FAQs for BatchLine users

In Back Office > Maintenance there is a button near the top of the window called Find Client Machines. When you start the client it should ask you to press this on the server. If you go to the server and press that button, it should link up the client(s) for you.  

The best option to deal with an unwanted category is to use the Move Titles option in Shop Category Management (in Back Office, Maintenance). Highlight the category you want to get rid of and select Move Titles.  Move it to another category (probably Undefined is best).  Once the category is empty, you can delete it.

The error is generally caused by BatchLine not being able to connect to us to do a licence check due to a faulty internet connection at the bookshop. Once the shop's internet is back, the error will go away. If it continues, let us know so we can provide a code to get you restared.

If you want to return a damaged book to a publisher and they ask for the invoice number, the easiest way is to find it is to do a title search for the book:
—Click on stock record.
—Click on History.
—In the History record look for a type 'G' for goods. Any invoice numbers will be in the 'Invoice' field.

The only way we can do this is if you have a backup from that date, which is why we recommend that everyone takes a monthly backup. If that exists we can restore it and give you that value. 

If you go into Back Office/Maintenance and select the System Config > System tab in BatchLine, you'll find 'Default Backup Directory' in the 'Paths' section at the bottom of the screen. If you click on the three dot button next to this you can configure BatchLine backups to go to whichever folder you like. We highly recommend that users back up to a Cloud synced location, such as Google Drive, One Drive or DropBox.

When 'Daily Updates Is Locked' appears, it means that a field on the database has a lock flag on it to stop people using the system while it updates. Daily Update is a critical process during which sales figures are updated to reflect the previous day/week/month and year's sales. This means that at the beginning of a week/month/year, it may take a little longer than normal, but it is essential that the update be allowed to run. If it is interrupted for any reason, it may result in the database being flagged as in 'update' status, and that is one reason why Daily Update locks. The BatchLine Support Module (BSM) will clear the lock.

Find the BSM icon on your desktop. Select the Unlock Modules tab and click on Unlock Daily Updates to unlock and restart. The same process applies for the Returns module if that is locked.

To unlock modules and processes, click on the BSM (BatchLine Support Module) icon on your desktop, then select the relevant 'Unlock' tab. 

In some instances (usually on client machines) you may find that the shortcut to BatchLine POS has disappeared from your desktop. Don't worry – this doesn't mean you've lost the program. To fix it, go to C:\Bertrams\Bertline 401 where you will find the BatchLauncher file. Right clicking on this will give you the option to send the icon back to the desktop.

–There are three main reason why BatchLine will not start: two major ones which can stop the entire system from starting and a second one that will stop a client from starting. The errors you may see are:

1. Unavailable server or unavailable database
2. Daily updates are locked
3. Network issue at 96% (Clients Only)

Contact mail@batch.co.uk so we can investigate and resolve the issue for you.

Contact mail@batch.co.uk and we will resolve this for you.

In the past, the process of printing slips always ended in ‘Do you wish to delete the printed slips’. For both our customers and from a support perspective this was a problem. Version 4.50 brought in an improvement that means you are no longer prompted to delete slips. Instead, if for any reason the slips fail to print there is a new icon at the top of the screen on the Front Office/Goods In page called ‘Print Slips’. This allows slips to be reprinted for any date, including today’s date.

Note: Slips are only available for the previous fortnight because any older than that are automatically deleted.

If your scanner is beeping but not sending out any information, you might like to try giving it a quick tap on the counter. There is a spinning mirror inside and sometimes a quick tap will unjam it. If that doesn't work, contact us.

If you have lost your BatchLine icon, the BSM icon might also have disappeared from your the desktop. It is exactly the same procedure to restore it in both cases: just go to C:\Bertrams\Bertline 401\Tools and 'Send to desktop' as shown. (This also applies to the web exporter icon if you are using that.) Alternatively, you can always find the BSM icon under the Help and Exit menu of BatchLine.

You can easily turn off this feature by going to to Back Office, Maintenance then clicking on the System Config button.

On the System Configuration page, click on the Scanner tab then select the Edit button. Tick the Silent Scanner tick box under the Scanner Sales Parameters heading. This will change the operation of the scanner to silent and the ‘flying’ display you see as you scan will be disabled.

BatchLine can't offer a stocktaking service, but these instructions will help. You will need either to have your own scanner or to hire one from us. (Email us for details.) The recommended model is the KDC100 by Koamtac.

Always make a backup before you start and check with your accountant for any new requirements they may have regarding stocktakes.

The software for KDC scanners can be found at https://koamtac.com/wp-content/uploads/KTSync_Driver_Installer_V224.zip. Allow permission for the driver install when you are asked. It should be set up to download data as a Text file, not Excel which is the default. Also untick 'Application data' and tick 'Delete data after download' and 'Burst mode'.

If you do a stocktake with a tethered (keyboard) scanner follow the instructions but note that you will scan directly into a BatchLine ISBN list. 

Download full instructions here:

Using a KDC scanner with BatchLine version 5.3 onwards

The ability to connect remotely as if you were in the shop is not currently available: your data lives on a PC in the bookshop so you have to be on the same network for that to work. However, there are options and these are:

• Google Remote Desktop – free.
• Team Viewer.  Paid for application but probably a bit better than Google Remote.
• VPN – this is a way to connect as though you were on the same network, but you would need someone to set that up for you.
• Microsoft Azure – this is the most expensive option and it would take a lot of setting up. We would put your database into the Cloud, which would mean that you would be able to connect from anywhere at any time. However,  this costs £80 plus per month and is generally an option for larger businesses.

The first course of action is to restart BatchLine, as this is the trigger for both data sets to send. If this doesn't resolve the issue, contact mail@batch.co.uk and we'll look into it.

A useful feature of ISBN Lists is the option to send a list to a Shop Category, which is a way of bulk changing the categories of multiple items. To use:

• Create an ISBN list of titles to be moved to a new category.
• Select the ‘Send To’ option from the ‘List Details’ menu.

• Click on Category and a form with a drop-down list will appear.

• Select the category you want to send these titles to then press OK to confirm or Cancel if you wish to go back and choose a different option.

Yes, you can. Scan in all the books with quantities (or scan them multiple times), then select List Details/Send to in the ISBN List screen. Choose Sales/Return to Stock from the drop-down menu and 'Return items to shop stock' from the Stock Wizard window that appears next.

They are a bit different in usage to the previous 1200g scanners, in that you have to point slightly beneath the barcode for it to register. If the 1400g is pointed above or even at the barcode it doesn't tend to work; aim it sightly down and it does.  

In Configuration on the left-hand menu there is a setting called Email Receipt Prompt. Select Always and it should ask you for the email address. 

Yes. The upgrade to BatchLine POS version 4.30 included the option for booksellers to sell, top up and redeem NBTs through Open Bravo. Follow the instructions in the guide: Quick Guide - 6 National Book Tokens. Note: new BatchLine POS subscribers who opt to transact NBTs via Open Bravo are eligible to apply for a free scanner and receipt printer. Contact us for more details. 

You can refund a receipt by selecting Edit Sales in the left-hand menu. Enter the receipt number and click on Refund. The next screen will give you various refund options.

Go to Stock/Products to find the item. The Delete button (with a red X) is second in from the right, next to the Save (floppy disc) icon. Click the red X button and the text in the record box below will appear greyed out. To save the deletion, click on the Save button with the floppy disc icon. That process will remove the item from Open Bravo.

To create a new product in a category:

1. Select 'Stock' from the Administration menu on the left-hand side.
2. Click the 'Products' button.
3. Click on 'New': the button with a yellow star on it.
4. Give your new product a unique Name, Reference and Barcode (these must not be the same as any other products).
5. Enter a buy price, a sell price and a tax category for this product. (Leave sell price blank to have Open Bravo prompt you for a value when you use this button.)
6. Click on the 'Save' icon, which is the one with the picture of a floppy disk on it. 

To create a new category in Open Bravo:

1. Select 'Stock' from the Administration menu on the left-hand side.
2. On the Stock screen, click the 'Categories' button under Maintenance.
3. Click on 'New': the button with a yellow star on it.
4. Give your new category a name in the Name field, but leave the Category drop-down blank and do not edit the ID field.
5. Click on the 'Save' icon, which is the one with the picture of a floppy disk on it.

To create a new product in this category:

1. Select 'Stock' from the Administration menu on the left-hand side.
2. Click the 'Products' button.
3. Click on 'New': the button with a yellow star on it.
4. Give your new product a unique Name, Reference and Barcode (these must not be the same as any other products).
5. Enter a buy price, a sell price and a tax category for this product. (Leave sell price blank to have Open Bravo prompt you for a value when you use this button.)
6. Click on the 'Save' icon, which is the one with the picture of a floppy disk on it. 

Use of the Open Bravo till software is included at no additional cost as part of your annual BatchLine subscription fee. You can read about some of its features – including the ability to sell and redeem National Book Tokens – in the user guide.

A bookseller had an event off-site where they had no access to a scanner. How to manage those sales:

—Scan the books that are going offsite into an ISBN list.

—Sell books.

—Scan what is not sold back into a copy of the original list with the 'delete' tickbox ticked. This will remove the unsold titles from the list.

—Sell the list: ie. send to sales.

Yes, BatchLine can create customer invoices from purchase orders.

1. To do this, go to Back Office and select Invoicing from the sidebar and 'View all invoices' from the top. Select 'New', then choose a customer and enter an invoice reference, etc.

2. Once the invoice has been created, click on the Details icon in the top bar. This will bring up the invoice details window. Clicking 'Select Order' will allow you to choose a purchase order from which to add items for the invoice.

The way you would sell a book in this situation is:

* Go to the Books category on Open Bravo and click on the Book product.

* Enter a price by keying in the value. There is no need to click anywhere.

* Complete the sale.

That process sells ‘a book’ for the price you sell it at on the till; it does not sell ‘the book’.  If you want to record the sale on BatchLine follow the steps below:

* Do a title search for the EAN/ISBN/title.

* If you cannot find the title on the main search, click on the downward arrow between Search and Biblio and select Stock Search.

* Once you find the title, click on it so it is the highlighted line.

* Click on Cash Sale.

* On the Cash Sale Confirmation Screen click on Process Sale. 

In this scenario, the bookseller's order had arrived and been scanned in but was still showing on the Orders page. 

To delete an outstanding order in Awaiting Dispatch, first click Abandon Ack. The next stage is to right click the order, and select Move To On Order. There will be a message about not resending the order. Click OK and the order will move to On Order. The order can then be deleted from On Order.

 You can easily share an order with a rep. Here's how:

• Go to Back Office/Reports
• Click on the Custom Reports Tab
• Scroll down to Order Reports Exportable.rtm
• Click on preview and enter the order number (just the number) into the box
• The order will be displayed
• Click on Print (top left)
• Click on the ‘Print to File’ tickbox
• It will save to ‘C:\a\PO Detail.csv’ but you can save where you want.

But if you want - and it is probably best - don’t open it but just send the rep the file and give him or her the order number in the text of the message.

To move an order to 'On order' the process is:

• In Orders on the Awaiting Despatch tab
• There are two scenarios
• You have tried to collect an acknowledgement and the order has an ‘A’ in the ack field and despite several attempts and allowing time for collection there is no acknowledgement available.
• Right click and from the menu select ‘Abandon Ack’.
• The ‘A’ turns into a ‘F’ to indicate a failed order – follow the procedure below.
• The Ack field has an ‘F’ to indicate that it has failed.
• Right click and select ‘Move to on Order’.
• The order moves to ‘on order’ and can now be goods in.

Note: Be very careful about retransmitting an order that has an ‘F’ in the ack field as this can often result in duplication because Gardners have no way of rejecting duplicates. Always speak to them before retransmitting.

BatchLine will normally have a default order, which is the ‘do nothing' order. This will be automatically displayed when doing a customer or stock order in Title Search. It will also recreate itself when transmitted, providing you with a new blank order ready and waiting for new orders.

Things to note:
* There can be only one default order.
* The default order is flagged with 3 in the final column.

To set up a default order for a new order:
* When the order header form is displayed, select Single Default Order.

To set up a default order for an existing order:
* Highlight the order.
* Click on Edit.
* Select Single Default Order.

There are two methods, depending on what the status of the order is.

1) If there is an ‘A’ in the ack field:

Right click and select ‘Abandon Acks’, then follow the instructions below for ‘F’.

2)  If there is an ‘F’ in the ack field:

Right click and select ‘Move to on order’. Once you have moved to on order (the ’On Order’ tab) you can either leave it there as ‘on order’ so you can do goods in against it or you can delete if not needed.

If this doesn’t fix the problem, send an email to mail@batch.co.uk.

If you don't want to see the message 'Does customer have a loyalty card?' you can change this in Open Bravo, though you have to be an Administrator. Open the Configuration screen from the left-hand menu and scroll down to Loyalty Cards as shown in the image below. Then change the drop-down option to Enabled No Prompt, select Save and restart Open Bravo. If you don't have Loyalty Cards, choose Disabled.

This error is a result of loyalty card transactions failing to sync with Batch back-end systems. To see these transactions open BatchLine and go to:

 BackOffice -> Maintenance -> Loyalty Cards -> Outstanding Transaction (highlighted below)

That will take you to the screen below where you will see the details and the error message the Batch systems returned when BatchLine tried to sync the transaction. (There are no error messages in this example.)

Once you've found the transactions you can try hitting 'retry selected' to see if they work. If this doesn't solve the problem, email us with the error messages so we can investigate further.

If you can log on to BatchOne you should be able to adjust the amounts on the cards based on the info in the outstanding transaction screen. If so, make sure you delete these transactions as you proceed so BatchLine doesn't try to sync these.

There is a report for looking at the stock history of an ISBN, which you can order by date and see all the companies that supplied the book plus other details. 
Go to Back Office and choose Reports. This will open on the ‘Stock Reports’ screen. In this section you will see a 'Stock History' heading. Enter the book's ISBN then press Preview at the bottom of the screen to generate the information you require. Alternatively you can select the book within BatchLine/Sales, right click on the title to display the Stock Record, then click on the History tab.

Go to Back Office and choose Reports. This will open on the ‘Stock Reports’ screen. In this section you will see a 'Summary Stock Valuation' heading. Clicking on Preview at the bottom of the screen will display your current stock value, which can then save as a PDF and printed as necessary.

We can provide you with a value from a previous date only if you have a backup from that date. If one exists, we can restore it and give you that valuation. Without the backup we can only give you the value of the oldest backup. 

Note: Backups are important!

Go to Back Office and choose Reports. When you select the 'Custom Reports' tab, you should see a report named ISBN List Simple 1.rtm. (Let us know if you don't have this report.) Run this and choose the ISBN list number you want. When you come to print it, instead of picking your printer go to the bottom and tick Print to File, Type Text File and make sure the file path name underneath has .csv at the end. Click OK to open it in Excel with ISBN/price and other info.