Margin Master Handbook

Margin Master is a pricing tool for independent retailers. Before the installation steps and the screen-by-screen chapters, it helps to know the three ideas the whole application is built around. Every later chapter leans on at least one of them, and each is repeated as a short callout where it appl...

A checklist of what a computer needs before Margin Master is installed. Most stores need nothing beyond a current Windows PC with an internet connection - Margin Master installs its own SQL Server for you - but reading this first avoids the two most common first-day problems: an unsupported SQL Serv...

This guide provides the network endpoints, domains, and ports that Margin Master requires for full functionality. Share this document with your IT team or network administrator so they can configure firewalls, proxy servers, and security appliances to allow the application to operate correctly.

When you download the Margin Master installer using Microsoft Edge, Windows may show a security warning that blocks or flags the file. This happens because Windows Defender SmartScreen checks every downloaded program against a reputation database — and since Margin Master is purpose-built for indepe...

This guide is for the IT professional or SQL Server administrator who looks after a store's computers. It explains how to configure the SQL Server that holds a Margin Master database so that it accepts a **SQL Server login (username and password)** in addition to Windows credentials, and how to let ...

Margin Master replaces its own program files every time it updates, and it writes logs and settings outside the program folder while it runs. Antivirus and endpoint-protection software watches for exactly that pattern, so it sometimes gets in the way — not because anything is wrong, but because "a p...

This guide walks you through installing Margin Master on your computer and what to expect the first time you launch the application. Margin Master is a Windows desktop application that requires a SQL Server database and an active Margin Master license.

The **SQL Server Tools** window (formerly "Guided SQL Server Setup") installs or upgrades **SQL Server Express** and **SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)** for Margin Master without needing a technician, and hosts the database utilities: viewing every instance on the computer, renaming, migrating a...

Margin Master stores your data in Microsoft SQL Server. On a new computer, or one running an out-of-date SQL Server, Margin Master installs or upgrades **SQL Server 2025 Express** itself from the **SQL Server Tools** window - no technician, no separate download, no command line.

**SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)** is Microsoft's free tool for looking directly at a SQL Server database. Margin Master does not need it to run, but support relies on it when they help you with a database question, so it is installed alongside SQL Server as part of the standard setup.

Margin Master stores all pricing data, strategies, and configuration in a Microsoft SQL Server database. Before you can use the application, you need to either create a new database or connect to an existing one. The **Database Setup** window appears automatically on first launch or whenever a valid...

Database Creation is a guided feature that walks you through creating a new Margin Master database from within the application. The **Create New Database** dialog collects your store information, auto-generates a database name, validates your license, and then builds the full database -- schema, tab...

Database Restore allows you to recover a Margin Master database from a backup file. Backups can be standard SQL Server `.bak` files or compressed `.zip` archives. You can restore from local files or download backups stored in the cloud.

Margin Master lets you copy your configuration -- pricing strategies, rounding schemes, views, and other settings -- directly from one database to another. When you create a new database or migrate to a new server, you do not need to re-enter all your settings by hand. The transfer reads settings st...

This is the map of the main window: what each area is for and where its detailed page is. Read it once, then come back whenever you need to find something. The four pages that follow in this chapter cover the [menus](menus.md), the [button row](button-row.md), the [data grid](main-data-grid.md), the...

Every feature in Margin Master is reachable from the menu bar at the top of the main window. This page lists each menu and what its items do, with the keyboard shortcuts shown next to the items that have one. Items that only appear for certain vendors or point-of-sale systems are marked.

The button row sits between the selection panel and the grid. It holds the actions you use most while pricing - refreshing the grid, choosing which SKUs to look at, and the one-click analysis, column, sort and print tools. The buttons on the right show only an icon; hover one for its name.

The **Results** grid is the centre of the main window: one row per SKU per store, showing what the item costs, what it sells for today, what the vendor suggests, and what it *will* sell for once you apply a future price. Everything else in Margin Master either narrows what this grid shows (selection...

The **Summary** panel along the bottom of the main window answers one question about the rows you are looking at: *if these future prices go live, what happens?* It counts the increases and decreases per store and projects the dollar impact month by month, using each item's sales history.

Margin Master has no status bar. Instead it tells you about things that need attention in three ways: **badges** (pills) in the window's title bar, **banners** across the top of the work area, and - for the two situations that stop work - a full-window notice. This page lists every one, what it mean...

**Tools > Options** is where Margin Master is configured: who the store is, which vendor and point of sale it uses, where files go, how exports are written, and the connection to your point of sale. This page is the map of the window; the pages that follow cover each tab.

After connecting to a database, Margin Master needs to know which store you are managing. This screen collects your store details and validates your software license with the Margin Master licensing server. You will see this screen on first launch, or if store information has not yet been configured...

The **Miscellaneous** tab (Tools > Options > General Settings > Miscellaneous) holds the settings that do not belong to a vendor or a point of sale: where import and export files live, automatic strategy backups, how the grid behaves, cost handling across stores, the data-aging warning thresholds an...

The **Export Options** tab (Tools > Options > General Settings > Export Options) defines the shape of the generic text export Margin Master writes when you send price changes to a file: the file type, the delimiter between fields, whether a header row is included, and which fields appear in which or...

The **Vendor Settings** group in Tools > Options holds the settings that exist only for your primary vendor. The vendor itself is chosen on **Store Information**; this group then shows one tab named for it. The vendor also decides the wording of the **Data** menu (**Update Ace Hardware Data**, **Upd...

The **POS / Connections** group in Tools > Options shows one tab, named for the point of sale chosen on Store Information, holding that system's connection settings. This page tells you which tab to expect and where its guide is; the guides themselves are in Chapter 7.

> **🧪 Experimental feature — new and in testing.** The Background Service is being trialled with a small number of stores before general release. It is **off by default and password protected**: Margin Master support turns it on per computer with the **Enable (password)** button. Behaviour describe...

> **🧪 Experimental feature — new and in testing.** The AI assistant is being trialled with a small number of stores before general release. It is **off by default and password protected**: Margin Master support turns it on per computer with the **Enable (password)** button on the **AI (Artificial I...

Margin Master prices *your* items, so it needs your point-of-sale data: every SKU, its cost, its current price, what is on hand and what sold in each of the last twelve months. **Getting POS data in** is the first of the two data flows a new store sets up (the other is [vendor data](../getting-start...

Every point-of-sale system Margin Master can import from, with a link to its configuration and processing guide. The name in bold is the exact **POS System Type** you choose on Tools > Options > Store Information. If your system is not here, contact Margin Master support - most file-based systems ca...

Margin Master supports several ways to bring data into the system from your POS (Point of Sale) system, vendor files, FTP servers, and Excel spreadsheets. This guide covers each import method and when to use it.

The RockSolid import reads inventory and sales data from a RockSolid POS Microsoft Access database file (.RS) and loads it into Margin Master for pricing analysis. RockSolid pairs with Do it Best vendor data.

The Epicor Eagle FTP import downloads a proprietary binary inventory file from your Epicor Eagle server via FTP or SFTP and decodes it into Margin Master for pricing analysis. This is the standard import method for Epicor Eagle stores that pair with Ace Hardware or Emery Jensen vendor data.

The Epicor MySQL Compass import reads inventory data from a MySQL Compass data warehouse running on your local network and loads it into Margin Master for pricing analysis. This is an alternative to the Epicor FTP import for stores that have a Compass data warehouse available. It supports both Ace H...

The Transact import reads a pipe-delimited text file exported from the Transact POS system and loads it into Margin Master for pricing analysis. Transact pairs with Do it Best vendor data.

The Paladin import reads a tab-delimited text file exported from the Paladin POS system and loads it into Margin Master for pricing analysis. Paladin uses a BCP staging pipeline to process the data.

The Falcon import reads inventory data directly from an Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) exported from the Falcon POS system and loads it into Margin Master for pricing analysis. This import was recently rewritten to use Excel files instead of the older text-based pipeline.

The Spruce import (also known as SprucewareNet or Spruceware.Net) pulls your store's point-of-sale data directly from a remote Spruce SQL Server database. Unlike most POS imports, Spruce does not use a local file -- it connects over the network to query your Spruce system's `vw_MarginMaster` view.

Bistrack is the most feature-rich POS import in Margin Master, supporting five different import variants to accommodate different store configurations. It can import from comma-delimited files or connect directly to a live Bistrack SQL Server database.

RockSolid Max imports your store's inventory and sales data from pipe-delimited text files exported by the RockSolid Max POS system. **Note:** RockSolid Max is completely separate from the standard RockSolid POS -- they use different file formats, different field layouts, and different import pipeli...

The ECS import (also referred to as Advantage or ECI) reads pipe-delimited text files exported from your ECS point-of-sale system. It is one of the simpler POS imports in Margin Master, with a straightforward direct import pipeline and no BCP staging step.

The Prosperity import reads tab-delimited text files exported from the Prosperity point-of-sale system. It uses a BCP staging pipeline and includes 13 months of individual sales history fields that map to Margin Master's standard history columns.

The Catalyst import is the only POS import in Margin Master that uses Excel `.xlsx` files as its source. It processes the spreadsheet through a BCP pipeline with JSON-based header format detection, supporting two alternate header layouts.

Westlake is a point-of-sale system used by Ace Hardware stores. Margin Master imports Westlake data files to build your pricing analysis tables, supporting the largest text-based field set of any POS system at 47 fields.

MI9 is a retail management system used by larger multi-store operations. Margin Master imports MI9 data files and builds team-based pricing analysis tables, supporting the most fields of any POS system at over 75 fields.

AS/400 is a legacy IBM midrange system still used by some retailers. Margin Master imports AS/400 data exports to build pricing analysis tables.

CounterWorks is a point-of-sale system for hardware and building supply retailers. Margin Master imports CounterWorks CSV exports to build pricing analysis tables. CounterWorks is unique in that it provides monthly margin percentages instead of standard unit sales history.

Dimension is a point-of-sale system used by some hardware retailers. Margin Master imports Dimension data exports to build pricing analysis tables. Dimension uses a direct import method rather than BCP staging.

PacSoft is a point-of-sale system for retail operations. Margin Master imports PacSoft CSV exports to build pricing analysis tables.

ProStix is a point-of-sale system used by a small number of Margin Master customers. Data import for ProStix is supported, but detailed documentation is pending.

Sympac is a point-of-sale system used by a small number of Margin Master customers. Data import for Sympac is supported, but detailed documentation is pending.

Propello (Epicor Retail Cloud) is a point-of-sale system Margin Master connects to **directly**: once the connection is entered in **Tools > Options > Propello**, **Data > Import Propello Data** (Ctrl+I) downloads the product export from Propello itself, and **Print/Export > Propello Price Review** ...

EagleVision is a point-of-sale system used by a small number of Margin Master customers. Data import for EagleVision is supported, but detailed documentation is pending.

Epicor stores that use the Compass data warehouse connect Margin Master to a MySQL database to import POS inventory and sales data. This screen configures the MySQL connection credentials and import behavior. Once configured and verified, Margin Master can pull store data directly from the Compass M...

When Margin Master pulls data directly from an **ECI-hosted POS database** — rather than from a local export file — the connection runs over a **site-to-site VPN tunnel** between the store and ECI. ECI requires this VPN tunnel for Margin Master to reach the database, and there are **no work-arounds*...

Margin Master connects **directly** to the **Propello** point-of-sale system (Epicor Retail Cloud, `https://<yourstore>.epicorretailcloud.com`). Once the connection is set up it downloads your product export itself and sends your new retails straight into Propello's **Price Review**. Propello is sup...

This document walks through the complete MI9 data pipeline — from the tab-delimited export files your MI9 system produces, through import and team-based aggregation, to the final main table that Margin Master uses for pricing analysis.

This guide helps when an Epicor (Eagle) import runs without errors but no inventory shows up — the main pricing table is empty, prices are blank, or a store's SKU count is zero. It applies to both Epicor import paths:

**PACE** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing...

**Advantage** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and proce...

**General Store** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and p...

**J-3** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing ...

**KeyStroke** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and proce...

**AutBusSystem** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and pr...

**Tomax** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processin...

**Enterprise** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and proc...

**Computakey** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and proc...

**Redisell** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and proces...

**DART** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing...

**MIB** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing ...

**Substruct** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and proce...

**DMAS** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing...

**RODS** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing...

**Procom** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processi...

**Agility** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

**Acumen** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processi...

**Cruise** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processi...

**LSandE** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processi...

**Retalix** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

**DIBCorp** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

**GMROI** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processin...

**ECi Advantage** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and p...

**Sunray** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processi...

**ActivantAutomotive** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration ...

**IBS** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing ...

**Versys** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processi...

**RMS** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing ...

**TAMS** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing...

**Integrasoft** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and pro...

**Dynamic** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

**Microsoft ARS** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and p...

**CDS** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing ...

**Spartan** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

**Nitterhouse** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and pro...

**Jeds** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processing...

**Theisens** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and proces...

**Emery Jensen** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and pr...

**SMS Pro** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

**Burdens** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

**Intact** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and processi...

**Bloom Retail** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and pr...

**NCR Counterpoint** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration an...

**Horizon** is one of the point-of-sale systems Margin Master supports: choose it as the **POS System Type** on Tools > Options > Store Information and the **Data > Get POS Data** command imports its export. This system has no stores actively importing at the moment, so its configuration and process...

The **Store Manager** is where the two halves of your data are matched up. Your **point of sale** knows which stores you have and what each one sells; the **vendor** knows the catalog, the costs and the prices - keyed by *its* store number, RSC and zone. Nothing in Margin Master can be priced until ...

Margin Master keeps your local database up to date with the latest product catalog and pricing information from your vendor. This process -- called **Cloud Vendor Data Sync** -- downloads new and changed records from the Margin Master cloud servers to your local SQL Server. It is incremental, meanin...

Margin Master's pricing analysis is only as good as the data behind it. Two things age independently: your **vendor catalog data** (refreshed by cloud sync) and your **point-of-sale data** (refreshed by POS import). Margin Master watches both and warns you when either falls behind:

Margin Master provides two reset utilities under **File > Utilities** that allow you to clear different categories of data and start fresh. These are useful when data has become corrupted, when switching configurations, or when support asks you to perform a clean re-sync or re-import.

The grid does not read your point-of-sale and vendor data directly. After every import and sync, Margin Master **builds** a main table that joins the two - your SKUs, costs and sales next to the vendor's prices and groupings - and then builds the **selection lists**: the values offered in each selec...

What to check when **Data > Update *Vendor* Data** does not do what you expect. Work down the table; most problems are one of the first three.

Edit Selection Boxes lets you customize the selection panel on the left side of the main window. The selection panel contains tabs (like "Basic Selections" and "Price Selections"), and each tab contains filter fields. This dialog lets you choose which tabs appear, which fields are on each tab, and i...

Edit Columns controls which columns are visible in the main data grid and in what order they appear. You can create multiple named column views and switch between them to see different sets of data columns.

The Field Manager lets you customize the display names of fields (columns) throughout Margin Master. Each field has a system default name, and you can assign your own custom label that will appear in column headers, selection panels, and other places that reference the field.

Demo Mode lets you explore Margin Master with a fully populated sample database for a specific vendor. It downloads a pre-built database from the cloud, switches the application to use it, and marks the window so you always know you are working with demo data. Your real database is never modified.

The Edit Sort Sequence dialog lets you control how rows in the main data grid are ordered. You can sort by up to three fields, choose ascending or descending direction for each, and save frequently used sort combinations as presets for quick recall.

Quick Find lets you search for a SKU across all of your loaded main tables by SKU number or description. Once you find the item you are looking for, you can navigate directly to it in the center grid or open its SKU Detail screen.

The narrow column headed **`*`** on the main grid — usually sitting just to the right of Future Price — shows a small orange padlock on any item whose Future Price was set by a *specific* rule rather than by an ordinary strategy step. The symbol inside the padlock tells you **which kind of rule** di...

**Print/Export** - the printer button on the [button row](button-row.md) or **File > Print** - opens one dialog that does two jobs: it prints or exports the rows currently displayed in the grid, and it **sends future prices to your point of sale**. Sending is how a future price in the green column b...

The Results grid is a full-featured data grid, and several everyday things - sorting, filtering, sizing and re-ordering columns, searching across the whole grid - are done directly in it rather than through a dialog. This page lists what works, what is deliberately switched off, and which changes Ma...

A rounding scheme controls how Margin Master rounds calculated prices to consumer-friendly values. Without rounding, a pricing strategy might calculate a price of $4.37 -- but customers expect to see prices like $4.49, $4.39, or $4.35. A rounding scheme defines the rules that transform raw calculate...

Everything in Margin Master starts with a **selection**: the set of rows the grid shows, the Summary counts, the Profit Analyzer analyses, and - saved with a camera click - the set of SKUs a strategy step prices. The selection panel at the top of the main window holds the **selection boxes**, one pe...

Selection boxes throughout Margin Master -- in the pricing analysis view, strategy step editor, and other areas -- support a **wildcard filter** that lets you match items by pattern instead of selecting them one at a time.

A **saved selection** is a snapshot of the selection boxes, the Future Price panel settings, the rounding scheme and the SKU-type choice, stored under a name inside the **active strategy**. Save one with the camera; load one to put the main window back exactly as it was. Saved selections are also th...

The Future Price Panel is where you define what the future price of a product (or group of products) should be. It appears within pricing strategy steps and SKU-level exceptions. You select a base price level, optionally add a plus/minus adjustment, apply rounding, and configure advanced options lik...

A pricing strategy is a list of **steps**. When the strategy runs, the steps execute **from the top down**, one after another, and each step sets a future price on every SKU its selection matches. Because a later step can price a SKU an earlier step already priced, **the last step to touch a SKU win...

A pricing strategy is the core of Margin Master. It defines a set of ordered rules (called **steps**) that determine how future prices are calculated for your products. Each step targets a specific group of SKUs based on conditions (department, class, vendor, etc.) and sets a future price using a pr...

A step is a **selection** (which SKUs) plus an **action** (what price) - and you build both on the main window, not in the Strategy Manager. Set the selection boxes, set the Future Price panel, then press the camera. That snapshot becomes the newest step of the **active strategy**.

Everything after a step is created happens in the **Strategy Manager** (Strategy > Manage Pricing Strategy, Ctrl+S): ordering, switching steps on and off, renaming, deleting, and changing a step's selection or action. Changes take effect on the next run.

A strategy is reviewed in two passes: **reading** it in the Strategy Manager before a run, and **reading the results** after one. This page covers both, and the run itself.

Shared strategies are professionally built pricing strategies published by Margin Master support that you can download into Margin Master as a starting point. Instead of building a strategy from a blank page, you pick one made for your vendor (for example, an Ace Hardware baseline), download it, and...

SKU-level exceptions let you override the pricing strategy for individual products. While the strategy handles pricing in bulk by department, class, or vendor, exceptions let you set specific pricing rules for individual SKUs -- a plugged retail price, a fixed margin, or a cost deviation.

Custom Groups let you define named collections of SKUs that can be targeted by specific pricing strategy steps. Instead of applying a price rule to all products or filtering by vendor attributes, you can create a group of hand-picked SKUs and assign them unique pricing, rounding, and store-level set...

Every time you execute a pricing strategy in Margin Master (Strategy > Execute Strategy), the application automatically sends a detailed record of the execution to the cloud. This includes a snapshot of each step's configuration and its results -- how many SKUs were affected, what price changes were...

The Profit Analyzer breaks down your profitability across different dimensions -- by price range, vendor vs. non-vendor SKUs, department, class, or velocity code. It shows you where your margins are strong and where they need attention, helping you make informed pricing decisions.

If you shop your competitors and keep the results in a spreadsheet, you can load those prices straight into Margin Master. The prices land in the **Competitor 1** through **Competitor 5** fields, where they behave like any other price level: you can display them as columns, compare against them in t...

Every product in your vendor's catalog carries a classification code that reflects how price-sensitive that item is to consumers. Vendors assign these codes based on market research, consumer shopping behavior, and competitive analysis. In Margin Master, these codes appear in the **Pricing Strategy*...

Margin Master provides built-in support for Ace Hardware's **Minimum Advertised Price Policy (MAPP)** pricing data. This includes two price types:

Ace Hardware's Critical Retail Pricing program identifies items in your store where prices fall outside acceptable thresholds. Margin Master gives you a dedicated tool -- **Strategy > Ace Critical Pricing** -- that lets you find these items instantly and either review them on the spot or save the an...

**Data > Import Excel File** bulk-loads a spreadsheet into a **SQL staging table** in your Margin Master database, driven by a **map** (`.xlmap` file) that is defined once and reused. The map names the table, describes each column (name, data type, key/null rules), and can carry **SQL scripts** that...

Cost Break Analysis divides your products into cost ranges (brackets) and shows you the profitability of each range. Each level can be priced two ways: set a **target margin** (e.g., 40% for items costing $0–$4), or set a **fixed retail price** (e.g., every item in the $0–$4 cost range prices at exa...

A **cost break model** prices items by **what they cost**: cheap items carry a high margin, expensive items a lower one, in bands you define - the classic sliding scale of independent retail. Building the model is [Cost Break Analysis](cost-break-analysis.md); this page is about **using** a model in...

A Min/Max strategy sets price guardrails -- a minimum floor or maximum ceiling -- that constrain the future price calculated by your pricing strategy. For example, you might say "the future price should be the **maximum** of the calculated price and **Level 1 plus 5%**" to ensure no item is priced b...

Strategy Backup & Restore saves all of your critical Margin Master configuration — pricing strategies, strategy rules, rounding schemes, custom groups, SKU-level exceptions, views, application settings, and more — to a single file. You can then restore it to any Margin Master database.

The Add from Catalog feature lets you manually add items from your vendor's catalog into your Margin Master data. This is useful when your store carries items that are not yet in your POS system or when you want to include catalog-only items in your pricing analysis.

**Store grouping** lets a multi-store business treat several stores as one for pricing. Stores in a group share one **zone**, so they receive the same vendor zone prices, and the Summary can be read **By Group** instead of store by store. It is an advanced feature: most stores never need it, and sin...

Margin Master updates itself. There are four ways an update can reach a computer; they differ only in *who decides when*. This page puts them side by side so you can choose the one that fits each computer, and know what you will see when an update arrives.

Margin Master automatically checks for new versions in the background so you always know when an update is available. When a new version is found, you are shown a notification with the option to install immediately or **snooze** the reminder for a period of time. You can also check for updates manua...

When Margin Master gets slow - a refresh that used to take a second now takes ten, a strategy run that crawls, selection boxes that lag - the cause is almost always the database rather than the program: indexes SQL Server wishes it had, fragmented indexes, stale statistics, or a file that has grown ...

> **Not on a menu in the current release.** The System Diagnostics window exists in Margin Master but no menu item opens it; support staff reach it during a support session. The everyday diagnostics are **Help > Data Diagnostics** (table counts and ages), **Help > Missing Index Recommendations** and...

Margin Master keeps a small number of settings files outside your database, in a shared Windows folder:

Margin Master installs on SQL Server, and most customers run it on SQL Server Express because it's free and it's what ships by default. Express is genuinely fine for a single store with a moderate catalog. It stops being fine once a store's data, store count, or transaction volume grows past what th...

Margin Master includes a built-in support issue system that lets you report bugs, request features, track open issues, and communicate with Margin Master support — all without leaving the application. The system has six main capabilities:

**Help > Catalog Lookup** shows everything the vendor catalog holds for one SKU - description, status, catalog attributes and every zone's prices - and compares your local copy with the cloud. It answers the questions support hears most: *what does the vendor say this item is?* and *is my data out o...

Every Margin Master version ships with release notes. There are two ways to read them - a page on marginmaster.com and the in-app **Version History** window - and, if you choose, a prompt the first time you start a new version.

The **Version History** window shows the release history for Margin Master, with full release notes for each version. Use it to see what changed in recent updates or to review the history of a specific version.

This handbook lives at **marginmaster.com/documents** and Margin Master links straight into it from two places: the Help menu, and the small blue **?** button on most windows.

The `CTLD` file is the primary Do It Best catalog file. It is a fixed-width record format containing the complete product catalog for a single RSC (Retail Service Center), including product details, costs at multiple membership tiers (Classic, Vision, PAR), retail pricing, margins, and operational f...

The `MARGIN_MASTER` file is the primary Ace Hardware catalog file. It contains the core product attributes for every SKU in the Ace catalog — descriptions, departments, vendor information, and pricing strategy codes. This file is the foundation of the Ace data pipeline; zone pricing and other supple...

The `PCDITEMXREF` file maps Do It Best SKUs to their product classification IDs. Combined with the PCDPRODCLASS hierarchy file, this creates the four-level taxonomy tree that appears as DIB_Taxonomy1 through DIB_Taxonomy4 in the main table.

The `SAP_ZONE_PRICE_MARGIN_MASTER` file contains the retail pricing for every Ace SKU, organized by pricing zone. Zone 99999 is the national default — every SKU has a zone 99999 price. Regional zones only contain SKUs whose pricing differs from the national default. This file is the source of all Ac...

The `PCDPRODCLASS` file defines the Do It Best product classification hierarchy as a tree of nested XML elements. Each node has an ID, description, and classification type, with parent-child relationships expressed through XML nesting. Combined with the PCDITEMXREF file (which maps SKUs to classific...

The `SAP_STORE_DEPT_ZONE_MARGIN_MASTER` file maps each Ace store and department to a pricing zone. This determines which zone's pricing overrides the national defaults (zone 99999) for a given store. Without this file, all stores would use only the national zone pricing.

The `Taxonomy` file defines the Ace Hardware product classification hierarchy — a four-level tree of category codes and descriptions. This data is used for reference and classification lookups within the Ace vendor context.

The `Mapp_Pricing` file contains Ace Hardware's Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) and Internet Minimum Advertised Price (IMAP) data. These are advertising price floors set by Ace at the product level. For more details on how MAP and IMAP pricing works in Margin Master, see [Ace Hardware MAP & IMAP Pric...

The `margin_mstr_plano` file contains Ace Hardware planogram definitions — shelf layout plans that describe how products should be displayed. Each record maps a planogram type and code to a description.