Consignment Software Quick Start Guide

Select the General Tab. 

Each time BCSS is started, it can open in the Clients, Inventory or Sales Work Area. Select one. Sales is most commonly selected for PCs on the sales floor. Clients and Inventory are selected for back-office computers used to enter inventory, print labels, process settlements, print checks and to communicate with customers.

Enter the store's information.

Store information entered here will be auto entered on Consignment Agreements and Sales Invoices.

Any string of 50 characters or less entered in the Email and Website fields will appear on 3" sales receipts. Messages like 'All Sales Final' or 'Thank you!' could be used.

A Site ID and Password will be issued upon purchase to remove the 2-week demo time limitation.

QuickBooks (Deluxe, Diamond and Virtual)

Data can be exported in QuickBooks format then imported into QuickBooks. When transferring data for the first time, check 'All Data' to export or transfer all data from BCSS to QuickBooks then remove the check for subsequent transfers.

BCSS Virtual is directly integrated with QuickBooks. For Virtual, enter the name of the company used in QuickBooks and use Find File to locate the company name.

Select the date format used in your country. In the U.S. the default option mm/dd/yr.

Change the currency symbol if desired.

Select a check-printing format: one-per-page or three-per-page. Three is most common (because fewer sheets of checks will be used). With one check per page, settled items can be printed on the memo portion of the check.

Inventory Quantities (Deluxe, Diamond and Virtual): Some items (palets, barrels, etc) may be inventoried in fractional amounts. Check the box to enable decimal values for inventory.

Every sold and unsold item appears by default in the list of Inventory. Check Zero Quantity in Inventory Work Area List to NOT display inventory records of items not in stock (quantity = 0).

Confirmation Messages

BCSS has several helpful one-time messages intended to assist first-time users. Check this box to make those messages appear again.

Automatic Daily Data Backup takes place at the time set:

Two minutes prior to the time set, an alert will appear to allow time to finish work in progress before the backup begins.

On a network, the backup should only occur on the host computer. On remote computers set the time for 25:00 so backups will never take place.

Backups should be made on an external storage device. See Data Backup.

Click Save to save settings and continue in Program Setup:

Click Save/Exit to save settings and exit Program Setup:

Close/reopen the program and view this page again to make sure the changes were saved. If they weren't saved, Windows' 'User Account Controls' is blocking. See this video to correct the issue.

Select the Clients Tab. 

Default City and State

The city and state entered will be auto-entered each time the new-consignor screen is opened so as to avoid repetitious entry of the same information. A different city and/or state can be entered on the new-consignor or edit-consignor screens.

Default Client (Consignor) Percentage on Sales

Enter the most common percentage consignors receive. The Default Client % will be auto-entered in the Consignment Agreement, the New-Inventory and New-Client Screens. The % may be changed for each client, inventory item, category or sale.

% Bonus for Store Credit Settlement - Grant a bonus at settlement store-credit settlement. Set the bonus amount in decimal form (.05 = 5% for example). When 'Credit' is selected as the settlement payment method on the settlement screen, the bonus will be displayed and applied (and can be changed). (not available with batch settlements)

Minimum Client Settlement

Enter a dollar amount (without a dollar sign) to avoid processing settlements for less than the amount entered.

Minimum Days Between Settlements

Enter a number of days to avoid paying more often than the number of days entered. (This setting only affects Aged Batch Settlements. Leave Minimum Days set to zero to settle only for sales in the previous month and earlier.)

Check Fund buy outrights with the Store Credit balance of this house account to have sales proceeds from the sale of your own personal and retail items used to purchase buy-outright items.

Check Hide Batch Settlements and Hide Percentage Tool to not display those options in work-area menus. (The intent is to prevent their accidental or unsupervised use.)

Check Include Layaways in Settlements if such is desired.

Any consignor record can be marked as inactive and excluded from lists and reports if this box is NOT checked:

Check the box to print items sold on settlement vouchers.

Enable Resale & Police Reports is available in BCSS Diamond and BCSS Virtual for jurisdictions requiring police reports.

Transfer Account

Unsold items may be transferred to shop ownership (to the 'Transfer Account'). Otherwise they may be 1) returned to the owner 2) destroyed or 3) donated to charity.

To sell items owned by the shop, create one or more client accounts and set the Client % to 0. Proceeds from all sales will go to the shop account. The 0% will let the program know to NOT create settlement records for such accounts.

To auto transfer unsold consignments to the Transfer Account -

• Click on the Inventory Tab (above). On the Inventory Screen, under Aged-Discount Schedule, complete all fields for a Discount Schedule and enter a number of days after which unsold items will be transferred to the Transfer Account, then return here to the Clients Screen.
• Check 'Enable the Transfer Account?'

• When adding or editing Consignor Records, enable this option for a specific client by selecting 'Transfer To House' for 'Unsold Items'.
• At the top select Sales, Apply Discounts. (Any unsold inventory eligible for transfer will be transferred.)

For details see Transfer Account.

Click Save to save settings and continue in Program Setup:

Click Save/Exit to save settings and exit Program Setup:

Close/reopen the program and view this page again to make sure the changes were saved. If they weren't saved, Windows' 'User Account Controls' are blocking. See this video to correct the issue.

Select the Inventory Tab.   (Deluxe, Diamond and Virtual - Inventory is entered in BCSS Intro when it is sold.)

If inventory pictures will be used, store them in one folder (on the computer, an external drive or on the Internet, no larger than 620 x 700 pixels) and enter the path to the folder (like C:\images or http://www.mywebsite.com/images) in the field named Default Picture File Location. (Use the 'Find Location' button to navigate to the location.)

When a picture is being added to an inventory record, BCSS will open the default folder to avoid your having to 'find it' each time.

Selecting a Default Category will auto-input the selected category when adding new inventory (to avoid repetitious reentry of the category). Use the drop-down arrow to the right of Default Category to select a category.

If no categories appear in the list, click Save/Exit to save changes and close Program Setup. Select Inventory on the Main Menu, then Categories. Enter a category name (for the Default Category) in the box at the bottom and click Create New Category at the top. Click Save Changes then Exit.

Return to Program Setup, Inventory and select a Default Category.

When entering inventory, enter several items in the same category, if possible. Before entering them, change the Default Category to the category of the items being entered. This will also facilitate matching printed labels with items entered.

Price-Label-Printing Options

See instructions.

Bar-Code Symbology determines if barcodes are to be 7 (UPC-E) or 11 (UPC-A) digits. BCSS prints and reads UPC-A. (Intro doesn't utilize barcodes.)

Some scanners must be calibrated to produce 11-digit codes from 12-digit scans. See the scanner's user's manual for calibrating (which usually involves scanning a code in the manual called the 'Cut Digit Code' which tells the scanner to 'cut' the last digit of a 12-digit code.

When the new-sale screen opens, the cursor will be in the bar-code field ready for scanning. If the bar-code number appears and the line is populated with the information about the item but it's necessary to press Enter to complete the scan, then look in the scanner's manual for another code to add a 'line break'.

If all transactions are Buy Outright, check 'Process all new inventory as buy outright'.

Check 'Print BO (buy outright) Agreement and Item List on a single page' if preferred.

Aged-(Inventory) Discount Schedule

Deluxe, Diamond and Virtual can discount unsold inventory according to the discount schedule(s) defined here. There can be multiple discount schedules and each can be assigned to a category, allowing very specific discounting of merchandise.

Set the number of days and the amounts of the discounts to be applied.

Click 'Save Schedule' to save settings.

If a fixed price is to be set for items transferred to the Transfer Account, enter the amount under the Schedule. Here $1 is entered as 1.00.

If there's more than one House Account and discounts are to apply, check 'Apply discounts to extra house accounts'.

Check 'Process discounts and transfers automatically' if applicable.

Discount after Transfer to House - Items may be auto-transferred to store ownership then auto-discounted after the transfer.

Click Save to save settings and continue in Program Setup:

Click Save/Exit to save settings and exit Program Setup:

Close/reopen the program and view this page again to make sure the changes were saved. If they weren't saved, Windows' 'User Account Controls' are blocking. See this video to correct the issue.

Select Printers Tab. 

There are 3 sections on this page:

1. Ink Printer

Choose a printer to print on 8.5" x 11" paper (including consignor agreements, address and price labels on sheets of labels, reports, and receipts).

If the printer is not listed in the drop-down menu, install the printer driver (software). (Please refer to the printer's manual and installation CD, the manufacturer's or seller's website, or search Google for 'printer driver' plus the make and model of the printer.)

2. Thermal Receipt Printer

BCSS is configured to work with the POS-X line of receipt printers. Other printers 'might work' but printers purchased elsewhere, used/refurbished printers and other makes/models are not recommended or supported.

'Thermal' refers to a type of print technology. Where ribbon printers transfer ink from a ribbon to paper, thermal printers use heat (from a thermal printhead) to burn characters onto paper. Receipt printers print receipts and cannot print labels. Label printers print labels and cannot print receipts.

If receipts are to be printed on 8.5" x 11" paper, leave the dot in 'Ink Printer'. The first printer set in 'Ink Printer' will be used.

Thermal Receipt Printers are special printers which print 3"-wide sales receipts.

To use a thermal receipt printer, select the printer here and make sure 'Receipt Printer' is selected:

If the printer is not listed in the drop-down menu, install the printer driver (software). (Please refer to the printer's manual and installation CD, the manufacturer's or seller's website, or search Google for 'printer driver' plus the make and model of the printer.)

Copies To Print can be set to print multiple copies of the receipt.

Receipt Printer Settings: Receipt header and text font sizes can be adjusted (setup > printers). The header includes store name, address and phone number. The text can be up to six lines, fewer if there's a 2nd address line, Tax ID, email address and/or web site to be printed.

The store name and address can be printed on receipts by checking 'Include store name and address in receipt header'. (If the store name is too long, shorten it here in Program Setup on the General tab.)

3. Label Printer

Thermal label printers cost more but they don't use ink cartridges and thermal labels cost less than sheet labels. It is much easier to print thermal labels and there is a wider variety of labels that can be printed, including a 2.5" x .5" jewelry label, a two-part hang tag and several adhesive labels and non-adhesive hang tags in various sizes.

BCSS Diamond or Virtual supports thermal label printing with TSC. Zebra printers can be used but they are not supported or recommended.

If the printer is not listed in the drop-down menu, install the printer driver (software). (Please refer to the printer's manual and installation CD, the manufacturer's or seller's website, or search Google for 'printer driver' plus the make and model of the printer.)

Font Size can be changed for the stub of a 2-part tear-off label and for the body of any label:

Check the box if the Zebra 2824 or TSC 225 printer is being used.

Thermal Tag Sizes

Choose the SIZE and TYPE of label that matches the label loaded in the printer. Click Save/Exit. Close the program and restart it to make sure the change takes place.

Please note: Most often, when labels are not printing as expected, labels in the printer don't match label settings. Note that there are both adhesive and non-adhesive tags in size 2.25 x 1.25.

Also, the number 1 reason why labels don't work is because 'Thermal Label' on the Labels Screen (not here in Setup) is not selected:

Check the box if barcodes are to be printed on labels.

Click Save to save settings and continue in Program Setup:

Click Save/Exit to save settings and exit Program Setup:

Close/reopen the program and view this page again to make sure the changes were saved. If they weren't saved, Windows' 'User Account Controls' are blocking. See this video to correct the issue.

Select the Sales Tab. 

Buyer Information (Diamond and Virtual)

Check 'Automatically enter 'Cash Sale' for Buyer Name' if 'Cash Sale' is to be auto-entered for the Buyer Name for each new sales invoice, or check 'Manually enter Buyer info on Sales Invoices' if customers' names and addresses are to be entered on new sales invoices (and saved in the program).

If Buyers names and addresses had been collected previously, click this button to have that information transferred to the Buyer Work Area:

Buyer 'Pick List'

Check this box to have a list of buyers presented when a sales invoice is opened.

In practice having a list pop up with each completed sale can be more of an annoyance than a convenience. Uncheck the box to prevent the list from appearing.

The Buyer Work Area may be hidden by removing the check from the box named 'Show Buyers Work Area'.

In BCSS Diamond and BCSS Virtual check 'Enable Rewards' to activate the Rewards Program and enter the amount of reward to be granted in decimal format (.1 = 10% e.g.).

Sales Taxes

Set the Sales Tax description(s) and amount(s). To disable tax collection, set the rate(s) to zero. Tax computation may be disabled by selecting 'Tax-Free' when completing the New-Sale Screen (F6).

Any inventory category can be 'tax free', taxed at a higher/lower amount (than the default rate set here), or tax-free up to a designated amount. For example, in New York clothing below $50 is not taxed. The rate above $50 can be set. (See tax free and tax exempt.)

Check 'Always round taxes up to the next whole cent' if applicable. If sales-tax totals for a given period differ in reports by a few pennies, this 'rounding' may be the cause.

Check 'Round pennies Canadian style' or 'Amounts paid by Client Credit are tax free' if appropriate.

Invoice Header and Footer

Headers and Footers are text which can appear on a letter-size sales invoice. These are text files (header.txt and footer.txt) which can be edited to suit shop requirements. By default they are located at (C:\BCSS). The can be opened in any text editor (Notepad, Wordpad), edited and changes can be saved. The changes will appear on the invoice when the invoice is next printed.

The height of the header and footer is set at .55" and can be adjusted here.

Touchscreen Monitors

Check 'Use Touchscreen For Sales' if a touchscreen monitor is to be used at POS. This will cause all text and buttons to appear larger.

Cash Drawer

If a receipt printer is not being used, the cash drawer can be connected directly to the PC (using a special adapter included with the drawer) and opened in BCSS by pressing F12 or the UP arrow (depending upon the BCSS version). Set the COM port here for the drawer.

Buyer Fee and Credit-Card Options

A 'Buyer Fee' is an amount deducted from sales proceeds before applying other deductions and the Consignor %.

There are also two credit-card options:

1. Set a percentage to be deducted from all settlements of credit-card sales before applying the Consignor %.
2. Where allowed by law, set a % to be added to all credit-card sales.

These options do not appear by default because they are optional and fee based ($19.95/month).

Select the Mall Tab. (Diamond and Virtual)

Check applicable options at the top of the page:

1. Widen the screen to see all columns.
2. Widen each column if necessary.
3. For each space, enter the name of the space (not the person renting the space).
4. A description is optional.
5. Select the name of the occupant from the drop-down menu.
6. Enter the amount of rent (weekly or monthly).
7. Enter the date of the last rent paid.
8. Enter the name of a person 'waiting' for the space, if any.

Click Save to save settings and continue in Program Setup:

Click Save/Exit to save settings and exit Program Setup:

Close/reopen the program and view this page again to make sure the changes were saved. If they weren't saved, Windows' 'User Account Controls' are blocking. See this video to correct the issue.