October 2008

In this edition

• AM-Win Support Solutions
  • How to attach a picture to a stock file in AM-WIN
  • How to prepare for the month-end rollover process - with apologies to the "old hands"
• Business Tips
  • Top 5 business actions to take right now!
• Windows Tips
  • Safely Remove a USB device from your computer.
• Word Tips
  • Duplicate rows or columns with your mouse
  • Extend" the boundaries of your table
  • More than a ruler
• Excel Tips
  • Returning "Out of Limits" if a value is outside of some arbitrary limit related to a different value.
• Whoops
  • This is going to hurt
• Jokes
  • No way mate - With thanks to Rob Fisher
  • Donkey Joke - an oldie but a goodie
  • He's really important

Survey

Please note that there is no new survey this month.

Feed back and submissions

Want to submit and article or a joke - the e-mail address is webmaster@am-win.com.au We appreciate your feedback and submissions so send them in and those published will win a link to your website.

AM-Win Support Solutions

How to attach a picture to a stock file in AM-WIN

These Instructions refer to a single user PC setup not for a network setup (because the drive destination will differ).

For network users substitute the drive letter appropriate to your network.

To attach a picture to a stock item file in AMWIN you will need to firstly obtain pictures of each stock item and save them into your Images folder as a jpg file. (e.g. airfilter.jpg). If you don’t have an images folder, you can create one in your C:\AMWIN\ folder.

Open AM-WIN and open your Stock Master files by clicking on the Stock>Masterfile menu. The stock masterfile screen will appear.



Choose your stock item file by scrolling down the list so the blue highlight is covering your selected stock item. In this case, we will choose, the Air Filter as highlighted above.

To insert the picture file from your images folder, click on the Picture button located in the bottom of the stock masterfile screen.



The plant picture insert screen will appear.




You can add up to six different pictures to one stock item if you wish. Click on Picture 1 tab at the top of the screen and then click on the Picture File button at the bottom of the screen.

You will then be taken to the Select Plant image file screen, which should automatically default to go to your images folder (this is where your pictures should be saved). If not you can click on the down arrow to scroll through and select your images folder.

From this screen you can scroll through and select the relevant picture file. In this case, we will choose the airfilter.jpg file. So click on that file to highlight it in blue, then click on the Open button at the bottom right hand side of the screen.

The picture file will now appear in the plant picture screen as shown below.



Click on the OK button to exit back to your stock master file screen.

Once you are back in the stock master file screen, you will see that the new picture you have inserted into the picture file will now appear in the main stock master files as shown below.



DON’T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE SAVE BUTTON AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN TO SAVE ANY NEW CHANGES!!

Once you have inserted all the picture files you need into your stock master files, then click on the Close button at the top right hand side of the screen to exit.

At least we get to remind you again to back up your data.

Back up your data

It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that you keep adequate backups of your software to avoid any data loss due to corruption, power failures, processing errors or any other event, which may cause the loss of data.

Do at least 1 (one) Backup of your data just prior to processing the month end and ensure that these backups are done correctly and stored in a safe place preferably on a USB stick or a CD.

Update your Bank Reconciliation

You should have been performing regular and accurate bank reconciliations and so reconciling prior to the end of the month should be the same simple process.

If you have not, you have a tedious process to go through to ensure that your bank account statements match the transactions that you have processed through the AM-WIN system.

The most important thing is NOT TO FORGET to process in your AM-WIN system, all your Bank charges, Loan Payments, Lease payments or any other direct debit or automatic payments that go into or out of your bank account. These only show on your Bank Statement each month & you do not get a remittance posted to you each month to remind you of these transactions and as such they can easily be forgotten.

Printing your End Of month reports.

Once you have finished back posting back entries into the previous month and entering all of your payments, invoices and purchase orders into the current month, then you are ready to print your end of month reports.

What reports to print.

The following reports are generally considered essential as part of your end of month reporting.

Customer Aged analysis
Supplier Aged analysis
Trial Balance
Income Statement
Balance Sheet
Invoice Register
Wage reports (If you use the wage system)

These are other Optional Reports you may want.

The following reports maybe printed as part of your month-end reporting but are generally considered not essential unless you or your accountant require them specifically.

GST Report (if not intending to back post further)
BAS Report (if not intending to back post further)
Cash Bank Activity
Ledger Activity (very long report)
Customer Activity (Very long report)
Supplier Activity (Very long report)
Stock Sales by Group

How to Roll over the Month End

To run the Month End select the Ledger>GST end of month/year >end of month/year menu option and the month end processing window will appear automatically stating that you are running the “Month End” process.

This screen will advise you that the system will update and roll forward your complete system from the current month to the next month. (e.g. from August to September). You will then be provided with an option to backup your data to the hard disk first prior to running the month-end process. It is always a good idea to tick Yes to this option, however, it would generally be expected of you that you have already done a backup prior to getting to this stage, so if you have done this already and you don’t particularly want another backup, you can select No.

There are also two other housekeeping functions which allow you to Remove redundant stock items and the other is to Auto flush old job invoices according to your settings in the job item master file. It is generally recommended that these housekeeping functions be performed by the AM-WIN tools program rather than during this month-end process, so select No for both options.

Click on the Continue button to go to the next step. The system will then process and make a backup of your files and create a printout of your monthly BAS.

The computer may ask you if you have closed all files before running Month-end, this is an opportune time to go around the office / workshop/ front counter and ensure that all computers are logged OUT of the AMWIN program and all of its modules e.g. History, Statements etc. Continue onto the next step after checking everyone has logged off AMWIN.

A window allowing you to print off your end of month reports will appear if you have that option ticked in your control file. However, it is not advisable for you to print off your end of month reports at this stage UNLESS you are absolutely NOT going to back post any entries into the previous month.

If you are going to back post more transactions into last month, it may be better to cancel past this reports window and then print your end of month reports in a few weeks time when you have back posted any required entries.

At this point the system will automatically process any standing journal entries that you have previously set up in the program.

You are then ready to process your Month-End and the following Month End Processing screen will appear.

Click on the Process button, which will then begin the rollover procedure.

The system will then display a message stating that the “End of month is completed” At this point just click on OK.

You will get another message saying “Process Completed. Close and Restart the Program”. Click on the OK button.

The system will automatically boot you out forcing you to restart your AM-WIN program.

We would also advise you at this point, to reboot your server after closing all the AMWIN modules.

You are then ready to begin using AMWIN in the new month.

Back posting entries into the previous month

There is now a separate process for the GST period end and for the month end processing.

The system allows the user to finalise the month end and then close the GST period (if the period is due to be closed) at any time until the next month end is processed.

Until the GST period is closed you are able to back post invoices, purchases, cheques, journals etc. In fact all transactions except for BAS payments and standing journals can be back posted to the previous month.

To back post a transaction to the previous month, simply date the transaction with a previous month date.

If the GST period has not been closed then the system will give you the option to post the transaction to last month. If you say YES then the transaction will be back posted.

If you say “NO” then the transaction will be posted to the current month.

* * NOTE: If you back post a transaction then you should reprint your monthly reports. Also note that you cannot reprint adjusted debtors / creditors list as at month end except through last months reports.

When you need to close off your GST period

AMWIN allows you to close off your GST period separately to your month end. The system sets a flag, which determines whether you need to do a month end or a GST period end for the current period.

This screen shows in your control file, which is where the BAS period is originally set up. Either you are on a Quarterly period or Monthly period for GST processing. This should have been determined when you first started using the AM-WIN system.

If you are on a monthly GST period you must alternately do a month end and a GST period end.

This means that you would not be able to do 2-month ends one after the other, unless you have done a GST period close in between and vice versa.

If you are on a quarterly BAS then you must do a GST period end after every third month end.

The GST period end must be done for the current period, which ended at the last month end.

For example, if your last month end was at the end of a GST period being, lets say, March, then you need to close your GST period end by the end of April. The system will not allow you to close the month of April until the GST period is closed. Once that is completed, then you can do your month end for April.

Top 5 business actions to take right now!

Your business may have started years ago and at the time the only thing to worry about was the person you saw in the mirror. Now there's employees and their families, bank loans, multiple sites, legislation, accreditation, security, profits, losses, accountants, advisers and much more!

Your business card says CEO or Managing Director but less and less of your time is spent actually driving the business. Most time is spent putting out bush fires or fixing other peoples stuff ups! So what's the answer

The TOP 5 things to do to survive as CEO are:

Plan
 
If you haven't already completed one now is the time to create a business plan that's real and lives in the business, not just for the bank to raise funds. Create a plan for the future that focuses on delivering on the intention of the business. This intention may still be the same as the day you started but in most cases your vision and goals shift over the years in line with dozens of changing influences that impact on your business every day.

Embrace technology

If you haven't already, now is the time, and I don't just mean getting a iPhone or navigator for your car.

The technology is available now to give your business an edge over your competitors in ways that never before existed. Recent research shows that the overwhelming majority of prospective customers for your business do the first research on your products or services online. This means your web site has to deliver in ways that have never before been dreamed of.

Did you know that tools exist to know who is on your site (by name if they've registered before), what pages they looked at, when they came back, what links they clicked on your newsletter and much, much more. Would you believe you can actually know what they typed in to Google to find you! Wouldn't that give your sales team an advantage when contacting them...already knowing their need!

Think about how your customers think

More and more you have to put yourself in the shoes of your customers and learn to think exactly as they do when they are considering your products or services. Don't take for granted the ways of the past, the new Generation Y members are turned on by different messages and experiences than members of past generations.

The biggest mistake you can make is to continue doing what you've always done expecting the same results, its not going to happen. You will need to continually innovate in your marketing messages, product packaging, pricing structure/options...everything. Spend some time work shopping with your employees and customers if possible exactly how your business communications and processes are working at the moment. Don't always rely upon your own proof reading or copywriting thoughts, your isolated opinion may not be that of the masses.

Systemise everything -

A wise mentor once said to me...

If you do it, document it.
If you document it, do it.
If it moves, train it.
If it doesn't move, calibrate it.
If it isn't written down, it never happened.

Without systems your business will continue to lurch from one disaster to the next, lose clients because of inconsistent products and service, turnover staff, and altogether fail to deliver on the original intention of the business and almost certainly never provide the owners with freedom and lifestyle in line with the efforts and risks they took. You, your business, its clients and employees deserve better!

The best part is that it's easy. That's right, shift all the existing paradigms you may have around the difficulties and worth of developing a business operations manual and contact us now about how this project can be completed easily, efficiently and for fantastic value for money.

Set up powerful reporting processes

Without a dashboard in your car you will most certainly struggle to get to your destination. You won't know the cars temperature, fuel levels or have any idea about your speed. Your business is similar; without powerful reports showing you exactly what is happening your hurtling along in the dark. Consider the key drivers in each area of your business.

In the sales department its about the number of leads, number of quotes, number of conversions to sale, average sale price, number of repeat sales, number of referrals etc. With the knowledge of these numbers you will be able to alter your systems and processes to maximise the potential of every lead. You'll also be able to identify trends that assist you to assess training needs or staffing increases necessary.

Windows

Safely Remove a USB device from your computer.

Everyone's favourite techie Carl at ICS Queensland has reported that he has had to resolve several problems lately after clients have removed a USB connection without using the safely remove hardware option in Windows.

USB devices are flooding the market. Digital cameras, printers, media players, external drives—all of them use the USB
port.

Even though USB devices are Plug & Play—that is, they're ready to go upon being plugged in—you shouldn't just unplug them. A USB port has current running through it, so the power jolt caused by unplugging a "hot" connection can corrupt data on a storage device, camera, or mp3 player.

In simple terms you should never ever remove a USB device without using the safely remove hardware function

You can prevent such problems by clicking the "Safely Remove Hardware" button down in the system tray (by the clock). It looks like a rectangle with a green arrow pointing down at 8 o'clock.



You'll be given a list of USB devices that are active. Highlight the one you want to remove and click. When the power shuts off Windows will tell you that it is safe to remove the device.



Select the device that is to be unplugged and wait for a few seconds.

A window will appear advising you that you can now safely disconnect the device.

MS Word

Duplicate rows or columns with your mouse

Got a table where you need to duplicate rows or columns? Make quick work of it by using the mouse to drag and drop the table elements you want to copy. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

Simply follow these steps:

Select the entire row or column that you want to move.

Hold down the Ctrl key as you click on the highlighted row or column. Make sure you hold down the mouse button, as well. Shortly the pointer should change to a "ghost" insertion point with a small box next to the pointer arrow.

While still holding down the Ctrl key, drag the row or column to the place where you want it to be. You should position the insertion point in the row or column before which your copied row or column will appear.

Release the mouse button. The row or column is copied to that location.

Extend" the boundaries of your table

There is something interesting about copying rows and columns in this manner: you can also "extend" the boundaries of your table. Granted, adding new rows or columns by copying them can, on its own, be viewed as extending the boundaries.

However, let's say you have five rows in your table, and you are copying one column using the mouse. If you release the column (step 4) in any place other than the first row, the number of rows in your table is increased and the column is pasted in an "offset" manner. For instance, in your five-row table, if you release the column in row three, the copied column is pasted beginning at row three and extending downward five rows, which means you effectively add two new rows to your table, besides the expected new (copied) column.

You might think the same "extension" would happen if you were moving rows. In a sense it does, but with one important difference. If you release the row in some place other than the first column, the new (copied) row extends past the right edge of the existing table--and only that row. With columns, all the columns are extended into the new rows. With rows, only a single row is extended.

More than a ruler

The ruler, a helpful tool for viewing positioning information, can be even more useful with this tip. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 6, Word 95, Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)

The ruler, when displayed in Word, is a very helpful tool. However, it would sometimes be very nice to know a bit more than what the ruler can quickly show you. For instance, you can see on the ruler that you have a tab set at three inches, but what if you want to know how far that tab is from the right margin instead of the left?
Word includes a nifty feature that allows you to see exactly where your tabs and margin settings reside on a line. To take advantage of this tool, click on a tab or margin marker on the ruler. Do not release the mouse button, however. Now, click on the right mouse button. You should now be holding down both mouse buttons.

Notice that the normal ruler measurements disappear, and instead there are distance measurements. The measurements outside the margins show how far to the edge of the paper; those inside show how far it is from a tab to both margins.

Excel

Returning "Out of Limits" if a value is outside of some arbitrary limit related to a different value.

Need to figure out if a value is outside of some arbitrary limit related to a different value? There are a number of ways you can make the determination. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

Here's an example. Jennifer has two numbers that she needs to compare in a formula. If the second number is within 5% (plus or minus) of the first number, it is considered within limits. If the second number is outside of this range, then she needs the formula to return something such as "out of limits."

There are a number of different ways you could approach your formula. Let's assume that your first number is in cell A1 and that the number you want to compare to it is in cell B1. One method is to use the IF function to do your testing:

=IF((A1-B1)>(A1*0.05),"out of limits",
IF((B1-A1)>(A1*0.05),"out of limits",
"within limits"))
This works fine, but the formula is a bit long. You can add the OR function to your formula to make it quite a bit shorter:

=IF(OR(B1A1*1.05),"out of limits","within limits")
You could make the formula shorter still by skipping the OR function and simply doing a comparison on the absolute difference between the values:

=IF(ABS((B1-A1)/A1)<=0.05,"within limits","out of limits")
Since there is division happening in this formula, it is possible that you could get an error if the value in A1 is 0. To avoid this potential problem, the formula should be modified slightly:

=IF(A1=0,"unknown",IF(ABS((B1-A1)/A1)<=0.05,
"within limits","out of limits"))
If the requirement is for the values to be "within 5% of each other," the calculation is slightly more complex:

=IF(ABS(B1-A1)/MAX(ABS(B1),ABS(A1))>0.05,
"out of limits","within limits")
In this case, the MAX function is used to determine the larger of the two values in A1 and B1. It must test the absolute values of A1 and B1 because the MAX function returns the value nearest to zero if both numbers are negative.

Note: Trying out these formulas with cut and paste. Copy them from here but paste them into notepad first to clean out any html [internet] code. Otherwise their is a good chance that you formulas will contain rubbish elements.

Note:

Please note that we do not provide support for our Word and Excel tips as they are provided by a third party. If you need further information why not try using Google - Cut and paste the heading of our tip into Google's search box. You'll be amazed at the information available.

Whoops

This is going to hurt

Jokes

Our first yarn this month has been sent in by Rob Fisher, the Supply Manager of The Vintage Aviator Ltd in New Zealand. Rob wins the much coveted and prized link to his very interesting and professionally presented company web site. Visit Rob at http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/

No way mate

The three men kept looking at this other man, for he seemed terribly familiar.

They stared and stared, wondering where they had seen him before, when suddenly the Irishman cried out 'My God, I know who that man is. It's Jesus!'

The others looked again and, sure enough, it was Jesus himself, sitting alone at a table.

The Irishman calls out, 'Hey! You!!! Are you Jesus?'

The man looks over at him, smiles a small smile and nods his head. 'Yes, I am Jesus' he says.

The Irishman calls the bartender over and says to him 'I'd like you to give Jesus over there a pint of Guinness from me.'

So the bartender pours Jesus a Guinness and takes it over to his table. Jesus looks over, raises his glass, smiles thank you and drinks.

The Englishman then calls out, 'Errr, excuse me Sir but would you be Jesus?' Jesus smiles and says, 'Yes, I am Jesus.'

The Englishman beckons the bartender and tells him to send over a Pint of Newcastle Brown Ale for Jesus This the bartender duly does.

As before, Jesus accepts the drink and smiles over at the men.

Then the Australian calls out, 'Oi, you! D'ya reckon you're Jesus, or what?'

Jesus nods and says, 'Yes, I am Jesus.'

The Australian is mighty impressed and has the bartender send over Pot of Victoria Bitter for Jesus, this he accepts with pleasure. Some time later, after finishing the drinks, Jesus leaves his seat and approaches the three men.

He reaches for the hand of the Irishman and shakes it, thanking him for the Guinness.

When he lets go, the Irishman gives a cry of amazement. Oh God, the arthritis is gone,' he says. 'The arthritis I've had for years is gone. It's a miracle!'

Jesus then shakes the hand of the Englishman, thanking him for the Newcastle Brown Ale. Upon letting go, the Englishman's eyes widen in shock. By Jove', he exclaims, 'The migraine I've had for over 40 years is completely gone. It's a Miracle!'

Jesus then approaches the Australian, who has a terrified look on his face.

The Aussie whispers.'No way mate, I'm on Workers Comp'

Donkey Joke - an oldie but a goodie

A king wanted to improve the mood of his favorite donkey, who was depressed, so he put out a proclamation that he would pay anyone in the kingdom 200 gold pieces if they could make his donkey happy.

Many tried, all failed.

The court Jester asked the King if he could try and the King said that his offer was open to all comers.

The jester went in to see the donkey, and when he came out, the donkey was indeed happy - so happy in fact, that he was laughing heartily. The jester got the gold, but a few days passed and the king couldn't make the donkey stop laughing. So he put out another proclamation saying he would pay 500 gold pieces to anyone who could make the donkey stop.

The jester returned, went in to see the donkey for a few seconds, and when he came out, the donkey was crying. The king asked the jester how he did it. The jester said, "I will tell you for another 200 gold pieces."

When the jester had received his gold, he revealed, "On my first visit, I told the donkey that my appendage was bigger than his. This time I showed him."

He's really important

After getting all of Pope Benedict's luggage loaded into the limo, and He doesn't travel light, the driver notices that the Pope is still standing on the curb 'Excuse me, Your Holiness,' says the driver, 'Would you please take your seat so we can leave?'

'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican, and I'd really like to drive today.'

'I'm sorry but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! And what if something should happen?' protests the river, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.

'There might be something extra in it for you,' says the Pope.

Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 105 mph.

'Please slow down, Your Holiness!!!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens. 'Oh, dear God, I'm gonna lose my license,' moans the driver.

The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes Back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.

'I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher.

The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going a hundred and five.

'So bust him,' says the Chief.

'I don't think we want to do that - he's really important,' said the cop.

The Chief exclaimed, 'All the more reason!'

'No, I mean really important,' said the cop.

The Chief then asked, 'Who have you got there, the Mayor?'

Cop: 'Bigger.'

Chief: 'Governor?'

Cop: 'Bigger.'

'Well,' said the Chief, 'Who is it?'

Cop: 'I think it's God!'

Chief: 'What makes you think it's God?'

Cop: 'He's got the Pope as a chauffeur!'

Until next month