| Categories |
|
|
If you have a number of products, you may wish to group them together in categories. Categories are set-up in the Product Information Database. To reach it, select PRODUCT TOOLS and PRODUCT INFORMATION & CATALOG NUMBERS. On the Product Information Screen that appears, click on the "Categories" button.
Categories are designated by a prefix followed by a forward slash (/) in the product's catalog number. For instance, let's say you sell books and maps, and you want to set up categories for each. You decide to use the prefix BK for Books and the prefix MP for Maps. Thus, two products with the catalog numbers of BK/NTB1 and BK/GIP1 would fall under the books' category. And two products with catalog numbers of MP/ID10 and MP/MT10 would fall under the maps' category. Categories are useful in a number of places in AnyOrder. When you use the product pop-up list, you can limit the products showing on the list to a selected category. This makes picking products from the list easier. In the inventory portion of the program, you can choose a special option which allows you obtain counts and sales figures for each of these categories. More information: Product Category Sales & Inventory Report. If you pay royalties, can have royalties calculated for a product category. (Royalties for categories should be figured by the "Net Amount" calculation method.) When selecting prefixes, keep the prefix short. The prefix takes up room and effectively shortens the length of the catalog number. Catalog numbers can be up to 15 characters long. If you use two characters for the prefix plus the slash mark, you're left with 13 characters for the catalog number. Use the Category Prefixes dialog box to set up your categories. When filling in the spreadsheet on the Category Prefixes dialog box, don't include the slash mark. For example: "BK" is correct and "BK/" is incorrect because it includes the slash mark. If you'd like to have AnyOrder insert the prefix to the beginning of the current catalog number showing on the Product Information Screen, click on "Insert Prefix." If you haven't been using categories - and then at a later time start to use them, you'll need to make an adjustment. If don't use the inventory portion of the program, then you don't have to do this. But, if you do use inventory (and almost all businesses do), you'll need to change the catalog number to the new number on all invoices. That's done easily by use of the Find and Replace function. In addition to changing catalog numbers on the invoices, you'll also need to replace it in all inventory files. That's also done in the Find and Replace function. It isn't necessary to use categories, but the option is available should you wish to organize your products in this manner.
Additional Information about Products: Product Database Screen: General Information Product Database Screen: Indicating a Starting Inventory Product Database Screen: Adding Inventory Entering Products on the Main Invoice Screen Entering Catalog Numbers on the Main Invoice Screen
|
