The V.A.T. rate in the Republic of Ireland changed to 23% from the 1st January 2012. You may find yourself needing to raise credits for goods sold prior to the rate increase. The existing drop-down menu option, which can be accessed directly using Alt+V, can now be used to change temporarily the rate of V.A.T. to the earlier rate of 21%.

• See How do I Credit Items Sold at a Previous VAT Rate? for more details.

Two new vehicle types have been added.

• Tricycles and Quadricycles - 3 and 4 wheel small cars that can be driven on a motorcycle licence.
• Caravan accessories - awnings, etc.

• Tagging your vehicles with the appropriate types places them in the correct area of catalyst-findit.com and helps potential customers find them easier.

It is now possible to save an SMS or Email message as standard.

• Standard messages can be recalled and sent on demand.

Currently job items will always be grouped by "Category", and we recently added the option to move items around within their category to control where they appear on printed documents. We have now added the option to move items around completely independent of their category.

• You may disable category grouping through "Workshop Management" -> "Maintenance Options" -> "Parameters" -> "General Job Parameters (1)". You should note however that this option is not compatible with totalling by category, which will no longer be available.

Our integrated Platinum O+ e-commerce web site solution has been enhanced with better support for overseas customers. When a web customer registers on the website they now have the option to specify their country and, optionally for business customers, their V.A.T. registration number.

The website uses these to determine whether UK V.A.T. should be included in prices, and updates the prices shown and invoiced appropriately.

The passing customer browsing the website can also quickly flip prices between VAT-inclusive and VAT-exclusive so they know what they can expect to pay should they wish to register and then buy.

Platinum can now connect with the new "TNSPay Payment Client" software from Transaction Network Services for processing credit card payments.

Features of the new TNS software:

• Newer, simpler and more reliable.
• Fully PCI DSS compiant (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).
• Fully Windows 7 compatible.

• For more information please contact your Platinum dealer or our sales team on (0116) 230 1500 or by using our website sales contact page.

Platinum can now automatically download and import all of your eBay sales into your "Sales Order Processing" system, saving you the time of finding or creating customer records and letting you concentrate on the important business of dispatching goods to your valuable customers!

This new link builds on top of the proven Platinum O system that can allow sales from all of your e-commerce websites to be imported into your "Sales Order Processing" system, with a new interface that downloads your sales direct from eBay as they happen.

• For more information about this new and exciting addition to Platinum, contact your Platinum dealer or our sales team on (0116) 230 1500 or by using our website sales contact page.