Icon Prefs

Big Business includes multiple icon sets for additional customizability. Icon Prefs let you choose the Icons you want to use.

This Solution describes this option. (6453)

Big Business icons are evolving. New icons meet new qualifications:
• high-resolution for new displays and scaling
• baked-in for responsiveness
• pre-configured in themes

Choices for Icons Prefs are:
• System Setting - use the system setting
• Classic - the original Big Business icons hand-drawn by Dave served on white
• Satin - simple and contempory with soft outlines and shadows on a modern bevel
• Carbon - striking with rich gradients for depth on a void background (goes with OS X Dark Mode)
• Harmony - decidedly lighter, simple, and elegant on highlight buttons
• Contour - cosmopolitan, bold, and clear on a modern bevel
• Helios - playful and versatile on highlight buttons

To set your Icon Prefs:
1. Go to Employee toolbar to My Prefs
2. For Icon Prefs choose a setting
3. Click OK to save My Prefs

To set Icon Prefs for your company:
1. Go to the Company card and go to the Company Prefs tab
2. For Icon Prefs choose an entry
3. Click OK to save Company Card

Changes will take effect when Clients are restarted.


  Employees Search

Employees Search lets you view My Prefs settings for employees, such as:
• Search Prefs
• Docs Prefs
• Auto Zoom Prefs
This gives you a fast way to review or change, using the Update button.

This Solution describes this option. (6623)

Employees Search lets you view My Prefs settings for employees, such as:
• Search Prefs
• Docs Prefs
• Auto Zoom Prefs

These are settings that appear in My Prefs when signed in as a particular employee. If you go to the My Prefs tool youself you will only see your settings.

To Add a column like Search Prefs, click the Add button (or right mouse click anywhere) on the Header row. Then choose the Column you want to add.


This Chapter covers changes to Employees in Big Business 2.5:

• Batch Delete Access Control

• Using CheckMark Payroll


This Chapter covers Employees in Big Business:

• Batch Delete Access Control

• Using CheckMark Payroll


  Cloud Services

Access to Cloud Services is set on the Employee Card, on the Secure Web tab. Granting access lets the employee use credentials (securely stored API keys) to perform a task, like clicking a button in Big Business to automatically create a Customer in your online store.

This Solution provides details. (6543)

Access to Cloud Services is set on the Employee Card, on the Secure Web tab. Granting access lets the employee use credentials (securely stored API keys) to perform a task, like clicking a button in Big Business to automatically create a Customer in your online store.

To give an Employee access to Cloud Services:
1. Open their Employee Card
2. Go to the Secure Web tab
3. Check the checkbox for Access under Cloud Services
4. Click OK to Save the Employee Card


  Viewing the Employee History

Viewing the Employee History
Employee Cards can now maintain a history of checks paid to employees. The history
includes both miscellaneous checks paid to the employee and payroll checks
imported from third-party payroll software. See “Importing Payroll Information” in Chapter 8 for instructions.
To view the employee history:
• Click the History tab in an Employee Card. (3102)


  Load Only Active Employees

Load Only Active Employees removes Employees from the following lists:

• Sign-In list
• Salesperson lists on Customer Cards and Quotes, Sales Orders, and Invoices
• Employee Listing for the Employee Card tool

Using this feature you can hide old employees names, and prevent them from being added to new transactions or used to Sign-In. (3634)

On the Employee Prefs tool is a checkbox to "Load Only Active (Emp. w/o Term. Date)." Clicking this checkbox tells Big Business to Load Only those Employees who do not have a Termination Date listed on their Employee Cards, into the following Employee lists:

• Sign-In list
• Salesperson lists on Customer Cards and Quotes, Sales Orders, and Invoices
• Employee Listing for the Employee Card tool


  Confirm Item Card Changes

Confirm Item Card Changes is In Employee Prefs--with other data entry preferences--and adds a confirmation dialog when clicking OK to Save an Item Card. This Solution describes its use. (6192)

To enable Confirm Item Card Changes:
1. Go to the Employee toolbar to Employee Prefs.
2. Click the checkbox for Confirm Item Card Changes.
3. Click OK to Save Employee Prefs.

Changes take effect the next time Employees Sign In.

When clicking OK on an Item Card, if the Item Card has been modified, the confirmation dialog will prompt the user to Save or Cancel. Clicking Save (or typing Enter or Return, will Save normally. Clicking Cancel will return the user to the Item Card to review changes or click Cancel to close the Item Card without saving changes.


  Disable Subform Restore

Subform Restore addresses two database oddities:
• that a selected Line Item can be deselected in switching windows
• that the displayed Line Items can appear blank when switching windows

Subform Restore automatically returns to the Item Code of the last selected Line Item. This Solution describes disabling this feature if the results are undesirable or problematic. (6207)

To disable Subform Restore:
1. Go to the Employee toolbar to Employee Prefs.
2. Click the checkbox for Disable Subform Restore.
3. Click OK to Save Employee Prefs.

Changes take effect the next time Employees Sign In.


  Department Mandatory

Department Mandatory lets you require a Department entry on all transactions. If you use Departmental Profit and Loss reports, this setting may help.

This Solution describes this setting. (6916)

To require Departments on all transactions:
1. Go to the Employee toolbar to Employee Prefs.
2. Click the checkbox for Department Mandatory.
3. Click OK to Save Employee Prefs.

Changes take effect the next time Employees Sign In.


  Access Privileges

The Access tab on Employee card lets you limit access to specific tools and privileges.

• Export - needed to export from searches and reports
• Terms - needed to change customer or vendor terms or credit
• Update - needed to use Update in searches to change multiple entries
• Delete - needed to use Delete in searches to delete multiple entries
• Profit - needed to view Profit tab on transactions
• History - needed to view History tab on cards
• Category - needed to view Category tab on transactions
• Duplicate - needed to use Duplicate in searches to duplicate multiple entries
• Status - needed to change Status on transactions
• Inactive - needed to change Inactive status of Customer, Items, etc.

These features apply throughout Big Business. (3103)

To assign privileges and access to differentfFeatures in Big Business, first turn OFF the All Access setting:

1. Open the Employee Card
2. Go to the Access tab
3. Click to uncheck All Access

You can then turn ON access to Tools by:
• Selecting a Toolbar - Customer, Vendor, Item,...
• Selecting a Tool - Customer Card, Customer Search, Quote,...

You can also turn ON Privileges such as:
• Export - needed to export from searches and reports
• Terms - needed to change customer or vendor terms or credit
• Update - needed to use Update in searches to change multiple entries
• Delete - needed to use Delete in searches to delete multiple entries
• Profit - needed to view Profit tab on transactions
• History - needed to view History tab on cards
• Category - needed to view Category tab on transactions
• Duplicate - needed to use Duplicate in searches to duplicate multiple entries
• Status - needed to change Status on transactions

Click OK to Save changes to the Employee Card and OK the dialog, that changes do not take effect until the user signs in again.


Big Business 2.5 adds the Batch Delete tool to many of the QuickSeaches. This tool offers the power to delete multiple records at one time. To limit an employee's access to this tool, Big Business 2.5 includes the Batch Delete tool in the Access Control for an employee.

Once you turn off All Access for an employee, assign the employee's access to specific tools by clicking on the tools. Use the toolbar pulldown to select from different toolbars.

To prevent an employee from using Batch Delete, make sure the Batch Delete tool is grayed out (not selected).


  Use Retained Earnings as a Category

Big Business includes the option to use Retained Earnings as a Category. This settings allows posting directly to the Retained Earnings to make accounting adjustments and corrections with a General Journal Entry or other transaction. (5636)

Big Business Accounts include:

• Categories which can be designated for use on transactions
• Bank Accounts which can only be accessed with the Banking tools
• Special Status Accounts (SSAs) which are handled automatically:
Accounts Receivable Account(s), Accounts Payable Account(s), Inventory Accounts, Current Year Earnings, and Retained Earnings

Your accountant may recommend entries to Retained Earnings in special circumstances, such as correcting beginning balances, or clearing owner's draws. You should not post to Retained Earnings without an account's advice. Access to use Retained Earnings as a Category is restricted by default and can only be enabled by setting Special Access on the Access tab of an Employee Card.

To Enable Access to Retained Earnings as a Category:

1. Go to Employee to the Access tab
2. Click the Unlock Retained Earnings checkbox
3. Save the Employee

When this Employee signs in, Retained Earnings will appear in the listing of Categories and can be selected on a transaction.

Postings created for Retained Earnings can be viewed on the Category Card, which also displays a Total for these postings (only). Other entries which comprise Retained Earnings are not displayed. The Balance in the Retained Earnings Account can only be viewed by running a report, such as the Balance Sheet, for a specific As Of Date.


  Cannot Modify / Delete Transactions

Big Business allows you to limit employee privileges, which you assign in the Employee Card on the Access tab.

Settings for Cannot Modify Transactions and Cannot Delete Transactions prevent the user from modifying or deleting any saved transaction. (5517)

Big Business includes settings in Employee Access for Cannot Modify Transactions and Cannot Delete Transactions to prevent errant changes or deletion of all saved, dated transactions, as follows:

• Only affects transactions with dates, such as Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices

• Does not affect (non-dated) Cards, such Customer, Vendor, or Item

• Allows the Employee to create and Save new transactions

• Allows the Employee Read-Only access to existing (Saved) transactions

• Prevents the Employee from Deleting existing (Saved) transactions

• Works with an All Access or limited access setting


To set an user to Cannot Modify Transactions or Cannot Delete Transactions:

1. Open the user's Employee card.

2. Go to the Access tab.

3. Click the checkbox for Cannot Modify Transactions or Cannot Delete Transactions.

4. Click the OK button to save changes.


  Protect Transactions

Protect Transactions prevent users from modifying or deleting any saved transactions. (7034)

Protect Transactions prevent changes or deletion of all saved, dated transactions:

• Only affects transactions with dates, such as Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices

• Does not affect (non-dated) Cards, such Customer, Vendor, or Item

• Allows the Employee to create and Save new transactions

• Allows the Employee Read-Only access to existing (Saved) transactions

• Prevents the Employee from Deleting existing (Saved) transactions

• Works with an All Access or limited access setting


To set the sytemt to Protect Transactions:

1. Go to the Company card.

2. Go to the Advanced tab.

3. Click the checkbox for Protect Transactions.

4. Click the OK button to save changes.


  Entering a Commission Rate

Entering a Commission Rate
Big Business Version 2.0 allows you to enter commission rates for your employees and
keep track of the commission amounts they earn.
When you enter a commission rate, it applies to either the total sales or the profit generated by the employee, depending on a selection you make in the Employee Preferences window. (The total sales and profit amounts are based on invoices on which the employee is listed as the Salesperson.)

See “New Employee Preferences,” later in this chapter for more instructions about choosing between total sales and profit as the basis for commissions.

You can generate a report to see the commission amounts earned by your employees.

For more information about reports, see “Using Reports” in Chapter 8 of the Big Business User’s Guide. (3101)

To enter a commission rate:
1. Click the History tab in an Employee Card.
2. Enter a percentage in the Commission Rate field.


  Reporting Employee Commissions

Big Business provides straightforward reporting of employee commissions. Using the various options available you can:

-Choose whether to report commission on gross Sales or Profit (margin)

-Assign different employees different commission rates

-Report Commissions on Invoices or Paid Invoices
(5644)

Big Business includes several methods for reporting employee commissions, based upon the following settings:

• On a Customer Card you can assign a default Salesperson for a Customer.
• On Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices you can select a Salesperson.
• On an Employee card, History tab, you can specify a Commission Rate.
• On the Employee Prefs choose Commissions based upon Sales or Profits.

From the list of Employee Reports, select one of the Commission Reports:
Commission Report (Summary)
Commission Report (Detail)
Commission Statement Report (Detail)

In the Custom Form Report tool, select one of the following Templates:
Receipts, Commission on Totals
Receipts, Commission on Subtotals

For more complex commission calculations, create multiple Employee Cards for a single employee. You might also use the Search options in the Commission Reports to control reporting. For example, if Joe makes 20% on Cash orders and 15% on all others, you could create two Employee Cards for Joe, or you could set Joe's Commission Rate to 20% and run using a Search like "Terms is equal to Cash" then reset Joe's Commission Rate and run the report again for "Terms is not equal to Cash."


  CheckMark Payroll (Win): Set Up

This Solution provides set up information for using CheckMark Payroll (available for both Macintosh and Windows, directly from Big Business Sales) with Big Business. It supplements CheckMark's documentation and provides important tips so that you can easily update your Big Business Company file each payroll period. (3424)

CheckMark Payroll is a complete payroll solution, which works well in conjunction with Big Business. Here are some of the advantages CheckMark Payroll offers:

• Creates exports tailored to Big Business for immediate and complete updating of your Checking and Employee records within Big Business

• Uses the same Deluxe preprinted checks Big Business does

• Available for both Macintosh and Windows, with cross-platform mobility

The keys to setting up CheckMark for use with Big Business are:

• Entering Employee Social Security Numbers in CheckMark's Employee Setup, exactly as they appear in on Employee Cards in Big Business

• Entering Big Business Account Codes into CheckMark's Ledger Setup

• Using the option in CheckMark Payroll to Report in Big Business format and Save As a text file.

• Setting the Payroll Liability Category (on the Employee Prefs card) and the Default Other Expense Category (on the Banking Prefs card) to the same Category in Big Business before importing your payroll.


  CheckMark Payroll for MacOS

This Solution provides set up information for using CheckMark Payroll (available for both Macintosh and Windows, directly from Big Business Sales) with Big Business. It supplements CheckMark's documentation and provides important tips so that you can easily update your Big Business Company file each payroll period. (5552)

CheckMark Payroll is a complete payroll solution, which works well in conjunction with Big Business. Here are some of the advantages CheckMark Payroll offers:

• Creates exports tailored to Big Business for immediate and complete updating of your Checking and Employee records within Big Business

• Uses the same Deluxe preprinted checks Big Business does

• Available for both Macintosh and Windows, with cross-platform mobility

The keys to setting up CheckMark for use with Big Business are:

• Entering Employee Social Security Numbers in CheckMark's Employee Setup, exactly as they appear in on Employee Cards in Big Business

• Entering Big Business Account Codes into CheckMark's Ledger Setup

• Using the option in CheckMark Payroll to Report in Big Business format and Save As a text file.

• Setting the Payroll Liability Category (on the Employee Prefs card) and the Default Other Expense Category (on the Banking Prefs card) to the same Category in Big Business before importing your payroll.


  CheckMark Payroll (Win): Ledger and Employee Setup

Setting up CheckMark Payroll's Ledger and Employee information to work with Big Business requires some initial attention to detail, to assure accounts and employee information match in both programs.

Once set up correctly, you need only process your payroll in CheckMark and export the data for import to Big Business. Remember to get CheckMark's annual updates for payroll changes, and keep backups of you data from both programs. (3451)

Follow CheckMark's documentation to setup your company payroll.

During Ledger Setup:

• Enter Big Business Account Codes. For example, the cash account listed in the picture is Big Business Bank Account, "1020 Checking," so the account code entered is, "1020."

• If your payroll setup requires accounts not currently specified in Big Business, print a Chart of Accounts from Big Business Reports for reference. Create the necessary accounts in Big Business:
-Use the Account Card on the Bookkeeper toolbar for most accounts.
-Use the Bank Card tool on the Banking toolbar to create bank accounts.


Employee Setup:

• Enter Employee Social Security numbers identically into CheckMark and Big Business!


  CheckMark Payroll (Mac): Setup

Setting up CheckMark Payroll's Ledger and Employee information to work with Big Business requires some initial attention to detail, to assure accounts and employee information match in both programs.

Once set up correctly, you need only process your payroll in CheckMark and export the data for import to Big Business. Remember to get CheckMark's annual updates for payroll changes, and keep backups of you data from both programs. (5553)

Follow CheckMark's documentation to setup your company payroll.

During Ledger Setup:

• Enter Big Business Account Codes. For example, the cash account listed in the picture is Big Business Bank Account, "1020 Checking," so the account code entered is, "1020".

• If your payroll setup requires accounts not currently specified in Big Business, print a Chart of Accounts from Big Business Reports for reference. Create the necessary accounts in Big Business:
-Use the Account Card on the Bookkeeper toolbar for most accounts.
-Use the Bank Card tool on the Banking toolbar to create bank accounts.


Employee Setup:

• Enter Employee Social Security numbers identically into CheckMark and Big Business!


  CheckMark Payroll (Mac): Exporting

This Solution provides an overview of exporting information from CheckMark Payroll. (3632)

Complete your payroll, following CheckMark's instructions.

• Calculate Payroll and Create Checks

• Print the checks, using Deluxe form # 81013 (same as Big Business).

To Export your payroll information to Big Business:

1. From CheckMark's Reports menu, select Employee Checks.

2. Click the Format radio button and from the pulldown menu select Big Business.

3. Specify the report range, or employees to report, and click Save as Text.

4. Save the export file in a secure location.

The export file from CheckMark contains complete information for updating Big Business, including payees, check amounts, and a variety of payroll-related postings.


  Stock Prefs

Stock Prefs control what inventory information you see on Line Items.

For starters, this setting lets you choose what appears on the Expanded tab of the Sales Order with choices for:
• System Setting (recommended)
• Hide
• Show Allocated
• Show Available

This Solution provides a quick overview. (6658)

Stock Prefs control what inventory information you see on Line Items.

Choices for Stock Prefs are:
• System Setting (recommended)
• Hide
• Show Allocated
• Show Available

To set your Stock Prefs:
1. Go to the Employee toolbar to My Prefs
2. For Stock Prefs choose a setting
3. Click OK to save My Prefs

To set Stock Prefs for your company:
1. Go to the Company card to the Company Prefs tab
2. For Stock Prefs choose a setting
3. Click OK to save the Company Card


  CheckMark Payroll: Importing

This Solution provides an overview of setting up Big Business to import information from CheckMark Payroll. (3453)

Before importing your CheckMark payroll information to Big Business:

• Set the Payroll Liability Category (on the Employee Prefs card) and the Default Other Expense Category (on the Banking Prefs card) to the same Category. The selected Category should be your Payroll Liability Account.

To Import Payroll Information from CheckMark:

1. Select the Import tool on the Maintenance toolbar.

2. Open the text export file created from CheckMark.

3. Select CheckMark Payroll from the Import... list and click the OK button.

4. Review the list of Checks and the Balancing Entry.

5. Select an item and click the Posting Information button to see the posting detail.

6. When you are satisfied the import is correct, click the OK button.

The entries created can be found in:
• Employee Cards, on the History tab
• On the Account Cards for various payroll accounts
• On the Bank Card for the cash account


Complete your payroll, following CheckMark's instructions.

• Calculate Payroll and Create Checks

• Print the checks, using Deluxe form # 81013 (same as Big Business).

To Export your payroll information to Big Business:

1. From CheckMark's Reports menu, select Employee Checks.

2. Click the Format radio button and from the pulldown menu select Big Business.

3. Specify the report range, or employees to report, and click Save as Text.

4. Save the export file in a secure location.

The export file from CheckMark contains complete information for updating Big Business, including payees, check amounts, and a variety of payroll-related postings.