DSD Business Systems DSD Business Systems News 
Product News, Tech Tips and the Inside Scoop 
February 2004 l www.dsdinc.com l 619-683-9900
Index   MAS 90 / MAS 200 - MAS 500 - Enhancements - CRM - The IT Guys

 

Up Close and Personal

by Doug Deane, President of DSD

I have just returned from the Sage Software 2003 Circle of Excellence (COE) trip to Maui. This award is presented to the top 25 or 30 Best resellers throughout the world, and I think that this is our eighth consecutive win (I wonder if that's a record?). Each year, Best takes the top group of resellers to some new paradise to celebrate their success, and this year's was in Maui. I've never been to Hawaii and have never been on a COE trip, and my wife has been a "motorcycle widow" for the past few months, so I decided that I'd use my influence at DSD to snag that trip.

We renewed many old friendships with resellers from around the world, and made many new friends. Most important, I spent a great deal of personal time with many of the top staff at Best. Our relationship with Best has never been stronger...it allows us to find out about new products and acquisitions before they happen, and gives us a stronger voice at Best than other resellers. This allows DSD to be better prepared to solve your problems, and prepare for your future needs.

While in Maui, Diane and I drove to Hana at the far end of Maui. Hana is located within a beautiful rain forest, and we visited the Seven Sacred Pools and the Twin Falls, as well as Charles Lindbergh's gravesite. We snorkeled, had great Hawaiian food, and we were amazed by the fire dancers at the awards ceremony. The dolphins were spinning in the air, chasing our boat, and the whales were out in full force on our way to the snorkel reef on the large catamaran. About 60 of us went on a rain forest hike, which ended at a 50 foot waterfall. I was one of only two people who jumped from the top. When my time's up, I'd like it to be on my motorcycle, or at the foot of a waterfall in Maui.

DSD's 2003 Circle of Excellence award was made possible by our clients who continue to trust us to provide the highest quality business solutions, and by my staff who is the brightest and hardest working group of people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Thanks everyone!

-Doug

 

New Customer for Life Series!

by Ron Hutzul

As you may know, Sage Software has been conducting a Customer for Life seminar series over the past year in various regions. These seminars have been very well received by those who've attended, but many customers can't make it to an off-site seminar. As a result, Best now offers a monthly Customer for Life seminar via the Web!

See Sage Software product and solutions experts spotlight the new features of MAS 90 and MAS 200 4.0, as well as the suite of Sage Software add-on solutions currently available. Witness live product demonstrations and learn how to add more functionality and efficiency to your current MAS 90 and MAS 200 system.

Mark your calendar and join us for this exciting new series.

Date Time
Feb. 18 9:00 am PT (allow 90 minutes)
Mar. 17 9:00 am PT (allow 90 minutes)
Apr. 21 9:00 am PT (allow 90 minutes)
May 19 9:00 am PT (allow 90 minutes)
July 21 9:00 am PT (allow 90 minutes)

Customers can register at: http://www.bestwebevents.com 

 

MAS 90/MAS 200

Upcoming MAS 90 and MAS 200 Classes

Library Master & Security   $425   Mar 8, Apr 12
General Ledger   $425   Mar 9, Apr 13
Accounts Payable   $425   Mar 10, Apr 14
Accounts Receivable   $425   Mar 11, Apr 15
Inventory Management   $425   Feb 16, Mar 15, Apr 19
Sales Order   $425   Feb 17, Mar 16, Apr 20
Purchase Order   $425   Feb 18, Mar 17, Apr 21
Crystal Reports (2 days)   $800   Apr 22-23 (2-day class)

You must sign up a week in advance of the scheduled class to reserve your spot! Late registrations are subject to availability and an additional $50 processing fee.

All classes are held from 9am - 5pm, and cost $425 per person unless stated otherwise. Lunch is provided. They are held at the DSD Building in beautiful Mission Valley in San Diego.

To register, call Sandy McCauley at 619-683-9900 or e-mail SandyM@dsdinc.com 

 

MAS 90 and MAS 200 Promotions

Existing Customers

  • Receive a 10% Discount on the Purchase Order Module*

  • Receive a 15% Discount on the Starship Module*

  • Receive a $150 Rebate on a New purchase or Upgrade of the Visual Integrator Module*

For more information, contact Stephanie Smith at 619-683-9900 or StephanieS@dsdinc.com. 

*Some restrictions may apply. Please contact Stephanie Smith for further details and other available promotions.

 

Tech Tip: Managing the Purchases Clearing Account

by Jennifer Phillips  

What is the Purchases Clearing Account? 

The Purchases Clearing Account is a holding account that appears on your balance sheet as a liability.  It is intended to show the amount of inventory that has been received but not yet invoiced, or invoiced and not yet received.  More simply, it shows the value of goods that were received with Receipt Of Goods, which are still waiting for the bill from the vendor to arrive.

How and When are posting made to the Purchases Clearing Account?

Action

Effect

Receipt of Goods without an Invoice

Credit to Purchases Clearing

Receipt of Invoice

Debit to Purchases Clearing

Return of Goods without an Invoice

Debit to Purchases Clearing

Receipt of Negative Invoice for Goods Returned

Credit to Purchases Clearing

Receipt of Inventory in Inventory Transaction Entry

Credit to Purchases Clearing

Receipt of Goods and Invoice at the same time

No Posting to Purchases Clearing

Return of Goods and Negative Invoice at the same time

No Posting to Purchases Clearing

Theoretically, the amount that appears on the Purchases Clearing by Items Only Report  (located on the Purchase Order Period End Menu in Purchases Clearing Reports) should match the amount that is in the General Ledger Purchases Clearing Account. 

When should the Purchases Clearing Account be Reconciled?

Prior to period end processing, it is recommended you balance the Purchase Order module to the General Ledger Purchases Clearing  accounts.  Use the Purchases Clearing Report by Item Only report, found on the Purchase Order Period End menu, Purchases Clearing Reports, and reconcile to your General Ledger Trial Balance report.

Purchases Clearing by Item Only – Prints all inventory items with quantities on purchase orders included in the purchases clearing amount.  Use the total of this report to reconcile your Purchases Clearing account balance with the G/L Purchases Clearing account.

Purchases Clearing by Product Line – prints the same information as the Purchases Clearing by Item Only report, but sorted by Product Line.

Purchases Clearing Items, Special and Misc – Prints all inventory items, special (*) items and miscellaneous (/) items with quantities on purchase orders included in the purchases clearing amount.  This report will not balance to the General Ledger Purchases Clearing account because the Special and Misc items are not posted to Purchases Clearing.

Purchases Clearing Special and Misc Only – Prints only special and miscellaneous items with quantities on purchase order.  The total on this report is not included in the G/L purchases clearing accounts.

Purchases Clearing in Open PO Format – Prints the total purchases clearing amount and the total purchases clearing plus special and miscellaneous items amount.  If printed for all orders, the total purchases clearing amount should agree with the Purchases Clearing account balance.

What if the G/L account and Purchases Clearing by Item Only do not match?

If the two amounts do not balance, try the following steps to reconcile Purchases Clearing:

  1. Review the Purchases Clearing by Item Only report, and identify any items you know have been received and invoiced, but are not reflected as such on the report.

  2. If an invoice has been entered, but not reflected on the report, it may have been entered directly in Accounts payable, rather than in the Purchase order.  The invoiced needs to be entered in Purchase Order to affect Purchases Clearing.

  3. If you have returned items, but not invoiced for that return in the purchase order module, you need to enter a Receipt of Invoice with a negative quantity invoiced.

  4. If items have been received for the wrong purchase order, you will need to process a return of goods for the incorrect purchase order.  If the items were have been invoiced for the wrong purchase order, a negative quantity invoice through Receipt of Invoice.

  5. If the items have been received twice for the same purchase order, the second receipt of goods must be reversed using Return of Goods Entry.  If the items were invoiced twice, then reverse the invoice using Receipt of Invoice Entry.

What Causes the General Ledger Purchases Clearing Account and Purchases Clearing by Items Report to be out of balance?

Typically the out of balance situation occurs when one transaction (the receipt of goods) was made in the Purchase Order Module, but the other transaction (the receipt of invoice) was made in another module such as Accounts Payable.   For example:

  1. If you received the goods with Receipt of Goods, but you entered the Invoice in Accounts Payable Invoice Data Entry rather than with Purchase Order Receipt of Invoice you may cause an out of balance situation.  Invoices entered in Accounts Payable typically post to the inventory account. So, the amount that was credited to the Purchases Clearing Account when Receipt of Goods was run will not have been reversed. To correct this situation, enter the invoice in Purchase Order Receipt of Invoice.  Then do an invoice adjustment in Accounts Payable to adjust the duplicate invoice down to $0.00.
  2. If your have returned goods but not invoiced them in the Purchase Order Module, you may be out of balance.  In the Purchase Order module, do a Receipt of Invoice, show the quantity invoiced as a negative quantity.
  3. If you received goods in the Inventory Module using Inventory Transaction Entry, and you used Accounts Payable Invoice Data Entry, you may be out of balance. 

How can I make reconciling the Purchases Clearing Account easier?

If you use Receipt of Invoice you post to the same G/L date that was used when you did the Receipt of Goods, rather than using the date that the invoice was received, you will see the credit and the debit to the Purchases Clearing account occurring on the same day.  This may make it easier for you to reconcile the account.

If you have never reconciled your Purchases Clearing Account, it may be difficult to get it in balance.  However, if reconciled regularly at each month end, it will be easier to manage.

See related MAS 90 Tech Tip How to Clear Backordered Purchase Orders. 

Contact DSD Professional Services at 619-683-9900 if you have any questions, or would like assistance printing your 2003 1099 forms.

Tech Tip: Processing Customer Deposits in Accounts Receivable and Sales Order

by Ken Phillips  

There are two primary ways of entering customer deposits in MAS 90 and MAS 200.  The first is entering Pre-payments in A/R Cash Receipts Entry.  The Second is entering the customer deposit  directly into the Sales Order or S/O Invoice Deposit Amount field (located on Total Tab).

This Tech Tip was too large for available space: Click here to view this free Tech Tip

MAS 500

MAS 500 Promotions

Existing Customers

  • Receive Up to a 15% Discount on Manufacturing Modules*

  • Receive a 15% Discount on the Purchase of the Starship Module*

For more information, contact Stephanie Smith at 619-683-9900 or StephanieS@dsdinc.com. 

*Some restrictions may apply. Please contact Stephanie Smith for further details and other available promotions.

Additional MAS 500 New features

by Josh Thigpen

MAS 500 Version 6.3 was released in September and over the next few months DSD will be spotlighting some of the powerful new features made available. In this month’s feature, we’ll outline improvements to the Purchase Order, Sales Order and MAS 500 usability and workflow in the Distribution package.

In order to better evaluate your current vendor relationships, Best has added a Vendor Metrics system that allows you to capture specific performance information (e.g. Improper labeling or packaging, unauthorized substitute, damaged goods, etc.) for every receipt. This information flows through to the improved Vendor Performance Report, which allows you to consolidate vendor performance by warehouse, product line, hits rank or item. It will also use the Receipt of Goods Metrics mentioned above and calculated metrics (cost discrepancy, on time delivery, etc.) in order for you to get the most performance from your Vendors.

Business Rules are improved in both the Purchase Order and Sales Order Module. Inventory Landed Cost sees significant improvement, now allowing each freight, tax and other entry to have a discreet GL Account number, giving a better picture of direct and associated costs at the account level. Freight, Tax and other associated costs on a PO with no tier structure are not capitalized, while those that are associated to a Landed Cost are rolled up into a tier. Voucher corrections will also update cost tiers meaning adding landed cost at invoice entry automatically updates your cost tier.

Sales Order sees the addition of business logic governing the closure of orders and order lines such that you’ll easily be able to accommodate a customer who wants ‘only what you have’ and will get the remainder of their requirements elsewhere. Best has added a close order on first shipment flag to the customer record and a close line on first shipment flag to the inventory record allowing the accommodation of customer needs without the need to have significant manual processes in place to track them. Neither of these rules impact the ship-complete flag.

In addition to the global workflow improvements discussed in last month’s article, we see specific improvements to the Distribution Package. Receipt of Goods now provides you the option to put away all receipt materiel to its 1st preferred bin or to a specified receiving/QC bin at either the header or line levels. This means that only Lot and Serial Information must be entered during receiving. Inventory Transaction Inquiries now allow you to drill down to the source journal, allowing you to quickly and easily trace inventory through your warehouse at any level. Sale Order Activities and Inquiries now allow selection by Customer PO#, decreasing the time it takes to get information while on the phone.

For more information on MAS 500 please contact Josh Thigpen of DSD Professional Services at 619-683-9900 or JoshT@dsdinc.com.


CRM

 Attention TeleMagic Users!

As you may know, TeleMagic is at the end of it's life span. Technical support is no longer available from Best Software, and no new versions have been created in 2 years. However, Best Software would like to keep you in the "family". DSD Business Systems, in conjunction with Sage Software is offering a deal of a lifetime for those TeleMagic installation that would like to upgrade to something more robust - SalesLogix.

From now until the end of March, you can upgrade from TeleMagic to SalesLogix on a license-for-license basis for 50% off the retail price of SalesLogix. In addition, your mandatory maintenance and support fees, which usually adds 20% to the cost of the software, have been waived for the first year. There is no requirement to purchase additional maintenance and support in subsequent years, but it is usually a good idea to do so.

SalesLogix boasts many features, including multiple contacts and opportunities for a given account record, a "tabbed" interface for additional information on a given record, excellent integration to Microsoft Outlook, literature requests and fulfillment, a customer service and support module, sales forecasting, and automated processes. In many cases, customization is just not necessary because SalesLogix contains everything you need to get your sales, marketing, and support efforts to the next level.

Many clients using SalesLogix have reported to us that using this product is so easy that it actually doubled their sales within one year. Why doesn't your company become one of the many happy statistics? Contact Stephanie Smith (StephanieS@dsdinc.com) at 619-683-9900 today to ask your upgrade to SalesLogix.

DynaLink for SalesLogix

In these days of cut-throat competition, the more information you have in one place on your customer, the better. DynaLink for SalesLogix raises the bar for your business by linking your MAS 90, MAS 200 or MAS 500 accounting software with SalesLogix.

Inside of SalesLogix, you can see a customer's current balances, invoice history, open orders, and even the last payment received. All this without leaving a SalesLogix screen. Reporting on past sales plus future opportunities for a given client becomes a far more easier task that ever. You can even place a sales order in MAS 90, MAS 200 or MAS 500 just by clicking one button in SalesLogix!

Give your sales and customer service people the tools they need to excel in your business. Contact Nicole Stone (Nicoles@dsdinc.com) or Stephanie Smith (StephanieS@dsdinc.com) at 619-683-9900 for more information about DynaLink for SalesLogix.

New Research: CRM Systems show Impressive ROI Gains

New research overturns one of the most frequently cited reasons not to deploy a CRM application: "It does not pay off."

In fact, successful implementations of CRM applications have yielded returns ranging from 16 percent to an eye-popping 1,000 percent, according to a recently completely ROI study from IDC (http://www.idc.com). These statistics vary from other figures circulating in the industry, acknowledges Mary Wardley, vice president for IDC's CRM research. The latest study, though, which she authored, takes into account current software-implementation behaviors.

In short, "companies have become a lot smarter in how they select and deploy CRM," Wardley told CRM Daily, a change that has much to do with the improved figures.

Also, consulting firms have become more adept at measuring CRM ROI. Net impact of a CRM application on an organization is often subtle and distributed throughout an enterprise, Wardley said. "Cost savings and productivity enhancements can be evidenced in saving a salesperson twenty minutes per week in writing activity reports," she pointed out, "or answering four times the volume of Web-based service requests in the same amount of time."

The areas of greatest improvement for firms stems from business-process enhancements and efficiency enhancements, the study indicates. "CRM really gets into the fabric of an organization," she said. "In the past, a lot of people probably realized their less-than-stellar returns because they had just measured their CRM application in one area of the business without taking into account the overall benefits."

The biggest impetus for improvement comes from the now-accepted best practice of implementing CRM on a phase-by-phase or module-by-module basis, Wardley says. "Companies are coming at it in a much more organized fashion." The rationale supporting this approach is twofold: First, it is cheaper; and second, it heads off many of the well-documented woes that beset large suite deployments.

Indeed, purchasing and implementing entire CRM suites at one time just does not make finance sense anymore, says Gartner research director Beth Eisenfeld. With a suite purchase, "what often happens is that a company buys a lot of functionality it doesn't need right way -- if at all. In the first phase of a typical CRM deployment, companies implement just 20 to 25 percent of the total functionality planned," Eisenfeld explained. Buying an entire suite upfront -- as many companies used to do -- automatically would raise the bar that much higher as companies tried to realize ROI on their investment.

Other key findings from the study, called "The Financial Impact of CRM," include the following:

  • Nineteen percent of the companies that participated in the study generated an ROI of 50 percent or less, 52 percent generated an ROI between 51 percent and 500 percent, and 30 percent reported returns of 501 percent or higher.
  • Fifty eight percent of participants experienced payback in one year or less, 35 percent experienced payback between one and three years, and 8 percent experienced payback in three years or more.
  • The median initial investment in a CRM application is approximately $426,000, which includes the accumulation of all costs incurred before the CRM implementation enters production at a site. The median total cost over the first five years is estimated at $1.2 million.

Affordable SalesLogix for Your Business 

The "Sales Edition" from SalesLogix is an inexpensive way for smaller businesses to harness the power of a full CRM system without the full system price tag. For just under $3500 (excluding sales tax), you can get a 5 user SalesLogix system that includes an SQL based engine, a full featured sales client - Account records, Contact records, and opportunity records. Also included are automatic processes for streamlining the sales process, a complete integration to Microsoft Outlook's E-mail and Calendaring capabilities, literature fulfillment features, activity and task management, an a full mail merge and e-mail merge capability. You can even deploy remote users on their laptops with a copy of SalesLogix, so that your road warriors know what's up with a given customer. Additional users for this system are just under $700.

Contact Nicole Stone (NicoleS@dsdinc.com) at 619-683-9900 for more information on this affordable way to get the best - SalesLogix.

 

Enhancements

 Product of the Month:
APIC California DE-542 Printing 

APIC has been designed to allow the user to automatically scan for Vendors that meet the requirements of the State of California for DE-542 reporting. When Vendors are found that must be reported to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) department, records are created in the new DE-542 contractor file and they are flagged as needing to be reported. The user may elect to print the DE-542 form for those Contractors, or they may be written to a magnetic media file, and submitted on a diskette.

Penalties for Non-compliance: According to www.edd.ca.gov/taxrep/de542faq.pdf, "The EDD may assess a penalty of $24 for each failure to comply within the required time frames. Also, a penalty of $490 may be assessed for the failure to report independent contractor information if the failure is the result of conspiracy between the service-recipient and service-provider."

For more information, contact Kim Clark at 619-683-9900 or KimC@dsdinc.com. 

 

The IT Guys

Windows XP Tips

Not ready for the new Windows XP look? You can restore your view back to a classic windows look with just a couple of clicks.

To change the desktop theme to Windows Classic:

  1. Right-click an empty space on the desktop, and then click Properties.
  2. On the Themes tab, click Windows Classic in the Theme box.
  3. Click OK.

To change the Start menu to the classic Start menu:

  1. In Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes.
  2. Click Taskbar and Start Menu.
  3. On the Start Menu tab, click Classic Start menu, and then click OK.

Is Microsoft really going to fix that problem for you? Disable error reporting in Windows XP:

  1. Open System in the Control Panel (or right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties.
  2. Choose the Advanced tab, and click Error Reporting.
  3. You can disable error reporting entirely here, or enable it selectively for certain programs. Click Ok when you're done.

Office 2000 Tip

Add a Screen Shot to an Office Document

  1. If you are working with multiple windows, click the one you want to make an image of to make that window active.
  2. Press Alt + Print Screen to copy an image of the current window.
  3. To paste the image into a document, click the Edit menu in that document, and then click Paste.
  4. You can also take a screen shot of your entire screen by pressing Print Screen.

Note: This tip works in the following Office 2000 programs: Excel, Microsoft FrontPage®, Outlook, PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, and Word.

For more information, contact David Yaeger at 619-683-9900 or DavidY@dsdinc.com. 

 
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All prices and offers are subject to change without notice. Copyright 2004 , DSD Business Systems, San Diego, CA. All rights reserved.