Includes database changes , you need to close all terminals during update. Note this update can take a few minutes to apply.

Tweaks and fixes

• Select job type : disallow deletions to job type from this screen. Delete can only be access via utilities -> job types.
• F2 lookup part : now includes a slot to search for partial part number. e.g. find all part numbers with '629' somewhere in the part #.
• Browse customer / select customer : display email addr.
• Tillpay token /recurring txn : show 3DS result and disallow confirmation if 3DS result isn't successful. This in theory should never happen since tokens force 3DS to mandatory but added as an additional guard
• Tillpay terminal : manual txn processing. Provide a slot for operator to input surcharge as advised by the terminal
• Trading statement : disambiguate goods in transit / goods to invoice. Previously c9 assumed these are always spares and aggregated as such but not necessarily the case.
• Setup : get rid of 'Not paid' setting on ":payments" tab. The setting is non functional, is is easily confused with similar setting (print Paid/on account) on the 'Spares' tab
• Uncollected Rebate report : show invoice date
• Units Miner query : allow querying of part number. Useful for dealing with P/E equipment , Stihl, Husky , Honda etc
• Spares Credit note : if no parts to refund ask operator if they want to create refund anyway.  Previously would not let you proceed. Flex here is useful to tidyup up some web orders
• SMS Sender ID : if you opt to use your own mobile # for SMS sent by c9 there is a new requirement to reverify number every 12 months.  Includes some changes to accommodate that (we will advise via email when it is due, you need to redo registration twice. Once to trigger c9 to remove old registration and once more to restart registration from scratch)
• Browse Weborder screen : change naming of 'manual' button to make it more generic.
• Stihl Magician : now working with their new B2B Portal

Privacy Statement

C9 invoices can now print with a privacy statement which is displayed more prominently on tax invoices compared to page footer fine print.  The text can be purposed for anything, not just privacy statements. Example output:

To configure goto setup -> other settings -> dealership details. New tab : privacy. Note this prints on all invoices : workshop , spares & unit sales.

Paypal / Tillpay processing

include a button to browse  all txns that currently compose 'Total applied so far' tally for payment clearing. From same screen you can forcefully add or remove apply amount, sinking it into either AR or Customer Deposit balance to create new ways to tidy up fiddly edge cases around web order handling.

Consider this completed txn, the amount we captured from till is 240.15, but we only invoiced 150.27

The browse button gives us access to what makes up that apply figure:

Normal solution would be to refund unused amount, but now we can apply additional funds from manually move aplied elsewhere button. Like so:

This drops the balance onto contact code as a deposit to be used later.

 

Tweaks and fixes

• Pickup order / reserve where original order was flagged as tax exempt. C9 was not presetting pickup as tax exempt. This was also impacting auto invoice for overseas web orders.
• Honda warranty export : add an option to export a default email if customer email is unknown, same as Stihl and Husky
• Suzuki EPC API import : was broken with recent changes to try and improve reliability of importing where Suzuki server throttles back traffic.  Would fail to import new units. Now fixed
• New GL expense code : Rental Outgoings.
• bank rec : Generic Txn ,  do not include archived banks.
• Balance sheet:  make liability line for Tax Withhold Owing same as what is on GL (previously would show Income tax, which may be confused as other company related taxes)
• View job: show exact warranty status. e.g. lodged / settled / dealer etc
• Generic unit cost GL posting: if set with a supplier and supplier has a default GL code, use that code instead of default generic unit expense code
• Magician
  • New API based check for Ficeda
• Payroll payment summary report : clearly show reporting period dates vs first pay / last pay dates as separate report entries.
• New unit first service reminder :  allow decimal points to allow partial month reminder .  e.g. 1.5 will be 1 month + 50% into the next month
• VicRoads marine/trailer registration. Use registered owner details , not customer if different.

Bugfix : combination of payment surcharging and tax exempt sale was broken.  Result would be an unbalanced journal. Now fixed. Problem especially obvious / annoying with tillpay terminal integration as the surcharge is proscribed by the terminal and has to be applied somehow.

Root cause is c9 was assuming the surcharge was a 'inc gst' , so with txn tagged as tax free it was trying, incorrectly to subtract the tax component from it.

 

 

Includes database changes. You need to log all terms out during upgrade

More work / repairs on recent cloud backup archive code

• C9 would inappropriately archive images some active unit spec sheets under some specific circumstances removing images off website for affected spec sheets (if spec sheet content contains any unicode escapes)
• Add easy option / ability to make c9 redownload previously archived files which are reassessed to be actually live and archived in error in prior versions of c9 (as is case in last two version updates)
• Bug with c9 backup files and inclusion of cloud backup changes : resulting backup files could not be restored from without some minor repair (root cause is sql escaping encoding was configured to cope with 8.4 -> 10 psql transition with respect to escapes. The schema for cloud introduced views/ stored procedures which explicitly reference backslash in the schema definition resulting in a broken scheme. Repair is straight forward, restore standard_conforming_strings to it's default.

Includes database changes. You need to log all terminals out during upgrade

Bugfix with yesterdays update.

The new c9 archive facility was inappropriately archiving the shop logo printed at top of tax invoices removing the logo entirely.

New version doesn't do this. Also for dealers where this happened today this version will automatically restore the trashed logo from cloud archive for you as part of the update

Includes Database changes, you need to log all terminals out during upgrade

IMPORTANT CHANGES TO C9 DATA & CLOUD STORAGE

This version of c9 bakes in a critical change in technical approach for us for storing information in your c9 and how it is backed up into the cloud backup service we provide.

More and more dealers are using c9 as a generic document store as well as taking advantage of other data intensive features like pictures of units for website advertising.

We are are fast approaching limits on what we can store because of this.

We have solved this issue by creating a 'hybrid' model. Key data elements which we identify as 'archival/historical' we will offload out of you c9 and into our cloud service. The architecture:

• reduces size of your locally installed database by putting historical stuff in the cloud
• dramatically reduces our cloud storage requirements because we are not duplicating massive data store with overnight and monthly data saves
• the solution is near invisible for your c9. If you go to access a historical / archived element it will seamlessly fetch from cloud just like it would have if it was still stored in your local c9. The only constraint is for historical queries you must be online
• full restores of c9 will now be significantly faster as data flagged as stored in cloud will no longer need to be downloaded / restored

Initially we have identified the following items for archival

• emailed attachments, like invoices older than 6 months
• attachments and web images on units sold 6 months ago
• attachments on workshop jobs invoiced 6 months ago
• unused web images initially uploaded 6 months ago

We will monitor rollout of this solution over coming months and may make further adjustments to what we store locally in your c9. This architecture opens up some new opportunities to allow c9 to be used for document / receipt storage etc. But we will assess initial impacts of this change first before exploring other possibilities.

Other tweaks and fixes

• internal tweaks for things we use in c9 for emailing our invoices : was broken last two months. Should now be fixed.
• Reconciliation report : was not including recently added gl code for payment gateway clearing (1-1400-xxxx) so was often misreporting txns involving these as problematic. Now fixed
• ABA file creation. In event of a file creation error, like invalid path, c9 would try and plow on with ABA file create anyway. Result was a null pointer crash. Now just report error and bail
• Mojo Magician. Would show wrong price, showing trade price when it should show dealer price.
• website magician check . on dealer websites not working for a number of brands. Now fixed. Specifically Suzuki but possibly also impacting Gas imports, BCE, ORI, Ficeda, Motonat and Cassons
• Minor typo fix on supplier return screen
• tillpay tweaks. Tweaks to help highlight possibly fraudulent txns
  • Highlight 3DS Result if result is adverse
  • Display issuer bank + country. Highlight if it isn't australia
• Part number matching.  Tweak logic used to try and match polaris parts with extaneous 'P' in part number and prefix trim which is in place for some dealers who migrated from competitor system where that system requires a 3 letter prefix at front of part. Previously c9 will trim prefix then apply the polaris trim rule ontop of that. These two tests need to be independent on original user input.
• View job : show part no on a separate field below list so it can be right clicked and copied
• Mojo EPC importer : subtle bug with importing multiple units which share diagrams; the second model it would encounter with same diagram would fail to import diagram. This possibly will explain recent issues with missing engine components. Root cause is recent changes to improve memory usage of EPC import was misimplemented for Mojo

Includes Database changes, you need to log all terminals out during upgrade

Statement on time bonus / late penalty bug fixes

For some time c9 has included a feature where AR statements will offer a discount bonus for ontime payment / penalty for late payment.  There were rare but impactful edge cases and issues with how this was originally implemented; in part because of limitations in v4 / v5.1 debtor implementation. Original logic was carried over in v5.2 but better approaches are now possible.

The core issue is that c9 originally would assess if a condition is met by tallying up payment type txns in condition test period (i.e. calendar month after statement is created) and comparing to the figure on the statement. The main issue with this is the txns in question could be closed some other way : either by recording payments that backdate even those txns and / or manipulation or deletion of the txns on statement in first place.

This version of c9 implements a newer / better algorithm.

• Look at open txns and amount still owing on them at the start of the test period
• On those same txns note balance owing as of end of the test period
• The difference between the above the 'paydown' use this to compute test discount/penalty conditions instead of txns explicitly in the condition period.
• Before apply above, compare to what was originally recorded for open txn tally to recalculate amount owing. Ignore increases; amortize down, to zero if needed any varied decreases. so for example if original bal on open txns that make up a penalty on a statement are reduced  ( or removed), reduce the condition and effect accordingly first.

Other Tweaks and fixes

• warranty job invoice : was incorrectly printing warranty alert on jobs which had been picked up as warranty but then cancelled and revert to normal job. Now fixed
• Toro edit part : F6 change part with toro would not work correctly with toro's unusual part numbering where dashes are relevant. Attempts to save a part could result in wrong part being updated with toro only when contending with dash part number rules. Now fixed
• Date range widget: would misbehave on some screens, such as create BAS. When clicking on BAS, date widget would reapply the selected 'shortcut' option overriding any dates manually inputted first. Fixed to not do this.
• Terms and conditions tweak: to help with transitioning new owners of a shop we need new owners to accept T&C. The logic in c9 that validates this was a bit broken. Tidied (check T&C version and acceptance).
• Parts on order on deal. For parts where preferred supplier is not a franchise, when deal is saved to be ordered later, the later ordering would incorrectly place parts on order under the OEM, not the preferred supplier. Now fixed
• i-motor : add accessible option to allow all units to be exported in setup screen
• attachments : make sure save attachment works via c9 remote. Disable open option if accessed via remote
• staff report: changing staff code would push result into aggregated <unknown> staff classifier in report. Tweaks so that the report will still partially disambiguate labour figures . Timesheeting records connect be connected to labour records but charged labour can be reported with original staff code.
• Scheduler : allow access to view job from modify scheduled task screen which in turn lets you access reprint job card
• Statements
  • Option to disable printing recent changes that print print statements where balance is zero but there are txns in period
  • Change wording for statements which are zero. Previous message about account being in credit is confusing / misleading
• Workshop invoices : option to show pricing as ex GST to accommodate a NSW insurer
• Modify deal : make sure an allocated plate on a new unit isn't on an existing deal or invoice already. Avoid incorrectly reused plates on deals.
• auto reconciliation tweaks
  • Nag user when they fail to input a supplier
  • When auto reconciliation triggers provide option to provide a more detailed breakdown to root cause
• OEMs on website. Change name and order
  • Previously could only be done by Barney now options in website tab in edit franchise to change name as displayed on website and change order relative to other oems.

C9 websites can now display information on part alternatives.

When you view a part part will show you list of alternative part numbers. Useful for finding stocked aftermarket alternatives etc

This new feature is disabled by default as some dealers alternatives database is either inaccurate or confidential and shouldn't be effectively published on dealer websites.

If you are interested in this feature, contact us to enable.

Includes DB changes. You need to log all terminals out during upgrade

Tweaks and fixes

• Statements print zero balance statements if there are txns in the reporting period.
• clocking bug fix when clocked onto a wait type overnight the wait type is no longer selectable on the next day until you clockoff / clock onto something else. Now fixed
• Payment gateway reconcile  : grant access to other generic txn types like merchant fees while reconciling tillpay/paypal txns
• Warranty export : ignore case when grouping makes. e.g. Stihl and STIHL are same.
• Unit sale invoice : print customer email addr
• Aged payables : provide a second tally line that tallies older aging. e.g. for DUE shows the tally of due and older overdue figures
• Import price file : a while ago a supplier reformat option was added to reformat part numbers the way they should be, with spaces and dashes to make them more readable to people: something that OEM's one by one have forgotten how to do. The facility in c9 would cause huge performance penalties on price file import if most/all of the part numbers were fine as is to the point for some database setups the import would freeze entirely. This version optimises the affected code and import is now same speed irrespective of whether or not part number re-format is in play.
• List unit on website : web order option now allows -ve values so you can make sure a given unit appears early in the page. previously could only input +ve values which push unit towards end of the web page.
• Unit stock take report :  show count # of units in each category
• Triumph EPC: working again : more changes on triumph website
• Emails : new option to send a copy of emails to originator; adding the From: email addr to email CC recipient list.
• Miner: query stock attributes
• Suzuki EPC import : improvements to cope with rate limit logic in Suzuki API

 

Ongoing issues with epc import. Recent changes to help with Triumph broke all epc importing : mashing results into a single diagram.

Now fixed here