MADISON, MO -- Early this year Flagship Technologies, Inc.
released ManagePLUS™ for QuickBooks™,
a Microsoft Windows™-compatible computer program which adds new
accounting features to the popular QuickBooks accounting program.
Now a ManagePLUS version that
works with Quicken™ is in final stages of testing and is slated to
begin shipping September 15th of this year.
Most important among the features that ManagePLUS adds to Quicken
are (1) the ability to handle physical quantities, and (2)
reports showing per-unit sales and expense information for
any account, category, or class (enterprise). These features let
users gather sales and cost information, and quantity information,
on a per-management-unit basis. For instance, a farmer can
get reports showing average yield per acre for each farm, field, or
acre of soybeans; pounds of a particular corn herbicide used per
acre; total herbicide costs per acre for any crop; pounds of mineral
supplement fed per beef cow; tractor repair costs per acre or per
hour; and so on.
Users can directly access ManagePLUS commands from within the
Quicken program, via a command button that ManagePLUS adds to
Quicken's main window. However, ManangePLUS adds its enhancements
without altering the host program or its data files in any way.
New Features in the Quicken Version
According to Mark Wilsdorf, president of Flagship Technologies,
the Quicken release of ManagePLUS contains added features that are
not yet part of the QuickBooks version. "The feature that
everyone should notice is the ability to keep track of two
quantities in any Quicken transaction. This lets a livestock
producer record the number of animals sold and their weight,
for example. ManagePLUS reports show totals for both quantities,
broken down by category and by class, and also provides statistics
like average weight per head, price per head, and price per
pound."
Other enhancements include automatic retention of window grid
(column order and width) layouts, improved error messages, better
documentation (the User's Guide tutorial is now duplicated in
the Help system), "and a lot of other 'behind-the-scenes'
improvements that aren't outwardly apparent." said Wilsdorf.
Program Features
Here are some of the features common to both the new Quicken
version and the QuickBooks version of ManagePLUS:
Quantities:
Classes (Enterprises):
-
Associate a number of production units with any Class--i.e.,
300 acres of Corn, 100 beef cows, etc. This is what allows
ManagePLUS reports to provide per-unit sales and expense
information.
Reports:
-
Profit & Loss.
Provides quantity and dollar totals by account, category, and
class. Provides quantity and dollar information on a
per-unit-of-production basis (pounds of feed per animal, herbicide
cost per acre, insecticide quantity per acre, etc.)
-
Sale and Purchase Quantities, by Month. Shows quantity
totals for up to 12 months of transactions, broken down by
account, category, and class. Examples: hundredweight of market
hogs sold each month, tons of protein supplement purchased each
month, etc.
-
Cash Flow Summary, by Month. Shows a history of monthly
cash flows for up to 12 months of transactions, broken down by
account, category, and class.
-
Many report options. Show/hide transaction detail;
change header, footer, and other report text; change report band
colors for easier reading.
-
Enhanced report filtering. In addition to Quicken or
QuickBooks' report filtering capabilities, ManagePLUS allows
extended filtering on any set of individual classes.
Documentation:
-
Comprehensive Help system, including Quick Start Steps
and step-by-step tutorial.
-
Printed User's Guide, including tips on how best
to organize accounts, categories, and classes.
-
Sample data files make it easy to work through the
tutorial, even for users who only want to complete parts of it.
General:
-
Safety. Always works with a copy of the user's
records--never the "master copy" maintained by Quicken
or QuickBooks. So there's never any risk of data loss.
-
Familiar user interface. If you know how to use Quicken
or QuickBooks, you already know most of what you need to use
ManagePLUS.
-
Integrates seamlessly with Quicken or QuickBooks by
adding a ManagePLUS button to the accounting program's main
window.
New Features in ManagePLUS for Quicken:
The following features are specific to the Quicken version of
ManagePLUS. (Some are to be added to the QuickBooks version in an
upgrade release this fall.):
-
Dual quantities. Allows recording two quantities in any
transaction--i.e., both the weight and number of animals
sold.
-
Tree-structured class list. ManagePLUS reports use the
single-level Quicken Class list as if it were a branched
(tree-structured) list consisting of multiple parent and child
(sub class) levels. This allows easier breakdown of enterprise
information into sub enterprises. (Note: this feature is not
needed with QuickBooks, which already has a multi-level class
list.)
-
Improved window and data grid management that is more
automated, for easier use.
-
Numerous internal enhancements.
Management Accounting a` la ManagePLUS
See the original ManagePLUS news release
for details about how ManagePLUS supports management accounting,
including a detailed report example.
Who Uses ManagePLUS?
Farming operations, ranches, orchards, nurseries, contractors,
and other businesses use
ManagePLUS...any business where quantities and per-management-unit
information are useful in management decisions and planning.
Availability, Pricing, and Early Orders
ManagePLUS for Quicken is expected to begin shipping by September
15, 1997. The QuickBooks version is available now. For current
product prices and ordering information see Flagship's
online
order form.
For more information about ManagePLUS, visit the ManagePLUS
Product Information page or contact Flagship Technologies by any
of the means listed at the end of this article.
Flagship Technologies, Inc., is located at Madison, Missouri. The
company's primary focus is on developing and marketing agricultural
software products, including ManagePLUS
for QuickBooks™ and ManagePLUS
for Quicken™, farm accounting add-ons for QuickBooks and
Quicken, as well as other software products and training materials
including The QuickBooks Farm
Accounting Cookbook™. The company can be contacted by
these means:
Prices and specifications are subject to
change without notice. ManagePLUS is a trademark of Flagship
Technologies, Inc. QuickBooks and Quicken are registered trademarks
of Intuit.
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