Custom Fields in DentaLab for QuickBooks

Overview

 

Within DentaLab for QuickBooks (DQB) you may setup your own custom fields for these records:

                        Cases

                        Customers

                        Items

In addition, you can setup QuickBooks custom fields from a list of case fields for use in QuickBooks invoices, purchase orders and reports.

How to Setup  DQB Custom Fields

For each of these, you can establish up to 10 custom fields, each with a name or identifier.   These can be setup in Options/Custom Fields.   For Customers or Items, these can also be setup in Basic Lists- Customers or Items.

 

Note that for Items, the custom fields can be entered in Case Entry/Case Items.

Here are some examples of names/identifiers:

Cases:            Referenced By, Special Medical Issue, Priority

Customers:    Specialty, Referenced By, Rating, Status

Items: Shade, Tooth, Category

 

For the case and customer list screens for these, from the Actions Menu you can customize the grid to include columns for these custom fields.

Keep in mind that these extra fields can be useful for analysis, business development, marketing, and customer relationship activities.

 

How to Use DQB Custom Fields

For each of up to 10 custom fields for each type of record that you have setup, you may enter up to 50 characters of information for each individual case, customer or case item.  Once you have made an entry, it will appear on the drop-down selection list for subsequent entries.   Here are some examples:

Case – Priority:         in Case Entry, you can enter one of your standards for priority such as Rush, One Day Turnaround

Customer – Status:   in Basic Lists – Customers or in the Customer Center, you can enter one of your standards for status.   You may want to use Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze or A, B, C or still another standard list.

Analysis and Reporting on DQB Custom Fields

There are a variety of ways custom fields are used for analysis and reporting:

Display in Grids       

In Basic Lists-Customers and Case List you can use the Action Menu to indicate that you want to see the custom field(s) in the column(s) of the grid.  The custom fields can also be viewed when you elect to see the details of any record in the grid.

Customer Profile    

The profiles include the custom fields entered for each customer. These are available in Basic Lists-Customers, Customer Center and Reports and may be displayed or printed.

Custom Field Analysis (available 2014 Q3 release 1.40)

This option is available in the Reports menu.  You can choose to view/print:

            Case Custom Fields by a range of entered dates

            Case Item Custom Fields by a range of entered dates

            Customer Custom Fields

Each analysis provides a count and percentage for each unique entry in the custom fields.

Custom Forms, Labels and Reports

When requesting custom forms, labels or reports, keep in mind that you can include one or more of your custom fields.

Transferring Case Fields to QuickBooks (QB) Custom Fields

 In DQB Options/Invoice Settings/Custom Fields, you can setup to transfer information to QuickBooks with each creation of an invoice from a list of case fields including:

            Pan Code

            Patient Name

            Shade

            Short Memo

            Teeth

            Entered/Received Date

            Request Date and Time

 

When you click the button to create the QuickBooks custom fields to hold this information, QuickBooks must be in single-mode.  Check your QB version to determine its limit on the number of custom fields.

 

In addition to specifying the information to transfer, you should also setup the QB invoice template to display and print the selected fields.  You can access your template from the top List menu, then Templates.   The layout designer also allows you to place the fields where you would like to have them on the invoice. The designer is easy to use with extra guidance available from the QB Help system. 

 If creating QB purchase orders from DQB cases, you can also go to DQB Options/Purchase Order Settings/Custom Fields and follow the above pattern.

 

If you have further questions…

You can contact the support team at Mainstreet Systems at:

Voice :            215-256-4535

Fax:                215-256-1594

Email:             support@mainstreet-systems.com

Skype:            mainstreet-systems

Web:               www.mainstreet-systems.com or www.mainstreetsystems.net

           

           

Dental Lab Software Topics

The articles we have included in this blog have come from educational articles written for the dental lab trade journals and from white papers for guidance on DentaLab for QuickBooks (DQB).  

 

The blog can be viewed from our older website www.mainstreet-systems.com  under Support/Knowledge Base or our new website www.mainstreetsystems.net under Blogs.  You can also access it directly with this link:  http://dentallabsoftware.blogspot.com

 

The blog provides an index to the right based on the date the topic was first published.  Here are the topics:

 

An Overview of DentaLab for QuickBooks                                2013

Artistic, Creative, Custom, Elite, Precision, Quality                   2012

Custom Fields in DentaLab for QuickBooks                              2014

 

DQB Coordinating the Desktop and the Cloud                          2013

DQB Dental Lab Case Scheduling                                             2011

DQB Image Supplement                                                            2014

DQB Understanding Price Levels                                              2014

 

Patient Safety Compliance for Dental Labs                                2012

QuickBooks Synchronization vs. Integration                              2011

Smart Pointers (to select software for your dental lab)              2014

 

Surmounting the Rx Scrawl                                                       2013

Surrounding Yourself with Good People                                   2012

 

We invite you to add your suggestions for further educational topics and to leave constructive comments on any of the above topics. 

 

Mainstreet Systems & Software Support Team

Voice :            215-256-4535          Fax:    215-256-1594

Email:             support@mainstreet-systems.com

Skype:            mainstreet-systems

Web:               www.mainstreetsystems.net      

 

 

DQB Image Supplement

Overview

The Image Supplement to DentaLab for QuickBooks provides for capturing and storing images of the prescription, photos, diagrams, and other documents associated with a case. The image(s) stored for a case can be easily retrieved whenever needed by the same criteria as cases.  You may store multiple images for each case. 

This feature can provide great benefits in a number of ways:

·       time and expense for filing and retrieval

 

·         prevent  loss of vital documents due to misfiling or catastrophe

·       greatly reduce physical space requirements

·         easily make electronic or printed copies for archival or requests

Images in JPEG format can be obtained in one or more of these ways:

1.   WIA or Twain-compatible scanner, flatbed  or automatic feed

2.   USB camera or webcam

3.   Electronic transmission sent by the dental offices

Documents can be in a variety of industry-standard electronic formats.

Hardware Requirements

Scanner:  Installation of a WIA or Twain-compatible scanner capable of capturing JPEG formats with availability to the case entry station. The JPEG graphics format is a widely used format for compressed images for high quality image resolution.

Various scanner types are available from a number of vendors with a variety of speed, image quality, scanning mechanisms and other features.  With WIA compatibility, you can preserve your settings to achieve speedy one-click scanning.

Camera:   USB camera or webcam,  capable of capturing JPEG format.  The IPEVO Point 2 View was used in the development of the camera feature due its affordability and  features.

Electronic transmission:  For communication from and to the dental offices,  a broadband internet connection will be needed.

Licensing  Requirements

The Image Supplement can be licensed as an addition to the DentaLab for QuickBooks Standard/Enterprise versions.  It is not available for the Starter version. 

 

Capture and Retrieval of Images

Once licensed, In Case Entry there will be a separate tab called Images. Click this to enter the screen for the images.  Here you will be able to:

·      scan case documents such as the prescription, work ticket charts, photographs

·      capture photographs with a camera or webcam such as impressions, completed cases

·        browse to locate images sent by the dental offices

·      view, edit,  crop, delete,or print already captured images

·        adjust  settings such as brightness, resolution  

 

For Scanning In Options/Settings/Case Settings/Images tab, you can specify:

Page margins to use when printing images (entry) hundredths of an inch. If this is set on (checked), the program will use the specified margins when printing the images;  if off, no setting will be applied so the default value will be used. This option is saved locally on each client station and therefore applies only to that client station.

Scanner Setup – this will be for the selected scanner

Auto Crop – With WIA compatibility, you will be able to select scanning options such as brightness, resolution, color, whether to scan from a flatbed or document feeder, auto- cropping, and then preserve your settings. The default or preserved scanning form automatically displays. (This will vary depending on which scanner model is chosen).

If you wish to use Twain rather than WIA, you can check the indicator on to use the previous scanning method.   

The typical steps in scanning an image are:

1.   Place the document on the scanner and click Scan Image at the bottom right.

2.   A Select Source box will pop up listing any available scanners. Highlight the appropriate scanner and click Select.

3.   Now click Scan and the image will automatically display.

4.   The image will be named with the case number plus and underline character and the image sequence with a .JPG extension, e.g. 3045_1.JPG for case 3045, first image, JPEG format.

5.  The  image will be stored in:

Program Files\Mainstreet\DentaLab for QuickBooks in the DQBData\Scans

 Capturing  Photographs

Working with a USB camera or webcam, you can select the device and set its resolutions, then click Start Camera.  The image in focus will be shown on the screen, you can adjust this as needed.

When ready,  click Save Image. 

The naming convention and location will be the same as described above for scanning. 

 

Additional Actions

Once the image is stored and associated with the case, you can click the Images tab to perform additional actions.

To View/Edit, double click the appropriate thumbnail image to enlarge it. You can also select  from the toolbar icons to Print, Enlarge +, Decrease -, Fit to Screen, or show the Actual Size.  The program will automatically determine whether to print in portrait or landscape mode, based on the width and height of the image.

To Delete, right-click on the image and choose Delete or select the image and click the Delete icon at the top of the screen.

To Crop a selected  image, use your mouse/pointer to draw a box around  the area you want to retain, then click Crop. When ready, click Save.  You can choose to retain or delete the original image.

Document Center

 If you have additional documents associated with a case that do not meet the

formatting requirements of the Image Supplement described above, these can be stored in the Document Center, available from the Documents tab in Case Entry..

This feature can provide great savings in time for filing and retrieval, prevent loss of vital documents due to misfiling or catastrophe, and greatly reduce physical space requirements.

In the Windows/Tools/Folder Options/File Types folder, there are the industry-standard extensions for the more commonly used formats such as .XLS for Excel, .DOC for Word documents. If the document you are adding to the document center has an extension not already in this folder, you may add it with its identification. Access to this folder can be found in the top toolbar of Windows, beginning with Tools.

Backup and  Restoration of Images

You will need to add the DQBData\Scans folder described above to your daily backup procedures. You can restore either the entire folder or individual images as needed. 

Import/Export of Images

The .JPG format is widely used, allowing the images to be used by a variety of graphics software systems. Individual images can also be sent as email attachments or copied to computer media such as zipdisks, CD's and removable disks.

You can add to each case images received from other sources such as email attachments or CD's provided they use the JPEG (extension .JPG) format.  Use the Browse button to locate the image(s) that are stored on your disk or other media and then add these to the set for the case.  Note that you can browse and select multiple images at the same time.

When you save these with the case, the system will automatically name them in the same convention used for images captured by a scanner or camera

Government Compliance

Government laws concerning the duration and physical requirements for paper prescriptions with the completed work tickets and store them by date. Should retrieval of the paper document become necessary, the case records can provide the appropriate date.

The number of government bodes accepting electronic facsimiles of paper documents continues to increase.

 

 

 

 

Understanding Price Levels

Overview of Price Levels

Price levels allow you to customize charges for your products and services. It is in QuickBooks that you establish a default price for each of these in the Items list.  Because not all versions of QuickBooks include price levels by item, it is the price levels in DentaLab for QuickBooks (DQB) that will be used when invoicing a case through DQB.  

In DQB you may setup a price level for a number of doctors or choose a level that is unique to one specific doctor. This allows further flexibility for invoicing.

If creating QuickBooks purchase orders from cases, you can also setup a price level for each vendor with the prices to be used in their purchase orders.

If a customer or vendor does not have a price level assigned, the default prices in QuickBooks will be used.  If a customer or vendor has a price level by item, only those items specified in the price level will get special prices; the remaining ones will default to the prices in QuickBooks. 

How to setup price levels in DQB

To set up a new price level in DQB, go to Basic Lists and then choose Price Levels.  From Actions, choose New or right click and choose New.  Give the price level a unique name and choose whether it will be by Percentage or by Item.

If you are creating a new Price Level that is similar but not identical to another one, you can use the option to Copy Price Level and then edit the new price level's name and contents.

After a Price Level has been established, you can Edit it whenever necessary.

Types of price levels

The two types of price levels are:

Fixed % - will increase or decrease your item's default price by whatever percent you choose

Sample:                  Premium 10%   increase 10%

                                Discount 5%      decrease 5%

Per Item - select each item from the drop-down box and its item price will show. Type in the new price in Custom price box.  The grid will show the default price from QuickBooks and the current price level.

Sample:            Family Dental Centers

                        Columbia University

You only need to enter the custom price for each item having a special price.  All others will use the default price from QuickBooks.  You can also increase or decrease Per Item price levels by percentage and choose whether to not round or round to .05, .10, .25, .50 or 1.00.

 

Assign price level to customer(s)

The price level option is shown in the Customer record under the Additional Info tab. It is here that you specify if the customer is to have one of the custom price levels by selecting one from the list.

If you want a customer to use a certain price level, go to the Customer List, double click on the customer, select Additional Info tab and select the desired price level. Then, whenever you invoice a case for this customer, the custom price list will be examined to see if the item should have a custom price rather than the default price.

Assign price level to vendor(s)

The price level option is shown in the Vendor record. It is here that you specify if the vendor is to have one of the custom price levels for its purchase orders.

If you no longer need a price level

There is also an option to make the price level inactive. For example, if you've already created a price level, e.g. Premium10, but now wish to go back to the standard prices, you would choose to edit the Permium10 price level and check the inactive box.  Then all customers set for this custom price level will be invoiced at the default rate set up in QuickBooks.

If you wish to check which customers have been assigned to the inactive price level, go to Basic Lists/Print Lists/Price Level Assignments.

Price level reports

 From Basic Lists- Price Levels, you can go to the Action menu to select either Print Selected or Print All.

From Basic Lists- Print Lists, you can print reports on Price Levels and also the Price Level Assignments to customers

Option to check if case item is in customer’s price level list

In Options/Case Settings, you can click on an indicator to have the system check if each case item added to a case is in the customer’s price level by item.    This option will be applied to all users in a networked system.

Then if the item added to a case is not within the list, it will prompt the user to add the item to the current customer price level list.  If will also ask the user to set the price for the item within the price level list.

 If you need further guidance, contact:  support@mainstreet-systems.com

You can also send a request for support via:   www.mainstreet-systems.com or www.mainstreetsystems.net