onTOPS

Welcome to onTOPS, an e-zine produced by TOPS to keep you informed about our products and services. This issue, we are introducing a new feature to the onTOPS Ezine. onTheUpdater will feature a complete list each month of the updates that have been made to the TOPS 2000™ program files. Step by step instructions are also provided at the end of the article to walk you through the update process.

We are running two specials this month, a free trial of the TOPS Internet Backup Service, and an introductory price on the new Windows Payroll module. (It's finally here!) Additionally, we have some great news to share about a new integrated maintenance company management product coming soon from TOPS.

We look forward to hearing your feedback about the e-zine. Please let us know what things you liked, what you would like to see, and any suggested articles by e-mailing us at Ezines@TOPSSoft.com. As always, enjoy your reading, and we will see you next month!

by Andrea Drennen 

onSpecial

Special for onTOPS Ezine Subscribers:
No Setup Fees, Unlimited Storage for 1 Month
(A $200 value, expires 2/29/04)

Year 2003 has ended and just about everyone is getting their books in order, preparing for the year-end audit/financial reporting rush. Once the audits are done and year 2003 is closed in TOPS 2000™, a backup of that year-end data should be made and stored in an off-site location, in case something disastrous happens to the data at the office. One of the easiest and most secure methods of backing up and storing this important year-end data is through the TOPS Internet Backup Service.

The TOPS Internet Backup Service allows you to backup your important association data through the Internet, to an offsite web server and a redundant server at TOPS, insuring that your data will always be available to you. The service starts at $15.00 per month, and all you need is TOPS 2000™, an Internet connection, and a TOPS Internet Backup Service account.

Because we believe that backing up your year-end data is so important, and the easiest and most secure method of backing up that data is through the TOPS Internet Backup Service, we are offering a special promotion, to try to convince everyone that they should be using this system.

Go to www.topsbackup.com/promo/014E.htm and sign up for the TOPS Internet Backup Service. All setup fees will be waived and you will receive your first month of service absolutely free. No matter how much data you store using the service, your first month of service will be at no charge! If, after using the TOPS Internet Backup Service for one month, you don't agree that it's the right backup system for you, just fill out the cancellation form on the web site. You won't be billed for subsequent months and your data will be erased from the Internet Backup Servers. If you agree that the TOPS Internet Backup Service is the best way for you to backup your important data, just continue using the service. The storage fees will be billed to your credit card or by direct debit, depending on the method that you chose when you signed up.

If you think that the TOPS Internet Backup Service is the way to go, but are unsure of the costs, just go to www.topsbackup.com/estimator.htm and download the TOPS Internet Backup Service Estimator. This program will do a test compression of your data, tell you the amount of storage space required for one backup, and even calculate the monthly backup cost using the TOPS Internet Backup Service.

No matter what you use: CD, tape, Zip drive, or the TOPS Internet Backup Service, the most important thing is that you backup your data and keep it in a secure, off-site location. Start the New Year off right; preserve your previous year's data, just in case.

Nicole Beal 

onSoftware

TOPS MaintCo to be released soon

At TOPS, our goal is to be the total solutions provider for the association management industry. That is why TOPS development team is constantly working to improve our existing products, and create new products that will serve the needs of our customers. Our newest development is TOPS MaintCo, a program that is designed to help manage a maintenance and repair business. TOPS MaintCo, designed to work in conjunction with TOPS 2000™ or stand alone, is currently in the final stages of development, and is scheduled to be released by the end of first quarter 2004.

TOPS MaintCo was developed with the help of several of our large management company customers, who have been using alternate software to manage the maintenance arms of their companies. Based on their feedback, we created the program to work exactly to their needs, creating a final product that is specifically geared to this industry.

TOPS MaintCo is designed to provide for all of the needs of a service division. Whether work is being performed on the associations level, homeowner level, general customer level, or all three, TOPS Maintenance Company Billing can handle it. TOPS MaintCo provides tracking of jobs cost and scheduling tools to manage your employees' time, produces invoices, and tracks billing and receivables. If you manage a maintenance facility TOPS MaintCo can help you manage it.

For more information, please contact our sales department at 1-800-760-9966 or via email at sales@topssoft.com.

Andrea Drennen 

onTheUpdater

TOPS 2000™ Updates

Please be advised that the Internet Updater is restricted to customers on a current maintenance support agreement. If you are interested in our support plans, please go to http://www.topssoft.com/Support/MSA_plans.htm.

The following updates were added to the TOPS 2000™ Internet Updater in December and January:

General:

• 12/19/03 - Printing Issues changed - Several issues with printing to certain printers have been changed. This issue was isolated to some AR and Owners reports including posting report. This issue is not consistent from computer to computer and is dependant on printer type, configuration, and system specifications.
• 1/20/04 - Form letter manager - When coping multiple form letter from community to community now correctly labels all letter.

Accounts Payable:

• 1/23/04 - Enter AP - Due to several client requests the default entry field has been set to Vendor ID. Also corrected multiple auto distributions if the GL browse was used to select the account number.

General Ledger:

• 1/23/04 - Budgets - Correction made to future year budget to prevent amount appearing on Income Statement, and then printed with the account descriptions centered.

Owners:

• 1/23/04 - Adding Owners - The add owners program have been corrected so the alternate mailing address defaults to 'no' if the address is filled in but not checked to use.

How to Update Your Files

1. Make sure you are logged into the computer that will be performing the update. (If you are updating in a networked environment, update the server first, as a workstation, and then run the update on each workstation.)
2. If it is open, close TOPS on your computer.
3. Connect to the Internet and navigate to www.topssoft.com/Downloads.
4. Under "Program Updates" click the GO button.
5. Click Open, to run the update from the current location.
6. When the TOPS Web Updater appears, click the down arrow next to 'Select Module to Check' and Choose TOPS 2000™.
7. On the bottom right, ensure that the "Workstation Only" option is selected.
8. Click the "Begin Update" button. (The system may prompt you for a User ID. If so, enter in your TOPS Customer ID)
9. Once the update is complete, you can close this window and re-open TOPS 2000™.

TOPS Programming Department 

onSales

Windows Payroll - introductory price $599 till 3/31/04

We know you have been waiting for it, and it is finally here! The TOPS 2000™ Windows Payroll Module has been written, updated, tested, updated, retested, and it is finally available! For those of you who opted to wait for the new module, you are in luck! New payroll customers can now take advantage of a special introductory price for the new module, only $599 - a $200 savings of the regular price!

The TOPS 2000™ Payroll Module allows you to control every aspect of your company payroll. You can maintain complete employee files and handle multiple pay types (hourly, salary, etc...), frequencies (weekly, bi-weekly, etc...), and deductions, including pre-tax earning adjustments. Tax tables may be defined for any state or local payroll taxes.

Customers who are currently using the DOS version of TOPS Payroll module will have to wait just a little while longer so we can make sure the transition process will be as smooth as possible between the two versions. However, you will be receiving the upgrade to the Windows Payroll module free of charge, as soon as it is released!

Learn more about the new Windows Payroll Module, and preview screen shots at http://www.topssoft.com/TOPS_2000/tour/t2000pay.htm. If you would like to talk to a sales representative about taking advantage of the special introductory price offer, please contact Nicole or Bruce at 1-800-760-9966 or email sales@topssoft.com.

2004 Trade Show Schedule

The following is our current trade show schedule for 2004. The events below are subject to change, and a number of events will likely be added as the season gets under way.

• Jan 10: CAI SE Florida Chapter; Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• Jan 17: CAI Illinois Chapter; Chicago, IL
• Feb 7: Condofest 2004; West Palm Beach, FL
• Feb 29: CAI Washington Metro Chapter (WMCCAI); Washington D.C.
• Mar 5: CAI Suncoast Chapter; Clearwater, FL
• May 14: CAI Goldcoast Golf Event; West Palm Beach, FL
• May 20-22: CAI's 53rd National Conference & Exhibition; San Diego, CA
• Aug 12: CAI Dallas Chapter; Dallas, TX
• Oct 15: CAI Houston Chapter; Houston, TX

Bruce Gran 

onSupport

Since many of you are currently working on closing out your 2003 books, we thought we would take a moment to share some of the common issues that have been sent to the support department in the last month. Hopefully, these answers will help make your year end processing run smoothly.

Closing GL Error

Problem: Some customers have been reporting a "GL Control Info is Incomplete" error when they attempt to close the year.

Solution: If you select PRESERVE GL DETAIL when closing the year in TOPS 2000™ V.3.10, you MUST have a Year End Close Suspense account set up in GL CONTROL INFO. To add the account, go to GL, CONTROL INFO, and enter 9999 as the Year End Close Suspense account. If you need to create this account, define as:

Account Type: Expense
Fin. Statement Type: Profit and Loss
Paren. Control: Enclose When Credit
Fund Type: Expense, and Operating.

Understanding Budgets

Problem: Some customers are unclear as to how budgets move when closing the year. This confusion has led some customers to complete closing the year, only to find that their budgets are missing or out of order.

Solution: When you close the year, you are presented with three options for your budgets. The Below tables represent the movement of budget figures with each specific selection. Please review carefully before closing the year.

Leave Budget As is

Move Next Year's Budget - Clear Next Year's Budget

Move Next Year's Budget - Leave Next YEAR's Budget as is

If you have a topic you would like to see covered in this section, or you have a question for support, please send an email to support@topssoft.com.

Debbie White

onTheSpot

5 Tips For Contacting Technical Support

Contacting Technical Support can be a stressful experience, especially during year end when call volume is high, and you are under a tight deadline. If you have determined that a call to TOPS Technical Support department is necessary, here are some steps you can take to insure that your support call is handled in a timely and efficient manner:

1. Always have your customer ID ready when you call or email.
   You would be amazed how many customers leave a message on the support line "Hi, this is Joe, I am having a problem with TOPS. Please call me back." Chances are high that we have dozens of other customers with the same name, and if we cannot identify who you are, we cannot get back to you. Even a company name is often not enough, since there are a large number of management companies with similar names.
   
   The only thing that can truly identify you to us is your Customer ID. You will find your Customer ID on your support or license agreement, and on any invoice you receive from TOPS. If you have version 3.1 of TOPS 2000™ installed, you can also find it under Help, About TOPS 2000™.
   
2. Contact support through the proper channels.
   The sales department, programmers, and administrators receive a lot of technical support requests. These requests must then be filtered down to a technician who has the resources to help you answer your question. All requests to support must go through our ticket logging system and are assigned to support technicians based on their ability to get back to you in a timely manner. By contacting someone in another department, or sending an email directly to a tech, you are attempting to circumvent this system that was set up for your protection. Most often, we will go ahead and forward your email to the main support desk to log your ticket, but we may not see your message or email for hours or even days after you sent it.
   
   To make sure that you receive a timely response, please go through the proper channels when contacting support. You can send email support requests through the email form online:
   www.topssoft.com/Support/support_form.htm, email support directly at support@topssoft.com, or call us toll free at 1-800-899-5689.
   
3. Keep track of your ticket number.
   There are so many times when a person will say "I was working with Debbie last week, she will know what my problem is. What you may not realize is that Debbie and our other techs take between 25 and 50 support calls per day. That is a lot to remember from day to day, let alone last week. However, since we DO keep copious notes in our ticket tracking system, your technician will be able to refresh his or her memory if you supply the ticket number for the outstanding issue.
   
   If the receptionist or technician does not volunteer the ticket number, make sure you ask for it. This is the BEST way to keep track of outstanding issues.
   
4. Let us know if you have an unusual configuration.
   Technicians have wasted hours of time trying to fix problems on one machine, when, in fact, the problems resided on another computer altogether.
   
   If you are connecting remotely to a computer that has TOPS installed, or you have an unusual network configuration, always be sure to let us know up front.
   
5. Take a screen shot of the error.
   We cannot help you unless we cannot identify what the error is. If you get an error message, write down exactly what the error says or, better yet, take a screen shot of it. To do so, press the PrtScr (Print Screen) button on your keyboard while the error is displayed. Pressing the Print Screen button copies a picture of your desktop to the Windows clipboard. You can then open Paint Brush or Word and click Edit, Paste. This will paste the picture into the document. Save the file and send it as an attachment, along with an explanation of the problem, to support@topssoft.com.

We hope that the above suggestions will help make your support experience a better one. By correctly identifying the source of the problem and directing it to the correct individuals, you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration, and free up our support technicians to better serve you and all of our customers in a timely manner.

Andrea Drennen 

onLine

Rock, Paper, Computers...

Stone Age. Industrial Revolution. Information Age. OK, we skipped some steps. But information has become a vital association asset. And the way your associations handle information can be critical.

It's 2004 and people expect more than they did way back when. They're buying gifts online, they're booking airline tickets online and they're banking online. It's time for their association to be an online as well.

Residents see the value in an association web site. They can immediately print community documents, submit online forms, view pictures of the kid's neighborhood activities, and so much more. It makes living in their association easier. Therefore residents are more readily willing to comply with association rules and regulations.

Board Members see the value in an association web site from a volunteer perspective. The built in capabilities of a web site include being able to email everyone in the neighborhood important information, as well as having a separate area to store community documents so everyone has access to a copy of the Clubhouse Reservation form or ARC request.

Property Managers see the value in an association web site from a management perspective. Just think, there is a problem at the pool and it needs to be closed. Instead of receiving 50 phone calls, an email can quickly be sent explaining what is happening. Manager after manager will tell you the sites are not a drain on the managers but rather become an important communication tool in the neighborhood!

We encourage you to spend just 30 minutes this month getting a web site online for each of your associations. The small amount of effort you put forth this month will be paid back tenfold by mid-year. If you need information on bringing your associations into the Information Age, give us a call at 1-800-556-7852 and we'll get you started!

Susan Sanders 

offTopic

Sampler of 101 UnUseless (or just plain weird) Japanese Inventions:
www.maillist.com.tw/maillist/file/osaki/20040111034221.html

onCall

Here is a list of some of the most common contact data for TOPS:

Designed by Property Management Systems Inc., d.b.a. TOPS. Copyright© 2001-2004 Property Management Systems, Inc., 364-C Christopher Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20879. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.