Q4 2003

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="15c00640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <B>Q4 2003</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1bbc8c82egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B>Articles</B></div> <div> <A HREF="q1_1st_qtr_2004.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Q1 2004"><U><B>1st QTR 2004</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138_m.htm#there_s_nothing_wrong_with_the_system" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Q4 2003"><U><B>There's NOTHING Wrong With The System</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138_m.htm#the_speech_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Q4 2003"><U><B>The Speech </B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138_m.htm#auntie_virus_recommends_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Q4 2003"><U><B>Auntie Virus Recommends </B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138_m.htm#whoa__back_up_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Q4 2003"><U><B>Whoa  Back Up </B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138_m.htm#getting_more_from_mas_90__mas_200" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Q4 2003"><U><B>Getting MORE From MAS 90  MAS 200</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News NOV"><U><B>MAS 90/200 4.0 Info</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id123.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Macabe"><U><B>Macabe's Paperless Office!</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138_m.htm#what_if__" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Q4 2003"><U><B>What If? </B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="216853a0.jpg" border=0 width="645" height="58" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Newsletters</div> <div>  <A NAME="q4_2003"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>Q4 2003</div> <bR> <div> DON'T FORGET:  Our Year End Seminar (November 19, at 9:00 or November 20th at 1:30)</div> <div> 2 openings available in each session !!!</div> <div> OUR TRAINING ROOM HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REVAMPED!</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="there_s_nothing_wrong_with_the_system"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>There's Nothing Wrong With The System!</div> <bR> <div> Sunrise Software Consultants, Inc. is happy to offer a newsletter that will provide a forum for our clients to ask questions, hear about common end user issues, and provide feedback to us and to BEST about MAS 90 and MAS 200.  We look forward to providing better insight into how to get the most out of this powerful package, and to hearing from you about how you have applied it specifically to your businesses.</div> <bR> <div> We are also pleased to announce that Mike Den Bleyker at SAFEGUARD BUSINESS SYSTEMS (contact info follows) is offering our clients a wonderful promo on TAX FORMS!  If you place your order before November 15th, 2003, he will give you 50% off of the Standard List Price!  After the 15th, he is offering a 15% discount, so get those orders in now, and enjoy those savings! To reach Mike, call him at (505)797-8490, or send him an e-mail at mdenbleyker@gosafeguard.com.  BE SURE TO LET HIM KNOW THAT YOU WERE PROMISED A 50% DISCOUNT IN OUR NEWSLETTER!</div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="the_speech_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><I>The Speech </I></div> <bR> <div> One of the first things new MAS 90 / MAS 200 users learn is that, until they update, a transaction just ain't a transaction.  Again and again, we encourage end users to review Journals before updating them.</div> <bR> <div> Certainly this can seem bothersome, but it is more difficult to reverse updated transactions than to simply delete incorrect entries, or to correct dates, before updating.  It just cannot be said too often.  Review before updating!</div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="auntie_virus_recommends_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><I>Auntie Virus Recommends </I></div> <bR> <div> NORTON Anti-Virus - you can download a copy for your PC for about $50, and enjoy the world's most trusted antivirus solution.  Norton protects email, instant messages, and other files.</div> <bR> <div> New built-in features also detect certain non-virus threats such as spyware and keystroke loggers.  You can protect your PC 24 hours a day with Norton AntiVirus.</div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="whoa__back_up_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><I>Whoa!  Back Up! </I></div> <bR> <div> In a go go go age, thinking of backing up is harder than we like to admit.  But regular tested back ups can save your life after a virus attack or power interruption.  In addition to saving time and money, they can provide important historical information should you need to recreate reports for an audit, a bank loan, or to sell your business.</div> <bR> <div> Protecting your data is protecting your assets, and sometimes the very existence of your business.   It is often believed that the production of a daily back up, repeatedly using the same data cartridge, will protect an organization from disaster, but this is not so.  The existence of corrupt data can go unnoticed for days, weeks, sometimes months before resulting in failure.  One back up media means you have no chance whatsoever of finding what could be a mission critical clean file or set of files.  Multiple copies on a single media could likewise result in an inability to retrieve any of the copies, if the media itself corrupts.  </div> <bR> <div> The solution is multiple copies in multiple places - thus assuring your business of retrievable data in the event of a disaster.  </div> <bR> <div> A common back up solution for many organizations is Tape Rotation.  </div> <bR> <div> Tape Rotation is far less expensive than, say, backing up everything on a new tape, every day.  </div> <bR> <div> A typical industry-standard tape rotation scheme that is designed to protect your data as well as minimize the cost of ownership (data cartridges) is called Grandfather - Father - Son.  This scheme incorporates daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly backups, to ensure that your business or organization enjoys a complete archive of your information in formalized, easily retrieved increments. </div> <bR> <div> Implementation calls for three back up sets - Daily, Weekly, and Monthly. To achieve the Grandfather-Father-Son rotation scheme, you will need twelve sets of media. The number of tapes required for each set will vary, depending on how much data requires backup. </div> <bR> <div> SON</div> <div> The first set, "Son," contains the daily backups.  Four tapes are assigned to hold incremental daily backups and should be labeled "Monday" through "Thursday." These tapes will be used to perform daily incremental backups and can be reused weekly on the day that they are labeled. </div> <bR> <div> FATHER</div> <div> The weekly tapes, up to five in number, are used to perform full backups on the day in which you do not perform a daily incremental backup. This media set, the "Father", should be labeled "Week 1" through "Week 5" and can be reused monthly on the day matching its label. </div> <bR> <div> GRANDFATHER</div> <div> The three tapes called "Grandfather" are used to perform full backups on the last business day of each month.  Grandfathers can be reused quarterly. </div> <bR> <div> This rotation scheme allows back ups of critical data on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. In some instances, archived data is required for periods longer than one quarter. In these cases, media sets are often pulled from the rotation and stored off-site.  We highly recommend that you keep an up-to-date data backup off-site - it's just prudent!</div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="getting_more_from_mas_90__mas_200"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><I>Getting MORE From MAS 90 / MAS 200</I></div> <bR> <div> Not all MAS 90 / MAS 200 users are aware of how powerful this package is.  For instance, if you are not using the TASKS option from the menu at the top of the MAS 90 / MAS 200 screen, you are not enjoying a significant time saver.  Let's use the example of the person who enters AR Cash Receipts.  Other functions he/she may utilize in the daily process would include Customer Maintenance, AR Statement Printing, AR Invoice Entry, and sometimes GL Detail Report, to check if a deposit has been posted correctly.  If this user creates a TASKS menu, s/he can quickly select his/her most commonly used functions, and even add a selection to open an external program such as WORD, to write a collection letter "on the fly".</div> <bR> <div> To create a task bar for this user, click on TASKS.  When the dialog box TASK MENU MAINTENANCE appears, for the sake of this exercise, type in AR Cash Receipts.  This will identify the menu as something you use especially for this function.  Now press the TAB key, and click on the drop down menu in the first line - select EXTERNAL PROGRAM.  Click on the DESCRIPTION line, and type in WORD.  Then TAB to the PROGRAM line.  If you don't know where your WORD program is located, minimize the MAS 90 screen, and RIGHT CLICK on the WORD icon on your desk top.  Then click on PROPERTIES.  Highlight all of the information in TARGET and then right click and select COPY, then click OK to close that box.  Return to your TASK MENU MAINTENANCE box, and click in the line labeled PROGRAM, then select PASTE.  Now click on OK on the right side of the box, and you will see your entry listed on the left side of the box.  Click on ACCEPT at the bottom of the dialog box.  </div> <bR> <div> To add a MAS 90 / MAS 200 function to the task bar, click on TASKS, then on TASK BAR MAINTENANCE. Select the AR Cash Receipts Task Bar.  On the right side of the dialog box, click on the NEW button.  </div> <bR> <div> In the APPLICATIONS line, click on the drop down menu icon, and select ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE.  </div> <bR> <div> Click on the TASK ID drop down menu, and select CASH RECEIPTS ENTRY.  Then click the OK button, then the ACCEPT BUTTON on the bottom.  </div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="mas90__mas200_level_4_0"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><I>MAS90 / MAS200 Level 4.0</I></div> <bR> <div> Level 4.0's release has been moved to February of  2004.  Compatibility, always a worrisome issue, is crucial for this new release, especially since many end users are looking at new hardware / software since Windows NT and Windows 98 will not be supported after December 31, 2003.</div> <bR> <div> According to BEST's System Requirements for Level 4.0</div> <bR> <div> WORKSTATION indicates Windows 2003 Terminal Services Citrix MetaFrame or Citrix MetaFrame XP is compatible.</div> <bR> <div> SERVER Windows 2003 Server will operate MAS90</div> <bR> <div> MAS 90•MAS 200 Customer Support Services has successfully tested MAS 90 and MAS 200 on a clean installation of Windows Server 2003. BEST  now supports this platform with the following guidelines: </div> <bR> <div> Windows Server 2003 is not supported with any MAS 90 or MAS 200 version prior to 3.71</div> <bR> <div> If you install e-Business Manager and Windows Server 2003 will be the IIS server, the ISAPI Plug-in must be installed manually.</div> <bR> <div> Note: Windows 2000 can be used as the IIS server with MAS 90•MAS 200 installed on Windows Server 2003. </div> <bR> <div> If you use Crystal Reports or Crystal Enterprise please note the following supportability issues: </div> <bR> <div> Crystal Decisions does not support Crystal Reports 8.5 or Crystal Enterprise 8.0 on Windows Server 2003. This prohibits the use of Windows Server 2003 as the Terminal Services/Citrix server or the IIS server with MAS 90 or MAS 200.</div> <bR> <div> Crystal Decisions supports Crystal Reports 9 on Windows Server 2003, but Crystal Reports 9 is not supported with MAS 90 or MAS 200.</div> <bR> <div> The MAS 90 and MAS 200 Supported Platform Matrices are currently being revised and will be available in the near future.  </div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="paperless_office_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><I>Paperless Office! </I></div> <bR> <div> Not long ago, the Office of the Future was almost certainly a paperless one.  No one anticipated that the reverse would happen, and that accounting software would actually increase the amount of paper and documents used!  Consider:</div> <bR> <div> Printing costs corporations 1% to 3% of their revenue.The average $1 million per annum corporation generates 88,000 sheets of paper each year!Paper use is GROWING 6% to 8% per year.  </div> <bR> <div> The Macabe Associates is a Master Developer of the MA'S 90 / MA'S 200 product.  Many of our clients enjoy Macabe's enhancements to their MAS 90 / MAS 200 software, and maybe your organization could benefit too.  Macabe has agreed to provide Sunrise Software Consultant, Inc.'s clients a 10% discount on their PAPERLESS OFFICE enhancement.  Click on the links below find out more about how your company could save paper, money, and trees!</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_office\ar-1223.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_offic"><U>AR Paperless Office</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_office\lm-1018.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_offic"><U>Paperless Journals & Registers</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_office\lm-1019.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_offic"><U>Paperless Statements</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_office\lm-1020.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_offic"><U>Period End Processing</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_office\PO Suite.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_offic"><U>Paperless PO</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_office\pr-1120.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="file://G:\SSC_WEB\macabe\paperless_offic"><U>Paperless Direct Deposit!</U></A></div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="what_if__"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>What If? </div> <bR> <div> Have you ever wished that MAS 90 / MAS 200 could do something it isn't doing - yet?  Sometimes the program is capable of far more then you suspect, but sometimes it really would require modification to expand its functionality.</div> <bR> <div> We'll be happy to post your enhancement requests for MAS 90 / MAS 200 and associated BEST products, such as ABRA, if you'll let us know your wish list.  Just click on the link below, and dream!</div> <div> <A HREF="id6_to_contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>To Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="413" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 151 WIDTH="204"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="151" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="204" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="198"><div> <IMG SRC="4ae75910.jpg" border=0 width="117" height="145" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="204"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="204" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="198"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="198" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>