scanTag is a new feature that was added to Lizzy about a month ago that allows a Service Tech or Manager to quickly create service tickets on the fly.  The general idea is to be able to scan a VIN or Barcode label and have Lizzy automatically locate the customer and unit, and create the service ticket for you with one click.  If this sounds interesting, wait until you see what it runs on!

Lizzy’s new scanTag system was designed to operate on an iPad, iPhone, Droid Phone or Droid Tablet, so the applications and what we plan to do with it are endless!  So here is the flow:

When a unit is sold or serviced, a small barcode label is attached and assigned to that unit.  This can be done directly from the service ticket you’re working on or the new unit purchase screen.  Once registered, Lizzy will be able to quickly identify the unit simply by scanning the tag.  These labels can be purchased directly from nizeX, Incorporated or can be any standard barcode label that is durable enough to last outdoors.

Later:

A customer arrives at your shop for service.  You pickup your iPad and Scanner and walk outside with them.  You select the New Service Ticket menu on your device and scan the barcode located on the unit.  Lizzy then identifies the unit and the customer, and presents you with a verification box that shows both.  You verify with a simply touch on the screen and Lizzy creates the service ticket for that customer, attaches the unit to it for service and places you on the Jobs screen to create the job that needs to be done.

It can’t be any easier than that.  No more search for customer records, trying to find the customers unit or anything in between.  One scan and you’re ready to go.  Another nice feature of Lizzy is the ability to run the complete package on the iPad. This enables you to continue collecting all of the necessary job requirements on the iPad or you can walk back inside and finish up the ticket on a computer there.

Lizzy, where imagination is your only limit.

• Install the Topaz drivers that came with your signature tablet.
• If Java is not installed on the host computer, download it from Java.com.
• Install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package from Microsoft.
• Install the Lizzy™ specific Java modules, you can download the installer here.

Once you have installed the software, Lizzy™ will display a live signature window in the browser when ever a signature capture is required, it will also display a signature box on the tablet display. The captured signature will be saved and linked to the invoice or work order for which it was captured.

-Noel

Making it even tougher for a lot of our customers, is the fact that airfares are going up daily and staying in a hotel large enough for us to do training can get quite expensive. As a result, I’ve been considering other means of making sure you guys are getting all the training you need in order to not only operate Lizzy as best you can, but also to manage your businesses.

Starting in January 2012, every Wednesday I’m going to start trying something new. We are going to try putting on a Webinar that you guys can sign up for and every week I’m going to talk for 15-20 minutes on a new topic. These topics may range from how to do things in Lizzy to how to become a really good manager in order to get the most out of your people. I travel around the country visiting dealerships and have tons of information that I could share that may help you with your day to day processes. Some of you may already be doing them and if so that is great. If not, its always good to hear other ways to do things that could improve your bottom line.

These classes are going to be free and I plan on the last 15-20 minutes of each weeks lesson to be for question and answer. We’re probably not going to be able to all talk, but you should be able to type questions to me and I’ll read the question and provide the answers. We’re going to keep these classes as short as possible to allow as many people to participate as possible. You are welcome to suggest topics you’d like to see discussed and I’ll do my best to work them in. The goal behind this project is to share new features with you, show how to use old ones and some will provide new directions we’re taking Lizzy in the future.

I hope that with your help and participation, these classes can become a welcome addition to the Lizzy experience and that you’ll be able to improve your business operations as a result. Each class will start at 2pm Eastern sharp and will conclude at 2:30pm Eastern. I will also record them in order to allow viewing at later times in the Lizzy Learning Center.

See you on the 4th,

G

Lizzy will report these intelligently, if you tell her you need them.  How do you do this?  In the Sales Tax setup of course!  If we go there ( Settings > General > Tax Rates ), you’ll notice in the upper section ( 3rd Column ) that there is ‘This is an exempt tax’ flag.  This flag allows us to create multiple ‘Exempt’ statuses within Lizzy, for just such a thing as reporting Wholesale vs. Farming vs. Out of State vs. whatever.

Then, when you use one of these taxes on an invoice – Lizzy will be able to distinguish it from just Exempt, which is exactly what you need when filling out your Tax Report.

To start with, we need to enter our liabilities at the top, along with a reference, and when we owe for it.  As an example, I’ll walk you through Federal, since we all have that one.  Now, in my sample DB, I have EFTPS set up as a Government Agency, since that is who I pay for my 941 Tax Deposits, and 940 Quarterly FUTA payments.  Now, since these are 2 separate things, paid at separate times, I want to keep them separate from each other, even though they go to the same agency.  That is what our reference is for.  Leaving this blank would make things much harder later on.

So, I’ll select EFTPS for my Govt Agency, and enter something like “941 Tax Deposit” in my reference.  Now with my 941 deposit its normally owed either monthly, or semiweekly ( a few days after my payroll check date ), so I’ll select which one applies to me, and then either enter 15 ( for monthly ) or 0 ( for semiweekly ).  Then I’ll click save.

NOTE:  Lizzy is smart enough to do the basic calculations to adjust due dates as needed.  We understand that while your monthly liability is due on the 15th of the next month, there might be occassions where its due on the 16th or 17th because the 15th is a non-banking day.  Lizzy will adjust this automatically, so we enter 15, because its normally due on the 15th.  Same thing for Quarterly.  We’d enter 31 as the last day of month, because Lizzy knows that if its due on a 30 day month, its due on the 30th, and if the last day of the month falls on a weekend, its due the 1st Monday following.  However, we will allow other days entered, because we don’t know if your local tax is due on the 10th, or 20th or something like that.  But again, the same rules apply – Lizzy will adjust for the weekend, non-business days…

So, next I enter my 940 FUTA entry ( selecting EFTPS as Govt Agency, “940 Futa” for a reference, Quarterly and 31 as my Due Date, then save it ).  Now when I go to Assign the various tax liabilities, in my droplist, I’ll now see “941 Tax Deposit” and “940 FUTA” as options, and can select them accordingly.  You would do this the same way with your state withholding and unemployment ( assuming you have those ) and any Local taxes you owe for your employees.

Once we’ve linked everything up, we can close this form, and reload our Payroll Liabilities form, by clicking Tax Liability from the menu section.  now we should see a list of our “References” along with when they were last paid ( which is currently blank, as we haven’t paid them yet ), when they are next due, what period we will run for ( defaulted to the currently owed period ) and a View/Pay button.  Lizzy assumes we need to run for the period just past, and lists everything accordingly, but if you needed to go back and view something from a prior period, you can change your Run For drop down.  When you click on your View/Pay button, a new form will open.

This new form will show all the taxes tied to this Liability, and how much you owe on them for the period ( which would be the check amount ).  You can click on the detail line, and it will then breakdown each check that makes this value, by employee.

Once everything meets with your approval, you can pay this by selecting whether this is a regular check or EFT ( Lizzy defaults to EFT ), which Checkbook you’ll be paying the check from, and shows you which Check # Lizzy will use.  When your ready, simply click Generate Check/EFT, and the check will be written, and then today will show up on your Liability form as the date last paid.

And that is how Lizzy handles your Payroll Taxes!!!