Admin Tool Box

The Tool Box is the admin home for bulk-operation and data-management utilities: merging duplicate items or customers, bulk deleting, importing and exporting data, and monitoring tools. Open it from the admin area by clicking the Tool Box tab. Tool Box tools are admin-only — if you don't have admin access you will be redirected away.

Tools are grouped into sections on the landing page:

Inventory & Pricing — PLU Merge, PLU Delete, Order Points, Price Level Bulk Update, Image Provenance Audit (and, for admins with configuration permission, PO Cost Types)
Customers & Gift Cards — Customer Import, Customer Merge, Customer Delete, Gift Card Import/Export
Data & Backups — Database Export
Monitoring & Support — Usage Heatmap, and (where enabled) Live Sessions, Email Delivery Check, Store Alerts
Utilities — QR Codes

The VMXpert hub (AI routines, workflows, and agents) also lives at the top of the Tool Box; it has its own documentation section. Price Level Bulk Update and Gift Card Import/Export are covered in their own guides as well.

Before you run a destructive tool (merge or delete)

Four Tool Box tools permanently change or remove records: PLU Merge, Customer Merge, PLU Delete, and Customer Delete. Merged source records and hard-deleted records cannot be recovered. Before running any of them:

Take a backup first. Use Database Export in the Tool Box (see below) to download the affected data — inventory before an item merge/delete, customers before a customer merge/delete.
Double-check your file. These tools run from an uploaded CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file. Make sure the file contains only the records you intend to change.
Always run a Dry Run first. Every destructive tool has a Dry Run checkbox that simulates the whole batch and writes a log without changing anything. Review the dry-run log, then uncheck Dry Run and execute for real.
Review the preview counts. Each tool validates every row before executing and shows how many rows are ready versus blocked or in error. The merge tools will not execute at all while any row has an error — you'll see "Cannot proceed" and must remove or correct the problematic rows in your file and re-upload. The delete tools do run with blocked rows in the batch: blocked items are skipped (or soft-deleted, if you choose that option).
Download the log when done. After execution, use the Download Log button to keep a record of exactly what was merged or deleted.

PLU Merge — merge duplicate items

Admin → Tool Box → PLU Merge. Upload a CSV or Excel file to merge duplicate PLUs into the items you want to keep — for example, collapsing color/size variants or cleaning up duplicate entries. The tool walks four steps: Upload File, Map Columns, Preview & Validate, Execute & Results.

On Upload File, drop or select a .csv or .xlsx file containing your merge pairs, then click Upload File.
On Map Columns, match your file's columns to the two required fields: Source PLU (the item being merged — it will be deleted) and Destination PLU (the item to merge into — it will remain). Common column headers like PLU, Merge From, Parent PLU, Merge To, or Keep are auto-detected. Click Validate & Preview.
On Preview & Validate, review every row. Filter with the All Records / Ready / Errors / Warnings buttons. All errors must be resolved before executing — while any row has an error, the Execute Merge button stays disabled and the page shows "Cannot proceed"; remove or correct the problematic rows in your file and re-upload.
Check Dry Run to simulate first (recommended), then click Execute Merge. Progress and a per-row Merge Log are shown; when finished you can Download Log or Start Over.

What happens when PLU A is merged into PLU B:

All on-hand inventory from A transfers to B
Sales history, purchase-order history, and adjustments are updated to reference B
All barcodes from A move to B, and PLU A itself is preserved as an additional barcode on B (scanning the old PLU still finds the item)
Customer requests, reservations, and attachments transfer
The most recent last-sold / last-received dates are preserved
PLU A is deleted from inventory — this cannot be undone

Validation rules (rows that break these show an error, and any error blocks the whole batch until fixed):

Both PLUs must exist — "Source PLU does not exist" / "Destination PLU does not exist"
"Cannot merge item into itself" — source and destination must differ
Only regular items can be merged (not bills of materials / assembled items)
No chains: "Chain detected: PLU 100014 is a destination here but is a source in row 3" — you can merge both A and B into C, but you cannot have A→B and B→C in the same file
No duplicates: "Duplicate source: PLU 100022 appears as source in 2 rows" — the same source PLU can't be merged twice

A warning such as "Source has 5 units on-hand that will be transferred" does not block the merge — it just tells you stock will move to the destination item.

Customer Merge — merge duplicate customers

Admin → Tool Box → Customer Merge. Upload a CSV or Excel file to merge duplicate customer records into a primary customer — typical after web signups create duplicates of existing in-store accounts. The tool walks four steps: Upload File, Map Columns, Preview & Validate, Execute & Results.

On Upload File, drop or select a .csv or .xlsx file with your merge pairs, then click Upload File.
On Map Columns, map the two required fields: Source Customer # (the duplicate — it will be deleted) and Destination Customer # (the customer to keep). Headers like Merge From, Duplicate, Merge To, Keep, or Primary are auto-detected. Click Validate & Preview.
On Preview & Validate, review every row; the preview shows each source and destination customer's name so you can eyeball the pairs. Filter with All Records / Ready / Errors / Warnings.
Check Dry Run to simulate first (recommended), then click Execute Merge. Review the Merge Log and use Download Log when finished.

What happens when customer A is merged into customer B:

Name, address, phone, email and other contact fields move to B where B is missing them; conflicting values are appended to B's memo so nothing is lost silently
Reward dollars, deposit balance, and account balances are summed onto B
All receipts, requests, deliveries, reservations, tags, attachments, and held sales are reassigned to B
Store credits, gift cards, invoices, and account history move to B
Sub-accounts pointing at A are repointed at B
Customer A is permanently deleted — this cannot be undone

Validation rules:

Both customer numbers must exist — "Source customer # does not exist" / "Destination customer # does not exist"
"Cannot merge a customer into itself"
"Source customer has G/L activity and cannot be merged" — a source customer with posted invoices or payments in the general ledger is refused. Handle those customers manually, or flip the pair so the customer with G/L activity is the destination
No chains ("Chain detected: …") and no duplicate sources ("Duplicate source: …"), same as PLU Merge

A warning like "Source has invoice balance 125.00 that will be moved to destination" does not block the merge — it flags money that will roll onto the surviving customer so you can verify it's expected.

PLU Delete — bulk delete items

Admin → Tool Box → PLU Delete. Upload a CSV or Excel file of PLUs to remove from inventory. The page opens with the warning: "This tool permanently deletes items from your inventory. Deleted items cannot be recovered." The tool walks three steps: Upload File, Map Column, Validate & Execute.

On Upload File, drop or select a .csv or .xlsx file, then click Upload File. Only one column is required: the PLU to delete (headers like PLU, SKU, Item Number are auto-detected).
On Map Column, map the PLU to Delete field to the right column and click Validate & Preview.
On Validate & Execute, every PLU is checked against the deletion rules. The preview shows each item's description, on-hand quantity, and status (Ready to Delete or Blocked, with the Blocking Reason).
Check Dry Run to simulate first (recommended), then click Execute Delete. Review the Delete Log and the summary of hard-deleted, soft-deleted, and skipped items.

An item can only be hard-deleted if it has no history. Any of the following blocks deletion, with the reason shown in the preview:

"Has on-hand inventory"
"Has inventory adjustments" / "Has store inventory adjustments"
"Has been sold or refunded"
"Is on a purchase order"
"Has inventory reservations"
"Is on a customer wish list"
"Has attachments"
"Is parent of a price rule group"
"Not a regular item" — bills of materials / assembled items can't be bulk-deleted here

Soft Delete for blocked items. Check Soft Delete Blocked Items to disable items that can't be hard-deleted instead of skipping them. A soft-deleted item stays in the system with its full history, but it can no longer be sold and no longer appears on reorder reports. You can re-enable it later by editing the item. This is the right choice for discontinued items with sales history — history should be preserved, not deleted.

What a hard delete removes: the item, its barcodes, and its attribute values are permanently removed, and the deletion is recorded in the change log. This cannot be undone — export your inventory as a backup first.

Customer Delete — bulk delete or deactivate customers

Admin → Tool Box → Customer Delete. Upload a CSV or Excel file of customer numbers to remove. The page opens with the warning: "This tool permanently deletes customers from your system. Deleted customers cannot be recovered." The tool walks three steps: Upload File, Map Column, Validate & Execute.

On Upload File, drop or select a .csv or .xlsx file, then click Upload File. Only one column is required: the Customer Number (headers like customer number, cust #, customer id are auto-detected).
On Map Column, map the customer number field and click Validate & Preview.
On Validate & Execute, every customer is checked against the deletion rules and shown as ready or Blocked with the reason.
Check Dry Run to simulate first (recommended), then click Execute Delete. Review the log and summary when finished.

A customer can only be hard-deleted if they have no history. Any of the following blocks deletion:

"Has account activity"
"Has purchase history"
"Has wish list / requests"
"Has inventory reservations"
"Has GL transactions"
"Has delivery history"
"Has purchase order references"
"Has attachments"

Soft Delete for blocked customers. Check Soft Delete Blocked Customers to deactivate customers that can't be hard-deleted instead of skipping them. A deactivated customer is hidden from customer lookups but keeps their full history, and can be reactivated later by editing the customer. Use this for real customers you no longer want appearing at the register — deletion is for true junk records (test accounts, duplicates with no activity).

What a hard delete removes: the customer record and their tags are permanently removed and any reservations are released; the deletion is recorded in the change log. This cannot be undone — export your customer list as a backup first.

Order Points Import/Export

Admin → Tool Box → Order Points. Import reorder thresholds (order points) from a CSV or Excel file, or export your current settings to CSV. Order points feed the Order Recommendations report and support store-specific and seasonal rules.

The Import tab follows the same four-step flow as the other bulk tools — Upload File, Map Columns, Preview & Validate, then Import Order Points — including a Dry Run checkbox to simulate first. The Export tab lets you filter by store and department and choose whether to include on-hand quantities and status columns in the download. A good workflow: export current order points, edit the file in Excel, and re-import it.

Database Export

Admin → Tool Box → Database Export. Download a ZIP of CSV files containing your data — customers, inventory, receipts, and more.

Check the data elements you want (or use Select All).
Click Download Export (.zip).

This is the recommended way to take a backup before running any of the merge or delete tools. Note: Database Export is limited to a higher admin permission level than the rest of the Tool Box; if you can't open it, ask your system administrator or help@vmxllc.com.

Usage Heatmap

Admin → Tool Box → Usage Heatmap. A GitHub-style heatmap of employee POS activity over time — page views, sales, and data changes — useful for seeing who is actively using the system and when.

Image Provenance Audit

Admin → Tool Box → Image Provenance Audit. A rapid review queue for your product photos: for each image, record where it came from — one keystroke per image. Images that can be machine-verified as your own photos (phone GPS/EXIF proof) are not shown. Your answers are recorded with your name; "No idea" is an acceptable answer. Use this to identify web-grabbed images that may carry copyright risk.

Keys

Key	What it does
O / V / L / W / ?	Ours / Vendor / Licensed stock / Saved from the web / No idea
← and →	Move back and forward through the queue. Neither one records or changes an answer, so you can freely re-read an image you passed over.
S	Skip for now
U	Undo a saved answer — clears the answer on the image you're looking at, or the last one you gave

You can also click any thumbnail in the filmstrip to jump straight to that image.

← is not the same as U. Arrowing back only moves your position; U removes an answer that was saved. If you skip several images in a row and want to reconsider one, use ← — U would skip past them to the last image you actually answered.

Filters

The top row picks a set to work through: Needs review, Conflicts, or any answer you've already given (Web-grabbed, Unknown, Vendor, Licensed stock, Own photo).

Conflicts lists images where someone recorded the photo as yours to publish — your own, vendor-supplied, or licensed — but a scan found that same image out on the web or in a stock-photo catalog. Both can't be true, so these are the ones worth a second look. Worst first: stock-catalog matches, then "we took this photo", then vendor-supplied. Images answered "No idea" never appear here — that answer doesn't claim anything for a scan to contradict.

The Scan result row underneath narrows whatever you've picked above: Stock catalog, Web match, Scanned clean, or Never scanned. The two combine, so choosing Own photo and then Stock catalog asks "which images we call our own did a scan find in a stock catalog?" The counts on each row update to show what you'd get.

When an image has been scanned, the panel beside it lists what the scan actually found — matched sites, and links to the pages the image appears on — so you can check the finding rather than take it on trust.

What a scan does and doesn't tell you

Reverse-image scanning is an optional extra that VMX enables on request; it costs a small amount per image. Contact help@vmxllc.com if you'd like it switched on.

Treat the results as a prompt to look, not a verdict:

A match is not proof of infringement. Your own photos can end up on other sites, and vendors publish their own product images — a "web match" on a vendor photo is expected. In practice most matches land on retailer and marketplace catalogs (True Value, Ace, Do It Best, Amazon, eBay), which is what a manufacturer photo distributed to every retailer looks like.
Your own website doesn't count. Finding the image on your own shop or main site is you finding your own copy, so those hits are listed separately as "also on your own site" and never counted as a match. That works in reverse too: a hit on your own site is not evidence the photo is yours, since you could have published someone else's.
"Never scanned" is not a clearance. It means nothing has looked yet. The panel says so explicitly rather than leaving a blank that reads like an all-clear.
"Scanned clean" is not a guarantee either. A scan can only find what's indexed. One image that later drew a copyright claim had come back with zero matches years earlier.

Your answer is the record. The scan is there to tell you where to look.

QR Codes

Admin → Tool Box → QR Codes. Generate QR codes for links, WiFi networks, contact cards, email, phone, and SMS, with customizable size, colors, error correction, and an optional center logo. URL codes can be made trackable: scans are counted with per-code analytics, and the printed code can be retargeted to a new destination or disabled without reprinting. Full guide: QR Codes.

Live Sessions

Admin → Tool Box → Live Sessions shows everyone connected to VMX right now, grouped by store: who's logged in, on which register, and what page they're on, with Grid, Table, Rack, and Map views. Click a session to inspect, screenshot, or drive it — handy for remote support of a register.

This tool depends on VMX's real-time infrastructure and is enabled per-client by VMX. If you don't see a Live Sessions card in your Tool Box, contact help@vmxllc.com.

Email Delivery Check

Admin → Tool Box → Email Delivery Check looks up an email you sent a customer (receipt, invoice, statement) and confirms whether it was delivered — and if not, what went wrong. Enter the recipient's address and click Search; you can print the result with Print / Save as PDF if a customer disputes having received something.

This card appears only for stores whose outbound email is sent through VMX's managed email delivery service. If you don't see it and need delivery lookups, contact help@vmxllc.com.

Store Alerts

Admin → Tool Box → Store Alerts broadcasts a short operational message — e.g. "Sold out of black mulch" — to every register that is open right now at the store you pick. It pops up as a toast on those register screens and stays until a cashier closes it (or you clear it from the Store Alerts page). Registers not open at the moment you broadcast won't see it.

This feature is enabled per-client by VMX. If you don't see a Store Alerts card in your Tool Box and would like it, contact help@vmxllc.com.

Price Level Bulk Update — per-item price levels across customer classes; see Classes & Price Levels.
Gift Card Import/Export — importing gift cards and store credits, updating balances, exporting for backup; see Gift Cards.
Customer Import — the Tool Box links to the customer import wizard for adding or updating customers from Excel.
PO Cost Types — the registry of cost types available on purchase orders (freight, misc, and your own) and how each behaves; see PO Cost Types.
VMXpert — the AI assistant hub at the top of the Tool Box; see the VMXpert Assistant documentation section.