CHAPTER 3: WORKING WITH ACCOUNTS
This section helps you:
- Understand the difference between Account and Contact records
- Become familiar with the Tour de Force Account window
- Understand how to access the Tour de Force Account window
- Learn how to set up new Account records
Windows covered in this section:
- Tour de Force Account window
Overview
Tour de Force allows companies to create and maintain information associated with Account, Contact, and Opportunity records, as well as Activities associated with these records including sending and receiving email, scheduling appointments, documenting phone calls, letter writing, tracking support items, maintaining notes, entering expenses, and managing tasks.
The logging and tracking of all correspondence associated with customers, prospects, and other business relationships help salespeople, sales teams, support and service teams, as well as management reduce work redundancy.
Tour de Force allows everyone in an organization to make informed business decisions since historical information associated with customers, prospects, and other business relationships can be accessed quickly and efficiently.
Tour de Force also enhances the relationships with prospects and customers because companies have the information needed to provide better service during and after the sales process.
Managing Account and Contact Records
Overview
Tour de Force is designed to provide flexibility to different businesses. Tour de Force uses Account and Contact records to organize and identify business entity relationships.
Understanding Account Records
In Tour de Force, an Account record typically represents a relationship with a company or organization. Account records can be a customer, a channel partner, a distributor, a supplier, or any other relationship that exists with an organization.
An Account record is the parent to all other records in Tour de Force, and can be the parents to virtually all of the items in Tour de Force. This feature allows organizations to be flexible within Tour de Force by allowing the information related to an Account record to be static while relating an abundant amount of items and information to the Account record.
Understanding Contact Records
In Tour de Force, a Contact record typically represents an individual person in a company or business that purchases product or services from an organization. Contact records can also be other people that need to be associated with an Account record, such as an outside consultant, a lawyer, a VAR, or an accountant.
Contact records have to be associated with an Account record in Tour de Force. Contact records cannot be entered into Tour de Force without an Account record.
The Tour De Force Account Window
The Tour de Force Account window provides one central form where all information associated with Account records in Tour de Force and external business systems are maintained. This form is used to create new Account records, as well as to display and edit information associated with Account records that have been entered into Tour de Force.
The Header Control information such as Item Key, Owner, Created Date, Last Modified Date, Age in Days, and the Active fields that are associated with an Account record are located at the top of the Tour de Force Account window.
Item Key – This field is used to uniquely identify each Account record in Tour de Force. This field is automatically assigned by the system and cannot be changed.
Owner – This field displays the name of the Tour de Force user that created the Account record. This field is display only and cannot be changed.
Created Date – This field displays the date the Account record was created. This field is display only and cannot be changed.
Modified – This field displays the date the Account record was last modified.
This field changes after each save operation inside the record.
Age in Days – This field displays the number of days the record has been in Tour de Force. This field is for display purposes only and cannot be modified.
Active – This field is used as a toggle to change the status of an Account record from Active to Inactive.
If an Account record is Active, the Tour de Force Search utility can be used to view information associated with and linked to the Account record, as well as new records and items can be linked to the Account record.
Since the Active field is checked in the Tour de Force Account window for the Air Products & Chemicals Lehigh Valley Account record, this Account record displays in the Tour de Force Search utility when Air Products & Chemicals is specified in the For field.
When the Active field is unchecked, the TDF Active State window displays. Click the Yes button to set the Account record to inactive.
For example, when Air Products & Chemicals is specified in the For field, the Air Products & Chemicals Lehigh Valley Account record does not display.
If multiple Account Packages exist in Tour de Force, the Tour de Force Account form is the same form utilized throughout the system.
The definition and values of an Account record depends on the type of information that a company wants to track and maintain. For example, a company that needs to monitor and track all aspects of the sales cycle from start to finish may set up Account Packages for Leads, Prospects, and Customers.
Some companies have used Tour de Force to track all of the correspondence and documents associated with vendors and suppliers. These companies set up an Account Package for Vendors or Suppliers.
If Account records need to be deleted from an Account Package, use the Tour de Force Administration Console utility. In the Data Clean Up Utilities folder, a Move/Delete Account utility exists that allows Account records to be deleted. Using the Move/Delete Account utility to delete Account records also deletes all of the records and items linked to the Account records.
Setting an Account record to Inactive is an alternative to deleting the Account record. An Account record can be set to Inactive by not checking the Active field in the Tour de Force Account window.
Note that only the Administrative users of Tour de Force have the permissions and ability to delete Account records. Therefore, business procedures to delete Accounts need to be designed and incorporated.
Summary Tab
The Summary tab on the Tour de Force Account form is used to enter and view information such as company name, address, and phone number that is associated with an Account record.
The Summary tab is divided into two sections and two tabs:
The first section of the Summary tab is used to maintain information such as the name, the address, and phone numbers associated with an account. The Web address, Email Domain, and Business Code associated with the Account record can also be specified in this section.
The second section of the Summary tab is a grid that is used to display all items linked to an Account record such as Activities, Appointments, Contacts, Documents, Email, Expenses, Notes, Opportunities, Support, Tasks, and BSI information.
To view a list of Contact records associated with an Account record select Contacts in the Link Item Type field. Once Contacts is selected the grid displays all of the Contact records linked to the Account record.
To create a new item to link to the Account, click the New button on the Tour de Force toolbar.
Tour de Force opens the window or form according to the value selected in the Link Item Type field. For example, if Contacts is selected then the Tour de Force Contact window opens. If Tasks is selected then the Tour de Force Tasks window opens.
The Quick Events menu can be used in the Tour de Force Account window to add or view items linked to Contact records linked to an Account record. To view items linked to a Contact record, right-click the mouse on the Contact record to display the Quick Events menu. Select Actions or Views from the menu, and then select the appropriate value.
For example, to view Task items that are associated with a Contact record, select Tasks from the Views menu.
This opens the Tour de Force Quick View for Contact window for the Contact record selected.
Specification Tab
The first tab located on the Summary tab is the Specification tab. This form is used to enter and view specific information related to that account. Information such as Event Source, Account Manager, and Market Focus are a few examples of the fields that can be used in the Specification tab.
Since the Specification tab on the Tour de Force Account form is 100% configurable, fields have been added to this tab as examples for discussion and training purposes. These fields may not exist in your implementation. The labels and fields that are maintained on this tab are typically defined during the set up phase of the initial implementation.
Note that the fields labeled LastActivitySubject and LastActivityDate cannot be
removed but can be hidden.
The Competitive Information Tab
The second tab located on the Summary tab is the Competitive Information tab. The Competitive Information tab is used to enter and view information associated with Account records that companies need to track.
The Competitive Information tab can be configured to meet the business needs of any organization.
Since the Competitive Information tab on the Tour de Force Account form is 100% configurable, fields have been added to this tab as examples for discussion and training purposes. These fields may not exist in your implementation. The labels and fields that are maintained on this tab are typically defined during the set up phase of the initial implementation.
Information associated with Account records on this tab can be exported for reporting purposes.
Sales Data Tab
The second tab located on the Tour de Force Account window is the Sales Data tab. This tab is used to view sales related information associated with Account records. This tab gives salespeople and other Tour de Force users the ability to cross-reference sales data based on the business system utilized by companies. Having this information in Tour de Force also gives users the ability to view Sales, Accounts Receivable, and Open Order data related to Account records in one program.
The BSI module must be installed, and the BSI field on the Account record of the Tour de Force Account window must be the ID of the customer or account in the business system in order to get the sales information associated with the Account to be populated on the Sales Data tab.
Five tabs exist on the Sales Data tab, which group the data pulled from the business system by Sales Summary, General Summary, Group Summaries, Open Orders, and Open Quotes.
The Goal field shows the current Account Rollup that is being displayed for the
five tabs under the Sales Data tab. The two views available are Total – Account Rollup and Period – Account Rollup. The views can be changed by using the drop down arrow in the Goal field.
Data associated with all of these tabs are updated on a nightly basis.
Sales Summary
The Sales Summary tab displays sales summary numbers that are associated with the Account record such as the Sales and Gross Profit amounts of last year, the Sales and Gross Profit amounts for the current year, the Sales and Gross Profit amounts for the month, and the Sales and Gross Profit amounts associated with the previous day.
Annual Summary
This section of the Sales Summary tab displays the Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit (Sales – Cost of Sales), and gross profit Margin % ((1 – (Gross Profit / Sales)) for 2 Years Prior, Last Year, Last YTD, YTD, YTD Growth, Goal, and % of Goal.
2 Years Prior – This column represents the total Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and
Margin % associated with the Account record starting two years prior to December 31 of the current year.
Last Year – This column represents the total Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % associated with the Account record through December 31 of the prior year.
Last YTD – This column represents the year-to-date Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % associated with the Account record for the current month of the previous year.
YTD – This column represents the year-to-date Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % associated with the Account record for the current month of the current year.
Last Growth – This column shows the change in year-to-date sales between the current month of the prior year and the current month of the current year (Last YTD – YTD). Negative numbers represent a decrease in sales.
Goal – This column represents the yearly Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % goals set for the Account record.
% Goal – This column displays the percentage of year-to-date Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % in relation to the yearly Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % goals set for the Account record.
Monthly Summary
This section of the Sales Summary tab displays the Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit (Sales – Cost of Sales), and gross profit Margin % ((1 – (Gross Profit / Sales)) for Last Year MTD, MTD, and MTD Growth.
Last Year MTD – This column represents the total Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % for the current month of the prior year.
MTD – This column represents the total Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit, and Margin % for the current month of the current year.
MTD Growth – This column shows the change in sales between the current month of the prior year and the current month of the current year (Last Year MTD – MTD). Negative numbers represent a decrease in sales.
Daily Summary
This section of the Sales Summary tab displays the Bookings, Sales, Gross Profit (Sales – Cost of Sales), and gross profit Margin % ((1 – (Gross Profit / Sales)) from the previous day (Prior Day).
Chart Tab
This tab displays a chart of the selected information in the chart selection drop down box
that is related to the Account record open in the Tour de Force Account form. Click the Expand Chart button to view a larger version of the chart selected.
General Summary
The General Summary tab displays information relative to Sales Data on the Account record selected. Examples of the information on display are AR Aging Summary, Warranty Information, Last Order Summary, Last Payment, Credit Information, Open Quotes, Open Orders, and Invoicing Summary. The General Summaries tab is for display purposes only.
Last Order Frame
Value – This field displays the amount of the last sales order created for the Account record.
Date – This field displays the date of the last sales order created for the Account record.
Last Payment Frame
Value – This field displays the amount of the last payment received from the Account record.
Date – This field displays the date of the last payment received from the Account record.
Credit Frame
Status – This field displays the credit status associated with the Account record.
Available – This field displays the total amount of credit that the Account record has available for purchases.
AR Aging Summary Frame
Total – This field displays the total balance due or the total amount that the Account record owes.
Current – This field displays the amount of the total balance due by the Account record that is current or not overdue.
> 30 – This field displays the amount of the total balance due by the Account record that is between 30 and 60 days past due.
> 60 – This field displays the amount of the total balance due by the Account record that is between 60 and 90 days past due.
> 90 – This field displays the amount of the total balance due by the Account record that is over 90 days past due.
Open Order Frame
Total – This field displays the total amount of all open orders associated with an Account record.
Current – This field displays the total amount of all open orders associated with an Account record that is less than thirty days old.
> 30 – This field displays the total amount of all open orders associated with an Account record that is between 30 and 60 days old.
> 60 – This field displays the total amount of all open orders associated with an Account record that is between 60 and 90 days old.
> 90 – This field displays the total amount of all open orders associated with an Account record that is over 90 days old.
Quotes Frame
Total – This field displays the total amount of all quotes associated with an Account record.
Current – This field displays the total amount of all quotes associated with an Account record that is less than thirty days old.
> 30 – This field displays the total amount of all quotes associated with an Account record that is between 30 and 60 days old.
> 60 – This field displays the total amount of all quotes associated with an Account record that is between 60 and 90 days old.
> 90 – This field displays the total amount of all quotes associated with an Account record that is over 90 days old.
Group Summaries
The Group Summaries tab displays all the information for the group that the Account record open in the Tour de Force Account form belongs to. Click the Summary Types button and select a group set. The columns and information displayed change depending on which summary is selected. For example selecting Salesman in the Summary Type drop down menu displays all the information relevant to the group the salesman belongs; in this case the Air Products & Chemicals Account record.
The summary types and columns on display are 100 % configurable. The configuring process is done during initial implementation of Tour de Force.
Open Orders
The Open Order tab displays all of the open sales orders associated with the Account record, as well as other information related to each sales order such as the Price and Cost of each product.
The BSI module must be installed, and the BSI Code field on the Account record of the Tour de Force Account form must be the ID of the customer in the business system in order to get the open order information associated with the Account record to be populated on this tab.
Since grid layouts are 100% configurable, fields have been added to this grid as examples for discussion and training purposes. These fields may not exist in your implementation. The labels and fields that are maintained in this grid are typically defined during the set up phase of the initial implementation.
The Show orders where field is a drop down menu containing different search options inside of the Open Orders tab. The contains field allows for more specific searches. Click the Go button to display the information selected and entered in both fields.
Group By Section
Changing how information displays using groups can make locating information easier and more efficient. If no group currently exist in the grid, the simplest way to create a group is to click and drag the column heading associated with the field to the Group By section of the window.
Header
The Header section of the Open Orders tab displays information associated with the Header of each quote.
OrderNumber – This field displays the Order Number associated with the Sales Order.
OrderDate – This field displays the Order Date associated with the Sales Order.
RequiredDate – This field displays the Required Date associated with the Sales Order.
Order Value – This field displays the Total Amount of the Sales Order.
Salesman – This field displays the Salesperson associated with the Sales Order.
OrderStatus – This field displays the Status associated with the Sales Order.
PONumber – This field displays the Purchase Order Number associated with the Sales Order.
ShipToID – This field displays ID associated with the Shipping Address related to the Sales Order.
Attention – This field displays the Attention or person associated with the Sales Order.
Line items for selected Order
The detail section of the Open Orders tab displays information associated with the inventory items or products related to each open order.
LineNumber – This field displays the Line Number of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
QtyOrdered – This field displays the Order Quantity of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
QtyShipped – This field displays the Quantity Shipped of each product or inventory item of the Sales Order.
QtyBackOrder – This field displays the Quantity on Backorder of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
ItemCode – This field displays the ID of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
Description – This field displays the Description of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
UOM – This field displays Unit of Measure of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
Price – This field displays the Price of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
Cost – This field displays the Cost of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
GrossProfit% – This field displays the Gross Profit Percentage of each product or inventory item associated with the Sales Order.
Open Quotes Tab
The Open Quotes tab displays all of the Active quotes associated with the Account record, as well as other information related to each quote such as the Price and Cost of each product. Quotes that are Closed do not display on this tab.
The BSI module must be installed, and the BSI Code field on the Account record of the Tour de Force Account window must be the ID of the customer in the business system in order to get the quote information associated with the Account record to be populated on this tab.
The Show orders where field is a drop down menu containing different search options inside of the Open Quotes tab. The contains field allows for more specific searches. Click the Go button to display the information selected and entered in both fields.
Group By Section
Changing how information displays using groups can make locating information easier and more efficient. If no group currently exist is the grid, the simplest way to create a group is to click and drag the column heading associated with the field to the Group By section of the window.
Header
The Header section of the Quote tab displays information associated with the header of each Quote.
QuoteID – This field displays the ID or number associated with the Quote.
QuoteDate – This field displays the Quote Date associated with the Quote.
Quote Value – This field displays the Total Amount of the Quote.
RequiredDate – This field displays the Required Date associated with the Quote.
Salesperson – This field displays the Salesperson associated with the Quote.
QuoteStatus – This field displays the Status associated with the Quote.
ShipToID – This field displays ID associated with the Shipping Address related to the Quote.
Attention – This field displays the Attention or person associated with the Quote.
Line Items for selected Quote
The detail section of the Open Orders tab displays information associated with the inventory items or products related to each open order.
LineNumber – This field displays the Line Number of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
Qty – This field displays the Order Quantity of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
ItemCode – This field displays the ID of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
Description – This field displays the Description of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
UOM – This field displays Unit of Measure of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
Price – This field displays the Price of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
Cost – This field displays the Cost of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
GrossProfit% – This field displays the Gross Profit Percentage of each product or inventory item associated with the Quote.
Creating a New Account Record
Tour de Force recommends using the Tour de Force Search utility to add new Account records to an Account Package.
To add a new account to an Account Package:
- Click the Tour de Force Search button on the Tour de Force toolbar to open the Tour de Force Search window.
- In the Tour de Force Search window, click the New button to open the Tour de Force Account window.
- Select the Account Package associated with the new Account record, and then click the OK button.
For example select Unassigned Accounts.
- In the Company field, type the name associated with the Account record.
- To add an address to the Account record, select the Address field.
For example, type AIR PRODUCTS & CHEMICALS.
The Address Details window opens, and the Account record address can be entered in the appropriate fields.
- The field next to the Address box displays the type of address associated with the Account record.
- Click the down arrow button to the right of the type of address label to associate a different address with the Account record. The types of addresses that can be associated with an Account record are Business, Home, and Other.
- In the Phone field, type a number to associate with the Account record.
- The Phone field is typically used to display the Business phone number.
- In the Fax field, type a number to associate with the Account record.
- Type the website address associated with the Account record in the Web Address field.
- Type the email account associated with the Account record in the Email Domain field.
- Type the ID from the business system that is associated with the Account record in the BSI field.
This field is typically used to link the Account record in Tour de Force with the ID of the customer in a business system. Tour de Force uses this link to capture and display sales, accounts receivable, product, and quote related information from a business system on the Sales Data tab that is associated with the Account.
If the Business System integration to Tour de Force is not available, the BSI field can be removed from the Tour de Force Account window by an Administrative user of Tour de Force by unselecting the Show Tour de Force Business Code field in the Company Preferences window under the System Settings option in the Tour de Force Administration Console utility.
- Click the Save button to save the new Account record.
Notice that the “Item must be saved message” disappears and is replaced with the grid section of the window once the Account is saved record.
Another aspect that changes after saving the Account record is the breadcrumb bar located near the top of the Tour de Force Account form. The breadcrumb bar shows the path Tour de Force takes to access the Account record.
Right-click on the bold section of the breadcrumb bar to see a list of Actions, Views, and Templates associated with the Account record.
- If necessary, specify any information associated with the Account record in the other tabs.
- Click the Close button to close the Tour de Force Account window.
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