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NexGen features “shared” inventory and service management, allows you to make a change in NexGen and the change will take effect at specific stores or all stores.
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Item Maintenance
NexGen’s Inventory Item Maintenance function is where you go to add, remove or modify inventory items and information such as selling prices or your costs.
If you are adding a new inventory item, make sure that the group and vendor for that item have already been added to the system.
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· Stock Number Enter a unique stock number for this item, any combination of letters or numbers. It should be short but descriptive, i.e. OF = Oil Filter. It should match as often as possible the stock number of the manufacturer. Note that on the customer invoice, both the Stock Number and the Item Description are listed.
· Item Description Briefly describe the item here.
· Barcode The barcode (UPC) of an inventory item can be scanned into this field with a barcode reader. All look-up fields within QuickTouch will search both the Stock Number and Barcode fields.
· Grouping Code This allows your reports to group items based on the grouping code. For example, if you want all of your Synthetic oils to group, you can put ‘Synthetic’ under each synthetic oil. Then the reports will breakdown the number of services sold with each type of grouping code.
· Vendor Indicate the supplier for this item. If there are multiple suppliers, just choose the most common one, as you can modify the vendor when you're restocking inventory.
· Cost This is YOUR cost, not how much you charge the customer. Of course, the cost of an item varies over time, but the QuickTouch Restocking function allows you to indicate the cost of the item each time it is received, and will calculate your average costs over time for that item in various reports. For our purposes here, on this screen, just enter the cost of the item the last time it was received.
· Tax Yes or No. Almost always Yes.
· Upcharge Amount The upcharge is used in situations where the item is normally included as part of the service, for instance, oil filters are normally included as part of an oil change service. However, certain individual items (for import or specialty vehicles) may cost you an excessive amount, and you wish to charge the customer extra for that particular item. This is the upcharge. For instance, if you budget the cost of an oil filter as $3 as part of your service, but a BMW filter costs you $8, then the upcharge would be $5. (If you're not sure, charge the difference between the budgeted cost and the actual cost and round it, as in the example). Select whether the upcharge should be applied by the unit or service.
· Pricing Method Fixed is your usual choice here. This is the price that you charge the customer. Note that there is a Selling Price, and a Service Price. These are usually the same, the only time they would be different is if you charge a different (usually lower) price if the item is sold as part of a service. For instance, the air filter is normally $7.99 but is sold at $5.99 if part of a tune-up.
· Pricing Method Variable will prompt the cashier for a price, this will not be used for most items.
· Pricing Method Markup will allow QuickTouch to calculate the price of the item based on the cost. For instance, the item cost is $2.00, and your markup is 200%, then the selling price extended to the customer would be $6.00. This method is not commonly used, it's like going to a restaurant and ordering lobster, and the price is listed “Market” - the customer will have no idea what it will be until it shows up on the invoice
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· Carton Quantity If the item comes in packages of more than one, indicate that quantity here. If you're not sure, use 1.
Alert! Alert! Alert!
This gets tricky. Let's look at a few examples:
Oil Filters - they are sold as singles, but may be ordered (and received) as either singles, or cases of 12. In this case, the carton quantity would be 1 or 12.
Air Filters - they are sold as singles, but may be ordered (and received) as either singles, or in boxes of 3. In this case, the carton quantity would be 1 or 3.
Bulk Oil - they are sold in quarts but received as gallons. The carton quantity would be 4.
Bottled Oil - they are sold in quarts, but received as cases of 6 or 12. The carton quantity would be 6 or 12.
55 Gallon Drums - some “bulk” oils are shipped in 55 gallon drums. Since they are sold in quarts, and there are four quarts to a gallon, the carton quantity would be 220.
· Unit Description Each, Quart, Gallon, Carton, Case, etc… Choose the best description for how this item sold (i.e., bulk oil may be received in gallons, but it is sold in quarts, so choose quart here)
· Order Method Fixed allows you to enter a Minimum and Standard Order quantity.
· Order Method Auto allows you to enter the Average Days (this is the number of days in the past to look for sales history) and Days To Order (the number of days in your reorder period). These are usually 90/7 or 90/14.
· Display Sort Order Items will be listed either numerically (AF1, AF3, AF200…) or alphabetically (AF1, AF200, AF3, BR1…), unless you indicate a sort order. This is normally used only for your Oils. The sort method for any particular group is configured under Inventory Group Maintenance.
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· Special Pricing Categories Each fleet account can be assigned to a particular pricing category, and will then automatically receive discounts or markups on that item or service. The discount or markups can be a fixed dollar amount or percentage. In this example, all “A” fleet accounts receive a $1.00 discount.
· Skip Quantity Prompt For Part Sales This is normally NO. If you sell this item using the Part button on the Customer Invoicing screen, normally you will be prompted for the quantity sold. Saying YES here would turn that off.
· General Ledger Accounts Used for QuickBooks Interface feature.
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Item Group Maintenance
The Inventory Group Maintenance function allows you to add or remove inventory groups.
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· Item Group Description Type a brief description of the group here.
· Stock Number Sort When you're viewing inventory items within this group, this is how they will be ordered. Items will be listed either numerically (AF1, AF3, AF200…) or alphabetically (AF1, AF200, AF3, BR1…), unless you indicate a sort number for each item( this would normally be used only for your Oils).
· Stock Number Button Style When you're viewing inventory items within this group, this determines what will be displayed on the buttons, either the Stock Number or the Description for each item. Usually this will be set to Stock #.
· Assign to Business Group This is used in the case of locations that have more than one business, for instance Lube and Car Wash. You can indicate here which profit center the inventory is assigned to, so that you can track your inventory separately for each business. Usually this will be blank.
· General Ledger Accounts Default Used for QuickBooks Interface feature.
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· Outside Reference Manual QuickTouch incorporates the Motor (Chek-Chart) reference manual into the system, and can supply the part number of various parts for many distributors based on the vehicle Year/Make/Model/Engine. Use this page to indicate a Primary and a Secondary manufacturer for this particular item group.
QuickTouch currently provides part numbers for the following item groups:
Air Filter
Breather
Oil Filter
PCV
Cabin Air Filter
Serpentine Belts
Fuel Filters
Wiper Blades
Transmission Filters
Lights
Spark Plugs
Radiator Caps
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Service Maintenance
NexGen’s Service Maintenance function allows you to add or remove Services.
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· Service Name Type a description of the service.
Service prices can be divided into Parts and Labor, for those localities that do not charge tax on the full service price, only on the parts included in that service. Thus, if a service is $24.99, it may be $8.00 in parts and $16.99 labor, of which only the $8.00 would be taxable. If the total price of the service is taxable, you can simply type the entire amount into the Parts price, or you can still separate out the parts and labor portions.
· Parts Pricing Method The Parts component of the total service price can be priced using several methods. Fixed means that the parts price will be the same for all vehicles (generally for most services). Variable pricing will prompt the cashier for how much to charge the customer (generally not done). Actual Parts will charge the customer based on the actual parts used during that services (this would be used for services such as Air Filter, Wiper Blade, Fuel Filter, PCV Filter, etc).
· Parts Taxable Yes or No. This indicates whether the parts component of the total service price should be taxed. Generally this is Yes.
· Labor Pricing Method The Labor component of the total service price can be priced using several methods. Fixed means that the labor price will be the same for all vehicles (generally for most services). Variable pricing will prompt the cashier for how much to charge the customer. This would be useful for replacing a part such as a fuel filter or cabin air filter - the part itself may not be expensive, but depending on where it is located on the vehicle, you might wish to charge more or less for the service.
· Calculate Labor / Service Target Price This advanced labor pricing method would be used in conjunction with the Actual Parts pricing method. First, you set your Service Target Price (for instance, any 6cyl Tune-up, you might wish to charge a total of $69.99, no matter what you charge for the parts. This feature would calculate the total parts price, and subtract this amount from the Service Target Price, and this would be the labor charge). Note that this feature is grayed out unless you click Actual Parts under the parts section.
· Labor Taxable Yes or No. Indicates whether tax should be applied to labor
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This page allows you to assign parts, part categories, or other services to a service. When you click the Add button on this screen, you will be prompted to choose a Part, Item Group, or Service.
Before jumping in the deep end, let's talk about “services” and “parts” first.
When QuickTouch refers to a “Service”, it is referring to the list of buttons that shows up when you press the “Services” button when creating a Work Order, Invoice, or QuickSale. Services might involve multiple employees and multiple inventory items, or might be a simple as pouring a bottle of additive. Thus, there are several different types of services.
For some types of services, you might wish to assign a particular part for that service. For example, a “3-Step Fuel System Flush” might include a 3-step kit. It's the same 3-step kit every time, so we don't need the lube technician to choose from a list, but we do want the item to subtract from inventory when the service is sold to a customer. This is what “Part” means on this screen.
Another type of service would have parts associated with it, but the actual inventory item used might be different for any particular vehicle. For example, a Full Service Oil Change - you include up to 5 quarts of oil and an oil filter, but you want the technician to indicate WHICH TYPE OF OIL and WHICH OIL FILTER were used in the vehicle. This is what “Item Group” means on this screen. By indicating an Item Group for the service, QuickTouch will know to prompt the cashier for the correct part number.
Finally, a service might include other services, such as a “30,000 Mile Service” including an oil change, transmission flush, 3-step kit, etc. This is what the “Services” button means on this screen.
· Sort This is the order in which it will appear on screen.
· Category Shows if you’ve selected item, Item Group, Service, etc.
· Description Describes the category you’ve selected.
· Quantity Included In Price This is how many of the item is included in the price - if the vehicle uses more than this amount, then the customer will be charged extra, the “Service Price” associated with the particular inventory item.
· Extra Labor This would charge extra labor if the vehicle exceeds the Quantity Included amounts. There are various methods to compute the extra labor, Xquan and X1. Xquan will charge the Extra Labor Amount for each item over the Quantity Included. X1 will charge a onetime fee no matter how much the Quantity Included is exceeded.
· Ask For Quantity will prompt the technician for how many of the item was used.
· Default Number From Last Visit On the customer's next visit, this will let the computer remember which part and the quantity of that part used on a previous visit.
· Ask For Stock# or Pop Up List The Ask setting will allow the technician to type in the part number, or allow Chek-Chart to suggest the correct part number. This should be used for Air Filters, Oil Filters, PCV, or Breather, as the Chek-Chart database tracks these parts. It can also be used for item groups like serpentine belts, where it would be easier to just type in the part number than scroll through a list of belts. The Pop Up setting would be used for groups that are not tracked through Chek-Chart, or where it's easier to view a list rather than typing in a part number, as in the Oil inventory group.
· Required This will force the technician to choose something from the list. Otherwise, if not required, the technician can cancel that particular part. Generally, all parts should be required, except in the case of maybe a Tune Up, where you can list all the different parts that the technician checks but he might not replace all of them (wires, etc).
· Pop Up List At Check In This is used for parts where the customer might have a preference, as in Oil. Generally this would be left at NO for any other item group.
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· Display Sort Order Allows you to sort your list of services into a particular order.
· Allow Quick Sale Allows you to disable this service from being sold through Quick Sale. Quick Sale allows you to invoice a customer without going through the customer and vehicle information screen, and does not produce a Work Order or checklist. Thus, you generally don't want any type of vehicle service to be sold through Quick Sale, only things such as impulse items (air fresheners, soda, etc).
· Use Checklist You can assign up to three 20-point checklists to each service.
· Use Miscellaneous Charge You can assign up to two miscellaneous charges, such as Environmental Fee, to any service. Note that the Miscellaneous charges have the same tax status as the Labor tax status on page 1.
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· Assign To Business Group If a location has more than one profit area, such as Lube, Car Wash, Detail, Convenience Store, etc., you can configure Business Groups and then assign each service to a particular Business Group. Generally this is set to No.
· Special Pricing Categories Each fleet account can be assigned to a particular pricing category, and will then automatically receive discounts or markups on that item or service. There are three pricing categories in QuickTouch, A, B, and C. You can configure a different discount or markup for each pricing category in each service. You can specify for each discount or markup whether it is a fixed dollar amount, or a percentage amount.
In this example, all “A” fleet accounts receive a 10% discount, all “B” accounts receive a 15% discount, and all “C” accounts get a 20% discount.
See the Fleet Account Management section for more information on using Special Pricing Categories.
· General Ledger Accounts Default Used for QuickBooks Interface feature
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· Export Service Code This field is used by other computer service vendors to interface with QuickTouch. For example, MailMark is a company that provides reminder card services, and this allows them to create an export file to print your reminder cards. Generally this is left blank unless you have a contract with one of these outside vendors.
· ChekChart Service Codes This allows QuickTouch to interface with the Chek-Chart database of manufacturer recommended services. Basically, you have to match up as best you can your service with the Chek-Chart list of services. In this example, we matched our “Air Filter” QuickTouch service with the “Air Cleaner Element” Chek-Chart Service.
By associating your list of services with the Chek-Chart recommended services, QuickTouch can print on the customer's invoice the recommended service interval, and if they've already had that service at your shop, the next scheduled service date/mileage.
The following is the list of Chek-Chart services:
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transaxle
Cooling System
Differential
Engine Oil Change
Final Drive
Manual Transmission
Manual Transaxle
Oil Change
P.C. Valve
Transmission Service
Transfer Case
Transaxle Service o None
· Suppress Checklist When Used As A Service Within Another Service Generally this is set to NO. The Yes option would only be used in a service like the 30,000 Mile Service, which includes multiple services which may have multiple checklists associated with them. Thus, you could use a single large checklist to cover the multiple services (the check points would all appear on one page) as opposed to having several individual checklists (these would all appear on separate pages).
· Ask For Employees This allows the cashier to enter one or two employees who performed this service. This is useful for shops that award commissions when the employees performing certain services may not be the same as the Upper and Lower technician positions. The results of this are listed on the Employee Service report. Generally this will be NO.
· Work Order Type Does this service produce a work order when assigned from the Work order screen checking in the vehicle? Usually yes, so the standard button is generally selected. We can't think of any examples of a service that would not require a work order. Work slip is used for carwashes where you wish to produce a “Please Pay Inside” type of receipt.
· Invoice Type Standard is usually what you choose here. Receipt would only be used in carwashes.
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· Include in Service Group This allows you to create “Buy X Get 1 Free” type promotions. If you press Yes, you can select a service group to include it in.
· Suppress when included in Service Package Yes, if you don’t want to include it.
· Gift Card Service Yes or No.
· Ask For Certificate Number This enables an additional pop-up screen upon selling the service which allows the user to input a certificate number. This can be used for tracking things such as state inspection stickers or smog certificates. There are two reports pertaining to the collection of certificate numbers that can be found under the inventory reporting menu.
· Certificate Number Required Specify whether the certificate number must be entered to proceed.
· Certificate Number Must Be Unique Specify whether the certificate number entered must be unique.
· Mileage on Invoice Required Specify whether the mileage is required when selling this service or not. If mileage is not required on this service, but is sold with another service in which it is required, the system will require the mileage.
· Labor Description (CA compliant invoices only) An additional description field added to the invoice which explains the service to which it is attached.
· Labor Description Editable at Checkout? Specify whether the Labor Description can be edited at checkout.
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Vendor Maintenance
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Vendor Name Required.
Address, Zip Code, City, State, Contact, Phone One These fields are optional, but useful if you use the Purchase Order feature.
Phone Two, Fax, Modem, Email These fields are optional.
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Order Method This option is for your information only, it does not have any effect in QuickTouch.
Modem Script is disabled unless the Modem Order Method is selected. This field is informational only, it does not have any effect in QuickTouch.
General Ledger Accounts This is used only with the QuickBooks interface.
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These fields are all informational only, and have no effect on any other area of QuickTouch.