Owner: Cougar Mountain Blog URL:http://cougarmtnblog.com/ Join Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 11:34:51 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The official blog for Cougar Mountain Software, Inc. Site statistics:Click here
Training room remodeled! 2007-05-15 22:02:06 For the past few weeks Cougar Mountain has been hard at work updating our training room so that we can offer our attendees the best training possible.
We’ve installed new computers with flat panel monitors, wheeled in new chairs that are even more comfortable than the ones we had before (don’t let us catch you sleeping in them though!), and even slapped on a fresh coat of paint to match our company’s teal-green colors.
Ask anyone that has attended our sessions and they’ll tell you training is vital for getting the most out of your Cougar Mountain Software. This is especially true if you’ve gone through several updated versions without a refresher course. We’ve had students attend that have used CMS for years and they always walk away having learned shortcuts, steps, and tricks that make their jobs easier and help their business operate more efficiently.
We hope you’ll visit our Boise headquarters to see our new layout—but don’t forget, we’re bringing the same great Read more:Training
CMS Backup Scheduler 2007-05-11 17:24:18 Marti says:
How do I set CMS to do a backup tonight after everyone goes home?
There are two methods to accomplish this; set up the backup in either the CMS Backup Scheduler window for a one-time backup, or, use the Scheduled Task Wizard to set up a recurring backup. The easiest method is to use the tool that comes with our software.
To set up a one-time backup using the CMS Backup Scheduler:
1) Open the CMS Backup Scheduler using your Start menu:
(more…)
Happy Anniversary to US!!! 2007-05-10 23:11:42 Today, 5/10/07, marks our SILVER ANNIVERSARY! That’s right, we’re 25 years old! Not bad for a software company. How many software companies do you know that have been around that long? All right there’s Microsoft. But there aren’t too many others. And if we were to look at the category accounting software companies — well it’s a bit difficult to trace, but we could very well be the first.
And in celebration of our anniversary we just want to take this moment out to thank all of our customers and business partners who have helped us get to this milestone. We value our customer and business partner relationships and appreciate all the feedback that we have received over the years. All feedback, positive or negative, is a good thing and is instrumental in our continuing evolution of our product lines. Our goal is to provide you all with the best product possible in order to make your business run more effectively, efficiently and Read more:Happy
, Anniversary
, Happy Anniversary
What is an Integrated Accounting Software system? 2007-05-08 23:18:43 It seems to be a topical issue these days – the true definition of an integrated system as it applies to accounting and/or point of sale software. What are the differences and benefits to having a system that is truly integrated and one that might not be?
In a nutshell having an integrated accounting software system has generally become known as a way to emliminate the need to enter the same information manually into the appropriate modules. This not only reduces the risk of errors, but can save some time as well in labor and training. Yet, there are varying degrees (and tolerance) as to what the term ‘integration’ truly means.
On one side of the integration accounting camp there are various companies that offer and tout multiple integration solutions. One solution is the ability to export/import data from the various programs and would require only additional clicks and set up. This can reduce human error when manually inputting data, but it still takes time. O Read more:Integrated
, Software
Have your own ‘tips & tricks’ to share? 2007-05-04 18:58:48 This blog will, among other things, include tips & tricks
that are intended to help you better utilize CMS. If you click the tips & tricks category in the left margin, you will be shown a list of all tips that have been posted to date. Also the top menu has a link to a tips & tricks page that lists all tips, organized by module.
If you have your own tip that you would like to publish - send it to us! You can make a comment on this post, and we will add it to the pile of potential tips to use. In the suggestion you make, be sure to include:
Your name / email address (it will be kept private)
The situation the tip is supposed to fix
The specific steps a typical user is supposed to follow to accomplish the task
Joe
CMS Marketing Read more:lsquo
CMS is in Wikipedia! 2007-04-27 19:19:07 CMS has our own entry in the online dictionary ‘Wikipedia
’.
It has a little historical information there you may not know.
Terri
CMS Marketing
User Rights: Restricting Overrides 2007-04-26 01:12:12 Sandy asks:
“I have a question that I hope you can help me with regarding one of my employees that processes our invoices through order entry. I am trying to see if I can restrict her rights to override a credit limit on a customer’s account. I do not see where this can be done in a user’s rights only a salesperson’s authority. Our salespeople are all outside salespeople that are assigned to accounts but they never produce an invoice. We are producing the invoice that will be on a specific customer that has a salesperson assigned to that customer. Can you give me any help here?”
(more…) Read more:Rights
, Restricting
Fiscal Calendar Periods - setting up a 4-4-5 calendar 2007-05-17 19:54:09 A Cougar Mountain customer asked this question:
“We are a manufacturing business and since 90% of manufacturers use a 4,4,5 fiscal year, it would be nice if Cougar Mountain could offer this option. Any chance of this happening in the near future?”
Kevin, a Cougar Mountain System Trainer replied:
Hey! The functionality is already within the program. By default each period in the fiscal calendar is set up from the first day to the last day of the month - but the fiscal calendar can be modified to better suit other situations, like your example here where manufactures want their periods set up in specific increments.
All you need to do is change the period dates in the Fiscal Calendar window when you are setting up shop:
Kevin
System Trainer
Note: setting up a fiscal calendar is best accomplished on a new company during its setup process. Changing the fiscal calendar on an existing company usually requires the assistance of Customer Support (call 800.390.705
Shopping for POS software 2007-05-21 20:04:12 So you’re looking for a new POS system. Whether you’re a startup company or an established venture looking for something more feature-rich than programs like Quickbooks, choosing one that will work best for you, your employees, and the future of your business can be a stressful process.
How do you know where to start? With so much information available on the internet, I’m not even going to try to tackle this question head-on. Instead I’d like to offer my quick 2 cents on where to start.
First and foremost, select your business’ point-of-sale and accounting software before browsing for a hardware setup. Some registers and peripherals operate on specific systems—in other words you could find yourself pigeon-holed if a hardware/software combination that doesn’t offer all the features or tools of other accounting systems that could be important to you.
Next, ask yourself what sort of information do you need throughout the day, end of the day, week and month to help you manag Read more:Shopping
Mark Up Percentages for Inventory 2007-05-24 10:42:48 A customer asks a question about managing thier inventory:
How can I get some kind of Mark Up Percentages report, so that I can pull a list of stock items with their mark up percentages - so that I can adjust my pricing?
Kevin says:
What you want is the Price Book report; the Price Book report will do the calculation for you because it goes with the “last cost”. In the screenshot below, the last cost was 0.04 cents with the margin % of 55.0. Most merchants don’t change the % of gross profit, for that is what they want. But the price will change with the “last cost” going up or down automatically.
 Â
(more…) Read more:Inventory
Inventory in Multiple Organizations 2007-05-30 10:03:09 A customer asks:
We have multiple Companies created in Cougar Mountain, three organizations to track. The Fixed Assets company, the ordering company, and the selling company. BUT…….There are 3 locations for the selling portion. Books need to be kept separate, and have separate inventory. For those 3 profit centers, do they need seperate companies created within the software? And do they have the option to consolidate for the PROFIT centers only, and exclude the fixed assets and ordering companies from that report?Kevin says:
Yes, they would have to have 3 companies set up individually, and on the Selling company they would need multi-location inventory installed. The fixed assets are one company, the ordering company can just drop ship out inventory from the Distribution Company, and the selling store(s) is as one company (if they want the selling stores could also have Multi-Location Inventory
for easy transfers).
They could set up the selling stores as different companies, Read more:Multiple
, Organizations
User Defined Fields 2007-05-31 18:13:35 A customer asks:
We need to track our inventory items in a better manner. Our items have lots of different expiration dates, lots of different lot #’s, etc. Can you help us out?
Kevin says:
You need to set up your User Defined Fields
(UDF). Most modules in Cougar Mountain have UDF fields and codes available for use, and are an excellent method to track stock in the inventory module, or vendors in AP, or customers in AR, etc.
First, go into your Module Preferences and give labels to the UDF’s you want to use. In the screenshot below, I’ve set up the Expiration Dates:
(more…)
Free Online Learning 2007-06-06 18:09:14 The Cougar Mountain website includes several nice training links having free accounting tutorials, books, videos, and educator materials that are sure to increase your accounting knowledge. Other Resource pages include helpful links to government websites, accounting organizations and publications, and more.
Check them out - and if you know of a link that should be included, then send me an email and I’ll see about adding it. Thanks!
Joe
Marketing Read more:Learning
Support when you need it (and when you don’t!) 2007-06-04 16:26:06 When it comes to your accounting or point-of-sale software setup—the backbone of your business—how important is support to you?
Cougar Mountain has been a leading manufacturer of accounting software for 25 years. In that time we’ve learned that having a great product isn’t enough—you need to have a highly-trained support staff ready to tackle any problems a customer encounters.
Cougar Mountain stands by all our products and we offer our customers several forms of support and support plans. If you are pressed for time, or the problem at hand appears to be minor, a simple phone call to our support staff is the fastest and easiest step towards a solution. Not only can our technicians walk you though the correction, they can remotely connect with your computer, control your mouse pointer, and visually show you how they are fixing the problem as they talk. In almost every case our technicians are able to find and correct a problem in a short window of time.
But unlike many “conv Read more:Support
Having different prices for same item 2007-06-12 09:08:54 A customer asked:
Can I have one inventory stock item and different
sales units, or units of measurement?
Kevin says:
Yes, this is what price levels are for - there are 5 different price levels that can be set up for each stock item. Price levels are set up along with that stock item’s Pricing Type on the IN Stock window. Below is a screenshot of the price levels set up for an item. These different prices will then be seen in the sales windows as the items are sold.
Below is a screenshot from the sales window, which shows the different pricing levels that were set up.
Kevin
System Trainer
Read more:Having
‘Due To/Due From’ in FUND Accounting 2007-06-20 09:31:12 A customer recently asked Kevin to explain how to set up the Due To / Due From feature in FUND accounting - here is Kevin’s response:
A user has three options when setting up multiple funds in a nonprofit organization:
Restricted - does not allow posting across multiple funds
Unrestricted - allows posting across multiple funds without worrying about balancing them
Due To/Due From - automatically creates the needed transactions to keep your funds in balance
(more…) Read more:lsquo
Starts and Ends with Security 2007-06-27 11:43:11 The following is the intro from Starts and Ends with Security–a brief article written by Cougar Mountain Software for a well-known accounting journal. To read the complete text, please click on the link after the third paragraph.
Whether you are a small business, large corporation, or an up-starting nonprofit, the success of your endeavors begins and ends with security. Let’s face it, these days it’s important to keep meticulous records of all your organizations transactions, especially when money exchanges hands often. Having an integrated accounting or point-of-sale system with multi-tiered security settings is a must.
Without tight software integration most businesses are forced to make multiple entries in multiple systems–a time consuming process that leaves you open to potential errors, and makes it difficult to find and correct mistakes during an audit. This can also effect your operations from the outside. Imagine the problems when incorrect information is sent o
Cheat-sheet for invoice comments 2007-07-06 15:34:33 Kevin offers up his ‘cheat-sheet
’ for entering comments on invoices:
Shift+F5 = Non-Inventory Lookup
Control+C = opens the Comment Editor
Control+F5 = opens the Job Cost Number Lookup if installed, otherwise works just like F5 alone.
Alt+F5 = opens the Comment Code Lookup
Kevin
System Trainer Read more:Cheat
Fulfilling the Needs of CPAs 2007-07-09 16:20:35 The following is the intro from Fulfilling the Needs
of CPAs–a brief article written by Cougar Mountain Software for a well-known accounting journal. To read the complete text, please click on the link after the third paragraph.
Cougar Mountain Software is always integrating new tools to help CPAs fulfill their client’s needs efficiently and effectively. Two of our products, the PDF-eXPLODE e-Doc Generator and our SinglePoint dedicated server application, are just two of our most-recent efforts.
Debuted in the fall of 2006, our PDF-eXPLODE e-Doc Generator is one of our most useful software tools we’ve ever released. Once installed it fully integrates with any of our accounting, point-of-sale, and nonprofit software packages and helps reduce your printing, postal, and marketing costs by generating invoices, promotional materials, or other important documents into PDFs and delivering them instantly via email.
As an example, let’s say you need to send an invoice or report to a cli
Cougar Mountain releases Denali 2.6! 2007-07-12 09:43:48 Cougar Mountain
Software announces the release of Denali Version 2.6 which introduces the Bank Reconciliation module. This latest addition will help Denali users instantly cross-reference business transactions with bank statements to make sure records are clean and accurate. The Denali Premium product lineup can now track everything from expenses in Accounts Payable, to cash flow in Accounts Receivable, Sales (Order Entry), Point of Sale, Inventory, General Ledger—and now Bank Reconciliation.
Denali’s Bank Reconciliation is a powerful self-audit tool that reconciles thousands of checks and deposits each month. Bank Reconciliation collects all information from your integrated Denali Premium modules (AR, AP) and helps you quickly reconcile your bank-account information through customizable reports that allow you to see the information you need.
The new module will also give users the ability to quickly flag missing checks, manage multiple bank accounts, track down questionable tr Read more:Cougar
Setting Up the Chart of Accounts 2007-07-26 15:47:07 A common question from people setting up a new company is; How are you supposed to set up your General Ledger chart of accounts for the new company?
Giving some thought to how you set up your accounts can save you lots of time later. Your accountant will thank you, anyone running reports will thank you - even the clerks entering your transactions will thank you. Here is how it works:
GL Accounts
are set up in just 5 groups:
Assets
Liabilities
Equity (Net Assets in FUND)
Income (Revenue in FUND)
Expenses
(more…) Read more:Setting
, Chart
Cougar Mountain officially 25 years old! 2007-07-31 16:22:51 We’ve been so busy these last few weeks with all of our new product releases for our CMS Professional Version 12 product lineup and our Denali Premium 2.6, Bank Reconciliation that we completely forgot to share the news of our official 25th Anniversary.
On July 13 we celebrated our Anniversary with a Picnic Barbeque of pulled pork and barbecue beef, potato salad, watermelon and of course cake. Sounds like the perfect country-western picnic meal if you ask me. Family was also asked to join us in our celebration under 100-degree weather. We spread ourselves out all over the company grounds – outdoors on the lawn, picnic tables and indoors for those that wished to beat the heat.
We’d like to thank all of our customers for their continued patronage over the years. We will continue to develop innovative software solutions in the years to come and look forward to serving you! Read more:Mountain
, Cougar
Cougar Mountain Releases V.12 2007-07-30 16:39:25 Cougar Mountain
Software announces the Version 12 release of its http://www.cougarmtn.com/accounting-software/, FUND and Point-of-Sale lineup. This update includes a host of new features and specialized tools designed to give users more in-depth reports, tighter security, and better control over daily, time-consuming operations.
An example of how we’re making life easier for our customers is the creation of the Snapshot Report, Common-size Reports, and the Financial Analysis Report. Not only do these documents give owners and managers a synopsis of their business’ performance, all three provide the information required by banks or investors.
One of the key elements that went into the design of our latest version was direct feedback from our customers. After the release of Version 11 we conducted a survey to find out what functions our users felt the software lacked and created a Customer Advisory Panel to provide us more in-depth and detailed information on some of the features. F Read more:Cougar
The Ever- and Oh So Wonderful- Changing World of Technology 2007-08-08 16:10:19 The iPhone is, for total lack of a more appropriate word, revolutionary. What the iPod did for listening to music, the iPhone will do for almost every aspect of our lives using mobile technology. Its clean, intuitive interface is so streamlined and its feature set is so robust you won’t be able to imagine life without it.
With all that the iPhone is bringing to the personal digital lifestyle, many business owners are asking, “How will the iPhone change the way I do business?” Due to Apple’s forward thinking approach to Web 2.0 technologies, the iPhone’s browser supports all standard web technologies. That means web-based applications such as Substruct Mobile, a web-based inventory control and receiving add-on to Cougar Mountain, are fully supported. While Substruct Mobile is supported by most “mobile browsers” Safari’s implementation on the iPhone is so slick, you’ve got to see it to believe it.
One of the first things I did after Read more:Wonderful
, Changing
, World
, Technology
Using Inventory Items as Non-Inventory 2007-08-22 14:54:16 A customer recently asked about better ways of using Non-Inventory
codes, so here is a little trick that comes in handy in certain situations - set up your Non-Inventory items as Inventory stock items!
Using the Inventory Stock window to make your Non-Inventory items gives the advantage of look up services or all non-inventory items by a much larger inventory number.
Setting up the inventory code is the answer, like this “SR” (for services) and then you can change the service number, use larger explanation of descriptions etc.
Here we see setting up the Inventory Code as SR for services. The GL numbers really mean nothing for there is NO direct or cost of goods for services. They may use there inventory numbers if they want or new ones in the GL to make sure they stay at zero dollars.
Here we see the non-inventory number as the name of the service. They could use 40 characters instead of 4. The right inventory code is used and could be separated out of inv products or othe Read more:Items
Announcing Cougar Mountain & DonorPerfect Partner Integration 2007-08-23 12:33:11 For Immediate Release:
SofterWare, Inc.
CougarMountain
and DonorPerfect Partner
to Integrate Their Leading Accounting and Fundraising Software Programs
Nonprofits can now better understand their financials while reducing administration time.
Horsham, PA, August 15, 2007 — Integrating fundraising software with accounting software allows nonprofits to eliminate redundant data entry, while maximizing the unique benefits both programs offer. DonorPerfect, the leading provider of fundraising software for both online and installed solutions, and Cougar Mountain, the leading nonprofit accounting program, announced that they have integrated their software so nonprofits can better take advantage of theses capabilities.
“We are very excited to be working with DonorPerfect and think this upgraded feature will save customers’ time and frustration,” said Cougar Mountain Software COO Cary Welsh. “The fact that users can now automatically export a file listing their donat
Cleaning Up AR Statements 2007-08-28 12:17:56 A customer recently asked:
“Hey Kevin! I am wondering if you can help me. I remember when you came to our business to train us, you showed us how to clean up customer statements that looked messy with all of the corrections and credits, but I can’t for the life of me remember how to do that. I know the integration needs to be turned off. Other than that detail, I have no clue. Thanks for your help!”
No problem - what you want to do is what I call ‘fooling the date’.
Let’s say you want to fix a statement by, crediting a invoice you already know is paid. I would turn off the GL (if needed) and make the credit date as close to the item you want to remove. For instance, below is a Statement (simplified) to look at to get rid of a mistake: The day entry is 01/07/2006, not today’s date like I want:
(more…) Read more:Cleaning
Payroll Garnishments 2007-09-19 08:53:23 A customer recently asked Kevin this payroll question:
“I have a new employee that I have to take out a garnishment. I’m not sure which liability account I should put in to set up the garnishment code. I called the accountant and he said he uses 112 Employee A/R, that when we pay it to the courts it is taken out of that and balanced itself out. Is that how you would have me do it?”
Kevin says:
Close, I would set up the garnishment code as liability in PR. And use the opposing account in AP liability. You could use the same account if you wanted. Remember money in and then money out. First you need to set up a GL account as a liability for the Garnishment. Yes, this could be general, if you want. All garnishments would go here. In this example I named it after the state/local courthouse.
(more…) Read more:Payroll
CMS V.12 awarded 5 out of 5 stars! 2007-09-11 11:33:00 Cougar Mountain Software has garnered hundreds of favorable reviews over the past 25 years, each one highlighting a different software version and features that help our customers manage their business on a daily basis. But every once and a while a review lands on our desks that is truly a showstopper.
In the most recent issue of CPA Technology Advisor the writers and editors reviewed a selection of mid-range accounting software including products like CMS Professional, NetSuite, Sage, and Red Wing. Not only did they award the latest release of CMS Professional (Version 12) an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars
, we effectively “swept” the rest of their review standards and received their highest rating in all of categories of comparison (Ease of use, Modules & Notable Features, Integration, Reporting, Support & Training, and Relative Value).
In the closing summary of the review the author had this to say about CMS Professional Accounting:
“Cougar Mountain continues to
Recommend Site To A Friend
