eSmartNews -- Fall 2007

We have a great group of people on the TRAMS support desk who are dedicated to helping our customers use the TRAMS software products. I asked each of the Support Desk Supervisors to submit a suggestion that I am confident you will find helpful. Thank you for being a TRAMS customer.

Sandy Cameron, a 9-year member of our support staff, is our accounting specialist and has the following tip for you when the Core Report and Trial Balance totals are not in agreement.

If the client core report does not agree with the trial balance figure, and you’ve narrowed down the time frame, run a payment analysis report and look for partial payments where a credit card has been used as well. Credit card payments will credit the invoice for the full amount of the invoice and update the General Ledger as well.

Invoice total fare = $1000.00
Partial payment – cash/check = $ 500.00
Credit card final payment $ 500.00.

The partial payment of $500.00 cash/check will update the GL for $500.00, but once the $500.00 credit card payment is entered, it will credit client balances for the full $1000.00 and will cause a $500.00 discrepancy. To find these partial payments, run payment analysis for the date you are out of balance and for ALL Clients and look for the words “partial payment” in italics. Then look at the other payments associated with that invoice and if any are Credit Card, then you need to back out those payments.

Ramona Yanez - an 8-year member of our Support Staff, is currently focusing on keeping our customers syncing and offers the following if you want to change the time sync runs on the schedule task.

Shirley Sweeney has been with our support desk for 11 years. She is one of our TRAMS Back Office instructors as well as answering your questions via e-mail or telephone. Shirley has a suggestion for making it easy to find a cleared payment date.

Have you ever wanted to find the payments that were not cleared as of a certain date, even if the payments shows cleared as of today’s date? For example, you want to know which payments were open as of 12/31/07, but show cleared in January 2008.

Jeremiah Sellars is in his 6th year with the support team and handles the more challenging issues with the ClientBase and Sync programs. Below is his tip.

When using Inventory, make sure to always include an Expiration date. ClientBase will automatically, over time, stop showing expired inventory unless it is specifically requested in a query. This will help keep your list of inventory tidy.

Frank Diaz is another of our support desk veterans in his 9th year. He is our Reports expert as well as capably answering both TRAMS Back Office and ClientBase questions. You’ll also find him teaching at TMU and Summer Camp. Below is his tip for setting up the check writer.

Are you looking for laser checks? I just spent 15 minutes on the internet looking for laser checks to use with the TRAMS Back Office software. I found a litany of companies that produce laser checks that will work with TRAMS Back Office. I found three part checks with the check on top and two stubs. I found three part checks with the check in the middle and a stub on top and bottom and yes, checks with the check on the bottom and the stubs on top. I found blank checks that you can design using the TRAMS Back Office Check Writer. Whatever the format, the TRAMS Back Office Check Writer is flexible enough to adjust to any check stock. I have found that a lot of our agencies use the standard check by “Deluxe” and checks by Moore Business Forms. Your bank may just have the check for you.

There are limitations. We can’t use the checks with tractor holes on the sides. We can’t use multi-ply stock and the form size must be 8 ½ by 11 inches. Most Laser type printers have feed trays designed for standard stock and most print drivers are set for forms that are eleven inches in length. Once you have your check stock, you need to adjust the Check Writer to print the data in the assigned locations on the check. You will want to print the amount, the date, the alpha amount and the pay to the order of on the check. Some checks do not come with check numbers and you will want to print the check numbers on the checks.

The stubs may vary depending on the type of payment. On a vendor payment, you may want require the Date, Amount and “Payee name”. It may be necessary to print invoice numbers or passenger names on the stub. On payroll checks you will want the journal entries printed on the stub. But the decision on what data gets printed and where it’s printed is yours. It may be necessary to create several Check Writer setups for different situations. Use the Check Writer setup utility to adjust the data to the checks.

Go to Utilities|Setup|Checks, and enter a new setup or modify the default setup that comes with the system. elect the field names required and enter the coordinates where the data will be displayed. There are four fields that will require your attention: 1) Top – the distance from the top of the check stock. 2) Left – the distance from the left edge of the check stock. 3) Width – how wide a space is required to display the data. 4) Height - .18 inches times the number of lines to print. Use the following table to calculate the height requirement.

1 Line	.18
2 Lines	.36
3 Lines	.54
4 Lines	.72
5 Lines	.90

Visit our Platinum Partners on our website for more information on where to purchase laser checks. For additional assistance on setting up the Check Writer, contact the support desk at 310 641-8726 and press 1 for TRAMS Back Office support.