Commander Version 17

New Features

The newest Commander software is version 17.4.  It was released 4/10/2024.  Customers wishing to update to 17.4 should contact tech support and ask to be placed on the upgrade list.

 Below are some of the new features and changes in Version 17.4

Version 17 Features – Effective 4/10/2024 

(Click on FEATURE +  to expand explanations)

Navigation Toolbar - Now Saved

Feature:  When you first open Commander, the software will automatically launch the navigation Toolbar that was previously selected, prior to closing the program. (This would typically be the Favorites Menu) The Logout value is applied to the next Login.

Benefit: Immediate and easy access to commonly used modules when you launch the software.

Customize Current View - Searchable Field filters

Feature: Searchable Field filters can (and must) be added to the “Customize Current View” for Customers, Vendors, Invoicing, Repair Order, Purchase Orders etc.  Add the fields that you would like to make searchable in each grid view, and setup for each User Login.

Benefit:  When you search for data, there is no longer a need to change the search filter from Customer Name to Invoice Number etc. making searching and navigation faster and simpler.

Customize Current View - New Customer Search Filter

Feature: Customer search filter (radio button) added to limit search results to “All, Active, In-active or Prospect” to Customer, Invoice and Repair Order search grid.

Benefit: Faster search results for Dealers that have a large customer database.

Customize Current View - Now Can Adjust Search Speed

Feature:  Now you can adjust search speed with a numeric control to “Limit Display” results in Customer, Items, Invoice, Repair Order, Labor and Purchase Order. Set the value lower if search results are slow.

Benefit: Increased speed in search results, to offset increased database size.

Customize Current View - Now Can Define SORT ORDER

Feature:  Default Sort Order – Select and save the sort order you prefer for each screen under “Customize Current View” (Example: Save the Customer sort order by Last Name in ascending order, or Units by model in Ascending order.)

Benefit: The data will display in the default sort order that you select, when the module opens.

Customize Current View - New Data Fields Added

Feature:  Added data fields under “Customize Current View” for Customer phone number and Doc Status and Total Invoice Amount. Add to the Invoice and RO grid view, for each user.

Benefit:  Doc Status will display “SO” for special order parts or “Unit” for a serialized Unit Sale. Total Invoice displays the total amount due on Checkout on the Invoice/RO grid.

Customize Current View - Company Name Added

Feature: Company Name added to Sales History TAB.

Benefit: View Sales History for B2B sales.

Units / Serialized Inventory - Description Increased

Feature: Unit description increased to 1,000 characters.  (v17.0)

Benefit:  Add longer Unit descriptions when options are included.

Units / Serialized Inventory - “Check Box” for Floored Units

Feature:  Floored Units “Check Box” added under the detail TAB of Units for Floored Units.

Benefit: Check this box if the Unit is on floorplan, to add Unit cost to Flooring Balance.

Units / Serialized Inventory - Window Sticker Added

Feature: Window Sticker for Serialized Units added in Unit screen.

Benefit: Create and print Window Stickers for Units that include Standard features and Options.

Units / Serialized Inventory - “On-Rental” Status Added

Feature:  “On-Rental” – Unit Status added to Serialized unit inventory places Units “On-Rental” (hold) status, when Rental Sales Type is used on Sales Invoice or Repair Order.

Benefit: Tracks Unit status for Units that are out on Rental.

Text 2 Pay - Merchant Services API

Feature: Send a Text message from the Invoice or Repair Order checkout window to collect payments for Special Orders or work done on a jobsite, when the customer is not present.   API only available to Commander customers with a Global Merchant account.

.Benefit:  Expedite the collection of payments from customers.

Invoice / Repair Order - “Pickup and Return” Date

Feature:  “Pickup and Return” date and time added to Invoice for Rental Units.

.Benefit:  Track pickup and drop-off date and time to bill customers for Rental Units.

Invoice / Repair Order - Rental Unit “On Hold”

Feature:  Rental Unit “Sales Type” changed to update Unit Status to “On Hold” and back to “Stocked” when the Unit is returned and the invoice with Rental Fees is Closed.

.Benefit:  Status of Rental Units is automatically updated.

Invoice / Repair Order - Rental Unit “Zeros Sell Price"

Feature:  “Rental Sales Type” on Invoice, zero’s out the Sell price of the Unit automatically.

.Benefit: Unit is not being sold, so only allows Rental Fees to be added to Invoice.

Invoice / Repair Order - “Pick List” Form Type Added

Feature:  “Pick List” form type added using Repair Order, Form Type 5R_A prints without parts pricing. Prints Bin location so that employees can “pick” the parts needed for a customer/job.

.Benefit:  Print a picklist for employees to pick parts for a job or use as a shipping packing list.

Invoice / Repair Order - “Credit Card Fee” – Label Added

Feature:  “Credit Card Fee” – Customizable label.

Benefit: Label the Credit Card Fee as needed for Invoice / RO form printouts.

Color Themes - Change in Preferences - By User

Feature:  Color themes added under Preferences for each user. Colorize data in the Invoice or Repair Order grid view based on grid rules. Colors are automatically applied to matching data criteria in the grid. (Example: Add a color to all “Posted” Repair Orders to highlight open jobs or colors can also be applied to modules or buttons and are setup for each user, as a preference).

Benefit:  Colors highlight data on the Invoice and Repair order grid to help with daily workflow.

Sales Calculator ($) - New, Lite "No Forms" Version

Feature:  Sales Calculator “lite” is available as an “add-on” to the Invoice/Repair Order module without F&I / Forms support for $275. (Email: products@micsystems.com to activate feature).

Benefit:  Easily view profit on sales deals, invoices or Repair Orders including Units, Parts, Labor and Fees.  Calculates monthly payments for Financed deals and sales commissions.

Sales Calculator ($) - With Full Forms Support

Feature: Enhanced F&I Sales Calculator with F&I / Forms Support, available to print Buyers Order, Sales contracts and DMV Forms. $975 setup, and $75 monthly for support.

Benefit: Eliminates manually populating sales forms on sales deals.

Sales Calculator ($) - Handles Finance % Points Paid / Earned

Feature:  Enter Finance % Points paid/earned on sales deals (Amount Financed).

Benefit:  Calculates finance commissions earned for additional “back-end” sales deal profits.

Feature added for dealers that already subscribe to this module, as mentioned above.

Report Changes - Purchase Order Report

Feature: Purchase Order Report à “Return Status” added.

Report Changes - Payment Method Report

Feature:  Payment Method Report à “Invoice/Repair Order” filter added.

Report Changes - Best Selling Items Report

Feature:  Best Selling Items Report à “On-hand” quantity column added.

Report Changes - Warranty Status Report

Feature:  Warranty Status Report à “Invoice Date” filter added.

Report Changes - Sales & Payment Reports

Feature:  Sales & Payment Reports à “Company Name” added for B2B sales.

Report Changes - Customer Balance Report

Feature:  Customer Balance Report à Enhanced to show all outstanding balances.

Report Changes - Invoice Register Report

Feature:  Enhanced Invoice Register Report.

Report Changes - Archived Inventory Valuation Report

Feature:  Archived Inventory Valuation Report.

Warehouse Locator - Parts Unlimited

FeatureParts Unlimited – API for Warehouse stock updates, and “dealer pick” price updates.

Benefit:  View Parts Unlimited warehouse availability, and parts prices update automatically.

Warehouse Locator - Turn 14

Feature: Turn 14 (Formerly Tucker) – API for Warehouse stock updates, and “dealer pick” price updates.

Benefit:  View Turn 14 warehouse stock availability, and parts prices update automatically.

Warehouse Locator - Western Powersports

Feature: WPS – API for Warehouse stock updates, and “dealer pick” price updates.

Benefit: View WPS warehouse stock availability, and parts prices update automatically.

Inventory Feeds Application ($) - Website Upload

Feature: Upload Serialized Units and Parts inventory to your web site via FTP Server.

Benefit: Eliminates manual data entry, updating stock on your website. (DealerSpike)

Inventory Feeds Application ($) - Import eCommerce Sales to Commander

Feature: Import eCommerce Sales from your web site (Shopify) into Commander.

Benefit: Eliminate manual data entry of eCommerce sales into Commander, for fulfillment.

Inventory Feeds Application ($) - Zero Sales Price - "Call for Price"

Feature: Option to set the sales price to Zero in Inventory Feed, web export.

Benefit:  Customer will need to “call for price” increasing close rate.

Purchase Orders & PO Pad - Serialized Unit Receiving

Feature: Unit Purchase Order – New “36 Unit grid” for receiving Serialized Units.

Benefit: Saves time entering serial numbers for large multi-Unit Purchase Orders.

Purchase Orders & PO Pad - Kawasaki

Feature:   Purchase Order Export updated for Kawasaki parts.

Benefit:  Export and Upload Purchase Orders to the Vendor shopping carts and eliminate manual data entry to increase speed, save time and increase accuracy.

Purchase Orders & PO Pad - Rotary

Feature: Rotary – Purchase Order Export added for Rotary parts.

Benefit:  Export and Upload Purchase Orders to the Vendor shopping carts and eliminate manual data entry to increase speed, save time and increase accuracy.

Purchase Orders & PO Pad - Medart

Feature:  Medart – Purchase Order Export added for Medart.

Benefit:  Export and Upload Purchase Orders to the Vendor shopping carts and eliminate manual data entry to increase speed, save time and increase accuracy.

Purchase Orders & PO Pad - Grasshopper

FeatureGrasshopper – Purchase Order Export added.

Benefit:  Export and Upload Purchase Orders to the Vendor shopping carts and eliminate manual data entry to increase speed, save time and increase accuracy.

Purchase Orders & PO Pad - Vermeer

FeatureVermeer – Purchase Order Export added.

Benefit:  Export and Upload Purchase Orders to the Vendor shopping carts and eliminate manual data entry to increase speed, save time and increase accuracy.

Purchase Orders & PO Pad - Company Name Added

FeaturePO Pad – “Company Name” added to Customize grid view.

Benefit: View Company name on the PO Pad for B2B sales orders.

EPC Integration (eHUB - Parts Fiche) - Polaris Picklist Import

FeatureImport Picklist from Polaris public website, into Invoices and Repair Orders.

Benefit:  Saves time and increases accuracy, adding Polaris parts to Commander invoices or RO’s.

https://parts.polarisind.com/browse/Browse.asp

EPC Integration (eHUB - Parts Fiche) - PartSmart 10 Interface

Feature: PartSmart 10 – EPC interface added for web-based EPC import.

Benefit:  Saves time and increases accuracy, electronically adding OEM parts to Commander invoices or RO’s.

EPC Integration (eHUB - Parts Fiche) - Stihl EPC Integration

Feature: Stihl EPC Integration added. (Stihl Dealer web site)

Benefit:  Saves time and increases accuracy, electronically adding Stihl parts to Commander invoices or RO’s.

EPC Integration (eHUB - Parts Fiche) - John Deere EPC Integration

Feature: John Deere EPC Integration added. (web based)

Benefit:  Saves time and increases accuracy, electronically adding John Deere parts to Commander invoices or RO’s.

Price File Loader - Donovan Marine Updates - Improved

Feature: Donovan Marine –  “Custom Mapping” added to load Donovan custom price file.

Benefit: Now there is no special formatting required to import Donovan parts price files.

Resolved Issues - Older Laptop Compatibility

Issue:   Checkout Window on Invoice and Repair Order too large for very old Laptops.

Solution: Resized checkout Window for resolution compatibility on very old Laptop computers.

Resolved Issues - Default “Counter Sale” Customer Button Disabled

IssueDefault “Counter Sale” customer being edited by employees by mistake during sale.

Solution: Customer Edit button disabled on Invoice/RO default customer.

Resolved Issues - Blocked Removal of PO Pad Items

Issue: Security not blocking employees from removing items from PO Pad.

SolutionEnhanced Security features in Ver 17.4 resolved this issue.

Commander Version 15 – Features

(Click on feature to expand explanations)

Commander Version 15 was a major update on 12-1-2021.  These were some of the new features in Version 15.

All New POS - Point-of-Sale Invoicing Module

It will no longer be necessary to split tickets for special order parts

Credit Card "Pass-on Fee" Option

If you want to pass on merchant fees to consumers, this option makes it easy to accomplish that.

New Non-Inventory Major Unit Feature

Speeds up data entry by remembering the major unit default information such as model, color, sales price, type of unit, etc. Then when receiving the P.O. you can just key in the different serial numbers or stock numbers.

New Purchase Order Feature

This is a new P.O feature that creates a “Vendor Parts Return”.  This is a list of parts to return to your vendor, which will not increment parts sales as previously, if a Vendor Return was created on a parts invoice.

New Major Unit Bill Feature

This feature now allows creation of a bill for Major Units purchases in Commander.

New Major Unit Bill Transfer Feature

With this feature, we can now optionally transfer the bill to QuickBooks payables with the QB interface.

New Feature: Color themes

Each user in Commander can individually add and change screen colors.  This can be helpful to highlight certain data or customize and colorize screens to the user’s liking.

New Item Types for Rental, Storage and Fuel Sales

This was an asked-for feature for certain businesses that sell fuel and store and rent major units.

Expanded QuickBooks Mappings for Rentals, Storage and Fuel Sales

This was an asked-for feature allowing the breakout of specific sales totals for fuel and storage and rental sales.

Expanded QuickBooks Mappings to Accommodate Trade-Ins, Unit Returns and Fees

This was another asked-for feature allowing the breakout of specific sales totals for Trade-Ins, Unit Returns and fees.

Warehouse Locator for Parts Unlimited

Parts Unlimited launched a new dealer portal for the Warehouse and deal-specific pricing and this completes the Commander integration to their API.

Multi-Site Inventory App (sold separately)

Designed for multi-store businesses who wish to view parts and major unit inventory at each of their various locations.  Available at additional cost.

Web Site Inventory Feeds Application (sold separately)

This app will push Parts and Units to a dealer’s website daily, using an FTP server.  Available at additional cost.

Huggins Cross Reference Integration (sold separately)

This marine dealer feature integrates Commander with Huggins cross reference part app. Subscription is required.  Available at additional cost.

“Group Method” of Sales Tax Calculation

Created for states that use alternate methods of calculating sales tax.  Works for Florida and other states with different sales tax laws.

Nickel Rounding

This feature was designed for Canadian dealers because pennies are no longer used in Canada.

4th Decimal Feature

Added this feature for quantities and pricing which now permits carrying to the 4th decimal.

F&I Sales Calculator (sold separately)

This is a separate app for Major Unit sales with forms and sales contract printing.  Available at additional cost.

BRP Certification and Custom API's

Custom Commander integration exclusively for franchised BRP dealers.

Polaris Certification and Custom API's

Custom Commander integration exclusively for franchised Polaris dealers.