COGS-Well System Navigation
Overview:
The purpose of this article is to familiarize you with the navigation menu features and options in COGS-Well. We also have a training video on System Navigation so if you prefer to watch videos then please click this link to the System Navigation training video.
Navigation - The Sidebar Menu:
There are a lot of features in COGS-Well for setup, maintenance, data entry, listings, and reports. The Sidebar Menu "Sidebar" simplifies navigation between these features.
When a User logs into COGS-Well, the Sidebar is displayed vertically on the left side of the Dashboard as shown above. The Menu Options and features included in the Sidebar will reflect the features that are enabled in your Company Settings and the User Level for the User that logged in:
For example, if ordering or transfers are not enabled in your company settings, they will not show up as menu options on the Sidebar. In addition, features available to a System Administrator user level will not show up on the sidebar for a Manager user level.
The Sidebar displays menu options vertically (top to bottom). If the Menu Options exceed the display space, then you can use the scrollbar on the right side of the menu or the scroll wheel on your mouse to scroll down to more Menu Options.
Features: The features for each Menu Option on the Sidebar are accessed by clicking on a Menu Option. This will cause the Menu Option to open and display a sub-menu of features. You can click on a feature to select it. In the below example we have clicked on the "Order" Menu Option to display the features on its sub-menu:
Search: The search option at the top of the Sidebar is a helpful tool. It enables you to type in the name of a feature to quickly find that feature. In the below example, we have typed "count" in the search option and the features associated with count are displayed:
Features and Processes: Each Menu Option on the Sidebar includes features for a common process such as counting inventory, ordering, or managing inventory items. This approach puts all of the features associated with a common process on the same sub-menu. An example of the "Count" Menu Option with the sub-menu features is displayed is below:
In the above example, the features for a Count Worksheet, entering and closing a Count, and Extention Reports are included on the same sub-menu. This minimizes the need for navigation through multiple menu options when performing an inventory count. It can also serve as a reminder for the tasks associated with a count for a User such as a Manager.
Open and Close the Sidebar: The Sidebar will close if you access a feature or mouse away from the Sidebar for more than one second. This close occurs to maximize the work or viewing space on your display. When the Sidebar is closed, it can easily be reopened by hovering over the reopen icon as shown in the example below:
Pin the Sidebar: If you prefer the Sidebar to stay open, you can "pin" it to stay open (the default is "unpinned"). When the Sidebar is open there is a pin icon at the top right of the menu. Click on the pin to pin the Sidebar open. An example is shown below:
Manage and Maintain Menu Options: The Menu Options with features for Managing and Maintaining your COGS-Well database are below the operational Menu Options on the Sidebar. For the below example, we have scrolled down the Sidebar to the Manage and Maintain Menu Options:
The Manage and Maintain Menu Options are used primarily for setting up, managing, or making changes to the items in your database. The Menu Options and features you will have access to are based on your User Level. An example of the Manage Inventory Items Menu Option is shown below:
Initial Setup: Inventory Items, Inventory Departments, Inventory Categories, Company Settings, GL Accounts, Sites, System Administrators, Sales Items, Sales Departments, and Sales Categories, are initially set up for you by the COGS-Well Implementation team. They can be viewed or modified using the Management and Maintain Menu Options and features.
Main Menu:
COGS-Well has a second Navigation Menu called the Main Menu which is displayed horizontally at the very top of your COGS-Well display. The Main Menu is typically only utilized by System Administrators who want to access the Tools Menu Option and COGS-Well support manages the Tools features for most of our customers. An example of the Main Menu is shown below:
Like the Sidebar, the Main Menu automatically configures to only include the Menu Options, Sub-Menus, and features enabled in company settings and the User Level of the User that has logged in. There are two Menu Options on the Main Menu that all Users will use - 1) Log Out and 2) Help:
Log Out: This is a way to log out and log back into the system quickly. You would use this option if you have credentials for more than one User.
Help: Our Help and Learning Center is extensive. It contains hundreds of articles (at least one to cover every setup, worksheet, data entry, listing, or report feature in COGS-Well. There are also articles to help with Getting Started and Frequently Asked Questions. There are also Training Videos.
Main Menu Organization: The Main Menu has Inventory, Recipes & Sales, Company, and Tools options (Accounting and Exports only show if they are enabled in Company Settings). The features for each option are accessed by hovering over the Main Menu option. In the below example, we have hovered over the Inventory option and we can see the Menu Options for Inventory:
Sub-Menus: A Sub-Menu exists when you see a carrot ">" to the right of a Menu Option. Each Menu Option under the Inventory Menu has a Sub-Menu. For example, all of the data Entry features associated with Inventory are in the "Entry" Sub-Menu. In the example below, we have hovered over the Entry Menu Option and we see the features included in the Entry Sub-Menu:
In the above example, entry features for count, order, receive, and transfer are available. The Sub-Menu for the Worksheets Menu Option will include Worksheets for counts, orders, transfers, etc. The Sub-Menu for the Setup Menu Option will include all of the features associated with inventory setup.
The Menu Options and Sub-Menus on the Recipe & Sales and Company Main Menus follow the same logic we reviewed above for the Inventory option.
The Company Menu will only appear for System Administrators. The Company Menu Options are also available for System Administrators in the Sidebar. All of your Company Settings, GL Accounts, Sites, and Users are already set up by the COGS-Well Implementation team, but they can be modified here:
The Tools Menu only includes an option to change a password unless you are a System Administrator User. Passwords can also be changed via a Menu Option on the Sidebar (at the bottom). All of the configurations in Tools are set up by the COGS-Well Implementation team and COGS-Well typically maintains your Tools (unless you select to do otherwise): An example of the Tools menu is below:
Special Buttons on the Main Menu Bar:
Star Button: Clicking this Star Button (highlighted in red above) will create a bookmark for the feature that you have accessed from the Main Menu at the time you click it. A bookmark can be assigned to any feature, worksheet, listing, or report in COGS-Well.
Once you bookmark a feature, it will show up in a selection window whenever you click on the Star Button. You can then select a bookmarked feature to navigate directly to that feature (an example is below example:
Company or Site Login: The Company or Site Login works for System Administrators or Users who are given access to more than one Site. A Site in COGS-Well is an entity where you wish to control and isolate inventory usage separately such as a restaurant, commissary, or warehouse.
This display above shows the name of the Company or Site that you are logged into. Clicking the drop-down button on the right will display your Company and the Sites you have set up in your database. You can then highlight and select your company or the site you wish to log into.
Some of our customers have multiple companies set up in COGS-Well. If you have more than one company, then you can click on the COGS-Well logo on the far right of the Main Menu Bar to get a display of your companies. You can then select to navigate to the company you desire.
Open Multiple Features Concurrently: COGS-Well has a unique capability for a cloud software system that will allow you to open up to 10 features concurrently (entry features, reports, worksheets, or listings). So if you are in the middle of entering an inventory count, and you need to look at an inventory item, you can open the inventory item setup feature concurrently (below is an example):
In the above example, we have opened three features (Count Inventory, Inventory Items, and Recipe Items). The open features are each listed on a tab to the right of the dashboard tab. To move from one feature to another you can simply click on the tab for the feature you wish to access. You can open up to 10 tabs and you can go back and forth between open tabs as frequently as you desire.
Close Open Tabs: The X button will close all of the features (tabs) that you have open concurrently. This button exists to save the effort of accessing each open feature and then selecting to close it. If you click the X button (shown below) it will ask you to save any unsaved changes and then close all open tabs.
Dashboard:
The Dashboard remains open at all times. It is the default selection when you first log into COGS-Well. Once you navigate to other Menus or features, a tab will always stay open on the top left of your Dashboard. You can click on the Dashboard tab to return to it. Below is an example of the Dashboard:
The Dashboard is designed to provide Alerts, report important transaction activity, and report sales and theoretical costs. Different users may see different dashboards depending on how the system administrator sets up the user.
You will also see a different Dashboard when you are logged into your Company versus a Site. Please click this link for a detailed article on the Dashboard.
Feature Types:
COGS-Well's has features for the following:
- System Configuration
- Setup
- Maintenance
- Worksheets
- Data Entry
- Listings
- Reports
System Configuration: The System Configuration features are in the Tools Menu.
Setup: The Inventory, Recipe & Sales, Financial, and Company Main Menus have a Setup option. Setup options are utilized to create, view, or change data in your system. Examples are inventory items, recipe items, inventory, and recipe categories and departments, storage locations, users, and sites.
Maintenance: The Inventory, Recipe & Sales, Company, and Tools Main Menus all have a Maintenance option. Maintenance options are utilized to change data in your system that only needs occasional adjustment. Examples are assigning inventory or recipe items to a new site, merging items, or overriding GL Accounts. Entry Features: The Inventory and the Recipe & Sales Main Menus have an Entry option. Entry Options are used to enter or view transactions. You can see an example of transaction entry options for Inventory in the above example. Recipe & Sales has options for entering or viewing the Sales Mix, Production, and Waste.
Worksheets: The Inventory and the Recipe & Sales Main Menus have a Worksheet option. Worksheets are utilized to facilitate transaction entry. Examples are the inventory count worksheet, the ordering worksheet, and the waste worksheet.
Listings: The Inventory, Recipe & Sales, and Company Main Menus have a Listings option. Listings are utilized to display or report setup information in your database. Examples are Inventory Items, Vendors, GL Accounts, and Recipe Items.
Reports: The Inventory, Recipe & Sales, and Financial Main Menus have a Reports option. Report options are utilized to display or print results. Examples are inventory count extensions, inventory usage, transfers, the sales mix, theoretical cost of sales, cost variances, item cost trends, etc.
Reporting Options:
COG-Well provides flexible reporting via report parameters as well as a variety of tools, buttons, and other reporting options. Reporting options are provided for printing or displaying reports, listings, and worksheets.
Many reports include "drill-down" options to get more detail about a value. It is worth becoming familiar with as many of the report options as you can as using them can open the door to even more good information. Please click this link for more information on Report Options. There is also a help and learning center article for each report that will explain the parameter options in detail.
Grids:
COGS-Well uses Grids to display Entry Transactions (like transfer activity), Items that have been Set Up (like Inventory Items), and Data Entry (like entering inventory items counts). An example of a Setup Grid for Recipe Items is below:
COGS-Well's Grids provide tools for adding, filtering, finding, and sorting information on the grids. Please click this link to Grid Tools - FAQs for more information.
Summary:
Navigation in COGS-Well is simple. However, there can be a lot of features, reports, worksheets, and listings to navigate through if you are an administrator. The Company Menu is where you can control the number of features and the options you use for those features via Company Settings.
When a User is not configured to be a System Administrator, their navigation options will simplify significantly. Also, User Menus can be configured and assigned to Users to further simplify their navigation options or system access. There is also a feature to Exclude Features from Sites for Users who are only given access to a Site.
We also have a training video on System Navigation so if you prefer to watch videos then please click this link to the System Navigation training video.