MicroBiz can be used as a simple but powerful tool for tracking inventory items. This article covers most of the topics pertaining to adding, editing, and otherwise managing your inventory within the program. For details on Purchase Orders, see  Purchase Orders.

Figure 6-1

Add/Edit Inventory

This opens the Product Lookup window, which is the main way to browse through your inventory in MicroBiz.

Figure 6-2 

What the buttons do:

• SKU – Selects the SKU field and organizes items on the Product Lookup window by Stock Keeping Unit (also known as the item number or SKU).
• Desc – Selects the Description field and organizes items on the Product Lookup window by Description.
• Search –Opens the "Search For…" screen, where you can search for an item.
  • You will be searching by the currently selected field (this is why you can click on the SKU or Desc buttons).
  • You can also select a field by clicking on it in the Product Lookup window.
  • You can search by most of the fields displayed here, but if you search by something other than SKU or Description, you may have to close the Product Lookup window to reload all items.
• Wild –This searches for a keyword within a column (also known as a wildcard search).
  • This option is only available when using the customized product list, activated under Management | Custom System Settings | Transaction Settings | Misc Tab "Use Customizable Browse at F3."
  • You will be searching by the currently selected field.
  • Once a Wild search has been made, you will only see your search results in the Product Lookup window. To see all items again, select "Clear Filter/Search Criteria" from the drop-down menu.
• Explode – Presents detailed information about the item currently selected.
• Add – Brings up the "Product" window for adding a new item into inventory.
• Fast Add –Brings up the "Fast Add Product" window for adding a new item to inventory.
  • Although (as the title suggests) adding items this way can save time, only some of the fields can be changed on this window.
  • The "Customize Fields" button on this screen will open a window with a few more fields available than the regular Fast Add method.
• Script –This button pulls up the Script window that allows the user to maintain a "dialog" about the product.
  • This can be used for telemarketing scripts, miscellaneous product specifications, up-sell/cross-sell opportunities and more.
  • It is a free form file of unlimited length.
  • It can be forced to pop-up as the item is sold at the Front Register by enabling "Show Item Script when Loading" under Management | Custom System Settings | Transaction Settings.
• Edit –Brings up the "Product" window for editing any fields of the highlighted item.
  • Once an item is added, you cannot edit the SKU or the Type (the "Type" would be Product, Service, Kit, etc.).
• Picture – Click on this button to view, add or change the image associated with the selected item.
• Delete – Permanently deletes the selected item from inventory.
• !MKC (Matrix/Kit/Custom) –Clicking on this button will allow you to edit Kit components or Matrix items, if applicable.
  • "!MKC" will be displayed on the button if the currently selected item is not a Matrix/Kit/Custom item Type. This means that this button won't do anything, so it is disabled.
  • "Matrix" will be displayed on the button if the currently selected item is of the Matrix Type, and will allow you to edit the rows and columns (see section below on Matrix items).
  • "Kit" will be displayed on the button if the currently selected item is of the Kit or Custom
• Hist – Selecting this button presents the last 16 months sales, month by month, in graphic form.
• Enter – Use this button to load the selected product to the front register.  This only works when viewing the front register.  If viewing the main menu, this button is inactive.
• Quit – Exit the Product Lookup screen.

If "Use Customizable Browse..." is enabled under Management | Custom System Settings | Transaction Settings | Misc. Tab, then you will have access to the "Select Other Function" drop-down menu at the bottom of the Product Lookup window. This menu gives you additional options, such as editing the layout of the Product Lookup window, editing Price Schemes, and more. The following is a list of items found in this menu, and their various functions.

1. Assign Item(s) to Price Scheme – This provides a quick way to add the selected item to a current or new Price Scheme.
2. Remove Item(s) from Price Scheme – This provides a quick way to remove the selected item from a Price Scheme.
3. Clear Filter/Search Criteria – This resets the contents of the Product Lookup window to show all products, which is useful if you have just used the "Wild" feature, then want to see all products again without closing and reopening Product Lookup.
4. Adjust column width – This enables you to manually resize the columns by placing the mouse on the border between two field headers (e.g. on the line between "SKU" and "Description") and "dragging" it to the left or right by holding down the left mouse button.
5. Clear grid columns –Removes all fields from the Product Lookup window. This is useful if you want to start from scratch and build your Product Lookup screen from nothing.
   • If you select this by accident, you can close Product Lookup and re-enter before saving to restore it. If you have tried this, then you can always go back to the default by selecting the following option.
6. Restore grid to its default columns – Select this to set the Product Lookup window back to how it was when first installing MicroBiz.
7. Add columns to grid – With this option, you can add other fields (such as Color, Department, Quantity, etc.) as columns in the Product Lookup window.
8. Remove columns from grid – You can select this to remove columns that are currently displayed in Product Lookup.
9. Save columns – If you have added, removed or resized columns, then you need to choose this option before closing Product Lookup to save your changes.
10. Transaction Settings (Cols) – This is a shortcut to Management | Custom System Settings | Transaction Settings.

Just to the right of this drop-down menu is the option to Pop-up when Front Register grid is clicked. Check this box if you wish to access the Product Lookup window by clicking in the middle of the Front Register (you can still access it from F3). At the very bottom right of the Product Lookup windows is the font size selection box. Here you can change the font size of the Product Lookup screen at any time. It will save the last font size that you set it to when you close out of the Product Lookup Screen.

Product Data Fields

When adding or editing an inventory item, you will most likely be in contact with the Product window. The following is a list and brief explanation of the options contained in this setup window, separated by each tab. For examples of how to add or edit items, skip ahead to the next section (you can always come back here if you don't understand what a field does).

What the buttons do

At the bottom of the Product window there are several buttons which are universal to any tab you may be viewing. These buttons include:

• Add – Opens a new record so you can add another item.
  • This option is only available if the currently selected record is in read-only mode.
• Edit – Allows you to resume editing the selected item.
  • This option is only available if the currently selected record is in read-only mode.
• Look – This saves the current record and allows you to enter another SKU to open.
• Previous Record – Clicking on the < button will save any changes to the current record and display the item preceding the selected one.
• Next Record – Clicking on the < button will save any changes to the current record and display the item following the selected one.
• Help – This will display the Help file. Remember, help is also always available by pressing your F1 key.
• Save – Click here to save any changes you have made.
• Cancel – This exits the Product window. If you click on this button you will lose any changes since your last save.

There are also a few buttons (and a menu and some text fields) at the top of the screen that are always accessible. Here's what they do:

• SKU – The Stock Keeping Unit is the primary identifier for all inventory items.
  • See the guides to adding inventory below for tips on creating and managing SKUs.
• Description – This should be a brief (but unique) description for your item.
• Product Type – In the image below it says "Product", but you can choose from several inventory item "Types" depending on what you want this item to do for you.
  • See the section on "Assigning Type Codes" below for more information.
• More Description Lines – If your brief Description line doesn't display the full text you want to appear on the invoice (receipt), then click on this button and to enter additional description information.
• Picture – Click on this button to assign an image file with this item.
  • When the item is loaded to the Front Register, the Picture will be displayed.
• Edit Sold – This is only used for "Serial" items, for tracking/editing sold serial numbers.
• Edit Unsold – This is only used for "Serial" items, for tracking/editing unsold serial numbers.