Wegner LLP, CPAs & Consultants

May 8, 2008 REPORT ON APRIL 29 USERS GROUP MEETING

Thank you very much to Bruce for presenting on budgeting at our  April 29 meeting.  Everyone appreciated benefiting from his many years of experience working with Peachtree as a user.

There was a lot of discussion about using the budgeting feature and also lots of questions and interest in using inventory. As a result we decided to have a brief presentation on inventory at our next users group meeting (Any volunteers to present?).

The other topic of interest at this meeting was using payroll and paid time off options. 

In addition, Christin demonstrated the new feature in our blog that enables you to subscribe to the blog via email.

We welcomed several newcomers to our meeting in Baraboo. There was a lot of discussion between our users at this meeting and lots of sharing of best practices and problem solving.

Our next Users Group Meeting is July 29.These User Group meetings are for YOU. Please come and participate.  Use the blog in between to share!

Hope to see you on the July 29.  Check our blog for Peachtree News You Can Use!

March 18, 2008, Stress in the office?

My apologies--I have been knee deep in tax returns as well as Peachtree client support and have neglected to update the blog.  During this busy time I did have the opportunity to participate in a teleconference workshop on managing stress in the workplace sponsored by a firm in Pennsylvania whose excellent leadership development conference I attended this past fall. Though not Peachtree specific  I wanted to share  some of the highlights of this Gatto and Associates session with you.

Most of us have some feelings of stress caused by our workplace.  Among the stressors in the workplace are certain colleagues, some managers,  circumstances,  and time management.  One of the most insidious offenders is workload creep. Think about  having a backpack on your back and every 1/4 hour we add  one tablespoon of sugar to it.  The first day no big deal; we may have 24 tablespoons. But after a month you would have close to 700 little scoops of sugar adding up to a very heavy pack to carry, but it creeped up on you.  That is what stress can be like--a little bit each day till it is a heavy burden. 

What can you do about managing stress at work?  The standard solutions: get enough sleep, eat right, drink plenty of water and GET EXERCISE.  Taking short walks in the middle of the day  is an easy way to accomplish a break as well as exercise.  Don't take on too much at once.  Ask yourself if your expectations are realistic.   

Are you walking out of the office at the end of each day with  a sense of accomplishment or a sense of hopelessness? Some creative solutions to achieve that sense of accomplishment:

At the end of the day identify a project you want to work on tomorrow. Then when you come in the morning DON"T CHECK EMAIL OR VOICE MAIL for the first hour  --do the project!  Checking voice mail and email will take you in too many directions. Tell people to contact you about 8:30 or 9; come in at 7 and work for 1 1/2 hours to get that project done. BLOCK OFF PERIODS OF UNINTERRUPTED TIME.

I have found that implementing this has technique has definitely enhanced my time management skills and has decreased my stress level. Try it!

I will be checking in more often, I promise.  Remember our users group meets at the end of April.  I will have some Peachtree tips for you next time. 

Should I Upgrade to Peachtree 2008?

At the users group meeting this week I was asked why a Peachtree 2006 user should upgrade to Peachtree 2008.  I would like to share a list of some of the improvements from 2006 to 2008.(If this feature was also available in 2007, I indicated that so you can see the smaller differences between 2007 and 2008).

1. Faster saving time when reports are open (from 10 seconds to less than one third of a second). For heavy users, this could be a BIG time saver.
2. Ability to attach files to Peachtree records and most transactions. For exampe you could add pictures to inventory records or timesheets to paychecks (All standard file formats supported)
3. Added the Business Status Screen-- (Dashboard).  (Available in 2007)
4. More reporting options--new fields, new filters, new sorting options.
5. **My favorite--Additional drill-down capabilities on reports, including drill down on the General Ledger Trial Balance (I really appreciate this ability---a feature QuickBooks has always had).
6. Easier Report design--features built right into the preview screen so you can change form and screen layouts from one place.
7. Broadcast Invoices- bill multiple customers at the same time, or bill same customer multiple times over a specific period.
8. For Inventory management; Flexible Unit  and Quantity Decimal settings up to 5 places.
9. Certified as "works with Vista."
10. Recurring transactions can carry over without end date (Available in 2007)
11. Budget creator (available in 2007)

This is by no means an exhaustive or detailed list, but certainly the highlights. So the question is: should you upgrade to 2008 if Peachtree 2006 is working for you now? 

I do subscribe, to the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school of thought. However, if you are using Peachtree for payroll processing and subscribe to their payroll tax update service, you will have to upgrade by the end of this year so the decision is already made for you.  But if you don't have the payroll issue I do think the changes from 2006 to 2008 are remarkable enhancements--in fact the shift in the platform from the 2006 to the 2007 was a very significant change. I don't think Peachtree 2007 users need to upgrade to 2008, but I think  Peachtree 2006 might consider the move now--but if not now, then certainly to 2009 which will be available in the late fall. 

PEACHTREE USERS GROUP MEETING JANUARY 29, 2008

Thank you very much to all who particpated in this morning's Peachtree Users Group Meeting. It was exciting to have so many involved participants.  So far I have no answer for the problem of the List closing when you click on it in Peachtree 2008. I was unable to duplicate the problem.  If anyone has a suggestion, please comment.

I have posted information on accessing the File Integrity Check under a separate topic in this blog.  Remember to back up before you perform the test.

I am looking forward to your continual dialogue in this space.  Be careful out there today! Dale

Integrity Check Information

Many of you who attended this morning's Peachtree Users Group meeting were interested in how to run the Integrity Check. So here is the basic information.

  Be sure to back up your data BEFORE you run the Integrity Check!!

After backing up, close Peachtree and go the Run option in the Windows Start menu. Type in

X\YYYYY\peachw.exe -i

where X = the drive where the Peachtree program files are loaded and YYYY = the directory where the Peachtree files are located.  There should be a space then a hyphen then the letter i. 

For example on my computer I typed in <C:\Peachtree2007\peachw.exe -i>

Then select Okay and Peachtree will reopen. There will now be an option under the File menu called Integrity Check. Select that and follow the prompts.  Be sure to select only one test to perform at a time.

Peachtree Users Group Q&A - November 7th Session

Q: Why did upgrading to Peachtree version 2008 from 2006 wipe out my customized checks forms?

A: The upgrade put the data in a different directory than the 2006 data. If you have a backup of the 2006 data you can go to your 2008 and choose File>Restore and choose custom forms from the 2006 backup and you can get back your customized check forms.

Q: Is there a way to merge vendor records if for example you accidentally created two records for one vendor?

A: While you can change vendor Ids, I am not aware of anyway to actually merge two vendor records. Has anyone else accomplished this? An alternative solution is to make one of the vendor records inactive and change its name and/or ID to "DO NOT USE".

Q:  Why did Peachtree 2008 take away the account names in the entry windows such as receipts entry, check entry as there was in version 2006?

A: If the global option is changed to not hide the general ledger accounts in data entry, the 2008 version displays exactly the same way as 2006 - that is the general ledger number is displayed and a drop down list is enabled to look at the name or to change it. If you don't see the general ledger number displayed you must go to Options>Global and uncheck the boxes that say "hide general ledger accounts in accounts receivable, accounts payable, etc."

Q: Why is the Peachtree 2008 so much more difficult to install than previous versions for the multi user versions?

A: Peachtree versions 2007 and 2008 run on the pervasive database, which is different from the pre2007 versions. As a result, to use over a network, the software must be installed on the server as well as the individual workstations to share the data over the network. The SQL platform requires this set up. This is a price we pay for advanced technology that yield efficiencies and performance enhancements.

Q: How do I run a report for the number of specific items sold?

A: Go to Reports>Inventory and choose Inventory Unit Activity Report.

Q: How do I record Royalty payments in the right 1099 box?

A: Go to Maintain>Default Information>Vendors and select the 1099 settings tab. Select the general ledger account that you are using to record Royalty payments and then, using the drop down list for that line select "1099-MISC Box 2"

Q: How can I avoid wasting checks when paying more than 8 bills?

A: I am sorry I do not understand your question. Could you resubmit it with more detail?

Q: How do I modify fields showing on a check stub?

A: Checks are considered "reports" in Peachtree and all reports can be customized. Go to Reports>Accounts Payable and choose Disbursement checks. Highlight the check format you want and choose the "Design" icon at the top. When the grid appears choose File>Save and enter a new name. Click Save and begin your design modifications. Peachtree does not allow modification of the actual forms they provide, but you can save any form and rename it to make design changes.

Q: What are the advantages of Peachtree Quantum over Complete?

A: The most significant difference is that with Peachtree Quantum you can have up to ten named users accessing the database at one time; Peachtree Complete's limit is five. Other differences in features include a more options for setting up and maintaining user security with Quantum, one year of unlimited support and better performance to support larger transaction volumes and more customer, vendor and inventory data. Companies that are experiencing lengthy load times for reports and lengthy save times for transactions will see better performance with Quantum.

Q: How do I turn off payroll tax service?

A: If you don't pay for the renewal you won't have it anymore. If you currently have Peachtree maintained tax tables, you can switch to User maintained tax tables in the Payroll Wizard.

Q: How do you have a payroll deduction occur only on one single payroll?

A: You uncheck that payroll item in the maintain employee screen.

Q: How do you set up sick and/or vacation time?

A: You must set up the payroll item in your maintain payroll. You must have a vacation (sick) formula in your payroll tax tables. Then you have to check that box for the employee in the maintain employee screen. If you are going to grant all the vacation at one time at the beginning of the year you must enter the vacation hours in the Beginning Balances in the Maintain Employee screen. To accrue vacation based on hours worked each payroll, the formula must be set up correctly. Our Peachtree consultants are experienced in setting up vacation and sick time and entering formulas. If you want assistance we can typically set this up for you in less than one hour of billable time.