Final Posting on This Blog

This will be the final posting for this blog.

Why? This blog isn't working the way we intended because we've discovered that the vast majority of our users are not able to access ANY blogs from work. So, it's turned into a learning experience instead of the communication tool we had hoped it would become. The good news is that we're currently working on other options for delivering Blue Bear news and views - from us to you. We're not quite there yet, but we wanted you to know what is going on anyway.

While this blog location will no longer be updated, we recommend you check out all these other links where you can connect with us as well as other Tracks and SchoolBooks users.

• Support Portal that has discussion boards as well as the ability to submit support requests online - http://customerportal.activenetwork.com/
• Training Webinars are available free of charge covering new features and refresher training - http://www.bluebearsoft.com/training-webinars.htm
• WebStore Wizard Blog and eMarketing Center for great tips and resources for promoting your WebStore - http://emarketing.activenetwork.com/login.htm

Keep an eye out for emails coming soon with more information. We won't be here, but we'll be someplace. Bye for now!

New SchoolBooks WEB Update Available - Version 2.00.097

There is a new release available at Get Updates for SchoolBooks WEB! This also includes lots of fixes and new features! Be sure to check out the complete release notes that you shoulc have received via email or by going to "Release Notes" under the Help Menu in SchoolBooks WEB.

Release Version 2.00.097 Highlights:

• Added 1099 Functionality including District Management screen and the printing of 1099 forms. That's right! You don't need to buy the forms!
• Added a message box to warn if a duplicate Tax ID is entered in Vendor Maintenance.
• Enhanced Tabbing Orders in multiple screens.
• Fixed issue in Invoice Entry where unknown Purchase Order numbers were not being saved.
• Fixed issue where Print PO check box was not enabled in some circumstances.
• Fixed an issue with Beginning Balances not saving changes in some situations.
• Fixed issue where School ID did not accept a number as the first part of School Code.

New Tracks and SchoolBooks Update Available - Version 6.06.20.677

There is a new release available at Get Updates for SchoolBooks and Tracks Desktop! There are a lot of new features and fixes in the release - so you definitely will want to go get it soon! Here are some highlights included in the last release:

Tracks

• Added the ability for the Web Store to respect Must Items and Quality Limits in the same manner as the Tracks Work Screen.
• Added the following new Consolidated Textbook Reports: Consolidated Textbook Listing (in Summary and Detail), Textbook Lost Report by ISBN, Textbook Count Report by ISBN and Textbooks Missing ISBN Numbers.
• Added Global Textbook Lookup to view book information across schools.

SchoolBooks

• Fixed an issue with Account Analysis Detail Report not exporting to Excel correctly.
• Fixed an issue with Purchase Order back orders were being cleared incorrectly.
• Updated SchoolBooks WEB Menu for client-based SchoolBooks WEB customers.

But be sure to check out the release notes for MANY more!

Give me a Shortcut! Series Part 5 - Change data in Tracks the easy way!

One more Tracks Shortcut for everyone!

In Tracks, The Modify Bonus/GL/Category utility allows you to change bonus field data, GL Account, and/or category that was entered at the time of the original sale. You may also add new bonus field or category data to existing receipts.

To get to this screen, go to the Management Menu, Special Functions, and select Modify Bonus/GL/Category.



Why would you want to use this?

• Modify GL Account - Maybe you were taking a deposit and you selected the wrong GL Account on the Work Screen. You can change it here and then when you either do your Closeout the first time or re-export your Closeout Information to SchoolBooks, you won't need to fix it on the SchoolBooks side because you fixed it here first. That's convenient, huh?
• Modify Bonus - Maybe you were selling prom tickets and using the bonus field to enter the guest name. Well, when someone comes crying to you because they have a new date, no need to refund the transaction. Just come to this screen and make a change.
  
• Modify Category - Maybe you were taking a donation and you made a mistake and entered the wrong category. This utility gives you the opportunity to enter the correct category for the donation so that it comes over into SchoolBooks correctly because you fixed it here first.

Fix these things once - on an easy to use screen and that's it!

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Give me a Shortcut! Series Part 4 - Step away from the mouse!

How can you save a ton of time on the Tracks Work Screen? By not using your mouse... hide it from yourself and after a little practice, you'll be flying through your transactions exclusively using your keyboard!

Just use the following shortcut keys:

Function Keys (to use, simply press the function key on your keyboard)

• F3 - Item Lookup
• F4 - Clear the Work Screen
• F5 - Delete a detail line (an item)
• F6 - Edit a detail line (this replaces double clicking)
• F8 - Customer Lookup
• F11 - More options (see below)
  
• F12 - Fast Cash Sale (Print the receipt fast depending on your settings in Workstation Settings!)
• F9 - Print a standard receipt

More Shortcuts (some of these shortcuts are visible on the Work Screen and some are visible only when you click or press , either way, to use them - just type the letters in the Command Line on the Work Screen)

• CH - View the customer's history
• LC - Bring up the last customer
• R - Return item
• LI - Sell the Last Item again (Great for those lines of students buying dance tickets!)
• P - Take payments and pre-payments
• RP - Reprint the last receipt (Great for when it's crazy and you need to write yourself a note to fix something later!)
• AC - Add a new customer
• /C - Add a comment
• RO - Reprint Old Receipt
• CC - Create Credit
• RT - Reverse a transaction

Happy typing!

Give me a Shortcut! Series Part 3 - Tracks Settings for the Work Screen

Today, we're going to look at five different options on the School Settings: Work Screen Tab. You probably use the Work Screen at least once a day - so these quick options could make all that time easier!

1. Customer/Item History Display Options - You all probably know about the options to change a student to Price Level B if they buy a Student Body Card (or some other item that your school uses for giving discounts), but did you know you can set up two additional displays on the Work Screen to show if a customer has either bought or not bought an item?

Let's say you want to see right away who has not turned in their Parent Consent form when they come to your window, just set it up like you see in the picture below. Now, if the student in front of you has NOT BOUGHT (or in this case, turned in), it'll show CONST (or whatever you type there) right on the Work Screen.

Try it out - this doesn't affect anything in your history - and you can change it as often as you want!

While we are still on this tab, there are a few other small options that we will look at briefly as time savers...

2. Give Change: Check this box if you want to Tracks to display the amount of change due the customer at the time payment is tendered.

3. Close Item Screen After Each Item: When you click to do an Item Lookup on the Work Screen, you can choose whether you want the program to keep the lookup window open or close it after you’ve selected an item.

4. Enable Check Number/Name field: Check this box if you want to be prompted to enter the check number and name as you complete the sale. Now, to save time, you could clear this box - but then if a check bounces, it's going to take you much longer to track it down, so what's the real time saver?

5. Sound a Beep on Scan Errors: Check this box if you would like to hear a fun "beep-boop" sound when incorrect entries are made on the Work Screen. This means you scan a your water bottle instead of that student's ID card. Oops!

Questions? Comments? Let us know!

Give me a Shortcut! Series Part 2 - More SchoolBooks Settings

We're picking up where we left off from the last post! More SchoolBooks Tips from School Settings! For information about the series or SchoolBooks School Settings, scroll down to check out the previous post.

Accounting Tab

• "Don't Prompt to Print in PO Entry Screen" - Do you enter multiple Purchase Orders in one sitting? If so, you probably want this box checked. This means you'll be able to enter a PO and you won't be prompted to print when you click Accept. You'll be able to enter the 10 that you have and then go to "Print Purchase Orders" on the Entry menu instead. 10 PO's, you just saved yourself clicking "No" 10 times!
• "Use Auto-Complete" - Some of you love it, some of you hate it. Turn it on or off here. You'll usually be able to take advantage of this feature with fields like Purpose and Advisor.
• "Keep Import from Tracks Open" - Do you have more than one deposit to import from Tracks each day? If so, then this was added for you! Check this box to keep the Import from Tracks screen open after you import a Closeout into SchoolBooks. You will most likely check this box if you import more than one deposit at a time (for example, you have a deposit you take to the bank and a WebStore deposit each day).

Three check boxes that could save you time! That's what I like!

To see more "Give me a Shortcut" posts, click here.

Give me a Shortcut! Series Part 1 - SchoolBooks Settings

I am one of those people that likes "settings." I like to change the options on my cell phone so calling, using the calculator, and locking keys are as easy as possible. At home, I find myself changing the temperature on my freezer to get it "just right" often enough to realize it.

So, it should come to no surprise that when I think about making SchoolBooks work faster and better, it would start in School Settings. This screen has MANY options that can customize your daily activities in SchoolBooks. I'm going to highlight some of my favorites that are easy to change in this post, but feel free to explore more on your own!

How do you get there? In SchoolBooks, go to the Management Menu, click on Customize, and then choose School Settings. There are 7 tabs containing information specific to your school. We'll only discuss two today.

School Data Tab

• "Report Date Starting at" - Do you open a report screen (maybe the Account Analysis Detail Report or Cash Disbursement Report) and change the "Start Date"? If you're changing this date a lot - you could probably just change the default and save yourself some time! Setting the default will just auto-fill the date, you'll always be able to change it for a specific report.
• "Default 'Auth By' Value"- If you want to save time, you should have something here. It's most likely that the majority of your time, you will have the same "Authorized by" value. Just type it in here and then you'll see it on the entry screen so you can tab over to the next field or change it on the fly!

Month End Tab

• "Enable Automatic Printing of Month End Reports" - Just check this box and choose the reports you want the system to automatically display before you close your month. It even automatically changes the report date range to just that month! It's a dual time-saver!

I hope some of these tips have helped you! Next time I'll give you three more SchoolBooks Settings tips! And a reminder, the ideal temperature for your freezer is 0 Fahrenheit.

To see other "Give me a Shortcut" posts, click here.

Now Available - Subscribe via Email

If you want to receive email updates whenever this blog is updated, look over on the right side for the box called "Subscribe via email." Just enter your email address!

Then, every time a new post is made available, you'll receive an email seeing the whole post just as it is on the blog. If you want, you can then click on the title to go directly to the post and comment!

Questions? Problems? Did you subscribe? Let us know in the Comments section below.

Coming Soon - "Give me a Shortcut" Series

We're all looking for ways to make the things we do at work faster and easier, right?

I'm starting a series called, "Give me a Shortcut" that will provide you with some easy tips to make things faster, easier, and all-around better!

Look for the first post later this week!

If you have any suggestions, please comment below. This could include shortcuts that you use and want to share with others or it could be an issue you have with SchoolBooks, Tracks, or your WebStore that needs a shortcut!

To see all of the posts in this series, click here.

Free Webinars on YOUR schedule! They're here...

Want to learn something? Over the years, we’ve offered a continuing series of educational webinars on various software and accounting functions, but we have always had a challenge getting people to show up! I’m sure that quite a few of you have heard me complain more than once about the relatively low attendance (considering that we have several thousands of users!) at these free webinars. When asked why, users consistently respond that either the time frame doesn’t work or they simply don’t have time during the day to attend any webinar because of the demands of the job.

Bear in mind that these are not presentations where we’re trying to sell you something. They’re really not! They are about fascinating subjects like yearend closing and bank reconciliations and inventory tracking. We think of these webinars as a win-win situation. They are good for our users because they provide information about how something works or how to do something and they are free! They are good for us because if we can provide answers to commonly asked questions in a one-to-many format (one of us to many of you), that’s more efficient for us – and results in you getting your questions answered and us spending less time on the phone answering the same question multiple times.

So here’s what we’re doing. From now on, we’re recording all our webinars and making them available to you online. That means you can view/listen to them when it fits in YOUR schedule. Maybe it’s before or after school. Maybe it’s while you’re at home. It doesn’t matter because now the recordings of the webinars are available on our website (go to the Training tab/Recorded Webinars). Try http://bluebearsoft.com/training-webinars-archived.htm.

Want a shortcut? This is a list of the recorded webinars we’ve done so far, and we’re adding to this number every month. These are the titles, along with the links and a subtle hint about how many minutes they run so you can judge your time accordingly.

SchoolBooks: Receipts and Bank Deposits
http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/SchoolBooks%20Receipts%20and%20Bank%20Deposits/lib/playback.html
September 2009 / Time – 24:57

Tracks: Year End Processing
http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/Tracks%20Year%20End/lib/playback.html
August 2009 / Time – 29:27

Tracks: Tracking Student Store Inventory
http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/Tracking%20Student%20Store%20Inventory/lib/playback.html
August 2009 / Time – 12:25

Tracks: Fall Registration Made Easier
http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/Tracks%20Fall%20Registration/lib/playback.html
July 2009 / Time 30:58

SchoolBooks: YearEnd Processing
http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/SchoolBooks%20Yearend%20Processing/lib/playback.html
July 2009 / Time 22:31

WebStore Session 1: Pre-Wizard Setup
http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/001%20WebStore%20Pre-Wizard%20Setup/lib/playback.html
May 2009 / Time 16:33

WebStore Session 2: Setup Wizard
http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/002%20WebStore%20Wizard%20and%20Setup%20Options/lib/playback.html
May 2009 / Time 24:57

WebStore Session 3: Item and Department Maintenance http://bluebearsoft.com/webinars/003%20WebStore%20Item%20and%20Dept%20Maintenance/lib/playback.html
May 2009 / Time 26:57

You can visit these recorded webinars anytime you want. Use them for training new staff on the software, or as simple refreshers for functions you only do sporadically (like yearend stuff). And when you do view them, we’d love to hear your feedback. Did you find them helpful? What other topics would you like to see next? What could we do to improve either our delivery or the content of each webinar? Remember that the only reason these recorded webinars exist is because of you.

Ideal School Answering Machine Message

It’s back to school time and the most important thing right now is that we all remember how to laugh! Listen to this! In my opinion, this is what every school needs to have on their answering machine. This is billed as “Actual message on a school answering machine in Australia” – but I think it’s appropriate for anywhere. See if you agree.

Do you use it? That long, 60-character Purpose field in SchoolBooks

We’ve always prided ourselves for being responsive to our users and adding requested enhancements on a fairly regular basis. In an attempt to keep our software up-to-date and fresh, we usually add new features, new sorting options, new reports, or something fun (you name it) about once a year. Then every once in a while, we come back and check to see who is actually using the new stuff we added.

In May 2008, one of the Version 5.9 changes was the lengthening of the Purpose (Description) field from 30 to 60 characters. We increased the length in Purchase Orders, Invoice Entry, Receipting/Bank Deposits – in short, everywhere throughout the software. Users had been telling us for years that they needed more room for longer and more detailed descriptions. We had held off for quite a while because it was a major change, requiring us to modify almost every data file, several of the screens, and to change the layouts on many of the reports. But we did it and that longer Purpose field has been out there in the world now for a year and a half.

So – here’s the question: How many of you out there regularly use more than the old 30 characters in your Purpose fields? Who out there is taking advantage of all that space to enter long, detailed descriptions of the transaction? Please comment and let me know. All feedback will be appreciated.

New Update Available for SchoolBooks WEB - Version 2.0

A new update is available for SchoolBooks WEB.

If you are a SchoolBooks WEB Customer, you should have received an email earlier today with the release notes. The list of release notes is VERY long because there were so many bug fixes and enhancements included. I would recommend you get it as soon as possible.

Here is my "Top Ten" list of highlights included in version 2.0:

• Tabbing in all screens has been enhanced so that you can use the Enter key to get to the next field.
• New Enhanced Reporting Engine that will allow multiple users to print reports and journals at the same time without errors.
• Improved scrolling on Bank Reconciliation screen.
• Added Receipt update window to create Bank Deposits from Receipts allowing the user to change the import type (summary or detail), date of deposit, and deposit bank.
• Added ability to choose which lines of a Purchase Order you want to pull onto an Invoice.
• Added ability to void Opening Bank Checks in Manual/Void Check Entry.
• Added new “Deposit Correction” type adjustment to the Adjustment Wizard.
• Added an “Address" tab for Purchase Order and Street Addresses in Vendor Maintenance. This means you can have a different address to print on your Purchase Orders for those vendors that have multiple addresses.
• Added Consolidated Vendor Check History Reports.
• Fixed the memo printing on Computer Checks.

Need a Refresher About Doing Year End?

Try these links to our "How To" Videos:

For Tracks: This video reviews hw to load your new students for 2009/2010, clear out last year's history and more - http://www.activeeducate.com/take-a-tour/dr-download-video.htm

For SchoolBooks: This video has everything you need to know about doing year end - http://www.activeeducate.com/take-a-tour/school-books-year-end-video.htm

Emergency? Who ya gonna call?

It’s 6pm and you’re almost finished with a very long day. You’ve installed the Tracks software on your laptop because you need an extra workstation for registration tomorrow, but now you discover something’s wrong. You click on Tracks and nothing happens. Yikes! What do you do? Who ya gonna call?

No, this isn’t a job for the Ghostbusters! And please - don’t just email your Account Manager – he/she may not see your email until morning. It’s time to remember that we have after hours support for emergencies – and that’s 24/7. How do you contact them? It’s easy. Call our regular support line at 1-888-490-1555. Listen to the message and you’ll hear the option to contact Emergency Support from that menu. Follow the directions and an actual live person (one of our senior support analysts) will call you back – in real time. We understand that sometimes challenges with software and equipment happen outside normal business hours – and we’re there to support you if and when it does. If you have an emergency – any emergency (picture a line of 300 students waiting restlessly) and you’re stuck, please call us and go to that emergency line. We’ll be there for you - we promise!

On that same note, our Support Team continues to maintain impressive low average wait times even here in the middle of August (typically our busiest phone season). Wait times for the How-To Queue are approximately 2-3 minutes and about 10-15 minutes for the Data Repair/Error Queue. It's not surprising that we’re getting lots of compliments from users about the short waits and we appreciate every single one of them. Thanks for being vocal about your approval!

So remember – if you have a problem or question, call or email Support. But if you have an emergency, don't email! Pick up the phone - no matter what time it is. We’ll be there to help!

New Update Available for Tracks and SchoolBooks Desktop - Version 6.05.18.619

A new update is available for SchoolBooks and Tracks Desktop.

This release installs an update to Crystal Reports to ensure compatibility on newer versions of Windows and some fixes for Client/Server systems. Check out the release notes for more information.

Be the Best YOU you can be!

With the coming rush of Fall Registration and all that Back to School entails, it’s easy to get caught up in an overwhelming feeling of frustration and self-blame because you can’t always be all things to all people. You may be thinking “There aren’t enough hours in the day” or “I’ll never get it all done” or “I can’t believe we’re going to actually do this with as few people as we have.” And you may allow yourself to feel badly because of those negative thoughts.

But wait! There’s another way. Why not take just a moment and appreciate the wonderful person you are? Be thankful that you have the skills and abilities you have. If you’re reading this, you’re probably somehow associated with software and accounting, so you have the opportunity to use that fantastic brain of yours every day – and that keeps the juices flowing.

So bottomline: Don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t all get done. Do the best you can, try to be nice to your co-workers, the students, and yes, even their parents. Look around yourself and realize that in one way or another, every single person is doing the best he or she can. They may not be as bright, or as talented, or even as motivated as you’d like them to be, but there they are. They deserve your respect and your patience, even at the end of a long day of endless lines, countless questions, and innumerable interruptions.

You are special. There is only one of you. Be good to yourself. When you look at yourself in the mirror, look right into your eyes and smile at that beautiful face and say “I love you. You’re a marvelous being!” That may sound a little odd, but it’s wonderfully powerful. When I was growing up and we’d leave for school in the morning, my mother would lean down and say, “Be the best YOU you can be today. You don’t have to be better than anyone else or worry about anyone else. Just be the very best YOU!” So during these times that get a bit challenging with hectic schedules and conflicting demands, I encourage you to take care of yourself – and be the best YOU you can be! You are worth it!

New Update Available - Version 6.05.17.615

A new update is available for SchoolBooks and Tracks Desktop.

We recommend you go to Help / Get Updates to download this update especially if you have a WebStore and have started selling your item that can move students to Price Level B (Ex: ASB Card, Gold Gold, Student Body Card, etc.) to make sure they are all set to the correct Price Level.

Update Release Notes Version 6.05.17.615 - August 5, 2009

Tracks

1. Fixed an issue in Student Update where in a small number of instances, the birth date did not import correctly.
2. Fixed an issue with WebStore integration where in some circumstances when a student purchased a Student Body Card on the WebStore, the Student was not subsequently changed to Price Level B on the WebStore. To make sure all data is correct, this update also converts all students who have purchased the "Price Level B" item after May 15, 2009 to Price Level B.

No changes were made to SchoolBooks.

Happy new school year!

Enhancements to Improve Your Audits: Feedback Needed

I’m reviewing Tracks and SchoolBooks enhancement requests that pertain to audits. These are either requests you’ve made because your auditor asked for them or things you think would help you have an easier time with the whole audit process. We get a lot of compliments on our SchoolBooks Audit Selection Report, but I think we could do more. I would appreciate your feedback: Are your auditors requesting different types of information than they were a couple years ago? Are there any reports that need one more function added to be just perfect for you and them? Is there something else we could give you that would make your audit go more smoothly?

I’m listing the current enhancement requests that contain the word “audit” so you can comment and tell me whether these are important to you or if you have something completely new to add. Whatever we discover together, I’ll report it back here.

SchoolBooks:

• Audit Selection Report – Add option to print all deposits over X amount. Add option to print all receipts over X amount.
• Add option to summarize accounts on the Balance Sheet. She got an exception on her audit because they saw sub-accounts on her Balance Sheet and didn’t like that some of them had negative balances.
• Master Audit Report – Needs to show changes and additions to User Codes.
• New audit report to show changes to master files – like Vendor Maintenance and GL Account Maintenance.
• New consolidated report - Vendor Check History for 1099 vendors only across all schools.
• New consolidated report - Consolidated Category Report across all schools.

Tracks:

• Master Audit Report – display all WebStore sales under ” WebStore” User Code.
• Importing transactions. When using Import Manager, auditors want to see a list of imported sales listed by receipt number.
• Add option to Sales by Receipt Report – allow for grouping/selection by Payment Type (so she can get a separate list of all credit card sales).