Question and Answers

  The subject of the question places it in the following category:   A=All Auction  C=Contacts  D=Donations  G=Groups L=Catalog 

  M=Master Information  O=Checkout  P=Reports   R=Register  T=Tickets

Category   ID       Question and Answer

     A

                 25  What is the use of the button with binoculars on it?

                     This is a search feature. If there is not a search field for what every you are looking for, the search button can be

                     used to search for any word, words, or part of a word or phrase in any field. Click the button, type in part of a

                     word or more, and choose from the drop down lists what field you want to search and whether you want to search

                      the whole field or just part of the field.

                 33  Can this program be used for more than just auctions?

                     Absolutely, As many new auctions as you need can be set up. You can also set up new projects that are used for

                     contacts and groups rather than an auction. This project can be used to manage any type of groups for your

                     organization. There are group reports for printing a directory, envelops, tri-fold letters, address labels, attendance

                     sheets, mailbox or file folder labels and sending emails to any group that you have set up. You can also use

                     groups to track your sports teams, classes, board members, PTA, students, organization members and much

                 34  What is involved in creating a new auction?

                     About 4 mouse clicks, adding a name, date and choosing an auction owner (which is chosen from the contacts

                     list). This is all that is required to get started, the rest depends on how many of the added features you want to

                 42  What is the difference between starting a new auction from scratch or coping setup information?

                     Starting from scratch means the Master Information form will contain all default setup information. Coping from

                     another auction means that a new auction will be set up with the same Master Information that was used in a

                     previous auction of your choice. This saves allot of time if the same organization does a second auction using the

                     same incentive rules and report verbiage as before.

                 43  How do I know with which auction I am working?

                     The Navigation Ribbon shows the current auction ID number, name and date, in the yellow fields.

                 44  How do I switch to a different auction?

                     From the main Ribbon form, click on the more button, then click on the switch to different auction button. There

                      you will encounter a dropped down list of auctions in order by date. Click on the auction that you want to open.

                      When the auction is opened, you will be taken to the Master Information form just in case the user needs to

                     change any of the setup information.

     C

                  1  Does every auction use the same list of business and individual contacts?

                     Yes, all contact information is added only once and is used for all groups such as solicitors, donors, event guests

                     and any other group the user adds.

                  2  What are the required fields?

                     Only the address and the zip code are required. Each entry on the contacts table will either have a business name,

                     a last and first name or both. The user does not have to waste their time entering the city and state, they

                     automatically populate after entering the zip code.

                  3  Why are there so many extra information fields such as emergency phone numbers, email and website?

                     Just for versatility. This program can be used as the main contacts database for any charity organization, school,

                     church etc. There is no need to maintain a separate database to manage your organization.

                  4  Can a person be a solicitor and a donor?

                     Anyone can belong to as many groups as you need them to. The solicitor’s group is set up automatically for

                     every auction but the user can set up as many other groups as they want to.

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Category   ID       Question and Answer

                  6  Even though the program contains 42,000 zip codes, what if I run across one that is not in the database.

                     Simply click on the "More" button and then the "Zip code" button and add the City, State and Zip code one

                     time, and then it will always be there.

                  7  Why can’t I delete contact names?

                     As with any database, once they are linked to other tables because they have been used elsewhere in the program,

                     you can not delete them because it would cause missing information on other forms; however you can make them

                      “inactive”.

                  8  How does the program know the difference between business contacts and personal contacts?

                     If there is anything typed in the business name field that makes it a non-person contact. There are instances where

                      you need to set up fake contacts for internal use and these would be named in the business field also. Anytime

                     there is a business name and a first and last name, the program considers the first and last name as the “business

                     contact person” and will add the person’s name as a second line in the address below the business name.

                 10  Why are there “Publish” checkmarks only beside email and cell phone numbers?

                     When printing a name and address directory for your organization, some folks don’t want their email address or

                     cell phone numbers to be printed, even though they allow the office to have those numbers. If the person wants

                     the numbers to be printed in the directory, check the box beside only what each person wants printed.

                 11  What is the “No mass mail” check box used for?

                     There are times that you will have the same address in the database more than once because a donor who owns a

                     small business may have the business address entered because he donated, and also his name along with his

                     spouse in a separate entry because they attended an event. If you don’t want two exact pieces of mail going to the

                     same address, check one of the contact records “No mass mail” checkbox. You could also have two adult siblings

                      living at the same address with no need to double mailings.

                 12  What is a “Bad customer” on the contacts form?

                     Someone who passes bad checks for steals, that you do not want to return to another auction. If this is checked,

                     their name will appear in RED on the contact, ticket and Registration forms as a warning.

                 13  Why would you use a field called “Miscellaneous information for directory” for an auction?

                     This field would not be used for an auction. There is another feature of the program whereby an organization such

                     as a church or school can create a project that is only used for managing the members of the organization. The

                     parents names would show up in the printed directory and their children’s names could be added to the printout if

                      desired.

                 14  What does the “Active” checkbox on the contacts form do?

                     It removes folks from drop down lists that are no longer involved but cannot be deleted because of links in the

                     program.

                 15  Why is there a “Click to remove solicitor” button beside the solicitor field? Why can’t I just delete the

                     Although the solicitor field looks just like all the other fields, the field is actually a sub-form, which means the

                     solicitor name is stored on another table and the complete record must be deleted from that table, not just the

                     name. Incidentally, this is also true with the group’s field. Removing someone from a group means deleting the

                     complete record from the groups table.

                 31  How many contacts will the program hold?

                     As many as you have time to enter.

                 32  Are the solicitor lists and all other user created group’s auction specific?

                     Yes, the user has the ability to create as many different groups as are needed for any kind of option imaginable for

                     any particular auction. Any contact can be added to as many groups as necessary.

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Category   ID       Question and Answer

                 46  Why would I use the Paste contacts datasheet and why does it always open up empty?

                     This datasheet is used for importing lists of contact information that may have come to an auctioneer in the form

                     of a list via email, spreadsheet or word document. This information can be copied to the clipboard and pasted

                     into this datasheet all at one time rather then being retyped into the contacts form one at a time. The datasheet

                     always opens empty because it is only used to adding new contacts, not editing existing contacts.

     C, A, G

                 45  Why would I want to copy solicitors from another auction?

                     When the same organization is doing another auction, they may use the same solicitor for the same donor year

                     after year. This information is auction specific and would take allot of time to manually transfer that information

                     to a new auction. By coping the solicitors from a previous auction, it gives a starting point so that only changes

                     need to be made for new solicitors coming in or old solicitors leaving.

     C, D

                  9  With the address and zip code being required fields, how do I enter a fake contact for internal use or

                     Simply enter a 0 in the address field and 00000 in the zip code field. Any address with 00000 as the zip code will

                      not show up or be printed on a mass mailing list.

     C, D, T

                 16  Why are all the fields on the data sheet forms locked so I can’t change anything until I click one of the

                     There are a couple reasons for this. 1) When you are working in a datasheet, the tab, enter or arrow buttons take

                     you to the next field and many times automatically highlights the contents of that field. It is very easy to

                     accidentally bump any key on the keyboard and delete or change the contents of that field. When working in a

                     database, you will never be asked to save anything because as soon as you leave the field, it is automatically

                     saved or lost. By using the unlock buttons you have to make a decision to change information. 2) There is a lot

                     of information that is allowed or not allowed to be entered on forms to keep the program working properly. Some

                      of this information is displayed on a datasheet to help the user find what they are looking for, but would cause

                     unwanted results if it were allowed to be changed.

                 17  What does it mean when I see a button on a form such as the ticket entry form that says “Add a new

                     If there is already a name in the “Guest” field, the button will take you directly to that contacts information so it

                     can be modified. If there is NO name in that field, the contact form will open up blank, so a new contact can be

                     added. Note: If you are searching for a contact name that does not appear on the drop down list, press the Esc

                     button on your keyboard twice, to clear the record so the contacts form will open up blank so the contact that was

                      not found can be entered in the database.

                 18  What is the “Show all records” button all about?

                     If you look at the navigation buttons at the bottom of the form, there is a number displayed to the right of the

                     buttons. This tells you how many records there are on the table that you are working with. If you choose a name

                     or number from one of the gray search fields, you will notice that the number changes to a 1, because you have

                     filtered the record set to the one record that you are viewing. The "show all records" button brings back all

                     records on the table so you can use the navigation buttons at the bottom to cycle through the records.

     C, G

                  5  How long would it take to set up groups and produce address labels or sheets?

                     It takes about 10 seconds to create a group, about 10 seconds to add 1 person to that group and after all contacts

                     are added to the group it takes about 10 mouse clicks to choose the type of report you want to print and the rest

                     of the time depends on the speed of the printer.

                 47  On the Group Directory form, what are my group options?

                     There are radio buttons at the top of the form that allow you to select everyone in the database, businesses only or

                      individuals only or one or more groups. To select only one group, click on that group and then choose the

                     report that you want. To choose more than one group, click on the first group then hold down the Ctrl button on

                     your keyboard while you choose each additional group. They will highlight as you choose them. When all of the

                      groups you want included in the report are chosen, click the desired report button.

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Category   ID       Question and Answer

     L

                 19  When working with the catalog, what happens if I generate more catalog numbers than I need?

                     It doesn’t really hurt anything, but it will cause some records to be displayed on some reports or datasheets with

                     missing information. Unwanted records can be deleted by clicking on the record selector button to the left of the

                     catalog number and then pressing delete. If there is a donation attached to the catalog number, you will not be

                     able to delete it.

                 20  How do I know how many silent or live auction numbers to generate?

                     You only need to generate a number for package items that you plan to put together. Once you have added several

                      donated items to each generated catalog number to form the packages, the “Automatically generate catalog

                     number” button will do the rest. If you accidentally generate more numbers that you need to start with, just add

                     one donated item to each generated number to use them up, before automatically generating the rest of the

                     numbers.

                 22  What is the difference between a “Fixed priced miscellaneous item” and an “Instant sale of a

                     The only difference is that a fixed price item is set up before the auction so a miscellaneous sheet can be printed

                     for transporting the bid number back to the checkout table when it is sold, whereas an instant sale is done at the

                     checkout table and gets the item, price, and bid number entered all at the same time and no paper sheet is printed.

                 23  What exactly is the “Bid rate” field used for?

                     If you are not printing pre-priced silent bid sheets it is not used for anything. If you are printing pre-priced silent

                     bid sheets, the bid rate is used to change the numbers on the silent bid sheet. This is important if you have a

                     donation with the reported value much lower then you think it should be, because the pre-printed prices are

                     calculated from the reported value of the item. You don’t want to fudge the reported value to come up with the

                     right printed prices because that will mess up the receipt value for the donor and the buyer, therefore you use the

                     bid rate to simply make the bid prices what you want them to be on the pre-printed sheets. Note: Remember that

                     all calculations in this area are used to figure the Buy-It-Now price that appears at the bottom of the pre-printed

                     silent bid sheet. All bid increments on the bid sheet are then calculated from the B-I-N amount. The B-I-N

                     amount is calculated is by multiplying the reported value from the donations form (of all items in the catalog lot)

                     times the bid rate, times the B-I-N percentage on the Master information form for this auction. As you change the

                     bid rate number, you can watch the B-I-N number change. If you don’t want to keep guessing at the bid rate, to

                     come up with the desired B-I-N amount, simply enter the desired B-I-N amount in the bid rate field (any amount

                     above 5) and the above described calculations will not take place but rather the amount you entered will be used

                     as the B-I-N.

                 24  What if I add a donated item to a package and then decide I want to remove it or move it to a different

                     There are a couple different ways to fix this problem. 1) Go back to the catalog number which contains the

                     unwanted item and click on the record selector at the left of the item and press the delete button. Then open the

                     correct catalog number and add that item to that catalog lot. 2) Open the donations datasheet and click on the

                     “Order by ID and unlock (Catalog number)” button. Scroll down to the donated item that you want to change,

                     and either delete the catalog number or change it to the desired catalog number.

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Category   ID       Question and Answer

                 26  What is the best way to enter the bid number and price for any sold item?

                     This may depend on whether the item is silent, live, or fixed price miscellaneous. For silent items the best way

                     would be to use the enter bids form; however, there are two ways to enter bids on this form if you are using pre-

                     priced silent bid sheets. You can enter bids by typing in the catalog number first to bring up the correct item then

                      press tab or enter to move to the price field. Type in the price (usually whole numbers, no need to enter the .00)

                     and then press tab or enter to move to the bid number field. Type in the bid number and then press tab or enter to

                      move back to the catalog number field where you can type in the next catalog number to start the next item.

                     This process can be used to enter any bids whether for pre-priced sheets, blank sheets, live or miscellaneous

                     items. There is another way to enter bids if pre-priced silent bid sheets were used. The lower portion of the form

                     should look exactly like the pre-priced silent auction sheets. If the user is more of a point and click type of person

                      rather than a number type of person, it may be easier to use the second method. Use the drop down list to choose

                      the catalog item that you want to enter the information for. Look at the pre-priced bid sheet to see what bid

                     number is beside the highest bid price. Use the drop down list beside that dollar amount to choose the bid

                     number. When you click the bid number, the bid number and bid amount will automatically populate the fields

                     at the top for you. Now you are ready to choose the next catalog number and repeat the process.

                          Note: There is one thing that I need to mentions here. When using this method you will notice that the

                     amount paid for the item is not the same as what was marked on the bid sheet. That is because the data base

                     calculates everything to several decimal points even though the amounts are shown rounded to the nearest dollar.

                     Some amounts will show lower and some will show higher. When the buyer checks out, the amount in the field

                     at the top of this page will appear on the invoice, however to keep from having to handle any change at the

                     checkout, there is a checkbox on the Master Information form that can be checked to cause all checkout amounts

                     to round up to the next even dollar.

                         If you are working with live auction items as they are being sold during the live auction and you are not sure

                     of the order in which the items will be sold, it may be easier to use the “Generate #” form. When this form is

                     open, click on the radio button that filters the live items so they are the only items showing, then click on the

                     “Show price and bid number” button to turn on those fields. This way you can search for the item being

                     auctioned and then enter the price when it sells and the bid number when that information becomes available.

                 27  How can I just print one or two bid sheets or miscellaneous sheets?

                     Open the “Packages” form and select the catalog number that you want to print a sheet for. Click on the button

                     for the desired sheet at the bottom of the form.

                 28  How can I print all of the bid sheets at one time?

                     Open the reports form and use one of the P30 section reports.

                 29  How do we keep silent and live auction items separated in the catalog?

                     This is done automatically because all silent item catalog numbers start with number 1, live item numbers start

                     with number 1001, and miscellaneous item numbers start with 2001.

     M

                 48  On the Master Information form there are purple fields to store information that is used elsewhere in the

                     The other information is just for keeping everything together in one place. This way all of the decisions made by

                     the auction committee can be recorded and be readily available for anyone who asks.

                 49  On the Master Information form, what does the “Archive this auction” checkbox do?

                     When an auction is complete, checking this box will remove it from the list of auctions to switch to when the

                     user is switching to another auction. It simply moves the auction to a second list which can be accessed by

                     clicking the “Open archived auction” button on the Switch to a Different Auction form. This way it keeps the

                     normal “Open Auction” list to the auctions that have not been completed yet.

     O

                 21  Why are there two or there different places that allow me to enter the same information such as bid

                     For your convenience. For different situations there are different ways to display and modify information. You can

                     use the form that you like best or that arranges the records in the easiest manner for the operation you are

                     performing.

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Category   ID       Question and Answer

                 35  How does the “Enter payment” form work at checkout?

                     This is an exceptionally versatile form as it will accept several different combinations of entering data. When you

                     click on the “Enter payment” button, the form opens with the payment method which is determined by the

                     default payment method chosen on the default payment method form. The payment method can be changed at any

                      time but the default should be set to what ever payment method you feel will be used the most. If there are more

                     than one checkout lines, each user can set a different payment method so you can have a cash line and a credit card

                      line. The form can be navigated by pressing either the tab or the enter button to go to the next field and to add

                     the payment. This means that if all information in the form is correct when the form opens and the buyer is not

                     paying by check, the user can press the tab or enter button 5 times and the transaction is done.

                          The form also opens with the balance due field automatically populated. If the balance due will be paid to the

                     exact amount and with one payment form, all you need to do is choose the payment method if it is not already

                     correct, enter the check number if paying by check and click the add payment button. The total payments should

                     match the balance due.

                          If the buyer happens to say that they would like to also make a donation of a particular amount above the

                     amount they owe, the user can press the enter button once, type in the amount of the donation and then press

                     enter 4 more times to complete the transaction.

                          If the buyer happens to say that they would like to make a donation but rather than a particular donation

                     amount, just raise my amount due to a particular amount, the user can press the enter button twice, enter the new

                     total due amount and then press the enter button 3 more times to complete the transaction. The donation amount

                     will automatically be calculated and entered in the donation field.

                          Any time the cashier needs to make change and wants help calculating the change amount, the user can enter

                     the Amt Tender in the field, press enter to see the amount of changed that needs to be returned to the buyer and

                     then press enter again to complete the transaction. The Amt tender and change field does nothing for the program

                     and its use is solely up to the users discretion.

                          If more than one payment method will be used to complete the payment, process one payment method at a

                     time. For instance, if the buyer wants to pay $200 cash and put the rest on a credit card, change the payment

                     method to cash and the balance due to $200 and press the add payment button. Then press the enter payment

                     button again to open the payment form. Choose credit card as a payment method and click add payment to

                     complete the transaction. When all payments are made, the total payments should match the balance due.

                          Note: The total payments amount showing above the list of payments does NOT include any donations

                     made. It only reflects payments made against the balance due.

                          Note: Once a payment has been made, no changes can be made to that entry. If there is any mistake or any

                     change that needs to be made to any payment, click on the record selector to the left of the payment, and press the

                      delete button to remove it, then you can click the enter payment button again to re-do the transaction.

                 36  How does the buyer get a receipt?

                     As soon as all payments have been made, click the 1 button at the top of the checkout form if you only want to

                     print one copy of the receipt. Click the 2 button if you want to print 2 copies of the receipt. If you want to print

                     every receipt for the whole auction at one time, click the large button at the top left corner of the checkout form.

                 37  What if a buyer finds something on their invoice that they do not think they purchased or finds a

                     After all of the bid sheets are processed, they should all be arraigned in numerical order just in case you need to

                     find one of them during check out. In this case you would pull the bid sheet for the item in question to see if the

                     buyer is correct or mistaken. If you find that the buyer is correct and there was a mistake made when entering

                     bids, the user would need to go back to the enter bids form and make the necessary corrections. Note: This will

                     possibly change another buyer’s invoice so a note should be made of who the other buyer was that the item was

                     accidentally charged to and then immediately checked to see if that buyer has already checked out and may have

                     already taken the item or may need a refund or need to make another payment if the item was added to their

                     invoice etc.

                 38  When I open the check out form and choose a buyer, I only see one item listed, where are the other items?

                     If you look to the far left of the balance due amount, you will see a set of record navigation buttons. Click the

                     right or left arrow to cycle through each catalog lot. At each catalog lot, every donation that was sold in that lot

                     will be listed separately. If the catalog lot had a title, it will show to the right of the catalog number.

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Category   ID       Question and Answer

                 39  On the checkout form, what is the difference between the Value, Price and the Tax deductible amount?

                     The value is the sum of the value of every item in the catalog lot, as reported by the donor. The Price is the

                     amount the buyer paid for the catalog lot. The Tax deductible amount is the difference between the reported value

                     of the catalog lot and the amount the buyer paid for the lot, only if the amount paid is higher then the value,

                     otherwise this figure will be $0.00. This is the portion of the sale that may be tax deductible to the buyer. The

                     value shown beside the caption “Amount that may be tax deductible” is the sum of all amounts paid above the

                     value for all catalog lots.

                 40  On the Summery form, what is the Total Expenses by Type sub-form used for?

                     This sub-form would be used by an auctioneer who is providing the checkout service for another party. After the

                     auction, the auctioneer would choose the expense type and enter the amount of the expense. These are then

                     deducted from the auction profit to leave the Auction Net Profit amount which is the amount of the collected

                     funds that the auctioneer would give to the fundraiser group. This amount also reflects any percentage of sales that

                      are charged against the auction, buyer’s premiums or tax that was collected by the checkout service that will be

                     sent to the government agency.

                 41  What is the “Update form” button at the top of the Summery form used for?

                     There is a possibility that another form could be opened in the program with changes being made that could

                     change the summery information. Clicking this button will refresh all information on the form.

     P

                 50  On the “Auction Reports” form, why do buttons that open the reports start with letters?

                     If you look at the tabs along the top of the form, one of the letters in the description is underlined. This makes

                     that letter a hot key and allows the user to open that tab by holding down the Alt key on the keyboard while

                     pressing the underlined letter key. By using this letter at the beginning of every button on that tab, it make it

                     much easier for quick reference to a particular report by calling out the letter of the tab it is on and the number of

     T, R

                 30  Why are there two sides to the ticket and registration form that look almost alike and have to same fields?

                     The fields on the left side are always for adding NEW information whereas the gray fields on the right side are for

                     searching for already ENTERED information that you may want to view or modify.

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