tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10830310029237527982024-03-14T06:38:00.729-04:00FF Inventory and Billing SoftwareM & R Technologies has created this blog to discuss tips, tricks and detailed articles on using our Inventory and Billing Software found at <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">http://www.mrtec.com</a> .Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-36945825266700319762010-10-29T23:31:00.009-04:002013-09-07T23:04:47.501-04:00Our Programs Run Fine on Windows/Linux/Ubuntu/Wine/Mac'sWe received this email from a customer recently (We appreciate their feedback):<br />
<br />
"I am glad I upgraded to Inventory Pro version 5. It works in all versions of Windows since Windows 95, and now in Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit versions). It also runs fine in Linux that I use on one of my laptops, (at this time Linux Mint 9 which is based on Ubuntu), and I am running it in Wine on my MAC with no problems. I love your products. They are rock-solid products that have really evolved over the years into real business solutions."<br />
<br />
We are always happy to receive emails like this from our customers. If you run Windows, Linux/Ubuntu/Wine software, our programs will work for you. Our Windows programs will also run on Apple MAC's with the correct Windows emulation software installed. We have the solutions you've been looking for (on any platform)! We strive to make our programs as robust as possible. Try one of our programs out (free) today at <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">http://www.mrtec.com</a>Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-31893180602804228642010-03-01T18:47:00.007-05:002010-03-03T21:18:30.546-05:00Accessing FF Inventory Pro Deluxe over a VPN from a Remote LocationA VPN (<em>virtual private network)</em> is actually nothing more than a virtual Ethernet cable. Using a VPN enhances network security by allowing remote users to connect via an encrypted “tunnel” while keeping ports on the firewall closed and secure. Any VPN product should yield similar results weather using a hardware solution such as a VPN Concentrator or a software based solution. To demonstrate how this works we will use the free “LogMeIn” client software from Hamachi as an example. This software can be found here:<br /><a href="https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/hamachi2/download.aspx">https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/hamachi2/download.aspx</a><br /><br />1. Agree to the “Conditions of Use” and download the “Unmanaged” software package.<br /><br />2. Install this software on the server and on the machine you will be using at the remote location.<br /><br />3. Configure the Network/Create a New Network/Create a New Client Owned Network settings with a network name and password (You can use the respective machine names).<br /><br />4. Check that you have connectivity between the two clients.<br /><br />5. If you want to run the server side application as a service you can right click on the file “hamachi-2-ui.exe" located in the “C:\Program Files\LogMeIn Hamachi\” directory (default). Select “Install as a Service Mill Service” (see next blog topic for details).<br /><br />6. Reboot the server.<br /><br />7. From an outside network (remote office, coffee shop, etc.) run the Hamachi application.<br /><br />8. Once a connection is established you should have access to your FF Inventory Database as well as any other shared folders you have access to locally on the server.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-28475313277301202832010-03-01T18:16:00.013-05:002010-03-03T20:53:09.170-05:00Run Inventory Pro Deluxe as a Network ServiceFF Inventory Pro Deluxe - Configuring to run as a Network Service<br /><br />When you run a program as a "service", the program will automatically be loaded when you turn on your computer. Many companies that run our database server on their server computer want to run it as a service, so that no one has to log in to the server computer to start our database server.<br /><br />NOTE: a server computer is NOT required to run FF Inventory Pro Deluxe. <a href="http://inventoryandbillingsoftware.blogspot.com/2008/03/clientserver-multi-user-inventory-pro.html">Click here</a> to read a topic about that.<br /><br />To install our database server as a service, follow the steps below:<br /><br />1. Install FF Inventory Manager Pro Deluxe on the machine you want to designate as the server. Install both client and server programs. The default locations are fine.<br /><br />2. Open the FF Database Server GUI and set the Config/Network/Network Interface to “ALL INTERFACES<all interfaces="">”. This will cause the database server to listen on all physical and virtual interfaces.<br /><br />3. Open the Client and enter the server name (not the IP address) where it says FF Server IP Address. This will allow the client to connect even if the IP address changes or if you are accessing remotely via a VPN connection.<br /><br />4. Close the client, stop and exit the FF Database Server.<br /><br />5. Install the Service Mill software <a href="http://www.activeplus.com/en/Products/ServiceMill">http://www.activeplus.com/en/Products/ServiceMill</a> . Any other service creation utilities should work but I will use this as an example.<br /><br />6. Right click on the “FFServer.exe” which is located in “C:\invserv\” by default. Select “Install as a Service Mill Service”.<br /><br />7. Right click on the " FFNInv.exe" which is located in “C:\FF Inventory Pro Deluxe\” by default. Select “Install as a Service Mill Service”.<br /><br />8. Reboot the server but don’t log in.<br /><br />9. Install FF Inventory Manager Pro Deluxe on a machine you want to designate as a workstation. Install only the client (workstation) using the "workstation-only install option". The default location is fine.<br /><br />10. Open the Client and enter the server name (not the IP address) where it says FF Server IP Address. This will allow the client to connect even if the IP address changes or if you are accessing remotely via a VPN connection. You should now be able to access the FF Database Server from the workstation without the server machine logged in.<br /><br />11. Repeat this installation on other workstations and set up users as needed.<br /><br /></all>Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-74575618713158480662008-06-06T16:31:00.010-04:002009-07-24T23:15:39.429-04:00How Do I Create Repeat Billings?By using our <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">Billing Manager Pro Deluxe</a> or <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">Inventory Pro Deluxe</a> you can setup the software to create invoices for you automatically. Each program has a repeat billing module built into the program. This makes it very easy for you to create invoices which you can generate daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or in any other time frame you need. We have a lot of customers who use this feature to bill their customers for apartments, storage, internet services, rentals, pagers, lawn and pool maintenance and many other reoccurring products and services.<br /><br />First you create a new invoice. You enter the customer, products and pricing. Then you turn it into a repeat billing by choosing "Repeat Billing Setup" from the Invoice Menu in the Invoice Manager and tell the program how often to generate the repeat billing and what the starting day will be. This will turn that invoice into a "Repeat Billing Master Invoice". These "template invoices" do not do anything to your customers account balances. They are simply used to create the repeat billings from. Only the generated invoices will effect your customer account balances. <span style="font-weight: bold;">There is much more detail in our software's online help about setting up a repeat billing and using the Repeat Billing Wizard</span>, but for this writing, we simply want to say that you will need to setup a master invoice for each customer that you will be creating a repeat billing for. This method allows you to repeat bill some or all of your customers, sell different products and services and have different pricing for each customer. You can even create multiple repeat billings for the same customer. Once you have all of your repeat billing masters setup, there is also a report called "Repeat Billing List" in the Reports Manager which you can use to manage all of your repeat billings. The report tells you who is being invoiced, how often the invoices are created, when the next creation date will be and more.<br /><br />Then, once a month, daily, weekly, or whatever you need, you run the "Repeat Billing Wizard" to create the invoices! Each invoice generated is fully editable and deletable, just like any regular invoice. Once the invoices are generated, you can either batch print them or batch email them, and you are DONE with your billing cycle. That was easy! Our <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">Inventory Pro Deluxe</a> software also allows you to batch email PDF invoices and PDF Customer Statements! Why not <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">visit our web site</a> today and try it out for free!Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-91214891804882240392008-06-05T12:45:00.007-04:002008-06-05T13:29:40.623-04:00Network Inventory Pro DELUXE - How Many Licenses Do I Need?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2WB4cvGPZWpTEkmOUbSOjyCoHkg88PZdOmH2fGDugKa1MLnelJ-qxgA31LbIHY6ubTGSfuqR2Kc3_MYpF6-bsAVDIaTVz9NzqxeKiJlppevrpKIL3ifSfsOuGmhDy0eSGIi05tfrP5E3/s1600-h/CASH32.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2WB4cvGPZWpTEkmOUbSOjyCoHkg88PZdOmH2fGDugKa1MLnelJ-qxgA31LbIHY6ubTGSfuqR2Kc3_MYpF6-bsAVDIaTVz9NzqxeKiJlppevrpKIL3ifSfsOuGmhDy0eSGIi05tfrP5E3/s320/CASH32.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208446363588548674" border="0" /></a><br />The number of licenses you purchase for FF Inventory Pro DELUXE depends on how many people you want using the program at the <span style="font-weight: bold;">same time</span> (simultaneous users). If you want 2 people logged into the system at the SAME time, you only need to purchase 2 licenses. You can install the program on all of your computers and setup as many user login ID's as you want, the licenses only apply to the number of <span style="font-weight: bold;">simultaneous</span> users. If you do not need multiple users, we also have a single-user version on our <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">web site</a> which does not use login ID's, or you could simply purchase a 1-user license for the DELUXE (network) version.<br /><br />For example, you may have 5 computers networked together. You may install FF Inventory Pro DELUXE on all 5 computers. You can also setup 5 (or even more) user login ID's. If you purchase a 2-user license, your users can login from any of the 5 computers, however, only 2 users can be active at the same time (logged into the system). If one user logs out, then another user can login on any computer using their login ID. If you purchase a 5-user license, all five computers can have someone logged into the system at the SAME time. As you can see, our licensing is very flexible so that you can setup your business and computers the way that works best for you.<br /><br />When you setup a user ID in the system, you can assign different system security options for each ID. For example, you could have one employee who has system-wide access and one employee who can only do invoices and run reports. There are 10 different levels of security settings in our program. You can also assign passwords to each user ID and require your employees to enter their password before they can gain access into the program or you can turn passwords off completely.<br /><br />Our flexible licenses and 10-level password protections allow you great options to setup, protect and operate your business. Why not give <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">FF Inventory Pro DELUXE</a> a try? We have a free trial download on our <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">web site</a>.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-60098214983893671482008-05-21T21:40:00.007-04:002008-08-14T18:18:43.360-04:00Quotes and EstimatesUsing <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">Inventory Pro Deluxe</a> or <a href="http://www.mrtec.com">Billing Manager Pro Deluxe</a>, you can easily create Quotes or Estimates and later turn them into invoices.<br /><br />When creating a new invoice, there is a check box in the bottom left corner which reads "make this a quote". If you check this box, the invoice actually becomes a quote. Although a quote is created/edited just like an invoice, a quote does not effect the customer and Accounts Receivable balances. You can run your Quotes Report to view and manage your open quotes.<br /><br />If your customer later accepts your quote, simply edit the quote and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">uncheck</span> the "make this a quote" check box and the quote will be turned into an invoice, deducting all items from your stock balance, unless they are marked as "non-stock" items. You can make any changes to the final invoice as needed.<br /><br />It is very simple to offer quotes/estimates. Why not <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">download our software</a> and give it a try. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain!Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-25519324451870054662008-03-31T00:10:00.008-04:002008-03-31T13:00:25.840-04:00Subscription vs PurchaseHave you noticed that some software vendors charge you an "ADDITIONAL FEE" <u>EACH YEAR</u> when you "buy" their software product? They call this a "subscription". We ask, "A subscription to what? You already purchased the software." We NEVER do this to you! Purchase our software once and you own it for as long as you like, technical support included! You will probably even tell your friends about our software. We get free word-of-mouth advertising and you get a powerful product for your money, without spending more unnecessary money. It is win-win for both of us. This concept has worked very well for us for over 18 years.<br /><br />Think about it... you must re-pay for something each year that you already own and is working well for you as is? You may do that for a cleaning service, but a software product? You decide. As our customer, you will always have the option to upgrade to our latest version at a small upgrade fee, but that will always be your choice.<br /><br />Maybe you feel you should spend money each year to maintain confidence in your software. If the software is really good, you should not have to. Good software makes money for you. Subscriptions only force you to part with more of YOUR money on someone else's time frame, unnecessarily.<br /><br />Break FREE of this! Try our software absolutley free. <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">Visit our web site and try a product that works for you...for many years to come!</a>Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-49254560822317698212008-03-13T20:18:00.011-04:002010-03-01T19:13:05.510-05:00Client/Server Multi-User Inventory Pro Deluxe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhvCoJeWlAklKoQ6CL9L_hJlyybwl7v4fEz0Uc0NBDXe2jFCv_v962NYOn4Dy6z9MbK8TmEz8yfEkZ6bW5p5BLC0Lbo_PxcQEwEYsV2XHHHJL6GrKq2WKXCum8K2oV638-gF6UzokuuEA/s1600-h/ac0001-64.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhvCoJeWlAklKoQ6CL9L_hJlyybwl7v4fEz0Uc0NBDXe2jFCv_v962NYOn4Dy6z9MbK8TmEz8yfEkZ6bW5p5BLC0Lbo_PxcQEwEYsV2XHHHJL6GrKq2WKXCum8K2oV638-gF6UzokuuEA/s320/ac0001-64.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177386395561769922" border="0" /></a>Our Inventory Pro Deluxe (IPD) software will run on any Windows Network. It can be a small home office or a large business network connected to a server computer. IPD comes in two programs, the database server and the workstation (IPD program). You only install the workstation, database server and database files on one computer in your network. We will call this the "server computer". All other computers should only install the workstation (IPD) and they will login to the "server computer" to access the database files. In other words, our database server and database files are only installed on <span style="font-weight: bold;">ONE</span> computer in your network and are shared by all other users.<br /><br />IMPORTANT: AN ACTUAL WINDOWS SERVER COMPUTER IS *NOT* REQUIRED UNLESS YOU PLAN ON HAVING MORE THAN 5 SIMULTANEOUS USERS. Otherwise, any standard computer can act as the "server computer" and run our Database Server and host the database files. <u>Many people think that they need a full blown Windows Server to run our program, and that is simply NOT true.</u> Two "regular" computers networked together can EASILY run two workstations (IPD) with no problems. This is because our Database Server requires <span style="font-weight: bold;">very little</span> "computer power" to handle 1-5 network connections to our database files.<br /><br />Client/Server simply means that a "client" (workstation [IPD]) sends a request to update the database on the "server computer". Once the "server computer" processes the request, it returns the updated record back to the client. What makes this process so special is that all clients share the same database, the database resides on only ONE computer in the network, and special transaction processing ensures superior data integrity. It is a very superior way to process multiple transactions simultaneously, very fast, very safely and very robustly!<br /><br />Still unsure what a client/server application is? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client-server" target="_blank">Click on this link for a detailed explanation.</a> We designed our program using a simple, yet robust client/server architecture but we also designed it to run on the smallest networks. Use it as a stand-alone, 1-user program, or as a multi-user program supporting 5,10,15 or more simultaneous users! It is VERY easy to use. Why not <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">download the program </a>and try it on your network today? You will be amazed at how easy it is to use!Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-25311896092516619902008-03-04T13:31:00.006-05:002008-03-18T23:08:02.218-04:00Using Automatic Discounts and Sub-Totals<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOSy_V0GCBCU6CefE-uW3eo7xOJfRlt85J6wAh5G6GiIKgxM7CBur51m8Rg0DOZUxNMLDXdhVAYesmpVqsgnhJkhOxtsRu-DE8FEiPhrtJBY6guDQPYG9OXhBSSxergxgrqObkB4frz-o/s1600-h/INVOIC5D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOSy_V0GCBCU6CefE-uW3eo7xOJfRlt85J6wAh5G6GiIKgxM7CBur51m8Rg0DOZUxNMLDXdhVAYesmpVqsgnhJkhOxtsRu-DE8FEiPhrtJBY6guDQPYG9OXhBSSxergxgrqObkB4frz-o/s320/INVOIC5D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5173956754023040386" border="0" /></a>(Click on picture for larger view.) You can easily add discounts and/or sub-totals on your invoices. You can issue discounts using any percentage and you can have multiple discounts and sub-totals on a single invoice. For example, you may have a group of products on an invoice that you want to issue a 10% discount for, and a group of products on the same invoice and issue a 20% discount to those items. Likewise, you may have multiple groups of products you want to sub-total. For example, you may want to sub-total all LABOR items and all PARTS items. You can easily do one or both on the same invoice! NOTE: The discounts and sub-totals only apply to invoices, not Purchase Orders. When ordering items, simply use the correct purchase price, even if the vendor has extended you a discount. <p>Lets say you want to issue a 10% discount on an entire invoice. Simply create a new invoice and add all the line-items (products) to that invoice. Then add the DISCOUNT10 product to that invoice as the last line item. The program will automatically create a 10% discount line item and reduce the invoice total by 10%. This happens because you placed the discount line-item under all the line-items you wanted to apply a 10% discount to. For example, if you have 4 line-items on an invoice, and then add another line-item as a 10% discount, all 4 lines will be totaled and a 10% discount applied to the invoice for them. Discounts and Sub-Totals work the same way in this regard. All line items <b><u>listed above them</u></b> will be used to calculate the discount or sub-total, until a <b>previous</b> sub-total or discount is reached. For example, if line items 1, 2, 3 and 4 are listed and line item 5 applies a 10% discount, lines 1 to 4 will be totaled and a 10% discount applied to them. If you then wanted to add more line items 6, 7 and 8, and applied a 20% discount on line 9, only line items 6, 7 and 8 would be used to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">calulate</span> the 20% discount, as line 5 was used to apply a different discount (10%) to lines 1 through 4. Another example, if you add a discount or sub-total on line item 1 of your invoice, they will both show ZERO, because there are no line-items above them to calculate the discount or sub-total for.</p>Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-48204817349190510662008-02-26T22:17:00.018-05:002008-03-13T21:20:09.851-04:00Who is M & R Technologies? Why are we different?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbDvstnq12wn7xC416uNR6RmZmEGawUkiwG4qWlJgGjoZ2iPfh_CsbA5FqgWnbmTwRIlm2p4YjtfikqYy0Xxp1KBm1_cGx4139Xb84s6kmcU9V0w0ZAHRvsYrBQrq4YKuJNB-OVoBfR8Z/s1600-h/mike.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbDvstnq12wn7xC416uNR6RmZmEGawUkiwG4qWlJgGjoZ2iPfh_CsbA5FqgWnbmTwRIlm2p4YjtfikqYy0Xxp1KBm1_cGx4139Xb84s6kmcU9V0w0ZAHRvsYrBQrq4YKuJNB-OVoBfR8Z/s320/mike.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174664270482138866" border="0" /></a>M & R Technologies was founded in 1990 during the time Windows 3.0 was released. Our President believed that Windows would eventually replace DOS as an operating system. We had our first Windows Invoice Software on the Internet in 1992 (on CompuServe and later on America Online (AOL)) and our Inventory Software in 1996. We introduced the <span style="font-weight: bold;">first</span> email invoice in 1996 and secured our current domain name (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">mrtec</span>.com) in 1997. We are now in over 95 countries with our programs. We are proven Windows Software pioneers. 18 years have made our software a world-class force. Many programmers have tried to copy our products only to fail in software design and in many other aspects. Here is a little history of our President.<br /><br />Our President was elected to the ASP (<a href="http://www.asp-shareware.org/" TARGET="_blank">Association of Shareware Professionals</a>) Board of Directors in 1998 when ASP was losing members because <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BBS's</span> and DOS programmers were losing their way due to the Internet and Windows. He helped to turn them around, with their reborn marketing booth, updated membership standards, bylaws and much more. He grew the membership, helped to create the PAD standard and inducted the first 6 ASP hall of fame members. The membership doubled! Mike was happy to see this goal happen, as well as all of the other things he was able to make happen for them. Mike is a team member of the original <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Internet</span> boom.<br /><br />It may have been his enthusiasm that guided Mike to do so much for other software developers on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Internet</span>, but it was our superior software design and implementation that made us different and allowed us the time and resources to do it. Mike even had an interview with the <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/Jim_Button_interview.htm">original creator of the try-before-you-buy concept - 20 years later.</a> You can read the entire interview by <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/Jim_Button_interview.htm">clicking here</a>.<br /><br />We remain your best choice today. 18+ years of work on our programs have made it so. <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">Check out one of our software packages today</a>, absolutely free. Why not get started today!<a href="http://www.mrtec.com/"><br /></a>Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-21856709076526331042008-02-08T13:42:00.003-05:002008-03-06T13:24:07.938-05:00Why Our Programs Are Used in Over 90 Countries<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHPZt09F2UyRuqTS-Kxl9TM6fZayZEvcb-jzQUsBinHYfJ7I5MCGKbUiydNMEgvd2jD6v0HebzQbqYF5CnPurFFVvppU-Y-_wv3GMGXFRLy4MWI6TBbk-Zfyv1f-aRBIoLPxwZ9PWgMyw/s1600-h/invprobox.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHPZt09F2UyRuqTS-Kxl9TM6fZayZEvcb-jzQUsBinHYfJ7I5MCGKbUiydNMEgvd2jD6v0HebzQbqYF5CnPurFFVvppU-Y-_wv3GMGXFRLy4MWI6TBbk-Zfyv1f-aRBIoLPxwZ9PWgMyw/s320/invprobox.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174696117664638754" border="0" /></a>Our customers tell us all the time how easy our Inventory and Invoice Software is to use. We have been developing our programs for over 18 years and our products are currently used in over 90 countries. All of our programs are <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">free to try at our web site.</a><br /><br />One of our most liked features is our use of "Managers". We have Invoice Managers, Customer Managers, Product Managers, Purchase Order Managers, etc. Each manager works just like all of the other managers, they just manage different data. Once you learn one manager, you already know how to use all of the other managers, which means you have a small learning curve and can become very productive in a very short time!<br /><br />For example, the Invoice Manager lists all of your invoices on your screen. Simply click on the new button to create a new invoice or select that option from the menu. Or you can click on an existing invoice in the list and click the edit, delete, print, send to PDF, etc. options. All managers work the same way, each manager uses the same methods to create, edit and delete data. Why not try one of our products today and see how powerful and easy-to-use our programs really are.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-50574093451397475142008-02-07T11:40:00.002-05:002008-03-06T13:21:56.381-05:00Help with Printing your Company Logo and Graphics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz2ep1_WYxIXg4JtIckNpnP3xroCIQlVoNacV3ExdXvpJL4upvWhPjPgZeC3PF3M72jyQgd2LGluCRsS6BXEEztPxf3VA1GpbNLVfLxNMFZ3PA913VPoHuxqoWNEAkSXREVPIleZroxeO/s1600-h/Ff3W.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQz2ep1_WYxIXg4JtIckNpnP3xroCIQlVoNacV3ExdXvpJL4upvWhPjPgZeC3PF3M72jyQgd2LGluCRsS6BXEEztPxf3VA1GpbNLVfLxNMFZ3PA913VPoHuxqoWNEAkSXREVPIleZroxeO/s320/Ff3W.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174695580793726738" border="0" /></a>I created a bitmap picture logo and added it to my invoice but when it prints its very small, what can I do?<br /><br />You will need to create a larger bitmap image. The reason is because the print resolution that your printer uses is much better than that of your screen, so the logo prints smaller. We could have defined an area on the layout and "stretched" the picture into it, but this will result in a distorted image. We choose not to limit the size of your bitmap. You must simply make your image larger. Please note that by increasing the size of your bitmap requires more ink/toner from your printer and therefore might not be a good idea if you print a large amount of forms.<br /><br />IMPORTANT! ABOUT DPI MEASUREMENTS: The size of your printed logo is actually determined by the resolution DPI (Dots-Per-Inch) setting of your printer as you have setup in Windows! In other words, your logo will print larger at a 300 DPI setting than it would at 600 DPI and the size and print quality is actually determined by YOUR printer as you have it defined in Windows Control Panel. Try a 300 DPI setting before using a 600 DPI setting. You can get to your printer setup by using the Windows Control Panel - Printers and selecting the printer properties for that printer.<br /><br />Also note that all of our settings for envelopes, mailing labels, form settings, etc., are all in DPI measurements. This means that if you are printing at 600 DPI, a setting of 600 in our program equals one inch, and 300 would equal 1/2 inch. Likewise, if you are printing at 300 DPI, a setting of 150 would equal 1/2 inch. If you are not sure what your DPI is, try moving the printing by 1 inch by adding/subtracting 600 to/from the number you are adjusting. If it moves too far, try 300 instead. Also, some printers can print at 1200 DPI and higher, so if text gets 'scrunched' up when printed, you will need to increase the values by 300, 600, 1200 or higher. Simply keep doubling the settings until you find the one that works for you, then make any small adjustments you need to get the printed text just where you want it. Since we use DPI measurements in this software, you can make your adjustments to printed output with pin-point accuracy!Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-41998678762707633952008-02-07T00:27:00.000-05:002008-02-07T01:16:13.517-05:00Demo Movie Examples - Free Trial DownloadsHave you seen our <a href="http://mrtec.com/DemoInventoryandInvoiceSoftware.htm">demo movie examples</a>? They show features such as creating a new invoice, posting a customer payment, viewing statements and reports and more. View our programs in action without downloading our trial versions. However, we highly recommend you download one of our trial versions, as they provide you with the FULL program, limited only by our trial period.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, you can download our trial versions and get started today! If you decide to order, we will send you the latest version on CD with a printed users manual. It will install over your trial version, leaving any information you have entered into the trial version. It's totally painless (and totally anonymous) and a very effective way to show you the power of our programs! Go ahead and <a href="http://mrtec.com/ProductFeatures.htm#Downloads">download a free trial version </a>today. You have absolutely nothing to loose and everything to gain.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-56558125762187399002008-02-06T22:44:00.000-05:002008-02-06T23:39:39.482-05:00The Power of Key CodesOne of the great features of our software is the key code field. This is a user-defined field and you can type anything you want into this field. This makes the key code field a very powerful, customizable tool for you, as you can sort most of your reports by this field. You can also filter your reports on your key codes. The key code field is available when you create a new invoice or purchase order, or setup a new product. There is also a key code report in the Report Wizard.<br /><br />For example, our customers ask us how to track sales by sales person. When creating an invoice, you can use the key code field to enter a sales persons initials, employee ID or other text to identify the sales person. Then run your key code report which will sub-total your sales by key code. Simple!<br /><br />Another example is classifying your inventory by key code. For example, you may sell tires and use the key code field to enter the tire sizes, i.e. 14inch, 15inch, 16inch, etc. Then you can run your inventory report, sorted by key code, to group and subtotal your tires by size. You could also filter your report with the word "tire" (assuming you have the word "tire" in your product code, product description or key code) to see only the tires on your inventory report. Very powerful!<br /><br />Another example could be grouping your sales by cash, credit card, check or money order payments. On a new invoice, you could type in "cash", "CC", "check", "MO", etc. and sort your Invoice Register by key code.<br /><br />The possibilities are unlimited! The trick is to make your key codes long enough so that your reports can be filtered by your code. For example, a key code of "12" is no good, as this matches to many items, such as dates, invoice, customer numbers and product codes. A much better key code would be "tire12" or "sales12" or "order12" or "emp12", etc., depending on what you are trying to filter. Create good (lengthy) key codes and they will provide you with valuable information.<br /><br />What fields are searched when you filter your reports? That depends on the report. Next to the report filter is a help button (the question mark). Click on that to find out which fields are searched for the filter you enter by report. The key codes will provide you with user-defined custom sorting and filtering capabilities. Let your imagination run wild! Our key codes and report filter can provide with very powerful tools you can't find in any other software!Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-87337253456295662742008-02-06T22:10:00.000-05:002008-02-07T18:51:11.852-05:00We Received This in our Email TodayHi, I just wanted to say Thank You. I have been using your products for several years now. I started with Billing Manager before you offered Inventory Pro. I have since upgraded a couple of times and have been using InventoryPro 5 for about two years. I am absolutely thrilled with all of your software. It is easy to use and configurable to use in many different ways. I use it to track my sales on eBay, sales in the several shops where I have consigned merchandise, as well as my travel agency. Not only can I track sales, I can generate reports that tell me how my sales and profits are by company, by vendor, by item, by customer, and by category/department. I keep track of expenses using the Purchase Order function and break them down by vendor and accounting category using key codes. Once again, thank you. I look forward to using your products for many more years.<br /><br />S. McCartyMichael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-92170606390853376132008-02-06T21:08:00.000-05:002008-02-06T21:14:51.479-05:00Visit our Support ForumYou may find additional answers to your questions on our <a href="http://mrtec.com/Billing_Inventory_Invoice_Software_FAQs.htm">Support Forum</a>. Our Support Forum has over 70 questions and answers. Our goal with this blog is to take those questions (and others) and create blog topics which discuss our programs in greater detail, including tips, tricks and other techniques.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-77123862835620151622008-02-06T19:02:00.000-05:002008-02-06T20:44:07.027-05:00PDF Invoices, Purchase Orders and Customer StatementsUsing <a href="http://www.mrtec.com">FF Inventory Pro Deluxe,</a> you can batch email your invoices, purchase orders and customer statements in PDF and/or plain-text formats. All of our other products can also produce PDF files, however, you can process them only one at a time, which works fine for many of our customers. The batch-email in our other products offers plain-text emails only.<br /><br />The beauty of PDF (portable document format) files is that you can email them to your customers, and when they print or view them, it will look exactly like it would when printed on a printer. This means all of the graphics such as your company logo, fonts, lines and colors will be displayed. It is a much better look than plain-text emails could ever be and with the free <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html">Adobe PDF viewer</a>, millions of people all over the world are able to view your PDF.<br /><br />However, each format has it's positive and negative features. Using left-justified, plain text, word-wrapping format allows it to be read by ALL email readers. People around the world have their email readers setup in MANY different ways. Some block emails with file attachments (PDF's). Some block HTML invoices and only have their email reader setup for plain text emails only, or use an email reader that can't process HTML. Many use different fonts and font sizes to display their emails and/or use a small viewing window to read their emails. Therefore, using plain text means that the majority of people who receive your email will be able to (A) receive it and (B) to view it. Since we do not send our email as an attachment, all email readers blocking attachments will receive our plain-text emails. Since we do not use HTML, all email readers that are blocking HTML will be able to receive and view our invoices, using whatever font they choose. We added the PDF invoice feature so you can email your invoices to your customers using graphics and colors, but note that any of your customers who are blocking file attachments, will not receive your PDF invoices. Which format you use is up to you.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-77735940708891132222008-02-04T01:09:00.001-05:002008-02-13T22:57:39.474-05:00Why do you interface with Dymo Label Printers and not all other label printers?Please Note: All of <a href="http://www.mrtec.com">our programs</a> can already print mailing labels using a standard printer with any label stock. Our inventory programs can also print product labels with bar codes.<br /><br />A product must excite us in order for us to develop an interface to that technology. Dymo (dymo.com) excited us for several reasons. They have developed a printer that can print mailing labels and postage. As many of our customers run small businesses, their solution intrigued us. They offer a package which allows you to buy US Postal Service postage over the internet, weigh your package on the included scale, and print a stamp for the exact postage required and print a mailing label using their software and printer. Think about all of the benefits this offers your business. No more running to the Post Office every day or over-paying for postage with regular stamps!<br /><br />Our interface to the Dymo Label Printer will allow you to print customer and vendor mailing labels. We do not interface to print bar codes. If you want to print bar code labels, use our built-in Label Wizard to batch print bar code labels. The Dymo does not batch-print bar codes.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-33786594082446960362008-02-04T00:44:00.000-05:002008-02-07T18:55:16.147-05:00How to Track Inventory Used by a Job or Project?The best way is to create a new customer number using the project code / control number. For example, if you have a project number of 500, setup a new customer and assign number 500 to that customer account number. Then process your invoices for that project/job using that customer number. Process an invoice or multiple invoices for all of the items (labor, material, misc. costs) used on project/job number 500, by selecting that project (customer) number for each invoice. In fact, our customer numbers are nothing more than a "grouping" control number. You can sort your reports by this number. This means that if you wanted to see all of the items for job 500 you would simply need to run your Sales Report, sorted by customer number. You can even filter your reports for "500" to see only the items charged to customer number 500.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-3800497238958590162008-02-04T00:03:00.002-05:002008-05-15T11:10:37.687-04:00Do you have bar code scanner support? Can I print bar codes?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCKW5aWkf4B9QHU4FS8Z2-mI4nOHQXY3mDeK4Oz1GLM96TIPhBCe2nrLHLIEX_JuCKXOgCfTND_WAtElM8c8PGYwC9v4jlYasnlq_ayW5PzHokg8v2XJ11hWtUd7z-y68VyLQIXJf573o/s1600-h/FFBarcode.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCKW5aWkf4B9QHU4FS8Z2-mI4nOHQXY3mDeK4Oz1GLM96TIPhBCe2nrLHLIEX_JuCKXOgCfTND_WAtElM8c8PGYwC9v4jlYasnlq_ayW5PzHokg8v2XJ11hWtUd7z-y68VyLQIXJf573o/s320/FFBarcode.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174694206404192002" border="0" /></a>Yes to both. Our <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">Inventory Software</a> can print bar codes on invoices and labels using the setup features in our software found on the Bar Code Tab. Everything you need to do this is already contained in our software. If you also have a scanner, you can scan those bar codes into the line items of your invoices and PO's. Simply print out product labels with the bar codes and place them on your products. When you sell a product, scan it into a line item on your invoice.<br /><br />Our program will work with any scanner and there are no settings in our programs for scanner "setup", as all scanners do are scan a code and send that code to the application with a carriage return. Scanners usually plug into a special cable which hooks into your computer keyboard or USB port. Once you have a scanner hooked up to your computer, you can actually scan bar codes into a simple text editor (or any other program which is waiting for you to type something). There is nothing special about using a scanner on your computer, so select a scanner which is right for you and you'll be ready to go!Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-50279153019614004062008-02-03T23:37:00.000-05:002008-02-06T19:48:47.984-05:00You can email some customer invoices and print for others.The email address for the customer is the key. The "Include Customers without E-Mail Address" option will cause the system to send e-mail for ALL customers, even if the customer does not have an email address entered in their customer setup. When this option is turned on, all email for customers without an e-mail address will be sent to your return e-mail address, alerting you that this customer has an empty email address in their customer setup. If this option is turned OFF, customers without an email address will NOT be sent. They will not be marked as printed either, so you will need to run the batch print option to print out these remaining invoices. This allows you to have some customers who receive their invoices (or statements) by email and some customers who have their invoices (or statements) printed and mailed. This is a powerful option which allows you to interact with your customers by postal mailing their invoices, while trying to save money on postage costs by sending email to your customers who have an email address.Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1083031002923752798.post-20220665050590535222008-02-03T16:00:00.000-05:002008-02-07T20:33:58.967-05:00Welcome to Our New Blog!Welcome to our new blog. We have created this blog to discuss tips, tricks and detailed articles about using our Inventory and Billing Software found on our web site at <a href="http://www.mrtec.com/">http://www.mrtec.com</a>Michael Raustadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593305710140682048noreply@blogger.com0