Main Screen

New Purge Projects utility. This utility, found under the Utilities menu on the main screen, permanently removes  projects flagged with the new "Purge" field and all records associated with them, including all orders, invoices and check requests.

New Shortcuts to call the backup utility when you quit from the main screen. If you "right-click," "shift-click" or "ctrl-click" the Quit button on the main FF&EZ screen, FF&EZ will automatically backup your data before it quits. The backup is created in the current backup location (either the default or one you have saved as your preferred location). This currently works only on this main screen button, not on the Quit buttons on the other screens. The shortcuts differ in what they back up:

Note: This calls the regular Backup Database utility with some automatic presets; we recommend that you understand how the utility works and where it creates backups. Although the right-click option is the fastest of the three, we recommend that, at least once, you use the Ctrl-click option (or manually use Utilities> Backup database) to make a full backup of all images and of the system files to a separate disk or USB drive, since the full backup contains the most recent installer that allows you to reinstall the software after a hardware failure.

In all cases (manual and automatic), the backup will not be available if other users are currently logged in to the FF&EZ software, since backups require that the database be closed.

Project List

New Two new fields that control the final status of project: The "Closed" field marks a project as being closed. A future version will allow you to hide all closed projects to make your project list easier to navigate. The "Purge" flag field marks a closed project for permanent deletion from the database, including all orders, invoices, etc. In order to actually purge projects marked with this field, you must then run the separate Purge Projects utility.

FF&E Worksheet

New Pricing Tool (see description below)

Enhanced The Utilities> Setup Check command now includes options to check for estimated freight percents and tax rates that do not match those set on the project screen.

Object List

New Pricing Tool (see description below)

Enhanced Object "tag groups" now respect tags that begin with more than one numeral (e.g., "01STG" or "12ART") and allow more symbols to  be used as a prefix separator. More at the entry for "Tag  Group / Spec ID Group."

Specifications

New A Pricing Tool has been added to the FF&E Worksheet, Object  List and Specification List screens under the Utilities button.

This tool allows the user to easily accomplish three basic tasks:

1. Assign markups or profit margins to selected groups of specifications simultaneously, based on major categories like Vendor ID or the Spec ID prefix. This can be set to override locked prices if desired.
2. Adjust both new prices and/or existing prices with a "psychological pricing" approach used to make prices more appealing.
3. Lock (or unlock) prices, either as part of adjusting them or as a final step in finalizing a quote (especially after a client approves it).

The tool's features are explained on the Pricing Tool page, while a discussion of different ways to use it can be found in the "How To..." section Using the Pricing Tool.

New Automatically repeating vendor quote information: If you have more than one item being quoted under the same "quote ID" from a vendor, you can save time (after entering this information the first time) by letting FF&EZ repeat it automatically. To do so, simply enter a double-quote (the traditional symbol for "ditto") as the only character in the "Vendor Quote #" field in the subsequent specs that were quoted. FF&EZ will fill in the ID, date and expiration period from the last quote you entered when you move off of the field. A reminder for this (along with other short-cuts) appears if you hover your mouse over the field with the "Show tips" option turned on.

Each time you enter a new quote ID, this information is reset, so this feature is best used by entering all the prices from that quote at the same time. Sorting the Specification List by vendor will help with this (click the "Vendor" label in the column header).

Modified: When sorting the spec list by vendor, the items are now sorted on the Spec ID as the secondary sort order instead of the description.

Enhanced Several reports on the Specifications List screen now include the profit margin or the option to add the markup or margin to the base format. These can be useful in scanning for prices that need further adjustment after using the new Pricing Tool.

Enhanced The "Specification Status List" report now includes an option to print the status notes for each spec.

Enhanced "Spec ID groups" now respect IDs that begin with more than one numeral (e.g., "01STG" or "12ART") and allow more symbols to  be used as a prefix separator. More at the entry for "Tag  Group / Spec ID Group."

Enhanced (As of Version 3.2.90) Tax rates and estimated freight percents on the spec screen that do not match the rates set on the project screen will be flagged in red (light orange in browsing mode).

Enhanced The Utilities> Status Check command now includes options to check for estimated freight percents and tax rates that do not match those set on the project screen.

Orders

New An Insert command is now available for order items. This command inserts a new item above the currently highlighted item and renumbers all items below it.

This is currently only enabled for unissued orders since the line numbers in any revision notes for issued orders will refer to the original line numbers.

New Required deposit amounts can now be changed (typically, increased) if a vendor's pre-payment is changed and a deposit request has already been issued. After deposit requirements are changed, you can reprint the deposit request from the Check Request  module (not the Processing module) or, if a client has already sent a deposit, you can print the "Additional Deposit Request" report from that screen to print a revised version of the original request. The latter report will show the deposit paid to date and show the net balance required.

Deposits against which a deposit request has been issued are now flagged in red (light orange in browsing mode) as a reminder that changing them requires further processing.

Enhanced Recap reports have been revised to do a better job of showing quoted, estimated and actual tax and freight amounts.

New The "Purchase Order Recap by Client, Project" is a simpler version of the recap reports that should be used as the primary recap report for most users.

Restored: Recent versions of the Purchasing screen did not automatically locate the PO currently highlighted on the Expediting screen. This change has been returned to the original behavior.

Expediting

Modified: When a quantity that is less than the expected quantity is entered, the "Create shipping split" option is no longer selected automatically. This prevents accidentally creating a split in the case of a manufacturer's underrun, a case quantity adjustment or when two existing splits are shipped in odd quantities that still add up to the same total (that is, where one is an under-shipment and the other an over-shipment that offsets it).