| Printing Invoices: More Options |
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Many of the Options Below Require the Level 4 Program or Higher
More Printing Options are accessed from the Print Invoice Dialog Box reached by selecting FILE and PRINT INVOICE or PRINT PACKING SLIP from the Menu Bar. Then click on the "More Options" button:
After clicking on the "More Options" button, the following dialog box appears:
The following provides more details on each option:
Normally, the retail price (but not subtotals and total) will be included on packing slips. This is a helpful feature if you ship products to retail stores and they need to have pricing information along with the shipped goods. In some situations, however, you may not want to include pricing information with the product. If you choose this option, all prices and totals, including the retail price, will be removed. AnyOrder will remember your choice for subsequent uses of the printer dialog box.
AnyOrder uses the same heading ("Invoice") on packing slips as it does on an invoice. If you would like to change the heading to "Packing Slip" check this box.
For data entry, AnyOrder uses a two-digit year format, i.e. 04/05/15. This helps speed up data entry and saves space on screen display. However, you may wish to use a four digit year format (i.e. 04/05/2015) on the printed invoices, billings, etc. that you send to your customers. To use a four-digit format, place a checkmark in the box. To use a two-digit format, leave the box unchecked.
There may be situations where you do not want the word "Invoice" to appear on top of the page. For example, you may wish to use "Delivery" in the place of "Invoice" for all consignment transactions. To make the change, check the box and type-in the substituted word (or words). Note: you'll need to remove the checkmark when you want to return to the normal situation where "Invoice" appears on the top.
If desired you can change the word "Tax" on printed invoices. For example, you may wish to use the words "Federal Excise Tax (FET)" or "Provincial Sales Tax (PST)" or "Value Added Tax (VAT)" or other more specific terminology to better define the type of tax. To make the change, check the box and type-in the substituted word (or words). Note: you'll need to remove the checkmark when you want to return to the default situation where "Tax" appears on the invoice. (Note: if the invoice you are printing has a tax code and you have designated a name for "tax," the designated tax code name will take precedence. Otherwise, if there's no tax code or a tax code without a designated name, AnyOrder will use whatever you enter here.)
Some Canadian provinces and other countries require two taxes to be added to invoices. This allows you to change the second of the two tax names. For more information on setting up two-tax system (or other multiple tax systems), see Tax Set-up. (Note: if you designated names when you set-up the code for the two-tax system, the designated tax code names will take precedence over this option. Otherwise, if there's code on the invoice for two taxes but no designated tax code names, AnyOrder will use whatever you enter here.)
Most businesses use the address at the bottom of the printed invoice for mailing purposes. It's just a matter of folding the invoice and slipping it into a business envelope with a window. The customer's address appears in the window and it's ready to be mailed (as shown below):
If you have a long list of items that you are shipping, there may not be enough room on the page to print the item list and the address. However, the program can be directed to print the address on a separate page. That's done on the Print Dialog Box by removing the checkmark from the box labeled: "Suppress printing of customer address when on its own page." This will allow a separate sheet of paper to be printed with the billing address (for invoices) or shipping address (for packing slips) in the correct position for windowed envelopes. If, however, you using this option you may wish to turn it off for copies (but not originals). This helps save paper. To turn it off for copies, place a checkmark here.
Normally, the shipping address is printed on the bottom of packing slips and is positioned so that the packing slip can be inserted in a windowed business envelope. However, there's a second choice. If you choose this option, AnyOrder will move the shipping address to the right slightly and include your return address. This allows you to cut off the bottom of the packing slip and adhere it to a package as a shipping label. Or it may be folded and placed in a clear packing slip envelope attached to the package. The following shows how the arrangement looks at the bottom of the packing slip:
NOTE: To use this option, you must remove the checkmark from Suppress printing of customer address when on its own page found on the main Print Invoice Dialog Box. If you have a list of items which perfectly fills out one page of the printed invoice, there won't be enough room to include the shipping label at the bottom. However, when the suppression feature is turned off, a separate sheet of paper will be printed with the shipping label. That's all that will be printed on the sheet of paper, but you'll have the label needed to ship the package. If you don't remove the checkmark, the second page with the shipping label won't be printed.
This decreases the size of the return and destination address so it will fit in a 3x4 plastic "Invoice Enclosed" holder. (Also, see the information on printing a shipping label directly above.) NOTE: To use this option, you must remove the checkmark from Suppress printing of customer address when on its own page found on the main Print Invoice Dialog Box. If you have a list of items which perfectly fills out one page of the printed invoice, there won't be enough room to include the shipping label at the bottom. However, when the suppression feature is turned off, a separate sheet of paper will be printed with the shipping label. That's all that will be printed on the sheet of paper, but you'll have the label needed to ship the package. If you don't remove the checkmark, the second page with the shipping label won't be printed.
This formats the postcode according to United Kingdom postal standards. As long as the name of a country is not found in the address, it positions the postcode at the end of the address on its own line. If you include a country, the postcode is positioned after the city. Additionally, selecting this option will direct AnyOrder to use anglicized "Cheque" instead of "Check" on printed invoices.
This allows you to include a line of information just below the horizontal line near the bottom of the invoice. The information is centered and uses an attractive arial font face. You might include such information as the following: "Please remit to our central accounting receivable office at 123 Main Street . . . ." OR "Thank you for your order. We appreciate your business" OR "If you have any problems with your order, call us at …." OR "Clear Water Press: Publishers of Fine Business and Accounting Books." To activate this feature, be sure to place a checkmark here as well as typing in the text you want to appear.
This allows you to include a second line of information positioned just below the line (described immediately above). Some examples are found above. This line can be a separate piece of information or it can be a continuation of the first line. To activate this feature, be sure to place a checkmark here as well as indicate the text you want to appear.
The extra lines of information (described immediately above) appear on the Original and Copies of the Invoice. If, however, you would like to include the same extra lines on the packing slip place a checkmark here.
If your invoices include a barcode (see below), you have the advantage of being able to scan the barcode. When you scan the barcode, AnyOrder will immediately locate the invoice for you. You can take advantage of this feature by asking that your customers return the bottom portion of the invoice with their payment. That allows you to scan the barcode, quickly find the invoice, and enter the payment. By checking this box, AnyOrder will include a statement just below the barcode. You can make up your own statement, or click on "default" button to use AnyOrder's default statement: The default statement is: "To expedite payment: return this portion of the invoice with your payment."
You can set-up different pricing levels in the Product Information Database (such as wholesale, trade, list, international pricing, etc.) Normally, the name of the pricing level will appear on the printed invoice. If you don't want the name to appear on the printed invoice, check this box.
If it's important that the customer not miss the notes on the invoice, you can add emphasis to them by selecting this option. AnyOrder will use a bold font and place asterisks at the beginning and end of each line. Note that these are the notes that you can add to an invoice and which are accessed from the EDIT >> ADD/EDIT INVOICE MESSAGE.
When printing invoices, AnyOrder will truncate the credit card number to the last four (4) digits. Most state and province laws require that the invoice or receipt that you provide to the customer includes a card number abbreviated in this manner. Most laws also require that the expiration date not appear on the customer's copy. For that reason, the "Original" copy of the printed invoice (which is the same the "Customer's Copy") always truncates the credit card number and blocks the expiration date. If you need a printed copy of the full credit card number and expiration date for your own internal purposes, remove the checkmark. When this option is not checked, the full credit card number will be printed on your "Copy" (which is equivalent to the "Merchant's Copy"). Be aware, however, that if the full number is not needed, then for security reasons, you should use the truncated number on all printed invoices that you keep for your records.
AnyOrder allows you have a mix of products on an invoice, some of which are taxed and some which are not. The 'Taxable" box on the Main Invoice Screen needs to be checked to turn on the tax feature. When the tax feature is turned on, all items are taxed except any item with an "\NT" in its name. Additionally, for the customer's information, when an "\NT" appears in at least one item's name, AnyOrder will include the following note at the bottom of the printed invoice: "\NT-NOT TAXED." In some situations, you may wish to suppress the "\NT-NOT TAXED" note. Select this option if you prefer that this note not appear at the bottom. In addition to removing the "\NT" note, it will also remove \NT from the item name. It doesn't remove it from the Main Invoice Screen. It always remains there. It is only removed from the printed version to simplify things for the customer.
If you don't use tracking numbers--or you prefer that they not appear on the printed invoice, check this box. To include it, keep the box unchecked.
In some situations, particularly when you are creating packing slips for drop shipments, you may not want the final customer to see the terms message (i.e. "30 days Net from Invoice Date.). By checking this box, the terms message is removed from packing slips. Note that this feature is also available on a customer to customer basis. You can remove the terms message for selected customers by checking the appropriate box in the Customer Database (MAIN TASKS >> CUSTOMER ADDRESSES & NUMBERS).
The Level 5 (or higher) program has the capability to include a barcode on the printed invoice. There are several advantages to do this. If you need to quickly locate an invoice, it's just a matter of scanning the barcode and AnyOrder will immediately display the invoice. When it comes time for packaging and shipping the order, you can scan the barcode to enter shipping weights and prices. AnyOrder Level 5 (or higher) has a full complement of features to take advantage of barcodes. Just a quick note about barcodes. Barcoding is not just for big businesses. AnyOrder levels the field when it comes to barcodes. Any small business can benefit from the use of barcodes. Moreover, barcode readers are inexpensive -- some can be purchased for significantly less than $100 -- and they easily connect to any computer. No special boards or equipment are required. They just plug into your keyboard. The time they save you will easily pay back your investment in month's use. Barcoded invoices also look professional and classy -- and your customers will most certainly notice. Note: if you have this feature turned on (by removing the checkmark), and the barcode doesn't print properly, see the information directly below in "Barcode Font."
This is the font used by AnyOrder for the invoice barcode. The Code 39 barcode (also called 3 of 9) is a very common barcode and it works well for coding AnyOrder's invoices. In particular, AnyOrder uses a font called "Free 3 of 9." This is a free font developed by Matthew Welch (http://www.squaregear.net/). Barcode fonts are particularly expensive, and Matthew's generosity in making this font available is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise very costly world. When you install the program, AnyOrder copies "Free 3 of 9" in your windows font folder. Some systems, however, may not readily accept the new font. To find out, try printing an invoice. Take a look at the bottom of the printed invoice. If you find the barcode, you'll all set. But let's say you find something like the following: * %345612 * The "345612" would be the invoice number. If that's the case, it means that your system hasn't registered the font file. The best way to solve this problem is to look in the C:\AnyOrder directory. You'll find the following file: 'FREE 3 OF 9.TTF.' Copy this file to C:\Windows\Fonts. Then try printing. Sometimes, it is necessary to delete the font file in C:\Windows\Fonts and then do the copy. When you re-copy the font, Windows is forced into recognizing it as a font and makes it available to AnyOrder and other programs on your computer. To test it, try printing a second invoice. If the above doesn't work, try this method. 1) Click on the Start button, then click "Control Panel." 2) In the Control panel window Double Click on the Fonts Folder. 3) In the Fonts folder window, click on FILE >> INSTALL NEW FONT. 4) On the lower part of the "Add Fonts" dialog box, navigate to the "C:\AnyOrder" folder. You'll see "Free 3 of 9 Regular (True Type)." Highlight it. 5) Click "OK". To test it, try printing a second invoice.
Place a checkmark here if you want to include the invoice number and the amount just below the barcode. This can be helpful if you are using the barcode to enter payment amounts on the Main Invoice Screen. The additional information below the barcode provides an extra check to make sure you are entering the correct payment amount. The illustration, above, shows what it looks like when this feature is turned on.
This option is used in conjunction with "Print a shipping label on the bottom of the Packing Slip" (see above). AnyOrder will format a shipping label that can be folded in placed in a plastic "invoice enclosed" envelope. By selecting this option, the barcode will appear just above your return address. If you need to find to the original invoice after you have the package prepared, it's just a matter of scanning the barcode. You can also use it to enter shipping charges and other information on the dialog box that's accessed from SHIPPING TOOLS >> FINAL SHIPPING & PACKAGING TASKS.
Some businesses use double windowed envelopes (sometimes referred to as "statement envelopes"). Such envelopes have two clear windows: one for the customer and one for your return address. By selecting this option, AnyOrder will format the addresses at the bottom of the invoices so they line up with the windows of a standard double window envelope (shown below):
If you do not have standard envelopes, it is possible to adjust the position of the two addresses, see Customer Address Adjustment, near the bottom of this page. NOTE: To use this option, you must remove the checkmark from Suppress printing of customer address when on its own page found on the main Print Invoice Dialog Box. If you have a list of items which perfectly fills out one page of the printed invoice, there won't be enough room to include your return address and the customer's address at the bottom. However, when the suppression feature is turned off, a separate sheet of paper will be printed with the addresses. That's all that will be printed on the sheet of paper, but you'll have enough to send the invoice in a double-windowed envelope. If you don't remove the checkmark, the second page with the addresses won't be printed.
By selecting this option, AnyOrder will automatically trigger the shipping label dialog box whenever you print a packing slip. It's the same dialog box that appears if you select FILE >> PRINT PACKING SLIP. This option is handy for those businesses that use shipping labels (instead of the "invoice enclosed" plastic holder.) It saves one or two steps when it comes to printing labels and helps the process go a bit faster.
If you do not want AnyOrder to use the word "Copy" on printed invoices, you can substitute your own heading here. Remember to check the box as well as type in the alternative title you would like to use.
By placing a checkmark here, the headings "Original" and "Copy" will not appear on the printed invoice. This takes precedent over the "Substitute ___ for Copy" (above). If this box is checked the headings are completely removed, no matter whether you've indicated an alternative name.
You can use any PDF printing software with AnyOrder. It's just a matter of installing the software and then selecting the PDF printer driver when you print the invoice. When you do this, the PDF software sends the invoice to a PDF viewer (which is usually the free Adobe Acrobat program.). But you can greatly speed up this process by utilizing this feature which integrates PDF printing into the AnyOrder program. To take advantage of the integrated PDF features, you'll need to download a copy of PDF995. PDF995 is a free software program. The reason that we have selected PDF995 is because of its ability to respond to commands from other software. In AnyOrder, it can be triggered without changing your default printer, and it will open a display window without asking for a filename. There are other advantages as well. If you're interested, you can download a copy from the following website: www.pdf995.com. One advantage of PDF995 is that it can be used to preview invoices before they are printed. Previewing invoices by the use of a PDF viewer is far more versatile than any previewer built into software. You have all sorts of ways of enlarging and reducing the size of the invoice. Moreover, you can save it and email it to customers, and, of course, you can print it. As we mentioned PDF995 is a free software program. It does, however, display a sponsor page before opening the viewer. We want to emphasize that PDF995 is NOT adware. The sponsor page is a way for the developers of PDF995 to promote their company. Since it's free, it's quite understandable that they would want to derive some benefit from the software's use. However, you can turn off the sponsor page by registering the program. That's another reason why we settled upon PDF995 for AnyOrder. The cost to register is only $9.95. It's not necessary to register the software if you don't want to, but as the price of software goes, the cost is negligible. In addition to removing the sponsor page, it makes you eligible to receive support.
The way that AnyOrder is controls PDF995 is through its initialization file, the so-call INI file. Thus, AnyOrder needs to know where it is located. In almost all cases it will be found at C:\Program Files\PDF995\Res\PDF995.ini. Usually, there is no need to change anything, just accept AnyOrder's default. But if you installed PDF995 to a different directory, you'll need to point AnyOrder to its location. PDF995 always installs the INI file it to the PDF995\Res\ directory. Use the browse button to locate it, and paste the file location in the space provided.
This is the amount of time AnyOrder waits for PDF995 to process the information flowing to it from AnyOrder. The time delay is particularly important for multi-page invoices. PDF995 needs to have enough time to process one page before it merges it with the next page. If you find that PDF995 is skipping pages or it's not displaying correctly, try increasing the delay. The default is a delay of .5 second, but you can increase it several tenths until it performs in the proper manner. Note: the first time you activate PDF995, the PDF viewer (Acrobat) may need extra time to be loaded in memory. This extra delay can throw off the timing between AnyOrder, PDF 995 and Acrobat. You may find that an older invoice appears in the viewer. Just close the invoice without closing Acrobat. Then press the "Preview/PDF File Print" button again. If the correct invoice appears, no adjustment of the time interval is needed. But, if on the second or third attempts, you still don't get the correct invoice to appear, increase the time delay interval.
If the customer on the invoice has a customer number, you can include an identification number on the printed invoice. The identification number might be a tax number such as VAT or GST or it may be some other identifying number. The number doesn't appear on the Main Invoice Screen, but rather it is included with the customer's information in the Customer Database. In other words, in order to use this feature, the customer appearing on the printed invoice must be included in the Customer Database. Note: by default, AnyOrder uses "ID NUM" for the label, but you can change the label to your liking. Type in the new label in the blank provided. Albeit, you may find that after changing the label, the contents overlap. The position of the contents of this field can adjusted by using Customer Address / UDF Adjustment.
This may be used for several purposes. By default, it is set-up for paying off an invoice by a credit. But, it also may be used is you want to include check-offs for your own internal processing procedures. For example, you might want to include a check-off for when the item is sent or when payment is received. (If you use it for other purposes, the five lines available in this feature can be edited.) Let's look at this closer if you'll be using it for credit card payments. By checking this field, the following information will appear on the bottom, right of the printed invoice: To pay by credit card, enter information below: Card # ______________________________________ Exp Date___________________ CVV____________ Name on Card________________________________ Signed ______________________________________ Here's how it looks on the printed invoice:
Each of the lines can be edited if you need to tweak things for your own purposes. You might want to include your fax number and have the customer fax you with card information. If you make any edits, AnyOrder will remember your changes. If, at some point, you wish to return to the original content of each line, click on the "Default button.
Your business may be one in which the customer pre-pays their order. In that case, you may wish to use to include the Original invoice in the customer's package instead of a "Packing Slip." This feature replaces the address area at the bottom of the Original (and Copy) with the bottom of the Packing Slip. Thus, any features that set-up for the bottom of the Packing Slip will appear on the bottom of the Original or Copy. For example, if you format a shipping label to be printed on the bottom of the Packing Slip, the shipping label will be printed at the bottom of the Original and Copy. Or if you format the bottom of the Packing slip to fit in the smallest plastic "Invoice Enclosed" envelope, the Original and Copy will be formatted the same way.
You can set your own default values for the number of "Originals," "Copies," and "Packing Slips." The numbers you place here will appear each time you activate the Print Dialog Box by selecting FILE and PRINT INVOICE. The number of "Packing Slips" that you indicate at the bottom of the dialog box will appear each time you select FILE and PRINT PACKING SLIP.
Normally, when you use Batch Printing, AnyOrder will use the defaults that you've set up for Packing Slips. Place a check in this box if you would like to use the defaults that you've set up for printing invoices.
When you click this button, a dialog box will open which will allow you to adjust the placement of the customer's address so that it lines up properly in an envelope with a window. It will also adjust the placement of the return address if you use double-windowed envelopes. (See: Format Original & Copy for doubled-window envelope, above, for more information on double windows.) You can also use it to adjust the position of User Defined Fields. For more information on this feature, see: Customer Address / UDF Adjustment
This button opens a dialog box which allows you to translate the Invoice into another language. In addition to language translation, you can also this feature to change the wording of labels on the Invoice. For example, let's say you wish to change "Cat #" to "Item #." This feature allows you to do that. You can set up any number of different languages, and then select which language to apply to current invoice. For more information on this feature, see: Language Translation
It is possible to include an indicator on the Main Invoice Screen when the "Original Invoice" has been printed. This function is not found here on the More Options dialog box, rather it is configured in Basic Set-up. For more information on how to do this, see Printing Indicator |
