Departments and Vendors are the principal support databases for defining inventory. Like all V8 databases, Departments has the List and Form View interface. Merchandise categories have a descriptive name field and a code of up to nine characters, subdivided by Department, Class and Sub-class.

For each department classification, one can pre-define a suggested markup or margin percentage (coefficient for European users) which will prompt a retail price when the cost is entered. Prices can be automatically rounded, such as to .95 or the nearest .50.

Where merchandise type impacts the local tax rate, the department record can specify a default tax code which will prompt the appropriate sales tax calculation at POS. The user can also specify which goods are offered in fractional quantities.

The system allows you to select a general image for use with a category of merchandise. This may help a data entry person identify the right classification when adding stock. It may also be useful in a kiosk or e-commerce environment for selecting classes of inventory.