|
Like most of our customers, the developer and publisher of Keystroke POS software (SBS) is also a small business, which helps us understand the challenges of making ends meet year after year. With the transition to a new year approaching, we offer the following information and our best wishes for your business to continue in its growth and success. As always, we encourage you to utilize the services available through your local Authorized Keystroke POS Dealer and our Software Maintenance Service plans. Data Backup
Perhaps the most important task you should perform annually is to review your normal data backup process.
This should include reviewing that proper procedures are regularly being followed to create backup copies
of your system data, verifying that the hardware and media being used are functioning properly, and making
an additional copy of your Keystroke system and data - using a different computer or media than used for
your normal routine backups, and storing it separately (off-site) from your other backup copies. Inventory Quantities
The Keystroke system maintains inventory on a real-time basis, which enables you to always know exactly
how many of each item is in stock. However, there are issues you must periodically address when using a
real-time perpetual inventory system. Accounts Receivable Accounts Receivable balances in Keystroke are also real-time, just like inventory levels. The easiest way to record your year end Accounts Receivable balances is to print a Receivables report before you start the new year. Making a copy of your Keystroke data that can later be accessed is another way of ensuring you have this information as of the year end. Reset/Clear Cumulative Data Fields Similar to Inventory Quantities and Customer Amount Due, there are a few other data fields in Keystroke that are perpetually updated. These include Total Sold, Total Received, and Total Purchased in Inventory; and Total Purchases in the Customer and Contact databases. If you never edit these fields, they represent totals since you first started using the Keystroke system, which can be misleading. While that may be desirable depending on how or whether you use this information, you may wish to periodically reset or clear any or all of these fields in order to define them to represent year to date (YTD) or other limited values. Keep in mind that you can also run specific reports in Keystroke to determine most of these data values; however, resetting them will provide access to YTD values (for example) that can be used in report filters and viewed immediately on database records. The easiest way to reset any of these values is to use the Search & Replace function on the Find menu in the Database Manager. As the name implies, this is a two part function. Search is used to define whether you want to affect all records or only records which satisfy certain criteria. Replace is where you define how you want the records to be affected, such as to zero or delete the Total Purchased field. You can find more help by pressing [F1] from either the Search or Replace screen. Warning: If you are careless, the Search & Replace function has the potential to cause significant data loss. This is yet another reason to be sure you have a complete and working data backup system. Sales Tax Rates
January 1 is often the date when new sales tax rates take effect. In Keystroke, sales tax rates can be set
up to automatically change at a prescheduled time, so there is no reason to wait when you receive notifications
of pending rate changes. Updating Your Keystroke POS Software is Easy
Throughout the year, SBS has made many improvements to Keystroke POS software and its now easier than ever
to update. The end of the year, or first thing in the new year, is also a good time to update to the latest
version of Keystroke software.
If you have questions, please contact your local Authorized Keystroke POS Dealer or call SBS at 800.275.4727
(weekdays 8am - 6pm mountain time). Helpful Hints Archive To request more information or to share a Helpful Hint, email us at eSupport@KeystrokePOS.com or call 800.275.4727. Brought to you by Specialized Business Solutions, developer and publisher of Keystroke POS. |
|