GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT : Need help with your computer systems?

Question	Answer
We want to run a loyalty program where golfers can receive points for any purchases they make and not just for golfing. Our website system tracks this but can not include f&b or proshop purchases. Does Seta have the ability to collect information and assign points on a scale that we could adjust from time to time?	Track it at the Accounts Receivable level. Once the data comes into A/R, 'Loyalty Points' can be automatically assigned according to the revenue code for the item (whether it be f&b, green fees, pro shop purchases, cart rentals, etc). This then goes against the account record for the individual. To assign different points involves good organization of the revenue codes for each profit or revenue center, and for some clubs that could mean expanding the detail. For a business that wants finer control of its revenue streams its justified and the reporting and accuracy are increased. Another issue is check-ins and POS stations in the pro shop and f&b must be collecting the account numbers to ensure the accuracy. You did not mention if this was a member club - member rounds may be pre-paid revenue but it can still be tracked if entered into the system and that would give you loyalty points in tha scenario.
After our year end, we usually cut prices on old stuff like shirts and some clubs. We'd like to group them under one price and average the cost because it makes tracking them easier and its faster to sell.	Create an inventory item code for a 'bin' - called for example, 'Shirts-Bin-2004' (I attached the year to the description because that helps you next year). Then, do a transfer in your purchase order system by creating a document. This purchase order document would show items coming out of the original item codes (negative quantity) and going into the new bin item code (positive quantity). You may have an adjustment function that can do a similar thing. With Seta, there is also a transfer function that essentially does the same thing, except its categorized as a transfer as opposed to being lumped with all your other purchases and adjustments.
What is involved in setting up a starter hut with a printer so that it can print a copy of the receipt from the proshop?	A computer, cabling or wireless connection and a printer. The printer needs to be a shared resource on the network. After that the pro shop terminals need to be configured to send a copy of any receipts to that shared printer. As receipts are printed in the pro shop a copy will print in the starter hut.
How can I track my guest usage for each member?	Make sure the 'Guest confirmation code' is set against the guest booking on the tee sheet. You can now run the member report which will show you how many guests any member, or all members played with. If you want to set a limit to booking guests, set the flag globally (all members) or set the specific members that have guest limits. At the time of the booking, operator will be warned, at time of check-in, the operator will be warned. The warning can be overridden but will still show up in your end of day reports.
We would like the ability to sell certain goods on consignment but do not want the value of those goods in our value of inventory reports at end of the month. I need the option to sell them at Point of sale but not show up unless they are sold.	There are a few ways to achieve this comfortably, main thing is your value reports always reflect your costs and revenues. You can add items to your inventory with zero cost, they are still stock - then apply the cost at the time of the sale. In order to protect other items you can apply an authority level to the feature. If security is still an issue, you could sell the item as is, then apply the cost later as an adjustment entry against that inventory item. This would give you the ability to sell at Point of sale (positive revenue at zero cost), then balance your inventory to the cost (what you pay the consignor). It works out in your inventory value reports, showing accurate profit margin. Any mistakes (forgetting to apply the cost) would show up with a 'COST=ZERO' message on the report and against that item.
We are a semi-private club moving to 100 percent member based. Do you know of any other way to apply a charge to help support the clubhouse operation which is fair across the board? Some of our members cannot predict how much they can use the facility at times of the year because they travel with work.	Many private clubs assess a value that members must spend in the clubhouse in a period (monthly, quarterly, yearly) in order to maintain cash balance against the clubhouse operation, then billing the difference across all members if under. The idea is to ensure people utilize the facility, enough revenue is generated to keep it operational and to pay for any expansions. The assessment or 'minimum spending' value is based on financial reporting and budget estimates. Assessment credits could be applied to later years, so the assessment value could come down - but we do not hear much of that, since costs always go up. Pre-billing is becoming popular and that is fine if people have the money upfront, however, its a risk for the member and the club - could be higher, could be lower, and may involve refunds or a further billing to be entirely fair. An actual number at end of year (because that is what it actually cost) seems fairer but that would not help cash flow during that year. Usually, members or executive get to vote the assessment, so it would involve some consensus. For members not able to use the facility as much as others, you could pro-rate based on actual rounds played (or not played) - then adjust the assessment value in the consecutive year - and all this is assuming they spent less than the assessment. You could do this monthly or quarterly too, but that is a lot of work - so, billing and tracking usage once per year, then pro rating the assessment value would be efficient (also, I am assuming you know how many rounds each member plays). There is a way to tie in number of rounds to a value, however, it requires the pro shop is collecting that member round information.
Our club would like to print discounts given in the proshop and from our accounting on the customer's receipt, but not from other departments. Is there a way to do this already in the system?	Yes, see A/R, Setup, Statements. The default is set to OFF, so lookup each department that you want the feature enabled for then under 'Discount Line' set the 'Enabled' flag. Lastly, print a statement using a test account with such charges and discounts to make sure it follows what you intend.
We have a thermal model Zebra 90 printer we use for stock labels. We moved it to a computer in our stock room and we think the driver may not be right on this machine. It prints the text fine but not the barcode.	A few ways to tackle it, you could look up the installed driver (Start, Control Panel, System, Hardware - lists the hardware attached to the machine and there is an option to view/install/reinstall/rollback a driver) or use the installation disk/CD that came with the model. You can also look up Zebra, who has a Universal Driver for their model 90s. If that does not work, check your exact model #, download the exact driver and follow the instructions for installing (No luck, let me know).
We were advised to replace all our printers for printers with USB ports because that would improve our network speed. Why and which is better?	USB ports on computers are smaller, cheaper, more reliable, faster. They are also "hot swappable", which means you can plug and unplug the device safely. Windows XP detects and configures USB ports automatically, and unless you have a device, such as a printer with a driver that it does not recognize, it should be plug and play. In other words, attaching peripherals is simpler these days. Most new peripherals come with USB ports, its less work and less troubleshooting than parallel and/or serial ports. As for changing out all your printers just because of USB ports, that might be a bit dramatic. If you are going to buy new then get USB, but check you have enough USB ports on the machine you are attaching to. Finally, the printer itself will dictate the speed onto the paper, not the USB port.
Months ago we had cabling added to part of our new facility. It connects three offices and the ends are attached to our server hub. We replaced the old hub for a new model with more ports. We have not added any new computers yet. At first we did not notice any problems, then computers in the reception office slowed down and seem to hang for a while. I replaced the hub with another same model, but that did nothing. We had the new cable tested and its ok. Any help or suggestions?	Without going down the 'what type and model of' street', I suggest you try to isolate the problem through elimination. First, create a reliable test that you can use to measure the error - ie, can you make it happen at a computer by loading it with some networked software and try a few things in that software that creates network load - loading files, printing to a networked printer. You indicated that only the hub was changed out and a cable was added. 1. Disconnect the new cable if its not being used, 2. Can you put the old hub back to enable a test? 3. Attach an existing and working computer to the new cable (move it or add a cable extension). Impossible to be sure without seeing the facility, routing and many things, but its possible there is some interference, electrical, people, on the new cable stretch. You could identify that by disconnecting it. Finally. its a long term investment to have optimum cabling and an experienced network specialist is an option.
I reprogrammed the hotkeys on all our stations, which we like because it saves us huge time but one of the keyboards does not work. They are all the same type and model 101 keyboards. I swapped the keyboard on this machine and same thing. Other software works fine. Any help would be appreciated.	I do not know what keys you are redefining, chances are there's a conflict. Compare the language settings with a good machine. My guess is another language is in there. Remove it unless you need another language, but make the default US (International). Checking your language settings:- Control Panel Regional & Language Options Languages Detail - Change to (US International). If that fails, please email me.
Our members have member swipe cards they have to show when they check in at the proshop. It contains their member ID, name and the member type information. If I scan only that can the booking system make sure they are valid then complete the check in so there is no typing involved?	Firstly, the member type validation should have happened when they booked (because you took the member name or ID or tel# at that time), otherwise it will be validated again as the Member is looked up because of the swipe. At the booking screen, press 'SpaceBar' to initiate a check-in, then do the swipe. The ID, name, telephone# and other details are entered from the member record. If you want to automate it further and pay the green fee (because its a member), set the option in Setup-Bookings (See Member Auto-Pay) and the Paid flag will be set for you. If a receipt or bag tag is to be printed, it will also happen automatically.
I want a list of members by rounds played and in descending order to post on our website. Does Seta have the ability to do that?	The system can generate an HTML page for the report and you can save it to file. You decide where the file is to be saved to and the software remembers the location. If your website is on your network server, its a simple matter to path the location to your site 'www' directory. If its off-site, you will need the ftp information from your website service providor. A web page on your website will need to link to the page. For example: http://www.ourclubsitename.com/Rpt/MemberRounds.htm Seta can also automate the process, daily, weekly, monthly - let us know if you get that far.
Members are checked in but we do not want to have them wait while the computer does a receipt and they do not always come into the Proshop. How can we set them as checked in inside the computer system We want to maintain our ability to report member play and their rate of play.	You could check them in as part of the tee sheet 'End Of Day' process. Its a one shot operation for the shift manager to set the 'Paid' flag against those members in their booking entry. The starter or Pro shop should have that information. As for rate of play, if the default start and end time is fine, you are set. If not, you will have to enter the changes to make it accurate - your decision. Would having a starter hut solve this problem?
I am not the only one with this problem. Our stock labels keep falling off our stock like droppings on the floor every morning so we end up rechecking the price and its a waste of time. Any better ideas than tape because what is the point of the glue on the label?	I do not understand why the glue is not smarter, but here goes... Clubs - if the label adhesive is not enough, tape is a good idea around the shaft. Frequently sold items like boxes of golf balls - tape a single label to your computer or on the counter. Clothing - reusable price tags with a plastic attach ring that you can take off at the counter. The computer generated label saves you time, and placed on a reusable tag saves you money and hassle. Consider an idea - green fee labels attached to pages - by green fee category, day of week, time of day. On Saturday morningat page titled 'Saturday Morning' and it should show all rates for Saturday morning only. Even at 100 green fee rates, can't be that many pages and it saves huge time.
I have over a hundred rate codes for my green fees. How can I be sure people are not going to pick the wrong one in the computer?	A number of ways, here are some examples. Code them well so in look ups they appear in a logical order for the operator. Make good use of the description field. Apply rules to problem green fee items. Example - "can only be selected on Saturday morning between 6a and 11a".
Our club has several billing amounts and several billing cycles. Can Seta handle that? Also can it be made to show detail for some revenues but not others?	You can invoice billings/dues in any combination of monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, or any number of months you specify against each account. The account record shows any billings to be applied and you can run a report to list them as a check (extract by category). The amounts can be calculated based on formulas you create called billing rules, or from specific amounts. You can flag which revenue accounts will display detail on statements.
The wait list shows me people that want to make a booking. How can I know what day and time is their preference?	The schedule you are looking at when you activated the 'Wait List' window will decide which people come up in the list. If you entered a time as a note, it would be there too. If not, assume its because they did not request a specific time. Note, once the window is up, you can click the expand buttons to list all waits for that day (any schedule), the week, the forever.
What exactly is replacement cost on inventory?	Today's or current replacement cost for that stock. Use it to show depreciation on stock. I wonder if anyone would elaborate on 'service inventory replacement cost or depreciation'.
Can you explain average cost versus other ways to cost items? I need to explain why we use this method and its benefits if any.	An inventory costing method that uses the weighted average unit cost to allocate the cost of goods available for sale to ending inventory and to report cost of good sold. In other words, total cost of all items purchased divided by total quantity of those items. More accurate for showing the profit, your G/L will show true cost of goods sold. Other methods include LIFO costing - latest cost of inventory units purchased are the first applied to cost of goods sold.
I am losing stock in one type of golf balls, but showing an increase in another, same price but different cost. I know what causes it but changing the description did not help. What else can I do without moving to a bar code reader?	Ask staff to count those golf balls as part of end of day procedures and submit the numbers with their cash out. Since you know which two models are being mistaken you can make a positive and negative quantity/cost adjustment to repair your inventory value. (See->Inventory, Adjustments)
I want to clear out items from my inventory at no revenue received and cost adjusted but if sell them at POS they will show up in my sales reports. Another issue I have is some items do not need a receipt and waste paper. Any ideas to solve that would save me time and money?	At POS enter the items as you would normally, click "Manager Options" (requires a password). Now, select "zero item revenue". All items now have prices = 0.00. On the pay screen you can either select cash which will balance to zero or select the pay type "Return" or select a pay type specific to the task that you defined (it helps with reports and later tracking). Continue the transaction, post the receipt with the rest of your end of day materials off to A/R. Inventory is now reduced and costed out, your revenue is the same, you have a record of the transaction, A/R is balanced. Switch off the receipt for any items like this. Tracking continues and the stored receipt copy can always be printed later if the customer insists on it.
How can I list all payments received for a range of accounts?	There are four ways, decide which suits best. by name range - enter start name and end name (alphabetic order) by Code ID range - enter start code and end code (alphabetic order) if you will require the same list in the future, give them a group code that you can always use to extract on. select the lookup window, then click the attach flag next to each account;
When I attempt to book 5 people into a tee time it comes up with a message not allowed. Can I keep the limit to 4 but override it sometimes?	Yes. See, 'Setup, Schedules, Security'. You can attach a password level to that option and then the next time you attempt to enter 5 the program will require the authorization.
I want to remove guest and member accounts completely from my reports that were entered in error. There has been no activity on these accounts	Change their 'Process Status' to 'Remove', Go to Reports, Select 'Status Reports', attach the parameter 'Status = Remove', then list/print those accounts. Go to 'Utilities, Processes, Remove'. Execute Remove function. If there is any activity against an account the system will not remove that account. To complete the removal, you must ensure their account balances become zero and there is no activity in that current period.
I have 60 people that can charge to their account and I do not need to send them statements each month, only when they ask for them. Can I print statements at any time?	Yes, but be aware the period you have posted - it will be at top of the statement. If you are operating memo balances, or current to date, you may not be concerned with much else. Other issues for your information are fixed or percentage late charges, monthly / period dues billing and ROA (received on account) is processed and reflected in the statements. Are all transactions from all processes included?
How do I set the rate of play for a group and then how do I get a report to show me everyone in a day. I have an 18 hole golf course with a starter on the first tee box.	The system needs to be given the start and end time for each group. Against the time on the tee sheet press the right mouse button to bring up 'Options'. Select 'Start time', then select 'Now' - to enter the current time, or manually change it to a valid time. You would do a similar thing for the end time. Next, in reports, see 'Bookings, Rate of Play'. You can set parameters for a single or many schedules, date range, time range and even differentiate members, public, guest. Note, with a starter hut, it would be a function to check the bag tag, stamp the start time, then later the end time. The reporting is straight forward after you�ve caught the data.
I am thinking about increasing my screens to 19" with maximum resolution so I can get more staff schedules onscreen at one time. Will this work?	The software will accomodate any screen size. You might consider dual monitors.
Can I add a user defined field to the top left of my inventory labels with a barcode?	Yes, see 'Inventory, Setup, Labels'. You should check it on-screen before you print, just in case your text takes it past the label size.
I set up all my schedules for my company so they can fit around my screen. Then I want to keep that arrangement as a view. How can I do that so the next time I log in it remembers?	Make it a View in the system. Go to 'Setup, Views', add the schedules you want, then click the checkbox to indicate to the software that you want the state remembered. To make it the default view, click 'Set as default' against the View name. Btw, you can also have different pre-set Views for the same schedules.
How can Ia cash draw from an Epson printer.	CHR$(27);CHR$(112);CHR$(0);CHR$(25);CHR$(250); The above is decimal values, you would translate that to Hexadecimal for some applications - (write me if you need hex). 27 & 112 is the command, 0 is the cash drawer number (if there are 2 cash drawers connected to the printer, 0 is cash drawer number 1 and 1 is drawer 2), 25 & 250 are the pulse width and minimum delay between subsequent pulses. Please note that if you are using 2 cash drawers from a single receipt printer, both cash drawers cannot be fired at exactly the same time. There has to be a slight delay between cash drawer 1ng and cash drawer 2ng. With DOS, you can test for a serial printer using the following command: Mode COM1:96,N,8,1 where COM1 is the port and 96 is the Baud Rate.
My keyboard wedge scanner beeps when I read a barcode but will not transmit data to the screen?	A good reason to keep a hold of manuals for these devices. Using the programming guide, find and scan these barcodes: 1. ENTER SET ALL DEFAULTS, SET ALL DEFAULT 2. ENTER GROUP 0, KEYBOARD, EXIT. This will reset the device to it's Factory Defaults and then set it to Wedge Mode.
Does Seta provide support services to our existing network support people?	Clients have access to support services and we have a partner program for technicians that need information or help with integration, hardware or customization of the software. Our 'Client Zone' discusses different methods or email us specific details.
Are upgrades discounted for current users of the system?	We have a discounted price for secondary products that clients purchase plus add-ons and upgrades to existing customers. Check your service provisions to see if you are entitled to free upgrades.
I cannot see my business type listed on your website, how do I know Seta will work for my business?	Email us with as many details as you can provide and we will make sure we are a good fit. If any customization is necessary at our end, or even your end, it will be well worth finding out and taking it from there.
Do I need any special hardware to operate a network between my 6 locations or is internet enough?	You should discuss that with us bearing in mind what you may already have for hardware/software and also geographic location and any other constraints you can make us aware of.
I already have clients in my Access db. Can I export to Access or SQL so I can combine both types of data operations?	Yes, it will bring the data together and you can decide to keep it in Access or move to SQL, but you need the Seta data add-on to manage it on a one off or an automated regular basis. It also feeds the Seta CRM, so depending on how rich your data currently is or expect to get, you might consider it worth the investment. For large or multi-location networks, Access has some limitations, in which case we recommend you move to Oracle or SQL.
I have a 15 station dental practice with two reception areas on shift, at periods of the day they are both very busy, can I take calls in my office?	Any terminal is capable of taking bookings. You can decide employee rights or allow the terminal to only display the bookings module. Its also possible to run other modules and the booking system at the same time, but only one instance of each.
We would like to combine two hair salon inventories but run off separate reports for each?	By setting up G/L accounts and/or departments with some kind of separation in their system, its possible to separate the inventories in all reports. Categories and sub-categories allow more specialist reporting, so your ability to manage sets of items is not compromised, but you can still get the bigger picture at the General Ledger level.
I would like to alert the operator when I certain person tries to make a booking. We have occasional problems with people not turning up and this way we could monitor it better.	You can set an alert for the operator taking the booking or you could suspend defaulters so they cannot be selected during the booking process.
I recently had a situation in which a customer's Win 98 computer couldn't log on to the shares on the customer's computer running Windows XP Pro for PC.	Try this, re-enter the Win98 user's passwords in the Win98 user's account on the XP computer. The Win98 user should access the shares on the XP computer. This fix is necessary for all Win98 users who have or had a user account on this XP computer. You may notice the access speed to the share is slower than from another XP. (Solution to that is to consider the value in replacing out your 98s)
We want to do our own backups of our server each day and will install a tape drive. Is tape the best way to go? We will also be installing SQL server and some other software for our operations. Can I backup just the SQL from time to time?	There are many ways to do a backup, tape is slow but reliable and mobile/portable disks are fast. Next issue is size of the data. If you work out a rotate procedure for your tapes, take one out the list periodically, you will reduce your risk. Any system that is reliable #1, portable, cost effective and efficient from a user's standpoint is okay. If your main concern is just the SQL database, you need access rights to do a backup. You must have BACKUP DATABASE or BACKUP LOG permissions, or you should be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role, or of the db_owner or db_backup operator fixed database roles. Dumping the SQL database to a text file is probably the easiest to achieve as a procedure and safest. If your database is constantly live/real-time and/or very large, I advise you talk to a db specialist, we have several on staff.
Is Seta software able to run on a network and how many terminals can it operate?	Seta is network ready software designed to run on any number of terminals. Novel or NT server is preferred. Seta Dart is an entry level system and Version Seta Arrow allows 5 networked users. Its worth mentioning that there is an upgrade path in case you are not sure where to start out.