Parts Inventory & Invoicing

Minimum gross profit % threshold added to pricing strategies – A new field has been added to the pricing strategy setup that lets you designate the minimum gross profit % you want to allow for the pricing strategy.  This feature is designed for list- or trade-based pricing strategies to maintain your GP% threshold.  For example, suppose you have a part with a cost of $100 and an MSRP of $125.  If you sell that part at your pricing strategy of 90% of List ($112.50), your GP% on that sale is 11% ($12.50/$112.50).  With this new feature, you can add a minimum GP% of 15% to your 90% of List pricing strategy and the system will automatically price the part at $117.60 to hold your 15% GP%.  When the system overrides the pricing strategy to maintain your gross, you can see the override indicator ( *MIN GP%* )when you take option 2=Change by the part.

Parts customer extraction – A new data extraction has been added to the Data Extraction menu to pull your parts customers to a .csv file on your local PC.  The file includes customer number, name, address, tax ID, wholesale comp info, the last 24 months’ sales and returns, plus the last 12 months’ total sales.  To run the data extraction, and authorized user can take option 1=Data Extraction Selection from the Data Extraction menu and take option 1=Select by Parts Customers.  Key in a file name, the IP address of your local PC, the ftp user ID and password for the ftp server and press [ENTER] to run the extraction.  Contact ARKONA Customer Support for assistance setting up an ftp server on your PC.

New Ford parts order download – A new method of transmitting stock orders to Ford has been added.  This method creates an .xml file on your local PC which can then be uploaded to the Ford website.  This feature eliminates the need for Macro Express to “key” the stock order into the Ford web site and the 99 line limitation.  Contact ARKONA Customer Support for assistance converting to the new download.

Preference for picking ticket printer selection – A new preference has been added to Parts Department Application Environment Initial Values that lets you interactively select which printer a picking ticket is printed to.  When this preference is selected, function 56=Print Picking Ticket in Parts Transactions will let the user override the printer the picking ticket will go to.

Acura wholesale comp report – A new report and download option for Acura wholesale comp parts has been added to the reports menu.  To run this report and download a file to your PC, take option 24=Reports from the Parts Inventory & Invoicing menu and page down.  Take option 1=Select by Wholesale Compensation.  Fill in the screen and press [ENTER] to download.  Some preliminary setup is required for this to work.  Please contact ARKONA Customer Support for assistance.

Deleting pricing strategies no longer allowed – You are no longer allowed to delete a pricing strategy from the list of pricing strategies available in the Preferences Area of the Parts Department Application Environment.  This is to prevent the accidental removal of pricing strategies that are in use and consequential parts pricing errors.

Yellow pad parts not included in physical inventory variance for partial inventories – When physical inventory count sheets are created for a subset of bins and a yellow pad part is added to the physical inventory that is not on the count sheets, the system will not compute the variance or include the variance for that yellow pad part in the inventory variance dollar total.

Refresh on hand count when updating entered count sheets – The current on hand count for a part will be retrieved when a change is made to a count sheet that has been entered.  For example, if you key in the counts on a count sheet and press [ENTER] or use function F9=Next Sheet to save the counts then later call the count sheet back up, when you change the count for one of the parts, the system will retrieve the current on hand count for that part and recompute the variance against the updated count you entered.

Store a list of all parts when deleting an invoice – When a counterperson retrieves an invoice from the Cashier screen and uses function F14=Delete to delete the invoice, the invoice is stored in history as a VOIDED INVOICE.  When the invoice is displayed, all parts removed will be listed along with the user ID and counterperson ID used to delete the invoice.

New password prompt – When a counterperson enters Parts Transactions, he will key in his counterperson password on a separate screen before the Parts Transaction screen displays.

New window for Gross Profit display – Function 80=Gross Profit now displays a window with the same information that was previously display on the Parts Transactions screen.

Changes to parts billing with relation to selling below cost – Several changes have been made in relation to billing functionality:

• Security to sell below cost:
• If a counterperson does not have rights to sell a part below cost, the cost of a part may not be reduced below the factory cost.
• If a counterperson does have the right to sell a part below cost, a new warning is displayed if the cost entered is below factory cost with the option to use function F10=Accept to bypass the warning.
• Test on selling below cost moved to test against cost in the parts master.
• Previously the test to prevent users from selling below cost was to check the net price of the part against the cost entered on the screen.  The test has been change to check the net price of the part against the cost of the part on the parts master.
• Net price displays on the emergency purchase screen.

Security option to change cost in 10=Parts in Inventory – A new security option to change cost has been added to the Parts Department area of User Security on the System Environment menu.  A user must be authorized to change cost to use function 12=Change Cost in menu option 10=Parts in Inventory.  To change this security preference, the dealership ARKONA security officer can take option 7=User Security from the System Environment menu, select the user, take option 1=Authorize by Parts Department and scroll to the second screen.  Set Authorize to Change Cost = Y.

This security option can also prevent a user from changing cost in 11=Stock Orders when receiving parts that are not on a stock order.

Change to automatic stocking group move – The program that moves parts from one stocking group to another based on the manufacturer’s promo code (for Hyundai, BMW, and Volvo only) has been modified to provide for a “return to” stocking group for when the promo code is removed by the manufacturer.  This way when the manufacturer indicates that a part is no longer on promo, the part can be automatically “returned to” a different stocking group.

To add the “return to” stocking group for a promo code, take the following steps (on Hyundai or Volvo only):

1. Take option 50=Application Environment from the Parts Inventory & Invoicing menu and take option 1=Select by Manufacturers.
2. Take option 2=Change by the manufacturer code and press [ENTER] twice to see the Manufacturer Code Cross Reference table.
3. Take option 2=Change by a promo code and key in the stocking group code in the Return to Stocking Group field.

The program to change the stocking groups runs when a promo code is manually changed or changed through the process of the monthly parts price update.

Restocking Charge – A new feature has been added to the Parts Invoicing screen that lets you bill a restocking charge on a parts counter ticket.  The restocking charge is defined in the Parts Department Application Environment Restocking Charge area.  It can be a percent of parts, a percent up to a dollar max, or a flat dollar amount.  You can set it to automatically include on every return, or use the new function 33=Restocking Charge to add it at your discretion.  If the charge is automatically included on every return, a counterperson must be authorized to remove it in Parts Department Application Environment Counterpersons area.

Parts fees – A new feature has been added to the Parts Invoicing screen that lets you charge a set fee on all part invoices and repair orders.  The fees are defined in the Parts Department Application Environment Fees area.  The fee can be a percent of parts, a percent up to a dollar max, or a flat dollar amount.  You can set it to automatically include on every invoice, and set the fee to be subject to sales tax if desired.  A new function 34=Fees has been added to select the fee if it is not automatically included on the invoice.  If a counterperson is authorized, a fee may be removed from the invoice with line option 4=Delete.  There is a new security option in the Counterperson area of the Parts Department Application Environment that controls fees security.

Parts discounts – A new feature has been added to the Parts Invoicing screen that lets you discount a counter ticket by a predetermined amount.  The discounts can be defined in the Parts Department Application Environment Discounts area.  A discount can be percent of parts, a percent up to a dollar max, or a flat dollar discount amount.  A new function 32=Discounts has been added to select a discount.  If a counterperson is authorized to discounts, he may add or remove discounts from parts tickets.  There is a new security option in the Counterperson area of the Parts Department Application Environment that controls discounts security.

Tax exempt core returns – A new option has been added to the General Ledger tax group setup to exclude core returns from tax.  If this preference is selected, tax will be charged on a clean core sale, but the core refund will not refund the tax.  To change this option, a user authorized to General Ledger Application Environment can select the tax group and set Core Returns = N.

Enhanced part return tracking – A new feature has been added to help track parts returns that are not placed back in inventory.  When generating a return, the counterperson is presented with the question of whether to return the part to inventory.  If he responds with a “No”, the quantity for that part is not increased.  The system automatically puts a comment on the invoice that says, “Returned from Inv# 5107330--Not to inventory.”  In the part history, it shows that the part was not returned to inventory.

Returns not to inventory on Returns Analysis – A new option has been added to Returns Analysis that lets you look at only parts returns that were not returned to inventory.  To see this new option, an authorized user can take option 20=Transaction Analysis from the Parts Inventory & Invoicing menu and take option1=Select by Returns Analysis.  If you want to see only parts that were not returned to inventory, set the prompt Include Returns to Inventory = N.

Option to print parts labels with picking tickets – A new feature has been added that will print automatically print labels for the parts when a picking ticket is printed.  The label prints on a Zebra LP2824 label printer on 2¼” X 2½” labels. The labels include the following information:

• Invoice/repair order number
• Date
• Customer name
• Part number
• Part description
• Quantity
• Net price
• Technician ID
• Counterperson ID
• barcode

Call ARKONA Customer Support for assistance getting the picking ticket label printer working.

Option to include 12-month demand history on counter pad – A new option has been added to the counter pad report to include the parts’ last 12 months’ demand.  To print the counter pad with the demand history, take option 24=Reports from the Parts Inventory & Invoicing menu and take option1=Select by Counter Pad.  Set Print 12 Month Demand = Y.

Note that when this option is selected, the report turns to landscape orientation and will require more paper to print because less parts will print on each page.

Option to print retail barcode label from Parts in Inventory – A new option has been added 10=Parts in Inventory that will print a small retail label for a part number on demand. To print a label, take option 10=Parts in Inventory from the Parts Inventory & Invoicing menu and position to the part number. Take option 7=Print Barcode Label by the part number. This option prints one label for each of the quantity on hand. This label is printed from the new ARKONA-supported Zebra LP2824 in-line label printer. Please contact the ARKONA Sales Department.