Frequently Asked Questions
This page documents some frequently asked questions about the Publishers' Assistant software.
Contents
Is Publishers' Assistant a full accounting program?
That depends on how you define "full accounting". Many of our users find that PubAssist is all they need for accounting. But, Publishers' Assistant understands the publishing business. Consequently, through the normal process of invoicing, PubAssist is able to capture a great deal of information that would normally have to be calculated by hand.
For example, PubAssist automatically captures changes in your inventory and your liabilities (i.e. royalties, consignment costs, and commissions) as a result of each sale. A good deal of marketing information is captured automatically as well. Publishers' Assistant will also handle the complexities of dealing with a distributor; and it will facilitate the sale of books on a consignment basis. These are features that you are not likely to find in off-the-shelf accounting software.
You may still want to run another accounting package to keep track of assets, equity or expenses that you can't or don't want to track in PubAssist. Furthermore, many of our users work with accountants who prefer to use other accounting software. So, we have provided a number of tools to transfer key information from Publishers' Assistant to Quickbooks. You may find, however, that you'll never need them. Many of our users simply transfer a few numbers, say, once a month, by hand. On the other hand, if you need to transfer specifics on your receivables, expenses, and payments, PubAssist can handle that for you.
Can our company get customized functions for the way that we do business?
Absolutely! But first, you should know that the program is already quite flexible. There are many ways to use its existing features to handle even your most vexing business issues. The reports are user definable. Publishers' Assistant now comes with over 200 reports, all of which you can tweak and change on your own. You can also add completely new reports to your system and they will appear in the menu system like any of our standard reports.
But customization is available and welcome. Many users choose to have us develop specialized reports for them instead of getting into this themselves. Most needs are met by modifying an existing report which can generally be done within an hour. Other program features can be customized as well. We make an effort to really understand your business need before recommending a change to the program. We're interested in making sure that you receive a good value for the dollars you spend on customization.
Does Publishers' Assistant handle consignment sales?
Yes! This is one of our strengths. Publishers' Assistant will allow you to ship, receive, and log returns for titles on a consignment basis. Because of our complete inventory tracking system, you will have complete visibility into what inventory you have at each of your consignment customers' locations. You'll even be able to look back at what your consignment customers had on December 31st of last year! When you actually receive payment from your consignment customers, you can apply those funds to the individual items that were shipped, regardless of which invoice they belong to. If the money you received has deviated from the originally agreed upon price (perhaps because of a volume sales agreement) you can account for the difference at the time you log the payment. While Publishers' Assistant is intended for publishers, the consignment sales features make it attractive to any business that deals heavily in consignment sales.
Does Publishers' Assistant handle multiple warehouses?
As of Version 4.2u, all editions of Publishers' Assistant will support multiple warehouses. Previous versions supported locating inventory at multiple locations, but now you can invoice out of any of your warehouse locations! This turns out to be a function that is critical to staying in control with your distributors.
Does Publishers' Assistant work for distributors?
We have a few fairly large distributors using Publishers' Assistant. They can be characterized as users that deal in a higher volume of sales. They care a great deal about the invoice and inventory tracking capabilities of Publishers' Assistant. They track their liabilities via consignment contract specifics in Publishers' Assistant, and generally are less concerned with royalties. Handling backorders is a primary concern, which Publishers' Assistant does.
Distributors will also be interested in some of the EDI features supported by both Couplet and PubAssist Web Services. Your publishers can submit title data to you electronically. You can in turn do so with the wholesalers and retailers you work with. You can also accept orders via your web site and import them into Publishers' Assistant.
We're continually working with these distributors to improve the capabilities in Publishers' Assistant that distributors need for smoother daily operation.
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