From: Ron Lawrence [mailto:rlawrence41@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, November 04, 2011 10:02 AM
Subject: RE: A Few more questions

 

Hi David,

Let me answer your questions below…

Ron

 

Sent: Friday, November 04, 2011 9:23 AM
To: Ron Lawrence
Subject: A Few more questions

 

Ron,

I have a few more questions.

 

  1. We run two databases, one for Publications and one for Distribution. How would we handle that in Publishers Assistant?

 

You can run as many different databases as you need.  To do so, simply use the “Locate Database” option on the “File” menu.  You can create a new database in a new location using this wizard.

However, I would caution you to carefully consider whether you SHOULD set up separate databases.  The answer generally lies in whether you need to separate the reporting for tax purposes.  Maintaining separate databases means that you will need to look in two places to put together information on your overall business.  You will have to look in two places to understand your receivables, for example.  If your publishing and distribution businesses have some of the same customers, it means that you will have to switch databases to enter certain transactions.  If these are not really two completely separate businesses, I generally do NOT recommend using separate databases.

 

  1. Can we set up different categories in inventory for the same title – one designating qty on hand in good condition and another designating qty on hand in unusable condition (returns/slightly damaged to be sold at 50% discount)?

 

The inventory system tracks the condition of the books that are transferred.  There are essentially three conditions that are tracked:  Good, Damaged, and Unusable.  This is generally done by specifying the condition in the Order Item screen on an order (That’s the column marked “C” in the heading), or by setting the condition in an inventory correction transaction.

 

  1. Does the program calculate and add Late Charges to the account balance?

 

No.  You can add a late charge as an item to an invoice, but this calculation is not automated.

 

  1. Other than the online Videos what other training do you have and is there a cost involved?

 

I have a variety of webinars prepared.  You can view them on the web site.  There are also many help articles on the web site.  The web site is intended to facilitate finding help fairly quickly—though I admit that there are many holes to fill.  There always have been and there probably always will.  That’s one of the reasons we offer the support subscription.  It allows you to call whenever you have a question.

I mentioned the webinars, but while there has been plenty of interest, getting people together for a scheduled online presentation has been a problem.  If you would like to schedule some training, it can be conducted online.  These prepared webinars have a standing cost per person.  But we can also discuss training that may be more tailored to your needs as well.

 

  1. What would be the cost to have you convert our existing Anybook Database and exactly what information gets converted and transferred over?

 

I can’t remember if I already provided you with this information.  We want to help people convert to PubAssist, so I offer a conversion service that caps my time at 4 hours ($480).  That would only include the conversion of titles and contacts.  I have detailed information on the AnyBook database from Ron Waters, but I haven’t yet taken a close look at it.  It may very well be that converting titles and contacts can happen in much less time using Couplet.  But it will cost no more.

Note that this does NOT include the conversion of invoices.  We generally don’t recommend attempting to convert your sales history.  That’s because the cost generally far outweighs the benefit.  For all the times that you might actually need to look back in your sales history, it generally makes more sense to simply keep your old system available for a period of time.  Choose a cut-off date.  Anything before that date, simply refer to the old system.  You can begin your sales history in PubAssist by entering a beginning balance invoice for any open accounts you have at the time you switch over.

 

  1. We will be saving the database(s) on a Windows 2008 R2 Foundation Server and mapping to them. Is this a problem?

No.  That’s the expected configuration.

 

Thanks

Davy

 

Hope these answers are helpful to you.

Best wishes,

Ron