Open Dealership Management System developed in MySQL, PHP, HTML, and JavaScript

• US 20100174571A1
• Filed: 01/04/2009
• Published: 07/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keith Jerome, Sandra Lee Jerome
• Original Assignee: Keith Jerome, Sandra Lee Jerome
• Inventors: Jerome, Keith, Jerome, Sandra Lee
• Granted Patent: US 8,495,487 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

An open browser-based dealership management system and more particularly, a method of using web-based tools (mySQL, PHP, HTML, JavaScript/AJAX) to provide accounting, financial reporting, sales tracking, and customer management for automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle, and boat retail dealerships.

Claims

1. A method for managing the financial, customer, and inventory data of a retail dealership, comprising the steps of:

generating a display of the dealerships'"'"' data in a browser that enables a search, sort, or filtering of this data and then displayed in a tabbed format for adding or editing;

using PHP server scripts to insert, update, and query the data;

using HTML/JavaScript/Ajax to enable a user friendly display of the data in a web browser;

exporting the data in various formats including Excel, Word, XML.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data in the browser can be sorted by clicking on the column heading once for ascending and again for descending.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data in the browser can be “

Quick Searched”

on any items displayed, or portions of the items.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data in the browser can be filtered with an “

Advanced Search”

on multiple criteria items.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the Advanced Search is tailored for each field to select either greater than, less than, contains, equals or in some instances enables the user to select the operation.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the data in the browser has an extended search that filters on one or more specific items in the display.

7. The method of claim 1, where the user moves their mouse over the record and a preview of the linked data is displayed using the YUI container written in JavaScript and using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

adding new data when a search does not locate the record that was searched;

editing data that was found on a search;

deleting data that is no longer required.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

using “

Auto suggest”

when selecting fields that use a lookup table to keep the data entry consistent while entering or editing data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the data is presenting in tabbed multi-page views providing a way for the users to jump back and forth between tabs to enter or edit the data as desired.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

letting a user add new suggested lookup data when the desired selection is not on the lookup list.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein PHP server scripts are used to insert, update, and query the data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the PHP script uses a SQL query to query the MySQL database and return the results to the client.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the PHP script uses a SQL query to insert into or update the MySQL database and return the results to the client.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the data results can be downloaded to Excel, Word, XML, or a printer-friendly format.

16. A method for using PHP scripts to process financial, customer, and inventory data comprising the steps of:

calculating customer monthly finance payments using a PHP script;

determining extended sale and costs, pricing based on matrixes, sales tax, and balance due on repair orders and parts tickets;

posting transactions such as checks, deposits, repair orders, parts tickets, purchases and vehicle sales;

adjusting inventory balances based on sales and purchases;

calculating payroll wages, deductions, and net pay;

performing month end and year end maintenance of accounts and databases;

17. A method for maintaining the technical layer of invention using comprising the steps of:

using any browser such as Windows, Linux to request data;

using a PHP script to query the data from the MySQL database;

storing the data in a MySQL database;

sending request results to HTML formatted web pages and using JavaScript/AJAX to display the pages.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the JavaScript/AJAX scripts reduce the need to re-query the data presenting a preview of a link file.

19. The benefit of a provisional patent filed on Jan. 7, 2008, application No. 61/010,102 by Sandra Lee Jerome, Eugene, Oreg. and Keith Jerome, Eugene, Oreg. and granted Jan. 23, 2008, “

Open dealership management system developed in mySQL, PHP, HTML, and Javascript.”