Packing ‘n Tracking ‘n Billing — Oh My!

Hello Again Sage 500 Customers,

The Holidays are Upon Us …

This week’s blog heralds the beginning of the “Holiday Season”.  Yes, it’s true.  The malls are already making announcements about tree lighting ceremonies.  The ads are gearing up for gift giving.  Holiday decorations are already appearing on store shelves.  And, as they tear down the local pumpkin patch they are simultaneously building Santa’s Tree Lot.  No wonder Linus gets confused.  The Great Pumpkin, Santa Claus … they all just run together anymore.

Busy Season

For many, this also means the onslaught of “busy season”.  Whether your business is retail, wholesale, manufacture, or services … if it has ties to the holidays you are already gearing up.  I even saw a guy on television the other day who delivers home baked pies (holiday or not) on his bicycle.  (I can’t imagine what his holiday rush looks like.)  Maybe your organization is like many I’ve spoken with this year who are trying to find ways to grow their business and their bottom line without having to add more staff to accomplish the work.  When it comes to getting shipments out and money in, Sage 500 ERP has some solutions to help you achieve those goals … especially in our last couple of releases.

Packing and Shipments and Tracking

The pick/pack/ship process in Sage 500 ERP is an area we have devoted a lot of time to in recent releases … refining the process, simplifying where possible, providing alternate workflows.  The packing part is likely the part that was largely overlooked for the most part until the 2013 release.  As part of that release, we announced the availability of Sage 500 ERP Shipping by SmartLinc.  Depending on the edition of Sage Shipping purchased, the solution can either automatically upload the package information from Sage 500 ERP to SmartLinc or even let your shipper do all of the packing on the SmartLinc website and have that information write back to Sage 500 ERP.  Either way, you get detailed information about the shipment and the packages … including package level tracking numbers to provide the best possible customer experience.  Your customer service staff get full visibility to the tracking information.  Even better, your customer will get an e-mail with the tracking information when the shipment goes out the door so they can track it themselves.

The only way it gets any better than that is with a customer self-service portal.  I bet over half of you forgot or didn’t know that you could use eBusiness Suite Web Services from RKL eSolutions to set up your own customer self-service site.   Just think, with a small investment of time and some creativity you could eliminate a number of calls and get closer to that “Amazon-like” customer experience.

In the 2014 release, we added a screen in Generate Shipments that displays the shipment number if it’s a single shipment to reduce steps and make it easier for the staff preparing the shipments.  And lest I be remiss, I must point out the introduction of Visual Process Workflows in the 2013 release so that you can map out this whole process and make it easy for anyone to follow.

Billing and Payments

Of course, getting the shipments out is only half the battle.  It does us no good to ship the merchandise if we don’t get paid.  We didn’t forget that side of the equation either.  Electronic billing is obviously faster (not to mention friendlier to the ecology) than paper bills and “snail mail”.  But you pointed out, and rightly so, that there was room for some improvement here as well.  In our space, it is not uncommon to have the need to send multiple copies of the bill to multiple contacts in an organization.  Document Transmittals only allow one e-mail address, the cover e-mail is pretty generic, and the e-mail address field is just too short for today’s longer addresses.

We can fix that … oh wait, we already did!

• In the 2013 release, we added the ability to have multiple recipients for document transmittals, and while we were there we added key word replacement fields so that you can personalize the cover e-mail with information pulled directly from the database.
• In the 2014 release, we’ve extended the e-mail address field to accommodate those longer addresses … for any contact record … no matter where it appears.

But we’re not done yet!  We also heard you say that not every customer and not every transaction lends itself to payment by credit card.  Credit card payments are good, but they just don’t cover really large transactions (due to card limits or the fees associated with the transaction).  So, in the 2014 release we’ve also added the availability of Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT or ACH) as a payment method.  Now your customers can provide you with a bank routing number and their bank account number so that you can accept what amounts to an electronic check through Sage Payment Solutions.  No more waiting for the “check in the mail”.  No more running to the bank to make a deposit.  You can now leverage the electronic age to its maximum benefit for your business.  There’s minimal additional setup … simply have Sage Payments enable your account for electronic checks, and add a payment type … and Sage 500 ERP is ready to accept those payments.

Ready to Grow?

So, consider the possibilities.  Your business is poised to grow, but you need it to be more efficient to meet the growing demands without adding additional resources.  Perhaps it’s time for that upgrade you’ve been putting off.  If you are struggling with an older version, you could be missing out on some great improvements and features that could create greater freedom for you to succeed.  Watch for the coming announcements about the Sage 500 ERP 2014 Release availability and contact your Sage channel partner to set up a time for that upgrade!

Thanks for listening,

 

Halloween Tales

Hello Again Sage 500 Customers,

As I write this week, I find that we are preparing for Halloween.  Everywhere you look there are pumpkins and cobwebs with giant spiders, skeletons and pointy hats, black cats and friendly ghosts. Yep, it’s that time of year again.  For the most part, we don’t really find these things scary anymore.  Little children dress as ghouls and super heroes, princesses and fairies, cowboys and aliens, astronauts and monsters.

The other part of this time of year that we just can’t seem to avoid is the reappearance of scary movies.  Every kind of monster or thing that goes bump in the night or unknown danger that makes that teenage girl scream appears on a movie or television screen.

So, where am I going with this train of thought?  It occurs to me that there are some things in business that can in fact creep up on us and cause real problems.  Let’s take a look at a few of them … specifically those related to Cash Management policies and procedures … and how Sage 500 ERP can help you address them.

In the Dark

In those spooky movies we spoke of earlier, nothing good ever happens in the dark.  When the flashlight fails or the candle blows out, when the power goes out and the storm rages outside … that’s when you know something bad is about to happen.  Yet, businesses operate in the dark all the time.  You’re in a growth mode.  Times are looking good.  Then next thing you know, you’re having trouble making payroll.

Turn the lights back on.  Use either the standard Financial Reports or Sage Intelligence Reporting to generate a simple 12 rolling month Cash Flow Projection.  That way you can see the potential ebb and flow of cash.  Once you see the patterns, you can then adjust and resist the temptation to make expenditures during the “flush” part of the year that will leave you scrambling during the “lean” times.

Payment Terms Quagmire

The next scene I want you to imagine is set in the jungle.  You can hear the call of exotic birds, the chatter of primates in the trees, and the blast of a distant elephant.  As we trudge along, one of our party steps into a patch of earth that seems to suck them under with each step they try to take.  They are doomed. You just know it.  The harder they try, the deeper they sink.

Believe it or not, we can find ourselves in a similar place in business.  We can end up providing “float” to our customers while we sink deeper and deeper.  When it comes to payments, we need to look at the average days to pay for our suppliers and customers.  If our average days to pay supplier invoices is say 21 days, but our customer’s average days to pay is at 45 – that means we are providing 24 days of “float”.  We’ve paid for goods we’ve delivered and invoiced but not collected the cash.  Which leaves us with a couple of choices – Delay our payments to suppliers, or decrease the average days to pay for our customers.

There are a couple of ways to decrease the average days to pay for our customers.  Certainly, using the alerts and MS Office templates in Sage 500 ERP to generate collection letters are a step in the right direction.  If that’s not enough, it’s time to consider promoting the use of document transmittals for invoicing and credit card or (as of the 2014 release) Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) to collect funds electronically.  As of this release, you can collect cash up front through Sage Payment Solutions using the method that best suits the customer.  The side benefit is, customers are happier as well.  COMING SOON, we will have the ability to process invoices and payments in Sage Billing and Payment, a new on-line service provided through the Sage Data Cloud.  Imagine reducing your Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) from 45 to 1 … now that would get you out of the quagmire!

Behind the Mask

Ah, the mask!  Whether it’s the Phantom of the Opera or a Hockey Mask, a nylon stocking or a ski mask – something sinister is often hiding behind the mask.  There are times when appearances can mask reality in business as well.  An inventory item that is flying off the shelf may in fact be costing you money.  The customer who appears on all of the sales reports with the highest overall sales month after month may not actually be making you any money.

There is a tool to help unmask these pretenders – and it’s available to you today – Sage Inventory Advisor.  This dashboard view of your inventory will identify those items that have high turnover but low profit margins.  Another view identifies customers with high order amounts but profit margins below expectations.  Armed with this information, you can then make the necessary adjustments.  Perhaps that item really is a great product but just needs a price adjustment.  Or, you may need to renegotiate the terms extended to your top customer.  In either case, seeing behind the mask removes the mystery – making it possible to deal with the realities and move forward.

Nothing to Fear

When my oldest was age two, we went trick or treating for the first time.  She was petrified!  I feared I might have scarred her for life.  But, in the resilient manner of children – once she understood what was really going on, the fear went away.  In business too there are scary things to be aware of.  But, if we use the tools available to us and demystify the seemingly unaccountable ebb and flow, we learn that knowledge is control and we can achieve success and growth.

Thanks for listening,

 

“Going Green” with Sage 500 ERP

Hello Again Sage 500 Customers,

One of my favorite songs was playing on the radio the other day.  You remember radio … that thing that took up the space in the middle of the dashboard before the CD changer and the GPS.  It was John Lennon’s “Imagine”.  No, I’m not going to take us down some ‘60s path, but it did get me to thinking about the power of the mind to see things from a different perspective.  For this week’s blog, I would like you to join me in “imagining” some possibilities.

Let’s Imagine

First, let’s take a quick poll.  Do you:

• Drive a hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle
• Carpool
• Recycle paper, plastic, or cans
• Ride a bike to work
• Have solar panels on your roof
• Buy energy efficient appliances
• Use LED or CFL light bulbs
• Drink filtered water instead of bottled

If you answered “Yes” to one or more of the above, you are probably already familiar with the concept of “Going Green”.  More and more businesses are becoming concerned with their carbon footprint and looking for ways to minimize their impact on the environment. Maybe yours is one of them.

All of us are looking for ways to save money, right? So, consider this … The average cost of sending a piece of mail (once you include the labor, stationery, ink, printer expense, and postage) works out to about $1.00 per item. Imagine we could bring that cost down to nearly nothing.

Or maybe you are thinking you need to improve your cash flow.  What if I told you it was possible to bring the number of days outstanding on your receivables down by one-half or even more?  Imagine the positive impact on your bottom line as well as your credit rating!!

Okay, now imagine that leveraging just one easy to use feature in Sage 500 ERP could have a major impact on all three of these concerns.  It’s possible!  Document Transmittals can improve all three of these areas with just a few simple steps.  Maybe you don’t know how to set them up.  Maybe you tried before and were disappointed at the limitations.  In either case … I have good news for you!  We’ve improved and simplified the process!  The only catch is … you need to be on a current version.

Three Easy Steps

So, here are the steps:

1.    Common Information > Maintenance > CI Setup > Set Up Document Transmittal

This task allows you to customize the email messaging including database keyword replacements[1] for any eligible transaction document.

2.    Document Transmittal Configuration

By transaction, by customer or vendor, configure the settings for the transmittal … including the option to include additional contacts.

3.    Maintain Contacts

From any screen where you can enter contacts, in either AP or AR, designate the documents that contact should receive by simply checking the appropriate check box.

• Designate as many contacts as desired¹
• Expanded e-mail field to accommodate longer addresses[2]

 What’s Next?

Shortly after the 2014 Release, we will be working on connecting Sage 500 ERP to the Sage Data Cloud.  That will bring with it the ability to leverage the Sage Billing and Payment application, which can reduce your days outstanding to as little as one day… but more about that later.

“Going Green” in More Ways Than One

As you can see, getting current on Sage 500 ERP can help you “go green” in more than one way with the adoption of a simple 3 step process.  You can:

• Save the environment by going paperless
• Save time and money
• Reduce receivable days outstanding and improve cash flows

Just imagine!!

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[1] Available as of 2013 Release

[2] Available as of 2014 Release

 

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Hello again Sage 500 Customers,

As I was thinking about this week’s blog, I was reminded of one of my favorite stories growing up … Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer.  Now depending on whether you read the book or saw one of the many movie interpretations of the passage, the details might differ slightly … but the basics remain true.  In Chapter 2, Tom has gotten himself in trouble with Aunt Polly and as punishment is assigned to whitewash the fence.  No kid on a summer afternoon wants to be stuck whitewashing a fence, but Tom somehow convinces the other kids in town not only to do his work for him, but to actually pay him with toys and trinkets for the privilege!  Remember?  If you don’t believe me, go and look it up for yourself. Now that’s one fine example of how to work smarter, not harder!

Smarter Workflows

While I’m pretty sure we can’t claim to provide that kind of advantage with the improvements in Sage 500 ERP over the last few versions, I can tell you we delivered some pretty amazing features with the same goal in mind.  The first one that comes to mind for me is the introduction of Visual Process Flows in the 2013 Release.  These things are great!  The solution comes with a handful of preset flows and a tool to allow you to build your own.  Each Visual Process is flow is an interactive diagram of the steps required to complete a workflow or process, depicted as a timeline with “nodes” that are connected to the Sage 500 ERP tasks along the way.  Essentially, someone with no experience at all could sit down in front of one of these process flows and successfully complete the process.  They certainly flatten the learning curve and make everyone look smarter.

Cash Receipts Made Easy

We’ve also made great strides in the area of Cash Management and the processing of Cash Receipts.  In the v7.4 release (2012) we introduced the ability to issue refund checks directly from Cash Receipts Entry … reducing the number of steps from 16 in two modules to a simple 3 step processing in one task.  Then in the 2013 release we added the ability to import pending cash receipts … thereby accommodating lockbox and third-party on-line payment service entries without the need for re-keying.  And now in the 2014 release (due out in mid-December) we’ve added the ability to process Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT aka ACH) receipts using the same Sage Payment Solutions merchant account.

Not only that, but we added the ability to go in and correct the application of memos, invoices, or payments by reversing them in the new Application Reversals task.  So you may not be able to get someone else to the all the work for you … but you can certainly reduce the amount of work needed to process cash receipts.

Smart Sales Processing

We all know you can’t collect the cash until you’ve processed the sale.  And you can’t process the sale until you know what you have in stock and how much to charge for it.

• In the v7.4 Release (2012) we completely rewrote the landed cost process to allow for the capitalization of freight to received items as well as the additional costs associated with procurement.
• In the 2013 release, we followed that up with new capabilities like Global Pricing updates and the ability to copy a Sales Order from one customer to another.
• Mid-cycle we introduced Sage Inventory Advisor.  This cloud based connected service provides a dashboard view of stock positions, performance, and projections giving you just the information you need to make intelligent buying and production decisions.  Also included are drill-down and forecasting capabilities to help avoid stock outs and “stale” stock based on inventory turns and demand.
• The 2014 release adds key information at strategic points in the delivery cycle such as the display of the shipment ID in Generate Shipments when processing a single shipment and the inclusion of the Sales Order number on the Invoice line item.

Smart Sales processing improves efficiency, and can improve both cash flow and the bottom line.

Manufacturing Made Easy

Lest you think we overlooked those of you who manufacture or assemble … fear not!  In the v7.4 Release (2012) we added the ability to designate warehouse bins specifically for manufacturing materials and assign precedence to those bins.  The result is the ability to backflush material issues from bin tracked warehouses … pretty slick!  In that same release we added the ability to reversal manufacturing production or progress transactions … not that anyone reading this blog (or writing it for certain) has ever processed something in error … but we hear people do … so we gave you a smart way to back those transactions out.

In the 2013 release we added the ability to backflush setup hours so they don’t get overlooked, use non-inventory items on routings to account for non-material costs, and a method to delete and purge work orders.  Now don’t you feel smarter already?

How You Can Work Smart

So … you want to be able to work smart … what is that going to take?  Well, it’s pretty straight forward really.

1. Check your calendar.
2. Find a time that’s good for you and your Sage Business Partner.  
3. Schedule that upgrade so you can take advantage of the cool new stuff we’ve added that creates greater freedom for you to succeed!

Thanks for listening,

 

Take Control of Your Business

Hello Again Sage 500 Customers,

I was reminded this week how important it is to be able to feel that one has a measure of control in life

and in business. One of the worst feelings for anyone, and for a business owner in particular, is the feeling of being out of control.  Perhaps you’ve experienced that feeling; the sense that someone somewhere is pulling strings that impact your ability to be successful – and you have lost control.  Many times there are in fact powers beyond our control: regulatory changes, economic challenges, or acts of nature to name a few.

On the bright side, as Sir Francis Bacon reminded us, “Knowledge is Power” and with power comes the ability to control.  With the right knowledge at the right time you can alter the course of your business and take back control.  The important point here is to know what information you need, when you need to have access to that information, and how to get it.

The Information You Need

Chances are the information you need is already available in one or more data repositories in your business today.  If you use Sage 500 ERP to manage your business, there is wealth of information in those data tables.  Data is stored there about your customers, their buying habits, preferences, and payment patterns.  Data is also there about your vendors or suppliers, their delivery performance, the quality of their goods, and the costs associated with their goods.  If you are a manufacturer, there is data about the efficiency of your production line, the quality of the goods you produce, and the costs associated with production compared to the prices you charge for those goods.

An analysis of the data in your  ERP for customer intelligence and buying habits could lead to an increase in sales.  You want to reduce costs and improve margins?  Start with the information you already have about what you spend today.

Access to the Right Data

Once you’ve identified the areas where you want to have more control, you can then use the reports and analytics in those areas to “mine” that data.  Traditionally, reports and analytics give us a historical picture of what has already happened. By mining this data we can begin to see patterns and trends that previously led to upturns or downturns in the state of the business. 

• Are there a few key customers who can significantly impact your bottom line based on their buying habits?  Are there others that you consistently lose money on?
• Are there products you carry that are consistent money makers for you?  Are there others that you inevitably end up selling at a loss?
• Is there a group of vendors whose deliveries are always on time and high quality?  Is there another group whose merchandise is perhaps low cost but after delivery delays and returns due to quality end up costing you money?   

Good.  Now you know what to watch for.  But this is still just historic data. 

The Move from Reactive to Pro-active

Today that just isn’t good enough.  In order to take control of your business, you need actionable information.  You need to know about potential concerns before they become concerns … in time to do something to head them off and prevent the problem.  A crystal ball would be helpful, but since that is not practical for most of us mortals we need to find another way to predict the future.  Sage 500 ERP includes a number of tools such as Business Insights Explorer (now with WYSIWYG export capability[1]), Business Insights Analyzer, and Sage Intelligence Reporting  to help you identify the trends and conditions that signal a potential concern … then build the tools needed to focus on those triggers.

Dashboards, Alerts and Workflows

Yes, you can build the tools needed to focus on the triggers you’ve identified.  Really, you can.  The hard part was identifying the triggers.  Now that you know what you’re looking for, you can use the export function in Business Insights Explorer to export to HTML and a web service to put a filtered list of accounts or vendors or items that need attention on a dashboard that gets sent to the appropriate people every morning.  Or, you can use the Business Insights Dashboard to do the same thing.

If a dashboard seems too daunting, how about creating an alert?  It’s as simple as defining the conditions and identifying the people who should receive the e-mail.  And it’s just a task on a menu in Sage 500 ERP.  There is also a third-party tool that does more complex alerts and can generate more involved steps based on the identified condition, called Sage Alerts and Workflows[2]

Alerts or Alerts and Workflows provide the ability to pro-actively address critical conditions before they get “out of control”.

As you can see, it is possible to take back control of your business leveraging the power of Sage 500 ERP, your data, and the tools at hand.  Once you have control, you can drive to success despite those external factors and overcome that helpless feeling.  Knowledge is Power … and it’s at your fingertips in Sage 500 ERP.

 

Thanks for listening,

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[1] As of the 7.4 Release

[2] Vineyardsoft – See Partner Solutions Site

 

Finding Peace of Mind — Is My Data Secure?

Hello Again Sage 500 ERP Customers,

I must reluctantly begin this post with an admission that in my heart of hearts I wish for the days of naivete.  After all, I grew up in a small town like many of you in an age when we didn’t even lock the doors at night. Crime was something that happened somewhere else … not in my neighborhood … mischief maybe, but not serious crime.  Yet today on the way to work, I was bombarded with numerous ads warning me about identity theft.  The first thing that happened when I arrived at work was I had to wait for 15 minutes while my desktop completed a security update pushed out by our IT department.  Even my evening entertainment is filled with stories of computer hackers, internet stealth viruses and cyber theft.

Is it any wonder then that one of the top concerns expressed by owners and top executives of small and medium sized mid-market Sage customers was the desire to find peace of mind in knowing that their data was secure?  The business data we manage every day is everything from customer names and addresses to credit card data to investment portfolios to proprietary recipes or formulations to custom specifications and manufacturing methods.  As those ads are so quick to point out, in the wrong hands this information could ruin people’s lives or bring a business to ruin.

Industrial espionage is nothing new.  It has probably been around as long as man has had the capacity for creative thought.  In fact, here are the top 5 “stolen” inventions:

1. Hans Lippershey actually invented the telescope – Not Galileo Galilee as we were taught in school.
2. Ernest Duchesne used Penicillin to cure typhoid in 1897 – Waaay before Alexander Fleming was given credit for using it to cure polio.
3. Antonio Meucci first demonstrated a working telephone in 1860 – Thirteen years before Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone.
4. Henri Poincare published works stating the theory of relativity thirty years before Albert Einstein came to prominence.
5. Heinrich Goebel invented a working light bulb in 1854, which he tried to sell to Thomas Edison.  Edison refused until after Goebel died and then bought that same light bulb as the basis for his own work from Goebel’s widow for a price considerably below market value.

The difference is that back in the day, somebody had to get their hands dirty to steal plans and secrets … or at least hang around and wait for somebody to die.  Not so much today.  Today, all one has to do is tap a few keys on a keyboard and voila … the secrets of the universe are unlocked … or so it seems.  So how does one protect oneself and their business today?  In a blog post by Data Safe Storage, Phil Neray suggested the following steps (which I’ve modified somewhat with some of my own thoughts):

1. Know where your data is.  You can’t secure what you don’t know about. Track down old applications, rogue databases, non-regulated think tanks, strategic plans, and other intellectual property that may be stored in non-traditional places.
2. Make certain your operating systems and software are up to date.  Computer software companies test for holes in security as do those who publish operating systems.  When they detect a weakness, they publish security updates.  Those updates do you no good if you don’t apply them.
3. Leverage the security tools available.  Over the years I’ve encountered countless companies that don’t even use the security tools available to them.
   1. Assign file privileges for database configuration files and options such as roles and permissions.
   2. Assign roles and permissions to users.
   3. Establish rules and parameters around how many failed logins result in a locked account.
4. Remove or uninstall all database functions and options not in use.  These unused functions and options can be leveraged by external attackers to gain access.
5. Monitor and Audit for Configuration changes.  Use an alert system to immediately alert the database administrator if the security configuration is changed and log those changes in an externally generated and stored (preferably off-site) log file.
6. Deploy Database Monitoring Software.  Monitor for unusual activity such as large file downloads, off hours access to sensitive files, multiple access points using the same credentials, etc.  These measures should be applied to all users – especially privileged users with universal or unlimited access.
7. Authenticate, control access and manage entitlement.  Applying “need to know” standards to sensitive data access is your primary line of defense.  Maybe it’s not such a good idea for that part-time after-school data entry clerk to have full security access to your entire ERP solution.
8. Encrypt Sensitive Data. Identifying information, credit card numbers, recipes, formulas, or other critically sensitive data should be encrypted using an encryption key.  The encryption key should then be stored off-site in a secured location (such as a safety deposit box) as an added security measure.  When possible, do not store credit card or other financial account information belonging to individuals in your database.  Work with your payment processor to store this information in their PCI / PA-DSS compliant off-site vault.
9. Mask test data. Remember to protect not only your production data but your test environment as well.  If possible, use a masking algorithm to “cleanse” data used for testing or training purposes.
10. Utilize a Firewall with SSL Access Encryption. Mobility, cloud connectivity, and hybrid solutions are here to stay.  Use an encrypted firewall to protect your internal networks for cyber-attack. A firewall is the minimum defense against unwanted external access.  And for that really sensitive data, consider sequestering it on a separate network that is not even connected to the external world.[1]

No data is ever 100% secure but with some attention to detail, some vigilance, and using the tools at hand one can find a level of peace of mind – knowing that all reasonable measures are being taken to protect your enterprise data and the future of your business.

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[1] http://datasafestorage.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/beating-the-breach-10-best-practices-for-database-security-and-compliance/

Thanks for listening,

 

New in Sage 500 ERP 2014

Hello Again,

Sage Listens!  You may have seen these words plastered on the side of an RV traveling across North America, or on our corporate web site, or even in an e-mail campaign.  But long before any of those campaigns, we provided a web site dedicated to listening to your input on how we can make Sage 500 ERP easier to use and more productive for your business – the Sage 500 ERP Ideas site.

You can even launch the site directly from your desktop with a single click.

 

But I digress … Based on your feedback, we are pleased to announce the inclusion of several key improvements in the Sage 500 ERP 2014 Release.

 

 

 

 

PLUS – Just for good measure – we added the ability to receive Electronic Funds Transfer (or ACH) receipts through Sage Payment Solutions.

Watch for the 2014 Release due out in December, 2013 and don’t forget to give us your feedback!  We’re listening!!

Thanks for listening,

 

Building on Success in 2014 – Your Invitation to Beta Testing for the 2014 Release

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are excited to announce the upcoming Beta Program for Sage 500 ERP’s 2014 Release, and you can participate!

The Beta Program provides you with an opportunity to learn about the new features of the software in advance of the upcoming release and gives you a voice to influence the future development of Sage 500 ERP.

Some of the new features include:

• Reverse Applied Memos and Invoices
• Project Accounting Reconciliation Report
• ACH Receivables through Sage Payment Solutions
• Expanded eMail Fields in Contact Records

Your participation in this program is vital to improving the value of your solution. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity.

Signing up is easy!  Simply click on the “Sign Up Now!” button below, answer a few qualifying questions, and you are on your way!

Don’t wait, sign up today!

 

 

 

Once Upon a Time …

Once upon a time, back when cell phones weighed as much as a brick and gas prices were under $2.00 a gallon, warehouses were actually arranged in bins and aisles with printed labels that displayed part numbers.  When a receipt of goods came in, the new stock was put away based on the order in which in came in.  Orders were filled from paper pick sheets with printed quantities and part numbers.  The accuracy relied on the ability of the warehouse worker to correctly identify the correct part and not lose his place when counting out quantities.  It was important that like stock was stored together and that paperwork was processed promptly to ensure that quantities in the Enterprise Resource Planning or inventory tracking system were correct at all times.  Shipments were processed from individual terminals dedicated to a specific carrier and package and tracking information was stored in a file on the shipping dock.

What’s that?  We just described your operation?  Hmmm. Want to see a better way?  It just so happens there is a session at Sage Summit 2013 that showcases the latest is supply chain optimization solutions designed to not only move your operations into the age of technology, but save you money and increase customer satisfaction at the same time.  Join us Wednesday, July 24^th from 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM EDT for C-283: Optimize Supply Chain Efficiency Using Sage 500 ERP Solutions.

Hope to see you there!

 

Putting the Tools for Success in the Hands of Your Staff

Some time ago, I was onsite at a customer’s facility sitting across the conference table from the management team.  We were chatting about the ERP system they were using.  The IT manager was there and we talked about the usual things like server requirements and upgrade planning.  The accounting manager was there as well.  So we talked about improvements to the general ledger and posting routines.  And then something amazing happened.  The sales manager stopped by.  She listened for a while.  Then she spoke up.  She said, “You know, what I really wish is that you had a way for my sales reps to be able to complete an order on-site in the field without having to call back to the office or make other excuses about why they can’t close the sale.  They need something that puts everything they need at their fingertips so that they can get the signature on the bottom line and close that deal.”

Later that same trip, I sat across another table from another group of business leaders.  This time it was the office manager that spoke up.  She was talking about how much time her staff spent tracking down their service reps trying to get their paperwork so that the billing could go out and hard it was to keep track of what rep was making which service calls when.

Over the course of several months, a number of our staff here at Sage talked one on one with CEO’s and management staff across our customer base.  These same sentiments came back to us again and again.

What had become clear to us was the reality that although all the tools these people were asking for were available … they were not in the hands of the people who needed to use them.  Instead, they were buried in the depths of some seemingly complex desktop bound ERP system that the majority of the average staff had no clue about how to access or use.  What needed to happen was to put those tools in the hands of the people who needed them in a simple, easy, accurate, and portable format.

MOBILITY!  We now have mobile applications for both outside sales and outside services representatives!  We can put all the information these individuals need at their fingertips on a mobile application, available on a mobile phone or a tablet, to enter the transaction and complete the deal in a connected environment that writes back to the ERP.  Those capabilities make transactions easier, reduce errors, and save steps to increase customer satisfaction.  Want to hear more?  Come see what’s new and exciting for Sage 500 ERP: Moving the ERP Out of the Back Office—Mobile Solutions, Wednesday, July 24^th 3:45 PM – 4:45PM EDT at Sage Summit 2013 .

 

Hope to see you there!