THANKSGIVING REMINDER

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalm 107:21

Unfortunately, most men—even though they are blessed in so many ways—don't give thanks to the Lord, even on the one day set aside for that purposes.  They may thank their lucky stars, their ancestors, their government, their own efforts or even a warm feeling of appreciation.  Remember that the source of all our countless blessings is the sovereign creator and sustainer of your farm, family, country and the entire universe.  Thanks be to God!

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Here's how FBS' Version 8.0 combined with LifeCycle Budget handles the process of projecting yearend income for pre-yearend tax planning.


First, Monitor the Quantities

Prior to reconciling actual dollars with budget dollars, first check to see where you stand with your unit budget.

1.	Select Reports | Ledger Account Summary
2.	The Ending Date should be the last completed accounting period (this is usually a month-end, but may be mid-month, depending on the level of detail in the budget).
3.	Select Column option 6 (Period - LCB Variance).
4.	Choose your most current budget scenario.
5.	Compare the Budget Quantity and Actual Quantity in all unit-based accounts such as crop and livestock purchases and sales and major input purchases.

Why do this:  Often budgeted purchases and sales are "pulled ahead" or "pushed back" to a different accounting period.  In the example above, the actual Hog Sales Amount is down $255,252.48 from the Budget Amount, but Budget Quantities are over 4,000 more than actual.  Possible reasons for this variance are:

•	The hogs grew slower than expected and will be sold in the next month
•	All the actual hog sales have not been posted for the current month
•	These hogs have died or been stolen!

It's easy to cross-check these numbers by either a) drilling down to the Actual and Budget detail or b) running a Ledger Account Summary just for the current period.

Follow this process for inputs as well. Because of cost volatility, gross dollar comparisons aren't nearly as effective as comparing units or unit prices to "true up" the budget assumptions to correspond to actual performance.

6.	If the discrepancy between actual and budget is due to dollars rather than quantity, drill down from the report line to the budget schedule and modify the unit price.

Now, Projected the Income Statement

1.	Select Reports | Income Statement.
2.	Select Column option C (YTD Actual & LCB)
3.	Date range should be for the entire fiscal year.
4.	If you are a cash basis tax filer and are using A/P and/or A/R use the Date Cash Exchanged option #3.
5.	Again, compare the Current and LCB budget amounts and drill down through the cells to verify your budget has been revised to reflect the most current conditions.

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Join us for live LifeCycle Budget webinars on Monday, December 1 and Monday, December 15 at 10:00 am CST.  We'll be covering FBS Version 8 on Monday, December 8 also at 10:00 am CST.  If you'd like to attend any of these virtual meetings, e-mail norm@fbssystems.com by 8:00 am CST on the day of the webinar to receive login instructions.

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Iowa corn-soybean producer, past Farm Financial Standards Council president and FBS user, Ron Swanson, shares how accrual accounting has helped him since the last farm financial crisis in the Farm Journal's November, 2008, Top Producer Magazine.  Read it online at:

http://www.agweb.com/Get_Article.aspx?src=topproducer&sigcat=topproducer&pageid=146867

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SOFTWARE Q&A – WITH Q'S FROM YOU, OUR CLIENTS! Send us your questions/problems–be they short, long, simple or downright frustratin'!–about SeRVware and we'll handle them right "on the air" for the benefit of all. This month's question covers the new way FBS Version 8 activates additional program modules or network user licenses. Q. Sometimes when I start FBS I can't find my farm (company) in the window on the left in the Select Company screen.  (See example below.) A. What's likely happened is that your file location settings have changed since you logged on last.  This often occurs after switching between computers on a peer-to-peer network.  For example, you normally use a computer where the FBS data directory is stored on drive "C", but then log through a second computer that has mapped that drive to drive "F".  From the perspective of the second computer the FBS programs can't be found on drive "C", so the directory selection window on the right will point to an invalid directory and no companies will appear in the company selection window on the left. The immediate correction is to:   1.  Reset the data drive (from the drop-down list on the top right-hand corner of the screen).   2.  Click on the proper data directory (folder) in the right window.   3.  Clicking in the company selection window to find your file. See example below for an example of a normal Select Company screen. To avoid this problem, make sure you are running a Network version of FBS on your network and don't use a peer-to-peer network. Top of Page         sales@fbssystems.com 800.437.7638

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