The Commodity Classic returns to New Orleans.

Dear Friend,

After 6 years, the Commodity Classic "traveling show" returns to the "Big Easy."  This month we're also returning to the series "Know Before You Grow" from our 2008-2009 newsletters, plus these timely topics:  

• Version 11.6 sets reporting speed record.
• Data analytics added to FBS video library.
• "Know Before You Grow" returns.
• Take control of your financial future at the Commodity Classic.
• Risks and repairs with deleted accounts, centers, and divisions.

Mutual Agricultural Software Alliance (MASA) members and customers now can produce reports significantly faster due to moving from 32-bit to 64-bit reports and utilizing the extra memory to cache data through the new Version 11.6.  For example, data-intensive Smart Feeder reports tested from one "Pork Powerhouse"  averaged 8 times faster than Version 11.4, with improvements ranging from 44 times faster to a "dead  heat," depending on the report.  Users with the largest files and 8GB or more of RAM in their PC will see the greatest performance improvements.

Version 11.6 is only available to MASA members and customers. For more information click here or  email norm@fbssystems.com.

Data Analytics Added to FBS Video Library

View your data in ways you've never seen before through data analytics and business intelligence software in this video by consultant Daryl Ellis recorded at the 2021 Ag Software Success Summit.

We currently stock two dozen software training videos in our Resource Center that you can "check out" any time free of charge.

Topics range from basic accounting to software setup to field records to report generation. 

Click here to browse or watch.

"It's not what people don't know that hurts them. It's what they do know that just ain't so."  -Will Rogers

At least that’s what some people believe.   Others are just as sure this quote came from Mark Twain. (Unintentionally, their collective wisdom is validated.)

What about you? Are you preparing to make critical management decisions based on intuition, past experiences, or what your neighbors are doing rather than relying on objective data?   You’re not alone. We’re convinced a majority of producers begin with erroneous assumptions, then bolster their "confirmation bias" with DIY analysis.   (Of course, we could always be proven wrong!)

External Knowledge

If there’s any lesson to be learned from the past 2 years it’s that no "black swan" assumption is too outlandish or unlikely. While we’re not aware of any risk-management service that has precisely predicted all the surprises we’ve experienced, these organizations—as compared with the sages at the “coffee shop”—provide valuable expertise and perspective in helping you cope with the uncertainties of the external world.

Internal Knowledge

Most of FBS’s technology and services, though, are concentrated on measuring and managing the internal business processes of farming operations. That creates these challenges:

1. Outside of very general mandatory reporting, nobody “makes” you follow sound business and accounting practices.
2. Few standards are widely available for categorizing, prioritizing, benchmarking and making objective decisions from internal farm data.
3. Most of the record-keeping/accounting tools used on-farm are way too generic or unreconcilable to generate useful and timely management information.
4. The accounting education and training delivered through traditional sources such as the Extension Service are lagging the needs of modern agriculture.
5. Many progressive farm businesses have grown to levels of complexity that can’t be easily managed using conventional tools and practices.
6. While the best-managed operations do generate good-quality information, it’s rarely available quickly enough to make timely, quality decisions.
7. A majority of farmers rely on someone else’s "plugged" cost assumptions rather than their own numbers.
8. Quality control (and the entire validity of data) is hit-and-miss.

Throughout the next year we’ll be puncturing myths and challenging your assumptions about your accounting and business practices. While the process may be painful, the results will help you know as well as grow.

“An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out."         -  Will Rogers

Q&A: Risks and Repairs With Deleted Accounts, Centers, and Divisions
Q.   What happens if I delete a ledger account, center, or division after I've recorded entries using it?	Sarah Dixon, FBS Support Coordinator
A.  Watch this video and you'll see why we firmly warn against deleting any "setup" item after they've been recorded. You can also learn a few tips to repair transactions with deleted setup items.