August 30, 2011

Sage Offers Sage MAS Intelligence (SMI) Web Demo’s

Posted by Amy Shaver under What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , |
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Interested in learning more about the new financial reporting tool from Sage, SMISageMASLogo?  Here is a list of free web demo’s coming up over the next few weeks.  All of them include 30 minutes of demonstration and 30 minutes of Q&A.

SMI is Sage’s recommended replacement for FRx (which has been discontinued by Microsoft).  SMI is Excel-based and can be used to generate financial statements and is capable of generating reports for other MAS 90 and MAS 200 modules such as Accounts Receivable, Inventory Management and Sales Order.  In addition, reports can be created using multiple databases (even non-Sage databases).  For example, a report which combines data from MAS 90 and Abra HRMS.

For a more in-depth look at what you need to learn to get started with SMI, check out the list of Customer Resources that Sage has made available.

 

June 23, 2011

Sage Summit Session–P-GEN12–Putting Sage Consulting Academy to Work in Your Organization

Posted by John Shaver under Business Strategy | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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Sage is holding their annual conference, Summit, in Washington, DC this July.  For the first time ever, the traditionally separate conferences for Sage customers and partners has been combined into one conference.  All of the Sage partners are looking forward to joining Sage as co-hosts for our customers.

I am presenting a session at the conference for other Sage partners who have attended Ed Kless’ Sage Consulting Academy (SCA).  Ed conducts the SCA several times a year to assist partners with becoming better consultants and project managers.  It is a fantastic program that, to my knowledge, has no equal in the world of software publishers.

While every attendee I have talked with feels that they received valuable knowledge from SCA that has made them better consultants, the one comment that Ed and I hear on a regular basis is “we really want to implement these new ideas at our firm but we can’t quite figure out how to do it.”  With that thought in mind, my goal for this session is to provide several real world examples of how we have implemented SCA processes into our business.  Specifically, my focus will be on how to use the project management tools from SCA.

I’m bringing examples of the following tools from several of our projects:

  • Business process diagrams
  • Issues List
  • Project Charter
  • Project Manager Selection
  • Project Scope

And examples of additional tools that we have developed including:

  • Vision Statement
  • Pricing Proposal
  • Knowledge Transfer Agreement (KTA)

Since this session in an interactive one, I’m encouraging dialog from the group about how you have used knowledge from SCA in your organization.  How has SCA helped you move from a firm of the past to a Firm of The Future?  Please feel free to bring sample project management documents (it doesn’t matter if they are for small projects or large ones) to share with the group.  If you would like, you can e-mail copies of them to me at jshaver@ariestech.com so we can present them to the group.

I’m also open to talk through any aspect of SCA that may be of interest.  Please share those ideas via the comments on this article.

I’m looking forward to seeing all of you on Tuesday, July 12th at 10am!

 

April 13, 2011

Bob’s Barbecue – The Absurdity of the Billable Hour

Posted by John Shaver under Comic Relief, Why Hire Aries? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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I’m always looking for ways to demonstrate the absurdity and inherent risk to businesses like yours who work with software consultants (or CPAs or attorneys) who bill for their time.

This past January at the international VeraSage conference, I was talking with Ron Baker about how we can more effectively get the message out that the only way for a business to know that a software consultant knows what they are doing is by having that consultant provide them with a fixed price for every project.

Ron provided a wonderful insight.  The most effective way to demonstrate the absurdity of a particular idea (in this case, the billable hour) is to ridicule it.

Greg Kyte, who is a VeraSage Fellow, CPA and professional stand-up comedian, and I started working on a video lampooning the practice of billing time.

The result is Bob’s Barbecue.  It is the first in a series of videos which will depict all of the many ways that the billable hour is harmful and risky for your company.

 

April 1, 2011

Sage Releases MAS 90 and MAS 200 4.4 Product Update 5

Posted by Amy Shaver under Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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The fifth Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 4.4 Product Update — 4.40.0.5 — is now available.  The update contains several core features and functionality enhancements in Accounts Payable, Inventory Management and Library Master.  The 2011 941 Form Update is also included in Product Update 5.

Additions include:

  • Multiple Company Aged Invoice Report:  Print your A/P Aged Invoice Report in a multi-company format and combine vendor information.  You’ll get a complete picture of your vendors across all MAS companies, helping you identify opportunities for improving the bottom line, negotiating better volume discounts or consolidating orders to save on shipping.
  • Accounts Payable Check Sorting Options.  Print checks alphabetically by vendor name, not just by vendor number.
  • Expense Distribution Tables.  Streamline the entry of invoices in A/P when you need to regularly allocate across multiple departments.
  • Security in Item Inquiry.  Four new permission settings are available to further restrict users.  These permissions apply to Item Inquiry and are Allow Access to All Item Inquiry Tabs Including Main and Quantity, Allow Access to Costing, Receipts and Vendor Information, Display Standard Cost Information and Display Vendor Information.
  • Inactive Items.  An inventory item can be designated as ‘inactive’ in Inventory Management so it can no longer be purchased or sold.  If an item is marked inactive, you can process returns using RMA or a Sales Order Credit Memo, or maintain history for warranty purposes.
  • Company-Specific Background Colors.  Assign an easily identifiable background color for each company in MAS.  This helps ensure entries are made into the correct company.
  • 2011 941 Form Update.

Contact Aries Technology Group at (865) 291-0005 x721 for further information about this Product Update or to arrange a time to install the update.  Thank you!

 

March 31, 2011

Sage Releases 2011 941 Form Update

Posted by Amy Shaver under Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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Sage has released the 2011 941 Form Update for MAS 90 and MAS 200.  The form update is compatible with versions 4.20, 4.30 (SP 17 – 21) and 4.40.  Changes to the form include:

  1. The year has been updated to 2011 on the entire form.
  2. A new entry field was added for Tax Due on Unreported Tips.
  3. There are no changes to the Schedule B for 2011.

Please contact Aries at (865) 291-0005 x721 if you have any questions.

 

March 2, 2011

Sage Summit 2011

Posted by John Shaver under Business Strategy, Travels and Adventures | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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This year, for the first time ever, Sage is combining its traditionally separate annual sage_summitconferences into one big conference.  In the past, Sage Summit (which is for users of Sage software) took place in the Summer and was a completely separate event from Sage Insights (which was for Sage partners).

The partner-focused part of Summit runs from Sunday, July 10th through Tuesday, July 12th.  Beginning on the afternoon of the 12th and running through Friday, July 15th, the conference switches gears and becomes completely focused on customers.  The best part of this arrangement is that Sage and partners (like us) will jointly welcome and host the customers.

It provides a fantastic opportunity for you to not only spend time with Sage executives and educators but to work one-on-one with your Sage partner to improve your knowledge of Sage products and to hone your project management skills to make you an invaluable team member for your company.

Here is a guide to all of the General and Breakout sessions along with prices for attending the conference.  Summit is being held in the Washington, DC area at the Gaylord National.

It’s a great location for bringing the family along as well.  All 3 of us are going this year, which I’m definitely looking forward to.  There is a Metro station close by and a water taxi that runs the Potomac from National Harbor to Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon.

I’ll see all of you there!

 

February 28, 2011

Great Free Resource For Support Questions

Posted by Amy Shaver under Business Strategy, Technology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Have you ever wondered where you can go to get answers to your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) software questions?

The folks at 90Minds (of which we are proud members) teamed together to create Ask90Minds.  A free resource for questions regarding:

  • Epicor90-minds-200
  • Sage Abra HRMS
  • Sage Accpac
  • Sage MAS 90
  • Sage MAS 200
  • Sage MAS 500
  • SageCRM
  • SAP Business One
  • Microsoft Dynamics GP
  • Microsoft Dynamics NAV
  • Open Systems
  • Traverse

Why would you use Ask90Minds instead of the software publishers’ knowledgebases?  Because you want the real answers from real technology consultants who have years of in the field experience with companies just like yours.

90Minds is a network of 27 independent technology consultants who work everyday with a variety of business management software applications.  These consultants provide assistance with advanced technical questions.

In addition to technical support questions, you will find a rich and constantly expanding library of how-to articles, common mistakes and issues encountered with new software versions.

All of these articles are written in clear, easy to understand language that is unbiased by software publishers.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

 

February 1, 2011

Upcoming Sage MAS 90 and 200 Version Retirements

Posted by Amy Shaver under Technology, What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 Versions 4.0, 4.05 and 4.10 will be retired as of September 30, 2011.  After September 30, product updates — including year end — and telephone support will no longer be provided by Sage.  Customers who are on a current annual maintenance plan with Sage will, however, continue to have access to the knowledgebase which contains articles about the retired versions.

MAS 2o0 SQL Version 3.74 will be supported at least until MAS 200 SQL Version 4.5 is released (scheduled for late 2011).  Sage has not determined an exact retirement date for 3.74 but they may as the release date for version 4.5 gets closer.  My opinion is that Sage will support 3.74 for a “reasonable” amount of time to give 3.74 users enough time to move to 4.5.

For more information, see the Supported Versions document published by Sage as well as the Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Roadmap – July 2010.  Please contact us to assist with your MAS upgrade.  Helpful documents to review before upgrading are the MAS 90 Supported Platform Matrix and the MAS 200 Supported Platform Matrix.  These guides will assist in preparing your hardware and network for an upgrade.

 

January 26, 2011

Sage MAS 90 and 200 Product Updates

Posted by Amy Shaver under Technology, What's ahead for Sage and Sage Products? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Sage has released Product Updates 3 and 4 for Version 4.4 of Sage MAS 90 and 200.  Any customers who are on a current plan with their Sage maintenance agreement are eligible to receive the update.

In an effort to provide additional features and benefits on a more timely basis than the traditional once-a-year upgrade, Sage is releasing Product Updates on a quarterly schedule.  Each of these Product Updates will include both customer-requested features and select additions from the Extended Solutions catalog.

The main enhancements in these two updates are to the Bank Reconciliation module.  Below are highlights of these new features:

  • Adjustments, such as bank fees and interest earned, can be entered directly into the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry screen and posted to General Ledger.
  • Easily select Bank Reconciliation transactions to flow to General Ledger from the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry Screen using a column titled ‘Select for General Ledger Posting.’
  • Information added to the Comment Field in Bank Reconciliation will also flow through to General Ledger when transactions are posted.
  • A new task added to the Bank Reconciliation Main menu — Transaction Register — provides the ability to post selected transactions from Bank Reconciliation to General Ledger.
  • New security has been added to the Role Maintenance in Library Master to provide more detailed security for users in the Bank Reconciliation module.
  • New Paperless Office features have been added to Bank Reconciliation, such as the ability to email and fax registers.

In addition, Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.4 is now compatible with Microsoft Office 2010.

For a complete list of enhancements in Sage MAS 90 and 200 Product Updates 3 and 4, please see What’s New in Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.4 Product Updates 3 and 4.   Please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions!


 

January 25, 2011

Customer Spotlight: AccuForce Staffing Services LLC

Posted by John Shaver under Business Strategy, Why Hire Aries? | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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AccuForce Staffing Services, LLC, a staffing company in Kingsport, TN has been a Sage MAS 200 user for the past few years.  Although technically a customer of Aries, the management team at AccuForce had not used our services for quite some time, preferring to perform all of the accounting setup in MAS 200 themselves.  However, in December of 2010, their new CFO, Sarah Fleenor, contacted us inquiring how they might accomplish several goals with their MAS 200 system.  Though Sarah initially contacted us simply because she was told by Sage that Aries was their “MAS reseller”, it quickly became a closer, more positive and strategic relationship as it became evident that the Aries business model would be a good fit for their company.  They understood the value of Aries’ fixed, upfront, money-back guarantee pricing approach to projects.  “I like the fixed price model and am all about planning and testing before going live,” commented Sarah about the Aries model.

AccuForce and Aries team members worked collaboratively to scope the projects, breaking them into smaller projects to fit their budget and timeline.  Our first project was to redesign the General Ledger chart of accounts.  Due to many of the accounts being set up incorrectly from the start,  financial statements were not accurate.  We provided AccuForce with a fixed, budgetable price for the project and agreed on a timeline for completion of the project to coincide with their producing year-end financial statements.

Future projects include providing ongoing technical support, a MAS 200 upgrade which will allow them to take advantage of new features such as PositivePay for Bank Reconciliation, and eliminating manual entry of payroll transactions by using MAS 200′s Visual Integrator module to automatically import those transactions.  These projects will allow AccuForce to run their business more effectively and efficiently.

“AccuForce Staffing Services, LLC is a world-class, technology-forward staffing company committed to helping individuals find the careers they desire and assisting companies find the kind of employees to make their business a success by concentrating on talent and fit.”

 

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