Thank you again for your support in 2006 and wishing you all a very peacefully Christmas and Prosperous New Year 2007

John Jeffrey
Marketing Director AM-Win Software

Eddy, Sue & Neil at Southern Cross Business Technology wish all our valued customers a very merry Christmas and a prosperous & happy new year.

One of our AM-Win clients on Brisbane's south side is looking for someone to help out in the office for 2 days a week.  If there is someone out there, who is working with Am-Win part time at the moment and would like another 2 days work a week please contact Maryanne or Chris in the Queensland office on 07 3114 2799.

The information published contains answers to questions asked by AM-Win users of our National Support Team during the month prior to publication. The published information has been added to our knowledgebase library for those users with SUAs and Support Contracts.

Example

I did a direct deposit for a superannuation contribution for $2000 on the 27th June 2006. 

I didn't process the entry through AM- Win until I received the Bank Statement for Reconciling which was in July

I needed to create a new ledger for this payment. The payment was dated June but the ledger account shows it was created in July and the amount of the contribution is showing in reports etc for July this year. I want the figures to appear in June [last financial year].  How can I correct this.

Solution

After analysing the problem we found that Journal was done in July instead of June. [The bank statement probably came in after the 30th June.]

Reverse the journal for July by creating another journal entry - remember that when you reverse a journal entry you must use a debit where you originally used a credit and a credit where you originally used a debit.

Now redo the journal and date it June. [the month where you originally intended it to be]. 

When you change the date back to June a box will appear with "last year entry" and a tick in it. and when you process the journal, it will ask the question again regarding posting to last year. Confirm and the figures will recalculate so you will have the correct balances carrying into this year.

AM-Win allows you to credit the amount of a bad debt to a bad debt account while still retaining the integrity of the parts, labour and revenue that went into making up the original invoice. It also handles the GST automatically in the process with no other adjustments to be made after the credit is processed.

Ensure that you have a ledger named "Bad debts written off" in the expenses section of your general ledger - this will be a 9000 series account and can be added through the General Ledger Master Files. 

If you do not a bad debts ledger set up yet, you will need to add this ledger through the general ledger master file.   However as you do not normally have access to the expense ledgers in customer invoicing or credit notes, you will need to create access to this ledger so that you are able to access it in invoicing. 

To set up this access open the tools menu and select general ledger masks.

 Click the fourth option on the left hand side of this window which is labelled Revenue

On the right hand side of the general ledger mask column you will see a from and to column. [see above image]

Type in your new general ledger account number for bad debts [lets call it 9021] in both the left and right hand columns in the first boxes that are showing a zero [see below]

Your entries will now look like the screen clip below.

Once you have the bad debts ledger account set up you can continue on to process the bad debt through credit returns.

Go to the Customer Credit Returns option under the Customer menu. Begin a new credit return and select the customer who has the bad debt. 

Select Revenue and select your bad debt account, enter in the total amount to be credited, ensuring that the total of the document is inclusive of GST. Now process the document. 

AM-Win will display an allocation screen showing a list of all outstanding invoices for the selected customer. Allocate the credited amount to the outstanding invoice by double clicking on the invoice

You will find on checking the balances of the debtor's account, the GST account and the bad debts account that all sides of the transactions have been processed.

Solution

You will need to install V7.5 of Winparts as well, which is also on the CD.

Once loaded, when you go into Winparts a screen will appear with an email button on the bottom left hand corner. Click on this button which will prompt for a document to be sent to AM-Win support advising us of your installation.

Once received, we will fax you your new licence details.

New legislation to standardise the eligibility criteria for small business tax concessions set to come into effect from 1 July next year will provide tax cuts of $150 million, according to the government.

As a result of the new measures, the current separate eligibility tests for GST, the simplified tax system, capital gains tax, fringe benefits tax and pay-as-you-go small business concessions will no longer apply for any business with annual turnover of less than $2 million.

The single definition of small business is expected to accommodate reduced compliance costs for some two million Australian small businesses, or 96 per cent of all Australian businesses.

In a doorstop interview treasurer Peter Costello said the new system will cut through complication, reduce account keeping and, over four years, afford a $277 million benefit for the small businesses of Australia.

The government will be consulting publicly on the draft legislation in early 2007.

For more information, please visit the treasurer's website.

Source - Taxation Accounting Australia

Slow paying small business owners have been warned by the Australian Taxation Office they will be cracking down on outstanding tax debts with debts of under $7,500 are being referred to external debt collectors.

This follows the Australian Tax Office's controversial cold calling campaign, whereby small business owners with outstanding tax debts were called at home and asked to cough up. Around 5000 business were targeted. Figures show negotiations were made with 2000 of those called, representing $50 million in debt owed. 

However, evidence suggests that this is just a small ripple in a large pond. Estimates suggest that up to 800,000 business have a tax debt, accounting for almost $6.5 billion in unpaid taxes. 

Deputy Commissioner of Taxation, Frances Robinson, suggesting that some small businesses might be treating the tax debt as a line of credit, claimed "We have a responsibility to make sure that those businesses who continually fail to meet their obligations do not gain an unfair competitive advantage over those who do."

Small business minister, Fran Bailey, said she believed tax had to be the number one focus of all business. With the difficulties already facing small businesses with their Business Activity Statements, one would only hope the Australian Tax Office take a deep breath before releasing the hounds, so to speak.

Here’s a checklist looking at the steps all businesses can take to better manage, and control, your debt.

If you’ve done the hard work and billed your client, the last thing you need is slow payment playing havoc on your own cash flow. Setting up a system to ensure your debts are paid on time should start before a contract or terms of trade even begins. Putting these controls in place from the start and taking the appropriate steps in a disciplined manner shows customers you mean business, so they’re more likely to pay on time, every time. Here’s a few pointers for setting up credit controls, managing debtors and improving the chance of payment when things go wrong.

Setting up credit controls

• System: Have a system and process in place and stick to the process.

• Automatic payments: Encourage payments to be made automatically to your bank account.

• Credit checks: Use references and reports to check credit rates for new customers, in particular those placing significant orders from the outset. Such checks should identify any new customers with bad credit experiences in their past, so these can be monitored.

• Stick to terms: Set terms of trade at the outset and enforce them. It’s much easier to follow up on slow payers if your trading conditions have been clearly laid out from the beginning.

• Rank debtors: Debtors should be ranked by value and risk, and their accounts monitored accordingly. This is particularly important for new customers.

Managing debtors

• Follow up: Follow up on all slow payers.

• Decision-makers: Those responsible for the transaction should deal directly with your customer’s decision-makers. Monitor collections and follow up if payment schedules are not met.

• Reminder letters: Automatically send 30, 60 and 90-day reminder letters. Insist on your trade terms being met.

• Personal contact: Go and see them if payments are not made on time, and don’t leave the premises without having a commitment for payment.

• Keep in touch: Don’t rely on one visit. Follow up, including regular telephone reminders, if necessary. Again, don’t finish the call without obtaining their firm commitment to make a payment. And follow up again if it is not paid on the promised date. Or better yet, undertake to pick up the cheque on the day promised.

• Review: Review credit ratings and available reports regularly to check any changes in buying habits and increasing levels of debt. Customers with whom you have done business for years are often the greatest credit risk, because no one thinks to check on them.

• Check your systems: If you don’t get invoices out promptly it encourages customers to delay payment. Delivery systems should also be checked. For instance, do you keep signed delivery dockets so you can prove delivery? Efficient systems avoid arguments later.

• Check growth: As part of the monitoring and review process, keep an eye on customers undertaking fast expansion. An expanding customer may help your sales, but rapid growth also puts pressure on the customer’s management and may increase risk. Make sure they continue to pay promptly.

• Special arrangements: Be careful when handling any requests for extended credit. Check out the customer’s ability to survive, and make a commercial decision based on the available information.

Problem customers

• Warning signs: Look out for warning signs of customers that may be experiencing difficulties. Sometimes they are not easy to recognise. For example, while the sales team may want to claim credit for any increase in a customer’s ordering, the new business the customer is giving you may be the result of other suppliers removing credit facilities. Industry gossip about a company’s financial position is often surprisingly accurate.

• Commitment: It’s important to get difficult debtors to admit they have problems in paying and to then obtain a firm commitment for an amount to be paid against the account. When possible, get this in writing, or write to them confirming their commitment.

• Stop supplies: If accounts are not being paid, supplies should be stopped. This should be part of your credit system. You can then discuss the situation with your customer, and perhaps reach an understanding regarding payment for past supplies and conditions for new supplies.

• Legal action: Don’t put off sending professional demand letters or threatening legal action.

• Collection program: Discuss your policy and the credit limits you are applying up front so customers know you are serious about your collection program.

• Debt collectors: If necessary use a professional debt collector and be prepared to go to court.

Some business owners are concerned about taking such a disciplined approach to debt collection as they are afraid of upsetting and losing the customer. But if customers are not meeting their payment obligations, they’re not worth having. You should be using your debtors to fund your own business, not your customers’.

* These tips were supplied by business and financial services firm,  HLB Mann Judd, Sydney.

Do you run Windows Update regularly?  If you don't run it automatically, or at least once a week manually, then you aren't holding up your end of the bargain in helping to protect and keep your system running safely and efficiently. 

That's not to say every update Windows Update proposes is needed or desirable, but they should be reviewed and evaluated regularly. 

Click here to find information on Microsoft's Windows update site and register for new updates

Do you have a favourite application that you frequently use? If so, you can elevate its priority on the Start menu by putting it at the top of the list. This ensures that the program will remain on the Start menu and cannot be bumped by other programs, even if you use the others more frequently.

Right-click the link to your favourite program on the Start menu and select Pin to Start Menu.
Your program will be moved permanently to the top part of the list, just below your browser and e-mail programs.

There are a number of reasons why an application may remain in the Add/Remove Programs list long after the application is gone from your computer, but whatever the reason it remains, there is a simple method that will remove the invalid listing in 90% of cases.

Open Add/Remove Programs and select the listing for the program you know has already been deleted. Select the application and click the Remove button. Since there is no application to 'remove', the process will time out and you'll be presented with an option to remove the entry.

The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don't ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following commands:

Windows Key: Display the Start menu
Windows Key + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows Key + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows Key + F: Display Search for files
Windows Key + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
Windows Key + F1: Display Help and Support Centre
Windows Key + R: Display Run dialog box
Windows Key + break: Display System Properties dialog box
Windows Key + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows Key + tab: move through taskbar buttons
Windows Key + L: Lock the workstation (or switch to the Logon screen w/Fast User Switching enabled)
Windows Key + U: Open Utility Manager