Benefits of DashBook
Royalties
DashBook makes tracking royalties easy. When you enter an order or a return, DashBook automatically calculates the associated royalty transactions. That means you'll always know the quantity of books sold, the royalties accrued, and any outstanding royalty distributions. It also means you'll be able to produce accurate Royalty Statements for your authors with the click of a button.
DashBook allows for an unlimited number of authors per book, and each author can have a different royalty agreement. You can even have an author with more than one royalty arrangement for a single book, such as receiving a royalty for the book cover artwork at a fixed price per book while also receiving a royalty percentage for contributing to the written work.
DashBook allows for both simple and complex royalty arrangements. For example, royalty calculations can be based on:
- A percentage of the retail price
- A percentage of the net price (retail less discount)
- A percentage less credit card fees, sales commissions, and other fees
- A fixed amount
- Quantity breakpoints
- In addition, for each royalty recipient, you can specify whether royalties should be calculated on orders or payments.
DashBook doesn't just calculate royalties for you; it allows you to track royalty distributions (payments) as well. And to keep you on top of your business at all times, the Royalties window displays running totals for each royalty recipient.
Returns
Returns are never pleasant, but DashBook provides an easy interface for entering the type of complex information that you can use to get a better overall picture of your business. For example, in addition to simply entering returns by customer, you can link returned products to specific orders to gain an understanding of your customers' business practices. In addition, you can:
- Differentiate between the number of units returned and the number to be credited
- Return a specified number of units to inventory
- Choose a warehouse to which the units should be returned
- Enter a discount rate for the units
- Charge a restocking fee
- Credit shipping, handling, and taxes
Products and Inventory
DashBook allows you to track both your inventory, wherever it's located – and the costs associated with it. You can also create non-stocking warehouses (e.g., for use with consignment and directly shipped POD products) and track costs associated with those products as well. You can even create your own Cost Categories. DashBook allows you to record the following information about each of your products:
- ISBN (10 digit or 13 digit)
- Title
- Author (including multiple authors, cover artists, and others who receive royalties on the product)
- Retail Price
- Unit of Measure
- Weight per Unit
- Default Warehouse
- Notes
Orders, Invoices, and Payments
DashBook includes two ways to enter orders, generate invoices, and register payments: simple and advanced.
- Simple Orders: This feature, which includes all of the features needed for most orders, allows you to enter order, payment, and shipping information on a single screen.
- Advanced Orders: This feature provides you with additional tools for creating complex orders for multiple products, backorders, consignments, shipments, detailed shipping instructions, multiple invoices, and multiple payments.
For example, you can use the Advanced Orders screen to enter multiple shipments for an order. DashBook will automatically subtract the number shipped from the current inventory.
The advantage of this is clear. When you have a simple order, you can create it quickly with a few keystrokes, yet, the power of the advanced order is there when you need it for complex situations.
Invoicing and Payments
Whether you use the Simple Order screen or the Advanced, DashBook allows you to instantly generate a picklist and an email or printed invoice without leaving the screen.
Contacts
DashBook allows you to maintain the customer, author, vendor, and sales representative contacts you need in a central location. This allows you to access them when you need them for orders, or mailing campaigns, or for any other reason. DashBook contact information includes:
- Multiple Contacts Per Location
- Multiple Addresses Per Contact
- Copy Addresses to Clipboard (to use in other programs)
- A Logo or Image for Each Contact
- Default Tax Area
- Default Discount (for Customers)
- Customer Contact Fields
Detailed Reports
DashBook includes a multitude of detailed reports that you can use to keep track of what's going on in your business. In addition to the standard reports, DashBook allows you to create your own custom reports that you can use to analyze your business.
The Dashboard
The DashBook dashboard is pre-loaded with helpful business indicators including a collectables aging report, a best seller chart, and an inventory level chart. This provides you with an easy way to keep track of different aspects of your business at all times.
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