Retail Pro Tech Tips

Changing Preferences in Retail Pro V8

Source: One Step Solutions Knowledge Base

In order for an employee to check in, there must be someone logged into Retail Pro. It's best for the logged in user to have restricted rights. You could create a user called "checkin" with a simple password or no password, and assign that user to the POS group or a group with restricted rights. Then you would tell employees who just need to check in without logging in to use that user. Once they are logged in with that user, they can check in by choosing their username from the dropdown list in the Check-In/Out Module.

Basics in Screen Design

Tip source: One Step's Retail Pro Knowledge Base

To customize the design of your screen you should be logged in with a login such as Sysadmin in order to change the layouts.

Menu Designer: Defines what buttons show up on the right side.

Right-click on the menu and choose menu designer.
Within menu designer>
The column on the left decides what can be seen.
Place a check mark to each button you would like visible.
Each row can be dragged up and down.
Move the button rows up and down, creating the order in which the buttons will show up in the menu.
You can also change the height of the button.
Where it says Buttons Height: Enter a new value for a button height; increasing the number will increase the size of the button and vice versa for decreasing the value.

Customize Columns:

Column width -Drag-and-drop the column heading separators to change column width.
To adjust all columns to the width of their largest entry, right-click the
column heading and select ADJUST COL WIDTH from the pop-up menu.
Hide columns Right-click a column heading and select one of the following:
HIDE COLUMN to remove the selected column from the display.
HIDE ALL to hide every column except the selected one.
Show columns Right-click a column heading and select one of the following:
SHOW ALL to redisplay all previously hidden columns.
A specific column heading to redisplay only that column.
Column position -Click the heading of the column you want to move and drag the column to the left or right.
Page Manager: Defines which columns are displayed within a document.
Right-click a column > interface > left-click Page Manager
The column on the right are the available columns that can be displayed in the document:
Fields above the bar will be included in the selected page design. Those below the bar will not.
To include a field, double-click on it or click and drag it above the bar.

Page Designer

Page Designer is used to add, remove, position, and set navigation properties of, data fields, labels, images, and backgrounds in Form View layouts.

To create/edit a form:
1. In the body of the Form, right-click and then select
INTERFACE > PAGE DESIGNER.
2. Select the FIELDS button. The Setup Fields dialog
is displayed as on the next page.
3. Design and add individual fields or groups of fields. A
group displays multiple fields in one form component.

Add Individual Fields:
Drag and drop the fields you want to add to your Form from the Available Fields or Field in Group panes into the body of the Form. A field can only be added to a form once, either individually or in a group, but not in both ways.

Create a Group of Fields and add the group to the Form:

Click anywhere in the Groups pane to make the toolbar active.
Select ADD to create a new group. Name the group as appropriate.
Double-click a field in the Available Fields pane to include it in your current group or drag and drop fields into the Field in Groups pane.
Use standard procedures to order the fields within the Field in Group pane; this order will be the display order on the form.
Drag and drop the group into the body of your Form. Position as needed.
Select X to exit the Setup Fields dialog and return to Page Designer.

Top 5 most common Physical Inventory Scanner Problems

Around this time, Retailers are beginning to perform their physical inventories (PI). As wonderful and lovely labor intensive as this task can be, you'll find that it's the smallest issues that usually prolong the day and make you want to go home and cry.

Scanner problems always seem to be one of these small issues. So here are my top 5 most common scanner problems, and how you can solve them without losing all your hair.

Scans uploaded from PT scanner disappear from Rpro -
If you're doing multiple scans, you might be prone to mistakenly wipe out previous scans.
Cause: Clicking "New" before uploading the next set of scans.
Resolution: You should only click on New when you're first starting the Physical Inventory. Clicking New wipes out anything that is there.

Barcode Scanner Not Scanning Correctly -
When you first begin scanning your barcodes and find that it is not reading the barcode correctly, your first assumption might be that your scanner is broken. And perhaps this is true if you know that the scanner has been dropped a few times. But like most small Retailers, if you perform your physical inventories once a year - the scanner might need some dusting!
Cause: Lenses on the scanner are dirty.
Resolution: With an airbrush or soft cloth clean the lenses, then test.

PT scanner is locked up -
If your PT scanner is frozen or locked up and it doesn't respond to pressing any keys, you might want to brace yourself for a frustrating moment! Especially if you've done hundreds to thousands of scans.
Cause: Simply put, if you scan too many items, this can happen. Ideally you shouldn't scan more than a couple hundred items, then upload to Rpro.
Resolution: If the unit is frozen, hold down the ALPHA and ENTER buttons on the PT unit, and then pop out the batteries. Then put the batteries back in (while still holding the ALPHA and ENTER buttons). This will reset the unit.
NOTE: You will most likely lose all of your scans.

PT scanner will not recharge -
Don't be too quick on buying new Ni-Cad battery packs if your PT Scanners will not recharge when placed in the dock.
Cause: Believe it or not, the most common issue is incorrect DIP switch setting in the unit itself.
Resolution: Remove the Battery Pack from the unit. 2 DIP switches are located in the battery compartment. SW1 should be set to ON. This will allow the unit to recharge the battery pack.

Upload Failure (PT Scanner) -
This common problem can actually result from 6 different causes. And can occur many times during a physical inventory.
Causes 1 -3 (Less common causes)
1. Bad cable
2. Bad serial port
3. Defective PT scanner
Resolution 1-3
1. Try another cable.
2. Try another serial port on the same computer or attach it to another computer.
3. Reset PT scanner as follows: hold down the ALPHA and ENTER buttons on the PT unit, and then pop out the batteries. Then put the batteries back in (while still holding the ALPHA and ENTER buttons).
Cause 4 (Most common)

The settings for the unit are wrong in Retail Pro.
Resolution 4
Setting the PT Scanner settings in Retail Pro 8 Series:
1. Go into Options>Workstation Preferences>Peripherals>Portable Barcode
2. For Barcode Reader Type select RPRO PT
3. For Retail Pro PT Memory Size, select the memory size your unit came with; in most instances this is 128K
4. For Serial Port #, select the appropriate com port number. Make sure you are selecting the correct com port # or the PT scanner will not upload. If you are not sure, try the other com port #s available, making sure to Save each time you select a different com port #
5. Click on Save, to go back to main Retail Pro Screen
Cause 5
Another program or device is using the COM port.
Resolution 5 (Difficulty level: Advanced)
You will need an available com port for the PT Scanner so it can upload. The PT Scanner cannot share a COM port. It must be using a unique COM port. If there is another device using the same COM port as the PT Scanner try:
1. Switching the PT scanner to another port #, and going into the Rpro settings mentioned above to change which COM is specified for the scanner.
2. Some devices (such as internal modems) allow you to switch COM ports they are using.
3. If you have a touch screen installed, it also uses software that is assigned a COM port. You can try switching which port it uses (but you will also need to plug the cable into a different COM port). Or you may need to uninstall software altogether.
4. Some printers use a COM port. You can connecting the printer to a different COM port. Depending on the printer. You may also need to specify a different COM port in the printer's software settings.
5. If there are no available com ports, you have no choice but to sacrafice & unplug any device using a com port so that the PT Scanner can use it, and upload data at this specific workstation. Some other devices that use a com port are modems, touch screens, printers, and older mouse units. You may need to disable or uninstall the software these devices use in addition to disconnecting them since they may grab hold of the COM port; making it inaccessible to the Scanner even if it is connected to that COM port.
Cause 6
The workstation settings are corrupt. This happens if you install too many printers. There should only be printer drivers installed for printers that are physically attached to the computer. If all above solutions fail, this is the most likely cause.
Resolution 6 (Difficulty level: Advanced)
Find out what workstation number you are working on by looking in the lower right corner of the main Rpro screen. It will look like "WS#", where # represents a workstation number. Get out of Rpro. Go to your RPRO folder & Rename the corresponding WS# folder to OLDWS#. You will need to re-do workstation preference settings since they will now be reset to their defaults. Specifically you will need to reset printer settings.

As a final tip, keeping physical inventory policies up to date and ensuring new employees receive the proper training can make your PI run smooth and efficiently.

If you have or are experiencing a unique technical issue, please feel free to contact our Support Department.

For more information on Retail Pro, visit our website: http://www.onestepretail.com

How to Fix Retail Pro Error 25008 on file.

The information in this article applies to:

Retail Pro V8

If you're launching Retail Pro and are receiving the following error: "RPRO Error 25008 on file," then you're most likely experiencing networking issues. Specifically the connection between the POS and your Server.

Here's what you can do to fix "RPRO Error 25008 on file":
1). Reboot your POS - this should automatically re-establish a network connection to the server.

If you continue to receive this error or experience additional networking issues, contact your Network Administrator.

For more information about POS solutions, visit our Website.

Useful Shortcuts in Retail Pro Version 9.14

Description	Shortcut
Active Only	Ctrl + A
Allocation Pattern	Alt + L
Approved PO	Alt + J
Canel	Alt + C
Cancel Filter	Alt + T
Cancel Quick Filter	Alt + Q
Choose / Edit Items	Alt + E
Committed	F9
Copy	Ctrl + Y
Date Range	Alt + D
Design Quick Filter	Ctrl + Q
Edit	Ctrl + E
Filtered View	Alt + F
Find	Ctrl + F
Generate ASN	Alt + S
Generate Child PO's	Alt + G
Generate TO	Ctrl - G
Help	Ctrl + H
Inventory Qty	Alt + Y
Item Allocation	Alt + L
Items	Ctrl + I
New	Alt + W
Next	Alt + N
Previous	Alt + P
Previous Page	Alt + V
Print	Ctrl + P
Print Tags	Ctrl + T
Refresh	Alt + R
Remove Item	Alt + M
Review Report	F7
Save	Ctrl + S
Show	Ctrl + W
Show PO Details	Ctrl + D
Zoom	Ctrl + Z

You may also add any shortcut to the Side Bar Menu by right mouse clicking on the Side Bar and going to “Menu Designer” then adding it to the right hand column.

For more information about Retail Pro, visit our site http://www.onestepretail.com

How to Determine which Workstation ran what Transactions in PC Charge

The information in this article applies to:

Retail Pro V8.52
PC Charge

SYMPTOMS

We track each workstation’s transactions separately. We need to run a report in PC Charge that shows who ran what.

RESOLUTION

In PC Charge, when you bring up the report screen, if you put a two digit number in the user id field that matches the workstation, it will show you just those transactions (I.E. WS3 would have 03 in the User ID field.)

See the screenshot for which field

Visit our website for more great Retail Pro, POS Software tips!

Credit Card Batch Showing a sale instead of a refund

The information in this article applies to:

Retail Pro Version 8.52

Shift4

PCCharge

PPM

SYMPTOMS

When tendering a transaction by credit card the customer gets a list of credit cards that they accept but do not have the option to enter the credit card information.

CAUSE

The EFT section in workstation preferences is not setup correctly.

RESOLUTION

Go to the EFT section in workstation preferences and select the correct payment processing service that the customer is using (Shift4, PCCharge, PPM) then save. If a NetAPI Server IP address is required ensure that is set correctly as well. Customer should get prompted now to enter credit card information for the transaction.

Visit our Website for more information about Retail Pro.

Security Auditing

As Systems Administrators, we've always been watchful of our security logs. Obviously with Retail Pro, knowing how many times an employee logged in and out at a specific workstation, or how many failed login attempts were made, can be quite important.

Unfortunately, Retail Pro 8 does not offer any security auditing, but Retail Pro 9 does! With the release of Retail Pro 9.12, you can enable an "Audit Logon Events" policy, as well as list of other actions you can turn auditing on for.

To enable these features, simply go to Employee Mgmt->Click Groups->Policy Tab. Change "Audit Logon Events" to enabled, as well as any other actions you wish to log.

Click here to learn more about Retail Pro | or visit our website: http://www.onestepretail.com.

Problems with disappearing cash drops

The information in this article applies to

Retail Pro® 8
Cash Drop

A recent, and frequently asked question received by our Support Technicians this week was:

"When I create a Cash Drop on workstation 1/WS1, I can't find it. It seems like it's not being saved."

Cause:
File corruption problem.

Resolution:
The Cash Drop receipts for that workstation were being saved in the wrong month's sales file. Create a cash drop receipt. Look in the Rpro folder. Sorty by Date Modified. Look at the files that were modified near the time you created the cash drop. You will see a sales file from a previous month that was modified today. Look in that month's sales and you will see the cash drop receipts.

Go into "Rpro\SecureDoc\Ws1" (or whatever workstation has the problem). Then rename the folder for the Month where the cash drops are going to "Oldfilename", in all 3 folders, including Tmp, Archive & Data folders. Exit Rpro. Create a Cash drop receipt and that will fix the problem.

As always, I recommend you contact our Technical Support Department before making any changes to files to ensure things are done correctly. AND ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP FIRST! I can't stress that enough... like I always say "If it's important to you, back it up!"

Retail Pro Compatible Accounting Software

What accounting software is compatible with Retail Pro's Accounting link?

Below is a listing of all "Compatible" Accounting Link packages that are currently compatible with the Retail Pro Accounting Link v3.2. There may be some limitations with certain packages. When this is the case, it will be noted as to what the limitation is.

Quickbooks
Quickbooks Pro 2000 - *Note - No customer balance exchange
Quickbooks Pro 2001 - *Note - No customer balance exchange
Quickbooks Pro 2002 - *Note - No customer balance exchange
Quickbooks Pro 2003 - *Note - No customer balance exchange
Quickbooks Pro 2004 - *Note - No customer balance exchange
Quickbooks Pro 2007 - *Note - No customer balance exchange

BusinessWorks
BW v12.04
BW v12.81
BW v12.9
BW v12.92
BW Gold v2.4
BW Gold v3.0
BW Gold v4.0
BW Gold v4.1
BW Gold v5.0
BW Gold v6.0
BW Gold v7.0

MAS 90
MAS 90 v3.40
MAS 90 v3.41
MAS 90 v3.51
MAS 90 v3.60
MAS 90 v3.71
MAS 90 v4.0
MAS 90 v4.05
MAS 90 4.10

Uploading Inventory Scans from your PT Scanner

It's January and many Retailers are focusing on Physical Inventories (PI). A common problem most people face, is uploading inventory scans from their PT scanners to Retail Pro. After countless hours of scanning, and conducting your PI, the last thing you want to do... is lose your scans!

Here's a quick tip and actual scenario a Retail Pro Customer experienced after trying to upload a second set of PT scans to Retail Pro:

PROBLEM

Customer uploaded scans twice from PT scanner, but first items scanned disappeared.

CAUSE

Customer had clicked New before uploading the second time, wiping out items uploaded previously.

RESOLUTION

You should only click on New when you're first starting the Physical Inventory. Clicking New wipes out anything that is there.

Another thing you could do before actually performing your PI, is to give us a call! We always have Q&A's and were happy to help. Additionally, we have many How-To articles on performing single to multiple store physical inventories located on our Support site. Send us an email or call us toll-free (800)266-1328.

Website: http://www.onestepretail.com

How to Apply Promo Pricing (RPRO v8)

Go to Merchandise > Inventory:

To set up promotional pricing:

1. Click PROMO PRICING from the side toolbar.
2. Select ADD ().
3. Enter the name of the promotion that you are creating in the Promo Name column.
4. Press or move out of the cell to save the name.
5. Navigate to the lower pane. Enter the discounted unit price in the Price column and the minimum quantity of items that must be purchased to qualify in the Quantity column.
6. Press or move out of the cell to save the entries.

Example:

Quantity Price
1 $25
2 $22
4 $20

7. Select CLOSE () to exit the Promotional Pricing window.

To assign a promotional pricing to an item or style:

1. In either Item View or Style View, highlight or display the item or style to which you want to assign a promotion.
2. Select EDIT () from the main toolbar.
3. Navigate to the Promo # field.
4. Enter the promotion number you want to assign to that item.

OR
Select () to open the Promotional Pricing window, select a promotion, and then choose SELECT ().

5. Repeat the previous steps for any other items to which you would like to assign a promotion.

Ringing up Promotional Pricing at Point of Sale:

When an item is put on a receipt with quantities that quality for promotional pricing, click Apply Promo. (Version 8 Only: When you click Tender, you will get a window showing the promotional pricing.) You will select the item and click Apply to apply the promotional pricing to the item.

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FAQ: Will Retail Pro run on a Mac?

No. Retail Pro is programmed for and tested on IBM-compatible PCs. PC programs will not run on a mac, in general. Please read below for exceptions:

While there are PC emulator software programs for the mac, not all PC programs will run under the emulator, and the speed at which the programs will run would be too slow to be usable.
Macs are now shipping with Windows XP installed in a dual boot fashion. Although you can install Retail Pro on the Windows partition, a lot of features, such as the scheduler, have not been tested or approved to work with the Mac hardware. Specifically, polling by scheduler has been found not to work

NOTE: Even if you can get Retail Pro running on a macintosh using one of the above two methods, this type of set-up wouldn't be supported.

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New 8.52 Core Update Released!

The new core update (852Core102607.zip) released by Island Pacific became available on our Support Downloads site this morning.

The new core update contains critical fixes for the September release.

Remember to always:

Schedule & Plan your updates.

Perform a backup prior to updating.

Contact a Support Representative for questions and assistance.

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Norton Antivirus and Retail Pro

To ensure maximum performance and a safe working environment for Retail Pro, please follow the following parameters:

If ANY of your computers are on the internet 100% of the time, ALWAYS keep your antivirus software running.

If you are not always on the internet, but rather have dial up or other types of internet service where you can disconnect and reconnect your connection, be sure to have your antivirus software monitoring your systems when you are connected to the internet. When you are not connected, disabling the Auto-protect feature of Norton Antivirus will provide faster performance in Retail Pro.

Another option is to turn off the Auto-protect feature completely and schedule a nightly scan of your system.

NOTE: Although this provides some level of protection, be advised that if you have any kind of internet activity on your system(s), we strongly recommend leaving Auto-Protect on.
--

To turn off Auto-Protect and schedule a nightly scan, do the following:

(For Norton Antivirus 2003)

Go to START->PROGRAMS->Norton Antivirus->Norton Antivirus 2003.

On the top left hand corner, click on OPTIONS.

In the first group labeled "How to stay protected", uncheck the following:

-Enable Auto-Protect (recommended)

-Start Auto-Protect when Windows starts up (recommended)

Again, make sure these options are NOT checked, then click OK. You will be prompted to hit OK one more time.

On the left hand side of the menu, click on “Scan for Viruses”.

On the bottom right under Schedule Task, click on Schedule.

The scheduler will open. Click on “New”

Under “Schedule Task”, choose Daily.

Under “Start Time”, choose the time that you would like to scan for viruses. (Ideally, this would be a time that won’t interfere with other scheduled tasks, like polling or backup).

Click OK.

Close Norton Antivirus.

At this point, you should see the Norton Antivirus system tray icon with an red X on it. This indicates that Auto-Protect is off.

After Norton Antivirus performs its scheduled scan, it will display a report on the screen. Review this report every day and make sure there are no viruses residing on your system(s).

If at some point, you would like to turn Auto-Protect back on, follow steps 1-3 and make sure you check the two boxes that were unchecked originally.x

Gift Card Security and Theft Prevention

There are many ways to protect against theft, including standard procedures to protect against credit card theft. These include:

Always check IDs when someone uses a credit card and make sure the picture matches the person.

Cashiers should also verify that the customer's signature matches the signature on the card.

Cashiers can be required to take the name and address of the customer when selling gift cards. If customers have an objection, they should be told it is for security purposes due to frequent theft of gift cards.

If you accept credit cards over the phone, always get the CVV (3-digit security code on the back of the card) and zip code.

Cashier's can refuse to complete the transaction if the customer gives a zip code that doesn't match.

These security measures are only as good as the cashier's discipline in following them. Therefore it is important for managers to enforce these security policies.

Learn more about security and loss prevention for retailers,
or visit our website

Can you only cancel/uncancel receipts that have not yet been polled to the main?

No. As long as a user is assigned to a group that has rights to cancel/uncancel check-in/check-out receipts (in Tools > Sec Admin ), they can do it when they need to.

Visit our site www.onestepretail.com for more info; or to speak to a Representative Live!

How do I reflect damaged merchandise in Retail Pro?

The answer depends on what you want to do with the damaged merchandise. Assuming you want to take the damaged merchandise out of inventory, if you want to return it to the vendor, you would do a return voucher by creating a new voucher and changing the voucher type to Return.

Otherwise, you could do a quantity adjustment memo to take it out of inventory of the remote store, and put "damaged" or something equivalent in the Reason field.

Visit our website for more info.

X/Z-Out Tax doesn't match when adding up individual amounts

I was recently asked why X/Z-Out Tax totals don't match when adding up individual amounts. Firstly, I'd like to point out that the following adheres to X/Z-Out Tax Totals.

If your Tax Totals are not matching up when adding up individual amounts, then you are experiencing rounding issues.

The dilemma faced by retailers (and by Retail Pro) in calculating sales tax is this: when a percentage is applied to monetary values there is always a mathematical possibility of rounding differences. These differences become evident when you look at the various ways sales tax can be reported.

For further details on how rounding causes differences, see the following Technical Memo

Visit our website to learn more about Retail Pro.

Change Tax in Retail Pro 8.x

Changing your Tax within Retail Pro can become a routine task. A new Tax change in New York, for example, has just affected Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx.

Here's a simple "How-to:" on how to correctly change your tax rates when needed: