News From GMS a publication for GMS clients

Volume 27, No. 4 April 2015

March Accounting Revisions Released The latest accounting revisions were posted to our website www.gmsactg.com on March 30, 2015. You should have received an email from GMS on March 30th that included instructions for down-loading and installing these revisions. It is VERY important that all revisions be installed in a timely manner. It is also important that all staff using the GMS Accounting System read through the List of Changes included with the revisions to familiarize themselves with the new features or changed items. Note: Some of the more recent List of Changes are included in the Help Manual. Some of the changes in this revision are detailed below. See your Help Manual for additional infor-mation regarding these changes. Payroll

For certain clients in PA who need to report to Berkheimer Tax Administrator we have added a PA EIT File button to the Local Tax Analysis.

Supplement # 517 – Retirement Report: 1. The electronic filing format is now available for IOWA employees participating

in the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS) 2. The electronic filing format for Mutual of America has been changed to cor-

rectly account for both the Employee and Employer portion of agency contri-butions.

Supplement # 423- E-Form 941. 2015 forms have been included for both forms 941 and Schedule B.

General Ledger In accordance with the new Federal Guidance for subcontract/sub-grantee arrange-

ments, if Total Direct Costs are used as a base for Indirect, only the first $25,000 of EACH sub-grantee arrangement is included in the base so all amounts in excess of $25,000 for a sub-grant are excluded from the base. We have added the ability to set up this exclusion under Tools/Cost Allocation Setup/Indirect.

Cash Receipt Auto Attachment: If your file name is in the format of Batch#_Doc#, we have added an additional step to check the Doc# so it will attach to the file accordingly.

In this Issue

March Accounting Revisions Released

Maximizing GMS Performance

Page 2 Denver for Free!

Earn CPE Credits 3 Essential Keys to

Remain Healthy in an Office Environment

Page 3 Online Pre-

qualifications and Loan Applications

New Client Referral Program

Page 4 Upcoming Webinars

Intensive Seminars

GMS, Inc. 10559 Metropolitan Avenue

Kensington, MD 20895

Phone: 800-933-3501

Fax: 301-933-3502

E-mail: service@gmsactg.com

Maximizing GMS Performance

There are two procedures that you should be following rou-tinely to assure that the GMS Accounting and GMS Revolv-ing Loan software are performing at their optimum ability. First is to make sure that you have downloaded and installed all available updates. This applies to the GMS revisions we send to our clients as well as all appropriate updates from Microsoft. These need to be done in a timely manner and you may want to have a conversation with your IT personnel to assure that the best update procedures, for all sources, are in place. To determine if you are using the latest version of GMS accounting or revolving loan, when logged in to your software, click on Help\About and compare the version num-ber listed with the GMS Latest Versions article elsewhere in this newsletter. Second is to make sure you do your daily compact and repair if you are using the Microsoft Access version of the account-ing or revolving loan software. As you use a database and

add transactions, the database is naturally going to get larg-er. Also, during the normal operation of GMS software, emp-ty spaces can be created within the database. These empty spaces may cause items to open more slowly and normal operations may generally seem to take longer. The compact and repair step will remove these empty spaces and help your accounting or revolving loan software run smoother. If you are using the SQL version of GMS software, your IT person or database administrator should write a maintenance plan for the management of the database(s). Two options to select (among many) within the maintenance plan are the frequency of a database backup and the “shrink” process. The “shrink” process for SQL databases will have the same desired effect as the compact and repair of an access data-base in that it removes the empty spaces, thus speeding up the database performance.

Continued on page 3

Page 2 NEWS FROM GMS A PUBLICATION FOR GMS CLIENTS VOLUME 27 NO. 4

3 Essential Keys to Remain Healthy in an Office Environment By Dr Karen Wolfe Australian Physician, Holistic Health Coach, Author and Speaker

If you work, you are spending one third to one half of your day in an office setting. Although we usually have little control over the buildings we work in, we do have control over our lifestyle

choices. A little bit of planning and a few small additions to your daily office routine can help you

live a healthier and productive lifestyle. Putting in the extra time and planning into getting your office environment “healthy” will pay-off with a multitude of health benefits.

Dr Karen will provide 3 Essential Keys for well-being in an office environment. These will ultimate-ly benefit your health and the health of your company.

To learn more about Dr. Karen, please visit our Conference Website.

Present versions of Software are: Accounting 1.2.301 RLSS 1.0.0.11

Denver for Free!

If you wish to explore Denver and the surrounding area while attending the GMS Summit, these eight activities won’t cost you dime.

1. Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre. It’s one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Here you can climb the steps of the famed amphitheater, hike or bike the trails, or visit the Performers’ Hall of Fame museum or Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

2. Colorado State Capitol Tour. Explore Colorado’s gold-domed Capitol Building, including Allen True’s beautiful murals, gorgeous rose onyx wainscoting and the Colorado General Assembly.

3. National Center for Atmospheric Research. Watch as a miniature tor-nado is whipped up in front of your eyes, and get an up-close look at how lightning is created at this weather-themed museum in Boulder.

4. Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Museum. Housed in Sports Authority Field at Mile High (home of the Denver Broncos), this museum honors the legacies of The Mile High City’s greatest sports heroes.

5. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City-Denver Branch’s Money Mu-seum. A billion dollar experience-for free! The Money Museum offers an opportunity to learn about the Federal Reserve Bank, including a peek at what $30,000,000 in cash looks like. On your way out, don’t forget to get your bag of shredded money. Photo ID required for visitors 18 and older.

6. Stranahan’s Distillery. Take a tour of this “spiritual” spot, where each bottle of Colorado whiskey is barrel-aged at least two years. Once you taste it, you’ll agree it was worth the wait.

7. Hammond’s Candy Factory. Anyone with a sweet tooth will love going behind the scenes at Hammond’s, where delicious candy has been made since 1920.

8. 16th Street Mall. Located just one block from the hotel, you can people-watch, win-dow-shop, or ride the free hybrid shuttle bus-es along this mile-long pedestrian promenade that is lined with 200 trees, 50,000 flowers, public art, 42 outdoor cafes and a wide array of shopping options.

Earn CPE Credits for your participation in the GMS Summit 2015! Each regular conference session is worth 1.5 hours while each inten-sive session is worth a total of 8 hours.

Please keep track of which sessions you attend then email our Event Director, Robin Berseth at robin@gmsactg.com and she will prepare a CPE letter for you.

“The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who

have helped you.” ~John E. Southard

Page 3 NEWS FROM GMS A PUBLICATION FOR GMS CLIENTS VOLUME 27 NO. 4

What better way to help other organizations like yours than to refer what software works for you with them.

If you know of an organization that could benefit from the GMS Ac-counting and Financial Management/Reporting or Revolving Loan Ser-vicing software, send us your referral and you will automatically receive a $50 credit to use towards the purchase price of any supplement or webinar registration.

In addition, if your referral schedules and conducts a live demo with us, you will receive an additional $50 credit.

And it doesn't end there, if your referral purchases our accounting and financial management/reporting software you will receive an additional $400 credit and if they purchase our revolving loan software you will receive an additional $200 credit.

Get started by submitting your referral.

...or do you just love GMS? Write a review.

*For more information contact Era Williams, Director of Sales and Marketing, at 800.933.3501 ext. 420.

Boyd Mortensen, Presi-dent of BMI Productivity Solutions, will present Online Pre-qualifications and Loan Applications during our 30

th Annual

GMS Summit. Learn how your clients can complete their application online plus upload any docu-

mentation that you may require. This can be a great timesaver for your organization. Be sure to attend this session on Monday, June 22 from 3:15-4:45pm to see how BMI can help streamline your processes with new tools integrated tightly with the GMS Revolving Loan Servicing Software. About Boyd and BMI Productivity Solutions

For 22 years, Boyd Mortensen has guided BMI to be an industry leader in business process enhancement with a focus on speeding up pro-cesses, reducing redundant tasks, increasing visibility and ensuring compliance.

With the help of BMI, hundreds of companies are now able to allocate more time for revenue-generating activities. BMI clients are able to handle an increased workload and distribute more funding to the communities they serve.

Boyd is an accomplished speaker, entrepre-neur, and community leader.

REGISTER TODAY Maximizing GMS Performance continued from page 1 For use along with the recommendation of your IT staff, GMS has creat-ed a Backup Utility available on the GMS website www.gmsactg.com. Once you are on the website, select Client Portal, scroll to the Down-loads and Updates section and click on it. You will then need to enter a password. This can be obtained from the latest revision email for ac-counting software users. Revolving loan software users should call our office for this password since it has been changed since their latest revi-sion. Once logged in, select Installation Packages. Access users should select the GMS Backup Utility for downloading. SQL Server users will want to select GMS SQL Server Backup Utility. The Access version of this utility will assist you in your backup process as well as the compact and repair step. The GMS SQL Server Backup Utility will only prepare a backup. The GMS Help files contain detailed backup instructions and recom-mendations. In the GMS Accounting Help Manual, these are located in Operating Information\Recommended Database Backup Procedures. For GMS RLSS, they are located in General Operating\Database Maintenance Backups.

Online Pre-qualifications and Loan Applications

Page 4 NEWS FROM GMS A PUBLICATION FOR GMS CLIENTS VOLUME 27 NO. 4

Wednesday, April 22nd

REPORT WRITER

Presenter: Donald Cassady, President/CEO, GMS, Inc.

Time: 2:00 p.m.—3:30 p.m.

CPE Credit: 1.5

Wednesday, May 20th

FINDING THE DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

Presenter: Diane H. Leonard, GPC, President, DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services, L.L.C.

Time: 2:00 p.m.—3:00 p.m.

CPE Credit: 1

Training on the Accounting Software Annual Conference Intensive If you are a new staff member at your agency, have recently acquired a new position within the finance department, or simply feel you need an in-depth review of the GMS Accounting System, this intensive is just what you need. We will cover all areas of the accounting system from the initial setup files to processing steps and mechanical explanations. All aspects of the books of entry, accounts payable processing, payroll pro-cessing, general ledger activities, cost allocation and report generation will be shown. Even though concurrent sessions on certain areas of the accounting software will take place during the regular annual conference, this 1½ day intensive will in-clude all things covered during the concurrent sessions but al-lows more time to spend at a greater level of detail on each as-pect of the entire system. This is a great session for agencies that have had staff turnover and new staff who did not receive on-site training from the GMS staff.

Training on RLSS Annual Conference Intensive This training will benefit anyone who is a seasoned user or new to GMS-RLSS. This ses-sion will cover every aspect of using GMS-RLSS so you can take advantage of all of its features. Among the topics covered will be setting up new loans, processing loan activi-ty, using Master File Query, loan reporting, and utilizing the features included in the basic program. We also will demonstrate and explain every RLSS supplement that is available. This is a great way to make sure that your loan policies and procedures are integrated with your RLSS software and you are aware of what software is available and how it works. This intensive requires you to bring your laptop for the featured hands-on training. Your laptop must have Microsoft Access 2007 or higher & Excel 2007 or higher installed.

Year End Procedures/Preparing for Audit Annual Conference Intensive This intensive is a step-by-step review of what you need to do at year-end to close your books and to get ready for your audit. Learn about the latest GMS procedures. Un-derstand schedules you will want to prepare for your auditor. Gain a full understanding about how revenue recognitions are deter-mined based on the type of grant or contract. You will receive complete training on all as-pects of year-end activity by experienced GMS personnel and an auditor. You will get an auditor’s perspective on what you should have ready for the audit and be able to get answers from a CPA with extensive experi-ence in non-profit and GMS auditing. You will be shown what closing entries are used in the accounting system. This session is de-signed to help you keep audit costs under control and help you comply with current audit standards.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE INTENSIVE SEMINAR OF YOUR CHOICE