GO en

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12002 Garage Operator, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Contents

Book One Introduction to GO ................................. 9

Chapter 1 Initializing GO Software.............................. 10

1.1 Beginning Steps.................................................................................... 101.2 Company Information .......................................................................... 111.3 Sample Data ......................................................................................... 13

Chapter 2 Introduction of Main Screen Elements ...... 15

2.1 Main Screen ......................................................................................... 152.2 Titlebar ................................................................................................. 152.3 GO Icon ................................................................................................ 16

2.4 Menubar ............................................................................................... 162.5 Toolbar ................................................................................................. 162.6 Statusbar .............................................................................................. 172.7 Message Box ........................................................................................ 172.8 Record Counter .................................................................................... 18

Chapter 3 Writing a Customer Invoice........................ 19

3.1 Adding a New Customer and a New Vehicle........................................ 193.2 Customer Master Record ..................................................................... 223.3 Vehicle Master Record ......................................................................... 283.4 Adding Labor to an Invoice.................................................................. 31

3.5 Modifying Labor Hours ....................................................................... 333.6 Adding Parts to an Invoice .................................................................. 343.6.1 Adding Parts From Inventory............................................................... 343.6.2 Adding Special Order Parts .................................................................. 363.6.3 Forcing a Part onto an Active Invoice .................................................. 393.7 Displaying an Active Invoice................................................................ 393.8 Printing an Active Invoice .................................................................... 393.9 Closing an Active Invoice ..................................................................... 403.10 Summary .............................................................................................. 42

Chapter 4 History ........................................................ 43

4.1 Why Use History? ................................................................................ 434.2 How to Use History .............................................................................. 434.3 History Screen Elements ...................................................................... 44

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2002 Garage Operator, Inc. All Rights Reserved2

Book 2 The Base Module ................................ 47

Chapter 5 Active Invoice Header Section Definitions ... 48

5.1 Header Fields ....................................................................................... 485.2 Header Procedure Buttons .................................................................... 505.3 Revising an Estimate or Invoice ........................................................... 51

Chapter 6 Active Invoice Parts Section Definitions ...... 53

6.1 Parts Procedure Buttons ....................................................................... 536.2 Parts Details the first six fields ......................................................... 546.3 Parts Details the second six fields ..................................................... 57

Chapter 7 Active Invoice Labor Section - Definitions ...... 59

7.1 Labor Procedure Buttons ..................................................................... 597.2 Hours Screens in Detail........................................................................ 607.3 Labor Details scrolling screen........................................................... 65

7.4 Icon Buttons ......................................................................................... 667.5 Running Totals ..................................................................................... 67

Chapter 8 Active Invoice Total Section Definitions ....... 69

8.1 Gross Profit Margin ............................................................................. 708.2 Discount ............................................................................................... 708.3 Sublet ................................................................................................... 718.4 Towing ................................................................................................. 738.5 Other Charges ...................................................................................... 748.6 Supplies ................................................................................................ 758.7 Tax ....................................................................................................... 75

Chapter 9 Purchasing ......................................................... 77

9.1 Purchase Orders ................................................................................... 779.1.1 Creating a Purchase Order is a three-step process ............................... 779.1.2 Purchase Order Selection Screen ......................................................... 829.1.3 Purchase Orders Screen ....................................................................... 849.2 Shop Supplies....................................................................................... 879.2.1 Keeping Track of Shop Supplies .......................................................... 889.2.2 How are Shop Supplies accounted for on theGeneral Ledger? ............ 899.3 Restock List ......................................................................................... 909.4 Receive Parts ........................................................................................ 91

9.5 Find It ................................................................................................... 969.6 Report Returns ..................................................................................... 999.7 Inventory Control ................................................................................. 99

Chapter 10 Management ................................................... 103

10.1 Daily Summary .................................................................................. 10310.1.1 Closed Invoices .................................................................................. 106

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10.1.2 Rcvd on Account ................................................................................ 10610.1.3 Over the Counter ................................................................................ 10910.1.4 Misc Income ....................................................................................... 11010.1.5 Cash Expenses .................................................................................... 11110.1.6 Personal Expenses .............................................................................. 11310.1.7 Till Count ........................................................................................... 11310.1.8 Hours Worked .................................................................................... 116

10.1.9 Todays Timecards ............................................................................. 11810.1.10 Flag Payroll ........................................................................................ 12010.1.11 Summary Reports............................................................................... 12210.1.12 Bad Checks ........................................................................................ 12610.1.13 Backup ............................................................................................... 13010.2 Company Information ........................................................................ 13110.3 Options & Forms Setup ..................................................................... 13110.4 Print Forms ........................................................................................ 13410.5 Password ............................................................................................ 13510.6 Direct Marketing ................................................................................ 13610.6.1 Batch Print Settings............................................................................ 13610.6.2 Send Reminders.................................................................................. 13610.6.3 Target Mailing.................................................................................... 13910.7 Accounts Receivable .......................................................................... 14410.7.1 A/R Statements: ................................................................................. 14410.7.2 Aged Balances ................................................................................... 14710.7.3 Customer Activity .............................................................................. 14710.7.4 Interest Charges.................................................................................. 14910.7.5 Reverse Interest Charges .................................................................... 15010.7.6 Bad Debts........................................................................................... 15110.7.7 Reverse Bad Debts ............................................................................. 15310.7.8 Employee Receivables ........................................................................ 15410.8 Accounts Payable ............................................................................... 154

10.8.1 Closed Payables ................................................................................. 15410.8.2 Aged Balances .................................................................................... 15810.8.3 Payables Report ................................................................................. 15910.9 Management Reports ......................................................................... 15910.9.1 Customer Activity .............................................................................. 15910.9.2 Technician Efficiency ......................................................................... 15910.9.3 IRS Form 941 .................................................................................... 16210.9.4 Sales Report ....................................................................................... 16210.9.5 Income & Expense ............................................................................. 16410.9.6 Parts Sales .......................................................................................... 16610.9.7 Labor Sales ........................................................................................ 16710.9. 8 Marketing Analysis ............................................................................ 168

10.9. 9 Net Value of Parts .............................................................................. 16910.9.10 Work In Progress................................................................................ 16910.9.11 Parts Popularity ................................................................................. 17010.9.12 Vehicle Popularity .............................................................................. 17110.9.13 Cover Page ......................................................................................... 17110.9.14 Profit Centers ..................................................................................... 17110.9.15 New Customers .................................................................................. 173

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Chapter 11 Data Tables ............................................... 175

11.1 Alternate Parts ................................................................................... 18011.2 Bad Debts ........................................................................................... 18111.3 Bank Account Names ......................................................................... 18211.4 Cash Expenses ................................................................................... 18311.5 Cash On Hand.................................................................................... 183

11.6 Chart of Accounts .............................................................................. 18311.7 Checking ............................................................................................ 18311.8 Closed Invoices .................................................................................. 18311.9 Customers .......................................................................................... 18411.10 Employees .......................................................................................... 18411.11 Equipment .......................................................................................... 18611.12 Expense Codes ................................................................................... 18811.13 Forms ................................................................................................. 18811.14 Hours Worked .................................................................................... 18911.15 Job Names .......................................................................................... 18911.16 Job Quotes .......................................................................................... 19011.17 Labor Rates ........................................................................................ 193

11.18 Letters ................................................................................................ 19511.19 Meetings ............................................................................................. 19511.20 Miscellaneous Income ........................................................................ 19611.21 Monthly Totals ................................................................................... 19611.22 Over Counter Sales ............................................................................ 19711.23 Paychecks........................................................................................... 19711.24 Payment Types ................................................................................... 19811.25 Personal Expenses .............................................................................. 19911.26 Policies & Procedures ........................................................................ 19911.27 Price Levels ........................................................................................ 19911.28 Price Matrices .................................................................................... 200

11.29 Purchase Orders ................................................................................. 20111.30 Purchases ........................................................................................... 20111.31 Received On Account ......................................................................... 20211.32 Recommendations .............................................................................. 20411.33 Savings ............................................................................................... 20411.34 Scheduler Notes ................................................................................. 20411.35 Service Reminders .............................................................................. 20511.36 Special Order Parts ............................................................................ 20611.37 Standard Labor .................................................................................. 20711.38 Stocked Parts...................................................................................... 20911.39 Till Count ........................................................................................... 21211.40 Timecards ........................................................................................... 212

11.41 Vehicles .............................................................................................. 21311.42 Vendor ................................................................................................ 214

Chapter 12 System ...................................................... 217

12.1 Report Network Users ........................................................................ 21712.2 Recover Key Index ............................................................................. 21712.3 Data Base Rebuild ............................................................................. 21812.4 Clear Reports Table ........................................................................... 21812.5 Data Table Status ............................................................................... 218

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12.6 Backup Data Tables .......................................................................... 21912.6.1 Browsing the Backup Pathway .......................................................... 22012.7 Load Data Tables ............................................................................... 22512.8 Expand Data Tables ........................................................................... 22512.9 Archive Data Tables........................................................................... 23312.9.1 Archiving the Banking and Accounting data tables ............................ 23812.10 Data Utilities ...................................................................................... 239

12.10.1 Uniform .............................................................................................. 23912.10.2 Update Jobs ........................................................................................ 24112.10.3 Update Quotes .................................................................................... 24112.10.4 Inspect Sequence ................................................................................ 24112.11 Version ............................................................................................... 24212.12 Network Stress Test ........................................................................... 24212.12 Command Prompt .............................................................................. 244

Book Three The Enhanced Management Module ... 245

Chapter 13 Over the Counter ...................................... 246

13.1 Writing an Over the Counter Invoice ................................................. 24613.2 Header Section ................................................................................... 24813.3 Parts Section ...................................................................................... 25013.3.1 The Buttons ........................................................................................ 25013.3.2 The Columns ...................................................................................... 25013.4 Totals Section ..................................................................................... 25213.5 Completed Over the Counter Invoice ................................................. 25413.5.1 Customer Copy .................................................................................. 25413.5.2 Shop Copy.......................................................................................... 254

Chapter 14 Scheduler ................................................. 255

14.1 The Scheduler Calendar ..................................................................... 25514.2 Scheduler Selection Screen ................................................................ 26014.3 Scheduler Review/Assign Screen ....................................................... 26114.4 Scheduler Dispatch Sheet ................................................................... 262

Chapter 15 Timeclock ................................................. 263

15.1 Getting Started ................................................................................... 26315.2 Invoice Only Clocking On............................................................. 26515.3 Invoice Only Clocking Off ............................................................ 26615.4 Labor Block Clocking On ............................................................. 26715.5 Labor Block Clocking Off............................................................. 26715.6 E-Time Clocking On ..................................................................... 27015.7 E-Time Clocking Off..................................................................... 27215.8 Timeclock Utilities ............................................................................. 272

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Book Four The Banking Module..........................275

Chapter 16 Banking..................................................... 276

16.1 Bank Account Names ......................................................................... 27616.1.1 Add To ............................................................................................... 27716.1.2 Change ............................................................................................... 279

16.1.3 Delete ................................................................................................. 28116.1.4 Browse ............................................................................................... 28116.1.5 Report ................................................................................................ 28116.2 Checking ............................................................................................ 28116.2.1 Write Checks - All Transaction Types................................................ 28316.2.2 Write Checks - Print Checks .............................................................. 28716.2.3 Write Checks - Multiple Distribution ................................................. 28816.2.4 Add to Checks .................................................................................... 28816.2.5 Change Checks ................................................................................... 29116.2.6 Delete Checks ..................................................................................... 29216.2.7 Browse Checks ................................................................................... 293

16.2.8 Report Checks .................................................................................... 29316.2.9 Checking - Balance Checking ............................................................ 29416.3 Paychecks........................................................................................... 29716.3.1 Write Paychecks ................................................................................. 29816.3.2 Add to Checks (Paychecks)................................................................ 30416.3.3 Change Checks (Paychecks) .............................................................. 30716.3.4 Delete Checks (Paychecks) ................................................................ 30816.3.5 Browse Checks (Paychecks) .............................................................. 30916.3.6 Report Checks (Paychecks)................................................................ 30916.4 Savings ............................................................................................... 311

Book Five The Accounting Module .................... 313

Chapter 17 Accounting ............................................... 314

17.1 Overview of GOs Accounting Functions ........................................... 31417.2 Initializing GOs Accounting Functions ............................................. 31517.3 Accounting Procedures....................................................................... 31917.3.1 Chart of Accounts .............................................................................. 32017.3.2 Post Activity ....................................................................................... 32517.3.3 General Ledger ................................................................................... 32617.3.4 Trial Balance ...................................................................................... 33117.3.5 Income Statement ............................................................................... 33417.3.6 Balance Sheet ..................................................................................... 33817.3.7 Protect Period ..................................................................................... 34017.3.8 Close Period ....................................................................................... 341

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Book Six Appendixes ........................................ 345

Chapter 18 Error Messages ........................................ 346

18.1 GO Error Messages............................................................................ 34618.2 Thunderbolt Error Messages .............................................................. 34818.3 Windows Error Messages................................................................... 349

Chapter 19 How To ?.... ............................................... 351

19.1 Create Service Reminders .................................................................. 35119.1.1 The Letter ........................................................................................... 35119.1.2 Associating the Letter to the Vehicle .................................................. 35219.1.3 Processing Service Reminder Letters ................................................. 35419.1.4 The Finished Product ......................................................................... 35619.2 Write a Warranty Invoice ................................................................... 35819.2.1 Faulty Workmanship Warranty .......................................................... 35819.2.2 Customer Relations Warranty ............................................................ 35919.2.3 Defective Parts Warranty .................................................................. 359

19.3 Close a Lbr Cr. Received From a Vendor for a Warranty Claim ....... 36219.4 Close an Invoice for a Shop Vehicle ................................................... 36319.5 Move the Database to a New Server on the Network ....................... 36419.6 Install Garage Operator Upgrade Disk ............................................. 36519.7 Install Garage Operator Workstation Disk ......................................... 368

Chapter 20 Glossary of Terms .................................... 373

Index.......................................................................................389

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Book One

Introduction to GO

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Chapter 1

Initializing GO Software

1.1 Beginning Steps

Once GO has been installed onto your computer, this screen will appear the first time youdouble-left-click the GO icon on the Windows Desktop:This means that GO cannot find your Company Information.

If you select Yes, you will see a Welcome to Garage Operator screen, then beasked to enter your company information. Select this option if you are a first-time user, orwish to create a new database from scratch.

If you select No, you will be asked if you are moving the database to a differentcomputer, or restoring the database from a backup. Select this option if you have used GObefore, and wish to restore your database from the saved data.

If you click the X box to cancel, GO will exit to Windows.

The next screen to appear will be the Welcome screen. Read it and click OK.

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1.2 Company Information

The Company Information screen is next. It keeps track of your companys name,address, and phone numbers. It also stores the labor charge rate, the tax rates, andthe supply fee rates that are used by invoices and estimates.

Company Name: Enter your business name. Whatever you enter in this field (alongwith the next nine fields) will be automatically included in the default page headingsthat are printed at the top of each page that GO prints. You may modify these pageheadings in the Options & Forms Setup screen (found in the Management Menu).

Address Line 1: Enter your business street address.

Address Line 2: Enter a second address line (such as a suite, or a post office box),or leave this field blank.

City, State, Zip Code: Enter the rest of the business address information. You mayselect from the pop-up menu of States by beginning to type in the name of the stateuntil your state is highlighted, then pressing .

Phone 1: Enter the primary business phone number.

Phone 2: Enter the secondary business phone number, or leave blank.

FAX: Enter the business FAX number, or leave blank.

E-Mail: Enter the business e-mail address, or leave blank.

E-Mail Server: This field is used by GOs e-mail manager. Leave it blank if you donot have an Internet connection, or if you dont intend to send e-mail from GO.Otherwise, enter the outgoing mail server assigned to you by your Internet serviceprovider.

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Store Number: If your business has more than one location, you may enter anidentifying store number in this field. Otherwise, leave this field blank.

Tax Rates: Enter the appropriate State and Local tax rates for Parts and Labor inthese fields. Enter the tax rates as integers with decimals (for example: 8.2 not0.082). Up to three decimal places are allowed.

Interest Rate, A/R: Enter the amount of interest to charge on overdue accountsreceivable. This is an annual percentage rate, entered without a percentage sign(e.g.:12.0).

Fiscal Year End: Enter the month and day you close your books each year. If youpay your taxes on a calendar year basis, the fiscal year end is December 31st. Thus,the fiscal ending month would be 12, and the ending day would be 31.

A/R Terms: The default for this is Net 10th. Single-left-click the down arrowbutton to select from the available terms codes: Net 10th - Interest is charged on the account balance forward if the account

is not paid in full by the 10th of the statement period month. Net 30th - Interest is charged on the account balance forward if the account

is not paid in full by the 30th of the statement period month (or the 28thor 29th if the month is February).

Upon Receipt - Interest is charged per invoice based upon the invoice closingdate and the last day of the statement period.

Net 10 Days - Interest is charged per invoice starting 10 days after theinvoice closing date.

Net 30 Days - Interest is charged per invoice starting 30 days after theinvoice closing date.

Note: If you dont wish to charge interest, set the A/R Interest Rate field

to zero.

Invoice and Estimate Defautlts:

Primary Tax Rates: Enter the appropriate sales tax rates for Parts and Labor inthese fields as integers with decimals (for example: 8.2 not 0.082). Up to threedecimal places are allowed. These rates are copied automatically to each invoice orestimate you create. They can be overridden for a specific invoice or estimate in theActive Invoice Taxes screen.

Primary Tax Rate Description: Enter the description of the primary sales tax rate(up to 30 characters). This value will appear on invoices and estimates. The default

value is Sales Tax. Canadian users may enter Provincial Sales Tax in this field.

Secondary Tax Rates: Leave these fields blank if your business location does nothave a two-tier sales tax structure. Otherwise (e.g. Wisconsin, Canada), enter theappropriate tax rates for Parts and Labor in these fields as integers with decimals (forexample: 8.2 not 0.082). Up to three decimal places are allowed. These rates arecopied automatically to each invoice or estimate you create. They can be overriddenfor a specific invoice or estimate in the Active Invoice Taxes screen.

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Secondary Tax Rate Description: Leave this field blank if your business locationdoes not have a two-tier sales tax structure. Otherwise, enter the description of thesecondary sales tax rate (up to 30 characters). This value will appear on invoices andestimates. Canadian users may enter Government Sales Tax in this field.

Shop Fees: Enter the desired Supply/Enviro Fee in these fields. If you want to

charge the fee based upon a percentage, enter a number followed by a percent sign(e.g.: 4.5%). If you want to charge a flat fee, enter a number only (e.g.: 2.00). Feesmay be based upon Parts and/or Labor, and are taxed accordingly. A maximum feelimit may be set by following the % sign with the slash character, and the maxi-mum amount (e.g. 4.5%/10 = 4.5% up to a maximum of $10.) Fees may be changedor eliminated on individual invoices by selecting the Supplies button in the ActiveInvoice screen.

Fee Description: Enter the description of the Shop Fee that youd like to haveprinted on customer invoices and estimates. The default value is Shop Supplies, butyou may enter any description youd like, up to a maximum length of 39 characters.

Shop Rate: Enter your hourly Labor rate.

When you are finished entering your company information, click the OK button, orkeep pressing the key until the screen exits.

1.3 Sample Data

The next screen to appear will ask you if you would like to load sample data. Thisscreen is primarily for customers with the demo version of the program.

Select Yes if you want to quickly see how the program works. Sample customers,

inventory, repair history, work in progress invoices, and other data will be loaded. Youcan then create invoices and view sample reports with the existing data. The sampledata can be removed at a later date by un-installing and reinstalling the demo CD.

Select No if you want to enter and save your own data. If this is a demo disc, anydata you enter now can become a part of your future data base should you buy theprogram.

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This is the final screen in the initializing sequence. Read it and click OK.

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Chapter 2

Introduction of

Main Screen Elements

2.1 Main Screen

All sections of GO can be accessed from the Main Screen.

Understanding the screen elements will help you get to where you want to go, and dowhat you want to do. Starting from the top:

2.2 Titlebar

The Titlebar changes with every screen. It tells you exactly where you are in the GOprogram.

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2.6 Statusbar

The Statusbar appears at the bottom of all GO screens.

The Statusbar is context sensitive, meaning it displays different messages in differentsituations. When the GO Main Screen is open the Statusbar displays the total numberof service reminders currently due.

In data entry screens, the statusbar displays a different help message as the cursorvisits each field.

For example, when the cursor is in the License Number field of the Vehicle screen,

the statusbar displays the message that changing the License Number in this screenwill change it everywhere in the database.

When the cursor is in the Make field of the Vehicle screen, the statusbar displays themessage that a single-right-click will cause the Vehicle Configuration Database list toappear:

Note: Whenever you are in a data entry field and you are not sure whatto do, check the Statusbar message first

2.7 Message Box

The Message Box appears on all Garage Operator screens. It is context sensitive,meaning it displays different messages in different situations.

When the Garage Operator main screen is open, the message box is normally blank.It displays a progress indicator when large volumes of data are being sorted orupdated.

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18 2002 Garage Operator, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In data entry screens, the message box displays the field tags (if any) as the cursor visitseach field.

For example, when the cursor is in the License Number field of the Vehicle screen, themessage box displays field tags indicating that the License Number in this screen isrequired, and must be unique:

When the cursor is in the Make field of the Vehicle screen, the message box is empty,showing there are no field tags associated with Make.

2.8 Record Counter

The Record Counter appears on all Garage Operator screens, but displays informationonly on data entry screens.

It shows how many records there are in the currently-selected collection, and where therecord youre viewing is positioned within the collection.

The screen shot above shows the record counter on a Change Vehicle screen in the DataTables procedure. The fraction 1/5639 shows that the Vehicle record being viewed isthe first in a collection of 5,639 records.

Note:The VCR buttons in the lower left-hand corner ofeach data entry screen let you move forward and backward between records

in the collection.

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Chapter 3

Writing a Customer InvoiceIn this chapter, you will learn how to write a customer invoice, starting with adding a newcustomer and vehicle, then moving on to adding labor operations and parts, and finallyreceiving payment and closing the invoice. This exercise is meant to get you startedwriting invoices. Complete definitions of all fields and buttons in the Active Invoice screenwill follow in subsequent chapters.

Everything you learn about writing an invoice works equally well for writing an estimate.The main difference between an invoice and an estimate is when inventory quantity instock levels are adjusted. Stock levels adjust immediately when parts are added to aninvoice. When stocked parts are added to an estimate the stock levels are adjusted afterthe estimate is upgraded to an invoice.

For a comprehensive definition of estimates and invoices, single-left-click the Helpbutton on the Main Screen and choose Estimate from the Search list.

The path you will follow in this exercise is one of four ways to write a customer invoice.As you learn GO, you will find there is almost always more than one way to achieve yourgoal.

To learn about other ways to start an invoice, go to Help on the Main Screen, thenchoose Active Invoices from the Help Main Menu.

3.1 Adding a New Customer and a New Vehicle

At this point, you have either had data from your previous system converted to GO(existing customers, vehicles, inventory, etc.), or you are starting fresh with no preloadeddata. Regardless of which way you are starting, this exercise will lead you throughentering a new customer and a new vehicle.

As you follow this exercise, please single-left-click the yellow Help question mark, orpress the key, each time the screen changes to view the context-sensitive help foreach screen.

If this is the first time youve entered a new customer and vehicle, you might want to printa blank worksheet to help organize the facts and figures youre about to enter. To do this,first single-left-click Management in the Menubar:

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Then single-left-click #4: Print Forms

A scrolling list of forms will appear next. Single-left-click on Blank Worksheet (the firstchoice in the list) to highlight it, then single-left-click the OK button.

Then type in the number of Blank Worksheets to print, then single-left-click the OKbutton.

The Blank Worksheet is used to fill in information about the customer, the vehicle and thecustomers concerns about the vehicle. It can also be used as an authorization form if thecustomer signs at the bottom. (The disclaimer on this form can be modified in Manage-ment / Options & Forms, and the copy can be modified in Data Tables / Forms.) Once thecustomer and vehicle have been entered into the data base, the History procedure (Chap-ter 4) will print a worksheet with the information already filled-in.

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An example of a blank worksheet is displayed below.

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Once the Blank Worksheet is filled in, single-left-click ActiveInvoice in the Menubar.

If there are current active invoices, you will see the Active Invoice Selection screen.Single-left-click the New Invoice button at the bottom. (If there are no current activeinvoices, single-left-click the New Invoice button in the Invoice/Estimate dialog.)

The next screen youll see is the Customer/Vehicle Dialog. This tutorial will add a newcustomer and a new vehicle, so single-left-click the Add Both button.

3.2 Customer Master Record

The next screen is actually two screens: one layered on top of the other. The first asksyou to decide what type of customer this is. Individual will, for most GO users, be themost common category. (Catagory types are discussed below.) As you single-left-clickyour choice, the category screen disappears, leaving only the Customer Master Recordscreen.

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It contains 28 fields, and two pop-up screens:

Customer Number: It is the first field in the upper left corner of the screen. This fieldis assigned automatically and cannot be changed. The customer number links the cus-tomer with his or her vehicle, invoice, and other records. You never have to remember acustomer by a number in GO. Whenever the customer number is needed, you can alwaystype in part of the customer's name, or select the customer from a pop-up list. In general,the lower the customer's number, the longer the customer has been in the database.However, a customer number will be re-used if the customer it's been assigned to it isdeleted from the database, and there are no other records linked to the number.

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Rating: This field is to the imediate left of the customer number field. This is a 0 through9 numerical rating, with 0 being "Avoid, Avoid, Avoid" and 9 being "Truly Magnificent."The rating is mostly used by Target Mailing - for example, if you want to send an offer toyour best customers, you would choose those with a rating of 7 or better. But it is alsouseful as a hidden means of communication to others within the business. It appears onthe History screen, and as the last digit of the "Customer ID" on Technician copies ofinvoices and estimates. When appending a new customer records, the "Rating" menu pops

up automatically after you've entered the customer's name. The default rating is 6("Good"). Press the key to accept this rating, or single-left-click another rating.You may change the rating afterwards by single-left-clicking the "down arrow" button tothe right of the rating field.

Type: The seven choices are shown above. The Customer Type is used as one means ofselecting, reporting, and sorting customers. The choice of Customer Type also determineswhether or not the cursor will visit the Fleet Number field in the Vehicle Master Recordscreen. "Fleet" is the only Type that will allow an entry in the Fleet Number field in theVehicle records associated with this customer. Type also affects the suggested values forthe Salutation and File Under fields.

Discount: Filling in this fieldsets the size and type of automatic discount given to thiscustomer in Active Invoices and Over Counter Sales.

Note: For a complete description of discount possibilities, single-left-clickthe blue size and type of discount hyperlink in the Customer help screen,or see customer discount in the search section of Help.

Name: This is simply the customer's name, first name first and last name last. Includehonorifics such as Ms., Mr., Mrs, Dr., Rev. in this field, if you wish. Couples with differentlast names can be entered together (e.g. Jan Smith & Morgan Foster). The way you enter

the Name determines the suggested values for the Salutation and File Under fields, buthas no effect upon how the customer is looked up in the database. All database queriesbased on Customer Name are any value finds. The Customer Name is copied automati-cally to the invoice or estimate header when a new invoice or estimate is created, and theBill To or Ship To fields when an Over Counter invoice is created. This is a 30-characterfield.Address: Enter the customers street address, then the Zip Code. Once a zip code hasbeen entered and associated with a city, GO remembers the information for future use.The next time the same zip code is entered for a new customer, the city, state, and areacode for the home phone will automatically fill in.

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Note: Address, City, State,andZip comprise the mailing address of thiscustomer. These fields are used by the Service Reminders and Target Mailing

procedures. If the customer has another address that is not the mailingaddress, include that information in the Miscellaneous Information or Notes

fields. As you build the zip code list, the City, State, and Home Phone AreaCode fields are filled in automatically based upon the Zip entry.

Salutation: The salutation is used as a customer greeting when mailings are generated bythe Service Reminders and Target Mailing procedures. It is always preceded by the word"Dear" on all mailings by these procedures. A suggested value for the Salutation (includinghonorifics) is given automatically when you enter or change the Customer Name field.The suggested value is simply the business name if the Customer Type is set to "Busi-ness." You may change the suggested value at will. This is a 25-character field.

File Under: It determines the alphabetical order of the customer record when it is sortedby Name in the Active Invoices Selection screen, or when using the "Sort" button in DataTables screens, or when including the customer in a report. This is a 5-character field.

Home Phone: Consists of the area code and phone number. These fields are displayedin the Active Invoice Header, and in the customer phone book.

Work Phone: Consists of the area code, phone number, and an extension. The 13-character extension field may also be used to add a second work phone number. Thesefields are displayed in the Active Invoice Header, and in the customer phone book.

Other Phone: This is a single 20-character long field. This field is displayed in thecustomer phone book.

E-Mail: E-mail is a mailing option in the Service Reminders and Target Mailing proce-

dures. This is a 30-character field.

Miscellaneous Information: This is a 30-character field. You may enter anything youwish in this field, or leave it blank. It appears on the History screen, the HistoryWorksheet, and the Technician Copy of an invoice or estimate.

Note: This is a memo field. It appears on the History screen. Use it to keep track ofinformation about the customer that doesn't fit anywhere else.

Special Tax Rate or Pricing?: Single-left-click the "Yes" radio button to pop up the TaxRate and Pricing screen.

OK to Charge to Account?: Single-left-click the "Yes" radio button to allow the"Charge To Account" button to be selected in the Invoice Paid screen, and to have OverCounter sales to customer default to "Charge."

E-Mail Promotions OK?: Single-left-click the No radio button to exempt this cus-tomer from receiving e-mails via the Target Mailing procedure.

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Data Export OK?: Single-left-click the No radio button to opt this customer out ofdata export to third parties (e.g. customer relations management companies)

This Year Sales, Last Year Sales, Total Sales, Last Sales Date: These fields aremaintained automatically by GO. You may change them if you wish. A single-right-click onthe Last Sales Date field pops up a calendar.

The ISHOP Button causes the ISHOP customer dialog to pop-up:

These fields are used primarily when GO shares information with other iSHOP compliantprograms. Suggested values for First Name, Last Name, and Company will be displayedbased upon the Type and Name entered in the previous two steps. Press the keyfour times to accept the suggested values, or change them as you wish.

First Name will be filled in with the first word of the Name entered in the previous step ifType is Individual, AAA, or Employee. No suggested value will be given for this field ifType is Business, Non Profit, Government, or Fleet. In this case, you may type in the firstname of a contact person.

Last Name will be filled in with the last word of Name if Type is Individual, AAA, orEmployee. If Type is Business, Non Profit, Government, or Fleet, you may type in the lastname of a contact person.

Company should be left blank if Type is Individual, AAA, or Employee. This field will befilled in with the Name entered in the previous step if Type is Business, Non Profit,Government, or Fleet.

GO used the values you type into these three fields to fill in suggested values for theSalutation and File By fields once control returns to the Customer Master Record screen.The iSHOP standard uses these thee fields to identify the customer's Full Name accord-ing to the following guidelines:

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If the First Name and Last Name are both non-blank, the Full Name is formed byconcatenating the First Name to the Last Name with a comma and space separatorbetween the first and last names.

If the First Name is non-blank but the Last Name is blank, the First Name is alsoreturned as the Full Name.

If the Last Name is non-blank but the First Name is blank, the Last Name is returnedas the Full Name.

If the First Name and Last Name are both blank, the Company is returned as the FullName.

The Delete/Browse Associated Vehicles button lets you delete or browse the

Vehicle Master Records associated with this customer.

The Labor Rates Button lets you set a special labor rate for this customer.

Each customer is assigned the Standard Labor Rate (set to the Shop Rate in theCompany Information screen) unless you use this button to set the Labor Rate Descrip-tion to something else. You create other labor rates (and change and delete them) usingthe Labor Rates selection in the Data Tables procedure.

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3.3 Vehicle Master Record

When you single-left-click the OK button to leave the Customer Master Record, you willautomatically proceed to the Vehicle Master Record screen. The customer number, name,address, and phone numbers will already be filled in.

License: This first field on the Vehicle Master Record screen is required, meaning youcant leave it blank. If you are starting an estimate for a new vehicle, and you dont yetknow the license number because, for example, the appointment was made over thephone fill in the field with a temporary license number, such as Smith BMW. Thereal license number can be filled in later. When you change the license number in theMaster Vehicle Record, it will change the license number globally, meaning on all

records. If you change the license number on an invoice, it will change it only for thatspecific invoice.

Cust#: This is the customer number. This field is already filled in for you if you've clickedthe "Add Both" button in the Customer/Vehicle dialog used in the Active Invoices, History,and Scheduler procedures.

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. Note: Changing this field changes the ownership of the vehicle. If, in the future, another customer buys the vehicle, you can click the down arrowbutton to select a different customer from a pop-up list of existing customers.

If the new owner isnt in the list, selecting Cancel from the pop-up listwindow allows you to enter a new customer.

Fleet#: This is an optional-use 10-character long field used for customers whose Type is

set to "Fleet" in the Customer Master Record screen. The cursor automatically skips thisfield if the customer Type is not set to "Fleet."

VIN: This is the vehicle identification number. This field is visited after the Customer#and Fleet# fields, and before the Year field, to give the Stronghold VIN decoder a chanceto automatically fill in the Year, Make, Model, Engine, Fuel System, Transmission, andDrive Type fields. The Stronghold database contains over 200,000 VIN codes coveringmodel years from 1981 to the present.

Year: The cursor will automatically move to a year screen. Highlight the correct year andsingle-left-click the OK button.

Built Date: Fill in the month and year of build. All month entries must be 2 digits (e.g.02 for February).

Make: Navigate the list either by scrolling it with the mouse, or by typing in the beginningof the name (such as su for Subaru). The list will register as you type the name. If youmake a mistake, use the Backspace key to correct it, then continue typing. You may alsoregister the list with the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard once youve typedin the first letter. Single-left-click the OK button, or press the key to finishmaking your selection. If the selection you want is not in the list, single-left-click theCancel button, then type in the Make of your choice.

Model: Once you have chosen the Make, the Model list specific to the Make pops up.Highlight your choice and single-left-click OK.

Color: Choose from the color list or write in a color. The color field list is empty whenyou start using GO as an empty data base. New colors become part of the list as you addthem. The list of colors (as well as other cumulative lists) can be modified using theUniform procedure in the System menu.

Fuel, Engine, Transmission: Once Make and Model are filled in, these fields areautomatically filled in if there is only one possibility for that Make/Model. If there is morethan one possibility, highlight your choice and single-left-click the OK button.

Note: you may also select from the list in one step with a single-right click.

Brakes, Emissions, Tires: These fields work like the Color field. Either choose fromthe list, or add your own choice. Once you add a choice, it will be added to the list forfuture use.

Drive: This field is often filled in automatically once the Make/Model are chosen. If not,select from the pop-up list.

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Power Brakes, Power Steering, Air Conditioning: Each one of these fields is a Y(Yes) or N (No) answer.

Mileage at Last Service and Date of Last Service: These two fields are automati-cally updated each time an invoice for this vehicle is closed.

Requested Service Interval: This field sets up an automatic reminder program for oil

changes. For example, if you type in 90, then a reminder letter will be generated with adue date 90 days from the current date. (You will have the opportunity to modify this datein a screen that pops up as you exit this field, and you can modify the date elsewhere.)Thereafter, each invoice on which an oil change was preformed will renew the reminder.The reminder letter will be addressed to the vehicle owner, and the specific vehicle will bereferenced. It is up to you and your customer to decide the best interval for each vehicle,depending on type of usage and average miles driven in a specific time range. See theservice reminders selection in the search section of Help for a more complete descrip-tion of how reminders work.

Next Scheduled Service: Once the Requested service interval has been filled in, andan oil change service preformed, this field will fill in automatically. For instance, if an oilchange service was completed on January 17, 2002, and the requested interval was 90days, then the date in this field would be April 17, 2002. This field will update itself afterevery oil change.

Labor Rates Button: lets you set a special labor rate for this vehicle. Each

vehicle is assigned the Standard Labor Rate (set to the Shop Rate in the CompanyInformation screen) unless you use this button to set the Labor Rate Description tosomething else. You create other labor rates (and change and delete them) using theLabor Rates selection in the Data Tables procedure.

Misc. Info.: This field allows for a brief note, such as gray market. This field prints out

on History worksheets and technician copies of invoices.

Note: This memo field allows for extended information to be written about the vehicle. Itwill not show up on any printed invoices or tech work copies. Single-right click the wordtext to open the memo field for editing. Once you have written something in this field,text will show as TEXT to let you know a message is written there.

Note:To fully understand how to use the text memo field, single-left-click theHelpbutton once you are in the memo field.

Now single-left-click the OK button. The next screen you see will be the Active Invoicescreen. You will work from this screen as long as this invoice is active (meaning notclosed as paid, charged to account, etc.). As you will see, the customer and vehicleinformation have loaded into the Header section of the active invoice screen. You mayreturn to the Customer Master Record screen with a single-right-click on the customersname, and to the Vehicle Master Record screen with a single-right-click on the make ormodel name.

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3.4 Adding Labor to an Invoice

If you have been following the tutorial, you have started and invoice with a new customerand a new vehicle. It is now time to add a labor description.

From the Active Invoice screen put the cursor on the Add button in the Labor section,then single-left-click.

The Standard Labor Library list will appear.

Note: This list can be modified by single-left-clicking the StdLbr button inthe Labor section of the Active Invoice screen.

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You can either write an entirely unique labor description in which case you wouldchoose Blank (the first choice in the list) or you can choose a canned laboroperation from the library list. You can scroll through this list by either scrolling it with themouse, or by typing in the beginning letters of a labor operation code the way you typed inthe beginning letters of the vehicle model in the Vehicle screen described earlier.

The next screen to appear allows you to either accept the labor operation as written, or tomodify the description, or the hours, or both. If you want to accept the labor operation asis, just single-left-click the OK button.

To modify the labor description, single-right-click the description, or single-left-click the

down arrow button next to the description after first making sure the labor descriptionis highlighted. The entire labor operation description will then appear in a memo text field.You can modify it any way you choose. When the labor description reads as you want itto, press the key, or single-left-click the close button at the right top corner ofthe memo field.

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You will then be asked if you wish to Save your modifications. Press the key, orsingle-left-click the Save button to save your changes.

Note: To fully understand how to modify a text memo field, single-left-clickthe Help button once you are in the memo field.

3.5 Modifying Labor Hours

To modify the hours (either Tech or Billed) simply highlight the field with a single-left-clickas you swipe over the existing number, then type in what you want.

Note: For a complete definition of these hour fields, single-left-click theyellow Help button. The context sensitive Help screens will open at theLabor Hours definition. A more complete description is also included inChapter 7 of this manual: Active Invoice - Labor Definitions.

When the hours and labor description are adjusted to your satisfaction, single-left-click theOK button.

You will then be returned to the Standard Labor Library list to pick another Labor opera-tion. If you are done adding labor, single-left-click the Cancel button (or press the key); you will be returned to the Active Invoice screen. The first line of the labor opera-tion will show in the scrolling labor screen.

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If you wish to return to the Labor description for further modifications, highlight the laborblock you wish to change with a single-left-click, then single-left-click the down arrowbutton. If you wish to change the hours, single-right-click the labor description, or highlightthe labor block, then single-left-click the Hours button.

3.6 Adding Parts to an Invoice

There are three ways to add parts to an invoice: from inventory, as a special order, or byforcing on a part with no backup data (this last choice is not recommended, but sometimesunavoidable).

3.6.1 Adding Parts From Inventory

To add a part from inventory, put the cursor on the Add button in the Parts Detailssection, then single-left-click.

The cursor will now be flashing in the Quantity field. Type in the quantity, then press the key.

The cursor will now move to the Part Number field. Type in the part number, then pressthe key. As soon as the part number is recognized, the rest of the fields will befilled in. Only six of the fields show automatically in the Parts details. To see the rest, put

the cursor on the right-pointing scroller arrow at the bottom of the Parts section, thensingle-left-click.

If GO does not recognize the part number when you type in, this screen appears:

Press the key, or single-left-click the OK button, to remove this message andreturn to the Part Number field. The number youve entered will still be in the PartNumber field.

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If youve made a typo, use the key to erase the mis-typed part number, andre-enter the correct one.

If you believe you either have the part in stock, or have bought, sold, or quoted it before,you may replace the Part Number with a portion of the parts description. If, for example,youre looking for a filter, type the word FILTER into the Part Number field.

Note: First use the key to remove the unfound part number.

When you press the key, a list of all parts stocked, purchased, sold, or quotedwith the word FILTER somewhere in their description will pop up:

You may make a selection from this list using any of the following methods:

1.) Type the beginning of the part number to register the list, then use the up ordown arrow keys to highlight your choice, then press the key.

2.) Scroll the list with the mouse, then single-left click your choice, then single-left clickthe OK button.

3.) Scroll the list with the mouse, then single-right click your choice.

Note: You may also trigger a pop-up parts list by entering one or morequestion marks followed by one or more characters. A single question marktriggers a search by Part#, two question marks trigger a search by

Brandname, three question marks trigger a search by Description. Forexample, the list shown above would be triggered directly by entering???filter (without the quotes) in the Part# field.

The part will now be added to your parts list as seen below:

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3.6.2 Adding Special Order Parts

A special order part is added to an invoice by receiving it from a vendor. The Receivebutton in the Parts section of the Active Invoice screen is a shortcut to this process.(Parts may be received through Purchasing in the Main Menu as well.)

Single-left-click the Receive button. The Vendor Dialog screen will appear:

If the vendor has already been added to the data base, type in the vendors number or

part of the vendors name, then press the key, or single-left-click the OK button.Alternatively, single-left-click the down arrow button, then select the vendor from thepop-up list.

If the vendor is not in the data base yet, single-left-click the Add button. The VendorMaster Record screen will appear. You will automatically be sent to the next step afterfilling in the Vendor information.

The Purchase Header screen appears next. Most of the fields in this screen are filled inautomatically from the Master Vendor Record.

Invoice Number: Enter the vendor's invoice number.

Charged to Acct?: Is either "Y" for yes, or "N" for no. Enter "Y" if you have an accountwith the vendor, or "N" if this is a COD purchase.Note:This field will default to "N" ifthe "Our Account Number" field in the Vendor Master Record screen is blank, and to "Y"if it's non-blank.

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Invoice Date: Enter the date shown on the vendor's invoice. Type in the date, or single-right-click the field to select the date from a pop-up calendar.

Use Accounting#: Enter the account to debit when this purchase record is posted to thegeneral ledger. This field defaults to the value set in the "Purch Accounting#" field in theVendor Master Record screen. If that field is blank, this field will default to 6010.00(purchases for resale). You may single-right-click the field to select a new account.

Use Pricing Matrix#: Enter the matrix used to calculate the Sell Price as the Cost ofeach part is entered in the Receive Parts screen. This field defaults to the value set in the"Use Pricing Matrix#" field in the Vendor Master Record screen. You may leave the fieldblank (or blank it out) to turn off matrix pricing, or single-right-click the field to select amatrix from a pop-up list.

Note: The value entered in this field affects not only the markup and marginof each part received, it also affects the order in which the Sell Price andCost fields are visited in the Receive Parts screen. If the field is blank, Sell isvisited before Cost. If the field is non-blank, Cost is visited first, the SellPrice is calculated according to the matrix, the value is loaded, and the SellPrice is then visited for verification/override.

The Receive Parts screen is next.

The quantity field is highlighted. Type in the quantity and press the key.

The cursor is now on the part number field. When you fill in this number and it is notrecognized as a stocked part, you will be asked to give it a Job Name.

Job Name is the way that special order parts are tied to specific active invoices. MostJob Names only last as long as the invoices they are connected to remain active. Theexceptions to this are the Job Names: core deposit, returned, shop supply, and shopequipment.

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Since you are working from within a specific active invoice, GO will look at the Headerinformation, and automatically assign a Job Name. The Job Name will consist of thecustomers last name and the vehicle model. If you wish to use a different Job Name,such as a Purchase Order number, just type over the assigned Job Name and then single-left-click the OK button.

Once you OK the Job Name, the Job Name field will be filled in on the Header. It willalso be added to the Job Name List so that future special order parts the you buy for thiscustomer invoice will be associated with it. When the active invoice is closed, the JobName will be dropped from the list.

Note: If you are receiving parts for more than one invoice, and there is notyet a Job Name for the parts that are not going on the invoice you areworking from, then single-left-click the Add button in the lower left cornerof the Job Name screen to create a new Job Name.

Also, when you OK the Job Name, the special order part is added to the Receive Partsscreen. Even though this is a special order part, if the part has been previously entered onanother invoice, GO will find the last purchase date record of the part and automaticallyfill in the Brand, Unit, Description, Sell Price, and Cost fields as well. These fields can be

overwritten if they do not match your current paper work. If you have never sold the partbefore, then you will have to fill in every field this first time.

When you have finished entering all of the parts you are going to receive, single left clickthe Update button in the lower right hand corner of the screen. YOU MUST CLICKTHE UPDATE BUTTON OR THE PARTS WILL NOT BE RECEIVED. You willthen be returned to the Active Invoice screen. The parts you received will now be listed inthe Parts section.

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3.6.3 Forcing a Part onto an Active Invoice

If you try to add a part number to an active invoice and it is neither a stocked part, specialorder part, nor a part GO remembers from history, this screen will pop up:

Single-left-click the OK button to make the screen go away, then press the key,and the part number will be accepted. This is sometimes necessary when, for instance,you are writing an estimate and have not yet received the parts.

3.7 Displaying an Active Invoice

At any point while you are working on an active invoice you can display it by single-left-clicking the Display button in the Header section. The Shop Copy of the invoice will bedisplayed. The Shop Copy shows costs, gross profits, and vendor numbers. It alsoshows which technician worked on each labor operation and how much time it took tocomplete the work. The Shop Copy is an internal management tool.

3.8 Printing an Active Invoice

When an invoice is Active, there are two ways to print it, depending upon the situation.

First, if you have prewritten the invoice in advance of the customer coming in, then youcan print a Tech Copy by single-left-clicking the Tech button in the Header section.The Tech Copy shows the parts you expect to use on the job, the labor operations youexpect to perform, and how much time you expect the technician to take completing thelabor operations. The Tech Copy also shows the repair history of the vehicle beingrepaired if the Show History option is selected in Management / Options & FormsSetup.

The second way to print an active invoice is to single-left-click the Print button in theHeader section of the active invoice screen. This will print a Customer Copy. A Cus-tomer Copy shows all parts and labor associated with the active invoice, but it showsonly the selling price of the parts, and the amount charged per labor operation.

Note: The Options & Forms screen (accessible from the More button inthe Active Invoice screen) lets you select various Customer Copy options,such as whether or not to print brandnames, technician names, hourscharged, etc.

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3.9 Closing an Active Invoice

Once the work has been completed on the vehicle, the active invoice is up to date, and thecustomer has picked up the vehicle, it is time to Close the invoice. To do this, click thePaid button in the Header section. The first screen you will see is the list of possibilitiesfor how the invoice is to be closed:

Lets assume the customer Paid in Full. Put the pointer on the Paid in Full button andsingle-left-click. If the Track Cash option has been selected in Management / Options& Forms Setup, the next screen will ask how the customer paid:

Select the payment type with a single-right click.

Next, a cash tracking screen appears. This screen verifies the choice you made forpayment type and the total dollar amount to be paid.

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Single-left-click the OK button if the amount is correct. If more than one type of paymentis being taken, change the amount, the press the key to repeat the process for thesecond and subsequent payment types.

The next screen is the final screen in the closing process. There are several elementsinvolved:

The cursor will be flashing in the How Paid field. This is to allow you to modify it, if youwish. (For example, if the customer paid by check, you could add in the check number.)Next, look at the Synopsis field. If labor operations were chosen from the Labor Library,then the name of each labor operation will be listed. For instance, if an oil change servicewas performed, then LOF will be in the synopsis line. If a unique labor operation wasperformed -- such as cleaning a dead mouse out of the heater box -- there will be no pre-written summary. In this event, you should write something in the Synopsis field that willnote why the vehicle was in your shop. The Synopsis field is important because it is usedin the Active Invoice Selection screen, the History screen, and the Scheduler Invoice andEstimate Selection screen to indicate the nature of the Invoice.

The Notes and Recommendations fields are 2 fields that could have been filled in whileyou were working from the Active Invoice screen. Recommendations track neededrepairs. Notes are used to document anything you wish to communicate to the customerexcept recommended repairs. Reviewing these two fields gives you another chance to

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make sure everything is on the invoice that should be. You my edit either of these fields byfirst single-left-clicking it, then single-left-clicking the down arrow button next to it.Bothfields are memo fields, both appear on the customers invoice. The biggest differencebetween them is that the Notes field always stays attached to the invoice, the Recom-mendations field always attaches itself to the most-current invoice.

The Reminder button has a colored number on it, red if zero and green if one or more.

This number tells you how many Service Reminders are associated with the vehicle thatwas repaired on this invoice. To review the reminders, or to add new ones, single-left-click the Reminder button. Once you are in the Service Reminder screen, single-left-click the Help button for more information.

Finally, note the Print Options. You can choose to print a Customer Copy of the invoice,a Shop Copy, both Customer and Shop Copies, or none at all. Single-left-click the radiobutton next to your choice. Whatever you choose will be remembered until the next timeits changed. Invoices printed from this screen show how the customer paid, and anyremaining balance owing.

When all fields read to your satisfaction, single-left-click the OK button.

3.10 Summary

If you followed all of the steps in this chapter, you created a new customer record and anew vehicle record, you created an invoice for that customer and vehicle, and you closedthe invoice. In so doing, you have stored a lot of new and useful data in GO. In the nextchapter, you will learn how to use that data.

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Chapter 4

History

4.1 Why Use History?

You should think of History as a service advisors best friend. History is your customerconsultation screen procedure.

History should be your first choice when a repeat customer walks through the door orcalls you on the phone.

History is a quick way to review the entire repair history of the vehicle, find out ifprior Recommendations have been taken care of, see when the next Service Re-

minder is due, start an Invoice or an Estimate, and update customer, vehicle, andclosed invoice information.

History is one of three ways to view Active Invoices and Estimates, and contains two ofthe four ways to start new invoices or estimates even if the customer and or the vehiclehave never been in the shop before.

4.2 How to Use History

From the Main Screen Menubar single-left-click History:

The customer/vehicle dialog will display next:

If the Customer is already in the database, you may type in the full license plate number,the fleet number, or part of the customer name. Then, either press the key, orsingle-left-click the Find button.

If you type in the license number or the fleet number, the History screen will displayimmediately.

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If you type in the customers name and there is more than one vehicle in the data baseassociated with that name, then a list of those vehicles will appear. You must highlight thevehicle of choice and single-left-click the OK button, then the History screen will display.

If you type in only part of the customers name, you will first be presented with a list ofcustomers who have that part of the name in common. Choose the customer you want byhighlighting the name and single-left-click the OK button. Then, if more than one vehicle

is associated with this customer, you will be asked to choose which vehicle in the list tolookup. Then, the History screen will display.

4.3 History Screen Elements

Vehicle and Customer Information: The upper left portion of the screen displays thevehicle information and the upper right portion displays the customer information. TheHistory screen is an update screen; it preserves any changes you make to the informationdisplayed in the data entry fields. If you single-right-click in any of the vehicle or cus-tomer fields you will be taken directly to either the Vehicle Master Record screen orCustomer Master Record screen, as appropriate. The master record screens give youmore information about the vehicle and the customer.

Note: Observe the red box around the License Number field. The red boxhas special significance in GO. A red box field signifies a global change.

In this case, that means if you change the license number in the Historyscreen, its automatically changed everywhere else in the database. This isconvenient if the vehicles license number has changed, or if you initiallyentered a temporary license number because the vehicle hadnt come in yet.

Recommendations: If there are recommendations associated with the vehicle, the lastline in the vehicle portion will be filled in. To read the entire memo field, single-right-clickthe recommendation line.

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Vehicle History: Below the vehicle and customer information, is a scrolling list of everyinvoice associated with the vehicle. Each line lists the invoice number, the date it wasclosed, the mileage at the time of the invoice, the synopsis, the total dollars charged, thestatus of the invoice (paid in full, charged to account, etc.), and the gross profit (shown asa percentage).

If you wish to see one of the closed invoices in detail, put the cursor on the synopsis lineand single-right-click. You will see this dialog:

Print or Display: The radio buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you to print ordisplay the invoice. They also give you the choice of what version of the invoice you willprint or display: customer copy, shop copy, or tech copy. When you have made yourchoices, single-left-click the OK button.

Copy to New Estimate: This screen has one other important aspect. In the upper righthand corner is a Copy to New Estimate button. This can be very useful if your cus-tomer is bringing in his vehicle for a service you have done before, for instance an Oilchange or a 30K service. When you choose this button a new estimate with the customerand vehicle information will be started. It will also include all of the same parts and laboroperations as the closed invoice. You will need to verify parts costs but this is a very quickway to write an estimate.

Reminder Letters: Below the vehicle history is a scrolling list of reminder letters thatare due to be sent to the customer. The letters are listed by due date, with the next servicedue at the top of the list (unless a service was missed, then a date that has been passed

will be first). Once a service has been performed GO removes the reminder letterassociated with it(with your permission). To review or change the reminder letter, single-right-click on the due date, letter name , or reminder field.

Customer and Vendor Phone Books: Directly below the reminder letters you will seetwo small green buttons labeled C and V. Single-left-click on either of them and youhave a quick lookup of all customer and vendor phone numbers.

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The History Screen contains seven procedure buttons:

Print Worksheet: The History Worksheet prints when you single-left-click the PrintWorksheet button. It contains detailed customer and vehicle information, a space forhandwritten notes, and a "Disclaimer / Customer Approval" section (which can be modi-fied in the Options & Forms Setup screen.)

You can use it, if you prefer, and if local law allows, in lieu of a formal estimate to obtaincustomer approval for a job; or use it simply as a glorified piece of scratch paper.

A cutoff point may be selected for vehicles with lengthy histories to limit the HistoryWorksheet to one page.

Job Quotes: The Job Quotes Data Table stores "canned" parts and labor quotes. Whenaccessed from the History screen, it is poised to look up quotes specific to the vehicle onthe history screen. These quotes can then be turned into estimates. Job Quotes arediscussed in detail in Chapter 11.

Parts History: Single-left-click this button to generate a report of all the parts ever soldfor the currently selected vehicle. The report is organized by invoice, with the mostcurrent invoice first in the list and the oldest invoice last. The report also lists when the

invoice was closed and the mileage of the vehicle at the time the invoice was closed.

Labor History: Single-left-click this button to generate a report of all the labor operationsperformed for the currently selected vehicle. The report is organized by invoice, with themost current invoice first in the list and the oldest invoice last. The report also lists thedate the invoice was closed and the mileage of the vehicle at the time the invoice wasclosed.

Start Invoice: Single-left-click this button to start an invoice for the customer and vehicleon the History screen.

Start Estimate: Single-left-click this button to startan estimate for the customer andvehicle on the History screen.

Scheduler: A single-left-click of this button takes you to the scheduler, where you canselect a date and time for work to be done, and start an invoice or an estimate. GOremembers the customer and the vehicle when you enter the scheduler from the Historyscreen, so any invoices or estimates started from the scheduler are automatically startedfor the customer and vehicle you selected in History. More on how to use the scheduler ispresented in Chapter 14.

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Book 2

The Base Module

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Chapter 5

Active Invoice Header Section

Definitions

The Active Invoice Header section links the invoice or estimate to a specific vehicle and/or customer.

5.1 Header Fields

Starting from the top, each field of the Invoice Header is described below:

Titlebar: Lists the invoice or estimate number, the customers name, and if the invoiceor estimate has been assigned to a service advisor the service advisors name. If noservice advisor has been assigned, the word unassigned will appear instead of anadvisor name. (Assigning a service advisor is described below.)

Date: This field shows the day the invoice or estimate was created. You may single-right-click this field to pop-up a calendar screen.

Job: This field links the invoice or estimate with Special Order parts. Single-left-click thedownarrow button on the right side of this field to pop up the Job Names list.

Source: This field tracks marketing information, in other words: why this customercame to us for this invoice. GO automatically loads the value repeat business for allrepeat customers. You may change this value either by typing in a new one, or single-left-clicking the down arrow button to pop up a list of previously entered values. The pop-up list of Source values may be modified and maintained using the Uniform procedure inthe System menu (accessed via: Main Menu / System).

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Advisor: This field assigns the service advisor to this invoice or estimate. Single-left-click the downarrow button to pop up a list of those Employees with the letters advsomewhere in the Position field of their Employee Master record, or simply type in anythree letters of the employees name.

Note: The advisor name shown in the titlebar wont change until you closeand reopen the invoice or estimate.

Customer Number: This field links the invoice or estimate to a specific customer. Youmay assign the invoice or estimate to a different customer (while maintaining linkage withthe true owner of the vehicle) by changing this number. Single-left-click the downarrow button to pop up a list of all your customers, or simply type in any six letters of theother customers name.

Note: Canceling out of the pop-up listing of Customers enables you to add anew customer to the database.

Customer Name: Thisfield is copied from the Customer Master record. The namedisplayed in this field is printed on the

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