onTOPS

Happy holidays, and welcome to onTOPS, an e-zine produced by TOPS Software to keep you informed about our products and services. We have so much to share with you this holiday season, we're going to go ahead and jump right in! Have a safe and happy holiday season and, as always, enjoy your reading, and we will see you next month!

Andrea Drennen 

onSpecial

Sign up for the Internet Backup Service Today and Receive Your First 100 MB Free for Two Months!

Welcome to the end of another year, and the celebration of the New Year to come. As we get ready to close out 2003 and prepare for 2004, one of the most important things to remember is maintaining a backup of the year 2003 data. Once you close out the financial data for 2003 for your associations, it's important to make a backup of that data for safe keeping. Even if you do not normally back up your data throughout the year, it is important to make a backup of your year-end data. If anything should happen to your system at the office, and you needed to recreate your data, an accurate backup of the previous year's data would go a long way in helping with that process.

With the TOPS Internet Backup Service you will have a backup of your association data in a secure, off-site location, available to you at any time. If you are a management company, you can back up each association as you close their year. That way, you don't have to worry about waiting until all of your associations have closed their year to back up and you won't have multiple tapes, disks, or CDs of association backups. The TOPS Internet Backup Service is fast and easy. All you need to do is schedule the backup and you're ready to go. The data can back up overnight, and you won't need to think about it again, unless you need to restore the data from the backup.

We at TOPS Software believe that backing up your year-end data is so important, that as an added incentive to get everyone to perform this necessary function using the TOPS Internet Backup Service, we would like to give you your first 100 MB of backup space for two months free, along with waiving all setup fees. Just go to www.topsbackup.com/promo/123E.htm and sign up for your complementary trial of the TOPS Internet Backup Service. It only takes a few minutes to sign up and complete your first backup. Isn't that simpler than spending hours recreating lost data?

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy holiday season.

Nicole Beal 

onSales

What's coming in TOPS 2000™ version 3.2

We at TOPS Software are about to end the information gathering stage for items to include in the next version of TOPS 2000™, v3.2, scheduled for release second quarter of 2004. A long list has been compiled to date with suggestions from the many users of our software; who better? A phone message organizer will be added to track the many calls that come in and who they should go to for resolution. We are adding a 2nd email address field, since many households have them and much information can be distributed in this manner with little cost to the association. We are making several improvements to Form Letter, including a spell checker. We will also be adding a Yearly Accounting function with full tracking of owner balances broken out by year. These are just a few of the improvements you can look forward to in the new version!

The announcement of our interface with CondoCerts should further solidify our position as technology leader of the community association industry! The option of digital signature on A/P MICR generated checks and online approval process should greatly speed the payment of association payables. Our new Mobile TOPS PDA that operates in both the Palm and Pocket PC operating systems should further empower the "mobile manager". Additionally we are considering membership tracking, facility scheduling, utility tracking and payment, possibly even a report writer!

At this time, we would like to thank all the clients and users of TOPS 2000™ and TOPS OnSite™ and our many web site clients for making 2003 one of the best years in company history. This would not have happened without the support, interest and involvement our of valued customers making our company one of the top providers of association management software in the industry.

Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season from all of us at TOPS Software!

Bruce R. Gran, CMCA™, AMS®, PCAM™ 

onSupport

Year End Procedures

The year-end is fast approaching. With year-end there are many items that need to be handled. Some of these are entering budgets, changing assessment amounts, and closing the General ledger.

Entering Budgets

TOPS 2000™ version 3.10 has the ability to store multiple years' budgets. This allows the user to enter next year's budget ahead of time. When closing the general ledger there is an option to select the budget year that you will use. The ability to store multiple budget years also allows the user to reprint prior years' financial reports with the correct budget accounts. Budgets are entered in the General Ledger, Chart of Accounts, Budget section.

Changing Assessments

Often, a new year can mean a change in the assessment amount. TOPS 2000™ allows the user to change the amount in one place that updates all the owners at one time. The Charge Tables allow this. The Charge Tables are located in the AR, Apply Charges, Charge Tables section. There can be as many as 10 Charge Tables, with A1 normally reserved for the main assessment. There can be multiple categories per table. If you change the amount for each category it will update the amount for all owners set to that category.

Closing the G/L

One of the final steps in closing the year is to close the general ledger. It is very important that a backup is made prior to closing the year. It is best if this backup is kept in a safe place and is not over-written. (TOPS Software's Internet Backup Service allows for permanent yearly backups.) When closing the year in TOPS 2000™ there are two options:

• Purge GL Detail will make a journal entry that zeros out all income and expense accounts into the retained earning account. This also rolls up all balance sheet account activity into a beginning balance amount.
• The option to Preserve GL Detail makes an entry to the retained earnings account for the difference between the income and expense accounts. The other side of that entry is made to a suspense account. All the history is then left the same. This option allows the user to reprint prior year's financial reports.

TOPS 2000™ has advanced functions that help make year-end a little easier. The ability to update budgets, change the assessment amount, and close the year with little effort helps save time in a busy period.

Ryan Allen 

onHelp

We Need Your Help!

TOPS Software will be performing a major update of our help files during the first quarter of 2003. We need to know from you what works, and what features would be most helpful for you. Please take a few moments to fill out this survey to let us know how we can provide the best help system for you:
www.topssoft.com/2004_HelpSurvey.htm

Andrea Drennen 

onTheSpot

2004 New Year Resolution

Are you glad you can see the end of 2003, especially when it relates to managing the accounting functions of your association(s)? Are you hoping that somehow 2004 will magically bring more accurate and efficient accounting with less headaches?

Having these thoughts might be an indicator there is a more effective way to produce the financial information for your community(ies). You owe it to yourself to start 2004 off on the right foot and make a:

New Year's Resolution!

Get the help you deserve, reduce stress, provide better service to your clients, save time, and get back to the non-accounting related issues of the community(ies) you serve! You can get this type of help by choosing two, out of the three, options below:

1. Business as usual! (Although this is the easiest in the short run, this is not one of the three options recommended.)
2. Sign up for TOPS support! Ensure you are signed up for software support from TOPS. The support TOPS provides for the software is excellent. The nominal monthly support fees can save you undue headaches, time, stress, and wasted money. By paying support fees you will automatically receive the most updated version of the software, as well as the ability to call someone knowledgeable about the software to get your software issues resolved.
3. Engage a third-party TOPS consultant! Get someone intimately versed in TOPS Software and who knows accounting for the industry. Typically, these consultants are less expensive than your CPA, can resolve your accounting issues in less time, ensure the software is setup correctly for future success, and provide training, if needed.

A recent user of such services stated, "I wish you could see me doing back flips, now I can start enjoying the holidays! Thank you for assisting me in getting all of my communities' financials in order.2004 is going to be a much better year!" Margie - Field Master Community Management

In summary, hoping and wishing the accounting will somehow get better by continuing what has been done in the past will not yield the results you deserve. Make a New Year's resolution to get the accounting under control by being more efficient and accurate. Better yet, ACT on your New Year's resolution!

Happy holidays and wishing you a prosperous 2004!

Ricky Hux, Best Fit Solutions 

Ricky Hux, President of Best Fit Solutions, is a Trainer and Dealer for TOPS Software products. He has a degree in Accounting from Texas A&M, received his CMCA designation, and has senior level accounting experience in Fortune 500 companies. Please visit his web site at www.bestfitsolutions.net or call him at 281-870-0404 to learn more about outsourcing accounting services, as well as other services his company offers to the industry.

onLine

Web Sites for your Communities... as simple as 1, 2, 3!

Want to introduce the web site service to ALL your community clients but you're not sure how to get the word out? Now, your association management company can order a supply of complete Community Web Site Kits for every association manager to distribute to their HOA boards. Each packet comes with everything needed to explain the advantages of a community web site service to your clients - helpful brochures explaining the features and how they work, pointers on how to use the classified ads feature to reap revenue from the web site, plus pricing information and everything the association needs to know to get stared with the community web site service.

Each packet also comes with a CD presentation that walks the board through a virtual tour of the service. We'll even customize the enclosures with your company logo and contact information. Just contact us at websales@topshome.com and let us know how many packets you'd like to receive!

Susan Sanders 

onTopic

Endnote: 

The Cost Index of the 12 days of Christmas

Turn on your speakers and prepare for a little holiday accounting humor with a (slightly) serious side... www.pncadvisors.com/cpi.html

Andrea Drennen