Common Questions / FAQs
Will IPro run on my computer?
IPro runs on almost all recent PC with Windows versions from Windows 98 to Vista, including Windows 2000 and XP. IPro
does not require significant memory or any additional software. IPro can
run on a Mac with virtual PC software and recent Macs with Intel processors, Boot Camp and Windows software. IPro runs on the 32-bit Vista (the standard version of Vista) but does not run on 64-bit Vista (a rarely used version of Vista).
Can I download IPro from the internet?
Yes, this is the normal delivery option. IPro and its documentation are contained together so you can download
the software and begin working on it immediately. An optional installation CD is available for backup. An email with download instructions is automatically sent to you when your credit card purchase is approved.
Can I use IPro to just cost my recipes? (And not do inventory control?)
Yes. There are many ways to use IPro. You do not have to use all of its
features.
Do I have to enter all my purchases to get food cost?
No. You can just take inventory and then get the value of stock
on hand from IPro. Take the starting inventory value in dollars, add your purchases (your invoice totals),
and then subtract the ending inventory to get your food cost. (But we strongly
recommend that you record your purchases into IPro.)
Can I just take inventory once a month?
IPro lets you take inventory as often as you want. You can even
have mixed periods- some items daily, others weekly, others annually. We strongly
recommend that you take full inventory weekly, however. It's too hard to correct
food cost problems if you only know your numbers once a month.
Does IPro come with food data already loaded?
No. It is important to enter your stock exactly the way it actually
comes from your suppliers. Part of what you need to do is determine your real costs,
which requires very careful attention to how items are packaged and their yields.
There are no universal standards for most food products. Food varies greatly from vendor
to vendor, brand to brand, season to season and even from one delivery to the next.
How does IPro compare to other restaurant inventory and recipe software?
It's similar overall to several of the well-known software systems that sell from
$500 to $2,000 or more. IPro is typically more flexible and much faster than others. It
is also more detail-oriented and is able to handle trickier problems. Also, IPro
comes as a single do-all module and is not broken up into inventory, recipe, sales, purchasing
and other modules. We also allow you to use IPro for as many restaurants as you have
without purchasing additional licenses.
Why is IPro so much less expensive than other software?
Because we don't sell it through POS dealerships who make expensive on-site sales calls. We
don't have to worry about supporting their prices. And our customers want affordable
software, so that's what we give them.
Is there a multi-user version that runs on a network?
The standard version of IPro is
multi-user on a network with some limitations. IPro can be installed on multiple client machines
and use data located on a server. There are no extra charges for IPro's multi-user capabilities.
How many restaurants can I use IPro for?
IPro can be used for multiple related (that share inventory)
or unrelated foodservice operations. You can use IPro for as many restaurants
as your company owns without additional charges.
How does IPro track liquor?
Food and liquor inventories are treated mostly the same except they are tracked separately. IPro
calculates liquor costs as well as food costs. Inventory is
grouped into "reporting classes" so you can get separate reports for food and liquor services.
IPro also has liquor-specific features such as
dead bottle tracking.
Can IPro run on a PDA so I can take inventory using the PDA?
No. The main reason people want to use a PDA is so they can take inventory with the device. We've
tried it but it was slow and awkward trying to match the stock items on the shelf with
the item records in the PDA. It seems that the printed check lists that IPro creates, attached
to a clip board and marked up with a pen, is still by far the easiest and fastest
method of taking inventory.
Can IPro import vendors' food data files?
No- we have tried this in the past and it has
not been practical or economical. Vendors' files do not supply all the kinds of data which IPro requires.
Their data formats and content change too frequently. IPro is meant to track only inventory that you actually
use or have used. It does not make sense to burden your computer with all the items that
are in your vendors' catalogs.
Can IPro link to my POS?
IPro can link to almost any POS by means of an IPro POS Link Module. IPro Link Modules
are sold separately from IPro and are specific for each POS brand and model. IPro does
include "generic" link modules for specific text, database and spreadsheet formats for
importing sales data. Click here for details.
Do I have to link IPro directly to my POS?
No. Most IPro users do not have IPro linked directly to their
POS systems or cash registers. Many users just enter their sales summaries
into IPro by hand (there's much less sales data to enter compared to the inventory
quantities that you need to enter- that work becomes trivial). Some users do not enter
sales figures at all (but they don't get ideal food cost, sales analysis or perpetual inventory). If you do prefer to interface IPro with your POS, please click here for details.
Can I enter customer orders into IPro?
No- IPro is not a point-of-sale system. It is
not used by your dining room staff to enter individual customer orders. However, you can
enter commercial and catering customer orders (bulk sales)
and IPro will use this data for sales, costing and purchasing purposes.
Does IPro do my accounting?
No- IPro is not an accounting / financial reporting program and does not produce financial statements
such as balance sheets and income statements. Most of our customers use Quickbooks for that.
What IPro does and what Quickbooks does are two very different things. Often, however, our customers
run Quickbooks and IPro together while entering invoices. The payables data goes
into Quickbooks and the inventory line item data goes into IPro. There is no double-entry;
Quickbooks does not want the line item data and IPro does not want the payables data.
Do the people who write this software have a background in restaurants?
Dan Gimpel is the senior programmer and designer of IPro and has a long background
in both restaurants, programming and the combination of the two. His
family owned and operated a chain of full service restaurants in Southern California for more
than twenty years. Dan worked in the family business for many years but his education is
in computers and business management. In 1979, he started writing software to help run
his family's, and then others' restaurants, and by 1982, restaurant software became his full-time business.
The original software (then called "RESCOP") ran on the Radio Shack TRS Model 1
with only dual 160K floppy disks. In 1983, they were converted to the first IBM PCs (with no hard
drive yet). The first "IPro", a DOS program, came out in 1992. IPro for Windows was
released in 1998. The current version of IPro is the result of four major rewrites
and the suggestions of hundreds of active users over more than two decades. Thousands of copies
of IPro are now in use.
Do you offer IPro classes or consultants to teach IPro?
There are no classes but there are a few consultants available.
Most IPro users are able to learn IPro on their own, maybe with a phone call or
two for help. IPro includes complete built-in help, including a tutorial with sample
data and startup worksheets. We are also developing new educational materials
such a help website and instructional DVDs.
How does support work?
Support is by phone and internet as is usually free. (We get suprisingly few
support calls!) Major updates are available for modest fees.
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