CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture is rich with features that can help you and your operation. In this post we have uncovered some ‘hidden gems’, features within CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture that you may not currently be using, but that can help you and your business. These are features that our customers and the Red Wing Software support team have described as valuable, yet you may not be aware they are available. They are actually not at all hidden, but readily available within the program for you to use!
- Split Expenses CenterPoint allows you the option of splitting expenses by enterprise and expense. You can set up expenses to be split by a percentage to the office, a percentage to the farm, etc. This is a huge time saver and helps you distribute expenses accurately.
- Ratio Analysis Bankers have been using ratio analysis for years, and now you can use the same technology to analyze how your farm is doing, and compare to how other farmers are doing. CenterPoint makes it easy to generate this type of information and use it to improve your operation. (The Ratio Analysis module is available for purchase as an additional option for CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture.)
- Customizable Transaction Entry Make transaction entry much easier by only stopping on fields where you enter data often. CenterPoint also allows you to add, remove and sort columns on the transaction entry screen for quicker and easier entry.
- Reminders Set up reminders in CenterPoint Accounting to help keep you organized and on time! Reminders can be set up as “Conditional Balance Reminders” that tell you when you checking balance goes below a certain number, ”Payable Reminders” that remind you to pay your accounts payable invoices, “Scheduled Reminders” that let you setup any kind of a reminder for a certain day to pay rent, maintain your equipment, and more.
- Amortization Schedule Use the CenterPoint Amortization Schedule to calculate interest and principal amounts when planning for loans.
- “What-If” Scenarios Gain control of your finances by creating “what-if” scenarios in CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture. This powerful feature allows you to project future sales, cash flow, income statements, assets and liabilities. You can compare “what-if” budgets with actual and projected figures for years into the future. Once you start tracking this information consistently, your farm operation will begin to operate more smoothly and profitably.
- Customizable reports You have the ability to pull out the information you need, whether requested by auditors, management, or others. CenterPoint makes it easy with the ability to modify reports, or even create a custom report from scratch. No need to be a programmer; the custom report tools are built for all users!
Wondering how to get started using these hidden gems? Call today and we will be happy to help you! 800-732-9464.
Red Wing Software customer Carol Peck from EL-VI Farms LLC in Newark, New Jersey had some great things to say! Thanks so much Carol!
“We upgraded from Red Wing Payroll and AgCHEK Accounting software to CenterPoint Accounting and integrated Payroll in January 2012. At first, it seemed difficult to adapt to the different types of menus, and new terminology.
But now it is July, and I am so glad that we made the switch. It now takes only about 1 to 1.5 hours to process the payroll from start to finish, not counting downloading the hours from the time clocks. The post and print procedure in the payroll program works so smoothly in transitioning from employee paper checks to direct deposit pay advices. No longer do I have to process two complete pay runs like I did before purchasing the Direct Deposit module, and the pay run report has all the net pay amounts broken down by the amount and the bank account in which they are deposited. After a few glitches at first, it runs without any problems.
Also, being able to have multiple screens open at the same time allows me to retrieve information when needed, or to look up an account setup if I need clarification. I am constantly being interrupted at work with questions or requests, and it is so easy to switch to another screen to retrieve the information requested, and then return to the work in progress.
My heartfelt thanks to all the support staff at Red Wing Software. They are a very knowledgeable group of people, willing to help you through most any problem. I know that I can count on them to help when time is of the essence.”
July is National Blueberry Month! Red Wing Software happens to have many blueberry growers as customers. In fact, there is a wide variety of berry growers using Red Wing Software accounting software and payroll software applications. We checked in with one customer, a blueberry grower, and one Red Wing Software partner to see what they had to say about blueberries, in honor of National Blueberry Month.
Red Wing Software customer Liddy, from Lakeside Blueberry Farms, had this to say: “Michigan blueberry growers were much luckier than the tree fruit and grape growers (most of crops were destroyed by frost). Tonnage will be down, but we're in good shape compared to them. The industry is still going strong, but we're seeing less hand picking for fresh because of a limited work force. On top of that, growers are getting better prices for processed (machine picked).”
Red Wing Software partner Phyllis Baldwin has been working with several blueberry farmers in Michigan and had this to say: “Red Wing Payroll both Windows and CenterPoint meet the requirements of the labor department to show the hours worked for pieces picked and Gross dollars on the paystub. The labor department has also required the farmers to make sure the worker understands the paystub (multi-language stub if necessary) and signs the bottom pay stub. We have designed a custom check with approved statement on our pre-printed checks forms. The farmers are very happy with the ability to use data collection equipment to import into both payroll systems.”
Red Wing Software is proud to support blueberry growers nationwide. We wish a happy and prosperous National Blueberry Month to all!
Follow this link to see AgWeb's post about how to bulletproof your balance sheet.
http://www.agweb.com/article/bulletproof_your_balance_sheet/