Welcome to the CCT Tech Support Page for Body Shop Software.   Below are links that can help you out.   CC3 is a Windows based body shop software management system with powerful jobcosting and integrated accounting.  To get to the main page hit the www.softwarehero.com button below.

Also you can always pickup the phone and call Stuart at 360-582-0202 or email to info@softwarehero.com .  CCT is a virtual company and you can call 24/7/365 .

See the notes below regarding short cuts for new workstations and drive letter mapping.

REMOTE COMPUTER SUPPORT Call first 360-582-0202
CC3 User Guide ON LINE VERSION

REGARDING DRIVE LETTER MAPPING AND BUILDING SHORTCUTS TO CC3

Note that you must use Drive Letter Mapping for CC3 to operate correctly.  For instance, if you do not use drive letter mapping as described here, the scanner will not operate correctly.

For a network to work and CC3 to work:
 
1. WORKGROUP - Aside from CC3 all the computers have to talk to each other on the network - and the first problem that is faced is typically is to establish that all workstations are on the same Work Group.  All your workstations that are up and running are - otherwise it wouldn't work.  But there is a good chance the "new" computer is not.  So - go to a good running workstation on the network now and rt-click on MyComputer and go to Properities - in there you will see the name of the "Work Group" all the computers on the network are on.  Often the name of the "Work Group" is actually something like "workgroup" (note no spaces).  On a typical computer at home it is often something like "Home".
 
2. SET THE WORKGROUP - Now go to the new computer and do the same thing >>> MyComputer > Rt-Click Properties only this time if it dosn't say the Work Group is the same as the Work Group from the other operational computer on the network from Step 1, then click on Change Settings and make the Work Group on that new workstation the same name as in step #1.  You will have to reset the workstation now.  "MyComputer" is sometimes known as just "Computer" and can either be found in the START BUTTON list or sometimes people have parked it on the Desktop.
 
3. SERVER DRIVE LETTER - Back on the first computer in step #1 - you must establish what drive letter your currently operational computers are using.  The easiest way to do that is just rt-click on the CC3 icon, go to Properties and see what it says for "Start In", typically it'll say something like "f:\cc3" which means your fileserver mapped drive is "f:".  If Start In is blank, then look at Target, and it might say something like "f:\cc3\cc3.exe" - which again tells us the mapped drive is "f:". 
 
4. FINDING OUT WHERE THE MAPPED LETTER GOES TO - Back on workstation #1, we now know the drive letter is something like "f:" or maybe "z:" - or whatver, but we know the letter.  To find out how it was mapped to the server we go back to rt-clicking on MyComputer on the #1 workstation and then go to "Map Network Drive".  We just want to see where exactly "f:" is mapped to.  We see DRIVE there and we click on the down arrow key and that shows us in the list our drive "f:", but more importantly it shows us what server it is mapped to just to the right of the f:, it will say something like \\server3\users.  Write that down, we will need that when we go back to the new computer.
 
5. MAPPING THE DRIVE LETTER - On the new computer now - rt-click on MyComputer and go to "Map Network Drive" - select the drive letter from #1 - for example f. and then in the folder type in the server path from #4 for example there we called it \\server3\users and then click FINISH and that should then establish that drive letter "f:" the same as all the other workstations.
 
6. BUILD THE SHORTCUT - With that Server drive letter established, rt-click on the Desktop > New  > ShortCut > Location of Item - enter there something like "f:\cc3\cc3.exe" and that should do it.   Obviously replace the f: here with the correct network drive letter for your network.

 

REGARDING FILE SHARING IN WINDOWS

In order to access CC3 from more than one workstation, you will need to map a drive letter as described elsewhere.  You will also need to flag the files on the "server" computer as sharable.  Here are some notes on that.

1. Do not use the Fileshare Wizard - Disable that immediately as it is a weak link in the Windows chain, and by disabling it you will have a more reliable method of sharing.  To do so go to Explorer (aka My Computer) and file the screen where you can see the drive letters.  To disable, click on TOOLS ... if you cannot see TOOLS at the top of the Window there, just tape the ALT key and you will see the TOOLS Tab appear.  If the TOOLS tab, go down to FOLDER OPTIONS, and in there switch to the Tab that says VIEW.  In VIEW, scroll down to the bottom where you will be able to uncheck "Use Sharing Wizard".  Get rid of that, hit APPLY and then OK button.

2. Back in Explorer, go to the folder you want to share ... for example "c:\users\public" and rt-click and then click on SHARE, and in there find ADVANCED SHARING.  Note, you cannot find ADVANCED SHARING unless you have disable the Wizard in #1 above.  In there click the box for checkmark for SHARE THIS FOLDER.  Then, below that click on PERMISSIONS and select EVERYONE, and then click on the ALLOW check boxes below that for FULL CONTROL, CHANGE, and READ.  Click on APPLY and OK on that and the other window to get back to the PROPERTIES window.

3. Go into the SECURITY Tab of the PROPERTIES area of the folder you are sharing, and in there click on ADVANCED > EDIT > ADD and in where it says "Enter the Object name to select" type in EVERYONE and click OK button.  Then in the window that pops up for EVERYONE click on the check box for FULL CONTROL ALLOW and then click on OK.

4. You will then end up back in the PERMISSIONS window, you need to uncheck the "Include inheritable permissions from this object's parent", and that will pop up a window where You Must Check COPY !!!!  After checking COPY, back in the PERMISSIONS window, click on the checkbox for "Replace all existing inheritable permission on all descendants ...."  The click the APPLY button, and then OK.

 

REGARDING HOW PAYROLL WORKS WITH THE INTEGRATED ACCOUNTING

CC3 - Labor Posting, Payroll, Work In Process, and the General Ledger

CC3 supports payroll in this way >>> From the Main Menu > Post Labor to RO, when this Posts an entry is created in the journal that Debits the asset account Work In Process (WIP) Labor and Credits the liability account Payroll Liability. At the same time, an entry is added to the Worker Time Report. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between the Worker Time report and the balance in the Payroll Liability account. The labor expense itself is debited when the RO is actually closed. Finally, when Tax Payroll is posted to the system, the Payroll Liability will be relieved through a debit to Payroll liability as part of the series of entries that represents the tax payroll posting.

A liability account needs to be setup in the Chart of Accounts for Payroll Liability - Main Menu > General Ledger > Setup Accts, well use account #240 for the example here. That account is identified in Main Menu > Setup/Edit List > Setup Accounting in the lower left corner titled "Payroll Liability". With that set, a Credit will be posted to the journal to acct 240 whenever you post labor to an RO. Again, at the same time an entry is made to the Worker Time Report that shows that accumulated payroll for a given period. At the end of the payroll period, you run the worker time report that shows the amount you owe each tech, the "payroll liability" to each tech if you will. Once Tax Payroll checks are processed, a series of entries must be posted to the system, that include a necessary debit to relieve the Payroll Liability.

But when does the actual labor expense get posted - specifically - to Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) labor ??? This occurs when the RO is actually closed - entries are created the debit COGS Labor with the opposing Credit to the asset account WIP Labor (account # 150 for example) - which is exactly how true classical accounting should work. Labor cost should not we recorded until the car is finished, and any labor put into the job before it is finished should be recorded as WIP.

You can see all of these entries in the journal occuring with "Jobcost Payroll" appearing in the Invoice column for entries that are created when you Post the Labor and "WIP Labor Out" appearing in the Invoice column when an RO is closing.

One question we do get is "Will total amount in the Worker Time Report always equal the amount on the balance sheet for Payroll Liability ?" And the answer is "No not always, but often it does." The reason for this "problem" is we refuse to split hairs too thin, that is, we have not created a "Cleared from Report yet to be posted to Tax Payroll" liability account. Specifically, there is a point in time when you Zap the Worker Time Report, but you havn't yet posted the tax payroll, and there are still some entries on the Worker Time Report. Consider that you post payroll checks every Friday for the previous Monday to Friday week. On Monday morning early before you have posted any new time, you run, post, and Zap the Worker Time report. When you Zap the report, it does not create an entry, but waits for you to create the Debit entry of the ZAP when you post tax payroll. Your shop must move on, and to close files on Monday, Tuesday, Wednsday ... you must post hours to the Worker Time Report. Until you post tax Payroll on the Thursday afternoon say right when you have the tax payroll report in your hand, the Payroll Liability account balance on the balance sheet WILL NOT match the amount in the Worker Time Report. After you post those debits, they will match, until you Zap again. If in that window of time they don't match, you need to adjust the balance of the Payroll Liability account with journal entries - and get it to balance - because once it balances at that point in time, it will and should keep balancing.

REGARDING PAINT MATERIALS HOW TO POST AND HOW THE ACCOUNTING WORKS

CC3 Paint Material Procedures

CC3 handles paint materials from a jobcosting and general ledger perspective in this way >>> 1. When paint materials are bought, they are recorded as inventory (Debit to Paint Material Inventory). 2. Paint materials are expensed when the RO is Closed accoridng to the Paint Material expense calculation (Credit to Paint Material, Debit to Paint Material Cost of Goods Sold).

Specifically an asset account # in general ledger for Paint Material expense - like account # 140 "Paint Material Inventory" as an example. To setup an account # in CC3 from the Main Menu > General Ledger > Setup Accts . Once that account is setup, from the Main Menu > Setup/Edit List > Setup Accounting you will see in the center of that screen a "Paint Material Inventory" account #, in our example here that should be "140".

To record the purchase of Paint Materials >>> From Main Menu > Post Transactions > Enter the vendor, invoice #, and amount, and enter the account # for Paint Materials for Debit (140 in our example here), and for Credit enter the account number for Accounts Payable (typically 260).

The Paint Material expense calculation percentage is set from Main Menu > Setup/Edit List > Setup Shop in the middle of the screen "Paint Material Cost". Typical shop will set this at about 75% - which means - "My cost on paint material is 75%."

When closing any given RO, you will see in the F6-CLOSE screen of the RO in the middle of the screen a paint material expense amount that is a result of the Paint Material calculation mentioned in previous paragraph. When the RO is actually closed, an entry will automatically be created for this RO recording that as the paint material expense, as part of the group of closeout entries entered into the Journal for that RO. Specifically that will create a Debit to Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Paint Materials, and a Credit to the Paint Material Inventory account mentioned above.

All this said over again in a different way >>> You buy paint materials, a guy walks in with a can of paint, and puts the can of paint on the shelf >>> translation >>> placing paint into inventory >>> further translation >>> Debit Paint Material Inventory. When the RO Closes the paint material is taken out of inventory >>> translation >>> Credit Paint Material Inventory.

That said - how will we reconcile the Paint Material Inventory account so that the amount of Paint Material Inventory in my system equals what is on my shelf ??? We must set the Paint Material inventory amount for the account (140) at some point in time, and probably working with your paint material jobber who will come in and take inventory of your Paint Material and tell you it's value. Let's say that value is "$20,000", contact tech support on how exactly you use journal entries to set the amount in CC3 for a given account like paint material. Let's say 3 months later, which is a good amount of time, your Paint Material Inventory account on your balance sheet says "$32,000" - and you Paint Jobber who does another inventory says your value on the shelf is "$28,000" - a $4000 discrepancy - what does this mean ??? It means 1 of 2 things that #1 your paint material cost percentage set in Setup Shop above is set too low, or #2 that someone is stealing paint materials. Assuming you are confident you are not being ripped off, then you are using more that 75% that you set previously, and you need to reset it to say 80%. So you do that, and like earlier in this paragraph you reset the value with journal entries to "$28000". About a month from now you repeat the expercise with your paint jobber. This is who you can very closely track your paint material inventory using CC3.

 

REGARDING THE WINDOWS MESSAGE WHEN RUNNING CC3 AND OTHER PROGRAMS

    "Publisher could not be verified, Are you sure you want to run this software ?"

To disable the warning in Vista & Windows 7:
 

Method 1. Open Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Security Tab > Local Internet Icon > Select Sites > Click on the Advanced Button > Unselect Require Server Verification

Method 2. Open Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Security Tab > Local Internet Icon > Select Sites > Click on the Advanced Button > type in the name of the Server you are accessing and click on Add button.  An example of a server name would be "\\server1\" and you can see the server names available to you in MyComputer (Start > Computer > Rt-Click and Open).

Method 3. To disable the dialogue box for ALL .exe files, you can add the following key to your registry, but this is not advisable as it may open up your computer to other risks.  [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Associations]
"LowRiskFileTypes"=".exe

 

To disable the warning in XP start the Group Policy Editor (Start > Run, type
 

1. -gpedit.msc- and press OK) and go to:
 

2. -User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components >
Attachment Manager- then set -Inclusion list for low file types- to
Enabled and enter the file types you don't want to be warned about in
the box (for example: .exe).