How to Setup Your Inventory

The first step to selling your goods and services online is to enter your "items" into the Y.E.S.!™ database.  If you currently have an existing QuickBooks™ or other database of items, with only a few clicks of the mouse you will be able to import your information into the system.  From that point you will need to enter more specific information regarding the imported items.  For illustration purposes, this tutorial will assume you do NOT have an existing database, and will walk you through the process from the beginning.

The Getting Started Wizard helped you establish the basics of your company.  In proceeding through the wizard, you were prompted to add a sample item to your inventory for illustration purposes only.  If you elected to add a sample item, the item will be listed on the left side of the Inventory screen.  You can now supply additional information for that item, or remove the sample item from your inventory and start from scratch.

For our illustration purposes, we will add a new item.

From the Inventory screen, all pertinent information regarding your inventory items is available.

Click on the "Add New Item" button in the lower left of the Inventory screen.  A small dialog screen will appear for you to enter the name of the new item.  Y.E.S.!™ will search your current inventory for that item name.  As a means to prevent duplication of inventory, you will NOT be able to create a new item with the same name as an existing item in your inventory. 

Once you have entered a unique item name, the small screen will disappear and the new item name will appear in the Name field on the Inventory - General tab screen.

If you wish to sell this item on your web site, place a check in the box next to "Include this Item on my Web page" located at the top of the screen.

Vendor Field:  The information you entered in the Getting Started Wizard for your company will default in the Vendor field, (i.e. you are the default vendor for this item).  In order to maintain complete control and accountability over your inventory and reporting, it is recommended that you NOW enter the vendors of your items.  This will enable you to simply select the appropriate vendor for your items as they are added.

Note:  If you are the manufacturer of your products, or you do not resell any third-party products, you can skip this step.

From the top menu bar, select "Inventory", and from the drop down listing select "Vendors".  This displays the "Vendors" screen where you can add, edit, and remove vendors for your inventory items.  By selecting (highlighting) each vendor from the listing, you are able to view each vendors contact information, the items they supply to you, and any notes you have entered for each vendor, by clicking on the corresponding tabs.

The information you entered in either the "Getting Started Wizard", or from the "Website and Contact Information" screen will appear, listing your company as a vendor.  The "Company Name" field and the "Name" field will both contain your company name (the name you entered for the title of your website).

Click on the "New" button to add a new vendor.  The "New Vendor" screen is further separated into three (3) tabs:  General - Contact - Notes.

On the "General" tab, you can enter the general information for the new vendor.  Two (2) fields are required for accurate reporting capabilities:  The vendor's Name and Company Name.  The Company Name will be selectable from the inventory item screen.  The remaining fields are optional, but consider entering as much information about each vendor as possible.  This will make your reporting and contact capabilities that much more efficient.

On the "Contact" tab, you can enter the specific contact information regarding your new vendor.

On the "Notes" tab, you can enter any pertinent notes regarding your new vendor.

When you have completed entering all information for this new vendor, click the "Ok" button.  Your new vendor will appear in the vendor listing.  At this point, it is recommended that you add all of your vendors for all items to the vendors list.  Once you have finished entering your vendors into Y.E.S.!™, click the "Ok" button, and return to the Inventory screen.

The Category field is very useful in assisting your online shoppers to easily navigate your website and locate the specific items they wish to purchase.  A fast and simple browsing experience for your customers is crucial to your online success.

The field will default to contain the category heading you entered in the "Getting Started Wizard" for this item.

Click the "Add" button adjacent to this field.  This displays the "Categories" screen, where you are able to create and structure categories for your inventory items.  This screen enables you to graphically construct a hierarchy or Tree of categories for your items. There is no limit to the number of  levels or category headings you can create, but always keep the online customer in mind when building your category structure.  You are able to Add and Remove categories, as well as Edit category names.  Once you have created your category listings, Click the "Done" button on the Category screen.

Now you need to identify the category under which this item will be listed on your website.  Select the specific category name from the drop down menu in the Category field.

Quantity:  Enter the quantity of this item you currently have on stock.  If you wish to have the quantity displayed on your website, place a check in the adjacent box.

Re-Order Point:  This is the inventory level for this item at which you wish to be notified of low quantities.  Although this field is not required, if you wish to maintain control over your inventory, you will need to establish re-order points for your items.  By running a Re-Order Report, all items whose current quantities are equal to or less than their re-order points will be listed.  Depending on the dynamics of your business, we recommend that you access this report on a regular and frequent basis.

Example:  If the Re-order Point for an item is set at "10", when the inventory level reaches "10" or below, the item will be listed on a Re-Order report.

If you do not wish to be notified of an item being out of stock, enter "-1" in the field.  This is appropriate for cases where you have only one of a particular item, and do not plan on obtaining more.

Weight:  Enter the shipping weight for each item.  If you wish to display the item's weight on your website, place a check in the adjacent box.

"This Item is Taxable" (checkbox):  If this item is taxable, place a check in the box.  All transactions for this item will automatically apply the appropriate taxes.

Tax Rule:  (If Applicable) Select the Tax Rule to be applied to this item, from the drop down listing of tax rules you have previously established.

"Make this Item Inactive" (Checkbox):  Placing a check in this box will prevent this item from being sold from the point-of-sale or from your website.  If you have elected to show this item on your website, the item will be displayed, but the "Add to Cart" button will not appear, and the online shopper will not have the ability to purchase this item.  This feature is useful in cases where you have items which are defective, been recalled, previous versions of a product, etc.  In order to maintain accurate and complete inventory valuations, all In-active items will be included in the total value of your inventory.

Now click on the "Description" tab.

This screen enables you to enter a short and long description for each item.  By placing a check in the corresponding boxes, these descriptions will be shown on your website.

Now click on the "Pricing" tab.

On the Pricing tab screen, all pricing structure information is entered for your item.

Display the Price of this Item on My Website (Checkbox) - If this box is not checked, this item will be shown on the Internet without a price.

List Price - Enter your selling price for this item here.  If you wish, the system will automatically calculate the List Price for you based upon the values entered in the Our Cost and Percent Profit fields.

Lowest Price - For administrative purposes only, enter the lowest price at which you are willing to sell this item.  This price will not be shown on your website.  This value is set at the store owner's discretion. The program will not allow a sale of this item to take place for less than the amount specified here.  This field may be left blank.

Example of use: When using Y.E.S.! Point-of-Sale™, a cashier (with sufficient security permissions) may adjust the selling price for a particular Customer.  But if the Lowest Price field contains a value for this item, and the cashier attempts to adjust the selling price lower than the Lowest Price value, a warning message will pop up in Y.E.S.! Point-of-Sale™ stating that the adjusted price being entered is lower than the Lowest Price, and the price adjustment will be rejected.

Our Cost - This field is contains the price you paid to procure this item from your Vendor.  This number will be used to calculate profit reports after the item has been sold.

Percent Profit - The percentage of the profit that you will receive from the sale of this item at List price.  The value entered in this field can be used to automatically calculate List Price.  If this field is left blank, the system will calculate your percentage profit from the values entered for List Price and Our Cost

Example of use:   If you enter "40" in the Percent Profit field, the List Price field will automatically be updated with a price that is 40% above the value entered in the Our Cost field.

This Item has a Quantity Discount (Checkbox) - By placing a check in the corresponding checkbox, the price breakdown table (shown below) will be enabled, and will display a similar Quantity Discount table on your website on this item's page 

Each field can be customized to establish up to four (4) levels of pricing.  This feature enables you to encourage larger volume sales.

Example:  When a customer purchases more than 5 but less than 11 of an item, the base price of the item may be discounted.  

Checking this box will automatically apply the Base Price given in this table to any sale made on your web site and the Y.E.S.! Point-of-Sale™  program based upon the quantity sold.

Now click on the "Custom" tab.

The purpose of the Custom tab screen is to make it possible to customize your Y.E.S.!™ software as well as your website for your specific inventory or business.

Field Labels: The field labels shown in green in the sample above are all editable.  To edit a field label, simply click on the field name.  A dialog box will open into which you may enter a new name for the field.  

Custom Fields: Once you have changed the field names, you may enter any information that you want into the field to the right of the labels.  

Click on the small square box to the right of the field names to enable the field to be shown on your website.  

(The use of these custom fields is entirely optional.)  It is not necessary to define all fields and all labels.  Use only the labels and fields that you need.

Example of Use:

If you are selling antiques, you could use custom field names such as:

Field Label
Typical Field Contents
Bin Location

 

Where found
Garage Sale
Country of origin
England
Condition
Good
Maker's name
Unknown
Age
100+ Years

 

Now click on the "Picture" tab.

From the Picture tab you can select a picture to associate with this inventory item.

There are only two (2) options available from this screen:

Select a Picture - Clicking on this button will open a standard windows dialog box from which you can navigate to any valid (*.jpg, *.jpeg, *.jif) image file.

NOTE: Any picture that you select will automatically be re-sized and compressed for optimum viewing on your website.

Do Not Use a Picture - Clicking on this button will remove the association any picture with the currently selected item.  

NOTE: Clicking this button will not delete the actual image file.

 

Now click on the "Options" tab.

From the Options tab screen, you may assign various selling options to this item.

You may have up to three (3) options associated with each inventory item, such as color, size and material.  This will enable customers to choose additional options with their purchase, or to simply specify different options that customize the order.  

Current Options - This list box will show all of the Options that you have defined for this item.

Add - Create a new Option.  Clicking on this button will open a small dialog box into which you can enter the name for the new Option. 

 

Remove - Deletes the currently selected Option.

 

You may also associate an additional cost and charge for each option.

Values for ... - (The currently selected Option name will appear following the words "Values for" in the title of this table.)  This table shows you all of the options available for this item with their associated Charges and Costs.

For this Item, Track Quantities Based on the above Option Combinations (Checkbox) - If this box is checked, available quantities and re-order points will be monitored for each possible option that you have assigned. (The system   Default is NOT-enabled.)  The table immediately below this checkbox is editable by clicking on any field within the table and editing the values directly or by selecting from a drop-down list.

Your established options will appear in the heading of the options table.  Columns 1, 2, and 3, correspond to your options. Columns 4 and 5 list the related Quantity and Re-order Point for the option combinations.  By clicking in the column fields, you are able to select the option combinations from drop-down listing. Click in the corresponding fields horizontally to enter your current quantity and re-order point.

Example of Use:
In the example shown above, art glass is being sold with the options of by Color and by Size.   You have the ability to make each Color or each Size offered at an extra-charge option to the customer, as shown above.   Or by simply listing the available options, but leaving the "extra cost" and "extra charge" fields blank, the options will be available (selectable) without charges.

Remove - Deletes the currently selected Option Combination, without removing the Option from the available selection.

Example of Use:
In the example shown above, if you can no longer sell "Small + Blue" art glass, but you are still able to sell all other option combinations of art glass, highlighting one of the option fields in the "Small" + "Blue" option combination row and clicking the "Remove" button will delete only this option combination from your inventory.  This will save you from re-establishing the other option combinations and their quantities and reorder points.

 

  1. If you elect to track quantities based option quantities, the Quantity field in the "General" tab screen will be grayed out, and you will not be able to edit the quantity from that screen.  You will only be able to alter the quantities of the option combinations, from the "Options" tab screen.  For this case, we recommend that you DO NOT elect to show the quantity of this item on your web site, by removing the check from the corresponding box on the "General" tab screen.

    1. If you wish to maintain complete control of your inventory and inventory values, you will need to track quantities based on the option combinations and establish any additional costs and charges for each.  This enables Y.E.S.!™ to develop true inventory values.  If you elect NOT to track quantities based on option combinations, your inventory and item reports will display inventory values based on "Average Costs" and "Average Prices."  These average values will limit the accuracy of your inventory value information.

    2. The changes that you make on this screen pertain only to the inventory item currently selected from the Item Name list on the left-hand side of the screen.  

  1. Each item may have a completely different set of options available.

Now click on the "Format/Units" tab.

The Format/Units tab screen is used to define whether the currently selected inventory item will be sold in whole numbers (integers), or in one, two, three, or four place decimal quantities.

For most instances, where you are selling items in whole numbers, the "integer" will be appropriate.

Example:
If you are selling shirts, you will only sell the shirts in whole numbers.

For other cases where you might be selling items by the pound or volume, the decimal place formats will be more appropriate.

Example:
If you are selling candy by the pound, your customers will be able to order 3.75 pounds.

Units of Measure

The bottom half of this screen contains a drop-down list of common Units of Measure (UOM).  Select a unit of measure to associate with the item quantity.  The two letter abbreviation for the selected UOM will be shown in the Point-of-Sale screen under the UOM column, and the full UOM name will appear on your web site. All items will default to "Each".

Example:
If your item is "Shoes", you can select "Pair" as the unit of measure.

 

If you are using the Barcode Scanning and Barcode Label Printing accessories, you can now print the barcodes that Y.E.S.!™ has automatically generated for this item, or capture existing barcodes from this item.

To use an existing barcode or UPC symbol:

To capture and use an existing barcode for this item, click on the "Barcode..." button, select the "Capture Existing Barcode" option. A screen will appear prompting you to scan the barcode with your scanner. Once you have successfully scanned the item's barcode, it will be displayed on the screen. Click the "OK" button to assign this barcode to the inventory item.

To Print the barcode for this item:

Click on "Inventory" in the top menu at the top of the screen and select the "Print Item Labels" option.  A screen will appear from which you may choose which items, label type and  size and the number of labels to print.  Simply check the items for which you wish to print labels.  Then click the "Add Selected" button.  Set the number labels for each item to be printed and then click on the "Print List" button.  The labels will now be printed.

To Print the barcode for the specific option combinations:

If you have elected to track quantities based on option combinations, Y.E.S.!™ assigns a unique barcode for each option combination as well. This barcode REPLACES the general item barcode.

From the "Options" tab screen, click on any option field in the row containing the desired combination. Now, click on the "Barcode..." button at the bottom of the screen, and select the "Print Barcode for this Option Combination" option. A screen will appear prompting you to determine the number of barcode labels to be printed. Simply enter the number of labels to be printed, and click on the "Ok" button. The barcode(s) will now be printed.

Congratulations! You have now successfully added an item to your inventory. If you have additional items to add, click on the "General" tab, and then click on the "Add New Item" button and repeat the process for each item.