October 14, 2011
The latest video from CPA, VeraSage Fellow and professional comedian, Greg Kyte, makes a brilliant point about how risky it is to pay your attorney, CPA or technology consultant by the hour. You might as well be buying lottery tickets at the local convenience store.
Tired of playing the lottery with your technology projects? If so, then we can show you what it’s like to work with a Firm of The Future…forget about the lottery and work with certainty.
October 6, 2011
Version 9.1 of Abra (VFP) provides several significant new features. Enhancements are included for HR, Payroll and Employee Self Service.
Highlights for Abra HR:
Highlights for Payroll:
Highlights for Employee Self Service (ESS):
dashboards (when used in conjunction with Sage Crystal Dashboard Design). Combine workforce cost and performance data into a high level overview and quickly drill down for more detailed analysis. These dashboards can be viewed from most web browsers (Safari, IE, Chrome and Firefox).
the ability to customize the look and feel of your ESS system.
iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows CE, Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile.For more details about all of the enhancements in version 9.1, please click on the What’s New in Sage Abra v9.1 document.
April 1, 2011
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:
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 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:
Please contact Aries at (865) 291-0005 x721 if you have any questions.
February 1, 2011
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 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:
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
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.”
January 15, 2011
This past Christmas, Amy and Caroline gave me a fantastic new cookbook. It’s a copy of the 2010 book by James Villas titled Pig: King of the Southern Table.
Growing up in the Carolinas, I thought I pretty much knew everything about pork and barbecue. Mr. Villas sure proved me wrong!
The book defines terms like fatback and streak o’lean, teaches you how to make South Carolina-style barbecue hash and explains in detail all of the various cuts of pig.
The recipes are divided into sections ranging from appetizers to casseroles, pies, barbecue, salads and breads. Who knew there were so many different ways to cook pig.
Since Mr. Villas was born and raised in Charlotte, NC, the stories and opinions definitely take on a Southern viewpoint. Any sensitive Yankees may want to have a shot of bacon-infused vodka before perusing the book.
I also enjoyed the historical porcine facts and pig-related quotes from celebrities that are scattered among the recipes.
The first pigs to enter the United States were 13 animals landed in 1539 near Tampa, Florida, by Hernando de Soto.
And a quote from Tom Wicker writing for the New York Times:
We North Carolinians, of course, know — we are not taught, we are born knowing — that barbecue consists of pork cooked over hickory coals and seasoned with vinegar and red pepper pods.
We decided to start with a straight-forward casserole on a Friday night. Friday nights are traditionally casserole nights for our family since no one usually has the energy to cook up an elaborate meal. Saturday nights are for the really involved meals. We chose the Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom Supreme that Mr. Villas says was given to him by “an elegant lady in Macon, Georgia, known for the casseroles she serves routinely at fancy bridge parties, wedding receptions, weekend brunches and, of course, bereavement buffets”.
The recipe turned out great. This cookbook will definitely occupy a prominent spot in our kitchen.
Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom Supreme:
Makes 4 to 6 Servings
One 3-pound chicken, cooked and meat diced
1 pound bulk pork sausage
One 6-ounce package Uncle Ben’s long grain and wild rice, cooked
One 10 3/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
One 6-ounce jar sliced mushrooms with juice
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Mix together the chicken meat, cooked sausage, cooked rice, cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms and their juice in a 2-quart backing dish or casserole and bake for 45 minutes.
3. Serve hot directly from the casserole.
January 12, 2011
Sage began shipping the brand new MAS 200 SQL version 4.45 this past month. By combining the flexibility and powerful customization capabilities of the MAS 200 Business Framework with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, Sage makes it even easier for a small- to medium-sized business to operate more effectively and efficiently.
Version 4.45 is optimized for SQL Server to offer scalability, easy integration with other applications and enhanced reporting services. It takes advantage of SQL Server capabilities such as job scheduling, database maintenance plans and faster searches. Integrations with other applications take place at the application level using Business Objects to ensure successful upgrades to new versions.
The Business Framework provides the ability, using standard scripting, to automatically change the available choices that are presented in MAS 200 or to automatically enter data. For example, a script could automatically change the expiration date of a sales quote depending on the type of quote that is chosen for a particular customer.
For additional details, please click here for Sage’s Pre-Release Announcement for version 4.45.
 | John Shaver on Chicken Tetrazzini Au Gra… |
 | Michael Thomas on Chicken Tetrazzini Au Gra… |
| Do Your Clients Know… on Bob’s Barbecue – T… | |
| John Shaver on Bob’s Barbecue – T… |
| John Shaver on Bob’s Barbecue – T… |
