I think this year, we will go though the same training course as last year as it was very successful. If anyone wants to change or add anything let me know.

So the plan is we will go through the various steps in doing an end of year processing, and then finish off with a general discussion to see what we will cover during the next financial year.

Stocktake

We will cover how to keep the stock you have in the store in check with Stock taking. Stock taking will let iron out the little differences you get with data and the physical stock because it can point out the items that have been wrongly over or under invoiced or of course stock susceptible to theft. We will cover the normal stocktake process and location stock take. Also taking a brief look at using the Stock management system stocktake on the PDA.

End of year financial reporting

This session will cover the basic of the end of year financial reports.

Spring Cleaning

What better time is there to clean up your data then now. Quick access to information Posbrowser depends on a clean database, one that is not full of duplicates incorrectly listed stock. This week we will look at some ways you can clean up your your system to get things running smoothly.

Comparative sales reporting

This is a key benchmark used where almost all businesses measure their financial performance over time. In this webinar, we show you how to compare the statistics to provide you both with an up-to-date report and at-a-glance view of how you are really doing.

Using the reports to change the shop layout

There are some extremely powerful reports that can help you to decide what products to put where. It allows you to do is find out exactly what products to place near an existing rage of products. This webinar will take you through these reports.

General Question and Answer session

A online user meeting with a general discussion on what new courses would be good to have. How we are going, what you like about them and what can be done better. You can of course use it to discuss what ever you like.

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8f3bc1065499793f3b26ff9ce&id;=35ba9…

I love it when you get messages like this.

Firstly let me say that I have experience with many accountancy packages. Overall I would say about 50% of our users use MYOB, about 35% use QuickBooks and the rest use a range of products.

Anyway today I was hit with several questions from our users about our accountancy link which is a free product with no cost to you.

Overall, I think this link is awesome, for example,

when you make a sale in our software, the following information is transferred by the accountancy link.
- The amount of taken for the sale and the payment type
- The Income you received
- GST collected on the goods sold
- The cost of the sale (the wholesale value)
- A deduction from the inventory (stock holding)

When you buy product
- The inventory account for the dissection of the item is increased by the ex-GST wholesale or cost amount which ever one you prefer.
- The GST Paid account is increased
- The Trade Creditors account is increased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount
- The balance of the Supplier’s card is increased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount

When an item is returned:
- The inventory account for the dissection of the item is decreased by the ex-GST wholesale or cost amount
- The GST Paid account is decreased
- The Trade Creditors account is decreased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount
- The balance of the Supplier’s card is decreased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount

It can handle gift vouchers, laybys and stockless sales e.g. Phone Cards.

And it can handle multishop and customers buying in one shop and paying in another shop.

If you have not got an accountancy system and want to try one out free. Most packages have a free trial period. Another alternative is Microsoft Office Accounting Express. I found it very good and it is free. In it I think you will find it a comprehensive small business management system. It does have a problem that it is American package and also that it is no longer supported by Microsoft. It is available here.

From what I have seen overall I think the well-known ones are all fairly similar. They do the same thing. They use the same principals, etc.

But there are things I like in one and things I like in another.

For example, I do like very much is the flexibility of QuickBooks in reports. Its "Memorised reports” function which can save a lot of time and is extremely beneficial from a management perspective, which is why I use it.

If I was looking for a SMB business, I would budget about $200 to $450 for an accountancy system that would is suitable, and I think most would do the trick. Probably, what would swing me is the local support. This is where MYOB and Quickbooks are extremely strong in Australia.

It should be stated that most accounting systems have a cloud solution too which are worth considering. If pressed for a cloud solution, mainly because I am used to QuickBooks, I would recommend QuickBooks Online ("QBO"). It is excellent product, with local support, is a fully functional QuickBooks Online plus version with inventory, budgets and payroll included. It's available from $12 per month here.

I hope this answers the questions.

Firstly, I have experience with many accountancy packages. Overall, I would say that about 50% of our users use MYOB, about 35% use QuickBooks, and the rest use a range of products.

Anyway, today I was hit with several questions from our users about our accountancy link, which is a free product with no cost to you.

Overall, I think this link is excellent, for example,

when you make a sale in our software, the following information is transferred by the accountancy link.
- The amount of taken for the sale and the payment type
- The Income you received
- GST collected on the goods sold
- The cost of the sale (the wholesale value)
- A deduction from the inventory (stock holding)

When you buy product
- The inventory account for the dissection of the item is increased by the ex-GST wholesale or cost amount which ever one you prefer.
- The GST Paid account is increased
- The Trade Creditors account is increased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount
- The balance of the Supplier’s card is increased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount

When an item is returned:
- The inventory account for the dissection of the item is decreased by the ex-GST wholesale or cost amount
- The GST Paid account is decreased
- The Trade Creditors account is decreased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount
- The balance of the Supplier’s card is decreased by the GST inc wholesale or cost amount

It can handle gift vouchers, laybys and stockless sales, e.g. Phone Cards.

It can handle multiple shops and customers buying in one shop and paying in another.

If you have not got an accountancy system and want to try one out free, most packages have a free trial period. Another alternative is Microsoft Office Accounting Express. I found it very good, and it is free. It is a comprehensive small business management system. It does have a problem that it is an American package and also that it is no longer supported by Microsoft.

From what I have seen overall, the well-known ones are all fairly similar. They do the same thing, use the same principles, etc.

But there are things I like in one and in another.

For example, I like QuickBooks's flexibility in reports very much. Its "Memorised reports” function can save a lot of time and is extremely beneficial from a management perspective, which is why I use it.

If I were looking for an SMB business, I would budget about $200 to $450 for a suitable accountancy system, and I think most would do the trick. What would probably swing me is the local support. This is where MYOB and Quickbooks are extremely strong in Australia.

It should be stated that most accounting systems have a cloud solution, too, which is worth considering. If pressed for a cloud solution, mainly because I am used to QuickBooks, I would recommend QuickBooks Online ("QBO"). It is an excellent product, with local support. It is a fully functional QuickBooks Online plus version with inventory, budgets, and payroll included. It's available from $12 per month here.

I hope this answers the questions.

Everyone in the industry has been talking today about the latest figures released by CONNECT.

You only need to study this transaction percentage graph over time to determine why the large public interest.

There are no other products in newsagencies that have recorded such a high growth rate? 950% growth in six months. Clearly, the public are starting to become interested in their products.

Here is a breakdown of the Bpay service which seems to be a range of products with of course Telstra being the biggest.

Everyone in the industry has been talking today about the latest figures released by CONNECT.

You only need to study this transaction percentage graph over time to determine why the large public interest.

There are no other products in newsagencies that have recorded such a high growth rate? 950% growth in six months. Clearly, the public are starting to become interested in their products.

Here is a breakdown of the Bpay service which seems to be a range of products with of course Telstra being the biggest.

By now you should have received this.

Based on our experience with John Sands many people will want to jump on to it for the time saving. It is unclear whether Hallmark will do returns immediately, but the invoicing will be a good start.

By now you should have received this.

Based on our experience with John Sands many people will want to jump on to it for the time saving. It is unclear whether Hallmark will do returns immediately, but the invoicing will be a good start.

For now, we have concentrated on getting the back end of our website working, it proved to be a big job. There is over five-year history of knowledge base, training and information system.

Now finally we have been able to work on the new front end with an improved visual and better interaction.

We hope to have it out on Monday.

For now, we have concentrated on getting the back end of our website working, it proved to be a big job. There is over five-year history of knowledge base, training and information system.

Now finally we have been able to work on the new front end with an improved visual and better interaction.

We hope to have it out on Monday.

Question:

How do we get the Accounts Receivable Balance for Customers to ensure that you produce the report after the deliveries for Monday have been charged?

Answer:

Since round cards tend to run automatically at 10:30pm by the scheduler so not to waste newsagent's time, you need to run this report, the Customer balance report until after your rounds have run for the day. The easiest way to do that is after the 30th June, in the criteria of the report in the From date select the 30th.

Question:

How do we get the Accounts Receivable Balance for Customers to ensure that you produce the report after the deliveries for Monday have been charged?

Answer:

Since round cards tend to run automatically at 10:30pm by the scheduler so not to waste newsagent's time, you need to run this report, the Customer balance report until after your rounds have run for the day. The easiest way to do that is after the 30th June, in the criteria of the report in the From date select the 30th.

More evidence is coming forward that plain packaging of cigarettes has failed, as new sales figures for tobacco after the first year show sales are up.

As I stated here before, it came in and would cause a switch to cheaper brands, which has happened.

Since the legal price has gone up, I am confident that the illicit trade of tobacco in Australia is up a lot. This is particularly true because tobacco's packaging is much nicer than the lawful plain packaging, which is a shocker. As a result, today, Australians are smoking slightly more.

I think that the people who advised and those who pushed this policy have some explaining to do. Large sums of money were spent on the conversion, and thousands of people were and still are forced to do a lot of extra work for what is now a zero or worse. They cannot argue that they did not get proper advice, as many submissions were made before it went live, outlining these problems. The problem is that they did not listen.

More evidence is coming forward that plain packaging of cigarettes has failed here, as new sales figures for tobacco after the first year show sales are up.

As I stated here before it came in, it would cause a switch to cheaper brands, and this is what has happened.

Since the legal price has gone up, I am confident that the illicit trade of tobacco in Australia has increased significantly. This is particularly true because tobacco's packaging is much nicer than the lawful plain packaging, which is a shocker. As a result, Australians are smoking slightly more today.

I think that the people who advised and those who pushed this policy have some explaining to do. Large sums of money were spent on the conversion, and 10,000s of people were and still are forced to do a lot of extra work for what is now a zero or worse. They cannot argue that they did not get proper advice, as many submissions were made before it went live, outlining these problems; the problem is that they did not listen.

http://info.bondbrandloyalty.com/the-2014-loyalty-report-us

I think it had some interesting points.

Firstly, it stated that if a solid points program for purchases exist, they felt the consumer tend to stick with that company. I agree with that as both the Nextra and Lucky Charm programme show that in our marketplace it does work.

Now the study was done by interviewing 6,000 people in the US to determine what loyalty programs worked. I would expect Australian figures to be fairly similar.

According to the report, 63 percent of all consumers say they liked the brand/shop more than the loyalty program.

29 percent overall said they would not be loyal to the brand if not for the rewards program. Interestingly here report stated that for such people the programme would likely not be sustainable. Principally, as the report stated later these people mainly wanted discounts. I am sure as soon as someone is cheaper they are gone.

Most people depending on the popularity of the loyalty programme 18% to 61% LOVED communication from the loyalty programs they use. If you do not have the peoples' email or home addresses how are you going to communicate with this group?

Now this is the part that was really interesting.

22 percent said they made purchases of something they did not need in order to maintain eligibility for points or benefits, and 35 percent said they modify the brands they buy in order to maximize their benefits in the program.

The report is well worth reading, particularly if you are thinking of making a loyalty programme, you can find it on the above link.

http://info.bondbrandloyalty.com/the-2014-loyalty-report-us

I think it had some interesting points.

Firstly, it stated that if a solid points program for purchases exist, they felt the consumer tend to stick with that company. I agree with that as both the Nextra and Lucky Charm programme show that in our marketplace it does work.

Now the study was done by interviewing 6,000 people in the US to determine what loyalty programs worked. I would expect Australian figures to be fairly similar.

According to the report, 63 percent of all consumers say they liked the brand/shop more than the loyalty program.

29 percent overall said they would not be loyal to the brand if not for the rewards program. Interestingly here report stated that for such people the programme would likely not be sustainable. Principally, as the report stated later these people mainly wanted discounts. I am sure as soon as someone is cheaper they are gone.

Most people depending on the popularity of the loyalty programme 18% to 61% LOVED communication from the loyalty programs they use. If you do not have the peoples' email or home addresses how are you going to communicate with this group?

Now this is the part that was really interesting.

22 percent said they made purchases of something they did not need in order to maintain eligibility for points or benefits, and 35 percent said they modify the brands they buy in order to maximize their benefits in the program.

The report is well worth reading, particularly if you are thinking of making a loyalty programme, you can find it on the above link.

Today after a few days of trying whoever is attacking us, succeeded in blocking our contact page probably in an attempt to stop us getting new leads. This is what the page looked like filled in.

This is what happens after a person pressed submit.

Today after a few days of trying whoever is attacking us, succeeded in blocking our contact page probably in an attempt to stop us getting new leads. This is what the page looked like filled in.

This is what happens after a person pressed submit.

Now what is being stated is that newsagents to fix the problem of Network EDI files is to select the "late option" and print the items alphabetically as this is very easy to do.

You can try it.

Simply go into the print manager of our software.

Now select A-Z, see the green arrow here, press it.

And off it comes out alphabetically as here.

In practice though it does not save time, as its quicker and easier to handle in bundle order.

Even in bundle order there are problems as there are duplicate invoice numbers and printed labels are often not in the same order as magazines in the bundle. There are other issues too such as the "late option" means the invoices comes late; some complain that they get the invoices after the magazines arrive.

Yes, you can do it, but I do not see it as a solution.

I do recommend that people get behind the ANF push now as it the best hope at present to get something done.
 

Now what is being stated is that newsagents to fix the problem of Network EDI files is to select the "late option" and print the items alphabetically as this is very easy to do.

You can try it.

Simply go into the print manager of our software.

Now select A-Z, see the green arrow here, press it.

And off it comes out alphabetically as here.

In practice though it does not save time, as its quicker and easier to handle in bundle order.

Even in bundle order there are problems as there are duplicate invoice numbers and printed labels are often not in the same order as magazines in the bundle. There are other issues too such as the "late option" means the invoices comes late; some complain that they get the invoices after the magazines arrive.

Yes, you can do it, but I do not see it as a solution.

I do recommend that people get behind the ANF push now as it the best hope at present to get something done.