Your computer must meet the following minimum specifications for Manufacturers’ Representatives Software to work. If you do not know whether your computer meets the following requirements, refer to your computer owner’s manual for a list of the system’s specifications.
Hardware Requirements
· IBM compatible computer Pentium 233 or higher
· 32 Megabyte Ram or more
· 10 Megabyte free spaceSoftware Requirements
· Supports Windows NT/95/98 / XP
Before you install HMS SOFTWARE for Manufacturers’ Representatives, make backup copies of the original disks, and run from these copies. This allows you to use the install disks again if the original disks become damaged. BEFORE PROCEEDING PLEASE READ SECTION 2.5 SPECIAL COMPANY OPTIONS VERY CAREFULLY.
Insert CD, Go to Start on your desktop click on RUN, type C:Setup.exe or go to Browse and open HMS.EXE file and install. Click ok. Install all disks and Click Finish.
After installation you will be prompted to enter: Pay Method (see above, Special Company Options), (S ) allows you to set an exact percent to be deducted from manufacture commission payment, e.g. 1%, 2.25%, etc. (P) allows you to enter an amount that would make the commission amount dynamic. Using the (P) method allows the company to make a constant percentage (e.g. 34% thereby leaving the salesperson 66%) regardless of the manufacture’s paid amount.
Enter your Company name; you will then see a screen giving you three options. (1) reinstall, (2) Server Install or Update, (3) Workstation Installation. Click (2) Server Install or Update.
IMPORTANT: ONCE YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE PAY METHOD YOU WANT, YOU CANNOT CHANGE.
To move around in the system, an option must be selected from the header bar, e.g. File, Business, Inquiry, and Reports.
The most painful part of any new system is loading the databases. The recommended order for loading the database is to enter 1) salesperson information, 2) manufacturer information, 3) commission and quotas for each salesperson, and 4) customer information. This order is necessary due to certain required fields in each file.
For instance, each customer must be assigned a salesperson therefore, the salesperson must exist in the database prior to entering customer information. Commissions and quotas are assigned to each salesperson by manufacturer, so all manufacturers must be entered prior to entering commissions and quotas.
Most fields are self-explanatory (i.e. address and phone), but the customer file has two fields that you can use at your discretion. These two fields, customer type and discount code, can be used for reporting purposes and/or reference fields. The customer type is used as a selection criterion for printing labels. Therefore, you may want to set up codes that will enable you to group like customers. Some examples of customer types are:
| DL | Dealer/Retailer |
| EU | End user |
| DS | Designer |
| GO | Government |
The ‘discount code’ is a combination field that is arbitrarily defined by the user to help them identify types of discount routinely given by the manufacturer. For example, use an alpha character to designate the manufacturer and a numeric code to represent a percentage (i.e. 1 = 50/10, or 8 = 50/20/10). The code would look like:
A1 Acme warehouse gets a 50/10 discount
This keeps pricing and quoting consistent when customer requests information no matter who might be dealing with them.
Once the databases have been loaded, reports can be produced to verify data entry. Start with the Salesperson/Quota report and verify all quotas’ add up for each manufacturer. Most reports can be produced on the printer as well as displayed on the screen.
Daily business begins with entering acknowledgments and invoices. Acknowledgments normally arrive first, therefore this information is required before an invoice can be entered. It is advisable to sort acknowledgments by salesperson and note customer code on each copy before starting the data entry. The same should be done for invoices, but include the actual commission, paid by the manufacturer, on each invoice. When entering invoice amounts, any discrepancies between invoice and acknowledgment amounts should be looked up before going onto the next invoice.
An Acknowledgment report is actually three reports in one. It includes a company grand total, a summary by salesperson, and a summary by manufacturer. The Commission/Invoice report can be used as a summary for each salesperson as well as calculating the actual commission to be paid. The Backorder report will identify any outstanding acknowledgments or backorders. This report is also used to identify any discrepancies between acknowledgement and invoice amounts. It is necessary to run the Backorder report before running the final version of the Commission/Invoice report to calculate the commissions for the sales staff.
The Inquiry function produces various analysis reports to help you manage your business. There are several inquiry screens that can quickly look up the status of an order. Other reports, which may take some time to produce, will show you the status of the company, salesperson, customer, and/or manufacturer. Many of these reports are comparisons of quotas versus actual, previous versus current year status, and ranking of salesperson, manufacturer, and customer from highest to lowest producers.
I hope you will find this program easy to use and that it will provide you with the answers to managing your business more efficiently and profitably.