Gnu Books

The user is prompted for the user number and password. The requirement to enter a password can be toggled in the application settings. An administrator must always enter their password.

Items are scanned or entered on the cash register. Access to inventory lookups, inventory updates, customer lookups and updates, held and layaway transactions and stock levels are available from the cash register with the minimum number of keystocks/mouse clicks. Items sold, department sales, promotional discounts, and accessories will automatically be present when the item is scanned. Any scanned item can be quickly changed to an item returned or an item being sold/exchanged to the store at the appropriate exchange rate. Items not found in inventory will prompt the cashier to add or rescan the item. If add is selected, the inventory add screen will be presented.  

F3 from the cash register.

The customer information is presented on this main customer screen. The cashier can place a note on this low security screen or if the cashier has the appropriate access level, may add or update customer information. Financial information for the customer can only be changed by an administrator.

Customer transaction history can be accessed from this central customer hub as well to confiem past purchases.

F5 from the cash register.

Inventory items can be added or updated while processing a cash register transaction without the need to hold the transaction using the Quick Receive (Main Inventory Process).

Search for items by entering the first three characters and the drop down list will appear. Select from the list or continue to enter characters to further define the item you wish to find. If you have the same item in stock all occurances will be listed. When selected, the items will all be displayed in more detail. See next creen shot.

On a Pentium III, 1 MH computer, the lookup finishes in less than a second on 150,000 inventory items.

Here you can see the different items which match the selected lookup. Any one of these can be selected for further information using the functions listed across the top. The item can be added to the sale, can be added to the transaction as a trade in (either of the two levels). Receiving and sales information can be checked.

This function allows additional barcodes to be added/deleted/updated for an item. You can print your own label with a unique barcode and add the barcode here to attach it to the item is so desired.

Here you can see three items as part of a sale. The third item has been marked down to 50% of the original selling price and the reason box has been clicked. The reason for the markdown has been selected (it can be typed in as well). When the reason is updated, the cash register will be ready to scan the new item.

This is a continuation of the previous example. We have added two items brought in by the customer for credit and one item returned.

 

Note the list of hot keys. Quantity, Selling Price, Set the item as a trade in level 1 ot level 2, a quick Bank Total, fast access to the Comic Order and Bulk Receive, Coupon and Gift Certificate handling are all hot key driven from the cash register. Those that are item specific action the last item scanned or the item that has been selected by the cashier. The L is used for a fast lookup of the item being sold/accepted as trade.

The Book Register System can be tuned to suit the needs of the retailer. This tuning is done in the Settings. The taxes, payment types, return types, points structure, user and screen level security, department and sub-departments, printer specifications and folder specifications are settings that can be changed.

The specific taxes for your location can be established. You may have to request the tax rules that apply from the federal, province/state, and municipal offices to ensure the regulations are set correctly for each tax.

There are six types of payment supported. Cash, Check, Credit Card, Debit Card, Account and Points. Food Stamps may fit within one of the categories.

Fifteen payment types can be set up. For example, you may accept Cash, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Debit Card, Account and Points payments. Notice there are three credit card types. Payment Types can not be changed or deleted. They are required to support historical payment data.

Items that when sold award points to the customer are identified in the inventory. An entire department can be set up to award points. When a new inventory item is created, it takes the profile of the department. On the item level, the option to award points can be turned on/off for any item.

There are five user access levels. 1 is the lowest, used for training, 2 is used for cashiers, 3 for supervisors, 4 for managers and 5 for Owners/Administrators. Specific function can be assigned a minimum access level to be able to open that screen. Be careful. The cashier may need more than a cashier's level if left alone. They may require the ability to perform tasks like receiving new items and adding new customers.

There are 99 available departments. Department 99 is recommended as Misc. Three departments are require to effectively use the cash register. One for coupons, another for gift certificates and a third for generic credit (credit given for a bulk purchase which will be itemized at a later point)

If comic books are sold, the comic book departments (New comics, Graphic Novels, Figurines) that are ordered from Diamond must have the Section field set to Section 1.

Sub departments can be used in multiple departments or any other schema that might facilitate your business needs. Sub department is primarily used for more accurate filing of stock in store sections and reporting.

The most common receipt printer codes come pre-loaded with Book Register. If your thermal printer requires different codes, this set up allows the codes to be revised to meet that manufacturer's specifications. The codes can be found in the user manual.

This is an off hours facility. The training mode uses different data files and will not be reflected in the production transactions or totals. Training mode will be highlighted on the main menu when activated.

The cash count and daily totals are presented for reconcilliation. F11 will print the daily summary to the receipt printer. F4 is the final task for the day, change the date. This function triggers the backup of all data files to both the hard drive and removable device. The time to create a backup will vary based on the speed of the device. In general, it takes less than 5 minutes.

Promotions for specific items is done for that item in the inventory (either on or off). The promotion will automatically be applied to items at the cash register when the processing date is within the promotion dates. If more than one promotion affects a product, the lowest price (highest markdown) is selected by the cash register. The cashier has the ability to override any promotion markdown during the sale process if required.

Paid outs affect the cash totals. They occur when cash/debit, etc is used by the store to aquire product or cover unplanned costs (window washer). They are reported independantly and do not affect the sales but do affect the end of day cash count and bank totals.

The Comic Order application require you to log into Diamond and will pu;; down the previews and new order form to the data folder. These are then loaded into the Comic Order system which extracts the Comic Title prevoius issue activity. When ordering, you can see the performance for the last 12 months for that title.

When the order is completed, the file that Diamond accepts as an order upload is created. The items ordered are added to the Book Register Inventory with a price and cost of Zero.

When the order is received from Diamond, the order can be processed for all items that contain UPC's. (Diamond occasionally does not have the UPC and re-orders do not because they occur at the Diamond site). UPCs can be scanned and if the item is new, the Quick reciving will be presented to create the item. The price and cost is taken from the weekly delivery file found in My Account on the Diamond site (available on Thursdays).

In addition, inventory adjustments from a physical inventory can be loaded into the Bulk Receive and processed to correct the inventory values.

Inventory additions update the inventory databases. Inventory adjustments/receipts load into the bulk receiving process. Customer loads update the customer database.

Exports unload the entire database selected. Records can be selected from the exported data. 

Held transactions and Layaway transactions are retirieved using this screen. Layaways are consolidated when the same customer asks for a layaway and already has one present. This happens frequently for people with standing orders for producr produced monthly.

Not all screens will have a help screen. Those where questions may arise do have help screens.

The payment screen can be entered at any time during a cash register transaction. F8 can be used to return to the Cash Register.  When a customer is selected on the Cash Register, that customer and their account and points information will be reflected on the payment screen. In addition, if the transaction is a layway, a deposit can be taken at this screen.

Hot keys are available (when set up) that will automatically enter the amount due and complete the sale. For example, a debit card transaction of $21.76. The cashier can hit "D" and the amount $21.76 will appear in the debit entered field. Hitting enter accepts the amount and the payment can be completed by hitting F12.