This document is a guide for training and self study.

• A brief overview of the System setup operations is available here.
• This software is designed to be setup in consultation with a qualified Point of Sales software reseller.  
• This training document is split across 5 days, which will not be consecutive. 
• If this guide is followed sequentially, then a good grasp of the software will be obtained.
• This software, while simple to use, is designed for use by experienced retail staff and management.
• Due to the complexity of retail installations, not all features are documented herein, the manual is a work in progress, and covers most common uses of the software.
• Additional documentation can be obtained from your Software Vendor, on a request basis.
• The software may not be intuitive to all users without some knowledge of the retail concepts involved, and at least some data-base management experience. 
• The user needs to know different areas of the program at different times during the installation and maintenance cycles. For instance, once the initial setup is done, it is rare that the user will go into this part of the data again.

After market support is available by telephone or email from your Software Vendor.

Preparation -

The software installs easily but interfacing the software to Scanners, Readers, Printers, PC Networks etc. is a job that should be left to an experienced Point of Sale technician.

As much information as required is also included in the  POS Lanes Manual section of the Back Office software.

The Initial Lane and Back Office testing and setup must be completed as per the Lane setup
documentation before attempting any training. Communications to the Lanes must be setup and tested OK.

The Back Office is designed to help management run their store, as an alternative to the traditonal paper trail, but providing the same functionality electronically.

To run the software effectively, store management has to be able to provide an effective setup and understand the flow of data within the software.  The following guide will help to that end:

Day 1 – 2/3 hours – Initial Setup and consultation.

• System Settings – Main User Information and Business type entry.
• Setup Tax Rates – Discuss Global Add-On or Global VAT model. 
• Store setup  – User Information and System type, Polling parameters.
• Data Grouping/Inventory-Sales setup – Ask the customer to consult with their
  accountants and anyone else involved in the final reporting before setting up Main Areas ,Departments and Categories .
• Show how to enter the structure, Main Areas first, then Departments and finally the
  Categories. Loyalty Points Per Dollar and Discount levels are set in the Departments
  also, discuss the ramifications of these options.
• Setup Deposits and Fees , assign each Deposit/Fee to the correct Department.
  Most businesses should adopt the Global Add ON tax model.
• Terms – Enter the Terms required for any Account Customers (Net 30 etc)
• Charge Cards – Enter any House Charge Cards required, keep at least one on the system even if they never use it.
• Currency – Put in the Exchange Rate for foreign currencies – this is the Buying Rate
  for the Cdn Dollar e.g. $1 Cdn = .85 USD – put USD factor in. (0.85)
• Explain how Types relate to Categories and how they can be used to enhance Category reporting and Vendor lists .
• Setup Locations, Bins and Purchase Groups – explain how these relate to each other and how they can be used for setting up the Store’s Ordering and Stock Counting system.
• Setup any Special Event types required for promotional purposes
• Setup Short Reasons that will go on to Credit Notes
• Setup all the Business Types that their Customers belong to – used for running A/R statements .
• Loyalty Levels – the ratio between the Points Awarded per Dollar and the Points required to redeem each dollar should be discussed here.
• Employee Setup and Reporting - Discuss how to enter new Employees for the purposes of tracking Time and Attendance data.
• Cashier and Management personnel entry – Discuss Back Office and Cashier Security and Setup.
• A training cashier should be setup so that training transactions do not affect stock levels.
• Backing up Data – Explain the importance of backups, and doing daily and offsite backups.
• Include a discussion of the Compact routine to wrap up.
  

End Of Day 1 – Allow the customer to complete their initial Data setup and ask them to call back when ready for the next step in training. They should read the ‘Initial Setup and Introduction’ section of the Back Office Manual.

Day 2 – 2-3 Hours - Main Data Entry training.

• Vendor Maintenance – Discuss how the customer wants to order and receive merchandise.
• If they are ordering direct, then a Vendor should be setup for each Supplier they deal with.
• Vendors can be attached to Types so a default Vendor can be assigned quickly in cases where items are always purchcased from the same Vendor.
• Discuss the discount and Tax Structures associated with receiving merchandise.
• Discuss the Agency and Consignment Vendor options. 
• Inventory/Item Maintenance - Discuss how the Items are entered into inventory.
• Show how the Cost relates to the Retail Price and Vendor Discount amounts.
• Show how each item is attached to a Category/Type/Location and Bin.
• Discuss how the addition of a Shelf Code to the record will relate to the
  Vendors entered in Vendor Maintenance.
• Discuss how Stock Levels are affected by Receivings and Sales
• Discuss the setup of the Min/Max/Pack Quantity fields affect automatic reorders .
• Discuss how the Tax Structure relates to the Price and how the VAT or Add – On tax modes work in conjunction with the POS Lanes.
• Mix Match Maintenance – Show how the Mix Match groups work to make data entry simple for large groups of like items that share the same retail price. 
• Design a working label that the customer can use with their stock labels.
• Discuss the various methods of creating Label Batches and Adding Items
  to the Label batch from Item Maintenance.
• Show the Labels and Signs/Store Signs functionality
• Purchase Orders – Some customers may wish to add stock as they create purchase orders.
• Show how to create a purchase order and add a new item on the fly from a Purchase order.
• Discuss how no items should be received until the file is verified.
• No Invoices should be received with unverified UPC codes.
• If the UPC code does change on a new item ordered, the UPC code of the item can be edited within the invoice before it is finalized. This also changes the record of the item in Inventory Maintenance.
  It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure accurate UPC codes are on all items and that the file is verified with all items being able to be scanned before going live.
• Customer Maintenance . – Discuss the option to setup a Customer Database and the meaning of each of the fields in the Customer maintenance form.
• Discuss the difference between a ‘Loyalty’ only Customer and an Accounts Receivable customer.
• Show how to setup application forms and customer numbering options.
  

End Of Day 2 – Allow the customer to enter their Vendor/Inventory and Customer Databases.
They should read the Inventory/Customer and Vendor Maintenance sections in the ‘Store Data Maintenance’ part of the Back Office Manual.

Day 3 – 2-3 Hours – Stock Maintenance

The store should not be opened for business until the scanning item file is verified as accurate.

End of Day 3 - The customer should now have an initial system on which to base their basic POS Lane training. Schedules for the Cashier training times should be setup.
The cashiers can help with the file verification process, while learning the various Lane functions at the same time.

Day 4 – 2-3 Hours - Cashier Training and Procedures setup.

It is a good idea to hold a scanning party in the store prior to going live on the system.  This will ensure all items in the store scan, as well as familiarizing the staff with the scanning POS Lane functionality.

It is recommended that each cashier be taken through the steps
outlined in the POS manual ‘Lane Operations’ section.

• Logging In and Out of the system.
• Selling Items by Scanning, PLU entry and Inquiry Lookup.
• Voiding Items and correcting mistakes.
• Returning Items.
• Open Department Sales.
• Discounting Items.
• Selling on Alternate Price Levels.
• Tax exemptions.
• No Sales – Opening the Cash Drawer outside of a sale.
• Holding and recalling sales.
• Customer Lookup.
• Taking Monetary Deposits for sales.
• Methods of Payment – Cash, Bill to Account, Debit Cards, Charge Cards, Store Coupons, Item Points Redemption
• Splitting payments
• Canceling and Returning Payments.
• Reprinting Receipts
• Making Cash Pay outs
• Cash Out procedures
• Once the cashiers  are familiar with each step they will be confidant to operate the system on live day.
• Every cashier should go hands on with the system in Training mode and do some test sales and returns.
• If integrated Debit/Credit is part of the system then it is important that the authorization procedures be reviewed by each person
  .• Debit Sale, Debit Return, Debit Cancel Payment
  • Credit Card Sale Credit Card Return, Credit Card Void Payment.
  • Manual Credit Card Entries
  • Splitting payments.
  • Voice Authorization procedures.
• All training should be done with the Training mode cashier to avoid problems
  with training data affecting live data.
• Common POS problems (Items Not In File, Receipt Paper Out, Network Down etc..)
• Any problems found on the Lanes should be rectified in the Back Office as they come up.
• Procedures for dealing with items ‘Not Found’ or incorrectly priced should be setup.
• Show how Autopoll works automatically and manually sending item changes to the Lanes.

End of Day 4 – The scanning file should be verified before opening the store.

Day 5 – 2 Hours - Reporting and final system review.

• Inventory and Vendor Reports - Explain the various reports and how the report options help in the day to day store operations.
• Run a sample of each report and discuss the fields and sorting of the reports with the customer.

Daily Summary Reporting and End of Day procedures –

• Show how the End of Day produces the Daily Summary Reports.
• Explain the 5 main reports; Hourly. Cashier, Financial, Main Area and Department.
• Show how the daily Cost of Goods report relates to the sales and setup of the system.
• Sales Journal Reporting and Functions – Show the customer how to review the day’s sales and pull out the relevant information when required and produce a report.
• Explain how to reprint an individual transaction . 

Customers/AR Functions

• Distinguish between Loyalty and Accounts Receivable customers and how Custoemr Data is entered either through the back office or POS Lanes.
• Explain how the Charge Account Sales and Payments work on the POS Lanes.
• Explain how the Statements work and how to manage customer sales data.
• Show the Profiles and History sections in customer maintenance.
• Customers Loyalty Functions – Show how the Loyalty form can be used to produce Target Marketing information, as well as Customer Address Labels, Loyalty Emails and Letters.

Backup, Restore and Archive Functions

Explain the Backup and Restore  functions and how they apply to the data.
The Backup facilities should be reviewed once more and the importance of making daily backups, remote from the main PC should be stressed.

System Review – At this point the Management should be confident with the functionality of the system.

End Of Day 5 - One further 2 hour session may be required for review or further in depth training in a certain area at a later date in time.

The eCommerce web integration is not part of this training.  The web site is built around the above setup and Interfaces to the Back Office when properly setup.

Site setup and maintenance are billed on an hourly basis according to user requirements.

Encourage the user to read all sections of the manual and ask questions.