Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

What would it be like for a business to lose all phone service? On October 12th at 8:30 in the morning, Red Wing Software found out. In the middle of an internal video conference, the phones went silent. Everyone still appeared on the screens, but there was no voice communication. This has happened before, but typically lasted for a relatively short time, and everything was back and running. This time, it wasn’t typical.
When we contacted the service provider and alerted them of the problem, it took a while to realize someone had cut a fiber line that supplied service to its customers. Once we determined it would take more time than normal to solve the problem, we immediately posted a message on our website and in the notification bar within our CenterPoint programs to alert our customers of the outage. Fortunately, two totally different vendors provide our phone service and our internet service, and we still had full internet access.
We could still communicate with our customers via the support@redwingsoftware.com email portal and handle many of our support calls using that method. In cases that we needed to talk someone through an issue, our staff used their personal cell phones to contact our customers. It wasn’t until after the close of business that the phone service was restored, and we were back to normal the following day.
Thanks to our customers for your patience during this outage and our staff for jumping into action to make the best of a difficult situation.

Online Classroom Training Sessions

Red Wing Software has converted our in-person CenterPoint Classroom Training to an online format for 2021. Online Classroom Training sessions offer the same curriculum as the live Classroom Training seminars. The format has been altered to better suit online learning. Hours are limited to four hours per day and run from two to four consecutive business days (depending on the course). Attendees join a scheduled Online Classroom Training session with other Red Wing Software users. Sessions are presented by an experienced Red Wing Software instructor. Online Classroom Training is the most comprehensive way to learn how to use CenterPoint.
You can view and register for all available sessions by clicking here or click one of the individual session links below.
CenterPoint Payroll
  November 16 and 17, 2021
9:00 am – 1:00 pm CST
Price: $150.00
Note: This training is a two-part 8-hour live online session held on consecutive days for a total cost of $150.00 (4 hours/$75.00 for each part) and will be limited to 20 participants.
CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture
  November 30, December 1, 7, and 8, 2021
9:00 am – 1:00 pm CST
Price: $300.00
Note: This training is a four-part 16-hour live online session held on two sets of consecutive days for a total cost of $300.00 (4 hours/$75.00 for each part) and will be limited to 20 participants.

CenterPoint Version 16.4 Release

We are excited to introduce the release of CenterPoint Accounting and CenterPoint Payroll version 16.4. This update is currently being rolled out. If you have not received the update yet, it will be available to you soon. In addition to the functionality listed below, there are numerous other changes incorporated into version 16.4, which were based on customer feedback.
CenterPoint version 16.4 has several notable enhancements that will make the product easier to use and more efficient. See the links below to view all new changes.
CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture:
Program Speed Improvements: CenterPoint Version 16.4 includes program speed improvements focusing on memory optimization for transaction entry screens, budgets, financial analysis, and physical inventory counts.
Reporting Updates: Additional columns, filters, and date selections have been added to many reports throughout the accounting program, based on customer feedback, to refine the reporting capabilities of CenterPoint. Having the additional columns and filters can make it easier to promptly provide exactly the information you or others are seeking on a report.
Ease of Use: Many ease of use features have been added that will make day-to-day operation in the program more efficient. For example, payments can now be edited within an ACH File (before the ACH payment has been made). You no longer need to delete and re-enter all payments within the file when editing an ACH payment, making the process much easier.
Attachments (Advanced A/R Module): CenterPoint now supports scanning and/or attaching files or documentation to sales items. Attach things like assembly instructions, operating instructions, item guides, or anything pertaining to the item’s documentation. Using the new attachments feature within Sales Items can clarify details for internal staff and customers seeking more information about an item.
To view the entire list of enhancements for CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture version 16.4, please click here.
CenterPoint Accounting:
Program Speed Improvements: CenterPoint Version 16.4 includes program speed improvements focusing on memory optimization for transaction entry screens, budgets, financial analysis, and physical inventory counts.
Reporting Updates: Additional columns, filters, and date selections have been added to many reports throughout the accounting program, based on customer feedback, to refine the reporting capabilities of CenterPoint. Having the additional columns and filters can make it easier to promptly provide exactly the information you or others are seeking on a report.
Ease of Use: Many ease of use features have been added that will make day-to-day operation in the program more efficient. For example, payments can now be edited within an ACH File (before the ACH payment has been made). You no longer need to delete and re-enter all payments within the file when editing an ACH payment, making the process much easier.
Attachments: CenterPoint now supports scanning and/or attaching files or documentation to sales items. Attach things like assembly instructions, operating instructions, item guides, or anything pertaining to the item’s documentation. Using the new attachments feature within Sales Items can clarify details for internal staff and customers seeking more information about an item.
To view the entire list of enhancements for CenterPoint Accounting version 16.4, please click here.
CenterPoint Fund Accounting:
Program Speed Improvements: CenterPoint Version 16.4 includes program speed improvements focusing on memory optimization for transaction entry screens, budgets, financial analysis, and more.
Reporting Updates: Additional columns, filters, and date selections have been added to many reports throughout the accounting program, based on customer feedback, to refine the reporting capabilities of CenterPoint. Having the additional columns and filters can make it easier to promptly provide exactly the information you or others are seeking on a report.
Ease of Use: Many ease of use features have been added that will make day-to-day operation in the program more efficient. For example, payments can now be edited within an ACH File (before the ACH payment has been made). You no longer need to delete and re-enter all payments within the file when editing an ACH payment, making the process much easier.
Attachments (Advanced A/R Module): CenterPoint now supports scanning and/or attaching files or documentation to sales items. Attach things like assembly instructions, operating instructions, item guides, or anything pertaining to the item’s documentation. Using the new attachments feature within Sales Items can clarify details for internal staff and customers seeking more information about an item.
To view the entire list of enhancements for CenterPoint Fund Accounting version 16.4, please click here.
CenterPoint Payroll:
Program Speed Improvements: CenterPoint Payroll Version 16.4 includes program speed improvements. For example, the synchronization function between the CenterPoint Time Clock and CenterPoint Payroll has been improved and can now be completed more efficiently.
Reporting Updates: Additional columns, filters, and date selections have been added to many reports throughout the payroll program, based on customer feedback, to refine the reporting capabilities of CenterPoint. Having the additional columns and filters can make it easier to promptly provide exactly the information you or others are seeking on a report. 
Ease of Use: Many ease of use features have been added that will make day-to-day operation in the program more efficient. For example: Specific warning messages can now be suppressed on the setup of employees, making the maintenance of employees more straightforward. New columns and filters have been added to Pay Employees and Employee Maintenance to define how you want to view and work with data. In the Employee Mass Update Wizard, all inactive earnings have been filtered out, an option to update the home address has been added, and the ability to update the federal tax reporting fields and flat tax amounts and percentages has been added.  
To view the entire list of enhancements for CenterPoint Payroll version 16.4, please click here.
If you have any questions, please contact our Technical Support center, or email: support@redwingsoftware.com.

Behind the Scenes - September 2021

Ashley’s (Accounting Software Support Specialist) daughter, Paytin, started 9th grade.
Katrina (Customer Service Representative), her husband, Josh, and friends, surprised their daughters by meeting at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, KS! The look on their faces was priceless.
Julie (Implementation Consultant) and her family climbed Mt. Bierstadt in Colorado. Pictured are sons Jackson and Joey relaxing after the climb.
Allison (Customer Service Representative) and best friend, Mollie, having some fun at another great friend’s wedding over Labor Day.
Cori (Quality Assurance Analyst) and Ryan (Graphic Designer) just purchased a new home. They can't wait to make it their own.