What’s is CashPoint?

Posted on by ccsretail
PBS CashPoint Accounting

What’s is CashPoint?

CashPoint-sml.pngCashPoint is the latest offering from Passport Business Solutions that is designed to integrate with the NCR Counterpoint software.

 

Accounting

CashPoint offers the NCR Counterpoint user the best back-office accounting solution available.  Fully integrated with NCR Counterpoint, the CashPoint PBS Accounts Payable, Check Reconciliation, General Ledger and exclusive interface to NCR Counterpoint, allows you to manage your cash flow like never before. An optional Payroll solution may be added to complete your needs.

Accounts Payable

Keep accurate information on vendor, supplier, and standard costs by tracking payment due dates, available discounts, and money owed to creditors.

Check Reconciliation

Maintains checkbooks, tracks deposits, and reconciles checking accounts. Provides instant access  to account information and eliminates manual reconciliation procedures

General Ledger

Categorizes and summarizes accounting data. Provides comprehensive information for financial analysis and control. Custom-designed financial statements show profit or loss, assets, liabilities, and equity.

Optional Payroll With Direct Deposit

Passport Software’s Payroll module may be optionally added to your CashPoint solution. Maintains employee data, calculates taxes, handles deductions and prints payroll checks.  Eliminates the process of manually preparing tax information. Passport works hard to provide  you with tools that keep up with both Federal standards, as well as state and in some cases,  local Payroll tax laws.

NCR Counterpoint Integration

No other accounting system provides as tight an integration with NCR Counterpoint as CashPoint  does. Passport has eliminated the need for cumbersome manual imports and exports, reduced redundant  data entry, improved efficiency and provided a more secure back office to support a busy  retailers operations. Bottom line: Cashpoint helps reduce errors and save time!

Multi-store and Multi-Company Support

Do you have multiple locations that require multiple profit centers in your financials?  CashPoint provides you with the ability to manage this, and even allows you to create individual companies with a consolidated set of financials if you prefer. In either  case, the flexibility of CashPoint will allow you to run your business the way you need to!

Basic Accounting Upgrade Utility

Passport Software’s Basic Accounting Conversion utility (BACON) allows a user who wishes to  convert their accounting data from NCR Counterpoint Version 7.5 Basic Accounting to the  CashPoint accounting modules.

For more information on the CashPoint solutions, please contact the CCS Retail Systems Sales Department.

– John

How To Get Support Help Faster

Posted on by ccsretail
Placeholder ImageI often find voice mails first thing in the morning from customers who are having a problem. Sometimes the problem is enormous, sometimes it is trivial, but always of concern to the person having the problem. We understand that, and want to help you as quickly and efficiently as is humanly possible.
 
Sometimes, however, the voice mail message doesn’t give us the information that we need to have. Here are four factors that hamper a quick response:
The person is speaking too rapidly for the listener to decipher what is being said. Sometimes this happens merely because the person is frustrated with the issue at hand.
 
  • Little (or no) information is given about the nature of the problem. Is it a log-in problem, a printer problem, a scanner problem, a credit card processing problem, an email problem, a system crash? A brief description of the issue helps to speed your request to the appropriate tech.
  • No call-back number is given. Yes, the tech might have your number, but are you calling from home, the office, your cell phone? Always leave the number where we can reach you or the person you want us to contact.
  • For customers with multiple sites, no information is given as to which location is having the problem or if it is all sites. Knowing this gives us insight as to what the issue might be.
 
So there it is—speak slowly, leave a brief description of the problem, be sure to leave a phone number, and identify which site or sites are involved. This information will help us help you!
 
Marlene

Bringing Customers Back with Good Customer Service

Posted on by ccsretail
Support IssueI almost always get my car serviced at the same dealership. Wonder why? They go out of their way to treat me right, not like some auto repair places I’ve dealt with in the past. These are some of the things that I really appreciate as their customer:
  • They carefully explain everything upfront, including needed repair, how long I can wait before the repair is imperative, and an estimate of all costs including labor.  If there is an alternative place that will do the work cheaper, they recommend it if I ask.
  • The work is done right the first time, and the car is clean when it is returned. They use carpet protectors when they enter the car, and even vacuum the carpet when the job is completed.
  • They provide a driver to take me home and pick me up after the work is done.
  • They give me a certificate for a free car wash at a nearby gas station, and if I don’t use it before the validation date expires, they will gladly re-validate it. (Last time it was two months before I got around to it, and they still re-validated the certificate!)
  • They frequently send me flyers in the mail about specials they are offering. They are not always for services I need, but often they are. This saves me money.
These “perks” are all important to me, so I return, time after time. Good service cannot be over-done!
What are you doing in your business to bring your customers back? One thing you might consider using is NCR’s Counterpoint feature called CustomerConnect. It allows you to keep track of those loyal customers, know their needs, and target your advertising to those most likely to use your products and/or services.
Want more information? All it takes is a quick call to CCS Retail Systems at 800/425-672-4806. You can also email us. Don’t wait any longer to find out about this great feature. Call today!
Marlene

A Christmas in July Gift Card Adventure

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Gift CardsI don’t often receive gift cards – my family is small and friends now live far away, but I did receive one a few weeks ago from my employer. What fun it was to be able to go shopping at a time other than the holidays and buy something special for myself!
Gift cards are perfect gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, back-to-school needs, and a host of other occasions. They can be tailored to the specific needs of someone you know well, like a fast food gift card for a person who eats at that establishment a lot, or a book store gift card for someone whom you know reads a lot. They are especially useful when you don’t know the needs of the person for whom you want to buy a gift. In this case, the card may be one that can be used in a large store with many departments, or even an entire shopping mall!
Is your business set up to offer gift card purchases for your customers? If not, you’re losing out on many sales. Remember, gift cards are purchases, just like any other item in your store! 
Now is a perfect time to check out NCR’s Counterpoint POS Software. Setup of gift cards/gift certificates is available with Counterpoint and CCS Retail Systems can help you with this. All it takes is a call to us at 800/425-672-4806 or you can email us. Do it today—don’t let those gift card sales go to someone else!

Marlene

Training for More Effective Use of Your POS System

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Training Class.jpgHere’s a thought for you to ponder: what value is there in having a great Point of Sales System (like NCR’s Counterpoint) if you don’t know how to use it very well? Counterpoint has many features that were designed to make your business run more smoothly, accommodate your customers more easily, streamline your advertising, and increase your sales. These features, however, like any tools that we use, require instruction if they are to be used effectively.
At CCS, we get many calls from customers about issues that might not have been a problem if sufficient training had occurred earlier. A good way to avoid unnecessary downtime, service charges, and aggravation is to sign up for one or more classes with CCS.
Instruction is conducted in a computer-equipped classroom, and training can be scheduled for groups or for a single person. On-site training at your place of business can also be arranged. The focus can be an overview of features, or a single feature of your CP System.   Take-home manuals are provided to facilitate follow-up, on-the-job reference, and reinforcement back at your place of business.
So what are you waiting for? Call us today to set up a training session for yourself or for your employees (or both!). The sooner you get started, the more quickly you will eliminate the “glitches” that are costing you time and money.

Our phone number is 800/425-672-4806, or you can email us. 

Marlene

Customers – Keep Track to Bring Them Back!

Posted on by ccsretail
CustomerConnectIs tracking your customers a successful way to keep them coming back for more purchases? The answer is an emphatic “YES”! There’s an old rule that says “80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers”. How do you know who those customers are if you don’t have a system in place that keeps a record of who buys what and when?
 
Tracking customers allows you to target your advertising—sales events, mark-downs, new products, special/promotional purchases, seasonal items—to pique the interest of those who would most likely want the information, and in many cases, act on it. Tracking also allows you to reward your best customers with special deals like pre-sale notifications. (One of my daughter’s favorite stores does this to alert her when new shipments arrive in her special, hard- to-find size).
 
Sending a timely thank you to a customer who has just made a large or important purchase, a quick user-tip on a recently purchased product, or a reminder about an upcoming special event—these are other ways to use your tracking system to bring those customers back.
 
NCR’s Counterpoint CustomerConnect feature is a great system for tracking your customers. If you haven’t checked this out yet, today is the perfect time to give us a call at 800/425-672-4806, or email us for information that will make this year’s holiday season the most profitable one ever. Don’t delay—the season is nearly upon us!
 
Marlene.

Marketing – Planning Is The Key!

Posted on by ccsretail

Planning is the key!

Enhancement_MeetingGood news! There are lots of people out there with money to spend on what you sell.  And marketing is the activity that connects you and your store to all those people who are spending money on the things you’re selling. Think about that very carefully…

Marketing connects your store to the money

Here’s the problem. There are a thousand different marketing options, a thousand great offers, a thousand nice ad salespeople, a thousand possible ways to market your business.  Some of those thousand possibilities would be good for your business – some might not be.
But doing a little bit of this, and a little bit of that and HOPING that some of it works is just grasping at straws.

HOPE is not a good marketing strategy!

Your Retail Marketing Road-trip

Think of your marketing like a road trip for just a minute. A road trip from, say, Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles, California.



One type of road trip is to get in your car, pull out of the driveway and HOPE you get to Los Angeles eventually. You don’t really know where you’re going; you just drive around for a while going here a little bit, there a little bit and maybe end up in Arizona until someone points you west again. You’re likely to run out of money, time, and interest before you ever get to L.A. 



Just hoping to get there – trying to get there without a plan – isn’t effective or efficient. Do you see where I’m heading here? That type of road trip is like trying to connect your store to the money without a marketing plan. 

Now a different kind of road trip would be if you knew you had to get from Seattle to Los Angeles in 5 days and you had $2000 to get there. The first thing to do would be to buy a map and plan out the shortest route between Seattle and Los Angeles. Then you’d figure out how much you had to spend on gas and that would be the first expense that would come out of the $2000.

You’d plan out how many nights you’d need a hotel room and how many meals you’d have to buy. Finally, if you had any money or time left over, you could think about doing something fun like taking the Coast Highway south along the Pacific and through Big Sur. Or maybe stop off in San Francisco.

Do you see how that changes things?

The person with the plan gets the most things done, the best things done, the right things done. They make it to Los Angeles with the least stress and have the most fun.
And that’s what a marketing plan can do for you! It’s how you get from where you are now in your business to where the money is…

The right plan leads you down the highway – smooth and fast and straight. Marketing without a plan is like driving the back roads hoping you’ll get from Seattle to Lost Angeles via Bryce Canyon, Utah. You can do it, but it’s not the easiest, fastest or the best way to get there.
 
If your marketing isn’t working, if you feel like you’re beating your head against the wall, you can make changes. You can create a new road-map, a new marketing plan.
 
When all the pieces of your marketing plan come together, good things happen.  Just remember the key words – Plan Plan Plan. 

Talk to you soon ~ Norma

Using Counterpoint? Need A Good Accounting Package?

Posted on by ccsretail
Passport Business Solutions
Passport Business Solutions

PBS SQL Integration With CPSQL

If you’ve been looking for an outstanding Accounting Package and one that has been built to work extremely well with NCR’s CounterPoint SQL then wait no longer. 

Customers using both PBS™ SQL by Passport Software and NCR’s CPSQL® can now enjoy an enhanced integration level between the two packages. Prior PBS versions were integrated to CPSQL on an import/export basis, but starting with the release of PBS V12.02, the following direct integration has been added: 

General Ledger valid account synchronization with CP SQL

In CounterPoint SQL when a GL account is added, a Valid GL account will automatically be created in the PBS Valid GL Account File and will show up as “*NEW*” in PBS to alert accounting personnel that a full GL Account File entry is needed. 

The Valid GL Account File is used to validate transactions in sub-ledgers and will provide the perfect vehicle to communicate the need for a new account by the Purchasing Department to the Accounting Department. 

This will facilitate the Create Distributions function in CP SQL when sending distributions to PBS General Ledger, as the account will be recognized and not create an error message for the Accounting Department to handle. They will have known of the new account and prepared the way they choose to handle it, speeding the process of posting distributions. 

Vendor account synchronization with CP SQL

When vouchering inventory receipts in CP SQL, the PBS Vendor File will be checked to make sure that there is a vendor on file and if there is not, a vendor will be added with the basic information from the CP SQL vendor record and the “*NEW*” designation so that the Accounts Payable Department may fully set up additional vendor information needed. 

This will reduce the redundant entry of Vendor information and improve the flow of payables transactions.   

Bank deposits created for CP AR & POS update directly into PBS SQL Check Rec checkbook

In CP SQL Accounts Receivable, the cash receipts for the day will create a deposit total for entry into Check Reconciliation, the PBS checking account management solution that helps track bank account activity and balances. 

CP SQL POS also creates deposit information for the drawer summary totals by pay type which, along with the AR cash receipts, may then be combined to create the deposits to the correct checking accounts. 

This means that if credit card transactions go to one account while cash and checks go to another account, the deposits may be constructed from the appropriate amounts. This feature greatly simplifies the preparation and tracking of deposits and ties back directly to the CP SQL history files and audit reporting.   

In addition to the integration features listed above, PBS SQL tables may now be accessed directly through CP SQL “Views”.  This feature allows drill downs into vendor history to show payments of vendor invoices. Drilling down into GL transactions allows viewing of GL activity by account.   

Can your current software do that? 

Talk to you soon.  ~Norma

When Less is More

Posted on by ccsretail

Is Less really More?

In business, it seems that we are always focused on doing more. But sometimes the best thing you can do is less. Doing less can often result in more money, more time, more productivity, more focus, and more success. 

Could you improve the bottom line and the quality of your business by doing some, all, or any of the following?

  • Drop an unproductive vendor or line.
  • Quit spending on advertising that is only marginally successful.
  • Retrain an unproductive employee and if that doesn’t work, let him/her go.
  • Close a store that is/has been a drain on profits. Maybe it’s the wrong location or leasing costs are out of line. If it can’t make you money, don’t let it keep losing it for you.
  • Stop marketing to the segment of customers who never buy.
  • Thin out the fixtures on your floor.
  • Don’t waste time on committees or organizations that are negative or non-essential.
  • Eliminate procedures or policies that are outdated and don’t serve you well any longer.

Maybe it’s time for spring cleaning. Take a look at how you can prune the dead wood that is affecting your bottom line.

Talk to you soon.  ~Norma

Go The Extra Inch

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Extra MileThe Extra Mile

We’ve all heard about going the extra mile – doing some spectacular – above and beyond the ordinary to deliver an amazing customer experience.  But how about going the extra inch?

Retail is detail – and in many cases just doing a little bit extra will make your customers happy and more importantly, make them more loyal.

Examples of going the extra inch?

  • A kite store ties a snap swivel on every spool of kite string the goes out the door. They also size and trim every child’s first yo-yo string. A big deal? No, but it makes the customers’ experience better and they remember.
  • An ice cream shop puts a candy corn in the bottom of every sugar cone so that the melting ice cream drips don’t leak out. Not a big deal nor a big expense but mom and dad remember the thoughtfulness and the child remembers the treat.
  • An electronics store follows up with a call or an email to see if you liked the equipment you bought. It’s not a show stopper but it makes the customer feel that the store really cares that they were happy with their purchase. Guess where that customer will go the next time he/she needs an electronic gadget.

So where is your extra inch? Can you…

  • Dress up your shopping bags with tissue and/or a raffia tie?
  • Adjust the straps on every bike helmet you sell?
  • Send a thank you not to your best customers for that day?
  • Offer a mini bottle of water (with your logo, of course) to your thirsty shoppers?
  • Put a piece of candy in each shopping bag?
  • Give out a sheet of planting tips with your annuals?

There are probably any number of little things you can do to go the extra inch. Ask your staff to come up with some ideas. They’ll probably surprise you!

One of the best things about these types of ideas is that you can start doing them quickly  and easily – unlike going the extra mile. No need for a marching band or a roller coaster in the parking lot. Just go the extra inch.

Talk to you soon.   ~Norma