or partial reference or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to invoke the Search facilities to help you find the required account.


StockDtls_SalesVAT_Pop
Sales VAT is used to specified the VAT code you want to use when processing sales for this item.  Some items you sell may be zero rated, exempt or standard rated and you should enter the appropriate code for the Vatable status of the item.  See System Setup for setting up VAT codes and rates.


StockDtls_PurcVAT_Pop
Purchase VAT is used to specified the VAT code you want to use when processing purchases for this item.  The items you buy may be zero rated, exempt, standard rated or imported and you should enter the appropriate code for the Vatable status of the item.  See System Setup for setting up VAT codes and rates.


StockDtls_PrefSupp_Pop
Preferred Supplier is used to specify the supplier whom you normally purchase this item from.  This is used mainly for reference purposes.  Use the Search facilities to locate the supplier you want to use.


StockDtls_SuppPartRef_Pop
Supplier Stock Ref. is used to enter the selected supplier's reference for this stock item for reference and reporting purposes


StockDtls_Location_Pop
Location is used to enter the physical stock location of the item for reference purposes.


StockDtls_Commodity_Pop
Commodity is used to enter the commodity code of the stock item.  You use this for the EC Intrastat scheme or you can store your own miscellaneous reference.  This is used purely for reference and reporting purposes.


StockDtls_InStock_Pop
In Stock displays the physical quantity you have in stock.  This is for display only and cannot be changed directly.  The stock levels for each item are adjusted by entering customer invoices, recording deliveries and making adjustments.  See Stock Adjustments.


StockDtls_OnOrder_Pop
On Order displays the quantity you have on order with suppliers.  To put items on order you must record purchase orders.


StockDtls_ProjStock_Pop
Projected Stock displays the quantity of physical you will have when the outstanding orders are received.  This display-only field simply adds the In Stock quantity to the On Order quantity.


StockDtls_ReordLev_Pop
Reorder Level is used to record the quantity at which you should reorder the item.  This is used to produce the Reorder Report.


StockDtls_ReordQty_Pop
Reorder Quantity is used to enter the quantity you want to order when the stock is reduced below the reorder level.


StockDtls_LastSale_Pop
Last Sale displays the date this item was last sold.


StockDtls_LastDel_Pop
Last Delivery displays the date a delivery of this item was last received from the supplier.


StockDtls_UnitSales_Pop
Unit of Sale is for you to specify the unit you will be selling the item in ie. Each, Packet of 3, Box of 5 etc.  This is purely a reference field and no calculations are carried out on this field to adjust stock figures etc.


StockDtls_UnitPurc_Pop
Unit of Purchase is for you to specify the unit you will be selling the item in ie. Each, Box of 10 etc.  This is purely a reference field and no calculations are carried out on this field to adjust stock figures etc.


StockDtls_New_Pop
New is used to tell the system that you want to create a new stock item.  If you select this the system will give you empty fields to enter the new details into.


StockDtls_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the details of the item you have entered.


StockDtls_Abandon_Pop
Abandon is used to abandon any changes you have made to the stock item.


StockDtls_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to delete the current stock item.  If the stock item is active ie. has stock quantities, then this option will not be available.


StockDtls_Prev_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous stock item on file.  The move order is by Stock Code.


StockDtls_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next stock item on file.  The move order is by Stock Code.


StockDtls_Paste_Pop
Paste is used if you have a copied a picture into the Windows clipboard and you want now want to paste it into this stock item.


StockDtls_Load_Pop
Load is used if you have the picture you want stored in a file and you want to load it into the stock item.  This will invoke a Windows Explorer-style file select window for you to select the BMP file you want to use as the picture for the stock item.


StockDtls_Stretch_Pop
Stretch is used if the picture you have pasted or loaded is too small or too large to fit into the frame available.  This will stretch or shrink the picture to fit precisely into the provided frame.


ProdGroups
Product Groups

Product Groups are used to group a stock items together useful mainly for reporting purposes.  This window enables you to setup the product groups you want to use.  There is no limit to the number of product groups you can setup and no limit to the number of items you can have in each product group.

The Product Group window lists the currently setup product groups.  The Options bar at the top of the window give you all the facilities to setup your required product groups.  Click on the buttons below for help on each one.

In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates which product group in the list is presently selected.    If you click on the data grid which lists your product groups you can use the up and down cursor keys on your keyboard to move the arrow to the one you want to see or drag the vertical scrollbars up or down with the mouse to scroll through the list.


ProdGroup_New_Pop
New is used to create a new product group.


ProdGroup_Edit_Pop
Edit is used to edit the description of an existing product group.


ProdGroup_Search_Pop
Search is used to find a required product group.


ProdGroup_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to delete an existing product group.  This option is only available for product groups which do not have any stock items assigned to them.


ProdGroup_AddEdit_Pop
Add/Edit Product Groups

This window enables you to add new product groups and to edit the reference and descriptions of existing product groups.

You will first of all be asked for the Product Group Reference which is the main way of accessing the product groups in the system.  If you are editing an existing product group you can change the reference of a product group which will be written to all the stock items in the product group when it is saved.  If you want to find another product group to edit then click on the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] to invoke the Search facilities.

Next you will be asked to key in the full Description of the product group of upto 40 characters.

Click on the New button is you want to create another product group without leaving this window.

Click on the Save button to save the details you have entered for the product group.

Click on the Abandon button to abandon the details  you have entered.

Click on the Close button to close the window.


StkReps_StartCode_Pop
Start Stock Code is used to key in the stock code for the item at which the report/enquiry should start at.  This will default to the first stock code.  Stock item codes before this will not be included in the report/enquiry.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the stock item.


StkReps_FinCode_Pop
Finish Stock Code is used to key in the stock code for the item at which the report/enquiry should finish at.  This will default to the last stock code.  Stock item codes after this will not be included in the report/enquiry.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the stock item you want.


StkReps_StartPG_Pop
Start Product Group  is used to key in the product group at which the report/enquiry should start at.  This will default to the first product group reference.  Stock items assigned to product groups before this will not be included in the report/enquiry.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the product group you want.


StkReps_FinPG_Pop
Finish Product Group  is used to key in the product group at which the report/enquiry should finish at.  This will default to the last product group reference.  Stock items assigned to product groups after this will not be included in the report/enquiry.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the product group you want.


StkReps_BySCPG_Pop
Report By Stock Code or Product Group is used only for the printed or previewed report and has no effect on any screen enquiry.  This is to tell the system in what order you want the report.  If you click on By Stock Code then the system will provide a report in stock code order.  If you click on By Product Group then it will group all items in each product group together and provide group subtotals where applicable.


StkHist_StockCode_Pop
Stock Code is used to search for the stock code you want to view the history for.  When selected the stock item's transactions for the specified date range will be listed in the data grid.  Click on the Search button, enter the reference directly or press [Ctrl + S] to invoke the Search facilities to help you find the required stock item.


Stock History

The Stock History enquiry window is used to lookup the movement history of any stock items which are used for recording stock levels.

At the top of the History form you will see various prompts for you to set a range of stock items, a range of product groups and a range of transaction dates.

Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Start Date

Finish Date

By Stock Code/Product Group

The buttons on the Options bar are particularly useful in enabling you to make indepth enquiries, to print and email the report and to move through the different stock item's histories.  Click on the buttons below to see a detailed explanation of what each option is used for.

If you want to jump to a particular stock item to view it's history then you can use the field displayed just below the Option Bar, which always displays the stock item's code that is currently listed.  You can use the Search facility to find the stock item you require.

The data grid displayed just below the Stock Code prompt is used to display the stock item's history.  As with all the data grids in the system you can move through the transactions data using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.

The horizontal scrollbar displayed at the bottom of the grid is used to move the various columns in the grid to display additional information about each transaction.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.

The buttons on the Options Bar are also available in a pop-up menu.  To bring up this menu right-click and select the relevant option on the menu.  There is also an option to Change The Data Grid Colours if required.


StkReps_IncZeroItems_Pop
Include Zero Stock Items is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include items with no physical stock ie. in stock level is zero.  Tick this box if you want to include these items, untick it if you do not.


StkReps_IncNonStock_Pop
Include Non Stock Items is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include items which are not full stock items ie. items which are used for description and prices purposes only with not actual stock levels maintained.  Tick this box if you want to include these items, untick it if you do not.


StockCheck
Stock Check Report

The Stock Check report is used to produce a list of stock items showing the current stock levels.  The printed report provides a blank column for you to fill in the physical stock quantity as you carry out your stock checks.

This report is useful as a tool for helping you carry out regular stock checks to make sure your computerised stock is as accurate as possible.

To produce a stock check report you are first of all asked to key in a range of stock items you want to have included in the report.

Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Include Zero Stock Items

Include Non Stock Items

By Stock Code/Product Group

The buttons on the Options bar are used to zoom-in to a selected stock item's movement history and to print and email the Stock Check report.  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The data grid displays the actual stock information which you have requested.  You can invoke the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  To add functionality there is an option on the pop-up menu to make a Stock Adjustment which enables to you enter any stock check discrepancies whilst in the enquiry by moving through the stock list.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected customer is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required customer or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the stock list using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


StkReps_ZoomIn_Pop
Zoom In is used to zoom-in to the currently selected stock item's movement history.  You can also double-click on the required stock item in the data grid to zoom-in.


Stock Price List

The Stock Price List report is used to produce a list of specified stock items with selected sales prices and discounts for distribution to customers.  You can tell the report exactly which prices and discounts you want to have printed.  For example you may want to send a customer a price list containing only their price level.

To produce a price list report you are first of all asked to key in a range of stock items you want to have included in the list.

Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Include Zero Stock Items

Include Non Stock Items

By Stock Code/Product Group

The buttons on the Options bar are used to zoom-in to a selected stock item's movement history and to print and email the Price List to a customer .  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The data grid displays the actual stock information which you have requested.

The pop-up menu which you can invoke by right-clicking on the data grid is particularly important in the Price List report.  When you invoke this popup menu you will see options for each of the price and discount levels with ticks by the side.  These are toggles and indicate which prices and discounts you want to have included in the price list report.  To unselect a price or discount level simply select it from the pop-up menu.  This will remove the relevant column immediately from the data grid.  If you then right-click on the data grid again you will see the tick at the side of the select price or discount removed.

When you select to print the price list only those prices and discount levels you have selected will be printed.

An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected stock item is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required item or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the stock list using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


StockReorder
Stock Reorder Report

The Stock Reorder Report is used to produce a list of stock items whose physical stock quantity has fallen below the specified reorder level and therefore needs reordering from suppliers.  You can produce an item reorder list for every item or just those you order from a particular supplier.

To produce your reorder report you must first enter a range of stock items you want to have included in the list.

Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Supplier Ref.

The buttons on the Options bar are used to zoom-in to a selected stock item's movement history and to print and email the stock reorder report.  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The data grid displays the actual stock information which you have requested.

You can invoke a pop-up menu which contains the facilities on the Options bar by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected stock item is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required item or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the stock list using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


StockReorder_SuppRef_Pop
Supplier Ref. is used to specify the supplier you want to produce a reorder report for.  Only items which the chosen supplier is the preferred supplier for will be included.  If you want to list all items which need reordering regardless of supplier then leave this field blank.  Click on the Search button, enter the reference directly or press [Ctrl + S] to use the Search facilities to help you find the required supplier.


StockValuation
Stock Valuation Report

The Stock Valuation report produces a valuation of your current holding, item by item.  It gives you a valuation by cost price and by a selected sales price.  It then totals the stock valuation for the range of stock items you select and subtotals by product group if required.

The Stock Valuation report also includes a graphical report enabling you to see a graphical analysis of the report,  see Stock Valuation Graph.

To produce a stock valuation report you will be asked to key in a range of stock items you want to have included in the report.

Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Include Zero Stock Items

Include Non Stock Items

By Stock Code/Product Group

Any changes you enter into the above range settings will immediately effect the information displayed on the report and in the graph, dependant on which is selected.

Underneath the range setting prompts you will see two available tab pages.  The first is Report which is used to view and print the straightforward report information and the second tab is Graph which enables you to see the various graphs available.   Click on the Graph tab page to view the Stock Valuation Graph.

The buttons on the Options bar are used to zoom-in to a selected stock item's movement history and to print and email the report .  Click on the buttons below for the details of each option.

The data grid displays the actual stock information which you have requested.

The pop-up menu which you can invoke by right-clicking on the data grid is particularly important in the Stock Valuation report.

When you invoke the popup menu you will see options for three sales prices and for Average Valuation.  This is used to select what sales price you want the stock valuation to be calculated on to give you a valuation of each item at sale.  If you select Average Valuation then an average sales price from all three sales prices will be used.  The price with the tick on the menu is the one which is presently displayed in the data grid and will be used when you select the Print or Email buttons.  To select the required price click it on the pop-up menu.  If you then right-click on the data grid again you will see the tick at the side of the selected price.

An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

The currently selected stock item is highlighted by a black arrow in the left hand margin of the grid which can be moved by clicking on the required item or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.

You can move through the stock list using the vertical scrollbars on the right of the grid by clicking the scrollbar and dragging it up and down.  You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


StockSalesRep
Stock Sales Report

The Stock Sales report provides a comprehensive analysis of your sales figures for each stock item and for any of 36 periods of sales figures which are maintained.  You can produce a sales report for any range of stock items or product groups or for your entire stock holding.  There is also a Stock Sales Graph to view a graphical analysis of your sales figures.

You can select upto 5 different periods or combination of periods on the report by using the Period prompts on the right of the window.  This will display the sales quantities for each of the selected periods.

To produce the report you must specify the range of stock items you want to have included.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Include Zero Stock Items

Include Non Stock Items

Select Periods (1-5)

By Stock Code/Product Group

When you have selected the range of stock items and periods you want you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to choose what you want to do with the report.

Select Print to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Graph to view the graphical analysis of the report.  See Stock Sales Graph.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


StockProfit
Stock Profit Reports

The Stock Profit report is used to produce a list giving you details of your stock profit and sales figures in order to analyse the profitability of stock lines.  You can generate reports for any of the 36 months that the system maintains for your stock control.  You can view a graphical analysis of this report, see Stock Profit Graph.

There are two stock profit reports available to select from.

Period Analysis report is designed to produce a detailed profit and sales analysis for each stock item in a specified range for one particular period or combination of periods.  This will list the quantity sold, total sales, cost of sales, profit and profit percentage.

Period By Period is a report designed to produce profit figures for each stock item in a specified range for upto 5 different periods or combination of periods.  This will list just the actual profit figure for each period.

Regardless of which profit report you have selected you will first of all be asked to specify a range of stock items you want to produce the report for.  Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Include Zero Stock Items

Include Non Stock Items

By Stock Code/Product Group

If you selected the Period Analysis report then you will be given one period to select.  If you select the Period By Period report then you will have upto 5 periods to select.  See Select Periods for help on selecting the relevant period(s).

Select Print to print the relevant profit report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Graph to view the graphical analysis of the relevant report.  See Stock Profit Graph.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


Stock Adjustments

The Stock Adjustments facility enables you to make manual adjustments to the physical stock levels of your stock items.  Whenever an adjustment is made to the stock levels the systems adds a transaction to it's history maintaining a full history of stock movements.  All movements in stock are dealt with on a First In First Out (FIFO) basis.

The Invoice and Purchase Order modules automatically update the stock levels whenever a transaction is entered or deliveries are received.  This option enables you to manually adjust levels for stock take discrepancies, recording opening stock levels etc.

You will be asked to key in the details of the adjustment for the required item.  Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each prompt to complete each stock adjustment.

Stock Code

Adjustment Type

Quantity

Sales Price

Cost Price

Date

Reference

Details

The Options bar at the top of the window gives you the option to Save the adjustment details or Abandon them.  Select accordingly.

If you select Save the system will adjust the physical stock quantity of the selected item by the entered quantity.  Whether the stock quantity is increased or decreased is dependant on the Adjustment type you selected.  When saved the system will also create a transaction for the stock item which can be viewed using the Stock History option on the Stock module's Option bar.


StockSalesAnal
Stock Sales Analysis

The Stock Sales Analysis window is used to display the sales, turnover and profit figures for each of the 36 periods that the system stores.  You can use this facility to quickly see, period by period, the sales performance of single items or entire product groups.  You can also group and calculate combinations of periods ie. quarters, years etc.

The sales figures are displayed in the main spreadsheet style grid showing the quantity sold, turnover, profit and profit percentage for each period.

The fields and prompts at the top of the window are used to specify which stock items and product groups you want to view sales figures for.  Click on the prompts below for details of what each of these do.

View Figures For

Stock Code

Product Group

If you want to view sales figures for a stock item or a product group for a combination of periods then you can use the Calculate button.  First of all select the periods you want to view by clicking on the first or the last month in the Period column of the spreadsheet and dragging the mouse over the months you want until all the months in the period are completely highlighted.  Then click on the Calculate button which will popup a small window containing the sales figures for the selected period.  You won't be able to select months that are not open.

Click on the Close button when you have finished with the window.


Stock Filter

The stock filter window is used to filter the list of stock items displayed in the Stock module to whatever criteria you require.  This enables you to view only a subset of stock items which you need to work on at a particular time allowing for extensive enquiries.

For example you may only wish to list stock items in a particular product group, or those items which are on order with suppliers, or those which have sold over 50 last month.

Please note that any filters you set are solely for use in the list on the Stock module window.

The fields on the form enable you to set up the filter using a series of ranges.  Click on the field header below for details of each field range on the filter form.

Stock Code From/To

Product Group From/To

Supplier Ref.

Sold Quantity From/To

   Month

   Year

Turnover From/To

   Month

   Year

Full Stock Items

Non Stock Items

Zero Stock Items

To Be Reordered

Items On Order

Click on the OK button when you have setup your filter and want to execute it for the Stock module.

Click on the Reset button if you want to set the filter to it's original default values.  When you do this you can click on OK to reset the filter in the Stock module to list all stock items.

Click on the Cancel button to abandon any filter settings made and close this window.


TakingsSumm
Takings Summary

The Takings Summary is used to give you daily, weekly, monthly etc. sales figures from the invoices and credit notes you produce.  It breaks down each transaction by you sales financial accounts and then summarises the money you have taken on account, by cash and by each of your bank accounts.  You can also view and print a graphical takings summary, see Takings Summary Graph.

You may, for example, want to see the takings for a week  broken down by Product Sales, Services etc.  This will be break it down by each method of payment as you have set them up and total them at the bottom of the data grid.  In the far right column of the data grid you will see the totals of each account and the footer at the bottom of the last column is your total takings.

To set the range of transactions you want to calculate a takings summary for, you must enter them into the fields at the top of the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Customer

Finish Customer

Start Date

Finish Date

Include VAT Amounts

Underneath the range setting prompts you will see two available tab pages.  The first is Report which is used to view and print the straightforward report information and the second tab is Graph which enables you to see the various graphs available.   Click on the Graph tab page to view the Takings Summary Graph.

The buttons on the Options bar underneath the range settings are there to give you additional facilities.

Click on the buttons below for further help on what each option does.

The data grid displays the actual breakdown by account and payment type of the takings summary.  You can select the options which are available on the Options bar explained above by using the pop up menu.  You can invoke the pop-up menu by right-clicking on the data grid.  An additional option is to Change The Data Grid Colours to your preference.

You can also Move Columns in the grid to different positions according to your preference.


InvCustHist
Customer Invoice History

The Customer History report is used to provide you with a complete history of products or services your customers have purchased for a specified period.  You can select a range of stock items and/or product groups to see a customer's sales history.  You can also view a graphical analysis of the customer history, see Customer History Graph.

You can also select to view a detailed report, listing the details of each instance the customer bought each item, or a summary report that lists total quantities and values purchased for each item.

To set the criteria of customer and products you want to include in the report you must use the fields provided in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Customer Ref

Finish Customer Ref

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Start Date

Finish Date

Detailed History

Summary History

When you have selected the range of customers, stock items and dates you want you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to choose what you want to do with the report.

Select Print to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Graph to view the graphical analysis of the report.  See Customer History Graph.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


InvProdHist
Product Invoice History

The Product History report is used to provide you with a complete history of products or services your customers have purchased for a specified period.  You can select a range of customers to product history of product sales by customer.  You can also view a graphical analysis of the product history, see Product History Graph.

You can also select to view a detailed report, listing the details of each instance a stock item was purchased by a customer, or a summary report that lists total quantities and values purchased for each item to give details of what customers have purchased each item.

To set the criteria of products and customers you want to include in the report you must use the fields provided in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Stock Code

Finish Stock Code

Start Product Group

Finish Product Group

Start Customer Ref

Finish Customer Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

By Stock Code/Product Group

Detailed History

Summary History

When you have selected the range of stock items, customers and dates you want you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to choose what you want to do with the report.

Select Print to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Graph to view the graphical analysis of the report.  See Product History Graph.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


InvFilter
Invoice Filter

The Invoice Filter window is used to filter the list of transactions displayed in the Invoice module to whatever criteria you require.  This enables you to view only a subset of transactions items which you need to work on at a particular time allowing for extensive enquiries.

For example you may only wish to list transactions for a particular period or for a particular customer or you may want to look at a list of quotations etc.

Please note that any filters you set are solely for use in the list on the Invoice module window.

The fields on the form enable you to set up the filter using a series of ranges.  Click on the field prompts below for details of each field range on the filter form.

Invoice No. From/To

Customer Ref. From/To

Date From/To

Total Value From/To

Non Account Transactions

Posted Transactions

Unposted Transactions

Printed Transactions

Unprinted Transactions

All Transaction Types

Invoices/Credit Notes/Proformas/Quotations

Click on the OK button when you have setup your filter and want to execute it in the Invoice module list.

Click on the Reset button if you want to set the filter to it's original default values.  When you do this you can click on OK to reset the filter in the Invoice module to list all transactions.

Click on the Cancel button to abandon any filter settings made and close this window.


StockValGraph
Stock Valuation Graph

The Stock Valuation Graph gives a pictorial representation of the valuation of your stock displaying both the value at cost and at the selected sales price (as selected in the Stock Valuation Report).

The first graph you will see is the summary of the totals of your stock valuation by product group.  If you want to see how each product group is made up you can point at the product group element you want and double-click.  This will drill-in to the data and present a detailed graph of all the stock items in the selected product group

To drill-out a level you can right-click on the bar or pie, dependant on what type of graph is displayed.

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


Stock Sales Graph

The Stock Sales Graph gives a pictorial analysis of your stock sales by quantity.  Also see Stock Sales Report.

The first graph you will see is the summary of the total stock sales by product group.  If you want to see how each product group is made up you can point at the product group element you want and double-click.  This will drill-in to the data and present a detailed graph of all the stock items in the selected product group.

To drill-out a level you can right-click on the bar or pie, dependant on what type of graph is displayed.

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


Stock Profit Graph

The Stock Profit Graph gives a pictorial analysis of your stock profit figures based upon the periods you have selected (see Stock Profit Report).

The first graph you will see is the summary of the stock profit figures for each product group.  If you want to see how each product group is made up you can point at the product group element you want and double-click.  This will drill-in to the data and present a detailed graph of all the stock items in the selected product group.

To drill-out a level you can right-click on the bar or pie, dependant on what type of graph is displayed.

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


TakSummGraph
Takings Summary Graph

The Takings Summary Graph gives a graphical analysis of your takings summary figures (see Takings Summary).

The first graph you will see is the breakdown of the summary figures by account or category.  If you want to see how each category is broken down by payment type ie. On Account, Cash etc. then you can point at the required account element you want and double-click.  This will drill-in to the data and present a graph displaying the relevant breakdown.

To drill-out a level you can right-click on the bar or pie, dependant on what type of graph is displayed.

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


CustHistGraph
Customer History Graph

The Customer History Graph gives a graphical analysis of product sales for a specified range of customers and periods (see Customer History Report).

The graphs shows each customer's total net figures and profit margins made for the specified range .

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


ProdHistGraph
Product History Graph

The Product History Graph gives a graphical analysis of product sales for a specified range of products and periods (see Customer History Report).

The first graph you will see is the breakdown of the product history figures by each product group displaying the net values and profit margins for each group.  If you want to see a breakdown of how a product groups are broken down by each stock item then you can point at the required product group element you want and double-click.  This will drill-in to the data and present a graph displaying the relevant breakdown.

To drill-out a level you can right-click on the bar or pie, dependant on what type of graph is displayed.

For full instructions on how to operate the graph and details of how each of the buttons on the Options bar at the top of the window see Using Graphs In Empire Builder.


User Setup

The User Setup window is used to create a new user or edit an existing user's details.  User details are used for logging in purposes and to restrict access to certain parts of the system.

You can assign a password for each user which they must use whenever attempting to access the system.  The user can setup various aspects of the software to their own requirements, for example the toolbar, and the system will set this up for them each time they access the programme by checking the user's log-in ID and password.  See Customising The Toolbar for details on how to configure the toolbar.

Click on the field prompts below for details on how to use each one.

User ID

User Name

Password

Access To

    Customers

    Suppliers

    Financial

    Bank

    Invoice

    Stock

    Purchase Order

    Financial Reports

    Amend Transactions

    System Reports

    System Setup

When a user's details are displayed in the window there are no details hidden.  Therefore we recommend any users whom you do not want to be allowed to add, edit or view user details should not have their System Setup checkbox ticked so they are restricted from accessing this option.

When you finished enter the details of user and setting up their access rights you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to select your next action.

Click on the Save button to save the user details to the system.

Click on the Abandon button if you want to discard the details you have entered.

Click on the Delete button if you want to delete the currently selected user.


PurcOrders
Purchase Orders

The Purchase Orders window provides all the features you need to enter, edit and print purchase orders.  This window is used to enter stock items for product ordering or free-text items for non-stock items or services.  Finally you can print the order on a document designed to your exact requirements using the Document Designer.

The Purchase Order entry window is split into three sections which are separated by tab pages.

The Supplier Details tabpage is used to enter the header details of the invoice by specifying the supplier you are placing the order with and entering a delivery address.

The Items Details tabpage is used to enter the actual product or service details which make up the order.  In this tabpage you enter stock codes, free-text, quantities, prices etc.

The Footer Details tabpage is used to enter the finishing details of the order such as entering carriage charges, settlement discounts etc.

Click on the relevant tabpage below for the one you want to see help for.

The facilities available on the Options bar at the top of the provide additional functionality.  Click on the buttons below for help on each one.


POSuppDtls
Purchase Order Supplier Details

The Supplier Details tabpage on the Purchase Order window is used to setup the header details of the order you are entering.  This includes specifying a customer and their details.

The system will first of all generate a new number for the order and display this at the top of the page.  You can now proceed to key in the order header details.

Click on the field prompts below for help on each one.

Supplier Ref

Date

Our Reference

Ordered By

Due Delivery Date

Delivery Name & Address

When you confirm the last field you will be moved onto the Item Details Tabpage.


POItemDtls
Purchase Order Item Details

The Items tab page is where you actually enter the details of your items.  You can enter items from the Stock module or enter free-text items for non-stock items or services.  You can combine both types of items on an order.

There is no limit to the number of lines you can enter on an order and there is no limit to the amount of text you can enter into each free-text item.

At the bottom of the tab page the totals of the order are displayed.  These totals are updated as you add items to the order.  The full summary of order totals are displayed on the Footer tabpage.

Above the data entry grid (where you actually enter your items) on the left you can see the details of the supplier for your reference as you go through the order.

On the right you are given details about each stock item including stock levels and price levels and also a longer description to give you more information on the highlighted item than space will allow in the data entry grid.  As you enter items onto the order you enter quantities and prices.

You can now proceed to enter in the details of the items you want on the order.  Click on the data entry grid column headers below for help on each one.

Stock Code

Free-Text Description

Quantity

Price

Discount

Account

VC

Due Date

On the data entry grid you also have a popup menu which can be invoked by right-clicking the required item line.  You are then given the options to make a Stock Adjustment (to make on-the-fly adjustments to the item's stock levels), view the Stock Picture (to view a picture of the selected stock item if one has been imported for the item) and to also Change The Data Grid Colours.


POFtrDtls
Purchase Order Footer Details

The Footer Details tabpage is used to enter finishing details to the order such as carriage charges,  and notes.  You can also see the totals of the order.

The totals displayed in the top half of the tabpage are the totals of the goods you have ordered, taking into account any settlement discounts.  The totals in the bottom half of the tabpage display the complete totals of the order taking into account the carriage charges.  The Total Order field display the full transaction total.

Click on the prompts below for help on what you will use each field for.

Carriage

VAT Code

Account

Notepad

Settlement Days

Settlement Discount

Early Settlement


PODeliver
Deliveries

The Purchase Orders Delivery window is used to record deliveries into stock from the items ordered.

You specify a range of orders you want to record deliveries for by using the prompts underneath the Options bar.   Outstanding orders within this range will be listed in the upper data grid and the items on the orders will be displayed in the data grid at the bottom of the window.  You can then work through selecting the orders in the order data grid and entering the delivery quantities and prices into the items grid.

Click on the icons below for help on using each button on the Options bar at the top of the window.

Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one to specify a range of orders you want to record deliveries for.

Delivery Date

Start Order No

Finish Order No

Start Supplier Ref

Finish Supplier Ref

Start Order Date

Finish Order Date

When the range of orders has been selected and listed in the orders grid you can now work through each one and enter the delivery details.  If you want to receive all the items on all the orders in the specified list then use the Automatic button.

Select the order you want by clicking on it in the grid or use the cursor keys on the keyboard.  In the margin on the left hand side you will see a black arrow which indicates the order in the list that is presently selected.  The outstanding items on the order will be displayed in the items data grid.

When the relevant order is selected you can then proceed to record the delivery of the individual items using the items data grid at the bottom of the window.  The columns explained below are used to record the delivery of each item.

The Quantity Ordered column in the grid is displays the quantity of each item on the order that was originally ordered.  This cannot be changed here.

The Quantity Received column displays the quantity that has previously been received on other deliveries.  This cannot be changed here.

The Quantity Delivered column is used for you to enter the quantity that you have received on this delivery.  If you enter a quantity which is greater than the quantity ordered (minus the quantity already received) then you will be shown a warning window asking you to confirm the over-delivery.

The Cost Price column is used to enter the supplier's price for the items being delivered.  This will default to the prices on the originally order.  If you enter a different price then the system will display a window warning you of the price mismatch and ask you to confirm it.  Recording a correct cost price is essential for the accurate tracking of stock profit figures.


POCopy
Copy Orders

The Copy Orders window is used to copy the details of an order to create a near identical one with all the same item details etc.  In this window you can give the new order a different date and even create it for a different supplier.  This is useful in recording repeated orders without the need to retype the details manually.

The currently selected order in the Purchase Order module will be the default order to copy however you can specify a completely different order if required.  You can then specify different settings for the new order.

Click on the field headers below for help on what each of the prompts in the window are used for.

Purchase Order No. To Copy

Supplier Ref

Order Date

Order Reference

Click on the Copy button to create the new order from the details on the original.  The new order will be given the status of ON ORDER and will increase the On Order quantity for all items on the items.  This is regardless of the status of the original order it was copied from.  Any deliveries you need to record for the new order will have to be done separately.

Click on Cancel to abort copying the order.


POOutstOrd
Outstanding Orders Report

The Outstanding Orders Report is used to produce a list of all orders that have yet to be delivered.  This enables you to see any back orders or undelivered orders.

To set the criteria of orders you want to have included in the report you must use the fields provided in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Order No

Finish Order No

Start Supplier Ref

Finish Supplier Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

By Order

By Supplier

When you have selected the range of orders, suppliers and dates you want, you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to choose what you want to do with the report.

Select Print to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


PODelDue
Deliveries Due

The Deliveries Due Report is used to produce a list of ordered items that are due or overdue for delivery based upon the due delivery date you have entered for items on each purchase order.  This enables you to keep track of deliveries that you are to receive and to see suppliers who are delivering late.

To set the criteria of orders you want to have included in the report you must use the fields provided in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Order No

Finish Order No

Start Supplier Ref

Finish Supplier Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

By Order

By Supplier

When you have selected the range of orders, suppliers and dates you want, you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to choose what you want to do with the report.

Select Print to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


PODelOrdRep
Delivered Orders

The Delivered Orders Report is used to produce a list of deliveries you have received including the details of each delivery.  Whenever a delivery is received the system maintains a record of each one, held separately from the actual purchase orders.  This enables you to view an accurate history of deliveries.

To set the criteria of orders you want to have included in the report you must use the fields provided in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Order No

Finish Order No

Start Supplier Ref

Finish Supplier Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

By Order

By Supplier

When you have selected the range of orders, suppliers and dates you want, you can use the buttons at the bottom of the window to choose what you want to do with the report.

Select Print to print the report.   If you have told the system to Preview All Reports (see System Setup) then you can preview the printed report on screen first before printing.

Select Email to email the report to a specified email address.  The system produces the printed report into a file with the .SRW extension.  See Email and Address Book facilities.


POFilter
Purchase Order Filter

The Purchase Order Filter window is used to filter the list of orders displayed in the Purchase Order module to whatever criteria you require.  This enables you to view only a subset of orders which you need to work on at a particular time allowing for extensive enquiries.

For example you may only wish to list orders for a particular period or for a particular supplier etc.

Please note that any filters you set are solely for use in the list on the Purchase Order module window.

The fields on the form enable you to set up the filter using a series of ranges.  Click on the field prompts below for details of each field range on the filter form.

Order No. From/To

Supplier Ref. From/To

Date From/To

Total Value From/To

Printed Orders

Unprinted Orders

Click on the OK button when you have setup your filter and want to execute it in the Purchase Order module list.

Click on the Reset button if you want to set the filter to it's original default values.  When you do this you can click on OK to reset the filter in the Purchase Order module to list all transactions.

Click on the Cancel button to abandon any filter settings made and close this window.


QuickAnal
Quick Analysis

The Quick Analysis facility is provided as a useful tool for looking at a "snapshot" of the current and projected cash position of your business.  You can also look at a quick profit & loss and balance sheet for any month or combinations of months ie. quarters, half years.

When you select the Quick Analysis option the system will automatically calculate the cash analysis by looking for any standing orders, direct debits, customer and supplier payments that are due.  By using the current figures for your bank accounts and any credit limits available it can then calculate your projected cash position.

On the right side of the window you will see the prompts Projected For.  There are five date prompts all of which represent the corresponding analysis figure on the left of the form.  For example if you wanted to see the projected customer payments due for the end of the month then you would change the Projected For date at the side of the Customer Payments Due figure to the end of the month.

If you change one of the Projected For dates and want to change all the other dates then right-click on the one you have changed and click on the Change All Dates pop-up button.  This will then recalculate all the figures to the selected date.

The other two tabpages available in Quick Analysis are Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet.  Click on the tabpages below for help on using these options.


TranSearch
Transaction Search

The Transaction Search facility is a useful utility to help you locate transactions in the system.  As the system keeps transactions for customer and suppliers separate than those for the financial accounts you are given the option of two different type of transaction searches both of which are operated identically.

For the Customers/Suppliers transaction search you can search by any one of the following fields :

Transaction Type

Date

Customer/Supplier Reference

Details

Transaction Reference

For the Financial transactions search you can search by any one of the following fields :

Account Reference

Date

Reference

The Transaction Search window is very similar to the standard Search dialog window available in all parts of the system.  The transaction information is displayed in the data grid on the search dialog window.

You will see a combobox with the prompt Search By.  If you click on the combo button you will see a list of the fields you can search by to find the required record as listed above.  You should select the one you want to search by.  When selected the relevant column in the data grid will be moved to the left-most column.

The Search For field to the right of the Search By combo is where you enter  what you want to search for on the field you have selected.  As you type each letter or number the data will jump to the nearest match until you find the record you require.  For example type D and the system will find the first record beginning with D.  Then enter E and the system will find the first record beginning with DE.  This is what is referred to as incremental searching.

Click on the OK or Cancel buttons when you have finished making your searches.


Mail Merge

The Mail Merge facility in Empire Builder is used to export a data file which in turn can be used in popular word processor applications such as MS-Word.

You can export both customers and suppliers and you can export the entire list or you can filter the list to include the customers and suppliers you want.  Using the radio buttons in the Select Data section of the window select what you want to export.

In the Options section of the window you can select if you want to export all records or those setup in a pre-defined filter.  Click on the relevant radio button to select the option you want.

If you want to filter the list of customers/suppliers then you must use the Filter option available in the Customer/Supplier module forms.   See Customer/Supplier Filter for details of how to setup the filter.  When you have setup the filter you must leave the Customer/Supplier module form open and then select this option from the Utilities menu.

Before you can proceed you must select the fields you want to have exported to the mail merge file.  To do this you must click on the Fields button.  This will take you into a dialog window to select the fields you want.  The available fields are listed on the left of the form.  You can select the fields you want by clicking on the ones you want and using the buttons in the middle of the form to move the field(s) across.  Click on the single arrow buttons to move the selected fields(s) to the opposite list and use the double arrow to move the entire contents of the list to the opposite one.

Click on OK when you have selected the data and fields you want to have included in the mailmerge database file.  You will be asked to give the export database a filename.  Select the path using the explorer-style window and enter the filename.  Using the Save As Type combobox you can select the format you want to save the exported data file in.  You have four different formats to select from.  The default is a dBase (.DBF) database file which most popular applications will read.

Please Note : You should check with you word processor or spreadsheet application exactly which data file format(s) it will read.

When created you can use your 3rd party application to carry out your mailmerge from the data selected.


RepDesign
Reports Designer

The Reports Designer is an extremely powerful reports design tool enabling unparalled flexibility in creating your own reports.  Every piece of data stored by Empire Builder can be accessed and included in any report you create.

The Reports Designer is an integral part of the Empire Builder software package.  It can be loaded from the Utilities menu in the system or run directly from your Windows desktop, Programs menu or from Windows explorer.  The EBRepDesigner.EXE program file (found in the \Empire Builder\Utils folder) is the stand alone program for the reports designer.

All standard reports created in Empire Builder were developed using this facility giving you some idea of the power at your disposal.  Indeed using this facility you can even change the standard reports in the system (see Using Import & Export).

If you do not want a user to access the Reports Designer at all then you must uncheck the System Reports setting for the user in the User Setup window.

The Reports Explorer is a navigation tool for maintaining and organising the add-hoc reports you create in the reports designer.

The system has several folders created for you by default representing each of the modules in the system.  You can place the reports you create into any of these folders.  You can add further folders to the explorer including sub-folders to categorise the reports you set up.

You may for example want to sub-categorise the reports you create by user or by security requirements.  For example you may want to create a sub folder in the Financials called MD Reports which is used to store reports for the managing director only.  There is no limit to the number of folders and sub folders you can store.  Each report can have security settings to ensure no unauthorised accessed is permitted.

The tree-view on the left of the window lists the folders in your reports explorer.  On the right of the window you will see the contents of the selected folder.  This can contain reports or sub folders.

You can move to different folders by clicking on the required folder "branch" in the tree-view.  This will change the contents list on the right of the window to that of the selected folder.

Listed below are the various options you can use to design and run your add-hoc reports.  Click on the option you would like help on.  We recommend you run through each one in sequence.  If you want to change of the standard reports in the Empire Builder system or if you want to copy reports then see Using Import & Export.

Creating A New Folder

Creating A New Report

Running A Report

Designing A Report

Editing Properties

Deleting Reports & Folders

Renaming Reports & Folders

Using Import & Export


StkReps_SelPeriod_Pop
Select Period combobox is used to select which period you want to include in the report.  You can use the combobox options to drop-down a list of the most common periods you will want to display and print.  This Month will display the currently opened financial period.  If you want to select different periods other than the ones available in the combobox or if you want to view the report for a combination of periods ie. quarters then you must use the Period Selection button which is located to the right of the period's combobox.  If you click on this button you can select the period(s) you want.

If you don't want to use the period on the report then select None.  See Select Periods for details.


StkSaleAnal_StockCode_Pop
Stock Code is used to specify the stock item you want to see sales analysis for.  Click on the Search button, enter the stock code directly or press [Ctrl + S] to invoke the Search facilities to help you find the required stock item.  When selected the item's figures will be displayed in the spreadsheet.


StkSaleAnal_ProdGrp_Pop
Product Group is used to specify the product group you want to view sales analysis for if you want to view sales figures for all the items in a selected product group.   Click on the Search button, enter the product group reference directly or press [Ctrl + S] to invoke the Search facilities to help you find the required product group.


StkSaleAnal_ViewFigFor_Pop
View Figures For uses two radio buttons for you to select if you want to view sales analysis figures for the currently selected Stock Item or for all the items in the currently selected Product Group.   Select accordingly.  When you change to a different setting the sales and profit figures displayed in spreadsheet will be recalculated and displayed.


StockAdjust_StockCode_Pop
Stock Code is used to specify the stock item you want to adjust stock levels for.  To select an item click on the Search button, enter a full or partial code directly or press [Ctrl + S] to invoke the Search facilities to help you find the required item.


StockAdjust_AdjType_Pop
Adjustment Type is used to select the type of adjustment you want to make to the selected item's physical stock.  If you select Adjustment In or Stock Received you will increase the items's stock level, selecting Adjustment Out or Stock Issued will decrease it.  Adjustment In and Out are used generally for manual adjustments such as stock check discrepancies.  Stock Received and Stock Issued are used to record adjustments to represent stock received from suppliers and stock issued to customers that were not entered from other parts of the system and need to be entered manually.


StockAdjust_Quan_Pop
Quantity is used to key in the quantity you want to adjust the stock level by.  This is NOT the quantity you want to adjust it to, but the quantity you want to adjust it by.  For example you have 10 in stock and you want to adjust it to 12.  You would not enter 12, instead you would enter 2 to adjust it by the quantity entered.


StockAdjust_SalesPrice_Pop
Sales Price is used to key in the selling price you want to record for the adjustment out.  This is not applicable for recording adjustments into stock.


StockAdjust_CostPrice_Pop
Cost Price is used to key in the cost price you want to record on the adjustment.  It is important you specify cost prices particularly when adjusting stock in as the system will use it to calculate profit on sales (using FIFO) and average cost price for your Stock Valuation Report.


StockAdjust_Date_Pop
Date is used to specify the date of the adjustment transaction.  Click on the Calendar button to select the date if required.


StockAdjust_Ref_Pop
Reference is used to key in a brief reference for the stock adjustment.  This can be upto 10 characters and can be used to identify the adjustment in the Stock History.


StockAdjust_Details_Pop
Details is used to key in a more detailed description for the adjustment of upto 30 characters.


StockFilter_StockCode_Pop
Stock Code From/To fields are used a specify a range of stock codes you want to be included in the list.  Any items with stock codes outside of this range will not be included.  Click on the Search button, enter the full or partial code or press [Ctrl + S] to invoke the Search dialog in order to help you find the required stock item.


StockFilter_ProdGroup_Pop
Product Group From/To fields are used a specify a range of produce groups you want to be included in the list.  Any items outside of the range of product groups will not be included in the list.  Click on the Search button, enter the full or partial reference or press [Ctrl + S] to invoke the Search dialog in order to help you find the required product groups.


StockFilter_SuppRef_Pop
Supplier Ref. is used if you want to include only those items that are supplied by a specific supplier.  Click on the Search button, enter a full or partial reference or press [Ctrl + S] to bring up the Search dialog to help you find the required supplier.


StockFilter_SoldQty_Pop
Sold Quantity From/To is used if you want to filter the list of stock items based upon the quantity they sold in a specified period.  For example you might only want to list items which have sold more than 100 in March to identify fast moving lines.  Enter the starting amount in the range into the From field and the largest amount you want to include in the To field.


StockFilter_QtyMonth_Pop
Month is used to select the month whose sales figures you want to filter.  For example if you want to see items which have sold over 50 in April then you would select April from this list.  You can then go on to select the Year you want to filter.


StockFilter_QtyYear_Pop
Year is used to select the year whose sales figures you want to filter upon using the month selected.   For example if you wanted to see all items which had sold over 40 in November last year then you would select Last Year in this combobox, having selected November in the Month combobox.  Click on the combobox's down arrow button or press [Shift + DownArrow] on the keyboard.


StockFilter_TOFromTo_Pop
Turnover From/To is used if you want to filter the list of stock items based upon the total value of sales generated for each item in a specified period.  For example you might only want to list items which have sold more than £500 in February.  Enter the starting amount into the From field and the largest amount you want to include in the To field.


StockFilter_TOMonth_Pop
Month is used to select the month whose turnover figures you want to filter.  For example if you want to see items which have sold over £1,000 in April then you would select April from this list.  You can then go on to select the Year you want to filter.


StockFilter_TOYear_Pop
Year is used to select the year whose sales turnover you want to filter upon using the month selected.   For example if you wanted to see all items which had sold over £500 in July last year then you would select Last Year in this combobox, having selected July in the Month combobox.  Click on the combobox's down arrow button or press [Shift + DownArrow] on the keyboard.


StockFilter_FullStkItems_Pop
Full Stock Items is a checkbox used to indicate if you want to include items which maintain full stock levels in the Stock module list.  If you tick this box then these items will be included, untick it to exclude all full stock items from the list.


StockFilter_NonStock_Pop
Non Stock Items is a checkbox used to indicate if you want to include items that do not maintain full stock levels.  Non stock items are used mainly to record descriptions and price lookups.  Tick this box if you want to include these items in the Stock module list, untick it if you do not.


StockFilter_ZeroStkItems_Pop
Zero Stock Items is a checkbox used to indicate if you want to include items which have no physical stock.  This can be used to only list items that presently have stock.  Tick this box if you want to include items with zero stock, untick it if you do not.


StockFilter_Reordered_Pop
To Be Reordered is a checkbox used to indicate if you only want to include those items whose stock level has fallen below the reorder level and is due to be reordered.  Tick this box if you want to only include those items that need reordering, untick it if you do not.


StockFilter_ItemsOnOrder_Pop
Items On Order is a checkbox used to indicate if you want to only include those items which are presently on order with suppliers and awaiting delivery.  Tick this box if you only want to include items which are on order and untick it if you do not.


InvReps_StartCust_Pop
Start Customer Ref. is used to specify the starting customer for the transactions you want to have included in the report.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  Any transactions for customers before this will not be included.  Non-account customer transactions will only be included in the batch if you leave the range of customers as the default.


InvReps_FinCust_Pop
Finish Customer Ref. is used to specify the last customer for whom you want to have transactions included in the report.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  Any transactions for customers after this reference will not be included.  Non-account customer transactions will only be included in the batch if you leave the range of customers as the default.


InvReps_StartDate_Pop
Start Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to start the report from.  Any transactions dated before this will not be included.


InvReps_FinDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to specify the transaction date you want to finish the report at.  Any transactions dated after this will not be included.


InvReps_Include_Pop
Include is a series of checkboxes for you to select which types of transactions you want to have included in the report.  The default is to include Invoices and Credit Notes only.  To include a type of transaction then tick it's checkbox.  To exclude a transaction type then untick it's checkbox.


TakeSumm_IncVAT_Pop
Include VAT Amounts is a checkbox used to indicate if you want to recalculate the summary totals including VAT amounts (gross) or excluding VAT values (net).  Tick the checkbox if you want to view the gross figures and untick it if you want to view the net figures.


InvReps_DtlHist_Pop
Detailed History is a radio button used to select that you want a detailed history report.  If you select this the report will list every instance that the selected items have been purchased by each item in the specified stock range.


InvReps_SummHist_Pop
Summary History is a radio button used to select that you want a summary history report.  If you select this the report will list a one line summary for each customer and stock item detailing the total quantity purchased and total values.


InvFilter_CustFromTo_Pop
Customer Ref. From/To is used to specify a range of customer's transactions by using start and finish references.  The start and finish reference is defined in the alphabetical order of the customer/supplier reference.  Enter the customer on which you wish to start the list into the From field and the customer reference where you want the list to end in the To field.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the customer you want.  See Search facilities to help find the customer.


InvFilter_InvNoFromTo_Pop
Invoice No. From/To is used to specify a range of transactions by using start and finish transaction numbers.  Enter the transaction number that you want to start the list into the From field and the number where you want the list to end in the To field.  To find the required number for each prompt you can click on the Search button, enter the required number directly or press [CTRL + S].  See Search facilities to help you find the required numbers.


InvFilter_DateFromTo_Pop
Date From/To is used to specify a range of transactions between two dates.  Only transactions on or between these two dates will be included in the Invoice module list.  You can use the Calendar button to help select the dates you want.


InvFilter_TotValFromTo_Pop
Total Value From/To is used to specify a range of transactions based upon their total values.  For example you may want to only list transactions which are above £250.  Key in the lowest value you want into the From field and highest value you want into the To field.


InvFilter_NonAccTrans_Pop
Non Account Transactions is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include non-account customer transactions in the list.  If you tick this box then transactions for non-account customers will be included in the list, if you do not tick it then they will not be included.  Non account customer transactions represent entries where a customer, held in the Customer module, has not been specified and the name and address details have been entered manually.


InvFilter_PostTrans_Pop
Posted Transactions is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include transactions which have been posted to the accounts in the list.  Tick this box if you want to include posted transactions and untick it if you do not want to include them.


InvFilter_UnPostTrans_Pop
Unposted Transactions is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include transactions which have not been posted to the accounts in the list.  Tick this box if you want to include unposted transactions and untick it if you do not want to include them.


InvFilter_PrintTrans_Pop
Printed Transactions is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include transactions in the list which have been printed (or documents have been generated).  Tick this box if you want to include transactions that have not yet been printed and untick it if you do not want to include them.


InvFilter_UnPrintTrans_Pop
Unprinted Transactions is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include transactions in the list which have not yet been printed.  Tick this box if you want to include printed transactions and untick it if you do not want to include them.


InvFilter_AllTrTypes_Pop
All Transaction Types is a checkbox used to indicate if you want to include all transactions including invoices, credit notes, proformas and quotations.  If you untick this box then you can tick any combination of the checkboxes below this representing each of the four transaction types.


InvFilter_TranTypes_Pop
Transaction Types are a series of checkboxes for you to select which transaction types you want to include in the list.  You may for example only want to see invoices, or quotations etc.  You can pick any combination of transaction types.  Tick the checkboxes for the transaction types you want to include and untick the ones you want to exclude.


UserSetup_UserID_Pop
User ID is used to key in a short identity for the user which they will be required to enter each time they log onto the system.  If you want to edit a different user then click on the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard.  The first character must be a character and must be a number.  Try to use the person's initials, do not try to use numeric values such as user number 1, 2, 3 etc.


UserSetup_UserName_Pop
User Name is used to enter the user's full name for reference purposes.


UserSetup_Password_Pop
Password is used to enter the user's password which they must type in each time they log into the system.


UserSetup_Customers_Pop
Customers is a checkbox to indicate whether the user will be allowed access to any facilities connected to the Customer module.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access the Customer module will not available in the Listbar and any menu options or toolbar buttons to do with the Customer module will be grayed out.


UserSetup_Suppliers_Pop
Suppliers is a checkbox to indicate whether the user will be allowed access to any facilities connected to the Supplier module.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access, the Supplier module will not available in the Listbar and any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access the Supplier module will be grayed out.


UserSetup_Financial_Pop
Financial is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user will be allowed access to any facilities connected with the Financial module.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access, the Financial module will not be available in the Listbar and any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access the Financial module will be grayed out.


UserSetup_Bank_Pop
Bank is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user will be allowed access to any facilities connected to the Bank module.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access, the Bank module will not available in the Listbar and any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access the Bank module will be grayed out.


UserSetup_Invoice_Pop
Invoice is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user will be allowed access to any facilities connected with the Invoice module.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access, the Invoice module will not available in the Listbar and any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access the Invoice module will be grayed out.


UserSetup_Stock_Pop
Stock is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user will be allowed access to any facilities connected with the Stock module.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access, the Stock module will not available in the Listbar and any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access the Stock module will be grayed out.


UserSetup_PurcOrder_Pop
Purchase Order is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user will be allowed access to any facilities connected with the Purchase Order module.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access, the Purchase Order module will not available in the Listbar and any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access the Purchase Order module will be grayed out.


UserSetup_FinReps_Pop
Financial Reports is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user is allowed access to important financial reports in the system.  These cover Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Budget Variance and VAT Return.  Tick this box if you want to allow them access to these reports or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access then any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access these reports will be grayed out.


UserSetup_AmenTran_Pop
Amend Transactions is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user is allowed access to amend accounts transactions.  This includes being able to change any aspect of a transaction after it has been posted or to undo or cancel transactions.  Tick this box if you want to allow the user access to these facilities or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access then any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access these reports will be grayed out.


UserSetup_SysReps_Pop
System Reports is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user is allowed access to system reporting tools, particularly the Reports Designer.  Tick this box if you want to allow the user access to these facilities or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access then any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access these reports will be grayed out.


UserSetup_SysSetup_Pop
System Setup is a checkbox used to indicate whether the user is allowed access to important system tools.  This includes access to the System Setup option where you change important parameters in the system.  It also restricts access to the System Users options so the user cannot add or edit user details and also to the Period End options.  Tick this box if you want to allow the user access to these facilities or untick it if you do not.  If you do not allow them access then any menu options or toolbar buttons used to access these reports will be grayed out.


DelPurcOrder
Delete Purchase Orders

The Delete Purchase Orders window is used to delete a range of purchase orders.  This is to remove old and unnecessary orders from the system.  This window enables you to delete large numbers of orders in a batch or just single orders.

You can specify a range of orders you want to delete by entering the criteria in the fields provided in the window.  Click on the field prompts below for help on how to use each one.

Start Order No

Finish Order No

Start Date

Finish Date

Current Order Only

Confirm Deletions Individually

Click on the OK button if you want to proceed with deleting the orders in the specified range.

If you ticked the Confirm Deletions Individually check box then another window will be displayed for you to Delete Orders Individually in the specified range.

Click Cancel if you want to cancel the deletion process.


DelPOrdInd
Delete Orders Individually

This window is used to list the purchase orders in the specified range as defined in the Delete Orders window.  You can then work through them to select the orders you want to delete.

The data grid in the top half of the window lists the actual orders and the grid in the bottom half displays the items on the currently selected order.

Orders that are marked for deletion are given a tick in the Delete column in the main data grid and those that are not marked for deletion are given a cross.  To mark or unmark an order for deletion you simply click the mouse in the Delete column of the required transaction.  To do this on the keyboard use the up and down cursor keys to move to the required order and press [RETURN].  The currently selected order is shown by an arrow in the left hand border of the main data grid.

You can use the Reverse button at the bottom of the window to reverse the current deletion status of each order.  Therefore all orders marked for deletion will be unmarked and vice versa.

To proceed with deleting the orders marked for deletion click on the Delete button.  To abandon the deletion process click on the Abandon button.


PrintPurcOrds
Print Purchase Orders

The Print Purchase Orders window is used to print orders using the selected document layout of your choice.  This window enables you to print large numbers of orders in a batch or just single orders.

To specify the range of the orders you want to print you must enter the criteria into the available fields in the window.  Click on the field headers below for help on how to use each one.

Start Order No

Finish Order No

Start Supplier Ref

Finish Supplier Ref

Start Date

Finish Date

Current Transaction Only

Ignore Printed Orders

Document Layout

Click on the Print button to print the range of orders on your chosen printer.

Click on the Preview button to view the document on screen before printing.  This will only display the first order in the range which is used to show you how the document will appear when printed.

Click on the Email button to send the document as an Email attachment to a specified recipient.  This will create one report file to be emailed for every order in the range.

Please Note :  Whether you print, preview or email an order the system has to generate a document and in doing so it marks it as being printed.  Therefore when you preview the order whether you physically print it or not the document has been generated and is marked as printed.


POSuppDtls_SuppRef_Pop
Supplier Ref. is used to enter the reference of the supplier you want to record the transaction for.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  If you specify a supplier their name and address details will be displayed as will their balance and credit limit details.


POSuppDtls_OurRef_Pop
Our Reference is used to key in an order reference, other than the order number provided, to identify the order.


POSuppDtls_OrdBy_Pop
Ordered By is used to key in the name of the person who placed the order with the supplier for reference purposes.


POSuppDtls_DueDel_Pop
Due Delivery Date is used to key in the date you expect to receive the goods ordered.  If the items on the order have individual delivery dates you can record these separately later.


POSuppDtls_DelNA_Pop
Delivery Name & Address is used to key in the details of where the goods on the order are to be delivered if different than your normal address.


POItemDtls_StockCode_Pop
Stock Code is used to specify the stock code of the item you want to enter onto the order.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the stock item you want.  If you leave this field blank you can enter a Free-Text Description onto the order.  When an item has been selected from your Stock module all the details including stock levels and cost price will be displayed.  These will change to the current item as you move through different item lines.


POItemDtls_Qty_Pop
Quantity is used to specify the quantity you want to record on the transaction for the specified item.  This will initially default to 1.  If you are editing an order which has already had some stock received you will not be able to reduce the quantity below the amount already received.  You can enter a Stock Adjustment by right-clicking on the data grid and selecting the option from the popup menu.


POItemDtls_Price_Pop
Price is used to enter the cost price for the item you are ordering.  If you are entering an item from your Stock module the system will default the cost price on the stock record.


POItemDtls_Disc_Pop
Disc % is used to enter the percentage discount you have been awarded by the supplier for this item line.


POItemDtls_Account_Pop
Account is used to specify the financial account you want to post this item line to.  This will default to the stock item's purchase account (see Stock Details) or to the account specified on the supplier's record depending on certain settings (see Customer Details).  If this is a free-text item then this column will default to the predefined free-text account setting in System Setup.  You can enter the account reference directly or use the Search facilities to help find the one you want.


POItemDtls_VC_Pop
VC is used to enter the VAT code you want to use on this item's line.  This will default to the VAT code on the stock record (see Stock Details) or to the VAT code on the supplier record depending on certain settings.  If this is a free-text item then this column will default to the predefined free-text VAT code setting in System Setup.  You can enter the VAT Code for the rate you require and the VAT values will be calculated accordingly.


POItemDtls_DueDate_Pop
Due Date is used to specify the expected delivery date for this item line if different than the one entered on the header tab page.


POFtrDtls_Carriage_Pop
Carriage is for you to enter a carriage charge that the supplier will charger for this order.


POFtrDtls_Notepad_Pop
Notepad is used to key in general free-text notes about the order.  These can be a simple thank you message or highlighting your terms for delivery.  These will default to the Purchase Order Notes defined in System Setup by can be changed here for each order you enter.


POFtrDtls_SettDays_Pop
Settlement Days is used to enter the number of days within which you can fully pay the transaction to receive the settlement discount entered.  This will default to each supplier's standard setting.


POFtrDtls_SettDisc_Pop
Settlement Discount is used to enter the discount percentage awarded to you by the supplier if you settle this transaction in full within the number of Settlement Days.  This will default to the supplier's predefined setting.


POFtrDtls_EarlySett_Pop
Early Settlement is used to give you the total amount which is due to be paid only if you pay within the number of Settlement Days.


PurcOrdReps
Purchase Order Reports

The purchase order reports menu is used to gain access to the reports and enquiries available in the Purchase Order module quickly and easily.

The reports available on this menu are also available on the system main menu by selecting Reports and then Purchase Orders.

Click on the report titles below to find more information on each report on the menu.

Outstanding Orders

Deliveries Due

Delivered Orders


StockReps
Stock Reports

The stock reports menu is used to gain access to the comprehensive reports and enquiries available in the Stock module quickly and easily.

The reports available on this menu are also available on the system main menu by selecting Reports and then Stock.

Click on the report titles below to find more information on each report on the menu.

Stock Check

Price Lists

Reorder Report

Stock Valuation

Stock Sales

Stock Profit

Stock History


ReadMe
Empire Builder Additional Setup Notes

=====================================

*************************************

P L E A S E    R E A D !

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Resolution Settings

------------------------

For the best resolution to run Empire Builder we recommend you set it to 800x600 using Large Fonts.  The higher the colour setting the better, 256 or higher is best.

Date Settings

-----------------

It is important for the successful running of the software to have the system's date setting to English (British) format.

The above settings can be made using your Control Panel.  Click on the Start button and select Settings and then select Control Panel from the submenu.  Click on Regional Settings icon to alter

the date format and click on Display and then Settings to alter the resolution.

Reinstalling Empire Builder

---------------------------------

Should you need to reinstall Empire Builder after you have originally installed then you must first of all uninstall it from your system.  To do this you must go to your Control Panel (select the Start button and then Settings on the menu).  Then select the Add/Remove Programs icon.  In the list of programs that is now displayed select Empire Builder and then click on the Add/Remove button.  When the UninstallShield software has finished you may be given a message to the effect that some components could not be uninstalled.  If you do get this message you must use the Windows Explorer to manually delete the elements that could not be uninstalled.  In the directory where you installed the software (normally \Program Files) delete the \Suresoft directory ie. \Program Files\Suresoft.

Ensure you have carried out the above before reinstalling the software.  Failure to do so may cause some problems with the new installation.

If you have any problems with the above please contact Suresoft support on 0161 860 0020 or email us on support@sure-soft.com.


License Agreement

No part of this help documentation or the software programs supplied with it may be copied, sold, loaned or in any way disposed of by way of trade or for any kind of profit or incentive without the express permission of Suresoft as specified in this license agreement.

Whilst Suresoft takes reasonable steps to ensure that the contents of this documentation are up-to-date and correctly describe the functioning of the programs, neither Suresoft nor any of it’s agents gives any warranty that the documentation is error free, nor that the software will perform all the functions stated in the documentation.  Under no circumstances will Suresoft or any of it’s agents have any liability to any customer arising out of error, omission or inaccuracy in this manual.

The Empire Builder software will only be available for use under license, for which a license fee is payable to the supplier.  Suresoft have invested a great deal of time and money in producing the software for licensed users to benefit from and to protect this investment  Suresoft will take immediate action against unlicensed users.  To register yourself as a licensed user you should return the enclosed registration card immediately or register on-line through our website when the software is installed.

All Suresoft’s software have been thoroughly tested by ourselves, by customers and by various 3rd party agencies and are considered at the time of release to be fault free.  Suresoft guarantees that if failures occur which are due SOLELY to technical error within the program code a version of the software which corrects the CAUSE of the failure will be made available as soon as possible after the fault has been reported.  However in view of the complexity of the program code, Suresoft and it’s agents make no warranty, either expressed or implied with respect to the software and documentation, their quality, performance, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  As a result, you, the licensee are entirely responsible for choosing the software and are assuming the entire risk as to their quality and performance.

In NO event will Suresoft be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages due to the use, misuse or inability to use the software or documentation even if advised of such possibilities.  Suresoft have no liability for any data stored or used by the software including the recovery and the costs of recovering such data.

Under no circumstances will Suresoft’s liability for any damages exceed the sum originally paid to Suresoft for the license of the software.

Use of the software acknowledges your consent to all of the provisions made in the license agreement.  You may return the software product in it’s entirety prior to installing the software for a full refund if you do not agree to abide by the terms of the license agreement.

© Copyright 1998-1999 Suresoft.


EBIntro
Introduction

Welcome To Empire Builder, the latest accounts and business management software product from Suresoft.  We would like to congratulate you on choosing the most easy to use and cost effective system to help you build your business empire!  We are sure you will be delighted with your purchase!

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the growing family of Suresoft users and we sincerely appreciate your confidence in us.  We are pleased that you have made a commitment to organise your business accounts with Sure software.

Empire Builder is aimed specifically at smaller businesses by providing all the essentials and fundamentals a small business needs to run on a day to day basis.  The name itself defines what we set out to achieve in designing and developing the system, to help businesses grow and to help build your business empire.

This help system is not designed to be read from start to finish as a training facility but is more of a reference.  We are extremely confident that you will be up and running with Empire Builder very quickly and the synergy of the software's ease-of-use and the comprehensive on-line help will enable you to get the most from the software without spending hours with your head in a book!

The system has been designed to be very simple in operation whilst losing nothing in power or functionality.  All entries you make to the system immediately and automatically updates all other parts of the system.  Empire Builder tries to avoid ambiguous bookeeping terms such as ‘ledger’ and ‘double entry’ and virtually all of the double entry operations are made for you.  However at it’s heart it is a true accounting system and for this reason we have incorporated a brief introduction to double entry bookeeping which you may find useful.

Suresoft is dedicated to providing quality products and services to all our customers to ensure you get the very best from our software and in dealing with our company.  We are always looking for ways to improve all the products and services we provide.  So if you have any constructive ideas on how we can improve our products and services please let us hear them.

Thank you and good luck.


Using Help

The Help system for Empire Builder is extremely comprehensive and designed as an on-screen training and reference tool.

Empire Builder uses context-sensitive help to provide the most relevant and comprehensive help on whatever part of the system you are using.  There are two ways of getting help on the function you are using.

First you can press the F1 (help) key on any field or prompt and you will receive help specifically explaining that field or control.

Secondly you can click on the Help button which comes with every window in the system.  This will give you full help on the window you are viewing so you can see a complete explanation of the function you are using.

You can also use the Help option on the main menu.  If you select Contents on the drop-down menu you will be taken to the main help navigator page.

When using the help system you can move through the topics you want to see by using the jumps and popups which are included throughout the help system.  These are used to jump from one related topic to another, a kind of automated page jump.

Any text you see in the help pages which is displayed in green and is underlined is a link to a relevant page or popup which will give you more information on the underlined subject.

Text that has a solid underline, as below, is a jump to another topic.

                                      Back To Help Navigator

Text that has a dotted underline, as below, will display a small pop-up window containing help on an inclusive topic.

                                               Pop-up help


PopupHelp
Popup Help displays a small pop-up window containing help on an inclusive topic.


ContactSureSoft
Contacting Suresoft

Please feel free to contact us regarding our software products, add-ons and upgrades, support and training.

Address :

Suresoft

255 Barlow Moor Road

Chorlton

Manchester

United Kingdom

M21 7GJ

Telephone Numbers :

Sales     :   +44 (0)161 860 7821

Support :   +44 (0)161 860 0020

Fax Number :

+44 (0)161 860 7853

Email :

Sales              :  sales@sure-soft.com

Support          :  support@sure-soft.com

Registration  :  regdemo@sure-soft.com (if you require a license number from demo to full use)

Web Address :

www.sure-soft.com/empirebuilder

Please contact us for details of our extended support services and details of our low-cost scheduled training courses for Empire Builder.


PrintPO_StartOrdNo_Pop
Start Order No. is used to enter the number you want to start printing orders from.  This is useful if you know the range of order numbers you want to print.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help you find the required order.


PrintPO_FinOrdNo_Pop
Finish Order No. is used to enter the number you want to finish printing order at.  This is useful if you know the range of order numbers you want to print.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help find the required order.


PrintPO_StartSuppRef_Pop
Start Supplier Ref. is used to specify the supplier you want to start orders invoices from.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  Any orders for suppliers before this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to print documents for a particular supplier or a range of suppliers.


PrintPO_FinSuppRef_Pop
Finish Supplier Ref. is used to specify the supplier you want to finish printing orders at.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  Any orders for suppliers after this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to print order documents for a particular supplier or a range of suppliers.


PrintPO_StartDate_Pop
Start Date is used to specify the date you want to start printing from.  Any orders dated before this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to print orders for a range of dates.


PrintPO_FinDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to specify the date you want to finish printing at.  Any orders dated after this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to print orders for a range of dates.


PrintPO_CurrTranOnly_Pop
Current Transaction Only is a checkbox used to specify if you only want to print the order you have currently selected in the Purchase Order module form.  Tick this box if you only want to print the one order.


PrintPO_IgPrintOrd_Pop
Ignore Printed Orders is a checkbox used to specify if you want to ignore orders in the range which have already been marked as printed.  This is useful if you want to select only orders that you have not already printed.  Tick this checkbox only if you want to ignore previously printed orders in the specified range.


PrintPO_DocLayout_Pop
Document Layout is used to specify the document layout you want to use to print the specified range of orders.  Click on the combobox's downarrow button (or press [ALT + DownArrow] on the keyboard) to pull-down a list of available purchase order layouts and select accordingly.  To change any of the document layouts or to add new layouts you can use the Document Designer.


PODelivery_DelDate_Pop
Delivery Date is used to specify the date you want to record the deliveries for.  Deliveries for all stock items will be recorded with this date on the stock transaction.


PODelivery_StOrdNo_Pop
Start Order No. is used to enter the order number at which you want to start the list of purchase orders in the delivery list. This is useful if you know the range of order numbers you want.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help you find the required order.


PODelivery_FinOrdNo_Pop
Finish Order No. is used to enter the order number where you want to finish the list of orders for delivery.  This is useful if you know the range of order numbers.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help find the required order.


PODelivery_StSuppRef_Pop
Start Supplier Ref. is used to specify the supplier you want to start the list of orders for delivery at.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  Any orders for suppliers before this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to record deliveries for a particular supplier or a range of suppliers.


PODelivery_FinSuppRef_Pop
Finish Supplier Ref. is used to specify the supplier you want to finish the list of orders for delivery at.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  Any orders for suppliers after this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to record deliveries for a particular supplier or a range of suppliers.


PODelivery_StDate_Pop
Start Order Date is used to specify the date you want to start the order delivery list from.  Any orders dated before this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to record deliveries for orders within a  range of dates.


PODelivery_FinDate_Pop
Finish Order Date is used to specify the date you want to finish the order delivery list at.  Any orders dated after this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to record deliveries for orders within a range of dates.


PODelivery_Save_Pop
Save is used to record the deliveries made by updating the relevant purchase orders with the quantities entered and updating each item's stock levels.


PODelivery_Abandon_Pop
Abandon can be selected if you want to discard any deliveries you have recorded in this session.


PODelivery_Auto_Pop
Automatic is used to auto-deliver all the items on all the orders in the specified range.  You first of all specify the orders you want to deliver, click on this button and all the orders are fully allocated for delivery.  You can then work through each order's items and make any adjustments.


PODelivery_QuanDel_Pop
Quantity Delivered is used for you to enter the quantity that you have received on this delivery.  If you enter a quantity which is higher than the quantity ordered (minus the quantity already received) then you will be shown a warning window asking you to confirm the over-delivery.


PODelivery_CostPrice_Pop
Cost Price is used to enter the supplier's price for the items being delivered.  This will default to the prices on the originally order.  If you enter a different price than the one on the order the system will display a window warning you of the price mismatch and ask you to confirm it.  Recording a correct cost price is essential for the accurate tracking of stock profit figures.


POCopy_OrdNo_Pop
Order No. To Copy is used to specify the number of the order you want to copy to create a new one.  If this is not already filled in for you then you will need to enter an order number.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the Search dialog window to help find the required transaction.


POCopy_SuppRef_Pop
Supplier Ref. is used to enter the reference of the supplier you want to record the new order for.  This will default to the supplier on the transaction you are copying from.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.


POCopy_NewOrdDate_Pop
Order Date is used to enter the date you want to use on the new order.


POCopy_OurRef_Pop
Our Reference is used to key in an order reference for the new order, other than the order number automatically generated by the system, to identify the order.


DelPO_StOrdNo_Pop
Start Order No. is used to enter the order number you want to start deleting from.  This is useful if you know the range of order numbers you want to delete.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help you find the required order.


DelPO_FinOrdNo_Pop
Finish Order No. is used to enter the order number you want to finish deleting from.  This is useful if you know the range of order numbers you want to delete.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help you find the required order.


DelPO_StDate_Pop
Start Date is used to specify the order date you want to start deleting from.  Any orders dated before this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to delete orders in a range of dates.


DelPO_FinDate_Pop
Finish Date is used to specify the order date you want to finish deleting at.  Any orders dated after this will not be included in the batch.  This is useful if you want to delete orders in a range of dates.


DelPO_CurrOrdOnly_Pop
Current Order Only is a checkbox used to specify if you only want to delete the order you have currently selected in the Purchase Order module form.  Tick this if you only want to delete the one order.


DelPO_ConfDelInv_Pop
Confirm Deletions Individually is a checkbox you can tick if you want to confirm deletion of each order in the specified range individually.  This will display another window with all orders in the range listed for you to work through selecting the ones to be deleted.  This is useful if you don't necessarily want to delete all orders in the specified range.


POFilter_SuppFromTo_Pop
Supplier Ref. From/To is used to specify a range of supplier's orders by using start and finish references.  The start and finish reference is defined in the alphabetical order of the supplier reference.  Enter the supplier  on which you wish to start the list into the From field and the supplier reference where you want the list to end in the To field.  You can enter the required reference directly or a partial reference.  If no direct match is found or you click on the Search button or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  See Search facilities to help find the supplier.


POFilter_OrdNoFromTo_Pop
Order No. From/To is used to specify a range of orders by using start and finish order numbers. Enter the order number that you want to start the list into the From field and the number where you want the list to end in the To field.  To find the required number for each prompt you can click on the Search button, enter the required number directly or press [CTRL + S].  See Search facilities to help you find the required numbers.


POFilter_DateToFrom_Pop
Date From/To is used to specify a range of orders between two dates.  Only orders dated on or between these two dates will be included in the Purchase Order module list.  You can use the Calendar button to help select the dates you want.


POFilter_TotValFromTo_Pop
Total Value From/To is used to specify a range of orders based upon their total values.  For example you may want to only list orders which have a value above £500.  Key in the lowest value you want into the From field and highest value you want into the To field.


POFilter_PrintOrds_Pop
Printed Orders is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include orders in the list which have been printed (or documents have been generated).  Tick this box if you want to include printed orders and untick it if you do not want to include them.


POFilter_UnPrintTrans_Pop
Unprinted Orders is a checkbox used to indicate whether or not you want to include orders in the list that have not yet been printed.  Tick this box if you want to include orders that have not been printed and untick it if you do not want to include them.


POReps_StartSupp_Pop
Start Supplier Ref. is used to specify the starting supplier for the orders you want to have included in the report.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  Any transactions for suppliers before this will not be included.


POReps_FinSuppRef_Pop
Finish Supplier Ref. is used to specify the last supplier you want to have orders included for in the report.  You can click on the Search button or enter the required reference or a partial reference directly.  If no direct match is found or you press [CTRL + S] the Search dialog will be displayed to help you find the supplier you want.  Any orders for suppliers after this reference will not be included.


POReps_StOrdNo_Pop
Start Order No. is used to enter the order number at which you want to start the report. This is useful if you know the range of order numbers you want.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help you find the required order.


POReps_FinOrdNo_Pop
Finish Order No. is used to enter the order number where you want to finish the report.  This is useful if you know the range of order numbers.  You can use the Search button or press [Ctrl + S] on the keyboard to popup the search dialog window to help find the required order.


POReps_StDate_Pop
Start Order Date is used to specify the date you want to start the report from.  Any orders dated before this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to produce a report for orders within a range of dates.   All orders dated before this will not be included.  The default date will be the Start Report Date you entered in System Setup.


POReps_FinOrdDate_Pop
Finish Order Date is used to specify the date you want to finish the report at.  Any orders dated after this will not be included.  This is useful if you want to report orders within a range of dates.


POReps_ByOrder_Pop
By Order is a radio button used to specify if you want to list the report grouped by order number.  This will list all items in the report, grouped under each order.


POReps_BySupp_Pop
By Supplier is a radio button used to specify if you want to list the report in supplier order.  This will list all items in the report grouped by the supplier.


OpenNewFinPer
Open New Financial Period

This option is used to manually open a new financial period.

The system maintains upto 36 different financial periods covering 3 years.  To post entries into a fiscal month it must be opened first.  This will write all relevant financial account balances into the new period ready for the month's processing.   For details of how the system maintains periods and account balances see How The Financial Module Works.

You do not have to close any periods before you can open a new one.  All periods which are opened remain open until removed completely from the system.

There are also various ways to open a new financial period most of which are automated within the system.  Whenever you try to enter a transaction with a date in an unopened period the system will, depending on access rights, ask you if you want to open the period there and then.

You can also enter a setting in System Setup to automatically open a new period using the date you log on with.  Therefore this process will be carried out automatically for you whenever necessary.  If you have switched this facility on then the opening of new financial periods will be done transparently.  However if you want to have more control over when and who can open financial periods then you can switch this facility off and use this option to manually open periods.

In the window the system will inform you of the new month it is about to open.  Click on the Open button to open the new period.

If opening the new period will also include opening a new financial year you will warned of this.  As the system holds 3 years of accounts, to open the new year it must remove the figures for the financial year 3 years before.  For example if you are opening fiscal year 99/2000 then the figures for 96/97 must be removed.  Therefore make sure you have produced financial reports for this period before opening the new year.


PostRecur
Posting Recurring Entries

The Post Recurring Entries window is used to select which recurring entries are due for processing and posting to your accounts.

If you want to setup recurring entry templates to automate repeated transactions such as standing orders, direct debits and repeating journal entries then see Recurring Entries.

The window can be invoked in two ways.  The first is automatically when the system first loads (or when a company is opened) by checking the recurring entry templates that are due for processing.  In this case only recurring entries that are due or overdue for processing are listed.

The other way this window can be invoked is by selecting the Post Recurring Entries option on the Period End sub-menu on the File main menu.  In this case all recurring entry templates are listed for you to select the ones that you need to be processed.

In the window you will see a list of recurring entry templates.  In the right hand column of the data grid you will see either a tick or a cross indicating whether or not each one is going to be posted or not.  All those that are due for processing have a tick by default and all those not due for processing have a cross.

To change the posting status of each recurring entry place the mouse over the Post column in the grid so the cursor changes to a tick and click on the entry.  If the entry previously had a tick it will now have a cross and vice versa.

If you want to reverse the posting status of all the recurring entry templates listed then click on the Reverse button.  All entries marked for processing will be unmarked and vice versa.

When you have selected all the entries you want to process then click on the Post button.  This will process all those templates in the list you have marked for posting, updating the relevant accounts.  Those not marked will be ignored.  Those that are processed will be marked and their next due date's will be incremented depending on the specified frequency.

If you want to ignore posting any recurring entry templates in the list then click on the Cancel button.


EC Country Codes

The EC Country codes window is used for editing the list of EC member states.  A list of all the current member states is included which is up-to-date at the time of issue.  However as new members join (or even withdraw) you can edit the list using this option.

The data grid can be used very simply to add new member states or edit any details.  To add a new member state click or press the cursor keys to move down past the last record (currently United Kingdom) and type in the new member's EC code and country.

Click on the buttons below for details of how to use the Options bar.


PLTransfer
Profit & Loss Transfer

The Profit & Loss Transfer is used to post balances from each profit & loss account in the financial module to the main P&L control account.  It does this by posting journal entries to each account's accumulative balances and then posts a final journal for the total of all p&l accounts to the profit & loss control account.

This function does not effect any period balances which remain the same.  Only the accumulative balances are transferred (those displayed for Current Balances when producing financial reports).

You can also select from which period you want to transfer the amounts from.  For example you are half way through a month and have just finalised your accounts for the previous month.  Naturally in this case you would not want to transfer accumulative balances upto the current date but would want to transfer the values as they were at the end of the previous month.

The Select Period To Select prompt asks you to select the period's profit & loss figures you want to transfer.  The default is Current Balances.  Click on the select period button at the side of the prompt and you can then select the month or combination of months ie. years, quarters etc. you want to transfer (see Select Periods).

The period you select to transfer should represent the months since you last transferred your profit & loss figures.  For example if you only want to transfer the figures at year end then when selecting the periods you should select the entire year to ensure the accumulation of the year's figures are transferred.

Click on the Transfer button to proceed with transferring the profit & loss figures for the selected period.

Click on the Cancel button to abandon the process.


PostPrepayAcc
Post Prepayments & Accruals

This function enables you to post the prepayment and accrual templates you have set up in the system (see Prepayments & Accruals) to update your financial module.  This will process each one for one month's updates.

Prepayments

When you post a prepayment template for the first time the system creates reverse journal entries by crediting the specified financial accounts on the template and debiting the prepayment control account for the total value of the prepayment.  For each subsequent monthly installment the specified financial account's are debited and the prepayment control is credited.

Accruals

When processing accrual templates for each month the specified financial accounts on the templates are debited and the accrual control account is credited.  When it processes the last installment for the accruals it posts a reverse journal to credit the financial accounts on the accrual and debit the control account for the total value of the accrual.

You will be given a message on the screen telling you about the process it is about to carry out.  It also asks you for a Transaction Date you want to record on the journal entries that will be created.  The default is today's date.  Use the calendar button to select the date you want.

Click on the OK button to proceed with posting the prepayments and accruals installment for the current month.

Click on the Cancel button to abandon the process.


Backup Wizard


Restore Wizard


NewCoSetupWiz


QuickAnal_PL
Quick Analysis - Profit & Loss

The Profit & Loss tabpage in the Quick Analysis option is used to view the P&L figures for any month or combination of months from the 3 years of figures held by the system.

The facility is split into two sections in the window.  On the left hand side you will see a list of periods, one for each month of the 3 maintained years.

On the right hand side you will see a grid that will be used to display the figures for the selected periods.  You can select as many periods as you like and view them side by side in the grid for a spreadsheet-like analysis of different P&L periods.

To select the periods you want you use the Periods list on the left.  If you want to view just one month then click on it so it is highlighted.  If you want to select a combination of months ie quarters etc. then click on the first or the last month and drag the mouse over the months you want until all the months in the period are completely highlighted.  Use the vertical scrollbars to view periods that are not immediately displayed.

When the required period is selected then click on the Calculate button for the period's figures to be calculated and displayed.

Any month that has an asterisk (*) at the side of it is a closed period that cannot be selected for analysis.  If you attempt to select any unopened periods you will be given a warning.

The Lock Columns checkbox on the tabpage is used to lock each selected period into the spreadsheet.  This is used if you want to see a period-by-period analysis of your P&L.  For example you may want to see Jan, Feb and Mar figures side-by-side.

Any periods selected with the Lock Columns checkbox ticked will be "locked" into the grid and any further periods selected will be added to the spreadsheet.  Any periods selected with the Lock Columns checkbox unticked will be overwritten when the next period is selected.

You can lock and unlock a period by right-clicking on the required period in the spreadsheet and clicking on the pop-up button.  This will reverse the current locked status of the column.

When you want to wipe all selected periods from the grid then click on the Clear button.

The other two tabpages available in Quick Analysis are Cash and Balance Sheet.  Click on the tabpages below for help on using these options.


QuickAnal_BS
Quick Analysis - Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet tabpage in the Quick Analysis option is used to view the balance sheet figures for any month or combination of months from the 3 years of figures held by the system.

The facility is split into two sections in the window.  On the left hand side you will see a list of periods, one for each month of the 3 maintained years.

On the right hand side you will see a grid that will be used to display the figures for the selected periods.  You can select as many periods as you like and view them side by side in the grid for a spreadsheet-like analysis of different periods.

To select the periods you want you use the Periods list on the left.  If you want to view just one month then click on it so it is highlighted.  If you want to select a combination of months ie quarters etc. then click on the first or the last month and drag the mouse over the months you want until all the months in the period are completely highlighted.  Use the vertical scrollbars to view periods that are not immediately displayed.

When the required period is selected then click on the Calculate button for the period's figures to be calculated and displayed.

Any month that has an asterisk (*) at the side of it is a closed period that cannot be selected for analysis.  If you attempt to select any unopened periods you will be given a warning.

The Lock Columns checkbox on the tabpage is used to lock each selected period into the spreadsheet.  This is used if you want to see a period-by-period analysis of your balance sheet.  For example you may want to see 1st and 2nd quarter figures side-by-side.

Any periods selected with the Lock Columns checkbox ticked will be "locked" into the grid and any further periods selected will be added to the spreadsheet.  Any periods selected with the Lock Columns checkbox unticked will be overwritten when the next period is selected.

You can lock and unlock a period by right-clicking on the required period in the spreadsheet and clicking on the pop-up button.  This will reverse the current locked status of the column.

When you want to wipe all selected periods from the grid then click on the Clear button.

The other two tabpages available in Quick Analysis are Cash and Profit & Loss.  Click on the tabpages below for help on using these options.


AddrBook_New_Pop
New is used to create a new contact to the address book.  This will give you blank fields to enter.


AddrBook_Save_Pop
Save is used to save the contact details to the address book.


AddrBook_Abandon_Pop
Abandon is used to discard any changes made to the current contact.


AddrBook_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to remove the current contact from the address book.  You will be asked to confirm the deletion first.


AddrBook_Previous_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous contact, always in Reference order.


AddrBook_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next contact, always in Reference order.


StkReps_Prev_Pop
Previous is used to move to the previous stock item on your system (in stock code order) and to display it's history.  The Start Stock Code setting dictates if the system can move to the previous item or not.


StkReps_Next_Pop
Next is used to move to the next stock item on your system (in stock code order) and to display it's history.  The Finish Stock Code setting dictates if the system can move to the next item or not.


RepDesign_NewReport
Creating A New Report

To create a new report in the reports explorer then click on the New button on the toolbar (as below).

This will display the New Object Wizard which will you take you step-by-step into defining the settings of the new report.  On each page of the wizard you can go back a step by clicking the <Back button.

First you will asked the type of object you want to create.  Only the Report and Folder options are supported.  Select Report and click on Next>.

On the next page select Open Report and then Next>.

The next page in the wizard asks you to select the security options you want to set for the report.  When you create a report your user identity is recorded on it as the creator.  Therefore any other users on the system are subject to the settings you make here before enabling them to use the report.  Tick the options you want them to have access to and untick those that you do not.

Next the report wizard will ask you to specify a unique name for the report to identify it within the Reports Explorer.  Enter an informative name for the report and click on the Finish button to complete the process.

An alternative way of creating a new report is to right-click on the folder contents grid and from the pop-up menu select New Report.  This will simply ask you for the name of the new report and store it with default settings as opposed to taking you through the setup wizard as above.

When you have created a new report you can then proceed to use the Reports Designer to setup and define the layout of the report.  See Designing A Report for details.


RepDesign_Design
Designing A Report

The Reports Designer included with Empire Builder is an extraordinarily powerful reporting tool.  It has been licensed from and developed in conjunction with Shazamware Inc, USA who are a leading manufacturer of reporting tools.  Shazamware have included a comprehensive help system covering every aspect of designing add-hoc reports using the reports designer.  A comprehensive guide to using the reports designer is also covered in the Empire Builder user manual.

This section is a basic tutorial outlining how to start designing your reports using some very simple steps to get you on the road to creating your own bespoke reports.

Using this step-by-step tutorial we'll create a simple list of customers.

Step One

Adding Data Tables & Fields

First of all Create A New Report in the reports explorer (preferably in the Customer folder although this is not too important) and give it the name Simple Customer List.  To design or edit the design of a report double-click on it in the reports explorer.  When the reports designer is displayed you will see the following screen giving you a blank report.

The tabpages you can see each represent a different aspect of setting up a report.  The first one, which is displayed above, is Define Search.  This is used to tell the system what information is going to be included in the report, how it is to be sorted and how you want it to be filtered.  The first thing we need to do is to add the customer database table onto the report, as we want to pull customer information onto the report.  Click on the Add Table button on the toolbar (as below).

When the database table selection dialog window is displayed, as below, click on the Customer.DBF table in the list and click on the Add Table button.  You will see in the background that the Customer table has been added to the report.  We can add as many database tables within Empire Builder as we like and then link them together however for this example we only need this one so click on the Close button.

Now that we have selected the table we want to include information from, we must select what pieces of information from the customer database we want to add.  To do this you double-click on the fields within the Customer table list. Click on the ACCREF (customer reference) so it is highlighted in the field list and double-click on it.  In the lower part of the window you will see it has been added to the field grid.  This field is now available on the report.  Now Select NAME, ADDRESS1, ADDRESS2, POSTCODE, TELNO1 and BALANCE.  You may need to use the scrollbars to move down the list of fields.

As you can see the grid at the bottom gives you all the fields that have been added to the report.  You can see it displays the table name, the field name and other pieces of information about the fields.

Step Two

Defining Field Settings

We have now added the database table and the required fields to the report.  To get the report to perform exactly how we want we must setup properties about the fields that are going to control the processing of the report.  For example you need to set the details of the fields you are going to sort the report by.

First highlight the ACCREF field in the grid and click on the Define Settings button on the toolbar (as below).  You can also double-click on the field in the grid to edit the field's settings.

We can now define how the fields are to operate in the report.  We want to sort the report in the order of the customer's reference so we have to tell the field to do this.  You will see a prompt Sort with a combobox.  Click on the downarrow button to drop-down the list of available sort options.  You will see you can select None (the default option), A-Z or Z-A.  A-Z is the descending sort order and Z-A is the ascending order.  For this example select A-Z.

On the right hand side of the settings dialog you can setup the filters for each field.  For this example we'll tell the list to only include customers from A to F.  You will see a combobox on the filter settings that is defaulted to Is Equal To.  This is used to select how you want the field to be filtered.  Click on the combobox's downarrow button to see a list of available options.  Select Is Between and in the field beneath it enter A and in the field underneath that enter F.  This tells the report to filter the data to only include customers whose ACCREF field Is Between A and F.

Now click on the OK button to finish defining the settings for this field.  If you look at the ACCREF field in the field grid you will notice the SORT and FILTER rows now have entries.

Step Three

Formatting The Report Layout

Now that we have defined the data we want to have included in the report we can proceed with actually designing the layout of the report.  To do this click on the Layout Page tabpage.

You will first of all be given a blank page.  The Empire Builder Reports Designer is what is termed as a "banded" reports designer.  This means that each report layout is made up of several bands and the information you place on to each band will be printed according to what type of band it is.  If you look along the left hand edge of the reports page you will see the band types ie. Report Header, Page Header etc.  The boundaries of these bands are defined in the page by blue lines.

The Report Header band is only printed on the first page of the report.  Therefore any information you put in the Report Header band will only be printed on the first page of the report.  The Page Header band is printed at the top of every page in the report.  Most headers can also have a footer, therefore a Page Footer band will be printed at the bottom of each page.

In the Page Header band you may want to have the report title, page number and date for example.  In the Report Footer band you may want to print the totals of the report.

To design a report you must become familiar with the Page Designer tool.  The Page Designer can be accessed from the toolbar (see below).

There are three tabpages in the Page Designer.  The first is Arrange which enables you to setup the bands you require for the report.  The second is Place which is used to put data fields on the report as well as labels, boxes, pictures and much more.  The third is Customize which enables you to change the settings of a selected object.

We'll first of all change the bands of the report around.  If you select the Arrange tabpage on the Page Designer you will see the list of default bands on the report.  For this example we want the Report Footer but not the Report Header and we want to keep the Page Header but not the Page Footer.

To delete the Page Footer band click on it and then click the Delete button.  Now click on the Report Header band and then click on the Delete button.  The Page Designer will complain that we cannot delete the Report Header without deleting the Report Footer first.  So we'll temporarily delete the Report Footer so we can delete the Report Header and then create it again.

Click on the Report Footer band and then click on Delete.

Click on the Report Header band and then click on Delete.

To create our new Report Footer band click on the Add button.  This will invoke the add sections wizard (as below) for you to select the band you want to add.  The way this is illustrated on the screen should give you a better idea of how a report is formatted through the setup of bands.  Click on the Report Footer checkbox and click on Next >.  You will then be asked to confirm the selection.  Click on Finish.

Step Four

Designing The Report Layout

Now we have our bands setup we can start to design the contents of our reports.

You will notice X and Y co-ordinates at the bottom of the report designer window.  These change as you move the mouse around the report page.

We first need to expand the size of the Page Header band.  Place your mouse over the first blue line that marks the bottom of the Page Header band.  When you see the cursor change to two arrows click on it and drag it down until the Y co-ordinate is around 170.

We'll now add a report title to the page header band.  Click on the Place tabpage in the Page Designer and then click on the Label button on the left side of the dialog window.

Then click anywhere in the report page above the first blue line so it is placed in the Page Header band.  This drops a pretty meaningless label object onto the page.  We'll now change some settings so it means something.  Click on the label object in the page.  Then select the Customize tabpage in the Page Designer.  This is where we setup the properties of the label.  At the bottom of the Page Designer you will see two more pages.  The first is Properties which is currently selected and the second is Caption.  Click on the Caption page.  We can now change the caption for the Label.  Overwrite the text that is already there and enter Simple Customer List.

Now select the Properties page at the bottom the Page Designer.  In the prompts that are displayed enter the same as the below screen shot.

Click on the Font prompt so an arrow button appears.  Click on this and the Font selection dialog will appear.  Select Font Style :Bold, Size :20 and Colour :Blue.

Now we'll drop some fields onto the report.  On the Page Designer select the Place tabpage.  Click on the ACCREF field and drag it onto the page.  When you drop it onto the page you will notice that it appears to drag two copies of the field.  In fact it has dragged the field and a label object for you to use as a caption for the field.  If you look at the Page Designer you will see a checkbox with the prompt Automatically Caption Fields.  This is currently ticked but if you didn't want it to drag field captions then simply untick it.

With the ACCREF field and caption on the page move them both together making sure the caption is slightly above the blue line and the field is below it.  This will put the caption in the Page Header band which means it will be printed at the top of each page.  The field will be put in the Detail band which is printed for each record in the report.  Try to align the caption and field close to the left hand margin on the page.  Now drag some more of the fields onto the page to make up the columns of the report with the captions just above end of the Page Header band and the fields just below it.  Place four or five fields onto the page.

Just before we run the report move the second blue line, which is the bottom of the Detail band, up so it will not move any further up.  This is to close up the band so it is not printing blank spaces after every record.

We can now preview the report to see how it looks.  Click on the Preview Report tabpage in the Reports Designer and you will see the report with the data you have included.  You can click on the Printer button on the toolbar to print the report.

To save the report select File on the menu and select Save.  You will be asked to confirm the name of the report and the designer will save the report.  Select File and Close Report to close the designer and return to the reports explorer.

This concludes the brief tutorial on the reports designer.  We have not tried to explain every aspect and feature of this powerful tool but instead take you briefly through what you need to do to setup a very simple report.  Consult the help screen that are available in the Reports Designer and the main Empire Builder manual for a full explanation of this facility.

The Reports Designer is incredibly powerful and we have only covered a small percentage of it's features and the kind of reports that can be produced with it.  A good way to help you get used to using it is to look at some of the sample reports supplied and see how they work.

We strongly recommend you take some time to learn and utilise some of the report designer's finer features to get information from your accounts data that answers all your questions in the way you want.


RepDesign_NewFolder
Creating A New Folder

To create a new folder in the explorer then click on the New button on the toolbar (as below).

This will display the New Object Wizard which will you take you step-by-step into defining the settings of the new report.  On each page of the wizard you can go back a step by clicking the <Back button.

First you will asked the type of object you want to create.  Only the Folder and Report options are supported.  Select Folder and click on Next>.

The next page in the wizard asks you to select the security options you want to set for the folder.  When you create a report your user identity is recorded on it as the creator.  Therefore any other users on the system are subject to the settings you make here before enabling them access to the folder and it's contents.  Tick the options you want them to have access to and untick those that you do not.

Next the wizard will ask you to specify a unique name for the folder to identify it within the Reports Explorer.  Enter an informative name for the folder and click on the Finish button to complete the process.

An alternative way of creating a new folder is to right-click on the folder contents grid and from the pop-up menu select New Folder.  This will simply ask you for the name of the new folder and store it with default settings as opposed to taking you through the setup wizard as above.


RepDesign_RunRep
Running A Report

To run a report directly from the reports explorer first of all select the report you want to run.

If you want to preview the report on the screen then click on the Preview button on the toolbar at the top of the reports explorer form (see below).

This will show you the report you want on the screen using the reports designer but will default to the Preview Report tabpage (see the help screens in the Reports Designer or use your user manual) so the report is immediately displayed.

If you want to print the selected report directly from the reports explorer then click on the Print button on the toolbar (see below).


RepDesign_Properties
Editing Properties

The Editing Properties window can be invoked by clicking on the Properties button in the toolbar as below.

You can also right-click on the required report or folder in the folder contents grid and select Properties from the pop-up menu.

The properties window enables you to change the report or folder name, the owner of the report (which dictates the security rights to the report or folder) and any access other users have to the report.  Any changes are subject to access rights for the current user.


RepDesign_DelReps
Deleting Reports & Folders

You can delete the currently selected report or folder in the Reports Explorer by clicking on the Delete button on the toolbar as below.

You can also delete a report or folder by right-clicking on it in the folder contents grid and selecting Delete on the pop-up menu.

Access to this option is dependant on the owner giving other users the rights to delete it.  If you do not have access to delete this then you will be given a warning.

When you select to delete the report or folder the system will ask you first to confirm the deletion.


RepDesign_Rename
Renaming Reports & Folders

You can rename a report or folder by right-clicking on it in the folder contents grid and selecting Rename on the pop-up menu.

Access to this option is dependant on the owner giving other users the rights to save changes or rename it.  If you do not have access to delete this then you will be given a warning.

When you select to rename the report or folder you will asked to enter the name you now want to give to it.  Enter accordingly and click on OK to confirm the change or click on Cancel to discard any change.


RepDesign_ImportExport
Using Import & Export

Importing and Exporting reports into and out of the Reports Explorer is useful for two purposes.

1)  Enables you to actually tailor the layout and contents of standard Empire Builder reports (which were all originally developed using this Reports Designer).

2)  Enables you to copy existing reports in the explorer to create new, similar reports so you are not starting from scratch each time you create a new report.

Please Note :  The system does not impose any limitations on the changes you can make to the standard reports in Empire Builder using this facility.  Therefore you should keep a copy of the original report files for backup purposes.  System report files are stored in the \SysReps sub-folder of the main \Empire Builder folder.  Some reports used by Empire Builder are entirely generated at runtime by the software and only the basic layouts are available in the supplied reports files.  While the layouts of these reports can be cosmetically changed using the Reports Designer they are useless for producing reports without Empire Builder generating the data.  In changing reports we strongly advise against changing or removing report bands, deleting objects and changing object names as this may seriously affect the performance of the reports.

Changing Empire Builder's Standard Reports

To change a standard report you must first of all import the report file into the reports explorer.  To do this select the folder you want to import the report into.  Then right-click on the folder contents grid and select Import from the pop-up menu.  You will be asked to select the file you want to import.  Use the Windows Explorer style navigator to change the directory to the \SysReps folder (which is in the main \EmpireBuilder folder).  This will give you a list of all the .SRW files that the system uses to produce reports.  Select the one you want to change and click OK.

Please Note : For a list of all the report filenames and what each one is used for see this section in your user manual.

This will import the report into the explorer.  You can then proceed to use the Reports Designer to change the report layout to how you want.  When you have made and saved the changes then you can now export the report to overwrite the original one with your newly changed version.

Select the report in the folder contents grid and right-click to bring up the pop-up menu and then select Export.  You are then asked to specify the filename you want to export.  Use the Windows Explorer-style navigator to change the directory to the \SysReps folder.  Choose the report file you want to overwrite with your newly changed version and click OK.  You will be asked to confirm that you want to overwrite the original and there you go.  The next time the run that particular report in Empire Builder it will contain your changes.

Copying Reports

It is often frustrating to have to design a report from scratch especially when there is another report available that is very similar.  However you can use the import and export facility to create templates and copy them whenever required to create a new report.

An example of this is the template used to create the sample reports which are supplied with the Reports Designer.  The Page Header for all sample reports is in a report in the "root" folder in the Reports Explorer called Sample Report Template.  You can use this template to start all your own add-hoc reports or you can generate your own template.  If you develop a standard design you can create all your reports to look the same without having to duplicate work.

Select the template report you have created or that you want to copy.  Right-click on it in the folder contents grid and select Export from the pop-up menu.  Then select the file you want to save the exported file to.

Now select the folder you want to create the copied report into, right-click in the grid and select Import from the pop-up menu.  Select the file you exported the template to earlier and the copy of the original will be generated for you to work on.


ECCodes_Save_Pop
Save is used to store any changes you have made to the EC member states list in the data grid.


ECCodes_Aban_Pop
Abandon is used to discard any changes you have made to the list of EC member states in the data grid.


ECCodes_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to remove the currently selected EC member state from the list.


DocDesign_New_Pop
New is used to create a new document of the type currently specified in the Document Type combobox.  You will be asked to key in a name for the document which will be used to identify it both here in the Document Designer and when selecting documents in Empire Builder.


DocDesign_CopyDoc
Copy Document

The Copy Document window enables you to copy an existing document layout to a new one so you have a template to work from.  You can then proceed to make the changes to new document layout.

You first of all select the existing document you want to copy from.  You can click on the combobox's down arrow button for a pull down list of available documents of the type selected.

Once selected you can proceed to entering the name of the new document that will be created.

Click on OK to create the new copy of the document.  You can then click on the Design button in the document designer to make the changes to the new layout.

Click on Cancel to abandon copying.


DocDesign_Save_Pop
Save is used to save a new document you setup or saves any changes to the document name you make.  It doesn't have any effect on the document layout which is a separate process.


DocDesign_Delete_Pop
Delete is used to delete the selected document layout.  This will delete both the document record and the file.  You will be asked to confirm the deletion first.


DocDesign_Design
Design Document Layout

Designing a document is done in exactly the same way as designing a report through the Reports Designer (in fact they both use the same design tool).  The difference is that the structure of the layout is already setup for you.  You simply have to design the document by placing fields, labels, boxes and possibly pictures onto the predefined report bands.

The layout of a document is based around "bands".  Depending on which band you place a field or an object will effect where on the eventual page the data is printed.  The bands are separated by blue lines with the band names displayed in the left hand margin.  The bands available can be altered if required however the default setup is geared specifically to the printing of the relevant documents.

The bands setup on the layouts are as follows :

Invoices & Purchase Orders

Page Header

This band is printed at the top of each page.  Normally you would put your company details, company logo etc. into this band.  You would put any details that you wanted printed at the top of each individual page even if it is a multi-page document.  This may also include the header details of the document such as customer/supplier address, invoice/order number, date etc.  What you place in this band largely depends on your pre-printed stationery if you are using any at all.

GH :InvNo

This band is printed on the header of each invoice after the information on the Page Header is printed.  As this is printed once, on the first page of each invoice, it will not be printed on subsequent pages of a multi-page document.  Normally you would place information on the header of the document such as customer/supplier address, delivery address, order reference, date etc.

Detail

This band is printed for each item line on the invoice.  If you are simply designing an invoice for stock item lines then it should just be large enough to print a single line.  If you are laying out a service-based invoice that will include free-text lines then you can expand it to fit in a larger free-text description.  Information to be included in this band are stock code, description, quantity, price, discount etc.

Page Footer

This band is printed once on each document at the bottom of the last page.  You should include information on this band such as notes, carriage charges, transaction totals etc.

Statements & Remittance Advice Notes

Page Header

This band is printed at the top of each page.  Normally you would put your company details, company logo etc. into this band.  You would put any details that you wanted printed at the top of each individual page even if it is a multi-page document.  This may also include the header details of the document such as customer/supplier address, date, reference etc.  What you place in this band largely depends on your pre-printed stationery if you are using any at all.

GH :Accref

This band is printed on the header of each statement after the information on the Page Header is printed.  As this is printed once, on the first page of each document for each customer/supplier, it will not be printed on subsequent pages of a multi-page document.  Normally you would place information on the header of the document such as customer/supplier address,  reference, date etc.

Detail

This band is printed for each transaction included on the statement/remittance note for the customer/supplier.   This band should just be large enough to print a single line.  Information to be included in this band are transaction type, date, details, totals etc.

Page Footer

This band is printed once on each document at the bottom of the last page.  You should include information on this band such as notes and aged balances.

If you want to include your company logo then you must first of all have it available in the form of a bitmap picture file (.BMP).  Normally you would include the logo in the Page Header band of the document.  To include the logo click on the Page Designer button on the designer Toolbar and click on the Place tabpage.  Click on the Picture button as below

You will then be asked to select the picture file using a Windows Explorer-style navigator.  Select accordingly.

Please Note  :  If you place a picture on the document, the designer will let you resize it and it will display the new size.  However when the actual document is printed and previewed using real data it will always use the actual, original size of the picture you placed on the document.  Therefore resize the picture and save it as the correct size in your 3rd party graphics software before importing it to the document rather than resizing it in the Document Designer.

The actual use of the document design tool is beyond the scope of this topic.  For full details of how to use the designer see your user manual or use the on-line help within the designer.  A tutorial of actually setting up basic report layouts in the designer is available in Designing Reports.