May 13, 2010

Incentives to Hire The Unemployed

Posted by Amy Shaver under Business Strategy | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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The HIRE Act (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment), enacted March 18, 2010, is a plan to create jobs by providing a temporary tax break to companies that hire workers who were previously unemployed or worked part time.  Two new tax benefits are available to employers:

  1. The payroll tax exemption.  The first benefit provides employers with an exemption from the employer’s 6.2 percent share of social security tax on wages paid to qualifying employees.  This benefit would be effective for wages paid from March 19, 2010 through December 31, 2010.
  2. The new hire retention credit.   Businesses will also be eligible for a general business tax credit of 6.2 percent of wages paid to the qualified employee (employee must be retained for at least a year), up to a maximum credit of $1,000.

Visit the IRS website for more detailed information and check with your tax adviser on whether the new HIRE act applies to your company.

 

May 11, 2010

Potentially Costly New 1099 Regulation Slipped into Healthcare Bill

Posted by Amy Shaver under Business Strategy, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Section 9006 of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) mandates that after December 31, 2011 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.  Chris Edwards of The Cato Institute published an insightful article entitled Costly IRS Mandate Slipped Into Health Bill about the new regulations.

The bottom line could be that this change may radically alter the nature of 1099 filing and require businesses to issue millions of 1099 documents each year.  The two key changes are:

  • 1099′s would be used to track payments not only for services but also for tangible goods.
  • Businesses would be required to issue 1099′s not only to individuals and partnerships but also to corporations.  This list could include items such as a new computer purchase from Apple, airline tickets for next year’s conference, monthly office rent and phone bills.  Almost every vendor for every business would become a 1099 vendor.

The full impact of this new regulation won’t be known until the IRS issues its regulations.  That will probably happen sometime next year.  We will continue to update this blog as more details are made public.

The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, and is a highly-respected non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C.  For more information, visit www.cato.org.

 

April 22, 2010

Sage Announces A Blog

Posted by John Shaver under Business Strategy, Technology, What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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This past Thursday,  Sage unveiled their brand new corporate blog.   The folks at Sage chose me to become one of a select few guest writers for the blog.

My first post entitled “Why Does Work Suck?” explores an idea that has become a fundamental part of our business and personal philosophy.  That idea is a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE).  The basic concept is for businesses to eliminate fixed work schedules, required meetings and rigid vacation/sick/personal policies and to focus on achieving results.

I expect to be a regular contributor to the Sage blog with as many as one post per month aimed at educating  some two million global Sage customers and prospects about a host of business and technology topics.  Some of my upcoming topics include:

  • How to reduce IT costs and stresses
  • How to initiate a project within your company
  • What is project management and why is it important?
  • Pricing strategies
  • How to choose a web designer

If there are any topics you are interested in learning more about, please feel free to make suggestions via a comment.  The topics can be specifically related to Sage and Sage products (such as MAS 90 or MAS 500) or anything related to business and technology.

The Sage blog is part of Sage’s overall social media strategy.  You can follow them on the Sage fan page on Facebook and on SageERP for Twitter.

And if you have not already checked them out, here are links to our blog feed, Facebook fan page and my Twitter page:

 

April 16, 2010

New Requirements for Customers Who Accept Credit Cards

Posted by Amy Shaver under Technology, What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Recent new requirements established by the five major credit card networks will most likely affect your company’s ability to accept credit cards.  These new standards are referred to as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) and were developed by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa International.  Merchants will be required to follow these new standards by July 1, 2010.

Basically, PCI-DSS is a set of requirements for enhancing payment account data security.  The requirements include security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other measures created to protect customer account data.

There are 12 requirements that fall into six categories.

  1. Build and Maintain a Secure Network: Install and maintain a firewall and use unique, high-security passwords with special care to replace default passwords.
  2. Protect Cardholder Data: Whenever possible, cardholder data must not be stored. You must also encrypt any data passed across public networks, including your shopping cart and web-hosting providers.
  3. Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program: Use anti-virus and keep it up date. Develop and maintain secure operating systems and payment applications.
  4. Implement Strong Access Control Measures: Access to cardholder data – both electronic and physical – should be on a “need-to-know” basis. Ensure those people with access have a unique ID and password. Do not share logon information.
  5. Regularly Monitor and Test Networks: Track and monitor all access to networks and cardholder data. Ensure you have a regular testing schedule for security systems and processes including firewalls, patches and anti-virus.
  6. Maintain an Information Security Policy: It’s critical that your organization has a resource for governing your company’s data security. Ensure you have a policy and that it’s disseminated and updated regularly.

For Sage MAS 90 and 200 customers, versions 4.30.0.18 and 4.40.0.1 are in the process of being certified.   For Sage MAS 500 customers, version 7.3 will be compliant.  In addition, Sage Payment Solutions is a Level 1 credit card service provider and currently is in full compliance.

Please click here for additional information regarding PCI-DSS compliance in MAS 90 and MAS 200.  Click here for additional information regarding PCI-DSS compliance in MAS 500.

Image for PCI-DSS post


 

March 22, 2010

FRx To Be Replaced: New Financial Reporting Tool for Sage MAS 90/MAS 200/MAS 500

Posted by Amy Shaver under What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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FRx, the financial report writer used with MAS 90 and MAS 200, will no longer be sold by Microsoft after December 31, 2010.  Sage will provide support for FRx through December 31, 2012.

Sage has officially announced that Excel-based software add-on Sage MAS Intelligence from Alchemex will replace FRx as the financial report writer for MAS 90, MAS 200 and MAS 500.  Sage MAS Intelligence will be available in June, 2010.

One of the primary ways that Sage MAS Intelligence is different from FRx is that it supports using ALL of the MAS modules and not just the General Ledger module that FRx is limited to.  Sage MAS Intelligence works with Microsoft Excel 2007 to offer flexible reporting The look and feel is similar to a Microsoft Excel pivot table.  Other versions of Excel are also supported but the reporting wizard will only work with Excel 2007.

Each Sage customer on a current basic maintenance plan will receive one user (named license, can be installed and run on only one workstation) at no charge to replace their FRx single-user product.  Sage MAS Intelligence will work with MAS 90/MAS 200 Version 4.4 and MAS 500 Version 7.3.

Here are a few key points about the new Sage MAS Intelligence reporting tool:

  • Excel-based reporting tool with access to all MAS modules and data.
  • Includes some pre-defined operations and financial reports.
    • Dashboard Analysis
    • Financial Reports
    • Sales & Purchase Reports
    • Financial Trend Analysis
    • Multicompany Reports (connector add-on required)
  • User-level security available
  • Additional add-ins provide extra flexibility:  saving report outputs to specific location, publishing reports in html, emailing capability, ability to run reports from a desktop shortcut.

Stay tuned for further announcements and details regarding Sage MAS Intelligence!  In the meantime, please contact me if you have further specific questions.

 

March 12, 2010

New Webinar – PlanetTogether’s Scheduling Optimizes your Resources

Posted by amontgomery999 under Business Strategy, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Join us for a Webinar on August 11

PlanetTogether’s Scheduling Optimizes your Resources

  • Advanced Planning & Scheduling systems save time and money
  • Allocate work to your resources based on your rules and requirements
  • Consider resource and material availability to enable better decisions
  • Coordinate sales, production, purchasing, and management with an interactive manufacturing plan
  • Connect your existing ERP and business systems
Title: PlanetTogether’s Scheduling Optimizes your Resources
Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/699755968

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March 11, 2010

New Webinar – 17 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now To Reduce Outstanding Accounts Receivable

Posted by amontgomery999 under Business Strategy, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Join us for a Webinar on April 7

17 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now To Reduce Outstanding Accounts Receivable

1.  Create A Plan
2.  Provide Timely & Accurate Information
3.  Develop KPIs
4.  Define Roles
5.  Standardize Messaging
6.  Document Activities
7.  Define Dispute Resolution Procedures
8.  Centralize Data & Communications
9.  Manage Your Resources
10.  Score Customers Using Cost of Credit
11.  Be Proactive
12.  Focus on Key Accounts
13.  Automate Business Processes
14.  Secure Financial Information
15.  Involve Your Sales Team
16.  Escalate Trouble Accounts
17.  Work as a Team

Title: 17 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now To Reduce Outstanding Accounts Receivable
Date: Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/839814768

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February 23, 2010

Sage MAS 500 Product Roadmap

Posted by Amy Shaver under Technology, What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Sage MAS 500 Version 7.3 has been available for a number of months now.  Major features include a new Credit Card Processing module, new Business Insights Explorer Views, numerous enhancements to Inventory, Purchase Order and Sales Order, as well as ACH processing for Accounts Payable.  Click here for a full release guide (Sage_MAS_500_7.3_Release_Guide).

As with my former post on Sage MAS 90/MAS 200 product roadmap, let’s take a look at the Sage MAS 500 roadmap.  The roadmap (Sage MAS 500 Roadmap) outlines Sage’s future plans for Sage MAS 500.  I’ll summarize a few key points below.

  • Product Strategy:  Sage wants to provide more ‘value for maintenance,’ which will include incorporating features and functionality based on top customer-requested enhancements.  The idea is to release new features & functionality over time with regular product updates, rather than waiting for “major” upgrades.
  • New financial reporting alternative:  Business Insights Intelligance, a new reporting tool in a familiar Microsoft environment.  FRx will be supported by Microsoft until December 31, 2012.
  • Focus on enhancements to advanced manufacturing/distribution.
  • Goal to reduce impact of upgrades on MAS 500 customizations.

Following is a general timeline for Sage MAS 500 product updates.

  1. Product Updates for Version 7.3 (December 2009, February 2010, May 2010)
  2. Version 7.4 (Quarter 2, 2011)
  3. Product Updates for Version 7.4 (expected to be released every 3 to 4 months after the official release of 7.4)
  4. Version 7.5 (Quarter 4, 2012)

Visit the Sage roadmap (Sage MAS 500 Roadmap) for more specific details about Version 7.3 features, as well as a retirment schedule for previous versions.  And, as always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

 

February 19, 2010

Don’t miss our upcoming webinars!

Posted by amontgomery999 under Business Strategy, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Greetings Aries Technology Group readers!

My name is Adrian Montgomery, Marketing Director at Aries Technology Group.

I will be using this blog to keep you informed of upcoming events here at Aries Technology Group.

We have serveral webinars scheduled the first one is regarding Avalara.  Please see below for a description and register today!

Join us for a Webinar on March 10

Attend this informational webinar focused on

Sales Tax Audit Challenges and Solutions to Protect Your Company.

Become fully automated and completely audit compliant with AvaTax!

AvaTax can Automate the entire Sales Tax Process, including:

  • Sales Tax Rates – no more Tax Codes and Schedules to maintain
  • Product Taxability Rules – map to your Inventory Items
  • Sales Tax Return filing and payment remittance
  • Seamless integration to all major ERP’s including Microsoft, Sage, Quickbooks, Epicor, NetSuite, Intacct, Infor and Exact
  • Achieve compliance automatically – 14,500+ unique tax jurisdictions and with 100,000+ taxability rules
  • Audit protection – Average sales tax audit penalty = $35,000
    Street address level tax assignment – More accurate than ZIP codes
  • Industry leading training and support – included
Title: Sales Tax Challenges – Protect Your Company!
Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/645291600

 

February 18, 2010

Sage MAS 90 and 200 Product Roadmap

Posted by Amy Shaver under What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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As you know from my article posted on February 12, Sage is in the process of delivering the major release of MAS90/MAS 200 Version 4.4.   This new release adds value for Sage customers with new time-saving features and enhancements, especially in the Inventory Management, Purchase Order and Bill of Materials modules.

It is never to early, though, to ask “what’s next?”  In answer to our questions, Sage has released a public ‘roadmap’ (MAS 90 MAS 200 Roadmap) for the MAS 90/MAS 200 product line.  This roadmap outlines Sage’s future plans for MAS 90/MAS 200.  I’ll summarize a few key points below.

  • Product Strategy:  Sage wants to provide more ‘value for maintenance,’ which will include incorporating features and functionality of popular Extended Solution titles, implementing top requested customer enhancements and providing ongoing product updates with minimal disruption.  The idea is to release new features & functionality over time with product updates, rather than waiting for a “major” upgrade.
  • Microsoft SQL Server Support
  • New financial reporting alternative:  Business Insights Intelligence.    FRx will be supported by Microsoft until December 31, 2012 and Sage is targeting Quarter 2, 2010 for this new reporting tool in a familiar Microsoft Excel interface.

Following is a general timeline for Sage MAS 90/MAS 200 product updates.

  1. Product Updates for Version 4.4 (March, June, September, December 2010 and March 2011)
  2. Version 4.5 (Quarter 3, 2011)
  3. Product Updates for Version 4.5 (September, December 2011 and April 2012)
  4. Version 4.6 (Quarter 3, 2012)

In addition, Sage has announced the following Product Retirement Schedule.

  1. Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Version 3.71:  September 30, 2010
  2. Sage MAS 200 SQL Edition Version 3.7x:  June 1, 2011
  3. Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Versions 4.0, 4.5 and 4.1:  September 30, 2011

Visit the Sage roadmap (MAS 90 MAS 200 Roadmap) for specific details on what’s included in the Product Updates and new versions.  And, as always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

 

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