World Pork Expo, 2012 FBS User Conference, FBS Users in the News, June Webinar Schedule, Changing "Default" Bank Accounts and Divisions
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 FarmSMART                                                      May 2012 

In this Issue:

 World Pork Expo

2012 FBS User Conference

FBS Users in the News

June Webinar Schedule

Changing "Default" Bank Accounts and Divisions

 

 

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Greetings! 

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Another fine day in May on our corner of the world.

 Check out these stories in our May newsletter: 

  • Prepare for two conferencesand a big trade show this summer. 
  • Look us up and participate in a benchmarking seminar at the World Pork Expo.  
  • Plan now for the FBS User Conference, August 29-30th. 
  • Read the next installment on applying Activity-based costing (ABC) to agriculture in our Best Practices column. 
  • Schedule your free webinartraining for June. 
  • The Q&A of the Monthshows you how to set "default" bank accounts and divisions. 
  • What's the intersection between margin management and activity-based costing?  Could your margin analysis be lying to you?  Find out from CPA Paul Neiffer from CliftonLarsonAllen in Farm Management Software Blog 

                                                                                      SDG

Be in the Know at World Pork Expo 

If you're headed to the 2012 World Pork Expo in Des Moines, June 6-8, please take take advantage of two unique opportunities to expand your knowledge of your industry and your own competitive strengths

Be in the Know Opportunity #1:  Attend the free PORK$HOP Cost Benchmarks Seminar co-sponsored by the Latta, Harris, Hanon & Penningroth CPA firm and FBS Systems at 10:30 am on Thursday, June 7 at the Elwell Family Food Center just west of the Varied Industry Building.  (See map below.)

Elwell Family Food Center
Elwell Family Food Center

The 1 1/2 hour session will focus exclusively on current benchmark comparisons for all stages of pork production.  Admission and handouts are free, but we recommend that you pre-register by completing this form or contacting sales@fbssystems.com or jmcnutt@lattaharris.com.   

Be in the Know Opportunity #2:  Visit the FBS booth #735 in theVaried Industries Building to learn how you can know more about your operation through integrated production/projection andmanagerial accounting software and receive a free demo CD.  (See map below.)

Varied Industry Building
Varied Industries Building
 
Your "I Wonder How?" Questions Answered at the 2012 FBS User ConferenceUC preview logo

 Once a year FBS Users from across North America gather to exchange ideas and discover what's new. Our 19th annual User Conference will be held at the Stoney Creek Inn in downtown Moline, Illinois, on August 29th and 30th.  The emphasis this year will be from users sharing their best practices for organizing, analyzing and making decisions from their data.  There will also be plenty of breakout training sessions for users with every experience level

We'll keep you posted on the specifics of the agenda in future newsletters and mailing pieces.  To receive more informatoin or if you've got a topic you want us to cover or have ideas you want to share at the conference click on this link

"Best Practices" for Activity-BA-B-Cased Costing Part #2 

Editor's noteThis article continues a new series on the "best practices" FBS users have developed to improve effectiveness, efficiency, internal control and compliance from their information system.  Last month we described the first two steps in Activity-Based Costing (A-B-C).    

Number 3. What standard rate should be used? Allocations are normally posted using predetermined standard rates. At first, this may appear to be counter-intuitive; after all, managers have already assigned actual costs into the cost centers, so why allocate these costs out to cost objects using predetermined standards? Here are a few of the reasons accountants do this:

  • Indirect costs can be allocated at the same time as direct costs, instead of waiting for the accounting period to close. 
  • Indirect costs like repairs come in "lumps" that have no correlation with short-term production
  • Production costs can be better anticipated, allowing more timely market pricing decisions. 
  • The system is much easier to maintain because overhead rates do not have to be recalculated for each period. 
  • Most importantly, standard rates provide managers access to one of the most valuable benefits of responsibility-center accounting:overhead variance analysis.

The initial selection of cost drivers and standard rates will, by necessity, be based on estimates (projected total center costs / projected total cost driver units). Some systems will perform "test runs" with historical production and accounting data to determine baseline rates. Standards can later be adjusted based on "actual" results and through a flexible budget that accounts for different levels of output. 

So far, we've emphasized cost centers that are ultimately allocated to products. That means that these costs are included in "cost of production" and work in process inventories. However, two classes of cost centers are never allocated to production costs or inventories:General and Administrative (G&A) and Financing. Rather they are expensed in the period they occur and are allocated directly to profit centers. Figure 5 represents the Farm Financial Standards Council'sdepiction of cost center-profit center allocations and reporting. Note that G&A Cost Center allocations are added only at the Operating Profitlevel and Financing Cost Center allocations at the Net Income level.  

FFSC Crop Cost Flow
Farm Financial Standards Crop Cost Flow

 Next month we will cover the bonus payoff from A-B-C: overhead variance analysis. 

To download a free white paper describing the full ABC allocation process click here.

FBS Users in the News 

Plainview, Texas, cotton and corn grower Jerry Brightbill relates the benefits and challenges of using broadband to monitor center-pivots and field equipment in "Farming the 'Smart' Way" in the May 2012 issue of The Progressive Farmer.

Iowa swine seedstock producer and International Boar Semen president Steve Kerns describes how he adapts to changing consumer demands in the cover story, "Quality Conscious" in the May 19th issue of the Iowa Farmer Today.

Free June Webinar Schedule 
Webinar Screen
"Hot" Keys, June 4  
Exporting and Report Sharing, June 11 
Crop Audit Entries, June 18
 
All webinars run between 10:00 am and 11:00 am CDT.  To register, e-mail support@fbssystems.com by 9:00 am CDT on the day of the webinar.
Q&A of the Month--Changing "Default" Bank Accounts and Divisions 
Sarah Dixon
Sarah Dixon, FBS Technical Services Manager.

Q.   Is there a way to change the default bank account and division in the TransAction Plus data entry screen? Currently it always starts at the first bank account and division on the list. 

A.   Yes, you can do this yourself through two FBS Preference settings. 

Go to Utilities | Set Preferences. Preferences are always displayed in alphabetical order so scroll to the "Ts" to find the lines for TA+ Entry Bank Accountand TA+ Entry Division. Enter the ledger number for your preferred bank account and/or division in the Value column and then click the Save button.

Default Bank Account and Division
Default Bank Account and Division preferences.

Note that unlike the Setup | Accounting | General Information option to "Restrict Division to Bank Division" these preferences don't prevent you from selecting alternative accounts or divisions; they just determine which one will come up first in data entry. 

Learn how personalize FBS to match your preferences at the 2012 User Conference.

Sincerely,


FBS Systems

 

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