Printer's Plan SQL Version Release Notes (8/24/2025) Follow
As part of this major release, Printer's Plan has been updated from the Micorsoft Access database to Microsoft SQL. This backend change improves performance, reliability, and scalability, enabling multi-user concurrency, and strengthens security and data integrity.
All existing data and settings will be migrated during the upgrade, and core features and workflows remain unchanged. In addition to the SQL upgrade, this release introduces the following new features, as outlined below.
New Features in the SQL Update of Printer's Plan
1. SQL Overview and Benefits
The upgrade to SQL database delivers improved performance, scalability, and security, along with several additional enhancements. For more details, see our comparison of SQL Server and the previous Microsoft Access–based version: SQL Benefits
For a list of system requirements to run this version, please see the following article: Printer's Plan System Requirements
2. Line Item Tax
As voted by users at the Reach on the Beach conference, the ability to select tax at the line-item level was the top-requested feature.
Feature Goal
Enable tax selection at the individual line-item level within a Printer’s Plan job.
Background
Previously, items in the Job window could only be marked as taxable or exempt, and all taxable items inherited the single tax rate assigned to the job.
Solution
Printer’s Plan has been restructured to support tax selection and calculation at the line-item level, providing greater flexibility, accuracy, and alignment with common tax-engine practices.
There are now multiple ways to assign a tax rate to an item. These methods are outlined below.
Method 1: Item Specs Window
To change an item’s tax rate from the Item Specs page:
Open the item in the Item Specs window.
In the top-right corner, use the new Item Tax Rate field and select a rate from the drop-down menu.
This menu displays all tax jurisdictions configured in Printer’s Plan. Select a jurisdiction to apply its tax rate to the item.
By default, new items inherit the tax jurisdiction assigned to the job.
Method 2: Job Window - Tax Column
To change an item’s tax rate from the Job window using the Tax Column:
In the item’s description row, double-click the value in the T* column.
A Tax Dialog will open, allowing you to select the appropriate tax jurisdiction for that item.
Method 3: Job Window - Item Menu
To change an item’s tax rate from the Items menu:
In the item’s description row, right-click the item to display the Item Menu.
From the menu, select Tax/Exempt Item Price.
A Tax dialog will open, allowing you to choose the appropriate tax jurisdiction for the item.
Item Tax Printing and Display Enhancements
Line-Item Tax Display
A new Item Tax line now appears below each item description, showing both the assigned tax jurisdiction and the calculated tax amount.
The T* (Tax) column has been updated to display the first letter of the item’s tax jurisdiction for quick reference.
Printing Update
Invoices and Quotes now include each line item’s tax name and tax amount when printed.
Optionally, line-item tax information can be suppressed from printing by selecting the Hide Line Item Tax print option:
Other Notes
If Shipping or Postage is taxable, it will continue to use the job-level tax rate.
When a discount is applied to a job, the discount is proportionally distributed across all items. This may reduce each item’s taxable amount and, in turn, its calculated tax.
Tax Reports have been updated to include and calculate line-item tax amounts.
3. Delivery Ticket Printing Options
Feature Goal
Enable users to customize which items appear on the delivery ticket, ensuring clear and accurate communication of delivered products.
Background
Previously, delivery tickets always included all items from the job, which made it difficult to indicate which items were part of a shipment, especially in split-shipment scenarios.
Solution
Introduce a new printing option that allows users to choose which items appear on the delivery ticket.
To enable this option, open the Print window and select one of the For Customer documents. On the right side of the window, you will see a new checkbox labeled Ask Which Items to Print.
After selecting Ask Which Items to Print, choose any print option. A dialog window will appear, allowing you to select which items to include in the document.
For a specific document, this option can be enabled by default. To set this up, go to Settings > Printing > Document Options. Select the document, then check the Ask Which Items to Print option. From that point forward, the option will be enabled by default for that document.
4. Improved Invoice Transparency for Credit Card Program Fees
Feature Goal
Some states require invoices to display any Program Fee (Credit Card Processing Fees) alongside the total amount due. Printer’s Plan must support showing this information on invoices to ensure compliance with state regulations.
Background
Through our payment processing solution, Print Reach Pay, customers can charge a Program/Processing Fee when their customer pays by credit card. (Credit Card Program Fee). In certain states, these fees must be clearly shown on the invoice. Without this capability, Printer’s Plan users cannot apply the Program Fee feature in those jurisdictions.
Solution
Printer’s Plan now supports Merge Fields within the Job Memo field to display Program Fee amounts and the updated invoice total when the customer selects a credit card payment option.
Here is an example of an invoice with this information:
Enabling Program Fee Display on Invoices
To enable this option, add the following merge fields to the Memo to Customer field of a job.
Available Merge Fields
| Field Description | Field Syntax |
| Program Fee Name | <SurchargeName> |
| ACH Program Fee Rate | <SurchargeACHValue> |
| Credit Card Program Fee Rate | <SurchargeValue> |
| Job Balance | <Balance> |
| Job Balance + ACH Program Fee | <SurchageACHAmount> |
| Job Balance + Credit Card Program Fee | <SurchargeAmount> |
If you want this information to appear on invoices by default, you can add this text with the merge fields in the Default Memo field in Settings> Printing>Document Options window:
5. Print Reach Built-In Email Client
Feature Goal
To address security-related limitations that prevented some users from configuring the SMTP client in Printer’s Plan, we introduced a Built-in Printer's Plan Email account. This feature allows users to send emails directly from Printer’s Plan through our secure, internal email server, ensuring reliable email functionality without requiring additional setup or external credentials.
Background
Printer’s Plan allows you to connect with your preferred email service by configuring SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) settings within the application. Once configured, all emails sent from Printer’s Plan are routed through your external email provider, ensuring that recipients see your chosen address in the “From” field. Additionally, messages sent from Printer’s Plan are saved in your email client’s Sent Items folder for easy reference.
However, many email providers require app-specific passwords to enable SMTP connections. Due to increasingly strict security policies, some users were unable to generate these passwords, preventing them from using Printer’s Plan’s email functionality.
Solution
To resolve these limitations, we developed a Built-in Email account within Printer’s Plan. This feature allows users to send emails directly from Printer’s Plan using our secure internal email server; no external SMTP setup or app-specific passwords are required.
To enable this option, navigate to the Settings> General Settings>SMTP Settings window:
In this window, the following fields have been added/modified.
- Email Provider: Set this to Printer's Plan to use the Printer's Plan as the email provider.
- Email /Username: When Printer's Plan is set as this email provider, this field is automatically set to autonotify@printersplan.com and cannot be changed.
- Mail From: The text in this field will be displayed in the From field of the email message.
- Cc: The email address entered here will automatically be Cc’d on every message sent from Printer’s Plan.
- Bcc: The email address entered here will automatically be Bcc’d on every message sent from Printer’s Plan.
- Reply To: When an email is sent from Printer's Plan, if the recipient replies to the message, the reply message will go to the address listed in the Reply To field
6. Print Job Tag on Work Order
Feature Goal
Provide an option to print the Job Tag at the top of the Work Order.
Background
Within an order, an end user can assign a Job Tag to help classify and identify the job (as outlined in the Job Tags feature). While these tags are visible within Printer's Plan, they were not previously included at the top of the printed document, specifically the Work Order. As a result, important job classification information was not being communicated to production staff.
Solution
A new print option has been added to the Work Order document. When enabled, this option prints the Job Tag at the top of the Work Order, ensuring key job information is clearly visible to staff.
7. Auto Scheduler Notification Suppression
Feature Goal
Provide an option that allows the shop to enable or disable the Auto-Schedule pop-up window that appears when modifying the due date of an order.
Background
After a job and its services are scheduled, changing the job’s Due Date in the Scheduling window triggers a pop-up asking whether the user wants to auto-schedule the job. Previously, this prompt always appeared and could not be suppressed, creating unnecessary clicks and adding friction to the workflow.
Solution
A new setting has been added that allows the shop to disable this alert.
To configure this option, go to Scheduler > Scheduler Settings > Item Options. In this window, you will find a new checkbox labeled:
Do Not Ask to Auto-Schedule Services if the Due Date of the Job is Changed?
Check this option to prevent the Auto-Schedule prompt from appearing.
8. LoyaltyLoop Enhancement
As part of our ongoing effort to enhance the Printer’s Plan and LoyaltyLoop integration, we have expanded the data sent from Printer’s Plan to LoyaltyLoop. The values selected in the SendEmail and SendSurvey fields within the Printer’s Plan Contact record are now included in the transmitted data, ensuring more complete and accurate contact information for downstream workflows and reporting.
Additionally, Job, Customer, and Contact Tags are now included in the integration, enabling improved segmentation, reporting, and automation within LoyaltyLoop.
9. ShipStation Enhancement
Feature Goal
As part of the ShipStation–Printer’s Plan integration, we added support for passing custom details from Printer’s Plan orders into ShipStation when creating a shipping record. The primary use case is to include the Printer’s Plan payment link in the shipping record, ensuring that when a job is marked as shipped, the ShipStation email sent to the customer automatically includes the payment link.
Background
The ShipStation API has a limited set of fields that can be used when creating a shipping record. In particular, shipping records do not natively support a payment link. To work around this limitation, we needed an alternative method to include the payment link in the shipment record.
Solution
One of the fields available via the ShipStation API is the Notes from Buyer field. This field is now used to pass the Printer’s Plan payment link, allowing it to be included in the shipping record and automatically sent in the customer’s shipment email.
To enable this option:
Go to Settings > Third Party Integrations, select ShipStation from the dropdown, and then enter the desired text in the DefaultNote field.
This field can be populated with custom text, including the basic job merge fields (Merge Fields). In this example, an example payment link for the job was included
https:\\test.printreachcentral.com\Bestprint\Jobs\JobDetail\<GUID>
When ShipStation requests the shipping data, the text from this note will be added to the Note From Buyer field in the shipping record.
When an email is sent from ShipStation, this payment link can be included in the email by adding the [Notes from Buyer] merge field to the ShipStation email template.
10. Improvements and Fixes
- When printing a receipt for a Quick Sale, you can now adjust the left margin of the document; previously, this margin was fixed. To change this setting, go to Settings > Printing > Document Options. In this window, select Receipt, and in the center panel, enter a value in the Left field.
- When reprinting a receipt for a Quick Sale transaction, the receipt will now display the date of the original payment instead of the current date.
- When a Vendor List is displayed, the records are not initially sorted by the Sort Order column. This has now been fixed.
- We updated our development libraries to enhance security and ensure continued protection against potential vulnerabilities.