newswire - tronia systems ltd. | home of agre · 2011-04-05 · welcome to the first flock of...
TRANSCRIPT
Spring 2011
Newswire Spring is on the Way From your Editor—Debbie Ewing
It‟s been above freezing for three
consecutive days, so I‟m declaring spring
officially started. This seemed like the
longest winter yet. Even my Chesapeake,
who loves the snow, barked a warm
welcome to the first flock of Canada
Geese that flew north overhead. He was likely disappointed
that no one shot one so he could retrieve it, but even he knows
where there‟s geese, there‟s hope!
Other than the twin lakes that have temporarily appeared in
our parking lot (frozen storm drains), it doesn‟t look very much
like spring. It will be quite a while before the mountains of
snow have melted and the fields have dried enough to get out
and do some work.
In the mean time, you‟re probably setting up your new „prepaid
price level‟ prices, and we‟ve given you a couple of alternatives
to think about for billing family farms later in the season.
We‟ve also dropped our prices on preprinted forms for a
couple of weeks so you can stock up for spring for less.
Spring is when you feel like whistling even
with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson
What’s Inside
Tronia News & Events ................. 2
Grow Your Business Forms & Labels Sale ..................... 3
agrē Tips: Make a Blend—faster! ............................. 4
agrē Tips: Alternatives to Split Billing ............................... 4
agrē Tips: FAQs ............................ 4
agrē Tips: Exporting Data ............. 5
Still using the Edge? ..................... 6
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Congratulations to our retailers who were recognized for their
achievements and nominated for awards at CAAR this year. Each
time one of your names was called at the banquet, we hope you could
tell from the wild clapping and cheering at our tables how proud we
were! We‟d like to think that using the best ag retail software in the
industry contributed in some small way to your success.
Not that we‟re biased or anything, but didn‟t we have a darn fine booth
this year? And we had the best dressed pit crew, too! It was great to see
familiar faces from our training classes, and to put a face to voices we‟ve
heard only over the phone. A few of you were pretty capable when it
came to slot car racing and gave our staff some serious competition on
the drive to the winner‟s circle.
Congratulations are also in order to QA/Tester
Amie on the birth of her third baby Asher
Jameison on February 12th.
With all these babies popping out over the last few
years, the rest of us are afraid to drink the water!
CAAR Draw Winners
Apple iPad
Robson Rogan
Purity Feeds Co. Ltd.
Kamloops, BC
Apple iPod Touch
Matthew Krutzfeldt
Parkland Fertilizer
Wetaskiwin, AB
Tronia News & Events
Late Breaking Baby News
The wait is finally over!
Operations Manager
Rhonda is a grandmother!
Michelle Rhonda was born
April 2nd.
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New!
Specialty Papers
Tronia now carries a line
of specialty paper that
includes:
linen look
heavy bond
coated
carbonless
synthetic
announcement
cards
hard-to-find colours
Specialty paper is
perfect for :
letterhead
newsletters
holiday cards &
letters
Annual Reports
To help you stock up on preprinted
forms in time for spring, we’re
offering a discount on orders
initiated and approved between
April 11th – 26th.
Invoices Loadout Tickets
Statements Delivery Slips
Cheques Meter Tickets
Envelopes Letterhead
Memo/Notepads Labels
Call or email Dee Klassen for all form orders & inquiries
10% OFF ALL NEW FORM or LABEL ORDERS
Order a new product you have not ordered before
and save 10% (see below for a partial list of forms)
5% OFF ALL REPEAT FORM or LABEL ORDERS
Repeat a previous order and save 5%
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agrē Tips: Make a Blend—faster!
Use File > Config Options > User
>Miscellaneous tab to define your
blending defaults. When you make a blend,
agrē will use these defaults so you won‟t
have to select them each time. You can
always override the defaults if you‟re
making a different blend.
More speed blending tips can be found in the Make a
Blend (the fast way) section of online help.
agrē Tips: Frequently Asked Questions
We‟ve always had FAQs in the Customer Centre on our
website, but we‟ve added them to the Getting Started
section of Online Help to make them easier to find.
agrē Tips: Split Billing Alternatives
Non-Inventory Product
You can return a non-inventory product (which
won‟t change any product costs and thus skew
your margins) to give one customer a credit on
their account, and use the same non-inventory
product to create a charge on the other family
member‟s account. Set up the revenue account
of the non-inventory product to match the
revenue account that was used on the original
sale. Both customers retain sales history.
Transfer Balance
If sales history isn‟t an issue, you can transfer
some or all of a customer‟s balance to another
customer. If there are more than two or three
growers that share product with each other, a
extra 'holding account' may simplify your end
of season process, especially if you know at the
start of the season that the growers will be
sharing their purchases and they get the same
prices.
Some retailers spend a lot of time at the end of the season rejigging loadout tickets and invoices to
accommodate customers who share product. One of these alternatives may be a preferable solution.
For more complete instructions and explanations, ask your CSC for the Split Billing Alternatives white paper.
If you’ve got a suggestion
for a FAQ or a tip,
let us know!
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agrē Tips: Exporting Data
The information that you enter in agrē can be extracted to a file that can then be
imported to and manipulated with other software programs (like MS Excel).
When we were at CAAR showing off some of
the new features in our most recent release, we
discovered that not everyone was aware of the
different ways that data can be extracted from
agrē.
Data Exports
Navigate to File > Exports > Data and select
the information you want to export.
You can preview the information before you
export it, and you can copy the information and
paste it directly in a Microsoft Excel spread-
sheet.
What kinds of data can be exported?
Data exports were developed in response to
direct requests from other retailers, so chances
are at least a few of them will come in handy
for you too.
If you‟ve started using CRM attributes, a pre-
view of the CRM Custom Attributes export
will quickly show you which attributes have
been tagged to which customer‟s account.
During spring you might want to keep an eye
on the balances exports (there‟s one each for
customers, products, and suppliers). If the
Low Sales Margin export identifies a profit
margin you‟re not happy with, you may want to
run the Product Cost History export to help
you decide if you need to change your prices.
I want the previewed data to be grouped
together by Location. Can I see it that way?
You sure can! You can view the data grouped
together by any field you want.
From the data preview, click on the Advanced
tab. Drag the “Location” column header (or
any other column header) into the dark grey
box above the columns. The data will be
grouped together by that field. You can then
drag other column headers to create subgroups.
Note that the data only previews this way; if
you actually export the data it will be listed in
the same order as on the Simple tab.
What if there’s no data export for the
information that I want?
If the information you want exists on a Report,
you can run the report with your chosen criteria
and export the results.
Exporting Report Data
For a simple report like the Balance Sheet, ex-
porting based on Report Output will probably
work well, but for a more complex report like
Customer Sales, you‟ll likely want to export the
Raw Data.
When you export report data, you may need to
do a bit more formatting and cleanup in Excel
than you would with a data export, as agrē ex-
ports all the underlying report data.
More detail about exporting data can be found by
searching for Exports in online help.
Around the Corner
Friday, April 22
Good Friday—Tronia closed
Monday, April 25
Easter Monday—8am-1pm
Spring Hours Apr 26—May 28
Mon—Fri: 7am-5:30pm
Saturdays: 9am-12pm
Monday, May 23
Victoria Day—8am-1pm
CSC Pam’s son Cory learns to drive. Have you got a photo you’d like to show off? Share it at [email protected]
Visit us online at
www.agre.ca
Providing business solutions through the use of technology and training
#335 Carleton Drive
St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
T8N 7L1
Toll Free: 1.888.987.6642
Local Phone: 780.459.4477
Fax: 780.459.6405
Email: [email protected]
Still Using the Edge?
The countdown continues and the Edge
‘End of Life’ will be December 12, 2012 at
which time Edge will no longer be supported.
Our goal is to have everyone converted by the
end of November 2012 and we are in the last
phase of conversions with less than 20% of
Edge users left to go. Most retailers want to
time their conversion in coordination with
their fiscal year end, so the sooner you‟re able
to book your conversion, the more likely we
can provide you with a date that coincides with your fiscal year end.
We understand that conversion to agrē is a big commitment and our decision to sunset the Edge
has been made with careful consideration regarding our customers and our business. Please
contact your CSC at your earliest opportunity to discuss your options.
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