Initial Set-Up Procedures

General Recommendations

Upon receiving the email that has your initial copy of the Route-EXCELerator Workbook we recommend that you make two copies and save one where you plan on using the product, i.e., folder on the main PC that you'll be using, and a copy to a CDR that can be placed some place safe or another PC.

Also do not change the initial copy always create a working copy of the original to create the first months workbook. For each month there after you will create the next months workbook from the current months workbook using the Save As command.

We also recommend that you create a CDR backup copy of all your monthly workbooks, spin off files and feeder daily data entry sheets on a regular basis.

You should also map out a folder organization so that you can consistently find Route-EXCELerator files. This should include the folder organization for the Pocket PC, for example, A main folder, then the folders under that for the Monthly Workbooks.

Within each month/date folder, a folder for the Daily Input Sheets, A folder for the Monthly reference reports, and a folder for that months Monthly Workbook, etc. You can organize these anyway that fits your business, but you need to map out your folder / file organization strategy before you start creating files.

Overview of Initial Creation Steps

1. Create a backup copy of original Route-Excelerator that was emailed to you.

2. Do a "Save As" on the copy that was emailed to you to create your working copy with new locations and machines, etc.

3. Populate the workbook with customer and machine names in the "Monthly Settings" tab.

4. Populate the workbook with products. The Route-Excelerator comes pre-populated with standard products (add or remove as needed) in the "Monthly Settings" tab.

5. Set up the vend prices in the "Vend-Price" tab. Input the vend price for each item on each machine.

6. Set the Commission and sales tax for each location / machine on the "Site MTD Totals & Est. Freq." tab.

7. Set the Current Month, Number of Days in the current month, The "Target Daily Revenue", and "Target Revenue by Location/Machine", and for the Snack version of the Route-Excelerator, the Average cost of Snack" (we recommend between 30 and 32 cents) on the "Monthly Settings" tab.

8. If you had recent product purchases, update that information in the "Product Purchases" tab.

9. Save the Work book (perform frequent saves as you proceed through these steps).

10. Create the Daily Input Spreadsheet from one of the Daily number tabs.

11. Save the Daily Input Spreadsheet to a folder on your PC. And copy the saved file to the Pocket PC.

Creating the initial Route-EXCELerator Workbook

Open the original Route-EXCELerator Workbook and do a "Save As" to cerate the first months working copy. To do that click, File, Save As and type the new name. We recommend that you give it a name that reflects the month and year that the file is for, like "Beverage JULY 06", or if you care creating a route specific workbook, something that reflects the route name and date.
Also, make sure that you record what folder you are creating the file into. And we recommend that you have a file folder organization that reflects your business structure.
After you have created the new work book scroll to the left to the "Monthly Settings" Tab.
Set the current month by clicking the name of the month the light blue cell). A drop down button will appear on the upper right corner of that cell. Click it and select the name of the month that you are creating the workbook for. Repeat this procedure for the "Days in Current Month" to the correct number of days in the new month. If you are changing the amount of "Target Daily Revenue", or "Target Location Monthly Revenue" click on the light blue amounts and type over them with the amount you wish to track to in the new month. Save the workbook by clicking the Diskette icon, or by Clicking File, Save.
Next you need to set up the route names and locations / Machine names. See Route-EXCELerator Monthly Procedures sections: "Adding and Deleting a Customer / Machine Name" .
After you have completed adding of all you location names within each route, you need to go to the "Site MTD Totals & EST. Freq." Tab.
For each location you need to Set up the vend prices in the "Vend-Price" tab. Input the vend price for each item on each machine.
Next to the "Price per Vend" column, you must input any commission paid to the location in the "Site Fee" column. This can be inputted as a hard dollar amount, i.e., .20, or as a percentage, i.e., 10%. Remember to save the workbook frequently during this process to make sure you have all the latest changes.
Next you need to set up the products that are being offered to your customers. Before you begin adding or deleting product brands, take some time to list your products on a pad, or printout. Then look at the list of product brands listed on one of the Daily tabs 1 through 31, or on one of the inventory tabs and make note what changes you need to add or remove from the list.
When you are ready to begin customizing the Route-EXCELerator Workbook product brands, see Route-EXCELerator Monthly Procedures sections: Add a Product and Delete a Product.
Finally, you need to update your existing "On-Hand" inventory into the Route-EXCELerator Workbook. Go to the "Product Inventory" tab and in row 3 in the light blue cells under each product brand enter in the number of cases on hand for each product. You can enter in partial cases as decimals such as .50 for half a case and .25 for a quarter, etc.
The Beverage Route-EXCELerator Workbook assumes 24 items per case, and the Snack Route-EXCELerator Workbook creates an average from all the case quantities that you entered in the "Product Purchases" tab (if you are setting up the Snack Route-EXCELerator Workbook you must complete the "Setting up the Snack Route-EXCELerator Product Purchases Tab" procedure below, before you update the On-Hand Inventory).

Creating the initial Route-EXCELerator Daily Data Input Sheet

After you have completed all the set up steps above, you are ready to create the new Daily Data Input Sheet for the current month.

Select any of the Daily Sales Input Tabs 1 through 31, and go to the upper left corner by pressing the Ctrl and Home keys at the same time.
Click the cell above the 1 row and to the left of the A column this will select all the contents of the sheet.
Right click and select copy.
Open a new sheet by clicking the blank page ICON (far right of the screen).
Right click over cell A1 in the new sheet and select paste. This will create a copy of the tab to a new sheet.
Click cell C3 and then the Window menu option and then click "Freeze Pane". this will allow you to scroll up, down, left and right while maintaining the headings and location titles.
Next reduce the column with on Columns A and B to as small as possible and still make legible sense to see them. This is to make the most out of the screen real estate on the small screen of the Pocket PC.
Save the new file by clicking File, Save, or the small diskette ICON. You will be prompted for a file name and folder to save it into. You should save to a folder that you have the other Route-EXCELerator folders and files located. You will also need to copy this file to the ActiveSync folder which will transfer it to the Pocket PC.

Setting up the Snack Route-EXCELerator Product Purchases Tab

Because there is a fairly wide variety in case size in the Snack business, the Snack version of the Route-EXCELerator gives you the option to set the case size per brand.

While our experience is that the case size depends on your purchasing patterns, we wanted to give you the option to define the case sizes of your purchases. The overall Average case size is calculated from the individual entries across your product base. You can make them all the same, or try and customize them to better match your environment.

Select the Product Purchases Tab and in each green cell underneath a product brand type in the case quantity that you typically purchase.
Save the workbook after you have completed this step by selecting File, and Save, or by clicking the diskette ICON.