Description

Key Features

The Control Panel is the main form of the database program.  All features can be accessed from this form.

• NEW Look on Control Panel (Old "Main Switchboard").
• NEW! E-Mail Blast!
• NEW! Import and Export capability.
• NEW! Sales label for items in stock made to your specifications.
• NEW! Individual (QUICK!!) order entry.
• NEW! Track Sales Tax and Shipping on orders automatically.
• NEW! Improved Help screens on each form.
• NEW! User Defined fields in Guests & Hostess Information table and Setup Information.
• Many more great NEW features!
• Sales Reporting - Search your database of Sales Information for your Top Hostesses, Top Guests/Customers, Who Order a Specific Item, What a Specific Customer Ordered and which Hostesses Didn't Book a Show Recently.
• Import new price lists in two easy steps.  Great for product updates and additions.
• 1-2-3 step guide to adding orders.
• Gain access to all key features of the program.
• Create labels for guests lists
• Access help file that explains the details of the more difficult features using the Startup Help button.
• Create sales report by week, month and year.
• Compare orders against inventory and adjust your inventory in real-time to meet your orders.
• Maintain your product database including new items, pricing, and other key features of each item.
• Maintain and track inventory, expenses and mileage.
• Activate shows by using the drop down menu located at the top of the form.

How to Use This Form

The Sales Reporting module is now available!  It is included in all future orders of the software. This module allows the user to query their customers, hostesses and show information concerning sales and other important information used to manage your party plan business.

 
The 6 new search capabilities are...

1. Search shows by date range and receive hostess and sales information.
2. Search for what a specific customer ordered.
3. Search for who purchased a specific item number.
4. Find all shows that exceeded a certain dollar value that you choose.
5. Find all customers that exceeded a dollar value order accumulated over time.
and finally 6. find hostesses that haven't had a show in the last XX
months. You enter XX the number of months.
 

To Create Sales Reports:

• Click the Sales Reports button on the Control Panel.

• Follow the easy to use instructions on the Sales Reporting form.

To Update Your Price List:

• Update old and outdated price lists with a few simple clicks.

• Click the 1Order New Price List Button and order your new price list, if available.   It will be sent within 24 hrs if it is currently available.

• Send $7 via www.PayPal.com to the e-mail address kkapush@partymanagersoftware.com .

• Download the file to your hard drive under the C:\ directory.

• Click 2 Import New Price List and the items that are already in the database are updated with the new information and new items are added to the Product list.

• You're done!  It's that simple.

To Enter an Order:

• Follow the steps numbered 1, 2, 3 on the upper left side of the form.
• Use the 1 Guest Info button to enter Guest Names for your party, also include your Hostesses name and address as it will be used later to create the Show Definition.  For more information on creating a Show Definition see Guest Info.
• Use the 2 Show Info button to create a Show Definition or make an old Show active by selecting it from the drop-down menu on the Control Panel or the Show Information form.  For more information on creating a Show Definition see Show Info.
• Use the 3 Orders of Active Show button to enter your show orders for the Active Show.  Assign names to each order or let the program enter the default name for each order.  For more information on creating a Show Definition see Orders.
• You are finished.  Now you can create sales reports on this data collected or create your merchandise order for the week.

Individual Order Entry:

Use the 4 Individual Order Entry button on the Control Panel to create a New Order, New Show definition and enter the Guests name all at once automatically.  This feature is great for quick INDIVIDUAL order entries by phone or e-mail from your customers.  This feature is best utilized for individual orders but can be used to create larger show orders.  Only use this feature for larger group show order once you fully understand the functionality behind the feature.  This feature automatically…

1.     Creates a name in the Guest & Hostess Information table (if the name does not already exist).  Always choose the customer name from the drop-down list if it is available, otherwise you will create duplicate names within your customer database.

a.        After pressing Enter Order, a prompt is presented stating a new entry will append to the Show Information table.  Press “Yes” to accept.

2.        Creates a new Show Definition in the Show Information table using the customer name from step one as the Shows Hostess and as the Guest Name on the Order in step 3.  The show definition is created using the current date as the Show Date and “Individual” as the Show Type.

3.        Makes the new Show Definition the ACTIVE show.

4.        Creates the order with the customers name as the name on the order.  The feature automatically fills in the Order Date as the current date.  Modify the date if needed. 

After this process fill in the Item Numbers and Quantities as needed to complete the order. For more information on creating an Order see Orders Help.

To Enter Inventory:

• Gather your inventory and do a complete inventory count of all items you currently have in stock.
• Click the Inventory button in the upper right side of the form to enter your inventory.
• Follow the steps explained under Inventory. 

To Track Expenses and Mileage:

• Gather all of your expense receipts and mileage reports and enter it into the database using the Expense and Mileage ledgers provided.
• Click the Expenses button in the upper right side of the form to enter your Expenses.
• Follow the steps explained under Expenses. 
• Click the Mileage button in the upper right side of the form to enter your Mileage.
• Follow the steps explained under Mileage. 

Phone List - Making Mass Changes to Guest Information

The Phone List button located on the Control Panel, aside from being a consolidated phone list of all the guests in your Guest Information table, also serves as a location to make changes to the data in your database of guest information.  Changes can be made to any item in the list except the name itself.

It’s a quicker and easier way to make changes to existing information in the database rather than going into the Guests form locating the name and then making the changes.  This can be especially useful when adding and deleting names from your mailing list.

To Create Mailing Labels:

• Mailing labels were created for sending out monthly brochures to your best customers.  As you enter your guest data, note the Mailing List toggle switch to the right of the guests name.  All names with a check in the box are included in the Mailing List.
• Create a list of your best customers.
• Enter their names into the database using the 1 Guest Info button on the Control Panel.  Be sure to check the Mailing List check box as you enter names.

Create Show Information Labels for Invitations: See the Show Info section of this site.  Labels containing information the hostess' name, home phone, show date, show time, location or any other 2-line comment such as "Do your Christmas shopping here!" can be created for as many guests as you like using the Show Info form.

Create Sales Reports for any Time Period You Choose!:  See the Business Activity Report section of this site.  You can create sales reports that summarize all data collected in the Show Information form for any time period you specify.  Typically, weekly reports are generated to prevent massive data entry problems all at once.

 Create Merchandise Orders for Your Weekly Sales or any Other Time Period You Choose!:  See the Order Recap with Inventory Check section of this site.  You can create a merchandise order that rolls up all orders taken over a time period.  During the process of creating this order, you can compare your order to your inventory and adjust the merchandise order accordingly.  For instance, if your final order shows a quantity of 5 of item 11050 being ordered and you have 7 in stock you can adjust the merchandise order to a quantity of 0 for item 11050 with the idea that you will use your inventory to cover the order.

Maintain the Product Database: See the Products section of this site.