CSA Software Solutions is a partner of Red Wing Software that sells and supports CenterPoint Fund Accounting software. The two companies team together, helping cities in the southern U.S. improve and streamline their accounting and payroll. Recently, CSA received a story of success from customer Charles Snap, the Mayor of the City of Walnut Ridge. Here Mayor Snap shares his story.

LOCATION:

Walnut Ridge, Arkansas
Population 4,925

CSA CLIENT SINCE:

January 1, 2016

CURRENT SOFTWARE:

CenterPoint Fund Accounting and Payroll

KEY BENEFITS OF CENTERPOINT:

• Budget Details
• Council Reports
• Support

“I took office in January of 2015, as did a new Clerk/Treasurer for Walnut Ridge. The former Clerk/Treasurer had given a notice that she was retiring, and the newly elected clerk had trained with the former clerk. At the point the new training started, the city had switched from a DOS-based system to an over-the counter-accounting program and we were having trouble keeping our records straight.”

“The new clerk’s solution was to purchase the CenterPoint Fund Accounting software by Red Wing Software. When I found out the cost, I refused to authorize purchase of the software, citing budget concerns for our community of under 5,000. In fact, I continued to refuse the software purchase for months, until I was forced to hire a CPA to help us sort through the city books, in an effort to come up with a working budget for 2016.”

“After the lack of budget details forced me into sitting down with CSA, a local company that sells and supports CenterPoint Software, I started to understand what the staff and their software could provide. In fact, I was quite impressed with the behind the scene options offered for support and help if my clerk was sick, to assure the city bills and payroll continued and the security of the system was another bonus. After all, as a small town we have a very limited staff.”

“We installed CenterPoint Fund Accounting and Payroll going in to the 2016 calendar year, and our paperwork improved immediately. My department heads didn’t doubt their monthly reports anymore, my budget committee was more than pleased with how the reports looked, and the details they were being provided. No doubt, we had made the right move in purchasing the system and then the unforeseen happened … our City Clerk had a stroke and was hospitalized.”

“The following Monday morning I contacted CSA and their backup plan was put to work. Within hours their staff was working with my assistant, to insure payroll checks were written and the bills were paid in a timely manner. The city’s credit rating was at risk and potential problems extended well beyond the city, which could have impacted each employee and their lives. While the accounting portion of CenterPoint Fund Accounting software had simplified the paperwork for Walnut Ridge, the CSA behind the scenes staff and their backup plan had saved the day! With this in mind, I welcome email, or phone calls if anyone has any questions concerning the City of Walnut Ridge’s experience with CenterPoint by Red Wing Software. I’ve made full circle from a skeptic, to shouting their praises from the mountain tops!”

Our customers say it best! Let Eugene Glock of Cedar Bell Farms, in Rising City, Nebraska explain how CenterPoint helped his operation.

“I wouldn’t want to do without it, that’s for sure!” Eugene Glock will tell you he is a lucky man, but what he might not tell you is that the financial information for his farms and entities is meticulously organized, and because of this he is keenly aware of which areas of his business produce his highest profits. While Gene is a humble man, he is the poster child for smart farm accounting, and for using CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture to its fullest capacity. Maybe it’s not luck after all!

“CenterPoint is a great improvement on the software we used previously,” says Eugene, “It works faster and does some things automatically that our prior system did not.” Eugene breaks everything down by crop: irrigated corn, dry land corn, etc. He also keeps each farm separate. This way he can always tell which farms and crops are most profitable. “One helpful thing about CenterPoint is that when we need to borrow money, we can easily provide accurate cash flows to our bank, which they really appreciate. We can also see live, up to the minute financial information.”

“I have really appreciated the recurring transaction features in CenterPoint. We split out our expenses by different enterprises, by percentage. (For example, a percentage goes to the office, a percentage to the farm, etc.) Our prior system had recurring invoice function, but it didn’t allow us to split it up by percentage. It has been a huge time saver for us.”,

“No matter how perfect a software program is, there will always be some problems or issues along the way. The people at Red Wing Software are really great. I don’t know where they find these people, but they are just so patient and helpful. I think each one of them has helped me at some point. If you want a software product that will provide you service after you purchase it, you want Red Wing Software and CenterPoint. For the return on investment, CenterPoint is better than most investments!”

Contact Red Wing Software for your free demo of CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture: 800-732-9464 or sales@redwingsoftware.com.

CSA Software Solutions is a partner of Red Wing Software, primarily selling CenterPoint Fund Accounting and Payroll to municipals/cities within the southern U.S. CSA recently wrote up a case study on one of their new customers: the City of Santa Anna, Texas. Here is their story.

LOCATION:

City of Santa Anna, Texas
Population 1,100

CSA CLIENT SINCE:

May 2015

CURRENT SOFTWARE:

CenterPoint Fund Accounting and Payroll
(former QuickBooks user)

KEY BENEFITS OF CENTERPOINT:

Quick and Simple Payroll

“Our payroll is now done in 30 minutes. CSA installed our payroll with all our deductions and city benefits already set up. It’s just a click of a button and payroll is already calculated, including vacation and sick time, and I just print the payroll checks. I now get informative payroll tax reports and the liabilities are already set up, making paying them much easier.”

In Depth Fund Accounting: No Signing In and Out of Different Companies

“No more signing in and out of each fund (company). When I have an invoice that needs to be paid out of two funds or need to research something with a transaction search, CenterPoint allows me to move around easily.”

Intuitive and Easy Bank Reconciliations

“I always dreaded the first of the month when bank statements had to be reconciled. Now it’s so much easier with CenterPoint. If I make a mistake and post to the wrong account it’s easy to fix...no voiding and reentering. Just correct and save and CenterPoint changes everything, while giving a secure audit trail.”

Customizable Council Reports

“The financial reports are like no other. Not only do they supply our council with information on the expense and revenue for the city, it helps me keep up with our budget and when something needs to be amended throughout the year.”

Awesome Support

“The support staff at CSA is amazing. They are not just a support staff but have become Friends.”

• Mark’s (Business Development) granddaughter Alissa was in the Miss Goodhue pageant. Mark and his wife Pam moved their daughter and her family to Texas. While there they visited Kemah Board Walk in Galveston Bay.
• Chad (Sales) and his wife Rachel and son welcomed the birth of their beautiful daughter Remi on July 21st. Congratulations to all.
• Dick (Software Development) and Marlene (Support Specialist) and their family of four married daughters and 12 grandchildren vacation together every summer in one house. This year was Mishawaka, IN, in a house with two swimming pools, a hot tub, a gymnasium, a tennis court, a fire pit, and a baseball diamond. It was an awesome way to keep kids happy and occupied without going anywhere! Their 4th of July celebration included a South Bend Cubs winning game with amazing fireworks at the end. You know it was some great family time and memories achieved when the kids are crying because it’s time to go home and the adults are exhausted.
• Carole’s (Staff Accountant) daughter Zoe and her Half-Arabian gelding RF Runs In The Family "Finny" won overall High Point Arabian at the Arabian Horse Amateur Alliance show.
• Greg (Support Specialist) and his family enjoyed a vacation to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Pictured here at Warwich Castle in England.
• Red Wing Software is sponsoring a company team for the upcoming Twin Cities Ten Mile Race! The team is excited to have been chosen, since the race can be entered only by random drawing. The Red Wing Software team consists of: Katrina (Administrative Assistant), Stephanie (Marketing), Rachel (Chad – Sales, wife), Jill (Chad – Sales, sister), Lizz (Matt – Sales, wife) and Kathryn (Mike – QA, wife). The race will be held on October 9th, 2016. Stay tuned for team updates along the way!

Crist Brothers Orchards featured in Fruit Grower News

Crist Brothers Orchards, a Red Wing Software customer, was featured in the July 2016 issue of Fruit Grower News. The story, entitled Modern Storage, describes how Crist Brothers Orchards and the Crist family use energy-efficient storage to improve the quality of their apples.

Willow Bend Farms featured in Farm Journal's MILK

Red Wing Software customer Willow Bend Farms was featured in the July/August 2016 issue of Farm Journal’s MILK publication. In the article, Banking on Dreams, John Mueller of Willow Bend Farms explains how they help employees build equity and build their own dreams.