What a Year! Could Not Have Done it Without YOU!

AXIS Integrated Solutions Named “Technology Pacesetter”

SourceMedia, the publisher of Accounting Technology, Accounting Today, and Practical Accountant, issued their annual list of technology "Pacesetters," their "Select 100," as chosen primarily by Accounting Technology Editor-in-Chief Bob Scott. The 2006 Pacesetters are chosen as follows: "Pacesetters distinguish themselves through their performance. Factors that went into this selection include awards won by the organizations, leadership, industry reputation, sales per employee and growth.

“AXIS Integrated Solutions, formed by a trio of veteran reselling executives, started life with a bang in 2006 as it made Sage’s President’s Circle as US reseller in combined sales of Accpac and Sage Pro” said Bob Scott.

On behalf of the partners, Kelly Hummel, Tony Chiodo and Manny Buigas, we want to extend our thanks for the opportunity to serve you as your business partner and look forward to adding value to your organization’s long into the future.  We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated group of consultants whose commitment and dedication to their profession is second to none in the industry.

The AXIS family would like to extend our warmest wishes for a Joyous Holiday Season and for a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Increasing Sales Through Knowledge Management
December 2006
By Dr. Nancy Rauseo

With the emphasis on technology and heightened customer awareness, the role of sales has evolved over the past couple of decades. Even the ideal profile of a salesperson has gone from an expressive, outgoing individual to one that is more analytical and passive. Business customers today are much more informed and educated than before, thanks to the Internet and CRM-related software applications. This increased knowledge places more demands on salespeople – more knowledge, more consultation, more proactiveness, more problem-solving, and less ‘pushiness’. Sales is becoming a ‘knowledge profession’.

So what can a salesperson do to become an exceptional knowledge professional and increase revenues? In this article, we will address the first part of this question – becoming a sales knowledge professional. In our next article, we will focus on how this professional can generate increased revenues.

A knowledge professional is someone who depends on information to effectively perform the expected job functions. The primary output or deliverable of a sales function is an information product. Without accurate customer information, it is impossible to identify problems clearly and provide adequate solutions. Wrong or poor customer information results in a poor relationship with little or no sales. It’s as simple as that.

Let’s define knowledge management (KM) as the activities associated with generating, codifying, and transferring knowledge to and from the right stakeholders in a business relationship. And who best to initiate these activities than the person who first makes contact with a customer – the salesperson.

Many people use the terms data, information, knowledge and intelligence interchangeably; however, they are very different. Let’s look at the evolution of intelligence as noted in the diagram below.

First of all, data are discrete, objective facts about events. Alone, they mean nothing. If I say to you that a company’s annual sales is $1.0 million, this has little meaning. But if I state that the annual sales are for 2006, then it has some meaning.  Information is data that has context. Given this context, the sales figure now means something to you as you compare it to other years.

Knowledge is the fluid mix of experience, values, information and expert insight which provides a framework for evaluating & incorporating new experiences and information. Given that the annual sales are $1.0 million this year as compared to $1.5 million last year, you will most likely analyze why there was a decrease and learn from any mistakes made in your company’s sales efforts. These lessons learned are considered knowledge.

Intelligence is being able to apply the new knowledge that you have obtained. This is where KM comes in. Take a look at the diagram below for the stages of the continuous KM process.

Sales and customer relationship management are about finding, capturing and retaining customers. We can use KM strategies to help us identify future customers and capture the needs, transactions, experiences, and behaviors of future and current customers. Sales can use this information to make decisions about how to better interact with prospects and customers and design solutions, products and services that create sustainable relationships. The knowledge you have about your customers is a competitive weapon in today’s environment. It is a corporate asset.

So how can a sales professional become proficient in the use of the KM process? The first step is to generate knowledge, but this can’t be done until the right data and information are captured in a formal way. A knowledge professional focuses on understanding not only the customer but the customer’s industry and competitive marketplace. Sales automation and CRM applications are merely tools for capturing, codifying and transferring knowledge to others that may need it in the customer relationship. Lots of legwork and industry and market research must be done before technology comes into the picture.

We’ve all heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out.” If the inputs of salespeople are simply customer data and not information containing insights, then the output will be just data, not knowledge. The sales person must start by analyzing and converting the data collected to information. Using experiences, insights of others and business intelligence, the information can be validated for accuracy and then articulated or codified into knowledge. Knowledge codification simply means translating knowledge into words, formats, diagrams, or any visuals so others can view and interpret them.

It is a salesperson’s job to ensure that the initial content of any customer data file is more than just data. The information and knowledge must be relevant and clear so others in the organization can access and use in an effort to solve the customer’s problems.

Dr. Nancy Rauseo is on the faculty of Florida International University’s College of Business Administration where she teaches marketing and CRM. Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A and Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University. Prior to her teaching career, she held various senior management positions for over 20 years in the areas of sales, marketing and technology implementation

Born Leaders or Leaders Made by Mentors?
By Ed Robinson, CSP

Are leaders born or made? If we take a magnifying glass to their lives, I think we will find that they are made: made by mentors.
 
In a researching effort to write a sequel to my book “4 Giant Steps to Leadership,” I have interviewed dozens of leaders in different industries with an emphasis on professional service firms, organizations and associations. While opinions vary, my conclusion is quite precise in that there are several roads or journeys to that mountain called leadership and every journey is populated with great mentors. In short, the people we meet on our life journey determine whether or not we become leaders.

In virtually every interview I ask this key question, “What individuals in your past or even those you’ve read about made the biggest impact on you as the leader you are today?”

Typically the response will come after a few moments of reflection. My interviewees usually name three to five people and the specific characteristics each of them processed that made a mark on their mind and soul.

The follow up question is simply, “What characteristics that these people possessed do you emulate today!”

I have found that this emulation process is often unconscious yet when reflected upon, leaders can usually break down where and from whom they’ve pick up their unique style which is a blend of many people working within them to create the leader they are today.

How can we develop leaders in our association?

A couple of years ago, I was working with a professional service organization that wanted to take a more proactive role towards developing leaders. The organization was expanding and the principles knew that it would need to have more leaders to handle the growth as well as replace those who have put in years of effort and were ready for retirement.

We decided to start a formal mentoring program with the development of leaders from within to be the end product.

What skill set does a good mentor have?

After a few brainstorming sessions where we focused on the organization’s mission and the current vision of the leadership teams, we came up with a structure for the new leadership program.

When we needed to identify potential mentors for the new leaders. We looked for people who:

1. Possessed the ability and desire to empower and motivate.
2. Embraced the vision of the executive leadership team.
3. Communicated the vision clearly and inspiringly.
4. Possessed the discipline to be a great role model for men-tees.

What are a good leader’s skill sets?

Bob, a former partner with Price Waterhouse and the current Chief Auditing Executive in the gaming industry, made an interesting observation to me. He said, “For every ladder we climb in our industry or organization we move one step further from the technical competencies we developed to enter our fields. We end up relying more on our key ‘management soft skills’ to lead our organizations.”
 
Bob is pointing out that to grow and develop an organization, especially one built on technical services, we must grow and develop the leadership skills of our core staff.

Our next step was to decide upon the skill set we would teach the new leaders. We decided that there are certain key skills that a line staffer must know if they are going to grow through the organizational maze and become a leader.

That being said, here are five generic core skills you can use as a model to develop leaders in your organization.

1. Develop your technical competencies to grow within your organization. For example, if you are in the accounting industries, master your specific discipline, like taxes, audit or business modeling.
2. Refine your project management skills and your ability to initiate, plan, execute, control and close out a project.
3. Exhibit excellent communication and persuasive skills. Be able to affect behavior as well as solve problems and manage conflict.
4. Develop sound customer service and client relationship skills, communicating to customers and potential customers the value being delivered.
5. Possess the capacity to train staff for both replacement and future growth opportunities.

Leaders one and all

Are there born leaders? I would have to say that there are individuals who are born to a journey that includes role models and opportunities to develop discipline.

Since a leader is the product of the sum total of his or her experiences, we all have the capability of becoming leaders. I will say that as proactive organizations, we can identify where we want to take our associations in terms of client base, quality of relationships and continued growth potential.

Once we identify our goal, we can identify the skill set that will take us to it. Clarity around the skill set brings us to the point of establishing a mentoring program in each of our organizations. A clear vision combined with a consistent mentoring program equals an endless supply of leaders – the greatest asset a business can have!

Ed Robinson is a proven professional growth expert with over 20 years experience in both corporate and private business sectors. Ed is the author of “The Million $ Rainmaker”, “The 4 Giant Steps to Leadership” and his newest book “From Fighting the Storms to Dancing in the Rain” which deals with change and other storms in our lives. Ed can be reached at ed@edspeaks.com or 1-800-381-1433

New Functionality in Sage Pro ERP 7.4 – Closing Periods

In the latest release of Sage Pro ERP, the period-close process has some added functionality. There are now three separate routines that you can choose to allows for greater flexibility to tailor the system to match your business. These routines can be run at separate times based upon the needs of your business.

The first routine updates the period (or year-end) data:

This is accessed through System Manager, Transactions, Close Period.

1.When you make this selection, you are reminded to backup all the data.

There is a new option grid that allows you to closed all the periods at once, although each company must be closed seperately.

2. You will be prompted to select the company:

Click on the pull down and select the company.

Note: If General Ledger is not installed for the selected company, you will see the following option at the top of the Close Period dialog box:

Advance Current Fiscal Period (followed by the current period and fiscal year): Check this option to advance the current period to the next period in the company’s fiscal calendar. You cannot advance the period if it is the last period in the fiscal calendar.

3. When the process is complete, a dialog displays the current fiscal period and year and that the applications are successfully.

4. An option grid then appears that shows all of the installed applications for that company

Select the application (s) you want to close the period for. Use the <Spacebar> to mark or unmark an application.

• Select All to close the period in all the applications.
• Unselect All to clear any selected applications.

Once all the applications have been selected, click OK to continue.

5. The informational screen displays the processes and status.

When you click OK, the closing process goes through each module and you will be asked the closing questions that were in previous versions of Sage Pro ERP.

The second routine archives transactions seperately from closing the period:

The Archiving Transactions menu option is used to move transactions to history. Users can select a company, and then archive transactions for multiple applications within the company. A transaction exists in either the current or the history file, but never in both
files.

In previous releases of Sage Pro ERP, when you closed the period or year, the closing process moved all the records to the history file and left the open records (such as unpaid invoices, open sales orders, etc) in the current file. Thus, these records were in both files and marked as such. With Sage Pro ERP 7.4, the records reside in either one file or the other because the only transactions that are moved to the archived files are the ones that are closed.

By archiving the transactions on a consistent basis (i.e. every month), the current files contain only the current information and makes reporting, inquiries and data drillers clean and clear.

You must use the Archive Transactions feature to move the records to history. This is accessed through System Manager, Transactions, Archive Transactions.

6. You are again reminded to make a backup.

An option grid appears asking you to select a company, Click on the pull down and select your company.

Once a company is selected, the installed applications for that company appear.

7. This is very similar to the Period Close selection, except that there is a cut-off date.

Enter an Archive Cutoff Date. The default is the last day of the previous period. For example, if today's date is 10/15/06 and the current period started on 10/01/06,
the default date would be 09/30/06.

The system then goes through each selected application and asks the user if they are sure they want to archive the transactions.

The third routine purges transactions from the data files:

This option removes data from the archived transaction files. Users can select a company, and then purge transactions from archive for multiple applications within the company. This process does not remove records from the current transaction files.

This procedure will physically delete and remove records from the archived databases. Therefore, it will not be possible to access them via inquiries, data drillers or reports because the information will not exist.

The main reason to purge data is to free-up disk space and to speed up reports and inquiries. It is imperative that you are sure that the deleted data is not necessary. Once the data is purged, there is no way to retrieve it.

If there is any question, do not purge the transactions.

The process for deleting data is accessed through System Manager, Maintain, Purge Transactions From Archive. When this option is selected, you are reminded to backup your data. Additionally, there is a reminder that you are physically removing data from the archived files:

8. You will also see a reminder that you are physically removing data from the archived files. When you click OK, an option grid appears asking you to select a company, Click on the pull down and select the company.

9. When you click OK, an option grid appears asking you to select a company, Click on the pull down and select the company.

The default deletion cutoff date is one year prior to the current date. For example, if today's date is 10/15/06, the default date would be 10/15/05.

Select the application(s) you want to purge history for and click OK. 

10. You will be prompted to enter the delete date password.

After selecting OK, you will be asked to verify that you want to purge these records. When you select Yes, the system will purge the archived transactions based upon the deletion cutoff date.

As you can see, the added functionality of the period close routine as well as the archiving transactions and purging those archived transactions gives you greater control and flexibility over your data and accounting system.

If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please contact your AXIS consultant or email us at info@axisintegratedsolutions.com for more information.

How WMS and Web Dispatch handles kitting functions

What is kitting?  A kit is a set of parts or materials to be assembled and sold as a single product.  It consists of a finished good that contains sub-components.  Many companies use kits to add value to the products they sell.  It may be a computer company putting a keyboard, mouse, and speakers together with the computer to sell as a single unit, or it may be a cereal company that puts a toy in with the cereal.

The problem that can arise when a company uses kits is the opportunity for human error.  First, someone needs to calculate how many of a product goes into a kit and how many kits are being made.  Then, a worker needs to go get the parts.  Depending on the size of the kit and the number of kits produced, this can become a headache and time-wasting event.  When making a kit, one must deduct the ‘sub-components’ of the kit from inventory so they can be used to make the kit.  Then the newly kitted item needs to be added into inventory and put into pickable bins.  With all the interaction between the warehouse and the accounting department, mistakes are a constant worry.

WMS helps streamline the whole process.  It automatically calculates the number of products needed and where they are located, to minimize both headaches and time wasted.  WMS directs the picker to the chosen work area for building kits.  It automatically deducts the ‘sub-components’ out of inventory and feeds the adjustment up to the ERP system.  Once a kit is completed, the WMS software automatically adds the new product and puts it into a designated bin location, from which the product can be easily transferred into bins available for order fulfillment.  Every step of the process helps to minimize the chance of human error and to maximize productivity.

If you have any question pertaining to the subject of this article or about WMS in general, please call or e-mail us.  As your business partner and trusted advisor, are here to help.

The Risk of Malicious and Vengeful Employees

Think it can’t happen to your organization?

The situations outlined below don’t happen at every company, and therefore are often overlooked or brushed off with a simple “that won’t happen to us” attitude.  But it does happen to some companies and the consequences can be significant.  You can liken it to a tree falling on your house.  Will it happen?  Probably not; but if it does happen and you do not have a contingency plan or insurance to cover the repair costs, you could find yourself without shelter and huge expenses to “get back to normal.”

How can this be prevented?

As a business owner, one must take the necessary steps to take ownership of their companies most critical data.  Those steps consist of a well thought out business contingency plan involving the protection of data and ability to restore that data in a timely manner as to not disrupt normal operations.

One such step is to employee a company that can back up your data in a secure environment as well as to a remote location(s) in which adheres to regulatory statues (i.e. Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA). 
CoreVault has the ability to backup your files without having the knowledge of an IT administrator or needing a sophisticated IT staff.

CoreVault has the right online backup solution for companies like yours that are serious about protecting their business-critical data. For more information on CoreVault solutions, visit www.axisintegratedsolutions.com/solutions/secure_corevault.asp or call 305.418.9440.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q – What year end functions must be done in Sage Accpac ERP?

A – The only required functions are to create a new Fiscal Calendar year in Common Services and to run the General Ledger Create New Year function.

1. Create a new year in the Fiscal Calendar under Common Services.

• You do not have to close one year in the Accpac General Ledger before entering transactions into the new year’s subsidiary ledgers.  As soon as the new year in the Fiscal Calendar is created, you can enter transactions in both years.

The Fiscal Calendar is located under Common Services.

To create a new year in the Fiscal Calendar, click on the New button next to Fiscal Year.

The new Fiscal Year is created.  Verify the Start and End dates then click Save and Close.

2. Before running the Create New Year Function in the General Ledger verify that each account in the Chart of Accounts is properly designated as a Balance Sheet or P&L account then backup your data.
3. Run the General Ledger Create New Year function which does the following:

• Creates and posts a batch of transactions to close the income and expense accounts and enter the opening account balances for the new fiscal year.
• Opening balances for the new fiscal year for balance sheet and retained earnings accounts are the same as the previous year's closing balances.
• Income and expense accounts have opening balances of zero.
• Changes the current fiscal year to the next year.
• Removes fiscal sets and transactions history based on the Keep __ Years of Fiscal Sets option in the General Ledger Options Posting tab.

Note:  Transactions can still be posted to the previous year once the Create New Year function has been run as long as the fiscal period the transaction is being posted to and the closing fiscal period in the Fiscal Calendar are unlocked.  Once the transaction is posted, additional closing transactions are automatically posted to the closing fiscal period.

Additional year end maintenance can also be performed, but it’s not required and most is not recommended as history and functionality are lost.

The Create New Year function is located under the General Ledger Periodic Processing icon.  Make sure you back up your data before running this process.

Verify the period for which all previous fiscal sets will be cleared then click Process when you are ready to run the Create New Year function.

Verify the new year was created properly by opening the General Ledger Setup Options form.

Click on the Posting tab and the new fiscal year will shown next to the Current Fiscal Year.

If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please contact your AXIS consultant or email us at info@axisintegratedsolutions.com for more information.

Q – How do I download and install my latest Payroll tax update?

A – The Payroll tax update is downloaded from the Sage website www.sageaccpac.com.

Click Log On.

Click on Sage Accpac ERP and Accpac Plus Customers.

Enter your Username (Client ID) and Password. This can be found on any correspondence you have received from Sage Software or by calling Client Care at 800-253-1372.

Click View My Products and Services.

Click Download Tax Table.

Locate the latest tax update.

1. If an activation code has not been provided to you, click on  the here button and you will be provided a serial number and activation code.
2. Then click Download and save the program to you hard drive.

Double click on the program to run it.

Click Next.

Click Next.

Click Next.

Click I accept the terms and Next.

Verify the Destination folder then click Next.

Click Next.

Verify the Program Folder then click Next.

Click Next.  The tax update gets installed.  Click Finish when it completes. 

Before proceeding, backup your database. 

Open Accpac as the Admin User.  Under Administrative Services, click on Data Activation. 

Click Yes.

Make sure the proper Tax Update is highlighted and click Activate.

Click Proceed and the activation process will complete.

Verify the Tax Update installed properly by clicking on Help and System Information.

Scroll down until the Tax Updates are displayed and the red check mark will show next to the latest Tax Update just installed.

Q - How do I view an Exported Target List?

A - When a CSV file is exported from a Target List, it is added to the document library, and can be viewed from the Document Library tab.

1. Select My CRM | Document Library. A list of your library documents is displayed. Click on the hyperlink of the exported target list, for example, US East Contacts.
2. Click the View Attachment button.
3. The CSV file is displayed in a new browser window.

Q – Can I see the Dashboard as soon as I log on?

A – Yes - You can set the first page you see when you log on to CRM as the Dashboard.

1. Select My CRM | My Preferences, and click on the Change button.
2. Set the Log Me In To field to My Dashboard.
3. Select the Save button. Next time you log on to CRM, the Dashboard will be the first page you see.

Q: How do I get rid of the message “Error 1925: Unknown member IO_PROCCCLIENT”?

A: This error will occur only if the workstation installation has not been completed after the conversion. Each workstation should run the workstation installation located inside the Sage Pro root directory to avoid the error.

Note: If these issues continue after running the workstation installation, the user installing Sage Pro may not have the proper privileges on the workstation to allow those files to be installed.

Q: How can I determine which accounts are used for Transaction Categories?

A: Transaction categories are based on the sales and item categories. If an invoice is created for a customer with a sales category of "DEF" and an item with an item category of "DEF," then the transaction category used would be "DEFDEF." An invoice can have different transaction categories depending on the customer chosen and the item entered. When an invoice is saved, the following accounts are affected:

• Accounts Receivable - Customer Maintenance
• Sales Tax Liability - Customer Maintenance
• Sales Revenue - Maintain Transaction Categories
• Item Control - Item at Location Maintenance
• Cost of Gods Sold (COGS) - Maintain Transaction Categories

Important
Postings to the revenue, accounts receivable, and sales tax liability accounts go to the AR distribution file (ARDIST) and can be seen on the AR Journal report. Postings that affect inventory and COGS go to the Inventory Control (IC) distribution file (ICDIST) and can be seen on the IC Journal report.

Q: How can I find Pro Series temporary files path settings?

A: There may be issues that arise when the temporary file path has been incorrectly set and must be edited. This article will explain where to find this pathing information.

To find the temporary path settings, follow the steps listed below:

• Open System Manager
• Under the Maintain menu, point-to Setup and click System Installation.
• Open the Paths tab in the System Installation screen.
• The Temporary Files field contains the path to where the temporary files are stored

This value is stored in the idostmp field, in the SYCINST table and can be verified through FoxPro Access.

Note: Please be aware that the path setting displayed in the Paths tab of the Technical Information screen refers to the TEMP Environmental Variables for Microsoft Windows; not the Temp path configured for Sage Pro ERP

Tool of the Month

Working with Sage Accpac ERP Restart Records

If an error (such as an invalid record) causes a process to stop, Accpac creates a restart record, which identifies the error condition by task, date, time, and user (the person performing the task), and describes any action which must be taken.

If the user does not fix the error and resumes the process, a message is displayed the next time the user or system administrator signs on to Accpac. This message warns that earlier processing was not completed, and asks the user to check with the system administrator before proceeding.

The system administrator is the only user authorized to review restart records.

Double-click the Restart Maintenance icon in Administrative Services to see all the restart records created for your Accpac installation. You must sign on with the system administrator’s ID and password to have access to this feature.

How to Use

The Restart Maintenance dialog box looks like this:

A restart record exists for each incomplete operation. Restart records are numbered. Each record contains the following information:

• Database ID. For the company in use when the error occurred. This is the ID you assigned to the company when you created it
• Program Name. The modules where the error occurred (for instance, BK is Bank Services).
• Restart Number. An internal number for the program in which the error occurred. You do not need to be concerned about this number.
• User ID. The ID of the user performing the task.
• Date. When the error occurred.
• Time. Of the error.
• Message. Text describing where the error occurred and sometimes specifying corrective action (such as running an integrity check).

View other records - Click the navigation buttons to display additional restart records.

Delete records - Click Delete to delete the current restart record, if you no longer need the information or if you decide not to resume the process.

Print restart information - Click Print (from the File menu) to print a list of all the restart records. If you selected the Confirm On Print option in the Preferences dialog box, you can choose a specific printer or file to print the records to.

Restarting an Operation

The procedure to recover from an error depends on the type of error. You must follow the instructions given in the message for a restart error.

If you decide not to resume the process, click Delete to delete the displayed restart information. If you think you might resume the process later, click Cancel to leave the Restart dialog box.

We will use a simple example to illustrate the steps. 
Assume you are importing a file of currency codes and record 2 has an invalid field. A restart record is automatically created and the program displays a message indicating that processing stopped at record 2. The reason for the error is included.
You acknowledge and fix the error, then restart the operation.

1. In the Restart Maintenance screen, make a note of the record number, then click Close.
2. Fix the error so you can resume the process.
3. From the menu (for example, in Currency Codes), choose the command for the process, our example is importing of currency codes. 

The program indicates that it will resume processing at a numbered record (for example, at record 1, because the import process imports 10 records at a time (for example, in a file such as currency codes). If an error occurs in any of the 10 records, none of the ten is imported. If record 2 is invalid, no records are imported. If the error occurred in record 17, records 1 to 10 would be imported, and the import would resume at record 11 after the error was fixed. 
If the file that is imported contains both header and detail records, such as a General Ledger batch, importing behaves differently.  The import process imports up to the last correct record. For example, if an error is found in a detail in record 5, the previous four records are imported. Importing will resume at record 5 after the error is fixed.

4. If other files with the same types of record have been unsuccessfully imported in the past, click the navigation buttons to display the restart information for those files. 

In the example, the import will start over again at record 1, and the program will delete the restart record. 
If you decide not to resume the process, click Delete in Restart Maintenance to delete the displayed restart information. If you think you might resume the process later, click Close.
If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please contact your AXIS consultant or email us at info@axisintegratedsoltions.com for more information.