Frontline Business Solutions

Well Christmas is here!  As I write this it’s a time of reflection to allow a little time to take a look at what’s been achieved this year.

- A new office.

- New clients (new to the software and new to FBS).

- 3 major releases of the new Attaché Pro software, each with a number of exciting new features.

- Taking on a business coaching company (Results.com) to assist with the growth of FBS.

What a year!

December, as typical in our industry, has been quiet. Let’s be honest no business wants their accounting or payroll software “played with” coming into the Christmas break!

Having said it was quiet, one interesting project I was involved in this month was with Health 2000+ Ltd. This company is the head office for the Health 2000 retail stores throughout New Zealand. They have been long time users of Prophet, and earlier this year, the new Attaché Pro. Recently they purchased some of the stores and decided to use their existing software to manage the back office function for each store. While each store is ultimately owned by a single company, it in turn operates as an individual entity. This being the case I set up a separate Attaché Pro “company” that office staff could then export the general ledger data from to a single “head office” reporting only company. This gives the client the best of both worlds; the ability at data entry and management level to treat each store as a separate entity (own creditor accounts, bank accounts, bank reconciliations etc), and then without double entry report as a consolidated entity to the board of directors.

Time for another “snack” then a “nap”! Again, Happy New Year, and here’s to 2010!

For more information about FBS, or the Attaché range of accounting and payroll software, please visit our website, www.fbs.co.nz

Christmas is approaching far too quickly! Everything at FBS is going well (although a couple of extra hours each day would be nice!).

The major highlight for November was installing Attaché Pro on a new network for Te Kauwhata Transport Ltd. This company have been a long time client (over 10 years), and are a major part of the New Zealand transport industry.

 They use Attaché Pro’s general ledger to be able to identify profitability for each and every truck (and there are over 80 in the fleet), and also use Attaché Pro’s data integration engine to link custom written dispatch software for managing deliveries, and subsequently generating invoices.

 Historically they had a Windows 2003 server with Windows XP workstations and made the decision to replace this with a new Windows 2008 server and Windows 7 workstations. We worked closely with Alexis Infotech Management Ltd on the rollout. While I had been advised by Attaché New Zealand that Attaché Pro had been tested with both new operating systems, it was still nice to see this for ourselves. The other great thing to see was that the custom dispatch software that integrates seamlessly with Attaché Pro’s data integration engine also rolled out without any problems.

In other news, Peak Primary has been installed and will process their first month end in the new software. As their software is based in Tauranga we currently use LogMeIn remote access software to save the time and expense of having to travel to site for every query. Early in 2010 they are looking to install a remote server that will make our job even easier.

The Auckland office is going well. Our Initial Client reviews are progressing well. With being sold existing Prophet users by the Attaché Software Centre I am keen to meet these “new” clients face to face, as this makes on-going support far easier. 

The next update will no doubt be over the Christmas break, so in advance Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

For more information about FBS, or the Attaché range of accounting and payroll software, please visit our website, www.fbs.co.nz

Well what a month! The Auckland office has opened and I have acquired my first new Auckland client.

Peak Primary Ltd is a medical management company that historically used MYOB Aurora One. They acquire GP practises in strategic areas with a view to introducing efficiencies through economies of scale. In this case Attaché Pro is the preferred product as it will allow the client to report on each practise they purchase in its own right at a management and operational level, as well as part of the overall company performance to the board of directors.

The software will be installed for a November 2009 start.

Other than that this month has been about getting used to the Auckland traffic and making a start contacting the existing Prophet users that I took over from the Attaché Software Centre Auckland.

Hamilton is tracking along nicely. A few prospective clients on the horizon, however nothing in concrete yet.

Overall, the plan is to employ an office person in January/February 2010, as business has increased to a point where I can no longer do it all myself. This will be follow by a software support person later in 2010.

With Christmas approaching, Peak Primary to implement and a new office to get used to I’m not expecting any more new business until the New Year, however certainly have enough on my plate for now.

Until November, that’s it from me!

For more information about FBS, or the Attaché range of accounting and payroll software, please visit our website, www.fbs.co.nz

Hi, and welcome to the FBS blog site! Over the coming months we will be adding a huge amount of support content for the software that our company provides. Initially we will have 2 main blogs; 1 will be a “what’s happening at FBS” type blog, and the other a dedicated support blog that will contain video and text blogs that clearly demonsstrate how to get the most out of your software. The support blog is free, so if you come across this site, and know someone who is not currently an FBS client, please feel free to pass our details on, as the content is there for all, not just FBS clients.