For example, if you have a livestock and grain operation, you can set up a grain enterprise and a cattle enterprise. If you produce strictly crops, then you may want to create three separate enterprises — one each for grains, oilseeds and pulses. Other common enterprises include dairy or trucking. Enterprises are completely customizable to your operation.

Once you create enterprises, you can track income and expenses for each enterprise by establishing an “enterprise split” in the chart of accounts. You can use reports and management tools to compare the profitability of each enterprise, and help make important decisions for your farm. This could include deciding whether or not to invest in more cattle to complement your grain enterprise, or reviewing budgets for your grain and oilseed enterprises to plan for the most profitable combination of canola, wheat and barley acreage.

Setting up enterprises

Follow these steps to set up your enterprises.

1. Setup > Preferences > Optional Features > Make sure Enterprises box is checked > Save.
2. Setup > Enterprises. This is where you can customize the name of the enterprises to suit your operation. You can add a new enterprise, edit or delete an existing enterprise, or merge two existing enterprises together.
   Tip: If you choose to merge two enterprises, any percentage splits that you’ve allocated to those enterprises in the income and expense accounts, will also be merged.
3. Close.

Set up expense splits

Now, you can start to allocate income and expenses by enterprise.

1. Setup > Chart of Accounts.
2. Income Tab > Select an Income Account: Such as Hard Red Spring Wheat Sales.
3. Click Edit: On the right hand side, you’ll see the Enterprises box.
4. Select the appropriate enterprises for this income account. Then allocate a percentage to each enterprise. For example, 100 per cent of the Hard Red Spring Wheat income should be allocated to your “grains” enterprise. If you need to remove an enterprise from the list, simply click to highlight it, then click on the red x to remove it. Click Save.
   Tip: If you have a custom work income account, you could choose to allocate 50 per cent to grain enterprise and 50 per cent to cattle enterprise. However, percentages should be setup to appropriately reflect your operation and don’t need to equal 100 per cent.
5. Repeat these steps to set up enterprises for all income accounts.
6. Expense Tab > Select an expense account, such as “fertilizer.” Then, for example, allocate a percentage split for fertilizer among grains, oilseeds and pulse enterprises.
7. Repeat steps to setup enterprises for all expense accounts.
8. Close Chart of Accounts window.
9. Reports > Report Console > Transaction/Account Information > Chart of Accounts > Select Category > Keep a check mark in income and expense boxes > Table View: This will show you the Chart of Accounts Report. You will see your Enterprise Columns and be able to review the percentages you have allocated to your income and expense accounts.
   Tip: Percentage splits can be changed and updated anytime by going back into the Setup and Chart of Accounts.

Reports and management tools

1. Reports Console > Financial > Income/Expense Report > Explore various options within this report. Put a checkmark on “use enterprise split.” Select one or more enterprises to view an income/expense report based on your selection. Or, compare: under Style: choose Summary or Detail, and under Type: Select Enterprise Comparison.
2. Management > Budget > Set the budget to look at the farm as a whole or by each enterprise or combination of enterprises, allowing you to compare actual to budgeted income and expenses.
3. Management > Operational Benchmarking > Production Unit Costing > this report will list a cost/acre or a cost/head from the information you’ve entered into the system. It can also report the total production cost by enterprise.
4. Management > Operational Benchmarking > Efficiency Measures shows the percentage of gross income that goes towards different expense categories and can be viewed by enterprise.

The post Using AgExpert’s enterprise feature appeared first on Grainews.

When you’re projecting your farm’s income, take into consideration expected production such as crop yields, livestock births and projected prices. To budget expenses, project price increase or drops on input and operating costs such as fertilizer, chemical, seed, feed, land rent, fuel, repairs and labour.

The budget tool allows lets you edit these numbers anytime, since factors like yield or price changes can result in a need to change your budget throughout the year.

The budget feature also allows you to compare actual income and expenses to the budgeted income and expenses. As you enter daily transactions, the budget tool pulls actual numbers in from your entries, allowing you to analyze the performance of your operation. You can also set your budget so you can look at a specific parts of your business, such as grain or livestock, or you may set the budget to look at the farm as whole.

Steps to create a budget

The budget screen has two sections. The header section allows you to select options such as fiscal year, date range and enterprises. The middle section holds the income and expense sub-sections where we can edit the budget and view actual versus budgeted amounts.

To get there, select Management > Budget >

Header Section:

1. Fiscal Year: Select the current fiscal year.
2. Date Range Type: Select period. Tip: “Period” should be selected if you’d like to create or view the budget for a specific month, quarter, or the entire fiscal year. If the “as at date” is selected it will include all numbers up to the end of a specific month or quarter.
3. Show: Select progress Tip: “Progress” compares the percentage difference between your actual and budget amounts. “Difference” compares the amount difference between actual and budget amounts.
4. Accounting Method: Select Cash
5. Enterprises: Select All. If you’ve set up “enterprises” you can choose to look at certain aspects such as grain or livestock.
6. Time Period: Click on “fiscal year” button to highlight it in blue. You also have the option of selecting a month or quarter.

Defining budget values

In the income and expense sections:

1. Select “edit budget” at the top.
2. Select the account you’d like to enter data for. For example, select “wheat sales” by clicking it to highlight it in blue.
3. Right click on that line and select “add budget” or click on the plus sign to assign a budget value. You can specify a yearly, monthly, or monthly variable amount. A “monthly variable” specifics an variable amount per month, and could be used if you expect to sell wheat in, for example, September and October.
4. You can add notes. If, for example, you expect $30,000 worth of feeder cattle sales in the fall, you can add a note to say how you came to that number. This is your management tool, so add any information you’d like.
5. When you’re done, click the “done editing” button.

Reviewing the budget

First, compare actual versus budget columns. If you have created the budget before entering any data for the selected period, the actual will be zero. Once you enter your transactions, numbers will begin to pull into the actual column, allowing you to compare actual numbers to the budgeted amounts.

Tip: To view the list of which transactions make up the “actual” amount, right click on the amount and select General Ledger Report.

Hint: Because we selected Show: Progress in the header section, the progress column shows the percentage difference between the actual and budget amounts. You can switch the selection to Show: Difference to view difference in amount between actual and budget.

To view and print the budget report, select Page View.

Once the budget has been created for the fiscal year you can make changes as necessary throughout the year. Check back with the budget tool often to evaluate the performance of your farm.

The post Build a farm budget with AgExpert appeared first on Grainews.

Exploring the online community

First, connect to the Internet. From the AgExpert Program go to Help > Online Community to connect to the online community home page. You’ll see seven tabs at the top. The home page gives an overview and description of the features in the online community. Following are some highlights.

1. Home > Technical Support> Click on the blue link to “Customer Care Plan” to go to the webpage that describes FCC’s “basic”, “essential” and “premium” customer care plans. You can view, compare and renew your plan online or call in. Tip: Sign up for Auto-Renewal so you always have access to the latest software updates and training opportunities.
2. Home > Technical Support> Click on the blue link to start a “Click-to-Chat” session with support. This starts a live chat online with a member of the FCC support team. Just type in your name and phone number and select the topic you need help with. You will then see a “Chat with Support” window pop up, where you can instantly message and chat with support. Tip: This feature is available if you’re on an “essential” or “premium” customer care plan. If you have a “basic” plan, you may want to consider an upgrade.
3. Knowledge Base > AgExpert Analyst > Click on any of the following links to access the most up to date articles, step by step instructions and videos on how to use the software. All the information that used to be found in the reference manuals can now be found here:

Videos: Select from the menu of tutorials, How-to videos and learn what’s new in the software. If you’d like to learn how to enter a grain sale for example, then choosing Videos > AgExpert Analyst Tutorials > Transactions > Sample Transaction — Grain Sale will open a three minute video on exactly how to enter the transaction.

Blog: Check in with the blog often for informative messages, tips, and solutions written by the support team. They’ve posted over 50 blogs so far, so there are sure to be some that interest you. Scroll through to find blogs such as “Top 10 Things You Can Do To Prepare For Year-End,” “How Safe Is Your Computer?” and “Download Your Software Update In Two Easy Steps.”

Discussions: Here, there is a list of discussion boards. Select one such as “Financial and Accounting Discussions.” This is where you can post a question to the discussion board, and either another user or member of the support team can help you. You can also read through other questions that have been posted, and read replies or add your own reply if you know the answer. Did you know? There is a discussion board called “AgExpert Analyst —Have an idea for the software?” Here is a place where you can send in your suggestions, feedback, and ideas for future releases.

Tip of the Month: Click on the month for the latest news and advice.

Contact us: Fill out this message form and support will get in touch with you.

Other help menu options

From the AgExpert Program, choose:

• Help > Search online help: This connects you directly to the AgExpert Knowledge Base in the online community. Or, choose:
• Help > Connect to FCC Customer Care: This connects you directly to “Click-to-chat” to chat live with a member of the support team. Or:
• Help > What’s New > Connects you to the latest blog and information on the newest version of AgExpert.

Did you know? From any screen in the AgExpert Software the [F1] keyboard key will connect you directly to the online community and take you to the exact location in the knowledge base that gives you information on the particular screen you were in. For example: go to Setup > Enterprises > then [F1]. You will now be taken to the exact page within the knowledge base that discusses setting up and maintaining enterprises. As an alternative to the [F1] key you can click on the question mark icon in screens such as the transaction entry screen.

The post Editing transactions with AgExpert: Pt. 2 appeared first on Grainews.

It’s a good idea to create a backup before recording a GST return, or bank reconciliation, since those particular processes aren’t reversible, except by reverting to a previous backup. A user may also want to create a backup on a USB flash drive or disc so your data file can be taken to your accountant for review.

How to create a backup

1. Choose File > Backup
2. Last Backup: gives you information on when the last back up was created, and its location.
3. Current Backup: Choose where you want to store the backup copy. Click on the folder icon to choose location.
   – Backup to Hard drive: Select the appropriate location. The file directory usually looks similar to this C:DocumentsAnalystBackup.
   – Backup to removable hardware such as a USB flash drive: insert USB flash drive into computer, then click on the folder icon to choose the appropriate drive.
4. Click “Back Up.” If you get a message stating that the backup file already exists and will be overwritten, click “Yes.” The current backup will then over write the old one.
5. Once the backup is completed successfully a window should appear. Click “OK.”
6. If you would like to back up to a CD/DVD, use the AgExpert software to burn the backup file onto a disc by clicking on this button and following the instructions accordingly.

• Read more: Editing transactions in AgExpert

How to restore a backup file

1. Choose File > Restore
2. Choose the location where you keep your backup files. Click on the folder icon to browse for the location on your hard drive, USB Flash Drive, disc or other.
3. Choose the data file you would like to restore. Click on the file name to highlight it. At the bottom of the screen you’ll see information about your file: the date the file was created, file size, and the version of AgExpert Analyst it was created with.
4. Choose the location where you want to place the restored data file: Usually the file should be restored to the C:DocumentsAnalystData directory.
5. Click “Restore.” You should see a green checkmark. Click “OK” then close the restore window.
6. To get back to work, File > Open > in the Documents/Analyst/Data folder you should see the name of the data file you restored. Highlight it and click open.

Hint: As part of my bookkeeping routine, I also print out month-end reports such as the bank reconciliation reports, accounts payable and receivable reports and the trial balance report. I place these in my bookkeeping file, to give me a hard copy of the data throughout the year.

Save a shapshot

Just before attempting to enter a difficult or uncommon transaction, you can use the Snapshot feature. Choosing File > Save Snapshot instantly creates a picture of the current data file you’re working in. If you have problems entering a transaction, you can return the data file to the way it was when you started, by choosing File > Revert to Snapshot.

Warning: If you revert to snapshot, any changes made since the snapshot was created will be lost. Make sure that’s what you really want to do!

Using “Save As” to create a practice file

File > Save As will save a working copy of your open data file under a new file name. I often use this feature to create a “Practice File” from the AgExpert sample data file that comes with the software.

1. Choose File > Open Sample Data File.
2. Choose File > Save As.
3. Set File Name: Type “my practice data file”
4. Save. This creates a copy of the AgExpert Sample data file so you can practice entering transactions. Note that you should now be working in “my practice data file”. The file name will be displayed at the top of your screen.

Did you know? A list of transaction examples can be found in the online community. If you’re connected to the Internet, choose Help > Online Community > Knowledge Base > AgExpert Analyst > Transactions > Transaction Examples. Practice makes perfect!

The post Backing up your data with AgExpert appeared first on Grainews.

Thankfully, making corrections and changes to an account number or amount, changing a date, or completely reversing a double entry, can be done in a few simple steps.

Find the transaction

First, open the Edit or Reverse Transaction Screen: To do this, from the main menu, select Transactions > Edit or Reverse Transaction.

Or, if you’re already in the Transaction Entry Screen, Point of Sale, or General Journal, then click on “filing cabinet” icon button at the bottom left hand side of your screen.

Or, you can use a quick keyboard shortcut [Alt] + [E].

Next, find the specific transaction you wish to correct.

1. You can search by transaction “Type.” I normally set mine to “show all” transactions. However, from the drop down list you have several search options that allow you to narrow down the list.
2. You can further search the transaction list by typing into the “Search” box more detail. If you’re looking for a transaction that is for $12.50, type in “12.50” and it will bring you to any transactions with that amount. You can also type in a specific reference number, audit number, or supplier name for example.

Another great feature is being able to sort the list by column headers. If you use your mouse to click on the “date” column header, it will sort the list of transactions by date.

Example: I’m looking for a transaction from my local co-op between January and June for approximately $1,000, but I’m not sure of the exact amount. This is one way I’d search for it. 1. Type: “Show All” From: 1/1/2015 To: 06/30/2015. 2. Search: local Co-op. 3. Click on the “Total” column header. This will sort all the local Co-op transactions between January and June by amount. From here I could easily scroll down and find any local Co-op transactions within the $1000 range.

Viewing, editing or reversing transactions

Did you know? AgExpert Analyst maintains an audit trail. Recorded transactions can’t be deleted. If you need to change a recorded transaction, you must either edit or reverse it.

First, click on the transaction to highlight it. Then at the bottom of the screen, chose one of the five options.

1. View: displays all the transaction information, but won’t allow you to make any changes. Close when done.
2. Full Edit: allows you to make a change to any field including bank accounts, amounts, posting account types and account numbers. After you make the changes, record the transaction. The Full Edit will automatically create a reversed transaction, then post a new transaction to reflect the changes. Example: If you did a Full Edit of Audit #100, the original transaction will be Audit #100, the automatic reversal will be Audit #101, and the new transaction reflecting the changes will be Audit #102. Tip: When viewing any AgExpert Report containing a blue audit number, clicking on the audit number will take you straight to the Full Edit Screen. This is a great time saver if you spot something that needs to be changed while viewing your reports.
3. Quick Edit: allows you to partially edit a transaction to change the date, reference or description. You can also add or change a note attached to a transaction, or print a cheque after recording the transaction. Note: When you do a Quick Edit, AgExpert doesn’t create a reversal, and the original audit number stays the same. I recommend using the Quick Edit, for simple changes.
4. Reverse: Select the transaction to be reversed, click “Reverse” and “Yes.” A reversed transaction will automatically be posted containing amounts opposite to the original, which negates the original. This works well if you have double entered a transaction by mistake. Hint: Reversed transactions must be set to “Show” under Setup > Preferences in order to see them in the Edit or Reverse Transactions List. I personally like to “Show” them as I’m doing my day-to-day entering, but I like to “Hide” them when I print out my reports. You can change your preference at any time.
5. Print Preview: allows you to print a transaction report of the transactions displayed in the list. Tip: Use the search options to downsize the transaction list to exactly what should be printed.

Did you know? In the 2016-01 version of AgExpert, there is a great new feature in the Edit or Reverse Transaction Entry Screen — a note icon on the right side of the list will show you which transactions have notes attached.

The post Editing transactions with AgExpert: Pt. 1 appeared first on Grainews.