Web-based Dealership Management System

• US 20120265648A1
• Filed: 06/05/2012
• Published: 10/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keith Jerome, Sandra L. Jerome
• Original Assignee: Keith Jerome, Sandra L. Jerome
• Inventors: Jerome, Sandra L., Jerome, Keith
• Granted Patent: US 8,880,998 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.62
• 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 integrated web-based dealership management system providing accounting, financial reporting, parts and service sales tracking, vehicle and parts inventory, vehicle sales tracking, and customer management software developed on a relational database on a web server and with web application tools.

Claims

1. A method for using server and client side scripts to process and manage financial, customer, and inventory data which comprises:

a. calculating a monthly finance payment for a customer using a server side script to obtain the default selling price from the integrated vehicle inventory table in the database customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry, the down payment from the integrated accounting receipts table, options and reconditioning costs from the integrated repair order and options tables, and the trade in value from the integrated lead database and using an embedded client side script in the web page to obtain the terms and bank name from the user of the dealership management system and use server side scripts to obtain from bank setup tables the calculation method based on the bank name to perform the payment calculations,

b. determining extended sale amount of parts after the user of the dealership management system selects a customer filtered by client side scripts and part number filtered by the manufacturer and then using a server side script to obtain the pricing code from the integrated customer table, the cost, pricing, and source fields from the integrated parts inventory table based on the manufacturer, the price markup or discount percentages from a pricing matrix table that includes price escalations based on price ranges and the manufacturer (source) of the part, and using client side scripts to perform the calculations after obtaining the quantity from the user of the dealership management system,

c. determining extended sale amounts of labor after the user of the dealership management system selects a customer, customer'"'"'s vehicle to be repaired, and type of repairs being performed from the integrated customer, vehicles, and labor type tables filtered by client side scripts, and then using a server side script to obtain the pricing code from the integrated customer table, the labor rate based on the type of repairs being performed from a labor rate table, the hours from an integrated labor operations table obtained from a manufacturer or other provider and based on the type of vehicle being repaired, and a markup or discount of that rate based on the amount of hours in a labor grid table and then performing the extended sale amount calculations using client side scripts,

d. calculating sales tax on parts and service sales by using a server side script to determine if an item or customer type is taxable based on integrated setup tables, customer tables, and item tables and using client side scripts to enable the user of the dealership management system to override the script results and make the customer exempt,

e. calculating sales tax due on vehicle sales using client side calculations after using server side scripts to obtain the correct tax rate based on the address for the customer from the integrated customer table in the tax rate table, the sales type of the items selected by the user of the dealership management system and subtracting any deductions allow by each state per the tax rate table and using client side scripts to enable the user of the dealership management system to override the script results and make the customer exempt or select another taxing authority shown by a client side script,

f. determining the balance due on repair orders and parts tickets using client side scripts to perform calculations totaling the sale amounts, other charges, and sales tax and then using server side scripts to obtain any payments made from the integrated customer payment table and if the customer can charge from the integrated customer table.

g. posting the repair order and parts ticket transactions to the general ledger using server side scripts to obtain the general ledger account numbers for the transactions based on setup tables in database customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry and using client side scripts to select the correct general ledger account number based on the sales and customer type of the repair order and parts ticket,

h. posting deposits and receipts transactions to the general ledger using server side scripts and updating the integrated vehicle sale deals, parts tickets, and repair orders tables with down payments, parts deposits and other payments received for the related customer record,

i. posting the purchases of parts to the general ledger using server side scripts and updating the integrated parts inventory table with the last purchase date and adjusting the parts inventory on hand balance,

j. posting the purchases of vehicles to the general ledger using server side scripts and updating the integrated vehicle inventory table with the cost, invoice, holdback, advertising, vendor, and other purchase information,

k. posting vehicle sale to the general ledger using server side scripts to obtain the general ledger account numbers for the transactions based on setup tables in database customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry and using client side scripts to select the correct general ledger account number based on the sales and customer type of the deal,

l. calculating payroll wages for technicians using integrated flag hours uploaded from the repair orders using client side scripts then updating the repair order to prevent changes to paid hours after the payroll has been paid to the technician,

m. calculating payroll wages for sales people using integrated commissions payable records from the vehicle sale deal commission schedules linked to the employee'"'"'s pay using client side scripts,

n. calculating deductions and net pay using integrated employee receivable with amounts due from the employee'"'"'s purchases of parts, repair orders, vehicles, spiffs, or draws linked to the employee'"'"'s pay using client side scripts,

o. performing month end processing of scheduled general ledger accounts using server side scripts that clear the detail display using client side scripts to obtain from the user of the dealership management system the range of dates and type of clearing process to use,

p. performing month end processing of unscheduled account using server sides scripts to clear the detail using client side scripts to obtain from the user of the dealership management system the records to clear,

q. performing month end processing of vendor accounts by using client side scripts to display last check date, average check amount, and detail to alert the user of the dealership management system to any vendor amounts that need to be accrued,

r. performing year end compressing, backup, and cleansing of parts ticket, repair order, and vehicle sales transaction tables of the database customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry using server side scripts and database optimization tools to enable faster speed but maintain the storage of the records for audit and analysis,

s. performing year end maintenance of general ledger accounts with server side scripts that enable calendar reporting of the financial statement to the various manufacturers in their required formats and reporting of financial statements for tax purposes on a fiscal basis.

2. A method for maintaining the technical layer of invention which comprises;

a. Using a web browser to display and request records from a table in the database customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle and boat industry using client side scripts that enable three types of search and filter;

i. a search filter limited to only a specific field or fields determined by the invention instead of the whole page,

ii. a custom search panel with multiple fields determined by the invention,

iii. and an Advanced Search customized with field value qualifiers of multiple fields and criteria determined by the invention and customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle and boat industry,

b. storing the records processed by the invention in an open database format customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry with specific tables labeled as repair orders, parts tickets, deals, vehicle inventory, and parts inventory each table and their fields are clearly named with an industry standard to enable a query of the database records by lead generation providers, website developers, manufacturer integration routines, and other third party technology providers with both the filtering and reporting tools of the invention or other standard query and reporting tools,

c. sending results of the query of the records from the tables of the database to the web pages for the user of the dealership management system to sort and view multiple columns of the display, export selected and sorted records, or print using client side scripts and add or edit new records in a tabbed multi-age format that uses client side scripts to auto suggest field values using lookup tables designed specifically for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry and based on the specific table that was queried or the security level of the user of the dealership management system,

3. The method of claim 2, using client side scripts to reduce the need to re-query the records from the database customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry using slower server side scripts which comprises:

a. presenting a full static object representation of the original query of linked records from the table in a semi-transparent overlay by using human interface devices including a mouse, touch pad or finger on a touch screen or mobile device to hover over the hyperlink and selecting the link to open the related table for viewing or updating of a related record in this overlay where the link between the records is customized for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry, and based on the table selected and the security level of the user of the dealership management system,

b. displaying a hyperlink to the related table of a record'"'"'s value to enable the user of the dealership management system to quickly open that table and then display the next level of child records to enable adding a new record, sorting, filtering, viewing, exporting, editing or printing,

c. displaying the selected database table records in a multi-colored highlighted web browser row using client side scripts that determine the color of the row or font of the text based on the value of the record in the displayed table and the values are based on industry standards for the automotive, truck, RV, motorcycle or boat industry.