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5.9 Released | Manager
5.7 Top 25 Reports | Manager
5.7 User Guide (pdf) | Manager
5.7 Online Help (.zip)| System
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Multi-User Upgrade Bulletin | Mitchell
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Current Release Documents
(most docs in .pdf format):
Thinking about buying
a management system for your shop? About Mitchell's
Shop
Management Software. Manager/ManagerPlus
pricing and order information.
Questions and Answers
about Manager/ManagerPlus:
New!
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
from our Training and Support Departments:
More FAQs from our
Support Department:
What
is the best way to to install and use Manager
/ ManagerPlus in my shop?
To facilitate a smooth
process of implementing Manager in your business,
Mitchell strongly recommends that you follow
these
"5-steps-to-success," in order:
1. Using the installation CD,
install the Training/Jump Start version of the
software. This installs the Manager software
to your computer along with a sample database
of customer and vehicle information.
2. Work through the exercises
in the Teach Yourself Manager/ManagerPlus Guide
included with your software package.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Do NOT enter real shop/customer information
into this version of the program. This version
is for practice purposes only and has limitations
in the number of customers and vehicles you
can enter. You will NOT be able to transfer
this information to the "live" program.
3. Once you are comfortable
working with the Management System, install
your licensed version of Manager/Manager Plus.
When you install the "live" software,
you will need to use the CD and your Key Diskette,
which "activates" the software and
"unlocks" all program features.
4. Follow the step-by-step
instructions in the Putting Manager to Work
guide to setup your shop information, rates,
etc.
5. Begin writing Orders and
running your shop with your Management System.
Refer to the User Guide (included on this CD),
the Online Help (F1), and the Video Training
(accessible through Help) for detailed step-by-step
instruction on all program features.
Follow these five steps to
success and you are practically guaranteed a
successful implementation. Congratulations on
your purchase of the best automotive shop management
software available: OnDemand5 Manager/ManagerPlus.
(Top)
How
do you refund a parts payment to the customer
so that your end of day cash receipts will balance?
1) Set up a Category Called "Paidouts".
2) Set up an Account Class Called "Paidouts".
3) Set Up a Part Number called "Paidouts"
assuming you have Manager Plus. Be sure that
you encode the Category and Account Class to
your new Paid Out Category and Account Class
you just created. (This is very important!).
Cost should be zero and retail should be zero.
BE SURE you have the box checked User entered
Price. This will allow you to update the retail
in the workorder. Also make this part Non-Taxable.
4) Create a Customer or Company as we have
set up "YOUR STORE Paid outs." Hit
F8 to Save the Customer
5) Now open a new work order.
6) Go into order click "parts" type
"Paidouts" for a part number hit the
tab button -1 for QTY type in the retail amount
of the paid out (from receipt) click done.
7) convert to RO if you started it as a Est.
IMPORTANT convert
to invoice but DO NOT go through the Pay Post
Screen, instead click options apply payments
select cash (usually) click pay it will ask
you if you want to post additional payments,
select cancel and select post payments.
Now on your sales report sales by account class
you will see a line for paid outs. Your end
of day cash receipts will balance.
(Top)
I
have a suggestion to improve Manager/ManagerPlus
If you have a suggestion for improving our management
system, we want to hear about it. This allows
us to continue to provide the best shop management
programs possible. Please complete our online
Product
Suggestion form as completely and accurately
as possible.
(Top)
Can
I get a printed copy of the Manager/ManagerPlus
user guide?
As with many software companies,
Mitchell 1 has printed a user guide for several
years. Our research indicates that the benefit
of including a printed user guide with every
new software release does not justify the added
expense, which would have to be passed along
to the end user in the form of higher subscription
cost.
You can however access the
current User's Guide online via this link: OnDemand5
Manager/ManagerPlus User Guide. A copy of
the User's Guide is also included on your CD.
The electronic user guide, in Adobe Acrobat
Reader format, is easy to use, searchable, and
you can make printouts of the entire guide or
just the pages you wish to keep for further
reference.
While open, many users are
clicking File, Save As (or Save a Copy) and
copying it to the desktop of their PC. This
way you can view or print w/o ever having to
download from the Internet again.
(Top)
My HP
LaserJet 1000 Printer prints a black square
block in place of a wiring diagram
This is a known problem with
the HP printer software, not the Mitchell 1
program. To correct this problem, you must download
the current printer driver from the driver
downloads, updates, and software packages
page on the Hewlett
Packard website.
(Top)
Why
does my Cash Receipts Report 'Paid On' column
list some items as Deposit, Account or Invoice?
The 'Paid On' column
lists how each item was paid.
For
example if you apply a payment in full and then
post the order, the Cash Receipts Report will
list the item as 'Paid On' Invoice. Review the
items listed below for the remaining 'Paid On'
options.
Account
is a payment made to a posted order.
Deposit is a payment made on an unposted order.
(Top)
A.)
Why does an invoice# appear on my Posted Orders
Report, but it does not appear on my Cash Reciepts
Report?
B.)
Why are the totals on my Posted Order Report
higher than the totals on the Cash Receipts
Reports?
Posting orders and applying payments to an order
are two completely separate functions. An invoice
can be posted without applying a payment, and
a payment can be made to an invoice that has
not been posted. For convenience, an invoice
can be 'Paid' and 'Posted' in a single step
using the 'Pay/Post Invoice' button.
When
you post an invoice with a current balance,
the invoice will be posted as a Charge, and
will appear on the Posted Order Report. Since
you have not collected any form of payment for
that invoice, it will not appear on the Cash
Reciepts Report. That is why the totals on the
Posted Order Report may be higher than the totals
on the Cash Receipts Report.
(Top)
Why
is my Posted Orders 'Grand Total' different
than my 'Sales Receipts Summary' total?
The
'Sales Receipts Summary Report' summarizes the
totals of two different reports, the 'Cash Receipts
Report' and the 'Posted Orders Report.' The
totals of the top section (Receipts Summary)
should match the totals on the 'Cash Receipts
Report,' as long as both reports are using the
same date range and are printed at the same
time. The totals of the bottom section (Posted
Order Sales) should match the totals on the
'Posted Order Report,' as long as both reports
are using the same date range and are printed
at the same time. See MSFAQ2
for an explanation on the difference between
paying and posting an order.
(Top)
I
have a 'Parts Kit' available made up of 5 quarts
of oil, and several different types of oil filters
for that particular kit. Is there a way for
me to assign this 'parts kit' to an order, and
have the system prompt me to select 1 of 5 different
types of filters?
Once
the parts have been added to the 'parts kit',
select each of the filters from the kit and
select Edit. Place a check mark in the 'Prompt
on Use' check box. When the parts kit is transferred
to an order, an optional parts dialog box will
appear. Place a check mark next to the filter(s)
you wish to add to the order.
(Top)
When
I setup the 'Price Markup Matrix', it does not
reflect on the inventory.
- Before applying the matrix,
make sure you have created at least one inventory
item that does NOT have a check mark in the
box for "User Entered List $.".
- Since new users would not
normally have an Average Cost (the average
cost of all inventory item purchases) for
parts just yet, select Last Cost (the cost
of the most recently purchased inventory items)
from the Inventory Costing section at the
bottom of the 'Price Markup Matrix' tab.
Note:
The option for 'Average Cost' or 'Last Cost'
is only available in ManagerPlus.
(Top)
How
do I add all of my customers to the View List
to print labels or follow-up reports for everyone?
- Go to the Report Selections\Follow
Up tab.
- Double click any of the
follow up letters.
- Set both the 'Service Date
From' and "Service Date To' to tomorrow's
date.
- For the 'Selection Method',
select the 'Select by Customer not found in
selected date range.'
- Click on the Search button.
(Top)
When
I print postcards on my dot matrix printer,
the first two print fine but skip some space,
setting the other postcards off. How do I print
all of my postcards correctly without wasting
my postcard stock?
You
have to specify 4x6 postcards in the Printer
Driver Properties window. The steps below are
generalized since the settings for printer drivers
are often configured differently based on the
manufacturer, printer model, driver version
or operating system.
- Go to the Properties window
for your printer driver.
- Go to the Paper Tab, double
click on the Custom Paper.
- Make sure inches is selected
for measurement.
- Set Width to 600 and Height
to 400.
Note:
Mitchell recommends 24-Pin Graphic Compatible
printers for labels and postcards. Please see
the hardware
requirements document.
(Top)
I
am a brand new user. How do I put my existing
charge accounts into the management program?
You can manually put a 'Charged
Balance' for each customer on the Customer Screen.
Both the 'charged balance' and 'credit balance'
can be modified by clicking on the 'Update Customer'
button. However, there are no reports that track
manually entered changes made to either the
charged or credit balances.
(Top)
How
do I make a single payment to multiple invoices
on the same Charged Account?
You can apply a single payment
to multiple invoices on the same Charged Account
through the 'Batch Payments' screen.
- Click on Utilities then
Batch Payments.
- Search for the customer
by Cust ID, Company or Name.
- Put the dollar amount received
in the 'Amount' field.
- Click on the 'Auto Distribute'
button to automatically apply payments from
the oldest to the newest invoice.
- Click on Done. Say 'Yes'
to "Ok to save the amounts applied?"
(Top)
Why
does the cost field says zero or have asterisks
(*****) on the 'Incomplete Inventory Items Report,'
especially since I already have a cost on that
particular part?
The 'Incomplete Inventory Items
Report' performs a query on the "Average
Cost" field not the "Last Cost $"
field, which may read zero for newly added parts.
(This field is not readily modified)
- After you have added a part
with a cost, change the "On Hand"
field to 0, and hit OK.
- Go back to that part and
reinsert the "On Hand" quantity.
This will force the program to perform the
average cost calculation.
Note:
This procedure can only be completed in ManagerPlus.
(Top)
How
do I print a Vendor List of parts?
This report is not found
in the reports option. It can be performed from
the Inventory List dialog box.
- Go to the Inventory List dialog box.
- Search for requested items from a particular
vendor.
- Select Print.
Note:
This procedure can only be completed in ManagerPlus.
(Top)
How
is the Labor Cost $ calculated?
The Labor Cost $ amount includes
the technician's wage (Pay Hours multiplied
by the technician's hourly wage), technician's
commission, and the service writer's commission.
(Top)
I made an error when making
a payment to an invoice. How do I properly correct
this payment even though the order is now posted?
There are multiple steps to
delete a payment. Please review the steps listed
below for help deleting an incorrect payment.
If the order has already been
posted, click on 'Utilities' located at the
top of the screen.
- Click
on 'Batch Payments'.
- Now
click on either 'Company' or 'Name' to find
the customer. After selecting the customer
from the roledex, click on the 'History' button.
- Click
on the payment in question (the payment line
should be grey). Finally click on 'Delete
Payment.
- You
should receive a message that states "A
payment deletion is an irreversible action.
Are you sure you want to delete this payment?".
- Click
'Yes' and the payment will be removed from
the customer's payment history.
(Top)
I made an error when making
a payment to an invoice. How do I properly correct
this payment?
There are two steps to this
process. The first step requires the creation
of three new "payment correction"
types (These three types should already exist
in the database for new Management System customers).
The second step is to perform the actual "payment
correction".
Create Payment Correction
Types
- Go to Setup\Standard Tables\Income-Cash
Accounts.
- Click on Cash Accounts.
- Click on Add, select Cash
selection then type in "PC-Cash"
for description (PC is short for Payment Correction).
Type in your appropriate GL Code then click
on OK to finish.
- Click on Add again, select
Check then type in "PC-Check" for
description. Type in your appropriate GL Code
then click on OK to finish.
- Click on Add a third time,
select Credit Card then type in "PC-Credit
Card " for description. Type in your
appropriate GL Code then click on OK to finish.
Perform Payment Correction
Before attempting the payment
correction, make sure you know the 1) invoice
#, 2) date of payment, 3) payment amount and
4) payment type of the payment that is being
corrected. In the steps below, we will use the
following example: the totals for invoice #10100
equal $100; the correct balance should be $100
but a cash payment of $100 was mistakenly applied
to the invoice on January 1, 2001; thus, the
invoice balance is currently $0.
- Pull up the customer, go
to the history tab, and select the invoice
that needs the payment correction (If you
already know the invoice number, click on
the Utilities menu, select find History Record,
type the invoice number (EX. 10100) then click
on the 'View Record' button.
- Click on the 'Detail' button
followed by the 'Payments' button.
- Enter the same date of the
payment you are correcting. (EX. 01/01/2001)
- Select the down arrow on
'Payment Type' and select the appropriate
'payment correction' type. (EX. PC-Cash)
- For the Payment Amount,
put a negative dollar amount which is equal
to the payment amount you wish to correct
then click on OK (EX. -$100.00). One way to
do this is to calculate the difference between
the current Invoice Balance and the correct
Invoice Balance.
- Click on the 'Pay' button
then answer 'Yes' to the 'Post Additional
Payments Now?' dialog box. You will notice
that the current Invoice Balance should be
back to its original state. You can now enter
the correct payment information if you desire.
If you pay off the invoice in full, you will
be taken back to the History Detail screen.
- If you are finished making
payments or performing payment corrections,
click on Cancel (If you click on the Pay button
at this point, you will have incorrectly applied
another payment, which will require you to
perform an additional payment correction).
- Finally, click Done then
Exit.
Note:
The
payment correction steps listed in this document
are for older versions of the Management System
that do not have the delete payments feature.
(Top)
How can I charge
Hazmat per part instead of per invoice or attach
a fee to a part in inventory?
Manager/ManagerPlus already
supports this feature by allowing you to create
a fee. The "fee" will work the same
way as the Hazmat charge but will only apply
the charge to one part instead of to the entire
order.
- In the Inventory Edit screen,
create a part.
- Click on the "Fee"
button, create the fee then click on the check
box for 'Prompt for Fee.' When this part is
added to an order, you will be prompted to
add the Hazmat fee.
Note:
To
charge a fee using the feature described above,
the part must be an inventory part.
(Top)
How do I use the NSF
(Insufficient funds) function after receiving
a returned check?
- Press F5 on the keyboard
to display the batch payments screen.
- Choose the customer or
company name then click the 'NSF' button.
- Highlight the line item.
(Please verify the date and amount)
then click the 'NSF' button .
- Choose OK then click on
'Done.'
- The customer's balance should
display the correct amount.
- Print an NSF report to display
all reported NSF checks.
Note:
If this check is
reversing more than one invoice, then it will
only display the dollar amount for the last
invoice.
(Top)
I received
an error that said 'list of parts exceeded maximum
allowed' while attempting to perform a search
on my inventory. Why am I receiving this error?
The Part List (Manager) or
Inventory List (ManagerPlus) search function
can only list a maximum of 500 items. If the
list exceeds this amount, you will receive the
message that says 'list of parts exceeded maximum
allowed'. Generally, you will get this error
when you use a search criteria of 'All.' If
you narrow down your search by specifying a
vendor, category, part number and/or description,
you should not receive the error message.
(Top)
How do I create a backup of my current database?
- In all 4.x or higher versions
of Manager/ManagerPlus, making a backup is
very simple. Follow the steps below to set
the backup path. Also, please use an external
Iomega Zip drive as requested in the hardware
requirements document.
- Launch Manager by clicking
on the icon.
- After Manager/ManagerPlus
opens, click on 'Setup' then 'Shop Data Setup.'
- Click on the tab that is
marked 'Default Settings.'
- On the right, look for the
heading 'Perform backups on:' then select
when you would like the program to perform
the backup.
- Program Startup-This selection
will ask if you would like to backup the
database when the Manager/ManagerPlus program
is launched.
- Program Exit-This selection
will ask if you would like to backup the
database when the Manager/ManagerPlus program
is closed.
- End of Day-This selection
will ask if you would like to backup the
database after running the 'End of Day'
reports.
Finally, select where you
would like the backup created by specifying
the 'Location' (Example D:\Manager).If D:\
is your Zipdrive, then it will create a backup
of your database in the folder D:\Manager\backup\In
the folder you will have a D#.zip file. The
backup counts the day it was created. Sunday
is seen as D1.zip, Monday as D2.zip and so
on up to D7.zip on Satuday, then returns back
to D1.zip on Sunday.
- Note:
The hardware requirements
recommend an Iomega Zip drive. The Zip drive
is recommended due to its reliability and
widespread use. At this time Mitchell does
not recommend using CDR or CDRW's. Unfortunately,
the various programs used with CDR and CDRW
drives may have varying effects and can be
unreliable when creating backups. Manager
backups have not been tested with CDR and
CDRW technology, so the automatic backup may
not work properly when used to backup to a
CDR or CDRW.
I have created mutiple
orders but the labor time and parts commissions
are not carrying over to the technician. How
can I make the program carry the labor hours
or parts commission to the technician automatically?
In order for the labor hours
and parts commission to transfer automatically
to the technician you must have a default
'Labor Technician and default Parts Technician'
setup. Some shops do not want to set one tech
as the default because any number of technicians
may do the work. To setup a default tech to
accomplish this task we suggest creating a
tech called 'Please, Select'. The 'Please
Select' technician will automatically fill
the categories in question but will also remind
the service writer to choose a technician.
Follow the steps below to create the 'Please,
Select' technician and your default 'Labor
and Parts technician.
Setup a Please Select
Technician
- Launch
Manager/ManagerPlus. After Manager is
open click on 'Setup'.
- Click
on 'Technician Setup.' After the Technician
Setup screen opens, click on 'Add'.
- In
the column for the Last name type 'Please,'
for the First name type 'Select'.
- Type
in a 'Technician ID' for this technician.
- Set
the hourly or salary rate to match your
lowest paid technician then set the 'Parts
Commission and Labor Commission' to match
your lowest paid technician.
- Click
on 'OK' and 'Please, Select' will be added
to your list of technicians. Finally,
click 'Ok' again and the Technician Setup
screen will close.
Setup
a Default Technician
- Click
on 'Setup' then choose 'Shop Data Setup.'
- Now
click on the tab that is marked 'Default
Settings.'
- On
the left hand side of the menu look for
'Labor Technician and Parts Technician'.
- Click
the down arrow on the 'Labor Technician'
and 'Parts Technician' and choose ' Please,
Select' for both.
- Click
on 'Done' to save the changes. The Default
technician will now be set automatically
for any new orders.
- Note:
The
above steps will only affect orders created
after the settings have been changed.
Orders that were created prior to the
changes will not be affected.
(Top)
I have created a tire
package but when I increase the number of
tires the total number of wheel alignments
increase. How can I fix this problem?
The problem you are having
is created when "Ignore Package Quanity"
is not selected while building a tire package
with a wheel alignment. Please follow the
steps below to set the item correctly.
- If the Manager program
is not open please click on the icon. If
Manager/ManagerPlus is open then please
go to step 2.
- Click on "Setup"
and then click on "Tire Packages".
- Select a tire package
to edit. Choose a package that has a wheel
alignment that may be increasing to a qaunity
of 4 if you select to replace all 4 tires.
- After you have selected
the tire package double click on wheel alignment.
- Click on the box to ignore
package qaunity.
- Click done then exit.
- Now create an order or
open an existing order and add a new tire
package. When you change the quanity of
tires the package will not increase the
number of wheel alignments for this package.
(Top)
When I print an Invoice
from my Epson LQ 570E printer information
that should print on the right hand side of
the document is cut off. How can I correct
this problem?
The problem you are seeing
can be corrected by altering the printer driver
settings. To resolve this issue please complete
the steps listed below.
- Close the Management program
if it is open. If the program is already
closed goto step 2.
- Click on start. After
choosing start select settings and click
on printers.
- When the printers window
opens look for your printer. It should be
listed as "Epson LQ-570".
- Put your mouse on top
of the printer icon and then right click
on the icon once. A box should appear with
an option for properties. Properties should
be located at the end of the list. Click
on the properties tab.
- When the printer properties
window opens you should see multiple tabs
with different headings. Click on the "Paper"
tab.
- After selecting this tab
you should have an option to specify the
"Unprintable Area".
- Click the button for "unprintable
Area" and modify the left and right
margin settings. The settings should be
marked at the default of "250"
for left and right.If the tabs are set to
another number then click the button to
restore defaults or manually change the
settings to "250" for the left
and right margin boxes.
- Click on apply and then
OK. Open Manager and try to print an invoice.
The invoice should print normally.
Note:
The
steps listed above worked successfully at
resolving this printing problem on a Windows
95/98/ME operating systems. Whenever possible
load the default printer driver from the operating
system.
(Top)
How can I add a core
to a inventoried part? How are cores transfered
to an order?
Please click
on the link to the cores
document. This document provides the steps
needed to add a core to an inventoried part.
The document also explains how to add a core
to an order. If you do not have Adobe
Acrobat please download a copy by clicking
on the word Adobe.
Note:
The
steps listed in the cores document is for
use with the ManagerPlus/ Series II program.
(Top)
Technical
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