The Corporate Controller is a powerful multi-branch Retail Management System (RMS) designed for managing medium to large chains or retail stores. The Store Controller is a single store version of the Corporate Controller designed as a Retail Back Office system.

Corporate Controller is a GUI/Windows based multi-user application written in the powerful PROGRESS™ development environment. PROGRESS provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI), 4GL development language, and a single or multi-user Relational Database Management System (RDBMS).

The unique strength of the Corporate Controller is its integration with remote offline Branch POS systems and Store Controller systems. The Store Controller can also be used as basic Warehouse system although it is designed primarily as a Retail Back Office and Inventory System.

Virtually all database transactions and structures are maintained seamlessly across the entire suite of systems to provide consistent centralised management and reporting for all locations. This can be done by individual branch or consolidated reports for selected branches.

The system comprises an integrated Communications module which allows branches to be connected through either Dial-Up or Wide Area Network (WAN) configuration. Every remote transaction (including every POS transaction) and inventory movement of every branch is recorded in the Corporate Controller database.

The Corporate Controller can also be used to provide centralised stock control for multiple stock locations (stores) through its Inventory Management and Trade Sales modules. This is used where stores are not required to manage their inventory locally. All modules are integrated so that Inventory is integrated both with branch/warehouse inventory systems and with Central Purchasing and Creditors modules. Similarly the Accounts Receivable module is integrated with Branch Account Sales and the Corporate Controller or Store Controller Trade Sales module.

Inventory Management

Maintenance

Sales Analysis & Reporting

Sales Audit (Retail Operation reports)

Communications

Central Purchasing

Accounts Payable

Trade Sales/Invoicing

Accounts Receivable

General Ledger

 

 

Inventory System & Management

The Corporate Controller provides a perpetual real-time inventory system based on the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) which is the primary unit for controlling inventory. Stock is ordered, received and reported by the SKU although sales can also be reported by PLU (Grocery/Liquor) and Size and Colour (Apparel/Footwear).

The SKU is linked to a (maximum of 4) tiered hierarchical structure of product (reporting) groups which are:

Division, Department, Class and Subclass

Linked to each SKU is one or more PLU's (Price Look Ups) or Barcodes. The SKU is then linked to the relevant product groups. The hierarchical structure of the product groups dictates that a Subclass belongs to a Class, which in turn belongs to a Department that belongs to a Division.

The product/product group hierarchy is structured as follows:

Grocery/Liquor Footwear/Apparel/General

Division (optional) Division

Departments... Departments....

Classes .... (optional) Classes ....

Subclasses .... (optional) Subclasses ....

SKUs.... SKUs....

PLUs .... Barcodes for Size/Color Matrix

The PLU is the primary unit of sale and links back to the SKU through the "Base Unit" factor, which can be seen on the PLU Maintenance screen. This allows a product purchased in one standard package form (SKU) to be sold, in one or more package forms, which may be different from the SKU package.

Example.. A SKU may identify a dozen bottles of a soft drink. Receiving 1 SKU into stock will result in 12 bottles in stock. Several PLU's may exist so that a PLU or Barcode may be used for; a Single Bottle, Six Pack, or Dozen bottles, or any other desired quantity of sale.

Cost & Selling Price

The cost price is held against the SKU. The cost is exclusive of Tax. The system provides a matrix of costs by SKU by Vendor by Store. The system also tracks the cost and cost changes through the product history files. The standard costing mechanism used in historical reporting is FIFO (First In First Out) which provides the most accurate Gross Profit and Stock Valuation.

In Liquor and Grocery (SKU/PLU) systems, the selling price is held on the PLU record. This price is generally tax inclusive, but tax excluded is also supported The POS terminals perform the tax calculations returning the net (after tax) sell price back to the Corporate Controller.

Each PLU may have up to 6 prices or price levels. These price levels may be used for Quantity Breaks or Customer Group Discount pricing.

With Size/Color Inventories, the price is held only on the SKU which is referenced from the barcode.

 

Product History

Each product’s movements are tracked on a daily basis. The master product history file, from which inventory is controlled and reported, holds a history record for each SKU for each day on which the product has moved. Movement details including "Quantities", "Costs" and "Retail" values are consolidated into a number of categories as follows;

Sales, Returns, Transfers, Adjustments, Supplier Receipts,

With this dated inventory a picture of inventory at any date or across any period can be taken.

Stock Levels

Stock levels are maintained from three main inputs in the inventory system;

Stock receipting (from vendor orders/credits and inter-store transfers)

Stocktaking

Sales & returns (POS terminal interface)

Purchase Orders may be entered in the Corporate Controller for any branch, or entered into the local branch system. Stock Receipting is normally a function of the branch system although the Corporate Controller can also be used to manage a stock location such as a Retail Warehouse.

Transfers. Stock Control documents are electronically transmitted between systems so that Store to Store transfers are entered at one point but reconciled by the receiving store with the "Inventory in Transit Report" identifying and reconciliation discrepancies.

With the Central Purchasing module, consolidated purchase orders can be generated for a supplier with multi-branch distribution. The respective receipting documentation is automatically transmitted to the relevant branches in preparation for the direct vendor - branch shipments.

 

Maintenance

The Corporate Controller provides a centralised maintenance facility for a variety of data types used by the Branch/POS Systems and Branch/Warehouse/Store Controller systems. The data types maintained centrally are:

Product Reporting Groups (Divisions, Departments, Classes, Subclasses)

User Defined Reporting Groups (eg Season, Brand, Label, Pack Type …)

Products (SKU’s, PLU’s, Barcodes, Packages)

Size & Color Charts

Vendors/Suppliers/Creditors

Reorder Levels & Size Levels (for Size/Colour Inventory)

Customers/Debtors (normally created in Branch/POS systems)

Pricing (by SKU, PLU, Package, Price Levels)

Promotions & Loyalty functions

Mix&Match (Supermarket)

Cashiers & Permissions (Security)

Gift Vouchers

Rebates (Vendor & Product)

Store/Branches & Managers

Smart efficient maintenance facilities are provided for managing products for products, pricing and promotions by store or store group. Store can be grouped into; Store Types, Regions, Sub Regions and Advertising Groups.

 

 

Sales Analysis & Reporting

The system and particularly the database is designed for tracking sales and inventory history by product by store by day. Unlike systems that are designed primarily as multi-entity accounting systems, the Corporate Controller database is designed to rapidly access data for any number or combination of stores.

A range of sales, audit and inventory reports is provided with the base system, and additional module specific reports (Accounting Modules) provided with the optional feature modules.

System Report Summary

QuickView Sales Analyser Stock Analyser Comparative Sales	Sized Inventory Size Grid Size Composite Size Overview Sold by Size	Price Reports Pricing Promotional Pricing
Inventory Performance Inventory Restock Purchases Rebates Onhand Out of Stock Inventory in Transit Negative Stock Condensed Stock & Sales Rebates Vendor Receipts & Returns	Product Sales Performance Profit Profit by Transaction Hot/Cold Item Top Products Sales Analysis Comparative Sales Salesperson Executive Sales Executive Summary	Financial Sales Store Totals Hourly Sales Sales by Week Department Sales Class Sales Media Totals Media Summary Transactions Salesperson Sales SKU’s Sold by Salesperson Due Bills (Credit Notes) Discounts
Customers Customer List SKU’s Sold by Customer Customer Orders New Customers Customer Letters Mailing Labels Layby Status	File Listings SKU’s SKU Catalogues Barcodes Store Product Groups Vendors Sizes Operators	Audit / Enquiry Till Reconciliation Paid In / Paid Out Total Stock SKU History Bank Rec. Exception Bank Rec. Summary Daily Banking
Stock Control Count Sheets Provisional Count/Shrink Shrink Uncounted SKU’s Purchase Orders Forward Orders Document Listings Document Summaries Reorder SKU’s on Order Stock Receipt	Accounts Receivable Aged Balance Statements Transactions General Ledger Trial Balance Profit & Loss Balance Sheet	Accounts Payable Transactions Aged Balance Trial Balance Held Invoices/Items Invoice & Payment Overdue Payments Discountable Payments Suggested Payments Unallocated Credits Non Finalised Invoice/Credits Non Stock Items

 

Most reports can be run as at any prior date or for any date range. All applicable reports provide a Store Selection screen so that stores can be selected by Store Number Range, Store Type, Region, Advertising Group or the users own store list. Key Sales, Inventory and Financial reports have run time options for consolidating stores into a single report.

Most reports have a variety of run-time options, and many have setup parameter options, and many can be exported to "CSV" files for use in 3^rd Party systems or spreadsheets.

QuickView is a Graphical Drill-Down Reporting module that provides Snapshot reporting on KPI data with Drill Down facilities to products and product audit trails. In a single screen the user can quickly take a Snap-Shot of an Inventory Valuation, or Sales Performance, or Comparative Sales for a range of Stores, with the options for consolidation of Stores or Product Groups. Reports are automatically and seamlessly export to MS Excel™ for Graphical Reporting or integration into 3^rd party management reporting systems.

 

Sales Audit & Enquiry

The Sales Audit module provides maintenance, reporting and enquiry functions for the many intricate Point-of-Sale functions. This module allows management staff to view each the transaction details of every POS transaction including payment tenders, change given, and exceptions like Mark-downs, Reasons and Discounts provided. Management staff can search for POS sales by a variety of search criteria across and periods or stores.

Administration functions provide maintenance and enquiry functions for the following:

Financial Detail Enquiries Gift Vouchers – issue and tracking Credit Notes (Due Bills) tracking Customer Loyalty transactions Till Reconciliation Bank Reconciliation Bad Cheques Paid In & Paid Out Coupons & Discounts Tax Collected

Product Detail Enquiries SKU’s & Product Costs Product History Stock Documents Price Checking Total Combined Stock of an Item Customer Enquiries Laybys Loyalty & Adjustments Customer Orders Item purchases

 

Communications

The Corporate Controller manages the Wide Area or Dial-up communications network. The system automatically and seamlessly prepares all maintenance updates (see Maintenance) and distributes these to each store with their store specific pricing. Stores are typically polled at pre-defined times or intervals in order to minimise network costs.

Updates are polled down to the POSperfect store systems or Store Controllers without operator intervention or interruption of store functions. Within the store systems, updates are then immediately transferred to every POS terminal. Timed updates such as Promotions, are sent immediately but activated and deactivated by the local terminals.

Transactions (sales and inventory) are also polled back seamlessly and loaded automatically into the Corporate Controller database.

Stores may be grouped into Communications Groups so that stores with similar connections and in different time zones can be managed efficiently. The Communications module allows jobs to be defined to move any files (not only Corporate Controller data) to and from locations on the destination systems.

The Communications system uses Microsoft™ Dial-Up Networking (for Dial-Up connections), and TCP-IP or NetBEUI protocols as a communications transport mechanism.

The Store Controller (or Corporate Controller when installed at a Store location), communicates to the local POS system through an Online (TCP-IP) Link so that transactions and updates are transferred between system immediately.

A suite of Communications Administration tools and logs are provided for administering the Wide Area communications system or Dial-Up Network.

Central Purchasing

This is an add-on feature module which allows buyers at a central location to efficiently purchase on suppliers for any group of stores, or all stores. It is ideally suited to organisations which make centralised group purchasing decisions, but where vendors supply directly to the stores.

The system allows the creation of a single Purchase Order for a vendor/Supplier with viewing into sales and stock information for each store. The resulting Purchase Order shows both the combined purchases and the distribution and delivery details for each store.

From the Purchase Order distribution details, the system creates electronic receipting documents specific to each store, and transfers this document electronically into the store system to await the arrival of stock direct from the vendor.

The system provides Suggested Order Reports, and can automatically generate Purchase Orders either based on Reorder Points and Quantities, or based on Stock Onhand, Sales Performance, and Weeks Stock Required.

 

Accounts Payable / Creditors

This module is available either in the Corporate Controller for a centralised multi-branch Creditors system, or on the Store Controller (Branch Level) for a single store system. Creditors is fully integrated with the Purchasing and Receipting Systems and the General Ledger.

Stock can be receipted directly into the Corporate Controller inventory system, or into a branch Store Controller or POS Back Office system. The receipting document is then recorded in the Corporate Controller and made available to the Creditors system. When the creditors invoice arrives and is entered, the operator can view the associated inwards goods documents and link these to the creditors invoice. The operator can then drill down from the Creditors invoice to each store and product purchased to verify quantities received and costs.

This function provides for both reconciliation of stock received by the stores to the vendor invoice, and eliminates the need to the operator to enter the invoice lines for stock products. The operator simply adds on any Non Stock Items (NSI) such as Freight and Insurance

On top of these functions the Creditors provides a standard suite of Accounts Payable administration functions and reports as follows:

Administration Functions Account enquiries Invoices, Credit Notes Entry & Enquiry Payments and applications Cheques administration Payment Method & Terms maintenance Period Control Bank Account Maintenance Non Stock Item Maintenance Manual Payments & Payment Runs Held Items

Reports & Enquiries Transactions Aged Balance Trial Balance Invoices & Payments Overdue Payments Discountable Payments Suggested Payments Unallocated Credits Non Finalised Invoices Non Stock Items

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trade Sales Invoicing

This module is provided so that sales can be entered directly into the Corporate Controller or Store Controller (Back Office) systems rather than the POSperfect POS Terminal. It is designed with the same look and feel as the POSperfect Sales application but with reduced functionality so that only Charge Account and Cheque sales are supported. The Trade Sales module is tightly integrated with the Accounts Receivable module and inventory modules.

The system provides standard pricing functions with 6 price levels by product and manual pricing overrides. The system also provides standard product searching functions for products by code or partial description.

A flexible Invoice format is provided through a MS Word™ (Rich Text) style invoice template.

In the Corporate Controller sales can be entered for other stores provided the system is set up so that the Corporate Controller is maintaining the Inventory for those stores.

 

Accounts Receivable (Debtors)

This module is tightly integrated with the Branch POS System account transactions and the Trade Sales module. It can be used in either (or both) the Store Controller (Back Office) or the Corporate Controller (Centralised Head Office). Every debtors transaction made at POS or Store level, is recorded both in the Branch debtors systems and the Corporate Controller database.

The system is written as Open Item real-time system, although it can be configured to operate as or simulate a Balance Forward system.

Account payments can be made at POS and applied immediately against an invoice, or left unapplied for subsequent processing in the Store or Corporate Controllers. Some restrictions apply when setting up the systems so that payments can only be applied against invoices at one location due to the processing lag in a Dial-Up or Polled environment where two payments could otherwise be applied to the same invoice.

Statements can be run as at any prior date without any period roll-over restrictions.

Customers are linked to Customer Types both of which are maintained within this module. All maintenance changes and transactions entered in the Store or Corporate Controller are automatically and seamlessly updated in the POS system at the Customers domiciled store. Customers can be enabled for account charge sales across all stores or limited to the domiciled store.

Customer Account payment terms are flexible supporting for example both 7 day, 30 day and 20^th month customers.

 

Maintenance & Enquiry Customer Maintenance Customer Types Maintenance Account Enquiries with drill down Invoice Enquiries & details Payments (receipts) & applications Manual Adjustments (journals) Manual Charges & Credits

Standard Reports Aged Balance Statements Transactions

 

 

General Ledger

 

The GL is a full multi-store multi company General Ledger. It provides a flexible format chart of accounts. It is fully integrated with the other Corporate Controller modules and the Branch POS Sales and Inventory systems.

It provides a flexible format Chart of Accounts. Only one ledger and chart of accounts is required for all retail stores maintained within one company. The system will automatically provide reporting for any store, or consolidated group of stores (or all stores) at report Run Time. This is consistent with the operation of the Corporate Controller is other areas of reporting like Sales and Inventory valuations.

The fiscal periods are flexible and user defined with respect to Calendar month, 4-4-5 or User defined periods.

Source transactions (eg Sales & Inventory) can be posted to General Ledger for any specified period, and re-posted as necessary any number of times.

Profit and Loss and Balance Sheets can be run with prior period or budget comparisons.

 

Setup Functions Fiscal Periods & Years Chart of Accounts Opening Balances A/C links to Transactions Types A/C links to Payment Types Budgets Period Control	Transaction Posting Post Data Daily Banking General Journals Bank Reconciliation Reports Trial Balance Profit & Loss Balance Sheet
Enquiries POS Transactions Creditors Transactions Account Enquiries Journal Enquiries	Miscellaneous Functions Non Stock Items Maintenance Paid-out Type Maintenance Re-post transactions

 

 

Highlights

Integrated with Branch POS and Back Office Systems

Complete Suite of Retail POS, Inventory, Purchase and Accounting Applications

Quickview Snapshot Graphical Executive Level Reporting with Drill Down

Industry Standard Hardware, Operating Software & Communications platforms

Extensive range of retail management reports

Powerful relational database and GUI/4GL for providing customised reports etc

Flexible store selections (any combination of stores) for most reports

Flexible integrated communications module using industry standard transports

Proven in large multi-user multi-store retail chain environments

Designed specifically as a Retail Management system, not a POS system

Multi-stock location control for Online Warehouse and Stock Locations

Powerful maintenance facilities for managing price catalogues by store

Centralised Purchasing electronically linked to branch level stock control

Electronic Store to Store and Warehouse to Store Transfers

Centralised Creditors Multi-Branch (Accounts Payable) integrated with Purchasing and Inventory systems

Full multi-store/multi-company General Ledger with report time Store/Company consolidation

Advance stock-taking features, e.g. Stocktake Scheduler

Customised menus and Customised End User reports

Easy support third party application interfaces