A Closer Look at Zero Tolerance Policies

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

Many companies are introducing zero tolerance policies in the workplace today. They start with simple concepts such as the banning
of weapons and drug possession at the workplace, on company property or at corporate functions. Their objective is to protect the company’s
greatest assets, its employees! As HR initiatives continue to evolve, company policies are amended to include items such as, misappropriation of
company property, unauthorized expenses and unauthorized use of email, internet use including web surfing, music sharing and the latest crazes,
instant messaging and blogging.

Janet Parker, chair delegate of the Society of Human Resource Management is quoted in the November 2006 Harvard Business Review magazine “most
people feel more comfortable when they know what the guidelines are, we work with our legal department to set boundaries for acceptable behavior,
and we let our employees know the consequences of ignoring them. But we intend them to be just guidelines, it’s impossible to spell out every
type of situation that might come up, human relations aren’t as cut-and dried as that. I’ve know managers that are not comfortable working
in gray areas or having difficult conversations, and they want HR to give them a script to follow.”

Corporations and owners should consider needless costs that can be created with zero tolerance polices and should consider providing managers with
leeway for decision making where the employees, are not placed at risk. Imagine the costs that could be incurred by zero tolerance policy if key
employees, especially skilled professionals, where quickly dismissed for mind sharing or seeking knowledge through the internet to gain answers
to outstanding issues that reside at a corporation. The cost could mount into the ten’s of thousands of dollars to replace skilled individuals
when you take into consideration the advertisement costs, recruiter and profiling fees, training expenses and training time, and the productivity
drain on the organization during the search and ramp up time. Additionally, some policies can halt creativity and innovative thinking of employees.

Corporate policies are important as they establish the foundation in which employees work and function. Human resource managers should review zero
tolerance policies in place at their organizations today and weigh the cost/benefit of these policies. Once policies are adopted and acted upon
within an organization, a standard is set. In an effort to avoid unfair termination discrimination suits from formerly dismissed employees under
these policies, legal counsel should review any policy changes or adoptions. In conclusion, organizations should design policies which provide a
structured environment that encourages employee innovation and high performance. Policies should not be designed to catch employees misbehaving
or in bad acts.

If your corporation would like assistance or guidance with corporate policy review, please contact Axis Global Partners at your earliest convenience
and a trusted business advisor will be assign to your account to assist your company in its journey for success.

Posted in Newsletter, November 2006 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Site Administrator
Sage Accpac ERP

Q – Can a default inventory location be specified for a Customer so goods are always shipped from the nearest warehouse
location?

A – Yes. In Sage Accpac ERP version 5.4 a new Inventory Location field has been added on the Accounts Receivable Customer Invoice Tab. Enter
a location in this field and when entering an Order Entry Order, the Location will be automatically defaulted to the location specified in the Customer
form.

1. Specify the Inventory Location on the Invoicing Tab of the Customer form.

2. When entering an Order Entry Order for that customer, the location is automatically defaulted to the same location specified in the Customer
form.

Q – Is there a way to specify whether or not an item is sellable on an Order Entry Order?

A – Yes. In Sage Accpac ERP version 5.4 a new Sellable option is available in the Inventory Control Items form. This lets you separate items
used in Bills of Material or items used by consultants or construction crews from your retail inventory.

If this option is unchecked, the item cannot be selected when entering an Order Entry Order.
SageCRM

Q – Can I Test Password Security?

A – Yes, you can set strength tests which are invoked whenever a user changes their password. You can set three levels of strength test,
for Administrators, Info Managers, and Ordinary Users. To set a password strength test:

1. Select Administration | Users | User Configuration.
2. Click on the Password Security Options tab. Click on the hyperlink of the strength test profile you wish to set up. When the minimum password
length is greater than zero, the checkboxes below are available for selection.
a. Requires Complex Password – requires the password to contain a character from at least three character sets. The sets being uppercase,
lowercase, numbers, and other characters.
b. Check User Name – checks that the password does not match the User Name.
c. Strong Logon ID – checks that the password does not match the reverse of the user name, or the user name with common substitutions.
3. Select the Save button.

Q – How do I get my Saved Searches to display on a Dashboard?

A – Saved searches created by you can be displayed on your dashboards. You can also display a summary count of all saved searches.

For example, you frequently work with companies in the New York area, and have already created a Saved Search called Companies in New York.

To add this saved search to one of your Dashboards:

1. Select My CRM | Dashboard | Modify Dashboard. Select Saved Searches from the Filter By drop-down.
A list of Available Dashboard Content is displayed, including the Saved Search you created. Select the Add button to add this to your Dashboard.
You can also add the Saved Search Summary item to show a count of all Saved Searches.
Select the Save button.
2. The Saved Search list is displayed on the Dashboard page. The list displays the first ten records.
Click on the View All link to view the rest of the list.
Sage Pro ERP

Q – How do I configure the Default Warehouse Location for a Workstation?

A – Sometimes, it is beneficial to coordinate a workstation with a specific warehouse location. This would allow a workstation in geographical
location “C” to always default to location “C” for inventory transactions.

To setup a workstation location default do the following:

1. Logon to a Sage Pro company as an administrator.
2. Click the Maintain menu, point to Setup, and click System Installation.
3. In the System Installation screen, click Edit.
4. Select Workstation Required.
5. Click Exit.
6. Click Maintain, point to Setup, and click Workstations.
7. Select the desired workstation ID from the picklist.
8. Click Edit.
9. In the location field, type the desired location name.
10. Click Save and click Exit.
11. Logoff and logon again.

Create a sales order on that workstation identified in the steps above and note that a default location is now assigned.

Q – Why Is the Ship-to Record Not Moving to ARYADR Table?

A – When an invoice is created for a customer with the ship-to address used instead of the default billing address for the customer and the period
is closed in Accounts Receivable while the invoice is still unpaid and open, the ship-to record in the ARADDR table may not move to ARYADR.

Important
Open invoices in ARMAST will get copied to the ARYMST table at period close. These records will be marked with and ‘X’ in the ARMAST.Currhist and
ARYMST.Currhist fields.
The ship-to records in the ARADDR table are not removed until the invoice has been completely paid. A credit or payment needs to be applied to the
invoice before the period is closed.
Once the invoice has been paid in full, the next period close will perform the following functions:

• The invoice record in ARMAST will be removed.
• The invoice record in ARYMST will have the ‘X’ removed from the Currhist field.
• The ARADDR Ship-to record will be copied to ARYADR.
• The ARADDR Ship-to record will be removed.

Important
At period close, the invoice record in ARMAST is not removed if there is a partial payment to the invoice. Only invoices that are completely paid
are removed from the ARMAST table.

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Tool of the Month

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

An Introduction to the Sage Accpac ERP Database Utilities

As you may or may not be aware, Sage Accpac ERP includes three important database utilities that you need to be aware of. These 3 utilities are
called:

  • Database Dump or DBDUMP
  • Database Load or DBLOAD
  • Database Copy or DBCOPY

The DBDUMP utility is used to provide you with a convenient format for storing database backups (because the extracted data format is smaller
than a full database).

The DBLOAD utility is used to “load” the “dumped” data into an Accpac database. When used in conjunction with the DBDUMP,
the DBLOAD can be used to copy a database from one storage location to another or allow you to create a new Accpac company with the identical copy
of data from the “Live” system for training or testing purposes. You can use these tools to create a development environment for testing
reports, customizations, or new business processes.

In addition to the portability function of the DBDUMP and DBLOAD process, extracting (dumping) the data and then reloading the data into a database
frees up the empty space left after removing transaction details or other history, resulting in a smaller database.

In addition to weekly or more frequent data integrity checks, databases should be dumped and loaded at least once of month allowing for the data
to be “re-indexed” and the data dictionary to be refreshed. One of the benefits of doing a DBLOAD is that the utility recreates all
of the indexes in the data tables. Though discussed later in this article, it is necessary to make sure a very recent working backup of the data
exists prior to starting a DBLOAD. Because the first step in the DBLOAD process is to remove all of the existing data from the database, it is important
for you to have a backup that can be restored easily if something were to happen during the load process.

The DBCOPY utility copies data directly between two databases without creating an interim, extracted dataset. This utility lets you copy data between
Pervasive and SQL Server databases (if you have both versions of the System Manager). If the Test or Training company is going to reside on the
same server as your “Live” data, you can “Copy” the data from the “Live” database ID to the “Test”
database ID making sure you select the right Source ID and the right Target ID. If you so desire, you can also change a database’s ID by copying
it to a new database with the desired database ID and then deleting the original database.

***Note: Please make sure there are NO users currently accessing Accpac when using these utilities ***

You can start Database Dump and the Database Load from either the Accpac Web desktop, the client/server Accpac desktop or from the Windows/Start
menu. Database Copy can only be accessed from the Windows/Start menu.

Using Database Dump

Database Dump extracts data from an Accpac database. The data can then be stored or loaded into an Accpac database (in Pervasive or Microsoft SQL
Server format — depending on your version of System Manager).

You can start Database Dump from the Accpac Web desktop, or from the Windows/Start menu.

Running DBDUMP from the Windows/Start Menu

1. From the Windows Start Menu, choose Programs, then choose Accpac, then Tools, and then click Database Dump.

2. If asked for a password, type the ADMIN password for Accpac, and then click Close to exit from the message.

3. Select the database whose data you want to extract. (Database Dump finds the database list from the SharedData entry in the Windows registry.)

4. Choose the Set Directory button, and then enter the folder where you want to put the extracted data files (called datasets). Database Dump
creates a control file with filename extension “.DCT” in the folder you specify, and puts the actual extracted data in a subfolder of
the same name as the DCT. The default location of the folder is \\ACCPAC\Runtime.

5. The name of the control file is the database ID with the “.DCT” extension.

Note: When storing extracted data you must retain both the control file and its associated subfolder.

6. Choose the Dump button to proceed.

Running DBDUMP From the Accpac Web Desktop

1. Click the Database Dump icon

2. Select a database from the list in the Database field.

3. Type a path in the Dataset Directory, or click Browse to choose the path.

4. Type a description in the Description field.

5. Click the Dump button, and then click Close.

Using Database Load

Database Load takes a dataset (extracted data) and loads it into an Accpac database. Any data already in the database will be deleted.

Note: You must create the target database and register it for use with Accpac’s Database Setup program before using Database Load.

You can start Database Load from the Accpac Web desktop, or from the Windows/Start menu.

***IMPORTANT: Make sure a recent backup of the data exists prior to starting a DBLOAD. Depending on your database, your Company data and System
data will be located in the \Program Files\ACCPAC\Data\ companydatabaseID and \Program Files\ACCPAC\Data\systemdatabaseID folders or in the default
location of your particular database software (i.e. MS-SQL, Oracle, or DB2). If you have any questions or need assistance regarding backing up your
Accpac data and shared data folders, please contact your consultant to assist you.***

Running Database Load from the Windows/Start Menu

1. From the Windows Start Menu, choose Programs, then choose Accpac, then Tools, and then click Database Load.

2. If you are asked for a password, type the ADMIN password for Accpac, and then click OK to exit the message.

3. Choose the Set Directory button, and then enter the folder containing the .DCT file for the extracted data you want to load. (The .DCT file
is a control file. The actual extracted data is in a subfolder of the same name as the DCT file.)

4. Select the first dataset that you want to load, and then choose the Next button.

The load utility will allow you to select, in turn, each of the datasets you want to load (for example, the company and the system datasets).

Remember that each Accpac company database is paired to a system database. (You can load the databases in any order.)

5. Select the empty database that you created for the dataset you selected in the first window.

Then choose the Next button. Make sure you select the correct database.

The Load Database utility will delete all existing tables in the database you select before loading the extracted data. It will replace an existing
database.

6. Check the data and destination list in the final window.

a. To specify another dataset for loading, choose the Next button. Then follow steps 4 and 5 to specify the dataset.

b. To load the datasets that are in the list, choose the Finish button.

c. Database Load starts to load the dataset into the target database.

d. If the target database already contains data, Database Load displays a message asking if it should overwrite the existing data. Check that
you are loading the data into the correct location, then choose OK or Cancel.

7. When the loading is finished, click OK to finish.

Running DBLOAD from the Accpac Web desktop

***Note: Please make sure there are NO other users currently accessing Accpac when using these utilities ***

***Warning: You cannot “load” into a database that you are logged into***

1. Click the Database Load icon.

2. Select a database from the list in the Database field.

3. Type a path in the Dataset Directory, or click Browse to choose the path.

4. Choose a Dataset from the drop-down list in the Dataset field.

5. Click the Load button, and then click Close.

Using Database Copy

Database Copy copies the contents of one database to another database without creating an interim extracted dataset. This allows you to copy data
between Pervasive.SQL and Microsoft SQL Server databases.

Note:

  • You must create the target database and register it for use with Accpac’s Database Setup program before using Database Copy.
  • All data already in the target database will be deleted.

To run Database Copy:

***Note: Please make sure there are NO users currently accessing Accpac when using these utilities ***

1. From the Windows Start Menu, choose ACCPAC – Tools – Database Copy.

2. Type the ADMIN password for Accpac, and then click OK.

3. Select the database that you want to copy, and then click Next. (DBCOPY finds the database list from the SharedData entry in the Windows registry.)

4. Select the target database, and then click Next.

Database Copy lists all databases of the same type (that is, system or company) except for the source database.

5. On the final screen (Copy Database), check that the source and target databases have been specified correctly, and then click Finish. Click
Yes on the Confirmation window

If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please contact your AXIS consultant or email us at info@axisintegratedsoltions.com for more information.

Posted in Newsletter, November 2006 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Could Not Have Done It Without You – THANK YOU!

Posted on October 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

What a Year! On behalf of all Axis partners and consultants, we would like to take this time to thank our client’s for giving us the opportunity to earn President’s Circle honors in 2006. We appreciate the trust and confidence you have extended to us as your technology and business advisors. We look forward to trying to exceed your expectations by continuously adding value to your organizations long into the future.

We are very proud to announce that as a result of this commitment, AXIS was named the top Sage Accpac ERP & Pro ERP product sales in the US.

Posted in Newsletter, October 2006 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

How can WMS help maximize an employee’s performance?

Posted on October 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

How good are the warehouse employees? Is there an employee who routinely outperforms the others? What is this employee is doing
differently? Is there an employee that isn’t pulling their weight? These are questions every warehouse manager needs to know. A Warehouse
Management System (WMS) can help your company sort through data to see how employees are performing. There are a number of ways in which Sage ACCPAC
WMS can help accomplish this goal.

In the WMS Console, under view, the warehouse manager can look at what a number of employees are doing on various handhelds throughout the warehouse
in real time. This is helpful at seeing exactly how individual employees are completing different task and see who is idle.

Using Web Dispatch, the warehouse manager is able to track employees through a number of different performance reports. In dealing with an employee
who may not be working as hard as expected, the manager can use the Picker InActivity Report to see precisely how long an employee has been doing
nothing. Another report, the Employee Activity Report, shows what an employee did throughout the day. The Employee Statistics Report allows the
manager to sort by activity (i.e. picking, receiving, or cycle counting) to monitor employees.

Improving employee productivity and efficiencies is one of the primary goals of an automated warehousing system. The return on investment (ROI)
provided by these efficiencies usually justifies a company’s investment in an automated system with short payback. If you have questions about
the different employee performance tools available in Sage ACCPAC WMS please contact us at info@axisglobalpartners.com.
We’re here to help.

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Managing Deferred Revenue and Expense Transactions in SAGE Accpac ERP

Posted on October 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

Revenue and Expense Deferrals for Sage Accpac ERP helps companies amortize maintenance or service related contract revenue over
the life of the contract. Revenue is recognized periodically based on the number of days of service the customer is entitled to in that period.
Companies get the advantage of compliance with the Public Company Accounting and Investor Protection Act of 2002 (also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002). Although not specifically covered under the Act, non-public entities are also finding that bankers, investors, and acquisition candidates
are now conditioned to expect increased transparency and real-time disclosures, in effect placing a greater accounting and reporting burden on companies
who are not legally obligated to comply with the Act. Revenue and Expense Deferrals helps companies meet these additional demands.

A good example is the sale of a service contract with duration of one year or more. Under GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) and the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, it is prohibited to recognize the full contract value in the period of the sale. Instead, the amount should be recognized periodically,
depending on how many days of service the customer is entitled to in each period. Revenue and Expense Deferrals initially removes the whole revenue
amount from the General Ledger account it was posted to. Then, as each period nears its completion, the respective portion of revenue is posted
back to the original account. Thus, the revenue stream is spread over the life of the contract, instead of being posted fully at the beginning of
the contract.

The application can be configured to process transactions from any Sage Accpac ERP module, including 3rd Party applications, as long as they generate
a GL Batch and they support Accpac’s Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator module. Revenue and Expense Deferrals comes pre-configured
for General Ledger, Accounts Receivable & Order Entry. For more information, please contact us at info@axisglobalpartners.com.

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Disaster and Business Continuity Planning is a Must for Today’s Business Environment

Posted on October 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

With the fifth year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack and the hurricane season upon us, the awareness among business leaders
of the need for disaster and business continuity planning is at an all time high.

Business owners invest a tremendous amount of time, money and resources to make their ventures successful, so it would seem natural for owners
to take steps to protect those investments. While the importance of disaster and business continuity planning is self-evident, the urgency of the
task is often blunted by the immediate demands of the workplace. Often the business person is prone to the all-too-human tendency to believe that
“it won’t happen to me”. In the meantime, businesses will continue to suffer setbacks that often could have been reduced or prevented
altogether had someone taken the time to plan and take action on strategies to recover if the unexpected occurs.

We all recognize that disaster can strike anywhere, at any time. Disaster and business continuity planning is an integral part of any successful
business plan.

Consider the following:

  • An estimated 25 percent of businesses do not reopen following a major disaster, according to the Institute for Business and Home Safety.
  • The number of declared major disasters more than doubled in the 1990s.
  • A business can be hurt indirectly when a disaster strikes customers or another business, such as a supplier or distributor.
  • The realities of a post 9/11 world and increasing dependency on computer technology call for additional protection of business operations.
  • The 9/11 Commission emphasized the critical importance of preparedness in protecting business assets and safeguarding employee’s lives.

“Private-sector preparedness is not a luxury; it is a cost of doing business in the post-9/11 world. It is ignored
at tremendous potential cost in lives, money, and national security.”
– 9/11 Commission Final Report, Chapter 12

When convincing people of the need for disaster preparedness, too much emphasis is placed on dramatic, worst-case scenarios – as if these
were the only possible disasters that might occur. Many businesses are impacted on a daily basis by unexpected events. Thieves steal, fire burns,
weather and water destroys, equipment fails, even human error can impact business operations.

While disaster and business continuity planning as a whole entails addressing many aspects of a business operation, how we protect and our ability
recover one of our most critical business assets – our data – is an important element.

Many businesses only backup to a local device, leaving their data vulnerable to a local disaster. For this reason many companies have made the
move to an online backup and recovery solution for the critical task of data backup. In addition to the added security and reliability that an online
backup service provides, it allows businesses to get their data off-site and stores it in secure data centers away from local or regional disasters
that may impact their business.

“Backing up data to a local device means that any catastrophic event that destroyed a company’s primary server
would likely destroy the backup media as well,” said Adam W. Couture, principal research analyst for Gartner. “Companies hoping to protect
their data for the long haul must look at using remote backup and recovery service providers.”

AXIS can help you check Remote Backup and Recovery Solution off your disaster planning check list through our partnership with CoreVault. CoreVault
has the right online backup solution for companies like yours that are serious about protecting their business-critical data. For more information
on CoreVault solutions, visit us at AXIS or e-mail us at info@axisglobalpartners.com.

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Audit Logger for Sage Accpac ERP

Posted on October 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

Audit Logger for ACCPAC provides intelligent auditing by monitoring user interactions with the system views from within the Sage
Accpac ERP environment.

Auditing Features

This solution provides auditing on view inserts, updates and deletions to be stored and later reported on. Each view can be independently customized
to suit the clients’ unique auditing requirements. Audit Logger stores both before and after images of the audited fields.

  • Ability to set auditing as inactive per view for bulk updates or import operations.
  • Records authenticated Windows user name and domain from the workstation where the change occurred.
  • Records IP address from the workstation where the change occurred. In a thin client environment, the audited IP address is that of the client
    workstation, not the server.

Design Features

Audit Logger for Sage Accpac ERP is developed in the ACCPAC SDK, which provides several important advantages over auditing products implemented
at the database level:

  • Totally seamless operation
  • Minimal performance overhead
  • Supports all Advantage Series databases

Operating at the application layer, Audit Logger creates the auditing profile in real-time based on knowledge of field attributes and company setup.
This provides zero-maintenance operation and durability to view changes from version upgrades and any third-party extensions to the views.

Configuration

Audit Logger provides an easy and intuitive interface displaying the supported activated modules in each company. Each view can be easily configured
and audit settings are immediately effective for all users.

Reporting

Reports can be produced showing view changes, insertions and deletions along with all vital auditing fields including timestamp, user, windows
user, client IP address. Reporting can be filtered by view, user or date range and can include all fields selected to be audited or just fields
that have been changed in the audit.

Availability & System Requirements

Available Editions:

  • Sage Accpac 500 ERP (Enterprise Edition)
  • Sage Accpac 200 ERP (Corporate Edition)
  • Sage Accpac 100 ERP (Small Business Edition)

Supported databases:

  • IBM DB2
  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Oracle
  • Pervasive

Web Deployable: Yes

Posted in Newsletter, October 2006 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on October 14, 2006 by Site Administrator
Sage Accpac ERP

Q – Can I set up an Inventory Control Bill of Material to have a sub-assembly beneath an assembly?

A – Yes. In Sage Accpac ERP version 5.4 the Inventory Control Bills of Material feature now supports unlimited levels of assemblies and
sub-assemblies in a single bill of material, providing a sophisticated tool for manufacturing or assembling items for sale.

Each bill of material level includes a list of component parts and quantities, as well as the fixed and variable costs for manufacturing, such
as labor cost, materials, and overhead.

To make it easier to handle large BOMs, Inventory Control’s Bills of Material entry screen now provides a tree view that displays, and lets
you navigate through, all components and subassemblies.

You can also drill down further into a sub-assembly bill of material by double-clicking on the sub-assembly part number in the tree view.

Note: Multi-Level Bills of Material are available only in Sage Accpac 500 ERP.

Q – Can I set up customer item numbers to use when entering Order Entry Orders?

A – Yes. In Sage Accpac ERP version 5.4 the new Inventory Control Customer Details form lets you set up a list of numbers that your customers
use for your inventory items.

The Customer Details icon is located under the Inventory Control Items and Price Lists folder.

Create the Customer Detail by first choosing the item from your inventory. Specify the customer, the customers’ item number and their description
of the item. Enter the unit of measure, as well as any relevant comments and particular instructions for handling or shipping. Comments and instructions
appear on Orders when the customer item number is used in Order Entry

You can then enter the specified customer item number when entering an Order Entry Order.

Note: Customer item numbers are available only in Sage Accpac 500 ERP.
SageCRM

Q – What does the Dashboard Tab at the Company Level do?

A – The Dashboard tab within the Company context can be used to display a management overview of the status of the customer account —
a chart of overdue cases, a list of high priority opportunities, or a snapshot of upcoming meetings.

To view a company dashboard:

1. Within the context of a company, select the Dashboard tab.
If your System Administrator has created a default company dashboard, then the dashboard content will be displayed. The System Administrator sets
up the default company dashboard in Administration | Users | Standard Dashboards.
The content displayed is specific to the selected company.
If no default company dashboard exists, then the Dashboard Content page is displayed for editing.

2. Select the Modify Dashboard button to edit the company dashboard.
Note: Any changes made to the company dashboard apply to the Dashboard tab of all companies.

Q – Can I run Reports from the Dashboard?

A – Yes. Reports selected as Favorite reports, which are displayed in the My Favorite Reports category, can be run from the Dashboard.

1. Select My CRM | Dashboard | Modify Dashboard. Select Other from the Filter By drop-down list. Select the Add button next to the content called
Favorite Reports, and click on Save.
2. A new content area is displayed called Favorite Reports. Click on the hyperlink of the report you want to run.
3. The report output is displayed in a new browser window.

Sage Pro ERP

Q – How do I make my customized reports to appear in a specific order?

A – To sequence customized reports on a menu, follow the steps below:

1. Open System Manager.
2. Under the Maintain menu, point-to Customize and click Reports.
3. Double-click the report that must be sequenced, from the navigation tree.
4. Click Edit.
5. Type a sequence number into the Seq# field, this determines the order in which it will display on menu. The lower the sequence number, the
higher it will display on the menu.

Example:
Four custom reports are created for ARIRED: report-a, report-b, report-c, report-d. These should be displayed on the menu in the following order:
report-c, report-a, report-b, report-d. In order to display these reports in this particular order, the sequence number should be assigned as follows:

Report Name Sequence No.
report-a 2
report-b 3
report-c 1
report-d 4

Q – How do I get rid of the "Error 1526: Invalid Column Name ‘Subcode’” message that appears while posting to General Ledger?

A – The issue has been documented under Product Trouble Report (PTR) 78098 and has been fixed in Sage Pro 7.3 Service Pack 1. It occurs when
Project Accounting or any Manufacturing module has not been installed. This issue can also be resolved by adding the Jobcode, Phase and Subcode
fields to the GLDENT and GLDUNP tables and entering the corresponding field information. Please refer to the table below for more information. Follow
the steps below:

Note: The following should only be done by a Sage Certified Consultant or Business Partner. Create a full and verified backup before proceeding.
This should first be attempted in a test installation and the results should be fully verified before implementing in a live system.

1. Open System Manager.
2. Under the Maintain menu, point to Dictionary and click Tables.
3. Type "GLDENT" into the Table ID field.
4. Select "Field" from the list box.
5. Click Select.
6. Type Jobcode into the Field Name field; a message appears indicating the field is not found.
7. Click Add; a message appears asking whether to copy the default values from an existing record to the new field.
8. Click No.
9. Refer to the table below and enter the corresponding values for Description, Base Type, Length and Input Mask.
10. Click Save.
11. Repeat steps 6-11 for the Phase and Subcode fields.
12. Repeat steps 3-12 for the GLDUNP table.
13. Update from Data Dictionary for GL in all companies.

Field Property Information

Field Name Description Base Type Length Input Mask
Jobcode PA Job Code Character 10 !!!!!!!!!!
Phase PA Job Phase Character 6 !!!!!!
Subcode PA Category Code Character 4 !!!!
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The Successful Execution of CRM: Part 2 September 2006 By Dr. Nancy Rauseo

Posted on September 14, 2006 by Site Administrator

This is the second of a series of articles focused on
the execution of CRM, directed primarily to software resellers, vendors,
and consultants. In our last article, we discussed ways in which the design
and implementation phases of CRM could be more effective if you took on
a more proactive role in the sales process. One of the main problems,
if not the most prevalent, is inadequate analysis and planning during
the software evaluation process. We also pointed out that at minimum during
the sales cycle, you should help your customer develop an Organizational
Readiness GAP Analysis, a CRM Strategy, and Critical Success Factors for
CRM.

Prior to developing a CRM strategy critical success factors, it is critical
to assess the current state of the company in relation to CRM, both internally
and externally. The focus of an organizational readiness GAP analysis
is on the internal state of the company. In this article, we will begin
addressing the external environment and its effect on how you design a
CRM strategy, specifically the Voice of the Customer.

Let’s first define the external environment. It is made up of the
industry in which you and your client do business in: its customers, its
products, and the competition’s capabilities, strengths, weaknesses
and position. Why is this environment important? The goal of a CRM strategy
is to establish a differentiated position for your company by creating
and delivering value to your customers. To do this, you must know what
your customers want, what the market needs, and what your competition
is doing to fulfill these wants and needs. Otherwise, you are a ship without
a rudder.

The Voice of the Customer or VOC is the single, most important
part of analyzing the external environment. The VOC is a disciplined approach
that aids in identifying, understanding and prioritizing customer needs
and improves communications with customers. It ensures that customer requirements,
needs and behaviors are embedded into the CRM processes.

The VOC is a process of gathering customer information and feedback,
formally or informally. The VOC can originate from several sources: surveys,
interviews, focus groups, research studies, complaints, service calls,
observations, returns, etc. It is always a good idea to create a unified
plan for gathering this information during the planning stage of CRM as
well as going forward. Ownership of the VOC process must also be clear
and assigned to a manager that is well-respected. This allows for faster
identification and resolution of issues.

Analyzing the VOC should result in the identification of points of
pain, i.e. what areas or processes cause frustration, confusion, or
little value for customers? For example, if there are continuous complaints
about a company’s website always being down, then a point of pain
is the use of the website and an action should be taken to gather internal
data on website usage through the IT area. External feedback can then
be validated against internal quality data to ensure that this is a valid
point of pain so improvements can be justified and made to the website.

Once the VOC data and information have been gathered and points of pain
have been identified, it’s important to answer the following questions:

  • How do the customers come into contact with your company?
  • How well do you know your customers? What do you kow about them? Don’t
    just limit this to contact information. Focus on demographic information,
    behavioral data, potential for growth, etc.
  • What don’t you know about your customers? Ask yourselves if
    you know what your customers want to feel and remember.
  • • Where does the voice of customer exist within the departments,
    people, processes, and areas of the company?

To learn more about developing a CRM strategy and listening to the voice
of the customer, you may want to look into training and professional development
courses focusing on the voice of the customer. There are many techniques
that can be used to obtain the VOC and incorporate it as part of your
CRM strategy.

In the next article, we will cover the analysis of an industry and the
competitive environments and its role in a CRM strategy.

Dr. Nancy Rauseo is on the faculty of Florida International University’s
College of Business Administration where she teaches marketing and CRM.
Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue
University and an M.B.A and Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University. Prior
to her teaching career, she held various senior management positions for
over 20 years in the areas of sales, marketing and technology implementation.
Visit us at CRM
On-Line Education Program and learn how you can become the trusted
advisor your clients are seeking.

Posted in Newsletter, September 2006 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment