Simply From the Corner Office

Umm, it's time to buy yet another $225 toner cartridge for the copier; and the toner drum sounds like it is scraping away too - another $350.

First of all, we do not do a lot of copying in our office. By that I mean we do not send out 100 copies of 20 page reports every day. We probably make about 5,000 copies a year.  A lot of the former copying jobs are now delegated to the printer - Want 20 copies of that? Press print. Paper and toner costs for printers is another story - I'll talk about that another time.

Over the past few months, we've been scanning more and more documents (on our copier which doubles as a decent scanner) and storing them digitally rather versus paper files. In fact during 2009, we did not send a single fax or piece of paper to our clients' accountants for year-end processing.  All year-end documents and working papers are scanned and along with the Simply Accounting database are emailed or uploaded via a file transfer service to the accountants.

You might say well it's quicker to copy the document and then fax it out. But seriously I would argue that point because I still have to make up a fax cover sheet and then file that along with the document for the client file.  You can scan the document to the appropriate area on your computer or server; then email it before you have a cover letter finished.  Effectively, you have digitally stored the document (filed it) and then emailed with a record of the date sent now stored in your email program such as Outlook.

My research so far on dedicated scanners tells me that I can set the scanner to copy or print directly to a network printer. Plus, last time I checked, scanners don't use toner although they do not some replacement parts eventually. So for about $500 - $600, I am hoping to eliminate some costs along the way as well as reduce even more paper usage. The overall goal is to reduce paper usage and its' related costs which include the actual paper, disposal of paper waste, toner replacement and file storage costs.

This week we ordered a decent scanner - one that just scans and I'll let you know how it goes in another month or so.

Most people reading this are involved in accounting for their business in one way or another. To all of us, severe panic sets in if we cannot access our accounting data, spreadsheets and the like. Unfortunately there is no insurance provider in the world that will get your data back if it is damaged. If your office is destroyed, they'll replace it but they just 'don't do data'.

Most importantly, we can protect ourselves from data loss by backing up regularly and having offsite storage of backups. One of the leading contributors to data damage is power surges.

I am really amazed at the number of users that I meet that do not use an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) or at the very least, a surge protection device.  A UPS can cost around $100 and give you a lot of piece of mind. UPS devices include surge protection as well as eliminate those annoying power outages that last for about a half a second but invariably shut all the computers off in your office.

Make sure that the wall outlet that you plug the UPS into is properly grounded and if you are unsure, have an electrician test it for you. It is important to also have your cable and phone lines as well as your modem plugged into the UPS too. Remember, you're protecting one of your company's most important assets.

UPS units can be purchased for as little as $100 from most office supply retailers - I have no manufacturer preference. When choosing which one suits your needs, consider the number of minutes that they will operate when the power is totally lost so that you have time to backup and/or shut down your computer properly. Other options include the number of outlets and phone connections.

Before UPS units became popular, our office was plagued by a minimum of one power blip per month and invariably I would be working on a spreadsheet that hadn't been saved for 2 hours(I know there is an auto save feature in Excel, but....). Learning slowing, that became enough of a motivator to purchase a UPS for each computer.

So interrupt me with phone calls and emails, but please don't interrupt my power supply.

 Have you ever had to trace a cable back to your router? Or figure out which cable runs to the networked printer?

There it sits somewhere in a jumble of cords and cables at the back of the router.  I've always tried to keep cables organized and 'off the floor' but they sometimes still end up being a mess as others plug and unplug and re-route different cables around the office.

One of the best tricks that I have used over the years is to label the end of each cable with either a number or name. This allows you to easily identify each cable quickly - it really helps when you are trying to troubleshoot a network issue.

To keep cables off the floor or organized, you can purchase short velcro strips at your electronics or office supply store; these are even available in different colours.  You can use these to bundle and/or suspend cabling.

Now you might say, well I use wireless so it doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is that wireless is still a lot slower than cabled connections and programs like Simply show a lot better performance on a wired network.

Now I just have to tackle that mess of jumbled wires attached to the TV, DVD player, home theatre and gaming systems.....

Have you ever had to fill out a form that you have downloaded from a website.  Forms such as a bid proposals and applications that need to be filled out and have to be signed cannot be filled out online.  Depending on the form, you may need to have them look as professional as possible. Sometimes the space given on forms won't even allow the neatest of writers with the tiniest handwritng the opportunity to legibly complete the form.

Unless you have a typewriter (typewriters were mechanical devices used in the 20th century), the completion of these kinds of forms is generally hand-written. The employee with the best hand writing skills get elected to complete the form.

The Nitro PDF Software site has a PDFtoWord converter that converts pdfs to Word or Excel online for free and the outcome is quite acceptable.  Your converted file is emailed to you in minutes! Open the file and fill in the blanks.

Last week I attended the Simply Accounting training course for Certified Consultants. It was a three day course packed full of information and ideas for consultants.  The training sessions also provided an opportunity to network with other consultants that possess a wide variety of skills and expertise. 

The purpose of this training is to provide CCs with the tools and knowledge to enable them to serve their clients well. Prior to this Spring, a prospective consultant wrote an exam, paid a yearly fee and became a Certified Consultant for life, so to speak. 

Now all Partners that wish to continue as CCs must update their knowledge and write an exam annually.

Sage has established these new qualifications so that when end users contact a Certified Consultant, the user can be assured that they are going to receive the very best support from a professional who truly knows the product line.

At present the highest level attainable is Gold, which I was able to accomplish.  I am looking forward to reaching the next and highest level, Platnium, when it becomes available.

I've must confess, I love technology and things techie.

My favourite places to shop are camera shops, electronics stores and office supply places. The computers and laptops in our household outnumber the inhabitants and TVs run a close second. A couple of years ago our son yelled up the hall that Mom could just come down and talk rather than using MSN - funny, but you get the picture. My partner refers to my computer as my mistress "Miss Chips".  Yes, I love technology but I also like it to work properly.

Office equipment that saves time and causes NO frustration is very important in our office. Productivity is constantly reviewed and output must be of the highest quality. Professional looking reports and correspondence go a long way to establishing and maintaining credibility with clients.

In our office we make sure that all correspondence is proof read, reports look absolutely professional and mailings are first class. We believe in consistency to stay organized, Client files are organized in a certain seqence and always labelled. It makes the office less chaotic and it all kind of makes sense when you think about it.

For years, we have fed sheets of labels in a laser printer, fought paper jams, thrown out countless label sheets with a dozen or so unused labels in the centre, messed up countless envelopes due to incorrect settings, worn out printers and worst of all wasted a lot of time.  

Okay, you say, I must have a problem - this guy's way too particular. I disagree, its all about image and meeting your clients expectations.

About a year ago, we purchased a Dymo Turbo 400 label printer and it has got to be one of the most beautiful pieces of equipment I have used. It works every time and it is fast. it works with Simply, Outlook, Word and even address tables in Excel.  Besides mailings and file labels, we have since found other production uses for our clients.  Barcoding, product labelling and shipping labels are but a few uses that you can perform, often utilizing Simply as the data source.

We have found that we can do most labelling jobs with two label sizes so spend the extra bit to buy a model with dual spools so that you don't have to constantly switch sizes.

Finally, I cannot recall ever being frustrated with it - definitely my favourite!

Sometimes printers can be the most frustrating piece of equipment in the office. Why is it that when you are on your way out the door to a meeting and running tight for time, the printer decides to not work? Hint - it's connected to a PC.

A number of years ago, I owned a state of the art, latest and greatest, widest (12" feed)) colour inkjet printer.  That $1,200 printer caused me so much grief - often taking 10 minutes to cancel a print job - that I gave it to a local school to sell at a garage sale. Asking price was $25.00! 

I know that lots of Simply users have printing problems because there are over 600 posts on the Forum about printing and printers. Some issues are program based but more often than not they are related to printer settings. The Forum is a great source for troubleshooting printer problems as well as the Knowledge Base.

One of the most common complaints that we see with Simply is the slow displaying of reports on the user's desktop. This often happens when the printer that is chosen under the Reports menu is connected to a computer other than the user's. The display function in Simply attempts to display the report that you have requested in the layout that you have set up on the chosen printer. Simply communicates with the printer, gets its' settings and then displays the report. 

You can test to see if that is what is causing the issue by Adding a New Printer under Printers & Faxes on your Start Menu. Choose the Generic/Text Only printer and test the reports with it. Usually the display is instant.  This test will let you know that the little inkjet on the other side of the office along with your current network hardware is just not up to the task.  Another option is to physically connect the printer you are trying to use directly to the user's machine.

Remember that it is not necessarily a Simply issue; run a few tests, check your actual printer settings and your frustration level with printers might just get a bit more bearable.

Several times a year, we all have to download updates for Simply Accounting versions that we have on our systems. Through experience, I have found that it is a good habit to store these downloads on your server or a in seperate folder on your computer that you can backup to an external device or location.

The reason for this is that computers do eventually expire or get replaced. Sometimes computers get infected with viruses and the hard drive has to be reformatted/wiped clean. When this happens, you have to install Simply Accounting (and many other programs) onto the 'new' computer. Depending on when this occurs, the updates that you have installed over time have upgraded your Simply database to a new Release level -  B, C, D, etc. So while you may still have the original Simply program in a box in the back room, it will likely only be Release A. With recent versions of Simply, Release A will not open later releases of the same version.

The easiest thing to do is to download the updates from Simply's site, However, if you were running a version of Simply that was more than 2 years old you would not be able to do this because it will no longer be available for download. If you had stored your updates in a backed up directory as you received them, you could retrieve the updates from the backup media and be running again quickly.

This process is also very useful if you have a number of computers to update with a Product Update from Simply.  Download the file once from the Simply site to a shared drive on your network.  From there, each machine can be updated quickly, saving each user from having to download the update from the website. 

This same procedure also works well for the actual installation of the program when you have multiple licences - i.e.- 5 user Enterprise. You can legally make a backup copy of a Simply Accounting CD onto the server.  From the server the program will install much faster than directly from installation CD.

Do you ever need to send a large file or an entire folder to a client or colleague?  Most email service providers will only allow file sizes up to 10 Mb to be emailed.  The alternative to emailing is to send the file by mail, courier, hand deliver it or upload it to an FTP site which not always easy. 

There are online services available that will allow you to send transfer files and are extremely easy to use. The key here is easy to use - the learning curve is virtually zero. Two reliable ones are YouSendIt and SendThisFile.  Both of these services allow free accounts with limits - 100MB transfers, one file at a time, etc.

A small subscription of $10 or so permits you to send multiple files totalling 2GB as well as 500 downloads per file + some online storage. More expensive subscriptions allow fully encrypted transfers, unlimited downloads, certified tracking, larger online storage capacity and more.

One of the obvious advantages is the speed and convenience at which files can be transferred versus sending by courier, etc. No time is wasted burning CD's and prepping courier packages. 

A couple of weeks ago, a client had a computer see its' final days.  They had always used Crystal Reports and needed to get it reinstalled quickly; however, their Simply Accounting CD with the CR program was long gone. We zipped the entire program into a 127 MB file, sent it to the transfer site and they had it installed within an hour.  The client was a half hour drive - they saved both time and money.

From time to time, I get emails with attachments bounced back for no apparent reason other than the spam settings on a recipient's server or privacy settings on their internet browser are preventing my email from going through. File transfer takes care of all of this and saves a lot of aggravation on both sides.  

Other applications of this technology include transferring photos, technical and construction drawings, graphic files, powerpoint and marketing documents and accounting databases as well as mass distribution of large files. Entire folders can also be sent.

Click on this link to see how easily your client or customer can view or download a file (a copy of this blog in pdf format) that has been transferred to the YouSendIt site.

The 2009 TD1 Personal Tax Credits forms are available for viewing and download on the CRA website at this link.

Both federal and provincial forms are available here.  The claim amounts are required for the first payroll of 2009. Don't forget that Simply calculates the EI and CPP for you as long as you have are part of the SimplyCare with payroll support.

One of the most important responsibilities of the accounting department is controlling costs. It is no coincidence that many of us are quite careful with expenditures for own employers, clients as well as ourselves.

In the days ahead, we could be witnessing some of the toughest economic times that most of us have ever encountered. We all have ways that we save money in the office and I'd like to start a list of money-saving ideas that I have witnessed and some of which we practice. 

  - reuse mailing envelopes

  - turn calculator rolls over

  - for filing year-end documents, use 9 x 13 envelopes (new or used) for achiving in bankers boxes - much cheaper than file folders

  - shake toner cartridges for laser printers - gets you a couple of hundred more copies; some of the newer cartridges won't allow you to do this though

  - combine many errands which involve driving into one trip

  - connect remotely to clients or to the office from home

Please feel free to post your own ideas here so that everyone can benefit.

I'd like to talk about a program that I just cannot live without - Microsoft Outlook^®.  I'm not referring to Outlook Express^® but the full version of Outlook^® that comes with Microsoft Office^®.

For those of you who are not familiar with it, Outlook^® is not just an email program, its a Personal Information Manager.  It can serve as your calendar, contact and task manager as well as a speed dialer.  Simply Accounting will synchronize basic contact info with Outlook^® so you can set up a vendor or customer contact once in Simply and check off the Synchronize  with Microsoft Outlook^® box in the Option tab.  When you open Outlook^® you can add other notes and details to the contact info.

 If you have a Smartphone or a Blackberry, you can synch it with your Outlook^®.  When you're away from the office and a client gives you new number or address change, you can enter it into your mobile device and it will eventually find its way back to Simply when you synch back at the office.

My favourite feature in Outlook is the ability to journalize phone calls and conversations. Install a fax modem ($30) on your computer and you can use Outlook^® as the ultimate speed dialer.  At your fingertips you have the hundreds of numbers that are in your contact list - this is much better that a typical phone with a hundred numbers.  When you dial out to a contact, Outlook^® will prompt you to open a Journal. You can then make permanent notes about the conversation.

The most important use that I make of Outlook^® is its abiltiy to help me stay organized.  I use the Calendar to organize all appointments as well as all working and personal time.  Details of meetings, what you plan to say, what was said, work completed, etc. can all be stored in the Calendar appointments.  Months later, you can recall notes by doing a search by keyword.  The Calendar can also synch with your Smartphone or Blackberry. Another great management tool for professionals that want to monitor their percentage of billable time is the ability to colour code Calendar items. Use the coloured Label option and set all billable time to one colour - at a quick glance of a 'weekly' view, you can see just how productive that you really were.

I still see lots of people still shuffling paper to stay organize d while this great organizer resides on their desktops. So if you're looking for an easy-to-use tool that will help you structure your life both at work and home I suggest that you take a look at Outlook^®.

If you would like to share ways that you use Outlook^® or other personal information managers, let's hear about it.

Billing has always been a dreaded process in our office. Don’t get me wrong, I love sending out invoices and getting paid! It’s just that it is time consuming to actually prep the invoices showing the time and details of work completed.  We usually try to send our invoices out at the end of the month. Some months, it’s a day’s work of unbillable time – ouch – even when most of the details have been recorded digitally. The same applies to any type of business – if you are doing it yourself or paying someone else – it costs you time and money to invoice.

Many of us live and work in smaller urban centres and often our clients are in the next town or city making travel costs a notable expenditure. Today we'll take a look remote access which allows us to use the power of the Internet to enable us to remotely control our desktop, or a client's, as if we were working right in front of the remote machine. Higher fuel prices are forcing everyone to find ways to be more cost effective while delivering the same level of work or service.  All of us still need to get to work and/or service our clients competitively.  This technology is proving to be a great tool in helping us accomplish this.

A couple of years ago when our clients began to upgrade their internet connections to higher speeds we saw an opportunity to save both them and ourselves time and money.  We started to remotely access their computers to help them with various support services and month-ends.  This process provided a win-win for everyone. The clients saw an immediate savings in billings that included travel time as well as receiving faster service as they did not have to wait until I was ‘in their area the next time'.  We realized savings in vehicle operating expenses as well as having more productive time available. Other uses of remote access can include accessing your files at the office from home or while you are at a client's site, helping a client install Simply or retrieving some contact info, to mention a few.

There are a few different ways to access your computer or your clients' systems.  These include options that are free such as Windows XP Remote Desktop to paid services such as GoToMyPC by Citrix. This link on cnet has reviews for various remote products.

If you need to have file transfer to get copies of large Simply databases from your client's machine to yours and remote printing capabilities, you generally have to buy a program like LogMeIn Pro rather than using the free version. The better offerings will (and should) have 128 bit encryption so that your connection is secure. I personally use GoToMyPC Pro because I need the file transfer and remote printing capabilities.

When using a remote connection there is some lag time although this is barely noticeable when both the host and guest are on high-speed. I have connected to dialups and it is painfully slow, it is usually better to ‘just drive there' if you are trying to resolve an issue that take more than a few keystrokes and screen updates.  Depending on the distance and frequency of service that is required, it can be more economical to have the host site upgrade to a higher internet speed if possible.

There are many useful applications of this technology that can benefit our clients, co-workers and ourselves.  I would invite you to share your thoughts and ideas on this subject.