7. Managing Your Store - General

There are two different tabs in the General section of the Manager Window. Those two tabs are Store and This Mac. The Store tab allows the user to set preferences for the entire store, no matter what machine it is accessed on. The This Mac tab allows the user to set preferences for the application on this machine only. For a more detailed breakdown of what options are available from each tab, see below.

The ‘Store’ Tab

The first option under the Store tab is for the user to enter or change their store name. This store name will be visible by others on your network if you choose to enable Store Sharing. For example, if you name your store “Handyman Tool Store”, it will show up in different locations with that name. This name will appear on order and invoice templates as well as other locations such as reports. The next option is a check-box that allows the user the option to share the store with other users on the network. For other users to access the file, they will need a valid username and password which can be setup in the Employees section of the Manager Window. The software uses Bonjour to share and locate other stores on the network. Bonjour is included in Mac OS X versions 10.2 and beyond. If you are having issues locating or connecting to other stores, check your system preferences to be sure that Bonjour is able to be run with your setup. Also be sure to check your firewall settings to ensure that you are not blocking incoming connections. Next is the option to set a Display Message for the external customer display. This message will be displayed when logged into your store and no order processing is happening. When processing an order, the display will display information from the order.

Below that check-box is the option to setup Credit Card Processing. This service allows you to take payments from customers from within the Checkout application. Each payment is then recorded directly into your store and saved in the bookkeeping ledger. The service, offered through Forte (formerly ACH Direct), uses an encrypted connection and stores no credit card information locally, providing you and your customers with a secure payment method. Perhaps you’re wondering why you should enroll in such a service? Simply put, it is a fast, easy way to accept payments from your customers and the service integrates with your software and works on any terminal that has an internet connection. There aren’t many requirements. Your business must be based in the United States, have an internet connection and you will need to sign up for an account with Forte, which can be done by visiting www.checkoutapp.com/services. You can even purchase a credit card swiper to make the processing of payments even quicker. Should you already have a merchant account with Forte, simply locate your Merchant ID and password, click on the SETUP button, key in the required information and create a small test transaction for $0.01 to verify that everything is working. That’s all there is to it.

Moving down the list, the next option is a check-box which enables the user to show prices including tax in the products list. If this option is checked, prices within the product list and printed labels will be tax inclusive pricing. If this option is unchecked, the prices will not include any tax.

Directly below that is another check-box, which will enable non-manager employees to adjust prices on sales orders. If this option is enabled, the employees can mistakenly sell products for less than they intended to. Whether this option is checked or not will depend on the floor policy of the store and the level of trust management has in the employees. As with all other options, a user who is designated as a manager can always go in and edit prices at will. Similarly, the next check-box option will allow employees to edit product names on sales orders. Again, this should be something that is based on policy and the trust level on the floor.

The last check-box on this screen, if checked, will have the system automatically capitalize customer names. For example, if an employee enters a new customer as “joe smith”, the system will automatically fix that so it appears as “Joe Smith”. This is great for people who forget where the shift key resides on their keyboard as well as the occasional error.

Finally, the last two options have to do with how you wish for customers to appear in the customer list. The first has Checkout show customer first names either Before or After the customer's last name. The last option will have Checkout sort the customer list by First Name or by Last Name and place the customer's Company Name first.

The ‘This Mac’ Tab

The first thing on this tab is the name of the Mac you are working on currently. To edit this, click on the pencil to the right of that box. This will open your system preferences, where you will have the option to change the name of your machine. Below that is the terminal number. This number is automatically assigned by Checkout and cannot be changed. It is used to show all history on a specific terminal and to separate money taken in. This is essentially what makes the till count function work. This terminal number will appear on receipts and on the End of Day report to identify which machine was used for payments.

Below the terminal number is a check-box. If this box is checked, the system will automatically log you out after being inactive for the number of seconds as defined by the box. You can change that number to be anywhere from 5 seconds to 99999 seconds. This option can always be changed to suit your needs. The next check-box applies to invoices and if checked, will automatically open the payment window upon invoicing an order. Below the check-box for open payment window upon invoicing, you have the ability to specify an automatic backup for your store.

The next set of options pertain to software updates. If the first box is selected, Checkout will check for updates periodically and will notify you when those updates are available. If the second box is selected, when you download an update, it will send information about your system (operating system, processor speed, etc.) to the Checkout developers for data compilation. This is a secure option and no personal information is sent with the profile.