CarteBlanche Version 9.7 - User Manual


1. Getting started 2. Adding clients
3. Modifying a client’s details 4. Adding services
5. Modifying services 6. Making a new appointment
7. Signing off an appointment 8. Other appointment features
9. Adding stock 10. Modifying stock details
11. Selling stock 12. Print options
13. Reports 14. Receiving payments from clients
15. Clients’ photographs and hair styles 16. POS hardware
17. Discarding old data 18. Password protection
19. Exporting email addresses 20. Exporting mailing list
21. Printing daily worksheets 22. Networking CarteBlanche
23. Printing old receipts 24. Reminders
25. Vacations and unavailability 26. Cancelling an old transaction
27. Exporting reports 28. Printing gift certificates
29. Company logo 30. Backing up data
31. Commissions 32. Lay-bys
33. SMS text messaging 34. Wait listing appointments
35. Charge cards 36. Discounts
37. Stock consumed in the salon 38. Tracking appointments
39. Giving refunds 40. Second currency
41. Finding next free appointment slot                42. Managing equipment (eg sunbeds)
43. Changing staff details 44. Data protection (GDPR compliance)
45. Miscellaneous cash payments 46. Accepting deposits
47. Online bookings 48. Printing labels for merchandise
49. Client recalls 50. Loyalty scheme
53. Configuring your email 54. Calculating the change
55. Packages 56. Removing inactive clients
57. Phone notifications



1. Getting started

Click on the CarteBlanche shortcut on your desktop to start the program. When the opening dialog box appears, click on Evaluate. The first time you run the program, CarteBlanche will lead you through the setup process. If all the information required is not available, you may leave the setup process and CarteBlanche will start where you left off the next time you run the program. You only have to go through the setup process once.

The order of setup is as follows:

Please think carefully about the length of appointments. This is the minimum length of appointments that you require, but you will be able to make appointments for multiples of that period. For example, if you set 15 minutes as the standard length of appointments, you will also be able to make appointments for 30 minutes, 45 minutes and 60 minutes, etc. If you change the period after you have made appointments some of the appointment lengths may change.

The names of staff are those who require an appointments diary, usually stylists. Do not include ancillary staff such as receptionists.

If you do not intend to sell goods to clients, then indicate that there are no taxes on sales.

If you make a mistake during the setup process, you may correct it later by selecting the appropriate item from the Setup menu.

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2. Adding clients

Before you can start making appointments, you have to add clients to the CarteBlanche database. To add a client, click on the client icon on the toolbar, click on Add client from the Clients menu, or press the F5 key.

The only required field in the Add client dialog box is the last name. This enables you to quickly add a client to the database when you wish to make an appointment for someone who is not already a client. You can add the other details at a later stage (see section 3 – Modifying a client’s details).

If there is insufficient space in the Comments field, you may add supplementary notes by clicking on Notes.

If you allow clients to have accounts, you should specify the opening balance in the appropriate field and select whether the balance is credit (CR) or debit (DB).

You may override the client number which is prompted by the program (using combinations of letters and numbers) but duplicate numbers are not allowed.

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3. Modifying a client’s details

To modify the details of a client, click on the first binoculars icon on the toolbar, click on Search from the Clients menu, or press the F6 key.

You will be asked to enter the client number, or enter the first few letters of the client’s last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select the client from the list.

The client’s details will be displayed. You can add or modify details and save the changes, delete the client, or continue without making any changes.

If the client has future appointments, you will not be allowed to delete the client.

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4. Adding services

Select Add service from the Services menu or click on the scissors icon from the toolbar, then enter the type of service, the service code or abbreviation, and the cost. You may also enter a standard time for the service which will be used for calculating the length of appointments. You may also choose whether taxes apply to the particular service. The codes or abbreviations will be used only when you specify several services for an appointment and the service string is too long to fit in the appointments slot.

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5. Modifying services

To modify the cost of a service, or to delete a service from the database, select Modify service from the Services menu or click on the second binoculars icon from the toolbar.

Select the required service from the droplist.

You will not be allowed to delete a service is it used in future appointments.

If you wish to change the prices of all services by a fixed percentage, select Change prices from the Services menu. Select whether prices should be increased or reduced and enter the percentage change.

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6. Making a new appointment

To make a new appointment, display the appointments diary for the appropriate day by clicking on the Calendar icon on the toolbar, clicking on Diary from the Appointments menu, or pressing the F3 key.

Once the diary is displayed, you may move to the next day by clicking on the right arrow on the toolbar, clicking on Next day from the Appointments menu, or pressing the F4 key. Similarly you may move to the previous day by clicking on the left arrow, clicking on Previous day, or pressing F2. (Note that of you are displaying the weekly appointments diary for a staff member, these commands will show the next week or the previous week). You can also move a week ahead or a week back by clicking on the double arrows or pressing Ctrl+F4 or Ctrl+F2 respectively.

To make the appointment, click on the appropriate slot on the diary. You will be asked to select the client by entering the client number, or entering the first few characters of the client’s name and selecting from the list. If the client is not in the database, check New client and enter the client's details.

Next you will be asked to select the services which are required for the appointment. Up to six services may be selected. If the service is not in the database, you will have to add the service first (see section 4).

If there will be some waiting time during the appointment so that the staff member can attend to another client, check the box to show that there will be free time.

You must also select the length of the appointment. If you wish to add pre-appointment notes, click on the Add notes button.

You may also add appointment notes prior to making the appointment (as a reminder) by selecting Notes for next appointment from the Clients menu.

The new appointment will be displayed in light red on the diary. If you have checked the box for free time the appointment will be cross-hatched.

If you wish to confirm the appointment, click on the appointment and select Confirm the appointment from the list. The confirmed appointment will be shown in purple.

CarteBlanche has two layers of appointments. You should normally make appointments using layer 1. If you want to double book a member of staff (ie accept two appointments during the same slots) you should use layer 2 for the second appointment. You can toggle between layer 1 and layer 2 (and the equipment diary if you have set up equipment) by selecting Toggle layer of diary from the Appointments menu, clicking on the 1 2 icon on the toolbar or pressing Ctrl + L.

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7. Signing off an appointment

When an appointment is finished, you should sign off the appointment.

Display the diary for the day of the appointment, then click on the appointment. Check “Sign off the appointment”. Enter the notes relevant to the appointment and click on Continue.

The check out screen will show the services attached to the appointment, and their cost. You may add or delete services as required.

If you also sell products to your clients, you will be offered the opportunity to do so at this stage. Click on Add merchandise then enter the stock number, or enter the first few characters of the stock description and select from the list. In the next dialog box, enter the quantity sold. You can also override the selling price if you wish.

You may also sell non inventory items by clicking on the Non inventory button. Enter the description of the item, the unit cost, the quantity and check the appropriate boxes to apply sales taxes.

To exit the Sell stock item dialog box without adding an item, click on OK without entering the stock number or selecting from the list.

When you have finished adding services and merchandise, the costs of the appointment will be summarized.

If the amount paid is different from the amount shown in the Amount paid now field, enter the actual amount paid. Any shortfall in payment will be added to the client’s account. You should also select the payment method (if the amount paid is not nil) and check the box if you wish to print a receipt. You can also offer a discount or redeem a gift certificate at this stage. If the value of the certificate is greater than the cost of the transaction, the balance will be credited to the client’s account.

If the client pays a tip, enter the amount in the Tips dialog box. You may also check the box for Keep the change if the change calculator shows an amount of change. Select the member of staff receiving the tip and the method of payment. If more than one staff member has been involved in the appointment you will be prompted to enter the tip for each.

After clicking on Check out, the appointment will be displayed with a light blue background to show that it has been signed off.

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8. Other appointment features

You can choose to show the appointments diary in full mode or in condensed mode. To change the mode, Select Style of diary from the Appointments menu or click on the Toggle icon on the toolbar. (The latter will only be available when the diary is displayed.)

When you click on a current appointment in the diary (ie one with a light red or purple background), as well as signing off the appointment you have the following options:

When you click on an old appointment in the diary (ie one with a light blue background), the details of the appointment are shown, ie the cost of the appointment and the notes.

You can also display a full week’s appointments for a specific staff member. Select View week from the Appointments menu, identify the staff member and choose the start date. This is a passive window; you cannot make new appointments or modify appointments from this screen. However you can click on a column to switch to the appropriate day in the daily appointments diary, in order to make a new appointment, sign off appointments, etc.

You can toggle between layer 1 of the appointment diary and layer 2 (which is used for double bookings) by selecting Toggle layer of diary from the Appointments menu, clicking on the 1 2 icon on the toolbar or pressing Ctrl + L.

You can fit the appointments diary to the screen vertically by selecting Fit to screen from the View menu or pressing Ctrl + F. Repeating this command toggles “fit to screen” on and off. You can also switch off the command by displaying any report. While the command is in effect the Zoom and Resize commands have no effect.

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9. Adding stock

If you intend to sell items to your clients, you have to add stock to the CarteBlanche database. Click on the stock icon on the toolbar, click on Add stock item from the Sales menu, or press the F9 key.

You will be prompted to enter the description of the item, the quantity in stock, the reorder level, the cost price (optional), the selling price and the stock number. CarteBlanche will suggest a stock number, but you may override this.

You can also choose whether sales taxes apply each stock item by checking the appropriate box(es).

The fields for supplier and category (which might include hair products, nail products, etc) will not be populated initially. To populate them enter the supplier or category and click on the Add button.

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10. Modifying stock items

To modify a stock item, click on the second binoculars icon on the toolbar, click on Modify stock item from the Sales menu, or press the F10 key. Enter the stock number, or enter the first few characters of the description and select from the list.

You may change the details of the stock item and save the changes, delete the stock item, or continue without making any changes.

Use this function to change the quantity when you replenish your stock.

If you wish to change the prices of a group of stock items by a fixed percentage, select Change prices from the Sales menu. Select whether the prices should be increased or reduced and enter the percentage change. Select the supplier and category if appropriate.

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11. Selling stock

To sell stock to a walk-in customer who may not necessarily be a client, click on the shopping trolley icon on the toolbar, click on Sell stock from the Sales menu, or press the F11 key. You may also use this function to sell services without making an appointment.

Specify whether the customer is an existing client, a walk-in customer or a new client. If the customer is an existing client, you will be prompted to identify the client.

To add a stock item to the checkout list, click on the Add merchandise button. You will be prompted to enter the stock number or enter the first few characters of the stock description and select from the list. In the next dialog box, enter the quantity sold. You can also override the selling price if you wish.

You may also sell non inventory items by clicking on the Non inventory button. Enter the description of the item, the unit cost, the quantity and check the appropriate boxes to apply sales taxes.

To exit the Sell stock item dialog box without adding an item, click on OK without entering the stock number or selecting from the list.

To add a service, click on the Add service button. Select the service from the list, and select the member of staff who provided the service. Confirm the details of the service in the next dialog box.

To exit the Sell service dialog box without adding an item, click on OK without selecting a service.

After entering the items, you may offer a discount or redeem a gift certificate. You may also remove items from the check out list by selecting the appropriate item and clicking on Remove item. If you redeem a gift certificate whose value is greater than the cost of the sale, and the client is a registered client, the balance will be credited to the client’s account.

Select the payment method and check the Print receipt box if appropriate.

If the customer pays a tip, enter the amount in the Tips dialog box. You may also check the box for Keep the change if the change calculator shows an amount of change. Select the member of staff receiving the tip and the method of payment. If more than one staff member has been involved in the appointment you will be prompted to enter the tip for each.

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12. Print options

To change the CarteBlanche print options, select General settings from the Print options submenu of the Setup menu. You have the following options:

12.1 Always print receipts
Check this option to force CarteBlanche to always print receipts.

12.2 Hide the print dialog box
Check this option if you do not want the Printer dialog box to be displayed. CarteBlanche will select the default printer (if one is specified).

12.3 Receipt printer to open cash drawer
Check this option if you are using a receipt printer (such as the Epson TM series) and you want the printer to send a signal to a cash drawer to kick open the drawer. After enabling this option, you will also be able to open the cash drawer by pressing the F12 key (eg for a no-sale).

12.4 Print logo on receipts
Check this option if you wish your company logo to be printed on receipts.

12.5 Print borders on receipts
Check this option if you wish to print a border round receipts.

12.6 Print future appointments details on receipts
Check this option if you to print a list of future appointments for the client at the bottom of the receipt.

12.7 Number of copies to print
This option allows you to choose the number of copies of receipts to be printed (one or two).

If you are using a label printer to print stock labels and the program does not recognise the label size and orientation from the printer driver you can specify these parameters by selecting Label printing from the Print options submenu of the Setup menu.

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13. Reports

The default font for reports and for print functions is Arial. You can change the font and colours by clicking on Font from the Setup menu and selecting the desired font. This may be useful if you are using a foreign character set such as Russian or Greek. You can also change the font and colour for the salon name and the colours for dialog boxes.

13.1 Accounts

13.1.1 Account activity
Click on Account activity from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date.

13.1.2 Cancelled transactions
Click on Cancelled transactions from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date.

13.1.3 Cash adjustments
Click on Cash adjustments from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date. The reports shows miscellaneous cash outgoings and receipts.

13.1.4 Commissions
Click on Commissions from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date.

To set up percentage commissions, select Commissions from the Staff submenu of the Setup menu.

13.1.5 Discounts
Click on Discounts from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report.

13.1.6 Receipts and revenue summary
Click on Receipts and revenue summary from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and time and the end date and time for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date.

The receipts are actual monies received. The revenue is based on the value of services and sales supplied during the period of the report (including those not yet paid for).

13.1.7 Refunds
Click on Refunds from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu to display a report on refunds given over a specified period. Enter the period of the report.

13.1.8 Revenue, by client
Click on Revenue, by client from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu to display a report on revenue received from individual clients for a specified period. Select the range of clients’ last names and the period for the report.

The revenues include the value of any gift certificates redeemed by the client.

13.1.9 Revenue, by staff member
Click on Revenue, by staff member from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu to display a report on revenue generated by individual members of staff for a specified period. Select the period for the report.

The revenues include the value of any gift certificates redeemed to the staff member.

13.1.10 Tips
Click on the Tips submenu from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and time and the end date and time for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date, and the times to the opening and closing times.

13.1.11 Transactions summary
Click on Transactions summary from the Accounts menu of the Reports menu. Enter the date for the report. The report shows the time, transaction number, client, employee, amount paid and method of payment.

13.1.12 X-Charge transactions
Click on X-Charge transactions from the Accounts menu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and end date for the report.

13.2 Appointments summary

To display a summary of appointments for a specified period, click on Appointments summary from the Reports menu.

You may choose to display appointments for all staff, or for an individual employee. You may also opt to show only unconfirmed appointments.

Enter the start and end dates for the report.

13.3 Charge cards

13.3.1 List all cards
Click on List all cards from the Charge cards submenu of the Reports menu to show the current status of all charge cards.

13.3.2 Transactions (all cards)
Click on Transactions (all cards) from the Charge cards submenu of the Reports menu to display the transaction history of all charge cards for a specified period. Enter the start and end dates of the report.

13.3.2 Transactions (single cards)
Click on Transactions (single cards) from the Charge cards submenu of the Reports menu to display the transaction history of a particular charge card for a specified period. Identify the card. Enter the start and end dates of the report.

13.4 Clients

13.4.1 Account history
Click on Account history from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu to display a client’s account history.

Enter the client number or enter the first few characters of the last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select from the list.

13.4.2 Active/inactive clients
Click on Active/inactive clients from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

Specify the service (or all services) and the period.

13.4.3 Appointments
Click on Appointments from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu to display a particular client’s current appointments.

Enter the client number or enter the first few characters of the last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select from the list.

13.4.4 Balances
To display a reports on clients with an account balance exceeding a specified amount, click on Balances from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the minimum balance and specify whether you wish to display debit balances or credit balances.

13.4.5 Birthdays
Click on Birthdays from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu. Select the month to display a list of clients with birthdays in that month.

13.4.6 Buying service
To display a report on clients who have purchased a specified service since a given date, click on Buying service from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

Select the service from the drop list and enter the start date for the report. The report will be sorted in descending order based on the quantity purchased.

13.4.7 Buying stock
To display a report on clients who have purchased a specified stock item since a given date, click on Buying stock from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

Identify the stock item and enter the start date for the report. The report will be sorted in descending order based on the quantity purchased.

13.4.8 Comments/formulae
Click on Comments/formulae from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu. You may display a list of all clients’ formulae, or you may select a range of initials of clients’ last names. You may also sort the clients according to the preferred member of staff.

13.4.9 History (appointments)
Click on History (appointments) from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

Enter the client number or enter the first few characters of the last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select from the list.

Select the period of the report, and the details of the client’s appointments between those dates will be displayed.

13.4.10 History (sales)
Click on History (sales) from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

Enter the client number or enter the first few characters of the last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select from the list.

Select the period of the report, and the details of the client’s stock purchases between those dates will be displayed.

13.4.11 List all
Click on List all from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

You may display a list of all clients, or you may select a range of initials of clients’ last names. You may also sort the clients according to the preferred member of staff.

13.4.12 Loyalty status
Click on Loyalty status from the Clients submenu to show the status of a client in the loyalty scheme. The report will list the services the client has purchased towards a discounted one.

13.4.13 New clients
Click on New clients from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

The report shows new clients who did not have an appointment prior to a specified date. Enter the date.

13.4.14 No shows
There are two reports on no shows. Click on By client to display a list of no shows by a particular client for a specified period. Identify the client, and enter the start date and the end date for the report.

Click on Summary to display a summary of no shows for a specified period. Enter the start and end dates for the report.

13.4.15 Referrers
Click on Referrers to show clients referred by a specified referrer. Select the referrer from the list.

13.4.16 Reminders
Please see section 24.

13.4.17 Spending
Click on Spending from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

Identify the client, and enter the start date and the end date for the report.

The report displays all the client’s transactions for the specified period, showing the cost and the amount paid at the time of the transaction for services and sales. It also shows the cost of any no-shows and any account payments.

13.4.18 Wait list
Click on Wait list from the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

13.5 Gift certificates

This report shows the status of all gift certificates.

13.6 Sales

13.6.1 Detailed report
Click on Detailed report from the Sales submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date. You may generate a report for all sales, or for sales by a specified staff member. To print the report for each staff member in turn, check the box. In this case the reports will be printed but not displayed.

The report shows actual revenue (without tax).

13.6.2 Gift certificates
Click on Gift certificates from the Sales submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date. You may generate a report for all gift certificate sales, or for sales by a specified staff member.

13.6.3 Lay-bys
Click on Lay-bys from the Sales submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date for the report. You may choose to show only lay-bys which are incomplete.

13.6.4 List stock
Click on List stock from the Sales submenu of the Reports menu. You may display a list of all stock, or you may select a range of initials of stock descriptions.

13.6.5 Reorders
Click on Reorders from the Sales submenu of the Reports menu. A list of stock with quantities less than or equal to the reorder level will be displayed.

13.6.6 Stock consumed in salon
Click on Stock consumed in salon from the Sales submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the period of the report and select the staff member if appropriate.

13.6.7 Summary report
Click on Daily summary report from the Sales submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). You may generate a report for all sales, or for sales by a specified staff member. To print the report for each staff member in turn, check the box. In this case the reports will be printed but not displayed.

The report shows actual revenue (without tax).

13.7 Staff

13.7.1 Cancelled appointments
Lists appointments which have been cancelled during a specified period. This report is protected by the Setup password.

13.7.2 Clock times
Shows the clocking on and clocking off times for a member of staff for a specified period. You can click on an item to edit the times (password protected).

13.7.3 Hours attended by staff
Shows the hours attended by staff for a specified period, based on clocking on and clocking off times. Select the start and end dates for the report. The report will include ancillary workers (if any).

13.7.4 Hours worked by staff
Shows the hours worked by staff for a specified period, based on the appointments for that staff member. Select the start and end dates for the report. You may choose whether to include appointments which have not been signed off (if any).

13.7.5 Staff details
To display the details of staff members, select Staff details from the Reports menu.

13.8 Statistics

13.8.1 Hours worked, by staff member
Click on Hours worked, by staff member from the Statistics submenu of the Reports menu. You will be prompted to enter the date from which you wish to show the statistics.

13.8.2 Revenue, by staff member
Click on Revenue, by staff member from the Statistics submenu of the Reports menu. You will be prompted to enter the date from which you wish to show the statistics.

13.9 Services

13.9.1 Detailed report
To display a detailed report on services sold for a specified period, select Detailed report from the Services submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the current date. You may generate a report for all services, or for services sold by a specified staff member. To print the report for each staff member in turn, check the box. In this case the reports will be printed but not displayed.

The report shows actual revenue (without tax).

13.9.2 List services
To display a list of the services in the CarteBlanche database, click on List services from the Services submenu of the Reports menu.

13.9.3 Summary report
To display a summary of services sold during a specified period, select Summary report from the Services submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and the end date for the report (dates are inclusive). The dates default to the c urrent date. You may generate a report for all services, or for services by a specified staff member. To print the report for each staff member in turn, check the box. In this case the reports will be printed but not displayed.

The report shows actual revenue (without tax).

13.10 Transaction details

To display the details of a specific transaction, select Transaction details from the Reports menu. Enter the number of the transaction to be displayed.

13.11 Vacations

13.11.1 Current salon vacations
To display a list of all the current vacation periods for the salon, click on Current salon vacations from the Vacations submenu of the reports menu. The report indicates whether the vacations are repeated annually.

13.11.2 Current staff vacations
To display a list of current staff vacations, click on Current staff vacations from the Vacations submenu of the Reports menu.

13.11.3 Past vacations
To display a report on past vacations, click on Past vacations from the Vacations submenu of the Reports menu. Enter the start date and end date for the report and select the staff member if appropriate.

13.12 Worksheet

To display the daily worksheet for a member of staff, click on Worksheet from the Reports menu. Select the staff member and the date. You may also print a daily worksheet by selecting Print worksheet from the Appointments menu or clicking on the worksheet icon on the toolbar.

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14. Receiving payments from clients

To receive payment from a client to offset the client’s debit account, click on the credit card icon on the toolbar, click on Receive payment from the Clients menu, or press the F7 key.

Enter the client number, or enter the first few characters of the client’s last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select from the list.

Enter the amount paid, the payment date, and the method of payment. If you wish to print a receipt, check the appropriate box.

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15. Clients’ photographs and hair styles

15.1 Adding photographs
CarteBlanche allows you to display up to four photographs of each client.

To add photographs, select Photos and hair styles from the Clients menu, click on the photographs icon on the toolbar, or press the F8 key. Enter the client number, or enter the first few letters of the last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select from the list. Click on one of the Load image buttons to activate the Load image window. Click on the Select image button, and select the image file. Manipulate the image file by resizing, scrolling, and if necessary rotating, so it fits in the frame. Click on Save to save the photograph.

Image files can be of BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, PCX, PSD or TIF format, and can be acquired from digital cameras, scanners and Web cams.

To display a client’s photographs, click on Photographs from the Clients menu, or press the F8 key. Enter the client number, or enter the first few letters of the last name or first name or the last 4 digits of the home phone number and select from the list.

15.2 Previewing hair styles
CarteBlanche allows you to preview hair styles for a client. To preview hair styles, first display the client’s photographs by clicking on the photographs icon on the toolbar, by pressing the F8 key, or by selecting Photos and hair styles from the Clients menu.

Click on the photograph that you wish to use to preview hair styles.

Select a hair style from the ones shown on the right of the dialog box. CarteBlanche is installed with a selection of short, medium and long hair styles.

Move the hair style around by dragging it with the mouse until it is in the correct position over the client’s photograph. You can make the client’s image smaller or larger by using the top slider control. You can make the hair colour lighter or darker by using the lower slider control.

Click on the Print button to print out the image.

You may add your own hair styles to the database. Take a photograph of the client using a digital camera or Webcam, save it as a BMP file, and resize it to 180 x 240 pixels. Then using a photo editor (such as Windows Paint) edit out everything but the hair, so that the background is pure white. Save the image in the folder C:\CarteBlanche\Styles\Own styles, and it will be available for previewing. If you have difficulty carrying out the editing procedure, you may use GrenSoft’s photo editing service. Send your image files as email attachments to carteblanche@grensoft.com, and we will edit them for you. The charge for this service is US$25.00 for 10 images.

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16. POS hardware

16.1 Barcode readers
You may use a barcode reader to enter client numbers (eg if the clients have membership cards with barcodes) or to enter stock numbers (eg from UPC codes). We recommend keyboard wedge scanners, as they require no additional software.

16.2 Receipt printers
CarteBlanche recognizes if a receipt printer (3 inch paper width) is connected, and prints receipts appropriately. Your receipt printer must have a Windows driver installed.

If you find that your receipt printer is printing slowly you may be able to increase the speed by selecting Receipt printer speed from the Setup menu and checking the box to use the printer font.

16.3 Cash drawers
If you are using a cash drawer which connects to your receipt printer, select Print options from the Setup menu, and check the appropriate box. The cash drawer will open each time a receipt is printed. You will also be able to open the cash drawer by pressing the F12 key.

If you are using a cash drawer which connects to a serial port or the USB port, select Serial/USB cash drawer from the Setup menu and select the port to which the cash drawer is connected. Subsequently you can open the cash drawer by pressing the F12 key. The cash drawer will also open each time you use the change calculator.

16.4 Pole displays
If you are using a pole display, specify the type of display by selecting Pole display from the Setup menu. If you are using a display with a parallel connection, indicate whether the display uses passthrough (ie is connected via a printer). If it is a display with a serial connection, select the COM port. Choose whether the display emulates Logic Controls or Epson.

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17. Discarding old data

After time your data files may become large enough to slow down the program noticeably.

You may discard old data by selecting Purge old data from the File menu. You will be asked to select the year prior to which you wish data to be discarded.

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18. Password protection

You can password protect the CarteBlanche Setup commands. Select Set the password from the Password submenu of the Setup menu. Enter the password, then re-enter it to confirm. You should make a note of this password. Subsequently, each time you run the program you will be prompted to enter the Setup password. To run the program without access to the Setup commands, click on Cancel.

The Purge function from the File menu is also password protected. You may choose to password protect other commands by selecting Password protection from the Password submenu of the Setup menu. Check the commands which you wish to protect.

You can allocate passwords to employees by clicking on Set password from the Staff (using diary) submenu of the Setup menu. After you have allocated a password to an employee, he or she will need to enter the password to make, modify or sign off appointments (if you have password protected these functions). You also need to allocate passwords to allow employees to clock in or clock out.

To change your Setup password, select Set the password from the Password submenu of the Setup menu. Enter the password then re-enter it to confirm.

You can lock or unlock the Setup menu and other password protected functions by clicking on the key icon on the toolbar and entering the setup password.

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19. Exporting email addresses

CarteBlanche allows you to export clients’ email addresses. Click on Export email addresses from the Clients menu or click on the email icon from the toolbar.

You may export all the client email addresses, or those for clients whose last names begin with a specified range of letters.

The email addresses will be copied to the clipboard so that you can paste them into the CC or BCC field of your email program.

Also a csv file will be created, email.csv, and saved in your Documents folder. You can use this file to import the names and email addresses into Microsoft Outlook.

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20. Exporting mailing list

CarteBlanche allows you to create a data source for Microsoft Word mail merge. Select Export mailing list from the Clients menu.

If you select All clients from the submenu you may export all the client addresses, or those for clients whose last names begin with a specified range of letters. You may choose to exclude clients with email addresses.

If you select Selected clients you will be able to create a mailing list for active or inactive clients.

A file, mailmerge.dat, will be created in your Documents folder. To import the file into Microsoft Word, follow these instructions (depending on the version of Word):

  1. Open Microsoft Word and click on Mail Merge from the Tools menu.
  2. Click on Create to select whether you are going to print envelopes or labels.
  3. Click on Get Data, then Open Data Source.
  4. Select the file mailmerge.dat from your My Documents folder.
  5. Insert the merge fields: Name, Address_1, Address_2, Address_3, Recipient (separated by 'Enter').
Note that the Name is the full name of the client (eg Mrs Susan Smith) and the Recipient is the title plus the last name (eg Mrs Smith).

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21. Printing daily worksheets

To print a daily worksheet for a staff member, select Print worksheet from the Appointments menu, or click on the worksheet icon from the toolbar.

Select the staff member from the drop list and enter the required date. You may also print the worksheets for all staff members in turn.

You may choose to include the client notes and the appointment notes on the worksheet by checking the appropriate boxes.

You may also display the worksheet for a staff member by selecting Worksheet from the Reports menu.

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22. Networking CarteBlanche

CarteBlanche is network ready. If you wish to run CarteBlanche on a network, follow the following steps:

  1. Run the CarteBlanche installation program on your server. Make the CarteBlanche folder a shared folder and be sure to check the box to allow other users to change files.
  2. Run the CarteBlanche installation program on each of your workstations (this will register some files with the Windows registry).
  3. Modify the CarteBlanche shortcut on each of your workstation desktops, so that the target is the CarteBlanche.exe file on your server and the “Start in” folder is the shared CarteBlanche folder on your server. An alternative to this is to delete the desktop shortcut. Then open the shared folder on the server from the workstation, right drag (holding the right mouse button down) the CarteBlanche.exe file onto the desktop on the workstation and select Create Shortcut Here.

Make sure you have specified that CarteBlanche is being run on a network (Setup menu -> Networking).

Please note that if you change the CarteBlanche setup on any of your computers you must restart CarteBlanche on the other computers for the changes to take effect.

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23. Printing old receipts

You may wish to print an old receipts if, for example, your printer was out of ink the first time you printed the receipt.

Select Print old receipt from the File menu, and enter the transaction number for the receipt. (The program defaults to the last transaction number). You can find transaction numbers by displaying detailed daily reports on sales and/or services.

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24. Reminders

Reminders may be used to alert you to a periodic client related activity, such as a repeat appointment.

To set up a reminder, select Add from the Reminders submenu of the Clients menu. Identify the client, then specify the period of the reminder (in months), the start date (which must be a date in the future) and enter a description of the reminder.

If you wish to create a single reminder that will not be repeated, select zero months for the period of the reminder. The reminder will then be for the starting date and will be deleted when this date has passed.

To delete a reminder, select Delete from the Reminders submenu of the Clients menu. Identify the client, and the details of the reminder will be displayed. Click on the Delete button to delete the reminder. If the client has more than one reminder, each will be displayed in turn.

To edit a reminder, select Edit from the Reminders submenu of the Clients menu. Identify the client, and the details of the reminder will be displayed. You may edit the period of the reminder, the date of the next reminder, and the description of the reminder. Click on the Save changes button to save the changes, or Continue to continue without making any changes. If the client has more than one reminder, each will be displayed in turn.

Each time the CarteBlanche program is started, it checks to see if any reminders are due. If they are, they will be displayed in turn and you will be asked if you wish to print out the reminders for the day.

You may also print out reminders for a specified date by selecting Print for day from the Reminders submenu of the Clients submenu of the Reports menu.

You may display all the reminders in the database by selecting List all from the Reminders submenu of the Clients submenu of the Reports menu. Reminders are automatically updated by the monthly interval when their next date has passed.

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25. Vacations and unavailability

25.1 Salon vacations
To add a period when the salon is closed for vacation, select Add from the Vacations (salon) submenu of the Setup menu.

Enter the start date and the end date of the vacation (inclusive dates). If the vacation is to be repeated annually (eg Christmas Day, Independence Day), check the appropriate box.

Once you have added a vacation period, the appointments diary for that period will not be visible.

You will not be able to enter vacations if there are appointments during the vacation period.

To remove a salon vacation period, select Remove from the Vacations (salon) submenu of the Setup menu. Select the appropriate vacation period from the list.

25.2 Staff vacations
To add a period when a staff member will be absent, select Add from the Vacations (staff) submenu of the Setup menu.

Select the staff member and enter the start date and time and the end date and time. If the absence is for part of a day, the start date and the end date should be the same.

You will not be able to enter staff vacations if the staff member has appointments during the vacation period.

To remove a staff vacation, select Remove from the Vacations (staff) submenu of the Setup menu. Select the staff member, then select the vacation period from the list.

25.3 Staff unavailability
You may have members of staff who do not work the full salon hours, for example part time staff who work only in the mornings. You may block the unavailable periods by selecting Unavailability from the Staff submenu of the Setup menu.

Select the member of staff from the list and enter the daily periods of unavailability. If the staff member already has appointments during these periods, the appointments will remain intact.

You may temporarily suspend periods of staff unavailability by selecting Suspend staff unavailability from the Appointments menu or pressing Ctrl+S. This will be useful if a member of staff wishes to make an exception and make an appointment during the lunch hour, for instance.

You may also set up individual periods of unavailability (which do not repeat each day) by clicking on an empty slot in the appointments diary and checking the box “Mark as unavailable” instead of identifying a client. Select the length of the period of unavailability. You can remove any of these one-off periods by clicking on the slot, then clicking on Yes.

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26. Cancelling an old transaction

To cancel an old transaction, for example when a client changes his or her mind about a purchase, click on Cancel old transaction from the File menu.

You will be prompted to enter the appropriate transaction number. CarteBlanche will supply the number of the last transaction, but you may override this for older transactions.

If the transaction involves signing off an appointment, the appointment will be reassigned as not signed off, and will show in pink the next time you display the appointments diary.

You can also cancel the signing off of an appointment by selecting Cancel sign off from the Appointments menu and cancel a sale by selecting Cancel sale from the Sales menu.

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27. Exporting reports

Most of the reports generated by CarteBlanche can be exported as csv (comma separated variables) files, so that they can be read by another application such as Microsoft Excel.

To set up this option, select Export reports from the Setup menu, and check the box. Each time a report is displayed a csv file, report.csv, will be created in your My Documents folder.

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28. Printing gift certificates

To print gift certificates, select Print gift certificate from the Sales menu.

Select the clipart which you would like to be printed on the front of the gift certificate.

Enter the value of the certificate and the certificate number (or the start number if you wish to print more than one certificate). You will be prompted with the start number, but you may override this number.

Enter the number of certificates you wish to print. If you enter more than 1, the certificates will have sequential numbers starting with the start number.

The Code 39 barcode corresponding to the certificate number will be printed on the back of the certificate.

Certificates should be printed on letter sized paper or card.

If you have not installed the CarteBlanche clipart, you will not be able to print certificates.

By default, gift certificates are valid indefinitely. If you select Gift certificates from the Setup menu you can choose a period of validity so that they must be redeemed within 1, 3, 6 or 12 months from the date of purchase.

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29. Company logo

CarteBlanche allows you to print your logo on receipts. The logo must be a 24 bit BMP file. You should name the file logo.bmp and save it in your CarteBlanche folder to replace the existing file. The height of the logo should be no more than 200 pixels.

To set up CarteBlanche to print the logo, select Print options from the Setup menu, and check the appropriate box.

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30. Backing up data

CarteBlanche allows you to back up your data files for security in the event that you lose data (for example due to hard disk failure).

To back up you data, select Back up data files from the Setup menu. You will be prompted to select the folder for the backup files. It is advisable to back up your data to a USB flash drive.

You will also be prompted to back up your data each time you close CarteBlanche.

To restore your data files, reinstall CarteBlanche if necessary, then copy the data files from the backup medium to the folder C:\CarteBlanche, or run the program Restore.exe which you will find in your CarteBlanche folder and identify the backup folder.

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31. Commissions

To set up the rates of commission for staff members, select Commissions from the Staff submenu of the Setup menu.

Select the member of staff and enter the percentage commission rates for services, sales of merchandise and sales of gift certificates.

If the staff member has to earn a certain threshold each month before commissions are paid, you should enter the amount at the prompt. This will only be available if the commissions on services, sales and gift certificates are the same.

When a client has paid by credit card, and the bank takes a commission on the payment, you may wish to take this into account when staff commissions and tips are calculated. To do so, select Credit card commission from the Setup menu. Enter the percentage commission on credit cards, and the percentage commission on debit cards (which defaults to the former).

You may choose to apply the commissions to the following reports from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu:

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32. Lay-bys

A lay-by is when a client wishes to purchase a stock item but does not have sufficient funds available immediately. The stock is put on hold until the client has made the necessary payments to purchase the item.

To start a lay-by, click on New lay-by from the Lay-bys submenu of the Sales menu. Identify the client then the stock item. Enter the quantity required (which defaults to one). The cost of the stock will be calculated automatically but you may overwrite this value. Enter the amount paid initially (which may be zero) and the payment method if appropriate. The quantity will be deducted from the quantity in stock so you cannot sell the item(s) to another client.

To make a payment for a lay-by, click on Accept payment from the Lay-bys submenu of the Sales menu. Identify the client. If the client has more than one ongoing lay-by you will be asked to select the lay-by from a list. Enter the amount paid and the payment method.

To complete a lay-by by accepting the final payment so that the stock can be released, select Complete lay-by from the Lay-bys submenu of the Sales menu. Enter the payment method for the final payment.

To cancel a lay-by, select Cancel lay-by from the Lay-bys submenu of the Sales menu. Identify the client. If the client has more than one lay-by you will be asked to select the lay-by from a list. Confirm that you wish to cancel the lay-by. You will be informed of the amount the client has paid, and if the lay-by has been completed. You may choose to refund the amount already paid to the client’s account balance.

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33. SMS text messaging

CarteBlanche allows you to send SMS text messages to clients. Select SMS text messaging from the Setup menu. To use this feature you must first set up an account with one of the gateways listed and they will provide you with the necessary details.

Enter your country code if required. For example if you were in the UK you would enter the country code 44 and check the box to remove the leading zero from phone numbers.

All except CDyne use email to SMS, so you should configure your email before sending messages. SMS text messaging can be used to:

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34. Wait listing appointments

There may be occasions when you wish to wait list an appointment for a client, for example if there are no available appointment slots for the required member of staff.

Select the staff member if appropriate.

Click on the Add button to add a wait listed appointment.

Identify the client. Select the services that are required and select the length of the appointment.

You may choose to wait list the appointment for “as soon as possible”, or you may specify a preferred date and time.

To remove a wait listed appointment, highlight the appointment and click on the Remove button.

After you have wait listed an appointment you can convert it to an actual appointment by clicking on an empty appointment slot on the diary then clicking on the Transfer from wait list button.

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35. Charge cards

Charge cards are credit cards which are issued by your salon, for use solely in your salon and maintained wholly by your salon.

To set up a Charge card for a client, select Set up a charge card from the Charge cards menu. Identify the client.

Enter the charge card number. If you intend to use a scanner to identify charge cards, please do not enter any spaces or hyphens (dashes) in the card number.

Enter the initial balance of the card. If the card is an existing card which a client has already paid for, check the box so that the balance will not appear as a receipt.

Enter the credit limit for the card. If there is no credit limit, leave this field blank. If the client must maintain a credit balance at all times, enter 0.00.

If the client is paying the balance, select the payment method, and check the box if you wish to print a receipt.

After you have set up the first charge card, when you sell services or merchandise “charge card” will appear in the list of payment methods. If you select this option you will be prompted to identify the card by entering the card number, or entering the last 4 digits of the card number and selecting the card from the list.

To cancel a charge card, select Cancel a charge card from the Charge cards menu. Identify the card. If the card has a credit balance you will be prompted to refund the amount. If the card has a debit balance you will be asked to confirm that you wish to write off this amount.

To accept a payment for a charge card, select Accept payment from the Charge cards menu. Identify the card. Enter the amount to be paid and select the payment method. If you wish to print a receipt, check the box.

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36. Discounts

You may specify whether discounts apply to services, merchandise sales, or both. To do so, select Discounts from the Setup menu.

The selection will not affect your overall revenue, but if you specify that discounts are applied to both sales of services and merchandise they will be spread evenly against both and will affect your reports on receipts for services and sales.

The default is that discounts apply to both sales and services.

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37. Stock consumed in the salon

You can cater for stock which is consumed in the salon during treatments (as opposed to stock which is sold to clients) by selecting Consume stock from the Sales menu.

Click on the Add stock button to add an item. Identify the stock and enter the quantity consumed. Select the staff member who consumed the stock if appropriate.

To remove an item from the list, highlight it and click on the Remove button.

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38. Tracking which employee made, modified and signed off an appointment

CarteBlanche allows you to track which employee made, modified and signed off an appointment.

To enable this function, select Password protection from the Password submenu of the Setup menu, and check the boxes for Prevent making appointments, Prevent modifying appointments and Prevent signing off appointments.

Next, select Staff passwords from the Password submenu of the Setup menu. Select each staff member in turn, enter a password for each, then click on OK.

When an employee logs on to the program without entering the Setup password, he or she will be asked to enter his or her password before making, modifying or signing off an appointment. The employee’s name will be logged against the appointment. The next time you display the weekly diary, you will be able to right click on an appointment and display the history of who made, modified and signed off the appointment.

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39. Giving refunds

To give a refund to a client, select Give Refund from the Clients menu. If you have set up employee passwords and you have not logged on using the Setup password, the employee will be prompted to enter her password to use this function.

You will be asked whether you want to give a refund to a registered client. If you enter Yes, you will be prompted to identify the client.

Enter the refund for merchandise sales and the refund for services as appropriate. Select the payment method. You may also enter a brief comment.

Refunds will affect the report on receipts but not the revenue reports.

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40. Second currency

CarteBlanche allows you to set up a second currency so that the totals in receipts are shown in the second currency as well as the main currency.

To set up a second currency select Second currency from the Country settings submenu of the Setup menu. If you also wish to print the exchange rate on receipts check the box.

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41. Finding the next free appointment slot

To find the next free appointment slot select Search for free slot from the Appointments menu. Select the required length of the appointment and the staff member if appropriate. Enter the date on which you would like the search to start, which defaults to the current date.

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42. Managing bookings for equipment

As well as providing two layers in the appointments diary for staff bookings, CarteBlanche also provides a layer for equipment bookings. Equipment might include sun beds for example.

First you need to set up the equipment by selecting Add equipment from the Equipment submenu of the Setup menu.

For each item of equipment enter a description and a code or number (which will be used in the condensed booking chart). Both the description and the code must be unique.

After you have added equipment you can display the equipment diary by selecting Diary from the Appointments menu, clicking on the calendar icon on the toolbar or pressing F3. Select the date for the diary and choose the Equipment diary from the Select diary drop list.

You can manage appointments in the equipment diary is the same way you would with the staff diaries. However when an appointment is signed off from the equipment diary the services which were selected when the appointment was made will not be allocated to any particular staff member and will counted as general sale.

You can remove equipment from the diary and replace equipment by selecting the appropriate item from the Equipment submenu of the Setup menu.

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43. Changing staff details

43.1 Adding a staff member
To add a staff member who will appear in the appointments diary click on Add staff from the staff submenu of the appointments menu. The only required field is the name.

43.2 Removing a staff member
Click on Remove staff from the Staff submenu of the Setup menu. Select the staff member you would like to remove and confirm the removal. You will not be able to remove a member of staff who has future appointments. After you have removed the member of staff their revenue will still be included in the reports for all staff members but you will not be able to obtain a report on revenue for the individual staff member who has been removed.

43.3 Replacing or changing the details of a staff member
Click on Replace staff or edit details from the Staff submenu of the Setup menu. Select the member of staff and change the details as required.

43.4 Rearranging staff in the appointments diary
Click on Rearrange in diary from the Staff submenu of the Setup menu. Select the two members to swap their positions in the diary. This operation might take some time - please be patient.

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44. Data protection (GDPR compliance, UK version only)

Your clients might decide that they do not want to be notified of offers, etc, by email, SMS, phone or post. To record their preferences, click on the Data protection button on the client details screen and check the appropriate boxes.

If you check mail, for example, the client will be excluded from the mailmerge (Clients menu -> Export mailing list).

Even if the client has agreed to all types of contact, click on the button then click on Save to show that the client has confirmed.

If you wish to remove clients who have been inactive for a long period from the database, select Remove inactive clients from the Setup menu.

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45. Miscellaneous cash payments

CarteBlanche allows you to keep a record of miscellaneous cash expenditure and receipts. To enter an outgoing payment select Outgoings from the Cash adjustments submenu of the Sales menu. To enter a payment received select Receipts from the Cash adjustments submenu of the Sales menu. The only required field is the amount paid.

For a report on cash adjustments, select Cash adjustments from the Accounts submenu of the Reports menu.

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46. Accepting deposits

CarteBlanche allows you to accept deposits for appointments. To set up deposits click on Deposits from the Setup menu.

You can set up two types of deposit, a fixed deposit and a deposit which is a percentage of the appointment cost. If you set up both you can choose which you wish to use when you make the appointment. For each type of deposit you must enter the minimum appointment cost for which the deposit applies. You can leave this blank for the percentage deposit but for the fixed deposit it must be at least the amount of the deposit.

When you cancel an appointment, if you cancel it as a no show the deposit will be forfeited. Otherwise you will have the opportunity to refund the deposit.

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47. Online bookings

The WebLink module allows your clients to make bookings online from your Web site.

You should link the existing pages of your Web site to the page which is uploaded by CarteBlanche using the WebLink. The name of the page is appt_0.php.

To set up the WebLink, select WebLink from the Setup menu. The required fields are:

You may also change the appearance of the php generated Web pages by clicking on the Options button. Here you can change the font, the text colour, the page background colour and the table background colour. If these options are not flexible enough and you are familiar with HTML and PHP you can edit the php files which are uploaded by CarteBlanche. These are appt_0.php, appt_1.php, appt_2.php, appt_3.php and appt_4.php.

To enable the ftp transfer, check the Enable connection box. Your WebLink files will be uploaded to reflect the free slots in level one of your appointments diary for the next 28 days.

To refresh your Web site and keep it up to date you should click on Upload WebLink files from the File menu, click on the two computers icon on the toolbar or press Ctrl+U. As well as uploading the up to date files, any bookings made online will be downloaded and added to your appointments diary.

You may also set up the program to automatically upload the files every 15, 30 or 60 minutes.

You will also be notified of online appointments by email.

To make an online appointment the clients must first identify themselves by entering their client number and the last 4 digits of their home phone number.

There is also an option to view your appointments diary over the Internet. To set up this option check the box to Publish the appointments diary on the Web site. The diary can then be accessed through the file diary.php which will be in the same directory on the server as the other PHP files. You should paste the URL of this file into your browser to view the diary. If you have created a setup password for CarteBlanche you will need this password or a staff password to access the diary.

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48. Printing labels for merchandise

You may print labels for an existing stock item by selecting Print barcode labels from the Sales menu. Identify the item of stock and specify the number of labels to print (which defaults to the quantity in stock).

Labels print on 29 x 90 mm labels using a label printer such as the Brother QL-500.

You may also print labels as you are entering merchandise to the database.

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49. Client recalls

When you sign off an appointment you are prompted to create a recall for the client after a specified number of weeks.

When you start CarteBlanche after the period has elapsed you will be prompted to print the list of recalls, create a mailing list for the clients or create a list of email addresses for the clients (which will be copied to the clipboard so that you can paste it into the CC or BCC field of your email program).

If you don’t want to take any action at that time you can uncheck the box for clearing the recalls from the database then select Check recalls from the Recalls submenu of the Clients menu to deal with the recalls at a later time.

You can edit or remove a recall by selecting Edit recall from the Recalls submenu of the Clients menu.

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50. Loyalty scheme

To set up the loyalty scheme, select Loyalty scheme from the Setup menu.

When you have set up the scheme, after a client has paid for the specified number of identical services he or she will receive a discount when an appointments is signed off the next time this service is supplied.

The discount only comes into effect if the service is specified when the appointment is made.

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51. Clocking on and clocking off

You can track your employees attendance by having them clock on and clock off. Select Clock on/off from the File menu, press CTRL + E or click on the clock icon on the toolbar. You must first set up staff passwords (Setup menu -> Staff (using diary) -> Set password).

You can also track the hours worked by ancillary employees (who are not using the diary) by first selecting Add ancillary staff from the Staff (ancillary) submenu of the Setup menu. If you have password protected appointment functions and you want ancillary staff to have the same access rights as diary staff, check the appropriate box.

There is a report on hours attended by staff and a detailed report on clocking on and clocking off times for a staff member. You can edit times by running this report and clicking on an item. This functions is protected by the Setup password.

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52. Emailing clients with appointments

You may email reminders to clients with impending appointments by selecting Email clients with appointments from the Clients menu.

Enter the date for the appointments.

You may edit the email message but do not remove the fields name, date and time as these will be replaced with the appropriate data.

CarteBlanche will use your default email program to send the email.

You can set up CarteBlanche to automatically email clients with appointments the following day when you start the program by selecting Email configuration from the Setup menu and checking the appropriate box.

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53. Configuring your email

Before sending SMS messages or emails to clients you must configure your email.

Select Email configuration from the Setup menu. You should be able to copy the settings from the setup of your email program. The port number defaults to 25. You should not need to change this.

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54. Calculating the change

You can set up CarteBlanche to calculate the change to the nearest 5 cents by selecting Calculating the change from the Country options submenu of the Setup menu.

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55. Packages

CarteBlanche allows you to sell packages of services to clients. A package might comprise, for example, 10 massages, usually at a discounted price.

To sell a package select Sell package from the Packages submenu of the Services menu. Identify the client. Select the service and the staff member selling the package. Select the number of services in the package. The cost shown will be the normal price for this number of services. You may change the cost to give a discount. If the services must be used within a specified period, select the period.

You may cancel a package by selecting Cancel package from the Packages submenu of the Services menu. Identify the client and select the package.

When a client signs off an appointment which includes services from one of their packages, the price for the service will be zero. The number of available services in the package will be reduced accordingly.

For a report on packages currently in effect, see Packages from the Services submenu of the Reports menu.

If a client has any packages you can check their status by searching for the client and clicking on the Packages button from the client details window.

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56. Removing inactive clients

To remove inactive clients, select Remove inactive clients from the Setup menu. Specify the number of years for which the clients must be inactive in order to be removed. If you do not wish to remove clients with account balances, check the box.

Please note that if you have added any new clients who have not yet had any appointments, these clients will also be removed.

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57. Phone notifications

CarteBlanche allows you to send phone notifications (text to voice messages) to clients with appointments, reminders and recalls. To use this feature you must set up an account with CDyne www.cdyne.com and they will provide you with a licence key.

Select Phone notification from the Setup menu and enter the licence key. Enter your country code if required. For example if you were in the UK you would enter the country code 44 and check the box to remove the leading zero from phone numbers.

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