The Quick Tour provides a simple, step-by-step approach that will help you become acquainted with Easy InnKeeping. You can combine the information provided in each of these lessons along with detailed information in other chapters to familiarize yourself with all of Easy InnKeeping’s features.

Step 1: Starting Easy InnKeeping and setting up your Inn

Step 2: Entering Guest Information

Step 3: Making a Reservation

Step 4: Viewing Reservation Calendars

Step 5: Creating Reports

Step 6: Printing and creating Form Letters

Step 7: Tracking Inventory

Step 8: Backing up your Data

Step 1 - Starting Easy InnKeeping

To Start Easy InnKeeping

Use any of the following methods to launch Easy InnKeeping.

·    From Windows desktop, double-click on the Easy InnKeeping icon.

·    From the Start bar, select Programs > Easy InnKeeping.

The wizard setup screens appear one at a time. They walk you through each of the setup screens and lets you enter setup information easy. Easy InnKeeping can be effectively used only on entering correct setup information.

Before you actually start using Easy InnKeeping, you will have to enter setup information in the following screens. You may have already done so using the setup wizard. The information that you had entered in the wizard will be available.

Rooms

Add all the rooms that are operational in your inn in this screen. Only the rooms that are added in this screen will be available for reservations. Click here for more details on setting up rooms.

Taxes

The State, Local and Other tax percentages are added in this screen. The charges will be automatically calculated based on the tax percentage entered. Click here for more details on entering tax rates.

Referral Sources

The different referral sources that your inn could have are added in this screen. These will be displayed in the Guest screen as Referral Sources to be selected from. For more details on adding Referral Sources, click here.

Employee

This screen helps you to regulate access to Easy InnKeeping. All the names of workers who can use this program are stored here. Only after entering the correct Name and Password will they be allowed to use this program, if the Security option is enabled in the Inn Information screen. For more details to setup Employee information click here.

Visit Types

The different occasions during which guests visit your inn are entered and maintained in this screen. The Visit Types that you enter here will be displayed in the Guest Information screen. Click here for more details on the Visit Type screen.

Appointments

The appointment screen helps you to schedule your appointments for each day. You can enter your appointments using the time slots provided. The appointments for the current day will be displayed on home screen. For more details on maintaining appointments, click here.

Room Rate

Define the different rates that you will use for the rooms in your inn in this screen. You are allowed to use as many rates as you want. The rates that you save here will appear in the Reservation screen. For more details on room rates, click here.

Inn Information

Information about your inn is captured in this screen. The information that you enter here will be displayed in the Billing screen. You are also given the option of incorporating the picture or logo of your inn in this screen. Security option is also set in this screen. For more information on entering inn information, click here.

Step 2 – Entering Guest Information

Every time an inquiry or a reservation is made, the details of the person who made the reservation are stored in the Guest screen. All the personal information is maintained here if you need it for later reference. The guest details can be modified. If you do not need it anymore, it can be deleted. After entering the guest details, you can directly go to the Reservation screen to enter the reservation details for this particular guest. You can search for a particular guest using the Search Guest feature. In Calendar Views, the room is shown as reserved under this guest’s name. For more information on the Guest screen click here.

Step 3 – Making a Reservation

After entering guest information, the reservation information needs to be entered. The reservation details, room details and the payment details are stored in this screen. Reserving more than one room per guest is also allowed. Reservations can also me modified or canceled if necessary. Reserving a guest is very simple, because on entering the Arrival and the Departure Date, only the rooms available between those dates are listed for you to choose from. You can also come to the reservation screen from the Views screen. For more details on the Reservation screen click here.

Step 4 – Viewing Reservation Calendars

The Calendar screens are some of the most useful ones in this software. The three views available are Daily Calendar, Weekly Calendar and the Monthly Calendar. Reservations can also be initiated from this screen. When you want to reserve a room, you can check for availability in this screen. Select a room that is empty and click on the Reservation button. Clicking on an occupied room and clicking on the Reservation button will take you to the Reservation screen, where you will be able to view or modify reservation details. Click here for more details.

Step 5 – Creating Reports

Easy InnKeeping provides very useful reports to give a quick overview of the rooms occupied or the income for a specified period of time. You are given the option of viewing the information either as a Line Chart or Bar Chart. The report can be viewed for the current month or current year or any period on specifying the From and the To Date. Custom Reports allows you to create your own reports to suit your own unique requirements. For more details on Reports, click here.

Step 6 - Creating Form Letters

The mailing lists generated through Easy InnKeeping makes it very easy to send letters or other announcements to your guests. Using this feature you will be able to compose a common letter and personalize it and send it to all your guests. You are given the option to select the guests that you want to send it out to. For more details on the Mailing List, click here.

Step 7 – Tracking Inventory

The Inventory module helps you to keep track of items that replenish for the management of your inn. You can add new items or delete the items that are no longer in use. For more details on the Inventory module click here.

Step 8 – Backing up your Data

The Database Backup feature allows you to maintain backups of all the data that you enter in the Easy InnKeeping system. If you lose your data due to some reason, you can always go back to the location you have backed up your data and retrieve it. For more details on Database Backup, click here.