Visual Catpro
  

1.        We make invoices in Kgs. However, sometimes we sell goods in pcs. We want to reduce the Stock in kgs. What could be the solution?
          You should have two columns to specify quantity:
          1.       QUANTITY
          2.       QTY_FOR_RATE

          Now your stock will be reduced by the value entered in QUANTITY column and amount will be calculated according to the value entered in QTY_FOR_RATE column. When you sell goods in KGS, you should mention the quantity in QUANTITY column. If you are selling the goods in PCS, you must fill the quantity in KGS for stock purposes and no. of pcs sold for calculating the amount.

2.       I am printing my reports on a laser printer. I want to give a left margin of about 1 inch. I have changed the left margin from 0 to 6 characters but it is not working. Why?
          When you have opted for inkjet/laser printer, the margin is to be given in twips and not in characters. Note that 1440 twips are equivalent to 1 inch. So 720 twips are equivalent to 5-6 characters.

3.       While designing an invoice, I observe that input col. 'RATE_PER' is available. Can you explain its usage?
          'RATE_PER' means rate per unit. Eg. Rate per 100 kgs. This is useful when quantity is mentioned in kgs. but rate is per metric ton. If we sell 442 kgs. but rate is per ton Then 1000 should be mentioned in RATE_PER Col. This will work as a denominator For amount calculation.  Rate per is generally item specific. So you may create a User defined field in master and attach it with the relevant column.

4.       What is the difference between Format Code  N2 & n2  and C2 & c2?
          N2 will display '0.00' in case of zero figure whereas n2/c2 will display space if value is 0. In case C2 & c2 large amounts will be printed with commas. here 2 signifies two decimal places.

5.       How can I insert a logo/picture in a document?
          You may insert an image in any report form. Open the Report Form. click on 'Add' -> 'Picture' -> select the image to insert. Your image will be added. You may resize the image as per requirement. The option is available only in designer module.
          Note: Image is not copied in the 'VCP2009' folder. It is picked from the original location. If image is deleted/moved/renamed from that location, then it will not appear in the document.

6.       We Export goods under rebate of duty. We have to recover the duty from department and hence amount of duty should be debited to a separate account namely 'Rebate/Duty Recoverable' account instead of party A/c. Excise duty payable should be credited to excise duty account as usual. Is it possible?
          Yes. A total field namely 'TotSubstitutePaty' exist in Doc Total style. If you fill any account name in this field, the relevant amount shall be adjusted from Party amount and debited/credited in this account.

10.     Order No. is generated by system. However I am also entering party order reference no. while updating orders. I want to print this number in invoice with each item. How can I do this?
          There are two fields namely "OrderRefNo" & "OrderRefDate" available in DocData table. These fields may be used in documents along with other particulars of each item. There is no need to open any column for these fields. These are available where 'DocOrderFactor'='-1'. You just need to fill OrderRefNo in Field Name. To Show OrderRefDate use enter the following syntax/text in expression : c1.catformat(r99("OrderRefDate"),"DD/MM/YYYY")

11.     I want to fill the excise details while entering the opening balances of stock items. But "F2: Excise Details" button does not appear. What should I do?
Specify *ExciseDetailsBtn* in "DocProperties" of the "O.Bal" DocType to show "F2: Excise Details" button.

12.     We issue Goods on challan. Later when invoice is prepared, we pick the goods from challans. While printing invoice, we want to print the challan no. as title within the invoice. How can I do this?
The following features are available in Visual Catpro to accomplish    this task:

Specify "ChallanNo" against "GroupByField" property in DocReports.

Design a Report Form and specify the report form name against "GroupHeaderForm" property of DocReports. You may use database fields on report.

You may also use any other field, variables or constants which you want to print in the title. This will print this form as title whenever the Challan No. changes.

You may also sort the items challan wise by specifying '*ChallanWise*' against DocProperties in DocTypes.
          
Note: Same way you may also print Order No. as title in your documents.

13.     We are passing duty through Excise Trading Invoice. We charge duty, cess etc. in totals. Normally we sell the goods at the same rate at which we have received the consignment. However some times rates are subsequently revised after the consignment is received by us. In such a case we have to pass duty as originally charged in the consignment note. How can we implement this in Excise trading invoice?
To handle the situation a DocProperty namely *ExciseFromDetails* is available. If this is used it will calculate duty/cess etc. as is available in excise details of the goods.
          
You should also mark 'True' against 'TotShowOnAmt' property of 'EXCISE_DUTY' field in Total style.  This will change the description of excise duty to something like "B.E.D. @ 14% on 80000" . In this example 80000 is the assessable value being passed.

13.     I have designed an Excise invoice and linked it with purchase. I fill the opening balances of excise stock with their excise details. But when I make invoice, it does not show me the information of opening stock. What should I do?
          When we sale the goods against excise stock. Then Excise stock will be picked against the RGNo. It appears that you have entered the excise details by pressing "F2" but you have not opened  RG23D_NO column in opening balance column style. You should open the RG23D_NO column by using column designer.

14.     While making an excise trading invoice multiple manufacturers are not allowed. Is it possible to add items of multiple manufacturers? 
          Normally multiple manufacturer items are not allowed. However, it is possible to add multiple manufacturers items if duty is not being passed.
          
          For entering opening balances, "DocExciseTrading" property should be set to 'False'. Further you must specify '*ExciseDetailsBtn*' in 'DocProperties' property in 'O.Bal' DocType
          
15.     What is CollateCopy property?
The CollateCopy property determines the order of printing pages of an invoice in case of multiple page invoice. If there are three pages in an invoice and we print original & duplicate copy of the invoice, the order of pages printed shall be as under:
          
          1.       If CollateCopy property is False: (Must be used if Bill Numbers                    are pre-printed & stationary is with out carbon)
                   
                   Original       -        Page1
                   Duplicate     -        Page1
                   Original       -        Page2
                   Duplicate     -        Page2

          2.       If CollateCopy property is True:
                   Original       -        Page1
                   Original       -        Page2
                   Duplicate     -        Page1
                   Duplicate     -        Page2

16.     I have a Series for printing CST 3% invoices. I want to add a sub-series for printing CST 2% invoices. I am guided to press Ctrl+F2 after editing an invoice of CST3% sub-series. When I press Ctrl+F2 nothing happens. What could be the reason?
          You must login as 'Supervisor' to use this feature. Further you must press Ctrl+F2 when the focus is on Sub-Type prompt. You may also press Ctrl+Shift+F11 to call online report designer which has the following components:


            graphic

16.     I have filled the Opening balance of the stock items with their Excise details and RGNo. When I create excise invoice against that RG No., the invoice is created successfully but it shows the negative balance in RG wise stock report. What could be the reason?
          It seems that you have entered the RG no.'s in wrong way. You always specify the Entry no./Page no. suppose if page no. is 6 and entry no. is 23. It should be entered as 23/6.

17.     Earlier we were making invoices manually. Our rates are inclusive of excise duty. When the same invoices are prepared in Visual Catpro, some minor difference is in excise duty are there mainly because of rounding off problem. This effects our excise reports. Tax amount also differs in some of the invoices. What should I do?
          Three special input prompts are designed for this purpose. These are:

          1.       REV_EXCISE_AMT                    2.       REV_CESS_AMT
          3.       REV_CESS2_AMT                     4.       REV_TAX_AMT

If any amount is filled against these prompts, duty/cess calculated by Visual Catpro are ignored and are revised to the amounts entered against these input prompts. This is applicable only in case where rates are inclusive of duty. You may also use the properties InputDate1, InputDate2  to specify the effective dates for these prompts.

Further you may also revise tax amount with the help of REV_TAX_AMT prompt in the same way.

18.     How can I break page after a desired record in invoicing?
          You may press CTRL+F4 from where you want to start a new page in invoice updation module. Notice that color of the row, where you want to start a new page becomes light green. CTRL+F4 works like a toggle switch. Pressing it again will remove the page break mark. 
          
          This feature is extremely useful where the invoice was earlier prepared on a different software/printer/printer driver. If the bill was earlier on two pages but in the current software it is completed on the same page, you may force the page break at desired row.

          Sometimes an item may be taking more than 1 lines due to wrapping feature or remarks. In such a case it is possible that page break occurs in between the description of that item. You might want to print the whole item on the same page. In such a case you may break page on that row pressing CTRL+F4.

19.     Can I force "No Page Break" at a particular row in invoicing?
          Yes, you may press CTRL+F3 on the row where you want to force printing that item on the same page. On pressing CTRL+F3 color of the row becomes Pink. CTRL+F3 works like a toggle switch. You may press CTRL+F3 on consecutive rows to finish the invoice on a single page.
                   
          This feature is extremely useful where the invoice was earlier prepared on a different software/printer/printer driver. If the bill was earlier on one page but in the current software it spreads on two pages, you may force the "No Page Break" on the items which appear on the next page.

20.     I want to print a horizontal ruling line after every item in invoice. How can I do this?
          Yes. Mark 1 or 2 against Doc Report property "LINEAFTERITEM". If you specify 2, a horizontal line shall be printed on whole item section of the invoice. In case you specify 1, a horizontal line will be printed only after every item.
                   
21.     I wish that a maximum 8 items it should be printed on each page of an invoice. Is it possible to fix it?
          Yes. Specify the no. of items you want to print in one page against the DocReports property "MaxItemsPerPage". This is particularly useful where invoice is first prepared manually and then prepared on computer. To avoid change in serial no. of the invoice this property should be used and the person preparing the invoices manually should be instructed to adhere to this rule.

22.     I want to mention the maximum possible rows in an invoice. Is it possible?
          Yes. You may mention the no. of rows required in a page against "MaxRowsPerPage" in DocReports.

23.     I want to print Grand Totals in bold font in the invoices. Is it possible?
          Yes. Mark True against 'TotFontBold' in totals designer against the row where totals are printed. In fact you may apply bold font on any of the row.

24.     Credit days are being asked in invoicing. I want to print due date in invoice. Is It Possible?
Yes.  write the following syntax in the caption property: c1.catformat(R1("DocDate") + R1("CreditDays"),"DD/MM/YYYY")

25.     I am designing an invoice of a retail shop where they make cash sales. They do not want to open the account of each customer in master but in invoice they want to print the name of the customer. What should I do in such case?
          
1.       Create an account namely 'CASH SALES' in master.

2.       Add remarks field in Docinput and specify the 'CustomerName' against 'InputFieldName'.

3.       Add both the fields AddLine1 and CustomerName in DocRepForms.
          
4.       Specify the following condition against the ifprint property of AddLine1 variable
          
                   r1("CustomerName")=""
          
5.       Specify the following condition against the 'ifprint' property of CustomerName field

                   r1("CustomerName")<>""

26.   When I print Non Excise invoice, it asks me which copies to print (original / duplicate etc. ). When I print Excise Invoice It does not prompt me for Original / Duplicate etc. So I have to preview the invoice and then choose original, duplicate, triplicate turn by turn for printing. why is it so?

Open the Excise DocType-> Mark True(-1) against DocPromptCopies property.

27.     How do we handle currencies in Visual Catpro?
Basically Visual Catpro is a single currency software. However you can use differrent currency for making export invoices. For this purpose CURRENCY_NAME input text prompt is available in DocInputs. You may input any currency in it. If CURRENCY_NAME is USD, US$, AUD, Euro then sub currency will be treated as Cents. In case of other currencies you have to mention sub currency name against CURRENCY_NAME2 prompt.

If you are using CatWords function to print amount in words then pass the fifth & sixth parameters for currency1 and currency2.
          
          Value
          Style
          NoOnly
          UseHyphen
          Currency1
          Currency2

27.     I am doing Order Processing in Visual Catpro. I want to give quantity in invoice more than quantity mention in Order. but Visual Catpro not allow me to give more quantity. What should I do?
To allow quantity more than the order quantity mention *AllowNegOrder* against DocProperties property in DocTypes.

28.     What are the various styles available for printing time in words?
          You may use following syntax to print time in words:
Value
Statement
Output
PrepTime=12.34
c1.catwords(r1("PrepTime"),"T")
1234 Hrs. (TWELVE HUNDRED THIRTY FOUR HOURS.)
PrepTime=12.34
c1.catwords(r1("PrepTime"),"t")
1234 Hrs.
PrepTime=12.34
c1.catwords(r1("PrepTime"),"HM")
12.34 Hrs. (TWELVE HOURS THIRTY FOUR MINUTES)
PrepTime=12.34
c1.catproper(c1.catwords(r1("PrepTime"),"HM"))
12.34 Hrs. (Twelve Hours Thirty Four Minutes)
            
29.     While Printing Quarterly Return Form-2 (Excise), Prefix of invoice no. is not shown. e.g. If Narration is "Bill No. EX-323" it is showing 323 under invoice column. How can I show the invoice no. with its prefix?
Mark 'Yes' against 'Pick Bill No. from Narration' Settings inExcise Trading Return.

30.     I got an error message when I specify r99("quantity") + r99("FreeQuantity")  in the expression property of Quantity column in DocReports. How could I resolve this problem.
To overcome this problem remove 'QTY' mentioned against 'ColName' property of the 'Quantity' column.

31.     What is the significance of DocSeriesGroup property?
We can classify various sub-series in groups. e.g. Different Sub-series can be classified into groups like:
1.       Domestic Sales 
2.       Export Sales (UT1)
3.       Export Sales (Rebate)

This property is used while preparing group wise excise report. These 'DocSeriesGroup' are treated as sub-groups. Excise report is printed Group/Sub-Group wise. You may still print the report on the basis of groups only.

32.     What is the significance of RowTypeColumn in DocColumns?
RowType column is designed to print an item as heading in invoice. This is particularly useful for repair invoice where product name is very lengthy. e.g. in case of centrifugal pump item being repaired may be 3-4 lines long. It will be inconvenient to write it every time. In such a case you may fill 'T' in rowtype column and the item will treated as a heading and will be printed in bold fonts. A blank line after the title shall appear. If you fill 'H' in Row column item , no blank will be left after the item name.

33.     How could I implement shuttering module?
Open 'H.Keeping'->'Misc. Tasks'->'Modify Firm Properties Config' and mention '*ShutteringMenu*' in Firm Properties window. When you apply this menu, you will see two options in sr. no. 7 & 8 of quick launch button namely 'Outward Challan' and 'Inward Challan'.

34.     I want to specify Cash Discount amount as a note in invoice. This is normally allowed on sale amount before VAT. However, if we reduce freight in bill then CD shall be calculated on SALE AMOUNT-FREIGHT AMOUNT. How can we do this?
You should create a user defined fields in DocInputs and specify 'CD' against 'TotAmtField' property.
You should mention  following statement in the caption property
catiif(r1("FreightAmt")<>"",(r1("GrossAmt")-r1("FreightAmt"))*r1("cd")/100, r1("GrossAmt")*r1("cd")/100)
 

34.     What is PTS / PTR System?
          PTS / PTR terms are generally used in whole sale medical market. PTS stands for Price to Stockist and PTR stands for Price to Retailer. Sometimes stockist want to charge some rate based on PTS. They add some percentage as margin to calculate selling price.
          To implement PTS / PTR system follow the following steps:

1.      Mark 'Yes' against 'P.T.S./P.T.R. System Required' in Batch List settings.
2.      Activate 'BATCH_PRICE_TYPE' and 'ADD_RATE_MARGIN' input prompts in DocInputs.

We are showing below the screen  for inputting batch wise information at the time of purchase entry.

graphic

While making invoice you will be prompted to select the price type you want to apply. Price type options are PTR & PTS. You may also specify the margin to be charged from customer. This margin is applied on all items in the invoice.

You must open the column BATCH_NO, RATE, REVISED_RATE.  

How to add different margins for individual items?
If you want to specify different margins for different items, you may open the column 'ADD_RATE_PER'. If you have specified ADD_RATE_MARGIN in input prompts, that margin % shall be auto filled in 'ADD_RATE_PER' column. You may modify the 'ADD_RATE_PER' value wherever you want to charge a different margin. 'ADD_RATE_MARGIN' is auto filled in 'ADD_RATE_PER' column when a new item is added.

35.     We are using barcodes to prepare invoices. We want that whenever we scan a barcode, quantity should be assumed as 1 and all calculations be made automatically. Cursor should come in the next row. How can we do this?
          To implement barcoding in the above manner, you need to specify '*BarCode*' in 'DocProperties'. However, if you want to increment quantity when same barcode is flashed consecutively, you should specify '*BarCode+*' in 'DocProperties'.

36.     Which points should be kept in mind, while designing 'Incl. of Tax' invoice?
1.      The 'DocCumTax' property should be '-1' (True).
2.      'SALE_TAX' total filed is not required in Total Style.
3.      Use 'arVAT-1.3' variable to print assessable value.
4.      Use 'arVAT-1.4' variable to print tax amount.
5.      The Sale A/c should not have Incl. of Tax VAT Class because tax is calculated and posted separately.

37.     What does N4Z2 indicates in the context of function c1.catformat ?
N4Z2  indicates that number shall be printed upto 4 decimal places. However, upto Two (4-2) leading 0 (zeros) shall be omitted.