TOPS Software: 09 onTOPS

1)	onTOPS	:	Welcome to onTOPS!
2)	onSoftware	:	Web Site Programming Conference
3)	onSales	:	TOPS Internet Backup Service
4)	onSupport	:	1099's for Vendors
5)	onSpecial	:	Save on Management Co. Web Sites
6)	onLine	:	New Stuff on Our Web Site
7)	onTopic	:	Monkeys and Shakespeare?

Welcome to onTOPS, an e-zine produced by TOPS Software to keep you informed about our products and services. Well, year end is past, and everyone is making sure that all of their tax obligations are met. If you still have questions about generating 1099's for your vendors, be sure to read onSupport. Nicole Beal talks about an important year end process, backing up your data, in onSales.

2003 is the year to get all of your communities up to technological standards with Community Websites. If you are still skeptical, read onSoftware for a report on the results of a recent web site programming conference determining what new functionality will be added in 2003. Then, be sure to read onSpecial for a nice discount on the TOPS Community Web Site Service.

We look forward to hearing your feedback about the e-zine. Please let us know what things you liked, what you would like to see, and any suggested articles by e-mailing us at Ezines@TOPSSoft.com. As always, enjoy your reading, and we will see you next month!

In early January, TOPS web site programmers, web support technicians, and web site sales engineers met in a 2-day conference to determine which features would be built in to the TOPS Community Web Site Service in the year 2003. This conference was deemed a huge success, and we came away with a list of more than 50 distinct new features that we will be building into the website product over the course of the year. Here are a few of the exciting new features that will be coming to Community Web Sites in 2003:

These are just a sampling of the many exciting things coming down the pike for the TOPS Community Web Site Service. Get on board today to begin taking advantage of the many wonders a TOPS Community Web Site can afford you! See onSpecial in this issue for more information and a special deal.

Imagine if you will, it’s 3:00 A.M. Sunday morning. You’re fast asleep, safe and sound in your home, with all of the doors locked and the security alarm set. Everything that is important to you, your family and possessions, securely protected under lock and key.

But what’s happening at your office? Roof leak shorting out your computer? Thieves stealing computers and destroying files? Fire destroying everything? How can you possibly recover? You can buy new computers; attempt to recreate files, but what about all of that important association data? The years of unit owner accounting, architectural requests, your entire checkbook, everything: GONE. Unless...

...You subscribe to TOPS Software’s Internet Backup Service. (What did you expect? This is a sales column after all.) For as little as $15.00 a month, you can ensure that your data is safe, stored on an offsite web server and on a redundant server at TOPS Software. In addition, you can access your backup from a remote location. This means, after an office disaster, you can be up and running almost immediately. All you need is a computer, TOPS Software, and a subscription to our Internet Backup Service.

What’s that? You already back up your data to a tape or CD? Good for you, especially if you store that backup off-site. But backing up your data to a tape or CD can get expensive, if you consider everything that you need to purchase. There’s the tape drive or CD burner, the tapes or CDs (which will need to be replaced every three months or so), and the backup program, so you don't have to sit there and watch your data being copied to your storage source. Then you have to remember to bring your backup home, or take it to another site, so if disaster strikes, all your time and money haven’t been spent in vain, and then bring it back to the office, in case you need to restore your data from the backup. I’m getting tired, just thinking about it!

Even if you are dead-set on having a physical backup that you can carry around with you, it’s still a good idea to maintain a monthly and/or yearly backup, for data storage purposes. TOPS Software can store your data for you, for as long as you want, without taking up any space in your office. You can’t forget it at home, your dog won't eat it, and your kids can't turn it into a toy or craft project. For as little as $15.00 a month, how can you not consider it?

For more information on the TOPS Internet Backup Service, please visit the website at www.TOPSBackup.com.

It is that time of the year again. Our vendors that have accumulated payments in excess of a specific dollar amount (usually $600) are required to report the income on their taxes. In order to facilitate this, we issue them the 1099's for their services. TOPS™ can help with this task. If we had to manually sit down and calculate, then type in the 1099 forms (in some cases retype a few times), it would be very time consuming to produce 1099's for multiple associations. Luckily, TOPS 2000™ can do all of this for us!

By going to AP, Vendors, you can select the vendors that need to recieve a 1099, and enter their social security or taxpayer ID number. If that was already done when you set up your vendors for the first time, you can proceed directly to Year End and run the 1099’s right from there. All you have to do is prepare the work file (enter the dollar limit you are requesting as the reportable qualification), then press <ENTER> and TOPS 2000™ will automatically review all of your vendors histories that were identified as requiring a 1099 and then offer you the opportunity to print 1099's using the standard IRS forms.

If you have any questions about 1099’s, call the support line at 1-800-899-5689.

Editor's Note: Cathy Flynn is the corporate trainer for TOPS Software. If you have a question related to training, feel free to send her an e-mail at Training@TOPSSoft.com.

$5.00 off Monthly Management Company Site Fees for Every Community Site that You Sign Up!

We'd love to start working with you and your associations using the TOPS Community Web Site Service. So many of your colleagues have found the service to be a time saver at the management office, that they're actually bragging about it!

Some of the features exclusive to the TOPS service are the ability for the residents to see their own account balance, last payment, status of work orders, architectural request status, and the ability to upload financial reports for board member review. This functionality alone impresses your association Boards. When you add on the ability to see when the clubhouse is reserved, the ability to e-mail important news out to residents, the fact that residents and board members can share their thoughts on the message boards, and all the other cool functionality; your Boards will be blown away by the fantastic service you can offer, and at such a reasonable price!

We will be happy to provide you with a CD presentation that is branded with your company name and logo. We can even place your company's logo in the splash screen that pops up when the CD is run. This is a great way to sell 'Your' community web site service to your board members.

On top of all of these great features, we offer a $5 discount off the monthly fees that you pay for your management company website for EVERY community web site that you sign up. Thus, if you sign up 20 community web sites, your management company web site is free, every month!

E-Mail us at WebSales@topssoft.com to request a full information packet. We guarantee you and your board members will be impressed!

TOPS Software was recently affected by the SQL Slammer worm, causing our internet and email services to go down. If you sent an email to TOPS Software or submitted an online form between Friday, January 24th and Monday, January 27th, please resend or resubmit.

The TOPS Corporate web site is currently undergoing a major overhaul while we translate everything over to a new server, and a new editor. We are making many changes at this time. Please see this space next month for a list of recent changes.

The TOPS Internet Backup Service website is now fully functional and available for users to sign up for a new account, and utilize the TOPS Internet Backup Service. Please visit the site at http://www.topsbackup.com for more information, or to sign up today!

"We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare," computer scientist Robert Wilensky once declared. "Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."

09 onTOPS

January 2003