Yellow Dog Inventory

Retail User Manual

Contents

Introduction

The Yellow Dog Inventory Retail User Manual contains all the essential information for you to make full use of our software.  Yellow Dog Inventory is a feature-rich inventory management program designed to handle any type of retail environment. It is very user friendly, and this manual will provide a detailed roadmap for everyday use, but should any problems or questions arise please contact us at the Support Information below. 

A couple of basic things to keep in mind: 

- All of your inventory management should be done in Yellow Dog Inventory. Items entered directly into your Point of Sale (POS) will not be recognized by Yellow Dog Inventory unless they are mapped as part of a one-way interface. Please contact your Yellow Dog Inventory implementation consultant if you have questions about your interface type.

- Make sure the Yellow Dog Inventory client application has a connection to your database. Your implementation consultant will work in concert with your IT personnel to ensure that the connection is in place.  

- There is no limit to the number of Yellow Dog Inventory client programs you can have connected to your database. 

Purchasing Supplies

If you need to purchase additional equipment or labels, please visit our web store. 

Support Information

Support Hotline:   757.663.7514 (9am – 6pm EST Monday – Thursday, 9am-5pm Friday)

Emergency Support:   757.818.9360, option 2

Submit Tickets to Support:   Portal.Yellowdogsoftware.com 

Click here to schedule a one hour training session.  Training is up to one hour and free of charge to any customers currently on support.

To access our Knowledge Base, click here. To access our Support ToolKit, click here.

For information on our Retail User Conference and to reserve your spot in 2016, click here.

Getting Started

Familiarize yourself with the layout of this screen, called the Inventory Items screen, as it is the main point from which most Yellow Dog Inventory functions originate. 

Each section is individually broken down in the following pages. 

A few things to note throughout the Yellow Dog Inventory system:

• Required information is denoted by red text. Black text indicates optional information.
  
• Most items have right-click functionality.
  
• Permissions vary for each user. If you can’t access something, check your employee setup under System Setup or have your system administrator check it.
  
• Filters for the data you see on the screen are on the top of the page. More on that later.
  

This is the left-hand sidebar of the main Inventory Items screen. This menu is divided into five main sections:

• Item Management – allows users to create and edit items, count inventory, print labels, manage ydiMobile sessions and schedule price changes, etc.
  
• Purchasing – allows users to request and order product, receive them in, complete the invoicing process with freight and taxes, transfer product from store to store and submit returns for credit from vendors.
  
• Reports – allows users to generate over 150 standard reports that are customizable by vendor, level, dimension, date ranges and stores, plus saved reports and item lists
  
• Common Setup – allows users to create, modify and remove basic setup information, such as dimensions like size and color, vendors, and levels
  
• System Setup – allows users to modify more advanced setup information, including interfaces by store, print templates and accounting interfaces. This is also where employee management can be accessed.
  

Common Setup

Your Yellow Dog Inventory implementation consultant will begin the process of setting up your system for you. Frequently, data will be imported, creating things like dimensions, levels, vendors, etc. However, once you are working in the system, you may find it necessary to create new or edit existing setup information. For this, you will navigate to Common Setup.

Dimensions

Dimensions are most commonly used to specify information such as size and color. However, if you have other needs they can be used for anything you like, such as wine varietals, logos or scents.

More Dimensions

The default Dimensions screen has two dimensions; however a tab with four additional dimensions is available if you need them. Please check your employee permissions if you do not have access to this.

Managing Dimensions

• To create a new dimension, click on the three dots next to the first empty dimension and enter a title for the new Dimension, e.g.. Size, Color, Logo, etc.
  
• Click “Create New…” and enter in the new Dimension. Click the “Save & Close” button if you’re done or “Add New” button to add multiple items.
  

Removing Dimensions

• To remove a dimension, click dimension and hit “Remove”. If the Dimension is still assigned to an item, it will not allow you to remove it.
  

Levels

Levels are how inventory items are categorized in Yellow Dog Inventory. Typically, the hierarchy is as follows:

• Level 1 = Department
  

• Level 2 = Sub-Department
  

• Level 3 = Category
  

• Level 4 = Sub-Category
  

• So the level scheme for an item might look something like this:
  

• Department = Retail Gifts
  

• Category = Toys
  

• Sub-Category = Puzzles
  

The amount of Levels created and used in the system is fully customizable. You may only require 1 level while another company would require all 4 levels in their tree structure. This is completely up to you and should be discussed and determined before the installation of Yellow Dog Inventory.  

At any point, you have the ability to create, rename, remove, and perform any other edits to the Inventory Levels in the system.

Creating New Levels

• Open the Inventory Levels screen, choose either Add Department or select an existing department and click Add Category under…
  
• Enter a Code (numeric), description, and check the box(es) next to the store that the level will be available in.
  

• From the Interfaces tab, you can customize how Yellow Dog Inventory communicates with your POS system. Please see the section on Interfaces for a brief overview of them and contact your implementation consultant if you have specific questions.
  

Managing Levels

NOTE: There are many shortcuts throughout the system that will take you to the Levels Editor. Just look for the blue hyperlink. Right click on any level from the Inventory Levels screen and this list of options will appear.

• Removing levels cannot be done unless there are no items assigned to that level. Otherwise, you will get an error message. 
  
• Take care when merging levels. This cannot be undone except to recreate the merged level and move the items back manually.
  
• Levels can be moved by selecting the level you wish to move, right-clicking, then hitting Move and choosing where you want it to go.
  

Manufacturer & Vendor Management

Vendors and Manufacturers are created and managed in the same section in Yellow Dog Inventory. A vendor is required, while manufacturers are optional, unless your POS requires it.

Creating & Editing Vendors/Manufacturers

• Navigate to the Manufacturers and Vendors section and click Create New Vendor. You will be prompted to enter the Vendor Name. Click OK when complete.
  
• From the Details screen, you will see a Vendor Code is automatically generated by the system. You can replace the generated code with your own if you prefer. 
  

• From the Stores tab, you can choose which stores the Vendor will be available to. Check the box in the “Available” column of the appropriate store(s).
  
• You can also enter Accounting ID, Account Number, Tax Number, and Terms.
  

• The last section is the Addresses tab. From this screen you can add optional “Order From” and “Return To” information. If the “Return To” information is the same as the “Order From” information, simply click the button labeled Copy Order From.
  

• To complete the Vendor creation process, click Save and Close in the bottom right corner.
  

Managing Vendors/Manufacturers

From the main Vendors and Manufacturers screen, you have the ability to view a variety of Vendor specific information such as: Active SKU’s, Inactive SKU’s, Total On Hand, etc. You can also Create New, Edit, and Remove Vendors.

Flags

Flags allow you to indicate storage locations, making ordering and physical inventories easier. To create a new Flag, click “Create New Flag”. Enter a Description. Click “Save and Close” if done, or “Add New” to add more. If you would like to change “Flags” to a more useful title, go to System Setup\Options\Labels.

Once you are done creating Flags, use Flag View in the Inventory Items screen to assign them to items. 

Recipe Types

This page will allow you to create different recipe types for better organization within your recipes. For example, you could create “Gift Basket”, “Holiday”, “Sale Bundle”, etc. Use the action buttons on the right hand side to Create, Edit or Remove Recipe Types.

Viewing the Inventory Items Screen

You can change what data is shown on the inventory items screen by using the Views, Columns, and filters on the top of the inventory items screen.

Views

There are twelve different ways to view the inventory screen in Yellow Dog Inventory. Your views may vary based on your permission settings. 

• Classic – This is the default setting. It will give you most of the basic information;
  

• All Stores – This shows all items for all stores in the database that the user has access to.
  
• Activity – This shows the activity for the items: Created First/Last, First Received, Last Received, First Sale, Last Sale and recent handheld session.
  
• F&B Expiration – This view shows items with expiration dates set, how much is expired, and the oldest and newest expiration dates for each item.
  
• Flags – This shows basic information, plus the flag associated with the item
  
• Recipe/Kit/Batch Items Only – This shows all kits, the recipes they are attached to, their ingredients, cost, and how they behave in the system.
  
• Third Party/Interface Codes – This view shows all pertinent interface information as of the last sync.
  
• Parent/Child – This view brings up all items with parent/child relationships, their SKUs, On Hand Counts, and usage.
  
• Problem Items – This view brings up all items with problems, including no cost or retail price, duplicate UPCs or missing Vendor information. Pay particular attention to duplicate UPCs and duplicate SKUs; these can significantly impact transactions.
  
• Purchasing – This view shows On Hand, Size, Vendor ordering information, Par & Reorder Points and the Vendor Price for each item.
  
• SKU, Vendor SKU and UPCs – This view shows basic info, plus SKU, Vendor SKU & UPC.
  
• Interactive View – This view must always be sorted by a store *and* a vendor. From there, the Long Description, Size, Color, Vendor SKU, Retail Price, Reorder Point, Par Level, etc. can be edited like a spreadsheet instead of opening each item individually. Level, Vendor and Parent Item can be selected here too.
  

Filters

There are a few options for narrowing your search in the Inventory Items screen.

• Store – If you have access to multiple stores, you can choose the store that you want to view by selecting it from the dropdown box.  This will show inventory and corresponding on hand quantities for items that are in the selected store, as well as any other information that is specific to that store.
  

• Manufacturer or Vendor – Use the Manufacturer or Vendor dropdown to view only items that belong to the specified vendor. 
  
• Levels – Use the Levels dropdown to view only items that belong to specified Departments and/or Categories.  
  
• Other – By clicking on the “Other” dropdown you can choose to hide either parent items or child items from your view. Items without a Parent/Child relationship will remain in either view.
  
• Include Inactive/Removed – If you check the “Include Inactive/Removed” button, all of your removed and inactive items will be populated with your inventory items.  Those items will be marked Removed or Inactive in the description to help distinguish them from the active items.
  
• Search – The search box functions as a standard search box.  Type what you are looking for into the box, and Yellow Dog will immediately begin returning results. This feature also allows “or” searches to include multiple terms.
  
• Delay Data Fetch until a Search String is Entered – When this box is checked, no data will be displayed in the Inventory Items screen until the user types search criteria into the search box.  This function is typically used in larger databases that may run slowly, to minimize wait times. 
  

Blue Hyperlinks

Vendors and Manufacturers…

Clicking on this hyperlink will bring up a Vendors window. From here, you can view Vendors, Codes, Active & Inactive SKUs, Total On Hands, Total Requested and Total on Order. You can also Create New Vendors, Edit & Remove existing vendors and Merge them if you have access to do so.

Levels…

This hyperlink will bring up a Level screen. You can Add Departments & Categories, as well as Edit and Remove existing ones. 

Choose Columns

You can customize what columns you see in each view by clicking “Choose Columns”. Each view has different column options depending on the information associated with the view. The default options for most of the views are: On Order, Reference, Current Retail, Vendor Price, On Hand, Dimensions, Description, Short Description, SKU, Vendor SKU, Vendor, Manufacturer & Level. Additional columns depend on the view you are currently using.

Right-Clicking

Right-clicking on an item on the Inventory Items screen brings up this menu of options.

• 
  
• Trigger Items to Re-Sync to POS is important to note here. If you are having issues getting certain items to sync over to the POS, clicking this will manually add the item to the list of things the sync will push over.
  
• You also have the option to Create New Item, Edit or Remove the selected Item, Create a PO, Set Levels, Vendors & Stores, Set Dimensions and Set as Recipe Ingredient so the item can be used to create Kits. You can also affect Parent/Child relationships if you are using them in your system. The On Hand Quantity can be adjusted this way as well.
  

 The right-hand sidebar of the main Inventory Items screen is used to create new items, edit or remove existing items, generate labels or reports for individual items, as well as adjust the on-hand quantity and copy existing items to create new ones. These options are normally available in the right-click menu as well.

General Item Management

Creating Items

1.  From the right-hand side of the Inventory Items screen, click Create New Item.

2.  In the SKU Wizard pop-up, select the appropriate Level and Vendor for your new item. A SKU number will automatically be generated for you based on the Autonumber sequence set up by your implementation consultant. In the example above, both the Level Code (35/70/2) and the Vendor Code (481) are part of the new SKU that is being generated for the new item.

Retail Details Tab

• Enter the Description of the item into the Description field. You will notice that the POS Description is generated by default based on the Description and is limited by the character length your POS can work with. Click on the ellipsis (…) next to the POS Description field to bring up a menu with more options for that description. In addition, if you would like to create your own Short Description, simply type in a new description. Yellow Dog will limit this description to 16 characters by default. 
  
• Enter Vendor Price (your cost) and Retail Price (customer cost). You may also adjust the retail price by adjusting the Markup & Margin fields.
  
• Optional Information to enter on this tab includes: Size, other Dimensions and MSRP. You may also enter Vendor SKUs and UPCs here or on other tabs in the Item Editor. 
  

Stores Tab:

• From the Stores tab, set Reorder Point, Par Level, and Bin Location. Make sure the item is available in the appropriate stores by selecting it in the Available column. 
  
• You can also make On Hand adjustments for the stores the item has been made available to. Click the “Adjust On Hand for…” button. Enter the new on hand quantity, a reference note (required), and click Submit. 
  

Child Item Tab:

• Parent/Child relationships are most commonly used for inventory items that need to be tracked by cases rather than by the each. While the item is actually sold at the POS by the Child count, the item is ordered by the Parent. 
  
• Example: 1 case of chocolate bars contains 24 each. The Vendor Price is set as $40.00, because the item is ordered by an unbroken case of 24. Calculated cost is based on receiving history and will be automatically updated when items are brought in.
  
• Check the box next to Child Item 1 to enable the Child item. Once checked, a unique SKU will be generated for the child item. You can now edit the retail price. 
  
• Child items require a Dimension (in this case, size) assignment. Select one from the size dropdown or you can create a new size from the sizes hyperlink. 
  
• Enter the quantity of Child Items that make up one Parent item, then click Save and Close.
  
• Child items can have their own Vendor, Vendor SKU, Vendor Price, etc. if necessary.
  

Other Details Tab

Use the checkboxes to specify how you’d like an item to behave. This can include:

• Making it inactive – takes the item off the active item list, but the on hand remains.
  
• Setting it to no count – useful for items such as cleaning supplies or vendor-supplied displays that you don’t necessarily want to inventory.
  
• Making it a recipe ingredient – important for kits, such as gift baskets.
  
• Whether the item can be added to or affected by manual adjustments or physical inventories.
  
• Setting the item to be sold at a point of sale or used in purchasing documents.
  
• Telling Yellow Dog Inventory to prompt users to print labels for the item when it’s received.
  

Create Kit or Recipe Tab

Use this tab to set up groups of items that will behave as one, such as a gift basket. To connect a recipe to the item, click the ellipsis (…) next to “Kit Recipe”. Then, adjust the item behavior accordingly.

The Kits/Recipes tab makes assigning behaviors to your kit/recipe items simple with a dropdown menu of recipe item behaviors:

• The Retail Kit behavior allows users to assemble and disassemble kits within Yellow Dog by using the manual adjustment editor, count the kit in physical inventories, and sell or return the kit at a POS. The ingredient items are only affected by manual adjustments. 
  
• If you have questions about kit behaviors, please contact your implementation consultant or Support.
  

Additional Vendors Tab

• From here, you can set additional vendors for items, along with any different Vendor SKUs and Prices. You can also view or clear the vendor price history for those items. This should be used for product purchased in the same size from different vendors. If the size is different, use the Purchasing Item section of the F&B tab. Please talk to your implementation consultant if you require access to this tab.
  

Retail Schedules Tab 

•  This tab is useful for viewing retail cost history/clearance/sales/etc. on specific items. A sale can be configured using the Schedule Retail Changes menu on the main YDI screen.
  

Additional UPCs

• This is another location for managing item UPCs. The UPC Check field will notify you of the type of UPC used, or if it is an unrecognized barcode type.
  
• If you have more than one UPC for an item, enter them here. For example, if a shop sells greeting cards and doesn’t need to track sales for each variety of card, a single generic “greeting card” item with several UPCs will be the best method of tracking movement.
  

Label Queue

• From this tab, you can add item labels to your Label Queue.
  

Pictures

• As many as three pictures can be assigned to an item. This is useful for web stores, catalogs, and assisting in identifying items with vague or similar descriptions.
  

Web Properties

• The Web properties tab is used to add item details for a 2-way web store interface.
  

Interfaces

This tab will depend greatly on the interfaces set up for your particular store. Please contact Support or your implementation consultant if you have questions.

Copying Items

Yellow Dog Inventory makes it easy to quickly create or copy item data to a new item with a unique SKU number.

• Highlight the item you want to copy and click “Create Item Based on Selected”. 
  
• Click “Yes Copy” to open a new SKU populated SKU wizard. Levels and Vendor can be adjusted here.
  
• Click OK to open a new Item Editor screen for the newly created item. Notice that all of the data from the original item has been populated in the new item but with a new SKU. Make your changes and click Save and Close. 
  

Removing or Inactivating Items

Items can be removed if they are no longer going to be sold. Items can be inactivated if they will be sold again.

• To remove an item, highlight the item and click Remove Item. If there is an On-Hand count for the item you will receive an error message. Make sure the On-Hand Count is zero before you attempt to remove or delete an item from inventory. 
  

• However, if you want to maintain the item’s on-hand count, you can inactivate an item in its Other Details tab of the Item Editor.  This will allow the on-hand to remain, like seasonal product that is getting stored until next year.
  

• Note: an item that is removed will always exist in the database. This is so historical sales data will still be available. Once an item has been deleted successfully, you can view it by checking the box that says “Include Inactive/Removed”. The items will be flagged with (removed).
  

• To undelete an item, double-click on the deleted item and click Yes Undelete. The item editor screen will open for the item. Click Save and Close to complete the undelete process.  
  

Manual Adjustments

To remove items from the retail inventory (waste, sampling, breakage, known theft, etc.) or to affect the on hand of a retail kit and its ingredient items, you will be using Manual Adjustments. 

• In the Inventory Items screen, find the item(s) you plan on adjusting. Highlight the item(s) and hit “Adjust on Hand Quantity” on the right hand side of the screen.
  
• Yellow Dog will prompt you to select the store in which you will make your adjustment. Manual Adjustments are store-specific.
  

• You can adjust multiple items at once. 
  

• Choose “Add Items” and select the other items you wish to adjust.
  
• Or if you have access to handhelds, follow the instructions in the Handheld Manual to create a manual adjustment. Sync the handheld then click “Add Items From…” and choose YDI Mobile session. Select your session. Bring in your session as you normally do. Double check your adjustments are correct.
  

• If you are adding items manually, you will need to enter in quantities. This can be done by changing the “Adjust” field, using the +/- buttons, or setting the “New On Hand”.
  

• Fill in the Reference field. You will not be able to submit an adjustment without a reference.
  
• If your company requires it, you will need to select an Accounting code from the dropdown.
  

• To create Accounting Codes, navigate to System Setup\Accounting Interface\Manual Adjustment Accounts tab. Choose “Create New Accounting Code” and fill out a description. If you are going to set up an accounting integration, fill out the gold/tan Manual Inventory Adjustment column with the appropriate GL codes.
  

• Once you are done, click Submit. 
  
• Hitting “Esc” or “Cancel” during the adjustment will exit out without saving your changes.  Finish your adjustment in one go.
  

Matrices

Matrices are used in conjunction with Creating and Managing Dimensions such as Size and Color to quickly create a batch of new items that are all related. Remember, Matrix items will be unique Inventory Items but they will all share some of the same attributes such as Vendor, Pricing, and Level assignment. 

• Navigate to the Matrices screen and click Create New Matrix.
  
• Enter the Description of the Matrix you are creating.
  
• Make the item available in the appropriate stores. 
  
• Assign a Level. Select Manufacturer and Vendor.
  
• Enter the Default Vendor Price and Default Retail. If, for example, the cost and retail of a larger size is higher, you can unselect “Always update Default…” to change them manually without affecting the cost of the other items.
  

• Next, add the dimensions (Sizes, etc.) to the Matrix. 
  
• Click on Select Dimensions.
  
• Select the appropriate options and Click OK. In this example of shirts, we would select both size Dimensions and color Dimensions.
  

• Once you click OK, you will be prompted to Create New Items. All of the items that were just created and belong to the Matrix are now visible with their POS Descriptions. Clicking the three dots next to an item will bring up a few options, including adjusting the on hand quantity and removing the item.
  

• The new matrix-generated items will now be visible in the Inventory Items screen with their own unique SKUs.
  
• Note: Any level, description or pricing changes must be done in the Matrix Screen. These options are not changeable in the individual item editor.
  

Recipes

A recipe is a group of items that are combined to be sold as a single item in the Point of Sale. Selling a recipe item at the POS will deduct all of the ingredient items from your inventory accordingly.

1. You can create different types of Recipes (e.g. Gift Baskets, Card Bundles, etc.) by selecting Recipe Types under Common Setup. This can be useful in organizing your Recipes.
   
2. To create a new Recipe, navigate to Recipes and click Create New Recipe.
   
3. On the Recipe Editor screen, fill in your description, choose the Recipe Type, if applicable, and then click on Add Ingredient Items to begin adding your components.
   
4. From the Item Lookup screen, you can sort through and search for items in the same ways that are available on the Inventory Items screen. Once you have selected one or more items, click select and those items will be populated on the Recipe Editor screen.
   

*PLEASE NOTE: only items marked as useable in Recipes will be displayed. You can check whether or not an item can be used in Recipes by opening the Item Editor and navigating to the Other Details tab.*

5. On the Recipe Editor screen, you can change the quantities of the Ingredients in the Recipe. Your Extended Calculated Cost (the total cost of that Ingredient per Recipe) is generated automatically. You may also add notes to each Ingredient if you wish. Additionally, a calculation at the bottom of the Editor can help you decide on a retail price through cost percentage if you are unsure of the Retail price of the Recipe. The cost percentage keeps the same percentage across all recipes.
   

6. On the Yield / Used By tab, you can link the Recipe directly to a POS item, and when that POS item is sold it will deduct that recipe’s ingredients from your inventory. Skip to Step 7 if the item you are connecting the recipe to will be managed in Yellow Dog Inventory instead of in the POS. From this screen, you can fill in any Yields (this is not typical; yields are primarily used in Food and Beverage operations.) 
   

7. You can also link the Recipe to a Kit Item; this is an item in your inventory that will be sold at the POS as any other item would be. To do this, create a new inventory item and in the Create Kit or Recipe tab of the Item Editor click on the ellipsis next to Kit/Recipe and select your recipe. For information on setting up the options for the recipe, see the Recipe tab under the Item Creation section of this manual.
   

8. On the Instructions tab, you can fill in any information applicable to that kit, and even import pictures for reference.
   

Manual Sales Entry

Manual Sales Entry allows you to create simple, basic sales transactions using your inventory items without going to your POS.  This can be useful for offsite sales. From the Manual Sales Entry screen you can populate all of the pertinent information for your transaction.  As is the case throughout Yellow Dog, any field that is colored gold is an editable field.  After you have entered your information, your inventory items will be adjusted accordingly.

Physical Inventories

For detailed information on Creating and Managing Physical Inventories, please see the separate manual covering Physical Inventories. 

Label Printing & Templates

Label Management

To print labels for a single item from the Inventory Items screen:

• Highlight the item and click Print Labels on the right side of the screen. If you have access to more than one store, you will be prompted to select one from the list.
  
• Enter the quantity of labels you wish to print and click OK.
  
• Choose the label type and printer you wish to use. 
  

Label Queue

The Label Queue allows you to add multiple items to the Queue, adjust their printing quantity, and print all labels at one time. 

• Navigate to Label Queue. If you have access to more than one store, you will need to select the store you wish to print labels for. 
  
• Add Items by either selecting them manually or adding them through “Add Items From…” and selecting the appropriate option.
  
• Once you have set your print quantities, you can either Print All Items or highlight and Print Selected.
  

• Once you have completed printing labels for your queued items, you have the option to remove the items.  Select the items you want to remove and click Remove Items.
  

Template Editing

Yellow Dog Inventory includes a print template editor under System Setup that enables users to create and modify any printable document within the system. A number of templates are built in for users to print with or modify from the beginning.

• To customize an existing template without worrying about making a mistake or losing the original, click the Create New Print Template Based on Selected button on the Print Templates Screen. You can also create a new template from scratch, edit an existing template, or remove an existing template:
  

Print Templates

1. To create a new print template, click on the Create New Print Template button. On the Editor screen, choose the appropriate type, and give it a description. 
   

2. To change the size of the template, right-click on the Page section at the very top of the editing field, then select the Width and Height accordingly:
   

3. Page Headers and Footers are included automatically. If you do not want to have them, simply right-click on the appropriate section and set the size to zero.
   

4. When your size and header/footer settings are correct, you can begin adding data fields to the template. Right –click on the grid and select Insert and choose the applicable option:
   

• Data Field: This is used to display information associated with the item, such as retail price, description, or the current SKU. 
  
• Expression: You can create a variety of equations that are determined at printing. These are typically used in Purchasing documents, for weighted items, etc.
  
• Text: Any text you would like on the template can be typed here.
  
• Picture: Pictures can be displayed on the template as well.
  

5. When you have your data field added, you can resize and move it as necessary. Right-clicking on the field brings up a number of options as well:
   

• Font:  You can change the typeface and size and select bold, italics, or underline.
  
• Format: Defaults based on the data field you select. However, you can change your information as needed, most commonly the barcode format, but also including date and time, currency, fraction, and several other options.
  
• Alignment: There are nine alignment orientations to choose from.
  
• Border:  You can fully or partially border your information with a thick or thin line.
  
• White on black: Display your information as white text on a black background
  
• Vertical Text: Rotates the text clockwise 90 degrees.
  

*Note: Ensure that the barcode is large and clear enough for your scanner to read. Additionally, make sure that the barcode format is correct for your POS.

Schedule Retail Changes

Scheduling retail changes can be used to pre-set retail price changes for a specific date/time range at any point in the future. After an item’s retail price changes, the new retail price will be sent to the POS in the next scheduled sync. 

• Navigate to Schedule Retail Changes and click Create New Schedule.
  
• Enter a description of the Scheduled Change and choose the store(s) the price change will be applied to, as well as a Start and End date/time range. 
  
• NOTE: Regardless of what time you actually chose, the time will automatically change to the hour you selected, e.g. 12:30 changes to 12, as does 12:15 and 12:45, as our default sync runs on the hour.  
  
• Click the Add Items button to bring up the item lookup screen and choose the items you wish to add to the schedule. 
  

You have two options for changing prices for a retail change:

• By actual retail price. Simply change “Starting Retail” to the new retail price. If you want the retail to be different once the sale is over, change the price in “Ending Retail”.
  

• By selecting the “Change retail according to formula” option, you can choose from several formula options, as well as the ability to either hardcode the price to end in a certain number of cents or round to the nearest number of your choosing.
  

Purchasing

The Purchasing section of Yellow Dog Inventory enables users to handle every aspect of the “Purchasing Flow”. The sections you use will depend on how you purchase items for your location. All of the Purchasing components work basically the same with a few variations. Because the functionality of these components is similar, the following section will give a basic rundown of how to navigate through them before adding section specific details and instructions.

Creating a New Document 

• Navigate to the section based on the document you would like to create. 
  

• Hit Create New… (The example above uses the Request page).
  

Adding Items

• You have several options for adding to your document. The first option is the “Add Line Items”. Clicking on this brings up the “Item Lookup”. From this screen, you can use the top filter and the “Select” column to add items. 
  
• You can also add items though the “Add Items From…” button. This brings up a list of options that will let you “import” items automatically. 
  
• Flags allow you to bring in items that are flagged together. For example, if you need to reorder almost everything in your Produce Walk-In, it may be easier to add the entire flag, and remove what you don’t need to order, than it would be to add items one by one.
  
• Par Levels are great for reordering product. See Page 21 for more information on setting par levels and reorder points. Once you choose this, you will have the option to choose items below or at or below the order point. It will then bring up those items and you can choose to add them all or pick and choose which items to add. 
  
• Adding items based on Sales, Transfers and Adjustments will replenish any product that has left the store during the time period you specify. 
  

• Add Items based on Sales replenishes product based only on Sales. Again, just choose the date ranges you want to use. Most clients who use this feature choose the last time they ordered as the early date. 
  
• GoFetch is the handheld scanner software that pre-dates ydiMobile. All clients on Yellow Dog Inventory version 345 or later will be given ydiMobile. If you have questions about GoFetch, contact your implementation consultant or the support department.
  
• Add by Physical Inventory can be used by locations that don’t have specific sales and aren’t willing or able to set par levels. For example, if a restaurant does a flat price for a liquor package (and thus can’t deduct specific drinks), they can do a physical at the end of the night to reorder.
  
• ydiMobile sessions are created using Yellow Dog handheld software. For more information on ydiMobile, please see the separate manual. 
  
• Yellow Dog Inventory can also import Excel, CSV or text files. To do this, there must be something Yellow Dog Inventory can match to, whether it’s the Yellow Dog SKU, Vendor SKU or the UPC in Yellow Dog. Clients without Yellow Dog scanners can sometimes use this function to import counts from their existing scanner.
  
• The last option is through Item Lists. While you can filter “Add Items” by vendor, a lot of clients use item lists to create order guides for vendors from which they regularly buy only a small percentage of the items the vendor offers. 
  

Other Functions

• Remove Line Item – removes the selected item.
  
• Edit Item – opens the Item Editor for the selected item.
  
• Replace Item – removes the selected item and opens the Item Lookup screen. The new item keeps the previous notes and On Hand.
  
• Split Line – this can be used for items that you pay two different costs for (promos such as buy 11 bottles of vodka at full price and get the 12th free) or product you can purchase and return in the same invoice. 
  
• Renumber Lines – allows you to change the order of the items on the document. Sort the document how you want by clicking on the top of the columns, then hit “renumber lines” to change the “Line Number” to the correct order.
  
• No Related Documents/Open Related Documents – these allow you to quickly see and explore documents related to the one you’re working in, e.g. the PO that became the invoice you’re bringing in, or the transfer of the partially received product. “No Related Docs” only changes to “Open Related” once there are related documents to open.
  

Document Information

The top of each document type has general, as well as document specific, fields that allow you to add important information. 

The general fields are:

• Reference – frequently used for internal PO numbers, vendor invoice numbers, etc.
  
• Description – Can be used for more detailed information (event name for a catering order, holiday weekend stock up, etc.).
  
• Instructions – these can be for the vendor or the receiver (for example, “6 empty kegs to be picked up, double check bottle count”).
  
• Notes – This field is useful for jotting down even more detailed information than the description or instructions fields.
  

Other Notes

• As with any other screen in Yellow Dog, the fields that are gold or tan can be typed in directly. This is helpful for changing vendor and retail prices and descriptions. 
  
• The notes field on each line can be used to check off the item as you go through an invoice or packing slip, inform the orderer why they’re not getting a full count of what they asked for, etc. 
  
• If you have issues with vendors charging to a fraction of a cent for a single item, use the Extended Vendor Price (available under the “choose columns” blue hyperlink) to enter in the total cost and the system will round. While Yellow Dog Inventory only shows two decimal places by default, it does calculations based on the true number.
  
• To change the default decimal place calculations, you’ll need to change the Windows Regional settings for currency and numbers. 
  
• If you would like to leave the document open and come back to it later to add additional items, just select Save and Close. Keep in mind that the document will not be convertible, nor will On Order or On Hand counts change, until it is committed.
  
• If there is an order you repeat on a regular basis, use “Create New (Doc) Based on…” to copy it, much like you would an item.
  

Inventory Requests

Inventory Requests are most commonly utilized by users that do not have permission to create Purchase Orders. However, this is not always the case and they can be used by anyone to suggest or request items to be purchased. Most large F&B operations with purchasing departments use Requests to start the transfer of products to outlets. Requests are store, but not vendor specific.

• Navigate to Inventory Requests in the Purchasing section. Click Create New Request. 
  
• If you have access to more than one store, you will need to select the appropriate store.
  
• If necessary, fill out the “Need By” date. 
  

• Next, add items to your Request.
  
• Once you have selected your Request items, you can adjust the quantity, add notes, add an item reference, or adjust the cost of the item.
  
• When all edits are complete, click Commit Inventory Request to complete the request process. 
  
• Once you have selected your Request items, you can adjust the quantity, add notes, add item reference, or adjust the cost of the item.
  
• You can also Remove, Edit, Replace, Split & Renumber Line Items. 
  
• When all edits are complete, click Commit Inventory Request to complete the request process. 
  
• If you would like to leave the request open and come back to it later to add additional items, just select Save and Close. Keep in mind that the Inventory Request will not be convertible until it is committed.
  

Purchase Orders

Purchase Orders are used when placing orders for stock that you need from your vendor. You might send this directly to your vendor or to your purchasing department. 

• If creating a Purchase Order based on an Inventory Request that was generated, go to the Inventory Requests screen, highlight the committed Request, and click Convert to Purchase Order. This will convert the Request into a Purchase Order.  You can also use the Ctrl+click function to highlight multiple requests to turn them into a single PO. Each vendor will have its own PO, regardless of Request contents.
  

If you want to create a new Purchase Order that is not based on an existing Request:

• Navigate to Purchase Orders and click Create New Purchase Order and follow the on screen instructions.  Add information to the top section of the Purchase Order. 
  
• You will notice that you can add a Start Ship Date and a Cancel Ship Date. This will come in handy if you need to receive items by a certain day and cancel the order if not shipped by the date marked as Cancel Ship Date.
  
• The menu on the right side allows you to do a variety Purchase Order customization:
  

• Most of the buttons are the same as the Inventory Request module.
  
• The additional button is Pre-Allocate to Stores – If the item is available in more than one store, you can use this to pre-allocate quantities to be automatically transferred into chosen stores when received into the system.
  

• When finished, Click Commit Purchase Order to finish or Save and Close to leave the Purchase Order uncommitted for additional edits. 
  

Purchase Orders Approvals

Purchase Order Approvals are used when approval is required to place orders, i.e. purchasing amount restrictions.

To create a PO for Approval:  Follow the steps above to create a purchase order. Committing will not be an option if Approval is required. Instead, “Request PO Approval” will be available. Select “Request Approval”, then Save & Close the PO. 

To Approve a PO: When someone with Approval access logs in, “Purchase Order Approvals” will appear in the purchasing module under Purchase Orders. You can either select the PO and click Approve or Reject, or you can open the PO and approve or reject it from there.

• If you choose to reject the PO, the system will prompt you to indicate a reason for rejection. Once it is saved and closed, the PO will disappear from the Approval screen, but it will still be open in the Purchase Order screen.
  
• If you choose to approve the PO, it will ask you to Commit the PO. The PO will then appear as “Ordered” in the Purchase Order screen.
  

You can set different PO amounts to different “Ranks”, allowing certain employees to order different amounts or approve up to certain amounts without requiring someone with more approval access. See System Setup for more information.

Receipts

When items arrive at your location, you will need to create a Receipt to receive them into the system. Once a Receipt is committed, the received item quantities will be added to the previous on-hand totals. 

• Convert a Purchase Order into a Receipt from the Purchase Order screen or create a new Receipt from the Receipts section. Again, use the Ctrl+click function to convert multiple documents at once.
  
• From the new/converted Receipt you can add additional items that may have come in that weren’t on the PO, remove items that didn’t come in, etc.
  
• After all edits are made, click Commit Receipt to finish the Receipt process. Keep in mind – once you commit the receipt, the items will be added to your current on-hand counts. 
  
• If items have been set to “print labels when receiving”, you will be prompted to print labels for the quantity of items you have received. 
  
• If you have pre-allocated items to be transferred to other stores when received, you will be prompted to transfer the items. If you select “Yes, Transfer Now”, the Inventory Transfer screen will open. Click Issue Inventory Transfer. 
  

• If you have access to the store receiving the transfer, you will then be prompted to accept the Inventory Transfer: 
  

Invoice Records

Invoices are usually received after or accompanying your products’ delivery. Invoices will contain your freight, handling, discounts, etc. 

• Convert a Receipt or Purchase Order into an Invoice from the Receipt or Purchase Order screen or create a new Invoice from the Invoices section.
  
• Add Freight and Other charges. In this case, we have added a discount in the “Other” field. 
  
• You can also distribute the Freight and Other charges to the cost of the items either by Item Cost or Item Quantity, and either by All Items or by Departments.
  
• When all edits are complete, enter the Total amount into the Invoice Amount field to activate the Commit Invoice Record button.
  

Inventory Transfers

If you have set up two or more stores in Yellow Dog Inventory, you will be able to transfer stock from one store to another.

Important: In order for items to be transferred from Store A to Store B, they must be previously marked “Available” in both stores.

• Convert an Invoice into a Transfer from the Invoice screen or create a new Transfer from the Transfers section.
  
• Select the store to transfer items FROM and click Select in the bottom right corner.
  
• Select the store to transfer items TO and click Select in the bottom right corner.
  
• Select the items you with to transfer by either Add Line Items or Add Items From…. Adjust quantities as necessary, and then click Issue Inventory Transfer.
  
• If you have access to the store receiving the transfer, you will then be prompted to accept the Inventory Transfer.
  
• By default, the items will not leave the FROM store until they are accepted in the TO store. Please let your implementation consultant know if you would prefer inventory to go into “limbo” until accepted.
  

Return to Vendor

Sometimes you will need to return items to your vendor - whether they were damaged in transit, recalled by the manufacturer, or any number of other reasons.

• Navigate to Return to Vendor and click Create New Return to Vendor.
  
• Select the store to return the item from and the Vendor to return the item to.
  
• Fill in the description fields and add items to return via Add Items or Add Items From…
  

• When all of your edits have been made click the Commit Return to Vendor button. Once the Return to Vendor has been committed, the quantity being returned will be deducted from your on-hand count.
  

Reports

For detailed information on each report, please see the separate manual covering Reports.

There are three main report sections in Yellow Dog Inventory – Standard Reports, Saved Reports and Item Lists. 

Standard Reports

Standard Reports are reports that are included with Yellow Dog Inventory. There are over 150 common reports as well as less common ones based on frequent customer requests. If you would like your report list to the left of the filters instead of on top, right click in the Standard Reports screen and choose “Reports on Left”.

To generate a report, select the report you wish to run. Most reports can be filtered by timeframe, store, level and vendor. Other reports give you the option to select specific SKUs and include items with no activity or count.

After you have set the filters, click Generate in the upper right hand side of the filter section.

From here, your report is further customizable by clicking the blue “change columns, sorting and grouping” hyperlink in the top right corner. You can choose up to three columns to sort by, as well as add and remove the columns. Once you have the columns you want, you can click and drag to reorder them. 

You can print your report or you can choose to export it to Outlook, a CSV file or Excel. You can also save your customized report template and it will then appear in your Saved Reports.

Saved Reports

Reports you commonly refer to can be added to your Saved Reports for ease of access. Simply run the report you need, customize it as you want and click “Save Report Template” in the lower right corner.  Once it is saved, you can Execute, Rename or Remove the saved reports. For saving reports, the date range of that report *must* be generic, e.g Last 7 Days, Last Month, Yesterday, etc. If you choose specific date ranges, i.e. 11/01/15 to 11/30/15, you will constantly be running that date range. 

Item Lists

You can also create and save items into Item Lists. These are handy to create if there are items that are frequently ordered together, you need to keep a barcode/SKU sheet by the register for items without barcodes, you want to create order guides, or to keep your physical inventory process organized. 

Click “Create New Item List”, add items from the Item Lookup, and reorder and remove them as necessary. You can also add items based on Par Levels; Sales, Transfers & Adjustments; Sales; GoFetch; ydiMobile; an Excel or CSV file; or another Item List.

System Setup

• Accounting Interface – From here you can set accounts for Manual Adjustments, Inventory, Invoice Expense, Return to Vendor and Global.
  
• Interfaces – From the Interfaces tab, you can customize how Yellow Dog Inventory communicates with your POS system. In this example, the POS is Micros 9700. Please contact Yellow Dog Inventory support for questions about your specific interface.
  
• Options – You can use this tab to change the font and font size of both the Yellow Dog Inventory system and labels. This is also where cost calculation is set.
  
• Purchase Order Approvals – From here you can set Rank approvals for each store to limit the amount certain employees can order or approve order of.
  
• Print Templates – Use this tab to work with print templates. Please see the Print Templates section for details.
  
• Employees – From here you can add, remove & modify employee information, as well as permissions. Consult the Employee Security and Access section for detailed information.
  
• Employee Groups – Employee Groups are good to use if you have multiple employees that need the same permission. Simply create a new Employee Group with the correct permissions, and then in the Employee screen, select “Manage access using Employee Groups”.
  
• Employee Options – From here, you can connect employee passwords to their Windows or Active Directory passwords.
  
• Stores – The stores tab lets you see store details such as Active SKUs, Accounting ID, Company ID, Addresses and Revenue Center.
  

Interfaces

Interfaces are how Yellow Dog Inventory controls item behavior in the point of sale. There are three places to control interfaces. Each store you have access to will have its own interface section. Also, each integration you have will have its own columns, e.g. accounting, POS, etc. If you have questions about your interfaces, please contact Support or your Implementation consultant.

By Store

This section is available under the System Setup module. Setting interfaces here will set them for every item in the store.  Unless you know exactly what you’re doing, this is a bad idea.

By Level

Under Common Setup, each Level has an interface tab. From here, you can control the interfaces for all of the items in that particular level. We will attempt to set your system up this way whenever possible.

By Item

In the Item Editor, the last tab is the Interfaces tab. Setting interfaces here will only affect that item. This is the best place to change settings as they are easy to change back.

Keep in mind that interfaces are overwritten by those below them in the hierarchy. Interfaces set by level will overwrite any set by store and those set by individual item will take precedence over any store or level interface.

Cost Calculation

Yellow Dog Inventory has a few options for determining calculated cost. 

• Weighted average – To calculate this cost, Yellow Dog Inventory will divide the cost of goods available for sale by the number of units available for sale, which yields the weighted-average cost per unit. This gives product a value somewhere between the oldest and newest units purchased into stock.  Keep in mind, this is based only on the product that you theoretically have on hand, e.g. every time Yellow Dog calculates your on hand for that item is zero, it will start averaging again until the next time you hit zero.
  

• Per store – takes into account only the cost paid for that particular store, which is useful for large enterprise clients that will be purchasing the same goods from multiple suppliers depending on the store location.
  
• For all stores – takes into account the cost paid at all stores, which is useful for clients with multiple revenue centers at a single geographic location.
  

• Vendor price – Uses the most recent default vendor price from the timeframe you are pulling the report, i.e. a report for 3 months ago will use the default vendor price for 3 months ago.
  
• FIFO (first in, first out) - This method assumes that the first inventories bought are the first ones to be sold, and that inventories bought later are sold later. It is very common to use the FIFO method for F&B outlets or retail outlets that sell goods that have a limited shelf life, because the oldest goods need to be sold before they pass their sell-by date. This gives product a value closest to the most recent cost.
  

• LIFO (last in, first out) - This method assumes that the last inventories bought are the first ones to be sold, and that inventories bought first are sold last. Normally, this is due to increased cost of newer items because of inflation. However, because of its ability to reduce the reported profit, LIFO is used primarily for income tax deferral and is illegal nearly everywhere but the US.
  

Employee Security and Access

Yellow Dog Inventory has an extensive list of feature permissions that can be allowed or disallowed to individual employees or groups of employees.

Employee Access

To set an employee’s access on an individual basis, select Employees under System Setup and click on Create New Employee.

Next, enter the information required for this employee. First name, an Employee Number, and a Password are required. Middle and last names can be filled in if desired, but are completely optional. You can enter an email address, position, and any applicable notes in the Additional Information tab. Make sure to choose one or more stores that this employee has access to; otherwise, he or she will not be able to access anything at all, regardless of what Access Options are selected.

Tip: If a numbering system is already used throughout your company, it can be useful to use the same number as the Employee Number in Yellow Dog Inventory as well.

Access Options

To set permissions for Yellow Dog Inventory features, you can use the Manage Access Using Employee Groups checkbox (if Employee Groups have been created). Please note that more than one Employee Group needs to exist in order to use this function. You may also select more than one group per employee.

If the employee will not belong to a group, you will need to select options manually in the Access Options list. There is a default configuration in Yellow Dog Inventory, and each new employee will have default access until it is changes. You can use the All Off button to the right if an employee will only have a few options, you can re-set access to the Default configuration, or use the Clipboard to copy an employee’s access options. This can be useful if you want to create a group based on those options.

Most access options have several levels of access:

• Visible: The employee can see the selected features. If only this option is selected, they will not be able to edit the feature.
  
• Edit: The employee can change information in the selected feature.
  
• Edit After Committed: The employee can edit the selected feature after the document has been committed.
  
• Optional: If the Optional checkbox is selected, the user is not required to use this feature. 
  

Some options have a simple Yes checkbox, which will enable them. To see a full list of options, click here.

Employee Groups

Employee Groups allow a number of employees to be given the same level of access to the same stores without having to assign each employee’s access options manually. Multiple groups can be assigned to single employees. Keep in mind that Employee Groups are store specific. You cannot use the same employee group to manage two different stores’ supervisors unless you want them to have access to each other’s stores.  Use the Clipboard feature inside the Employee Editor tab to copy the same settings without affecting Store accessibility. 

To create a new group, go to Employee Groups under System Setup.

Once in the Employee Group Editor, click on Create New Employee Group. Give you group a name, select which store(s) it will apply to, and then select the appropriate options. See above for details on the available options.

Employee Options

Yellow Dog Inventory can also use Windows accounts and Active Directory to validate employees. You will have to set up access options, but employees will use the same information to log in to Yellow Dog Inventory as they do to log in to Windows or Active Directory. 

To enable these options, go to Employee Options under System Setup, then choose the appropriate box:

Make sure to include your Windows Domain so that employees will be able to log in. If you have any questions about your Windows Domain, please contact your IT Department.

Installing the Yellow Dog Inventory Client

To install Yellow Dog Inventory onto a new computer in a non-hosted environment:

• We will create either a Shared folder on the network for users to access or a desktop folder containing the files to be copied over to each computer that needs Yellow Dog Inventory installed. Typically, the folder will be copied over directly onto the C: drive. Open Yellow Dog Inventory initially with Run as Administrator.
  

To install Yellow Dog Inventory onto a new computer in a hosted environment:

• Contact your implementation consultant or Support. 
  

Note: The computers have to be on the same network as the server unless you are using our hosted option.  If you have any issues, please contact support.