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FarmSMART                  
October 2019
Big River
Corn harvest running at full steam.

Dear Friend,

Although FBS moved to the "big city" last year we're never far from the farming action as our office is across the street from a grain elevator. Its dryer is now fired up and late-planted, wet corn is starting to arrive from the field.

During this harvest season if you find yourself waiting in line to dump a truck or driving a combine or tractor on "auto pilot," you're invited to make your time more productive by viewing two full days of free educational videos recorded at the August Ag Software Success Summit.  Just go to the Conference website, or follow the breakout sessions links below.

In this month's newsletter:

  • New Software Training Videos.
  • An Exciting Future for Your Software.
  • Do More With the "To Do" List.

                                         SDG


Breakout Session Videos from the 2019 Ag Software Success Summit

Breakout 2019

Last month we reported on and linked to the general sessions at the 2019 the Ag Software Success Summit, including the  keynote presentation:  "The Converence of FinTech and AgTech," a panel discussion by the Mutual Agricultural Software Alliance founders, Corn and Soybean Cost of Production Benchmarks, and development plans for FBS/MASA software.

This month we'll cover and link to 12 breakout training sessions from Day Two of the conference (Wednesday, August 21st). 

Here are the links:
Get Setup Right When Why and How
Get FBS Setup Right Accounting Entries:  The When, Why and How
Essential Accounting Reports
 Maximizing Your Office Efficiency
Essential Accounting Reports Maximizing Your Office Efficiency
Crop Data and Import 300

 Crop Input, Reports and Imports
Cybersecurity Jeff Clemons cropped
Cybersecurity Practices  by Jeff Clemons, Frost
E.CLIPSE Examples and Processes E.CLIPSE Management Accounting Case Studies
   
Direct Deposit-ACH Dozeman
Direct Deposit/ACH  by Dean Dozeman, Dykhuis Farms
Power BI Daryl 2019
Introduction to Power BI   by Daryl Ellis
LH Pork COP Benchmark Pork Costs
Pork Cost of Production  by John McNutt, LattaHarris
Controller Services Lance Fulton 2019
Controller Services  by Lance Fulton

Logo Small

MASA-Logo-Final

An Exciting Future for Your Software
A lot’s been happening at FBS in 2019, and the results are exciting news for you, our valued clients.

  • The Mutual Agricultural Software Alliance (MASA) was launched in March and now has 20 partners that are helping fund development and direct priorities. Click here to watch a video presentation from the FBS Ag Software Success Summit.

  • In partnership with MASA, we have more than doubled our development team led by Dr. Martin Traviolia and are working on an ambitious project to thoroughly modernize the FBS integrated software platform. Click here watch a video describing where we're heading at the FBS Ag Software Success Summit.

  • MASA members will benefit by receiving a full ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) on an open, high-performance, SQL Server database. FBS users who are qualified investors can convert to MASA. 
     
  • Conventional FBS users will also benefit by receiving a refreshed user interface, faster performance and full support of Windows 8 and 10 features under a Microsoft .NET code base.

  • Whether you become a MASA owner or remain an FBS user you’ll be part of a world class sustainable, expandable and open integrated financial platform.

  • In order to accomplish these sweeping objectives, we’ve changed our development tempo from releasing frequent maintenance updates to annual major upgrades.

  • Therefore, we’re postponing shipment of our Version 11.4 upgrade until the first quarter of 2020.   

  • Because our Version 11 series software has been commercial for four years and very stable we will be releasing only mission-critical patches/updates between major version upgrades.

  • As a result of these changes, you now have three options for maintaining your software license:

    • Wait for your FBS 2020-21 renewal notice in May.
    • Lock in your FBS 2020-21 renewal by December 31 and save 10%.
    • Become a member of MASA.

We’ll be happy to discuss these alternatives.  Call us at 800.437.7638 or email sale@fbssystems.com.  Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Q&A: Do More With the "To Do" List

Q. Why does a To Do screen always come up when I open FBS?

A.  The To Do List is a built-in reminder feature in FBS.  The default item is called "First entry."
Sarah 2019

Sarah Dixon,FBS Support Coordinator
To Do 1

You can shut off the To Do List by simply filling in a Finished Date; however, you can take full advantage of this valuable feature by customizing it for your operation.
  • To add a task go to Input>To Do List.
To Do 2
  • Define by company and division.  A unique list is maintained within each FBS company and can be further flagged by division.  

  • Determine repeat interval.  For each task you can select these options:
    • Don't repeat.
    • Repeat annually.
    • Repeat monthly.
    • Repeat quarterly.

  • Set "look ahead" days.  Go to Setup>General Information to set the number of days prior to the To Do dates that you want to begin being reminded each time you log into the selected company.
To Do 3
  • Track results by pressing the Mode button to view open and completed tasks along with the initials of the employee who completed the task.  

To Do 4

 
Schedule  Demo