VFP 2000 Help - Setting up VFP 2000

Setting up VFP 2005

This section contains an overview of the steps you should follow to set up the VFP 2005 system for the first time. Read this section before proceeding with data entry or transferring data from another system into VFP 2005. A setup checklist in Appendix A will give you a quick walk-through of the things to do. This section will discuss each module in VFP 2005 and the related parameters, files, and functions that need to be configured before you begin using the system to run your business.

If you haven't already successfully installed VFP 2005 onto your computer system, do so before proceeding in this section.

Task List

Task Sy-001 and 002 - Make certain your VFP 2005 system has been properly installed on your computer system. Review the System Maintenance section and gather information you will need to setup those parameters. If you are uncertain about any of the configuration settings, ask your accountant for advise.

Task Sy-003
Create a New Company - When VFP 2005 is first installed, company "00" is active. This company comes with sample data and is meant to be a test company. If you keep this as a test company you can always try out new functions and features, without any concerns of corrupting your live data. The first order of business is to create a new company. This will be the company you should use to run your business. If you have more than one business to operate, create a company for every business you have. VFP 2005 supports up to 99 companies.

Task Sy-004
System Maintenance The system maintenance section contains the default configuration parameters for your company. Each of the modules GL, AR, AP, IC, SO, etc., should be reviewed and configured for your particular needs. For example, if you want the cost of an inventory item to appear in the sales order line item display grid, select the check-box in the "Detail with Cost Column" in the SO section of the System Maintenance form. Each section will be discussed below.

System - In this section you fill out your company name, address, phone, fax, email address, web site address, federal identification number and tax reseller number if you have one. This information will appear on the forms: Sales Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices, Purchase Orders, and Statements. The Active Module function is not currently used since you can control the active modules used in the Group Maintenance section. Review the miscellaneous fields and set those according to your needs.

General Ledger (GL) - In this section, you will need your company's chart of accounts. If you do not have this information you will need to contact your accountant. The accountant should provide you with this information.

There are several important parameters to set in this section. You need to know how your company is setup in terms of fiscal year or calendar year and how many periods do you operate under. If you are not sure of these parameters ask your accountant to assist you. In the "Periods/Year" dialog box, select the number of periods your company uses. In the "Period" dialog box, set the current period and then next close data for that period. Set the batch number field to one (1) if you are not importing any batches from an external system. If you are importing any batches be sure that you set the next batch number to the next sequential number from the old system. From an accounting point of view, the ideal starting point to jump into a new system is when all periods have been closed.

Accounts Receivable (AR) - The AR section has a period close date and a current period. Set those accordingly. The period number and date will automatically increment during the end of period processing. Setup the default general ledger accounts, the counter fields and the aging periods.

Accounts Payable (AP) - The AP section has a period close date and a current period. Set those accordingly. The period number and date will automatically increment during the end of period processing. Setup the default general ledger accounts, the counter fields and the aging periods. Select the check format you will be using for your AP checks. VFP 2005 prints laser checks in several formats or you can customize your own with the Visual FoxPro report writer.

Inventory Control (IC) - The IC section has a period close date and a current period. Set those accordingly. The period number and date will automatically increment during the end of period processing. Setup the default general ledger accounts, the counter fields and the aging periods. The "Misc. Control Fields" dialog box contains the default warehouse location, and other fields which you can review in that section.

Purchase Orders (PO) - This section contains, counter fields, default buyer, and the PO auxiliary GL account field. For an explanation of the auxiliary account field see the PO section in system maintenance.

Request for Quotes (RFQ) - The only field to setup in this section is the counter field for the next RFQ number.

Sales Quotes (QU) - This section contains the next quote number field. Set it to the next quote number your desire. Set other fields as required by your company.

Sales Orders (SO) - The SO section contains counter fields for the next sales order number and picking ticket batch numbers. The other important field in this section is the back order control field. Consider how your company handles back orders and set this accordingly. If you place a check mark in this field, no back orders will be allowed for any sales order.

Sales Invoice (INV) -This section contains default GL accounts, counter fields, commission fields, and miscellaneous fields. Fill these fields in according to your company's needs.

Other - This section allows you to link VFP 2005 to several communication devices. fax, email, and barcode readers. The barcode reader process has been designed to work with a direct feed "real-time" data connection. We have tested and interfaced with Worthington Data RF hand held barcode scanners. The fax server currently supported is ZetaFax from Equisys. VFP 2005 uses DDE to link with ZetaFax. Set the fax server parameters accordingly. If you want to send output via email you must configure an SMTP server.

Payroll (PR) - The payroll section requires the standard parameters provided by the government publications. These usually change once per year and will be provided as a yearly upgrade.

Task Sy-005 Gather data from your existing system to include customers, vendors, inventory, sales orders, open purchase orders, accounts receivables, accounts payables, historical data, etc. Verify that this data is correct. It is recommend that when transferring to a new accounting system, you should have the closing balances for a given period from the old system. Carry those balances forward to the new system. You now have a point of reference for the new system. If you are going to run both systems in parallel, elect to go live on the new system after you close a period, beginning the live turnover at the start of the next period. Proceed to step Sy-006.

Task Sy-006 - This step in the VFP 2005 setup is where you enter data into the supporting tables and master tables. If you have historical data, you might want to transfer this data into an ASCII format and perform a direct import into the VFP 2005 tables. Version 4.2 does have a data import feature you may contact your dealer or Fermen tech support for assistance in this matter. Each module has different tables to initialize.

Table Name	Description
Chart of Accounts	VFP 2005 comes with a sample chart of accounts. Change these to fit your companies needs.
Source	VFP 2005 comes with a sample source file. Change these to fit your companies needs.
Category	VFP 2005 comes with a sample category file. Change these to fit your companies needs.
Group	VFP 2005 comes with a sample group file. Change these to fit your companies needs.

Table Name	Description
Customer	This is the master customer table. It stores basic information pertaining to your customer.
Ship To	This is the shipping address used in conjunction with order entry. You can assign ship to codes to a particular customer.
Terms Code	This is the terms of sales code used in order entry.
Sales Reps	This is the sales representative table. It stores information about your sales representative.
Commission Code	This is the commission percentage table. It stores commission levels.
Discount Code	This is the discount code table. It stores discount codes used during order entry.
Ship Via Code	This is the shipping code table. It stores ship to methods used in order entry.
Allowance Reason	The allowance reason table is used during cash receipts processing.
Class Code	The class code table is used to categorize your customers. You can select to sort by this category in reports and labels.
Source Code	The source code table is used to define codes on how you acquired the customer. Example magazine ad, referral, internet, sales rep, etc.
Product Code	The product code table is used to link a customer to a price table of products.

Table Name	Description
Vendor	This is the master vendor table. It stores basic information pertaining to your vendor.
Buyer	The master buyer table. It stores basic information about your purchasing agent or buyer.
AP Terms Code	This is the terms of sale code used in purchasing.

Table Name	Description
Item Master	This is the master inventory record table. It stores basic information about your inventory.
Class Code	This is the classification codes for your inventory master table.
Price Code	These are the price codes associated with your inventory. Each price code can represent a unique group of products or you could have a price code associated with a particular customer.
Price List	These are specific prices assigned to one or more inventory items.
Equivalent Parts	If you use equivalent parts in your inventory, setup this table.
Lot Tracking	Lot tracking is supported in VFP 2005. If you plan to use it, setup any existing lots.
Location Codes	Setup locations codes if you subdivide your warehouse by locations/bin codes.
Warehouse Code	If you have multi warehouse locations, set them up in this table.

Task Sy-008 Once you have input your existing data into VFP 2005, run reports to verify the results.

Task Sy-009 Print sample forms, purchase orders, sales quotes, sales orders, invoices, statements, and others. If you require changes in the format of these forms you will need to use Visual FoxPro's report writer to make any changes.

Task Sy-010 You are ready to begin using the VFP 2005 system to run your business.

Table Name	Description
Employee Master	This is the employee master table. It stores the basic employee information.
Tax Tables	This is the current year tax tables. You need to update this file every year or period depending on changes in the tax codes.