A monthly resource to help you make the most from your investment in Timeslips - read on-line as a webpage or share with a colleague.

Director's Message

The Importance of Backups

Timeslips Backup saves the day after a server crash.

One recent Monday morning, we received a call from a Timeslips client who said that their server had crashed and they needed help with corruption error messages that had appeared in Timeslips. Looking at the problem, we decided it would be most efficient to restore the information from the server backup from the previous Friday night. When the client went to retrieve the backup, it was discovered that a server backup had not been carried out in over a week. This caused the client to go into a spin, as they were faced with the prospect of trying to recreate over a week's worth of time and billing information. Fortunately, a separate Timeslips backup had been performed on Friday night and we were able to restore that backup which meant they were up and running again within hours.

The moral of the story� We all assume that all our valuable office data is being backed up reliably, but often the only time we discover there's a problem is when we need to retrieve something critical. Timeslips, with its built-in back up feature, offers extra insurance for the information that is the life-blood of your business.

We recommend performing a separate Timeslips backup daily after everyone has completed their daily timesheets and storing an offsite copy just as an extra precaution.

Timeslips 2008

Haven't upgraded to Timeslips 2008 yet? Here are some of the features you can benefit from.

Scheduled Database Backup - Ensure your Timeslips data is safe. The automatic, scheduled backup of your Timeslips data will ensure that your important slip and billing details are not lost. Each backup file can have a unique name to help determine the most current information.

Navigation Redesign - Complete the steps in your billing cycle more effectively and efficiently. The Timeslips Navigator menu system has been completely redesigned with a fresh new interface to allow you to more easily complete necessary tasks. The Navigators organise the Timeslips commands based on the task types, such as "Prepare Billing" and "Accounts Receivable".

Check out our website for more details on Timeslips 2008.

Obsolescence Policy: Time & Data Management currently supports Timeslips by SAGE version 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008 - Sage Software's Obsolescence Policy is to support the current Timeslips release and, in most cases two prior releases of a product. If you are using an obsolete version of Timeslips, we urge you to upgrade to the most current release in order to be eligible for support and to be compliant with new operating environments.

Making the Most of the Information Captured in Timeslips

Timeslips contains well over 100 reports, but which ones do you print, and what does the information that you are reporting on mean?

This month we will explain the "Profitability Report"

The Profitability by Period report is available from the Slips tab of the Reports List. This report compares "Original" values for each timekeeper against the "Billed" values after Timeslips has applied markups, rounding, and other specialised billing effects (such as fixed fees).

The key when generating this report is to use the "Slip Billed on Invoice Date" filter. The report will show you, for a given billing date, all the time billed, when it was worked (based on the period you have chosen in the Options) and the difference between the Slip Value and Billed Value.

A key report for those Fixed Fee "Projects"

Training - Want to Learn more about Timeslips?

Some clients tell us that they are not using some of the 'bells and whistles' of Timeslips. If you feel that way, invest in a training session to make sure that you're getting the most out of Timeslips. The time and money you will save as a result will make it worth your while!

We offer Timeslips training sessions online via a secure connection to your pc using GoToAssist. This enables us to work with your data, therefore making your training session more productive.

Timeslips - Billing and More (recommended training time - 3 hours)

This session is designed for your billing and accounting personnel and managers who need to setup different billing rules, extract critical information and analyse productivity.

• Using Custom fields to filter and sort management reports

• Setting up Rate Rules

• Defining Client/Project relationships (reduce data entry)

• Understanding Billing Arrangements and when to use them

• Using filters to review data on screen or in reports

• Best Practices for Backups and Data Integrity

Your Interests

Is there a topic you would like us to cover in our newsletter?

Something specific to Timeslips that you think will interest other users?

Send us your ideas and we'll do our best to write about them in an upcoming issue.

Share the Resource

Please forward this newsletter to a colleague who needs to improve their productivity - just hit the forward button at the top of this email. We're looking for new businesses to read our articles, and of course, new clients to make their businesses more productive.

This Month's Quick Tip

Filter slip reports by slip description - Did you know you can filter the details of slip-based reports by the contents of the slip description field?

For example, lets say you want to print a Slip Listing report for all the slips that include "consultation" in the slip description. Select Slip Listing from the Report list open the Report Enter dialog. Set Filter Groups to Slip and select Slip Description. Set Condition to Contains and enter "consultation" in the Text to Find field. Click on OK and print the report.

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Time & Data Management Software Consulting Pty Ltd | P.O. Box 912H Edge Hill QLD 4870 |

Tel: +61 (7) 4053-3800 | Website: www.tdmsconsulting.com.au

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