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News From GMS a publication for GMS clients
Volume 28, No. 8 August 2016
In this Issue 2016 Conference Re-
cap GMS Takes to the Road Page 2
Audit Preparation Tools Supplement
Backups and Com-
pact/Repair Database Summit 2017 Photos
Page 3
Upcoming Webinars Page 4
RLSS Additional Dis-bursements
Client Referral Program
GMS, Inc. 10559 Metropolitan Avenue
Kensington, MD 20895
Phone: 800-933-3501
Fax: 301-933-3502
E-mail: [email protected]
2016 Conference Re-cap As we said in the July newsletter it was great seeing everyone this year at the Don Ce-sar. One of the benefits we receive as a company is the interaction with our clients. Your comments, questions and opinions are invaluable to us. One of the questions that we received from a few clients was about putting GMS on the cloud. As you are aware the GMS Accounting and Financial Management System cur-rently is not a cloud application. However that does not mean that the GMS database cannot be placed on the cloud and accessed remotely. We have had many clients do this with complete success. If you would like to see the basic requirements of how this can be accomplished please visit our website HERE. On the bottom of the page you will find information about placing the database on a virtual server. Another main topic of conversation at the summit was, of course, the new version of the software to be released later this year. We were thrilled to see the attendees so excited about some features the new version will offer and as you can imagine, the GMS staff is just as excited to be able to offer them to you. The two sessions we did on the new software were two of the best attended at the summit and also where we received a lot of the positive feedback. To mention just a few of the new features: the employee files now contain specific fields for staff email addresses, cell phone number, emergency con-tact information, re-hire dates and a field to record a reason or explanation of separation from the agency. In all books of entry there is a grid that lists all batches on the form giving you the abil-ity to see, at a glance, whether or not they have been posted and if so, in what posting period. The ease of navigation has been sharpened and there is a lot of customization of forms and reports to meet your individual needs. These are just some of the feature our clients are excited about. Please watch for our future newsletters to see the exact release date!
GMS Takes to the Road
We’re bringing training on the GMS system to YOU! Beginning November, 2017, GMS will begin providing Regional train-ings. These Regional trainings will be in-depth training on a selected subject. Class size will be limited so that attendees can maximize their learning experience. The training will be in various locations throughout the U.S. to make attendance con-venient for you. They will be one day in length and will be offered near the airport in the cities in which they are held. We are excited about this new training opportunity! These trainings will not replace our annual GMS Summit which offers a variety of learning experiences over a three-day peri-od. We feel that going on the road and bringing the training closer to you, in addition to our Summit, allows you another means of acquiring knowledge for best using your GMS software. Watch for additional information in future issues regarding where the first regional training will be held. Additionally, mark your calendar for our annual GMS Summit in San Diego on May 21-24, 2017.
Page 2 NEWS FROM GMS A PUBLICATION FOR GMS CLIENTS VOLUME 28 NO. 8
Backups and Compact/Repair Database Accounting and RLSS
GMS has a utility available that allows you to back up your database and to com-pact and repair it. If you’re not currently using it, you may download it from our website. Please call or email our office for the website password and installation instructions.
Once installed, using it is very easy. You start by selecting where your database is located. (This utility works for both the accounting and RLSS databases.) After the database is selected, clicking on the Compact Database button will automatically run the compact and repair. When you compact and repair, this will remove un-used bytes from your database, thereby consuming less space on your computer PLUS it can speed up your processing time. Compact and Repair should be done at least once per week, but can be done daily. It is only to be done on Access da-tabases. Your IT person should have a maintenance plan in place for SQL data-bases. The Backup Database button automatically makes a backup copy of the Access or SQL database in the folder in which the database is located.
It is important to understand that everyone must be out of the GMS database be-fore either of these steps is run from the shortcut on the desktop. Also, please be aware that the backup is defaulting to being placed in the same folder in which the conversion.mdb or rlss.mdb is located. If you want the backup to be on your local hard drive or another location, you will need to browse to that location before click-ing on Save. Also, consider security of the drive you are placing the backup on. Your accounting backup will contain all employee and vendor information. RLSS backups contain all loan information. You do not want these backups to be availa-ble to all employees.
continued on page 4
Present versions of Software are:
Accounting 1.2.305 RLSS 1.0.0.12
Audit Preparation Tools Supplement
With the new audit standards released in the past couple of years and audit costs rising, more effort needs to be done at the agency level to prepare and as-sist the auditor with as much documentation and prepared files that can be pro-vided. To help you assist your auditor, we have the Audit Preparation Tools supplement. This supplement is designed to be run after all year end entries have been posted and final fiscal year financial reports have been prepared. This supplement has four main sections:
(1) Trial Balance An Excel file is automatically prepared based on the setup and includes
columns for Project, Element, GL Code, GL Code Description and amount. The GL codes include all assets, liabilities, net asset accounts, revenues and expenditures. You can choose if you want the revenues and expenditures listed by agencywide, by project or program element detail.
continued on page 3
Summit 2016 Photos
Page 3 NEWS FROM GMS A PUBLICATION FOR GMS CLIENTS VOLUME 28 NO. 8
Audit Preparation Tools Supplement continued from page 2
(2) Comparison Reports You can prepare a Balance Sheet and Agencywide Revenue and Expenditure reports showing the current fiscal year and the previous fiscal year (if your database includes the previous fiscal year). There are tabs for Balance Sheet and Cost Categories that you can set up a category for-mat to use and select a current format if that is the format you want to produce for the auditor, or leave the category format blank and you’ll include all GL codes on both reports. (3) Work Papers We currently have 12 work paper files that can be prepared which are typically used by all au-ditors in most agencies. These include: (a) All GJ’s for FY, (b) ACH Debit Entries, (c) Non-ACH Debit Entries, (d) Leave History & Accrual Work-sheet, (e) Indirect Cost Base Reconciliation, (f) Ac-counts Payable Subsequent Payment, (g) Accounts Payable Highest Paid Vendors, (h) Payroll Recon-ciliation, (i) Accrued Payroll by Payroll Register, (j) Accrued Payroll by Timesheet Batch, (k) Fixed Asset Analysis, and (l) Fixed Asset Roll Forward Summary. (4) Reports We have a list of GMS Reports that already are available in various sections of our software that we grouped under this tab for ease in preparing and exporting so the files can be given to your au-ditor. The reports currently located in this tab are: General Ledger
Bank Reconciliation Complete Check Listing YTD Transaction Code Listing
for Revenues Leave Rate Computation and
Analysis Leave Rate Computation and
Analysis Totals Accounts Payable
A/P Analysis Prepaid Expenses
Payroll Payroll Register for Accrued
Payroll Leave History
Accounts Receivable A/R Analysis
Wednesday, August 24, 2016 @ 2:00pm
Mechanics of Month End Processing
This webinar is designed for GMS users that are fairly new to Month End processing. We will be covering all activities leading up to and including the actual “Month End” process. Procedures from normal month-end journal entries to account reconciliations will be covered.
>>LEARN MORE
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 @ 2:00pm
Basic Payroll Procedures
This webinar is designed for GMS users that are new to the Payroll Pro-cess or would like a refresher course of the basics. We will cover topics ranging from the initial setup of employee files to calendar year end ac-tivities such as W2 processing. You will be guided through the mechan-ics of the process and learn about the importance of internal control, proper reviewing of preliminary reports and timely backups. Tips and/or suggestions will be provided to help assure your employees get paid on time!
>>LEARN MORE
Page 4 NEWS FROM GMS A PUBLICATION FOR GMS CLIENTS VOLUME 28 NO. 8
Backups and Compact/Repair Database Accounting and RLSS continued from page 2
In addition, it is important that you understand that the automatic backup feature does not replace any other backup procedures such as nightly tapes, burning a cd, copying to a flash drive, etc. For accounting databases, it also does not replace the recommended before and af-ter payroll backup process. It is recommended that you continue to follow the Payroll Processing menu, making both the Before Payroll Backup and After Payroll Back-up from there. We can’t emphasize this enough, in addition to perform-ing the compact and repair and backup, make certain that another means of backing up is in place. The backup utility stores a copy of your database on the same drive as your current database is located, unless you have changed the default to an alternate location. Should this drive fail, you would not have a backup to restore, there-fore, it is imperative that you are also backing up to an external source and regularly confirming that this back-up is functioning. We have had several clients lately whose computers have crashed and they have not had a current backup available. Not only do they need to re-place the computer, but they also then need to recreate the data. This can be a significant loss of staff time that could have been avoided if current backups had been available.
What better way to help other organizations like yours than to refer what software works for you with them?
If you know of an organization that could benefit from the GMS Accounting and Financial Management or Revolving Loan Servicing software, send us your referral and you’ll receive a $50 credit to use towards the purchase price of any supplement or webinar registration.
In addition, if your referral schedules and views a live demo with us, you’ll receive an additional $50 credit.
And it doesn't end there. If your referral purchases our accounting and financial management software you’ll receive an additional $400 credit and if they purchase our revolving loan software you’ll receive an addi-tional $200 credit.
Get started today by submitting your referral.
*For more information contact Era Williams, Director of Sales and Marketing at 800.933.3501 ext. 420.
...or do you just love GMS? Write a review.
“Too much agreement kills a chat.”
~Eldridge Cleaver
RLSS Additional Disbursements Whether it is written into the original contract with your client or they just require additional funds at a later date, there are many things to consider when making additional disbursements. We recommend these types of loans be set up on the daily interest basis rather than amortized so that interest will accrue correctly. Once all disbursements have been made, you may then change the loan to amortized if you choose. If your loan is funded by just one funding source, you may simply enter the disbursement when it takes place. You should also review the Fund/Amts screen within the Loan Master to determine if the amount entered there needs to be increased. If your loan is multi-funded and all of these funding sources are participating in this additional disbursement according to the same ratio entered in the Fund/Amts screen, you may follow the steps listed above. If your loan is multi-funded but only one of the funding sources is participating in the additional disburse-ment we recommend that you create a new loan for this additional amount. This is the only way to show this new amount being disbursed from just one funding source. If you were to enter this disbursement to the ex-isting loan, it would appear on your reports as having been disbursed from all funding sources set up in the Funds/Amts screen within the Loan Master, which is not what you are after. Please keep this in mind when do-ing something of this nature as new loan documents may also need to be prepared for this “new” loan.
