Department Set-up

Configuring the Program for a Head Office - Department Set-up

This is an AnyPO III feature.

The program can be set-up so that a head purchasing office receives requisitions (or purchase orders) from one or more departments. The final processing of the requisitions or PO's generally occurs at the head office level, though you could make exceptions for PO's below a certain value.

In the text that follows, we'll assume that the departments are making requisitions and sending them onto the head purchasing office for approval (but departments could make PO's if that's permissible under your business rules.)

Only the departments see their requisitions. In other words, one department can't see the requisitions of other departments. If needed, each department can set-up their own network. For example, you could have AnyPO set up on the department manager's computer, the assistant manager and a couple of clerical workers.

When the requisition has been approved at the department level, it sent onto the head purchasing office. Each day when the purchasing agent opens up AnyPO, the program will pop-up a message indicating how many new requisitions have been received by the office. The requisitions can be then moved into the main purchase order database, and requisitions processed and turned into PO's.

If needed, the head office computers can also be networked. In other words, you could have AnyPO set up on the purchasing agent's computer along with any assistants and clerical workers. Different levels of access can be assigned to members of the office.

Note that we also have some illustrated PDF guides on the Head Office - Department Configuration. You can reach them by clicking:

•	Departmental Set-up: Getting Started Manual

•	Head Office Procedures

Setting Up the System: Quick Overview

Here's an overview of the system: You'll be installing the program on one main computer at the head purchase office (and, if desired, you can network the program at head purchasing office if you have other users that need access to it.) Additionally, you'll be setting up small separate networks in each department. Since each department is on their own network, they see only their own requisitions. When a requisition is approved by the department manager, the requisition is then moved to the head purchasing office computer.

Two Types of Program Administrators

Under this system there are two types of program administrators. The first is the head office administrator who can log into the program from his computer or any departmental computer. The other type of program administrator is the departmental administrator who can log-in to any computer in his/her department. The departmental administrator, however, can not log into the head office computer nor can they log into any other department other than his/her own.

Backing-up Data

You'll notice that each time you exit from the program, it asks you to back-up your data files. You can turn this feature off in the Basic Set-up part of the program, but, we suggest that you go ahead use this feature even though you have a system-wide back-up. Establish a convenient folder as a back-up directory (you set-up the folder in the File >> Basic Set-up part of the program). Do this for all computers accessing the program.

The back-up takes only a few seconds, and by using it on all computers, you'll have redundancy within the head office (for head office data files) and within departments (for department requisition files) in the event there's a problem with a file. If there is a problem with one of the data files, it's quite easy in AnyPO to restore backed-up files and to be up and running again. Your data files are very, very important. AnyPO back-ups provide you with a full coverage insurance policy, and we highly recommend it. Once it's set-up, it only takes seconds to do the back-up.

Info for the IT Folks

Finally, here's some information for your IT folks - or whoever handles your software installations. For your company's firewall, you'll need to allow AnyPO and "dBase Plus Runtime" access. dBase Plus is the underlying database programming structure that is used in AnyPO. If you use DEP (Data Execution Prevention) which is common with Microsoft networking software, you'll need to allow access for all of AnyPO EXE files. There's more information on DEP in AnyPO's help system here (Data Execution Prevention).

Installation and set-up information follows . . .

A. Installation and Set-up Instructions - Head Purchasing Office

Main Head Office Computer

The following will prepare the head purchasing office computer. We'll call this the Main Head Purchasing Office computer.

The program can be installed on any computer in the head office. You may wish to set it up on the purchasing agent's computer. You do want to select a computer that's typically turned on throughout business hours. The administrator of the program in the head office will be able to log-in from any computer within the head office (and any departmental computer).

You'll only need to run through the following steps once. The program will remember all the settings once you finish.

1. Download the program. Use the download link on the AnyPO site.

2. Install the program. We suggest that you go ahead and use the default directory C:\AnyPO – or use whatever is your main drive which will be accessible on the network such as F:\AnyPO. The departments' computers will need to pass data to the program so it needs to be accessible on the network.

3. Start the program. You'll get a couple of registration screens. Don't worry about those. Just by-pass them clicking "Continue" and then "Close". Once you get past those, you'll be at the Main Purchase Order Screen.

4. From the menu on top of the Main Purchase Order Screen, select Help >> Entering or Changing Your Registration Code.

5. On the registration screen:

(a) Type in your name.

(b) Type in the business name.

(c) Type in the registration code. All the other computers, including department computers, will pick up the code and will be automatically registered.

6. Close out of the registration code dialog box. If you want to remove the practice files, select Help >> New Users: Remove Practice Files. This will clear out the practice files that come with the program. (Note that you may wish to keep the practice files. They are helpful when you first learning to use the program.)

7. From the menu on top of the Main Purchase Order Screen, select File >> Basic Program Set-up. You'll be at the "Basics" tab. Take a look at the PO Number.

(a) You can set the number of the first PO to whatever you like.

(b) At the bottom of the "Basics" page, you'll see "Trigger an alert message when the total of the PO exceeds this amount." This is helpful if PO's when a certain amount requires special procedures. If you use this, whenever the PO is over this amount, you'll see a bright "Note Amt" (Note Amount) on top of the screen.

8. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. Click on the "Your Business Address" tab. Your business name will already be entered. Leave the name as it is, but type in the address & phone & fax & email of the head purchasing office in the appropriate blanks. (You can include your Federal ID # in "Second Line" if that's required.)

9. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. Click on the "Shipping Address" tab. Enter the primary shipping address for the business. (If you have other shipping addresses, click on the "More Addresses" button and fill those in.)

10. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. Click on the "Departmental Set-up" tab.

(a) Put a checkmark beside: "This is a head purchasing office computer ..."

(b) If you want to limit your departments to requisitions only, put a checkmark beside "Limit departments to requisitions only." This setting takes precedent over the "Unlock PO's." Once you put a checkmark here, departments will not be able to create PO's, even if a department tries to activate the "Unlock PO's" feature.

11. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. If you need to track account numbers along with your purchases, follow steps (a) and (b), otherwise, skip to step 12.

(a) Click on the "User Defined Fields" tab. Type in: Accnt in the following: "Use the following label (on the screen and printed PO) instead of Job #."

(b) Type in: Accnt in the following: "On the Main Purchase Order Screen, replace the word Cat# in the label 'Your Cat#' with."

12. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. If you desire to change AnyPO's PO numbering system, follow steps (a) (b) and (c) below. Otherwise, ski to step 13.

(a) Click on the "Alt PO Number" tab. Put a checkmark: "Check this box if you desire to use Alternative Numbering"

(b) Indicate which numbering system you will be using

13. Select File >> Save and Close.

14. You should now be back at the Main Purchase Order Screen. From the menu, select Security >> Set-up Program Administrator.

15. You'll be at the "Administrator Set-up" screen. Click on the "Set-up Password" button. You'll be able to enter a log-in name and a password. When finished entering a log-in name and password, click on OK.

16. You'll be back at the "Administrator Set-up Screen." You should now see your log-in name and password in asterisks (***). Click on the "Log-in" button. This will log you in as the administrator.

17. Once you log-in "Administrator's Options" on the lower part of the "Administrator Set-up Screen" will now be accessible.

(a) Under "Administrator's Options" put a checkmark beside "Administrator Log-is Required: Require Password to Start AnyPO"

(b) In the "Administrator's Initials" field type in "ADMIN."

(c) If you'd like you log-in name to appear when you open the program (but not the password), put a checkmark beside: "Show user name…"

(d) Click on the "Close" button.

17. Exit from the program (File >> Exit). Re-start the program. When you re-start, you'll see that you'll need to log in as the administrator.

18. That's takes care of the set-up within AnyPO. But… you need to do one last thing. You need to give the AnyPO directory on the head office computer full permissions. That's necessary since the department computers need to read and write to the AnyPO directory. You need to set full permissions for the directory. In almost all cases when people have trouble networking AnyPO, it's because of a permission problem. So, it's important not to forget this step.

This completes the set-up for the main head purchasing office computer.

Other Computers in the Head Purchasing Office. You can network one or more client computers in the head office to this main head office computer. To do so:

1. Install the program on the other client computer.

2. Start the program, select File >> Basic Program Set-up.

3. Click on the "Network/Currency" tab.

4. Click on the "Browse" button and look through the network directories, and find and enter the AnyPO directory on the main head office computer.

5. Save and Exit" from Basic Set-up.

6. Exit from the program.

7. At this point, you want to go to the operating system and set full permissions for the AnyPO on the client computer. You may know how to do this - or your IT person can help with this. This is an important step. Don't forget it.

8. Start the program. It will pick up its data from the main purchasing office computer. You'll need to log-in as the administrator.

9. Now it is time to set up the user passwords on the client computers.

(a) The administrator does that by selecting Security >> Set-up Users. You'll need to log-in as the administrator.

(b) Click on the button: "Logging in from the User's Computer."

(d) Enter initials for the user

(e) Click on the "Set-up Password" button and create the user's password.

(f) After creating the password, the administrator can, if desired, limit the user's access to certain parts of the program. That's up to you. If you have an approval system that you will using in the head office, then you'll want make the necessary adjustments in "Set-up Electronic Approval system.

10. This finishes setting up the user's computer in the head office. You can add additional users in the head office by running through above the steps for each computer.

A. Installation and Set-up Instructions - Departmental Computers

Set-up main department computer

The following will prepare the first department computer. We'll call this the Main Department computer. And we'll call the AnyPO directory on this computer, the department's Common Data Directory.

This will set up AnyPO on a department computer. It can be set up on any computer in department. You want to select a computer that's typically on throughout business hours. This will be the computer from which all other users in the department will access their files. The department manager's (who will be the department's administrator) will be able to log-in from any computer.

1. Download the program. Use the download link on the AnyPO site.

2. Install the program. We suggest that you go ahead and use the suggested directory C:\AnyPO – or use whatever is your main drive which will be accessible on the network such as F:\AnyPO.

3. At this point, you need to set sharing so that the AnyPO directory on the department computer has full permissions. That's necessary since the head office needs to be able communicate with the department computers. You (or your IT person) will need to set sharing at full permissions (read and write) for the AnyPO directory. As noted above, in almost all cases when people have trouble networking AnyPO, it's because of a permission problem. Don't forget this step.

4. Start the program. You'll get a couple of registration screens. Just by-pass them by clicking "Continue" and then "Close". Once you get past those, you'll be at the Main Purchase Order Screen.

5. We would suggest leaving the practice files in place so that your departments have some samples to look at while they are learning the program. But if you want to get rid of them, select Help >> New Users: Removing Practice Files.

6. From the menu, select File >> Basic Program Set-up. You'll be at the "Basics" tab. If needed you can change the PO Number. You can set the number of the first PO to whatever you like.

7. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. You may wish to set-up a prefix for requisitions coming in from your departments. For example, you may wish to assign a prefix to "RD" to a Research and Development department. You can do that (or make other changes to the numbering system) in the Alternative Numbering area of Basic Set-up. If you desire to make to add a prefix, follow steps (a) (b) and (c) below. Otherwise, ski to step 8..

(a) Click on the "Alt PO Number" tab, and place a checkmark beside: "Check this box if you desire to use Alternative Numbering"

(b) Enter a prefix in the blank: "Use the following prefix." type in an appropriate prefix for the department.

8. The business address is only important for the printed version of the requisition or PO. In a departmental setting, you may only be printing requisitions for the department's own use. If that's the case, you may wish to indicate the department's name and address on the requisition, rather than the main company address. If the department will be sending PO's directly to vendors, then you'll want the main company address.

In the steps, below, we are assuming that printed requisitions are for use in the department (and only the main purchase office sends out PO's). One important point: the business name must always be the same on the department and head office computers. The registration code is based on the business name. If you add a department name, place it in the "First Line" blank as described below.

(a) Click on the "Your Business Address" tab. For business name, type in the company name.

(b) For address and city/state, type in the address of the department.

(d) In the "Second Line," you can enter the department's email and phone number.

9. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. Click on the "Departmental Set-up" tab.

(a) Place a checkmark beside: "Yes, this is a departmental set-up

(b) Type in the name of the department (limit of 12 characters).

(c) Click on the "Browse" button. From the list of network directories find the AnyPO directory on the main head purchasing office computer. The path to the directory should be entered in the "Head Purchasing Office Common Data Directory."

(d) If the department can create PO's, place a checkmark beside: "Unlock PO's. The program assumes…" (Note: that if the head office has checked: "Limit departments to requisitions," then it takes precedence over this option. Even if a department happens to place a checkmark here, they will be blocked from creating PO's as long as the head office has "Limit departments to requisitions" turned on.)

10. You're still in Basic Program Set-up. If you need to track account numbers along with your purchases, follow steps (a) and (b), otherwise, skip to step 11.

(a) Click on the "User Defined Fields" tab. Type in: Accnt in the following: "Use the following label (on the screen and printed PO) instead of Job #."

(b) Type in: Accnt in the following: "On the Main Purchase Order Screen, replace the word Cat# in the label 'Your Cat#' with."

11. Select File >> Save and Close. You'll return to the Main Purchase Order Screen.

12. If you need to track account numbers along with your purchases, follow steps (a), (b), (c), and (d) otherwise, skip to step 13.

(a) You should now be back at the Main Purchase Order Screen. From the menu, select Stock Tools >> Stock Ordering Database. Select File >> Re-configure Your Cat # Field

(b) Put a checkmark: "Reconfigure the program to allow duplicate catalog numbers

(d) Click "Close." You'll be back at the Stock Ordering Database. Click "Exit" to return the Main Purchase Order Screen.

13. Now we need to set-up a departmental administrator.

(a) From the Main Purchase Order screen, select Security >> Set-up Administrator.

(b) Click on the "Set-up Password" button. You'll get a message reminding that this for a departmental administrator (and not the head office), click on OK.

(c) You'll be able to enter a log-in name and a password. When finished entering a log-in name and password, click on OK. (If you don't have the department manager present at the time you are setting things up, just make up a log-in name and password. The manager can change it to his/her preference at a later time by selecting Security >> Set-up Program Administrator. )

14. You'll be back at the "Administrator Set-up Screen." You should now see the log-in name and password in asterisks (***). Click on the "Log-in" button. This will log you in as the departmental administrator.

15. Once you log-in "Administrator's Options" on the lower part of the "Administrator Set-up Screen" will now be accessible.

(a) Note that you won't have access to "Require Password…" That's because the Head Office Administrator requires a password and all departments will also be required as well. So don't worry checking it. The program will automatically require the password log-in.

(b) In the "Administrator's Initials" field type in "DEPT." We suggest that you use DEPT for all Departmental administrators. It will helpful later on in the program.

(c) If you'd like you log-in name to appear when you open the program (but not the password), put a checkmark beside: "Show user name…"

(d) Click "Close" to return to the Main Purchase Order Screen.

16. If you will be using the Electronic Approval System to approved requisitions at the departmental level, run through steps (a), (b), (c), and (d). Otherwise, skip to step 17.

(a) You'll be at the Main Purchase Order Screen. From the menu, Select Security >> Electronic Approval System. If it's not there already, enter the department's administrator's name and log-in (the head office administrator can also log-in here) and click on "Log-in"

(b) Place a checkmark beside: "Use electronic approval system"

(d) Click on "OK"

17. Exit from the program. (File >> Exit). Then re-start the program. Since you've set-up a password, you'll see that you need to log-in. Go ahead and log in as the department administrator.

(Note that in the preceding steps, you entered the path to the Head Office computer. That enables AnyPO to pick up the settings from the head office. So, if desired, the head office administrator can log into the program on any networked computer. If you wish to check to make sure you have established a connection with the head office, you can select Help >> About and you'll see that program is registered to your company).

Setting Up Department Users

Once you've set-up the main department computer, you can then set-up users. In most cases, a user will be a secretary or an administration assistant that actually prepares the requisitions. The secretary will need to have AnyPO on her/his computer as a user. Once the secretary has prepared the requisition, the department manager will look at it, approve it, and then either the manager or the secretary will send it on to the head purchasing office for processing.

Note that users can only log-in to the program on their own computer. (A department manager can log into AnyPO on any department computer.) If this is inconvenient for the user, you can set them up as a global user who, in addition, to the department manager can log in from any computer in the department.

The following information is how to set-up AnyPO for a user in the department.

1. Download the program. Use the download link on the AnyPO site.

2. Install the program. We suggest that you go ahead and use the suggested directory C:\AnyPO – or use whatever is your main drive which will be accessible on the network such as F:\AnyPO.

3. At this point, using operating system settings, you need to give the AnyPO directory on the user's computer full permissions. That's necessary since departmental computers and the head office needs to be able communicate with one another. You (o your IT person) should set full permissions (read and write) for the AnyPO directory. As noted above, in almost all cases when people have trouble networking AnyPO, it's because of a permission problem. Don't forget this step.

4. Start the program. You'll get a couple of registration screens. Just by-pass them by clicking "Continue" and then "Close". Once you get past those, you'll be at the Main Purchase Order Screen.

6. From the menu, select File >> Basic Program Set-up.

(a) Click on the "Networking and Currency" tab.

(b) Click on the "Browse" button. Look through the directories and find the computer that has AnyPO and which is main department computer, serving as the department's Common Data Directory.

(d) Select File >> Save & Close.

7. You'll be back at the Main Purchase Order Screen. Exit from the program (File >> Exit. Then re-start the program. When it re-starts, it will pick up all of the settings from the departments' common data directory computer. To get back in the program, you'll need to log-in. You can log-in either as the Department Administrator or the Head Office Administrator.

8. Select Security >> Set-up User Access.

(a) Your user name and password will be showing. Click on the button "Logging-in from USER'S Computer."

(b) The "Set-up User" screen will appear. Place a checkmark beside: "Yes. Set-up a Default User for this computer."

(d) Click on "Set-up Password"

(e) You'll be able to enter a log-in name and a password. When finished entering a log-in name and password, click on OK. (If you don't have the user present at the time you are setting things up, just make up a log-in name and password. The user can change it to his/her preference at a later time by selecting Security >> Change User Password)

(f) After entering the user password, you'll be back at the "Set-up User" screen. Decide what sort of access that you want to provide to the user by selecting one of the options below "What Access Level do you want to provide."

(g) The department manager can automatically approve Requisitions. If you want this user (such as an assistant dean or manager) to be able to approve requisition, place a checkmark beside: "Allow this user to approve PO's." If not, then leave it blank.

9. Click on "OK" to exit the Set-up User screen. You'll be back at the Main Purchase Order Screen.

10. If you'd like to test the user's password, exit from the program (File >> Exit). The re-start the program. Enter the user's log-in name and password and you'll be able to access the program.

11. The last step is to give the AnyPO directory on the user's computer full permissions. That's necessary since the department's other computers or the head office needs to be able communicate with the department computers. Have your IT person set full permissions for the AnyPO directory on this computer. As noted above, in almost all cases when people have trouble networking AnyPO, it's because of a permission problem. Don't forget this step.

Note: you can network any number of other department computers to the Common Data Directory. There is no limit. To do so, follow the directions above for each additional computer.