Utilizing your upgrade, Growth path to Method B accounting, FBS Users in the News, Unearthed in Montanna, Trade show schedule, December free webinar schedule, Q&A: "Bulk scanning"
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 FarmSMART                                              November 2014 

In this Issue:

Utilizing your upgrade

The growth path to Method B accounting

FBS Users in the News

Unearthed in Montanna

Trade show schedule

December free webinar schedule

Q&A:  "Bulk scanning"      

 

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Dear (Contact First Name), 

Time for one last high-level UAV pass over a record harvest.  Now it's time to record that harvest in your FBS Software through one of these sources:
  • Conservis grain cart ticket
  • Conservis field to storage ticket (new)
  • Digi-Star Grain Tracker
  • Yield monitors through SMS and Apex software
  • Grain ticket CSV or Excel export.

Give our office a call at 800.437.7638 and we'll help you activate these time-saving functions. 

In the November issue of FarmSmart: 
  • Utilizing your upgrade.
  • The growth path to Method B accounting.
  • FBS Users in the News
  • Unearthed in Montanna
  • Trade show schedule.
  • December free webinar schedule.
  • "Bulk scanning."                                                  

 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!                                   

Psalm 50:23     

                                                                                                   SDG

Utilizing Your Upgrade
 
Have you received your 2015 FBSSeRVware upgrade?  We've shipped CDs to our Corporate, VIP and Priority Service Agreement clients already and will be sending out the remainder to Basic Service clients in December.
 
We recommend installing your upgrade as soon as it arrives so you can continue receiving weekly updates.  Instructions in the packet will help you decide which of the two version options (8.15 and 10.4) is right for you.
 
In this and upcoming issues of FarmSmart we'll highlight some of the new features in the upgrades and show you how to take advantage of them.
 
General Features 
  • Can backup two years at once. 
Under Save Data you can now make a backup of the current year and the prior year in one zip file.  This is especially handy if you're starting a new calendar year while still working in the prior year, and you don't need to make a fresh backup of all past years' data.
  • Can organize report macros in a Favorites tab.
FBS provides several options for organizing your "memorized" (macro) reports, including expandable "trees," user- defined menus and tabs by module.  The latest upgrade allows you to file all your customized/memorized reports under their own "Favorites" tab.
 
To activate this feature go to Utilities | Set Preferences and find the Report Menu Options line and enter a Y in sixth position.  If you haven't already customized this feature enter "NN2NNY" in the line.
 

 
If you're working with more than one company you'll also notice that switching companies now automatically closes all reports and input screens for the original company selected.  We've done this as a safety function to prevent accidentally recording to the wrong company.  Note:  FBS's Inter-Company module automatically creates offsetting payable-receivable entries between companies and allows consolidated financial statements and reports across companies.
 
If you'd like to explore your upgrade further click on Help Topics | What's New for FBS Versions 8.15/10.4 in your new FBS software ordownload this slide show from the 2014 FBS User Conference. 

And If you haven't renewed your service agreement yet call our sales line at 800.437.7638 / Extension 2 to get an upgrade headed your way. 


Accounting Method B:  "Farmer's Shortcut"
 
In prior installments in this series, we covered the two key questions in the Growth Path Accounting Decision Tree.  This month we continue tracing the accounting results from these decisions. 

So far we've identified two widely-different outcomes:  Method C (cash only reports) and Method A (stand-alone accrual accounting).

This month we're branching off from those two methods in response to more intensive information goals.  You're a candidate for accounting Method B if: 

You're strictly cash accounting, but want to incorporate real time inventories of crops, livestock, or inputs. 

Or...

You're primarily accrual and want to add some form of cost analysis by enterprise that exceeds the scope of your accounting system.  You also may not have a formally-trained accountant on staff. 

  

What Does Method B look like?

1. Integration with production information.  If you're tracking field or livestock performance records, the direct and indirect costs will come through your accounting records.  

2. Cash and/or accrual accounting.  You can continue using your current accounting method.  Financial statements will not be affected.

3. Real-time inventory tracking.  Both accounting and production events will drive inventories.  Inputs like seed, chemicals, fertilizer and feed will be valued at cost from accounting while growing/harvested crops and growing animals can be assigned either standard costs or market values.  

4. "Hybrid" approach that maintains "pure" cash and/or accrual accounting books but does enterprise analysis and inventory "on the side" through specialized reports that merge accounting and production data. 

What are the benefits of Method B?

 1. Can produce unit-based cost analysis and inventory control with much more detail and automation than Methods A or C. 

 2. No additional accounting training required as analysis reports do not tie to financial statements.

 3. Handles all data integration functions "behind the scenes."

 4. Doesn't require that production employees allocate costs or accounting employees track production details

What are the downsides of Method B?

1. Manual accounting adjustments to reverse prepaid expenses in cash accounting and cost of goods sold for accrual accounting systems.

2. Cost allocations and inventories do not "drive" financial statements t
hrough raw materials, work in process and finished goods inventories. Overhead allocations are also limited to a "single hop" (rather than service centers allocated to support centers that are allocated to production centers).

3. Limited accounting control because physical inventories don't tie to financial statements.   

4. Doesn't follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles(GAAP).

Many FBS users have chosen Method B's hybrid approach as a shortcut to track inventories and generate cost analysis reports and closeouts

However, there's one more branch to the growth path that doesn't compromise accounting practices or business analysis  We'll cover Method ABC in the next installment of Growth Path Accounting.

FBS Users In the News

Sid and Tim Burkey of Seward County, Nebraska, share how they set up a donor-advised fund to maximize flexibility of tax planning and increase the impact of their charitable donations in the October 2014 issue of The Progressive Farmer.  They work with a certified financial planner from Syverson Strege and Company.
Unearthed in Montana


 
Paleontologists in Montana recently discovered this rare artifact from the age when PIK Certificates and Willie Nelson roamed the plains. Thanks to Professor Tom Welch, Montana State University,Northern, for capturing this 30-year-old relic.
2015 Trade Show Schedule
Catch up with the latest developments in FBS Software at these upcoming trade shows: 
Show
Date
Location 
Booth #
Minnesota Pork Congress Jan. 21-22 Minneapolis Convention Center
121
Iowa Pork Congress Jan. 28-29 Iowa Events Center,  Des Moines
207
Illinois Pork Conference Feb. 3-4 Peoria Civic Centers
TBD
National Farm Machinery Show Feb. 11-14 Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville
620A
Commodity Classic Feb. 26-28 Phoenix Convention Center
2700
World Pork Expo June 3-5 Iowa State Fairgrounds Des Moines
131
December Free Webinars

Dec.  1:  Using the Trial Balance 
Dec.  8:  Tying Bank Accounts to Divisions
Dec. 15:  End of Year Processes
Dec. 22:  1099s
Dec. 29:  Undefined Entries
 
All webinars run between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm CST.   

To register, e-mail support@fbssystems.com by 12:00 pm CDT on the day of the webinar.

Q&A of the Month:  "Bulk Scanning"
Sarah Dixon
Sarah Dixon, FBS Technical Services Manager.

 Q.  When I try to use Scanner Interface in FBS, it doesn't find my scanner, and I can't scan a document using the "Save + Scan" option on the entry screen or the Scan option in Scanner interface. 

 A. This is a known issue that we are trying hard to fix.  It seems to be an issue with newer multipurpose scanners (printer/scanner/copier machines) and networked scanners.  However, there's an alternative way to link scanned documents to accounting entries, and some people like this technique better!  We call this our "bulk scanning" method.

 

 1.  Make a folder somewhere on your computer.   I find it handy to store the folder on my desktop.  Using your desktop also works well with the Agcompass server.  I like to name my folder "Pending Documents."  Make note of the path of this folder, you can right click on it and select properties and find the path name.   Mine is C:\Users\Sarah Dixon\Desktop\Pending Documents.

 

2. Scan all of your documents you want to link to this file folder.  My scanner automatically names my documents as NewDoc1,NewDoc2, etc. 

3.  This step only needs to be done once and can be skipped after the initial setup.   In FBS go to Utilities | Set Preferences and find CM: Scanner File Mask.  Under Value enter the path to your folder you created in Step 1 above.   Again, mine is C:\Users\Sarah Dixon\Desktop\Pending Documents.  Add another backslash and the start of the file name used to save the documents followed by *.* (to indicate a "wild card").   My files begin with "New" so I enter \New*.*  The entire line reads C:\Users\Sarah Dixon\Desktop\Pending Documents\New*.*  This automatically renames all of those documents in that folder that start with the word "New" to the FBS naming format that is required by Scanner Interface. 

   

 All scanned documents will show up in Scanner Interface and can now be linked using the Fast Link option. 

 Note:  If you have more than one company in FBS to which you want to link scanned documents you need to name the files differently in your pending folder.  For the company KNL I named the unlinked documents "NewDoc1."  If I had a second company ABC I would name them something different, maybe "DocABC" and save them in the same pending folder.  In the ABC company I'd change the CM:  Scanner File Mask Preference to /Doc*.* instead of the /New*.*.

  

Sincerely,


FBS Systems




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