CostGuard: The Big Picture

Hello and welcome to CostGuard!  We are glad you are here and want to introduce you to some key CostGuard features. Click on the underlined name, and the tutorial will show you the details.

 

Let CostGuard do the work for you.  Our Inventory module will keep track of the item’s units, ordering, receiving, and price changes.  The Recipe Module can scale your recipes, create menus, and calculate margins.  The Sales Module will highlight your bestsellers, report sales history, and deplete your inventory after you have sold some dishes.  You can quickly enter your information in any of our three main units after you have purchased the program.   

 

Take advantage of the interfaces to minimize data entry and comparing totals from more than one source.  The Accounting Module will transfer Receipt totals to your Accounting Software program. VendorTransport will download order guides and invoices from your Vendors, and then export an order to them.  The POS Interface   will take the information from your Sales system and enter it in CostGuard.  And, if you have a Palm compatible handheld, you can use it for Inventory and ordering with CostGuard.  When you use the automated interfaces, you ensure data accuracy, minimize typing, and avoid the hassles of reposting information from one program to another.

 

If you have multiple cost centers, then use the Multi-Unit Controller (with optional Transfer capability for centralized receiving and production). This module keeps the perpetual inventory for all establishments for you, minimizing the time reconciling separate accounts.

If you use Excel spreadsheets for inventory control, then use CG-XL to import information to CostGuard.  If you are entering information for the first time, and have your Inventory in a spreadsheet, this will save hours of work.  You can also use the Export features in Inventory and Recipe to send information to a file for further manipulation, avoiding printing and retyping.

 

Do you hate Ordering Days?  Then use CostGuard’s Shopping Cart.  Shopping Cart is an automatic order screen that will painlessly fill your shopping cart for you. If you have a list created in Requisitions, it will add them to the Shopping Cart.  If you want CostGuard to suggest an order for you based on what you need, and the lowest priced vendors, then the Shopping Cart can do that as well.  Go to Entering Orders for more information. 

If you collect Bids, then you can use that information in the Order Section.  Type in, or download the Bid, and the information will appear later in the Order Screens.  Use this feature to avoid retyping special pricing from one area to the other.  Later, in Receipts you can use that information to tell CostGuard you purchased the items. 

 

Is catering part of your business? The Recipe module has powerful capabilities for pricing events, customizing event templates, and even creating automated production sheets and purchase orders directly from the event’s scaled recipes!  We even have an interface that will connect CostGuard to your catering program; click here for more information.  

 

The Report section is filled with information to help you reconcile accounts and manage the financials.  List and Journal Reports in the Inventory section help reconcile your books.  The Usage,  Alerts, and Reorder Reports will flag Inventory items with issues that need addressing.  CostGuard knows each operation is different – so you can set the triggers for each of these reports.  Use these Reports to put money back into your pockets.

 

The Recipe Pricing Report will give you up to date pricing for each menu item, and the Sales Reports  shows the profitability of each dish.  If you need to play with Pricing, use the Winner and Loser Report to calculate margins and see where you stand on each menu item.

 

The Overview section is filled with information on making the program work faster and better.  You can customize how your Inventory and Recipe Manager Screens appear.  You can purge old transactions.  Overview will tell you what files you need to copy to create a backup of your data.

 

The Installation tutorial will help you install the program on your computer.  Within that section is a to-do list which will help you get the program up and running faster.  Remember, that Inventory, Recipe, and Multi-Unit all have import features which can convert your information and enter it into CostGuard.

CostGuard comes with two units for you, SAMP and MAIN.  MAIN is the unit you will use with your information.  The SAMP unit is for training. We loaded some inventory items, recipes, and sales information into that unit.  As you go through the tutorials, notice the example screens. All of the data we used for the transactions and reports is in the SAMP unit.  If you want to try something, do it in SAMP and your information in the MAIN unit will not be affected.  You can use SAMP to train employees, test report configurations, and try out commands.  CostGuard designed the Tutorial and Help sections so you can quickly find the information that you need.  Click Help, and then click either CostGuard Help for an index or CostGuard Tutorial for step-by-step directions on how to do something.

 

You can start the tutorial at any time when you click Help, then CostGuard Tutorial. 

 

The purpose of the tutorial is to help you use CostGuard quickly AND effectively. You’ll find lots of instructions PLUS industry-specific tips. So, if you are curious how to use the information you are seeing, click the tutorial for that topic.  It will explain what you are seeing, and how to use the information.  If you sell alcoholic beverages, there is even a separate section showing you how you can use CostGuard to manage those products.  And your Bookkeeper has a section with the details for that job.

 

Why is CostGuard unique?  Because we have options built into our program.  We let you choose one of five ways to enter in your Inventory items, and you can enter any item, in any way.  We let you choose two different ways to Order Inventory.  We let you choose how much information you want to enter in your Recipes.  And we let you choose from three different ways to enter you sales figures.  You can customize your Reports, based on the information you need and want.  And unlike other programs that won’t let you “move to the next screen” without entering information, we generally have very few mandatory fields.  All of this flexibility means you have a program that works for you not against you in running your establishment.

 

There are two paths in the tutorial.  The first path, labeled Quick Start will show you the main features of the program. The second path will lead you through all of the options and modules.    At the end of each help section, you can choose to remain on the Quick Start or the regular path.

Again, we welcome you to CostGuard!

 

Continue to the    Quick Tour which gives you a quick tour of the important functions of the application and gets you up and running.

 

Continue the regular path