March 2005

Welcome to onTOPS, an email magazine produced by TOPS to keep you informed about TOPS products and services.

In this issue:

• SALES: Sales Department Happenings!
• WEB SITES: Create Value While Containing Costs!
• APPEARANCES: TOPS Comes to You!
• SPECIAL: TOPS MaintCo
• PRODUCT UPDATER: Utility Billing - Tiered Pricing Feature
• DOWNLOADS: Three New Themes for TOPS 2000™
• UPDATER: New Enhancements to TOPS 2000™
• SUPPORT: March 31st - Your Deadline for Closing the Payroll Year!

Enjoy your reading, and we will see you next month!

Read this issue and archived issues of the onTOPS E-Zine online at: http://www.topssoft.com/Articles/E-Zines

Feedback: insider@topssoft.com

I would like to take a quick opportunity to welcome Lillian Golgano to the TOPS Team. She has been working as a contractor for the past few months writing user manuals. This month, we have brought her into the fold for good, and tossed her straight into the frying pan! In addition to writing and editing our many help materials, Lillian is also taking over our monthly e-zines and our quarterly newsletters. This month marks her first time, so be sure to send her your comments if you like what you read! Thanks to everyone for all of the support you have given me during the years that I have done these projects, and I hope that you extend the same courtesy and kindness to her!

Sincerely, Andrea Drennen

SALES:

Sales Department Happenings!

The TOPS sales department is pleased to welcome Martin Klueck! Marty comes to us from our very own technical support department. His experience with TOPS 2000™ goes beyond the support team. As the treasurer of his condominium association using TOPS 2000™ to manage the association's business, he is an excellent champion for TOPS. One of Marty's responsibilities will be to do orientations for our new TOPS 2000™ clients. He will also assist in doing new client support for the 90-day free support period. Marty is currently contacting our Job Streaming users to gain insight as to what works and what enhancements they would like added.

Marty got his feet wet recently by representing TOPS at the Washington Metro CAI EXPO, March 5, 2005 in Washington DC. Marty reports he saw many of our current clients while demonstrating our software to interested parties. WELCOME MARTY!

We have many other happenings in line for 2005. At the top of the list the sales office is moving from Lighthouse Point, FL to our support office in Clearwater, FL. This should be completed by early fall 2005. A satellite office will remain in Lighthouse Point to continue support for our clients located in South Florida. With the addition of staff, and the utilization of the Clearwater office resources, it is our intent to improve not only the sales process but to migrate our new clients from their previous software to TOPS more efficiently. We will also provide better service to our existing client base.

Another Happening we're very excited about: soon we will start hosting monthly Internet training sessions on selected modules or topics. These sessions will be available by reservation on a limited basis to start, with plans to expand as interest grows. We will be hosting user group sessions in selected markets throughout the US, over the summer - stay tuned for details!

TOPS INTERACTIVE WEB SITES:

Create Value While Containing Costs!

Community Officers are always looking for ways to please their residents. What better technology to offer your existing clients and new prospects than TOPS community web sites! By empowering residents with the ability to look up their own account balance, make a dues payment online and even submit service requests twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week from the convenience of their home, you give them flexibility and time for other things.

Community Officers can also benefit! Automatic data exchanges via the Internet provide access to processes such as TOPS 2000™ Online AP Approval twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week from the convenience of their own computer - making the bill approval process easier than ever before. Vendors are happy; they get paid in a timely manner. Your staff is happy; they spend less time chasing down signatures and fending off vendors looking for payment.

Offering a community web site service showcases your company not only as one of the technology leaders in this industry, but also sets you apart as a customer centric organization. By providing your homeowners and board members with innovative tools that save time and keep them informed and in touch will only serve to drive new business to your company while retaining your current client base.

Manage your business growth by adding technology instead of manpower!

It's a Win-Win for everyone!

Contact TOPS Web Sales at (800) 556-7852 or
WebSales@topssoft.com for more details!

APPEARANCES:

TOPS Comes to You!

05/19-21/05 - CAI's 54th Nat'l Conference: Tucson, AZ
06/23/05 - CAI NE, Visionaries Forum: Netick, MA
10/15/05 - CAI NJ, Trade Show: Long Branch, NJ
11/19/05 - CAI New England, Trade Show: Burlington, MA

SPECIAL:

TOPS MaintCo

TOPS MaintCo is a new, stand-alone module for running a maintenance department. It can be used with or without TOPS 2000™. If used with TOPS 2000™, it automatically imports managed communities as "customers" for the maintenance division. Additionally, if work is done for homeowners, it can import homes too. Outside customers can also be added. The customer file keeps track of every customer where work is done with a complete history of the jobs.

TOPS MaintCo is now being offered at the special, introductory price of $2,995. With the specialized functions and efficiencies it offers, it will more than pay for itself within a short period of time. This special price is for a limited time only, as more and more functions are added to MaintCo in the future, the price will increase.

So take advantage of this savings opportunity and buy TOPS MaintCo now, then get all the upgrades in the future at no charge (if on a paid support plan).For more information on TOPS MaintCo, contact our sales department at 1-800-760-9966 or via email at sales@topssoft.com.

PRODUCT UPDATE:

Utility Billing - Tiered Pricing Feature

Do you bill back utility usage to unit owners? If you're still using spreadsheets to track and calculate utility usage from meter readings then entering the charges in TOPS 2000™ to bill back to your homeowners, then it's time you take a look at Utility Billing with the enhanced tiered pricing capability and the import file feature.

Fully integrated with the unit owner’s account and the general ledger, Utility Billing allows you to track and calculate charges for water, electricity, gas and more. You can enter meter readings manually or import a meter reading file (eliminating the need for spreadsheets and dual data entry), apply sales tax and other service fees,and print invoices from one easy to use module.

Because "one size does not fit all" and charge calculation methods for utility usage will vary from utility to utility, TOPS 2000™ Utility Billing has been enhanced to handle billing with four generally used methods with which to calculate utility charges when billing back usage to your property owners.

For example, a utility may charge more per unit for usage based on an incremental scale as usage increases, or they may charge a Fixed Amount regardless of usage.

• The first method, The Single Rate is one set rate with which to multiple a utility usage regardless of the amount used.
• The second method, Tiered Rate (Tiered Net) calculates the cost of a utility on a predefined incremental scale as the usage increases.
• The third method, Highest Rate/ Usage (leveled charges) is based on a different rate per level, the cost for usage is calculated by using the total usage multiplied by the cost at the higher level.
• The fourth method, Fixed Amount is a set dollar amount charged regardless of usage.

Once implemented, Utility Billing will become a major time saver for you and your staff. For more information on Utility Billing, contact our sales department at 1-800-760-9966 or via email at sales@topssoft.com.

DOWNLOADS:

Three New Themes for TOPS 2000™

Spring is in the air, and our new themes certainly reflect that! We have three new themes to offer you this month - Eggcellent, Signs of Spring, and Lilac It Like That. To download them, click View, Theme Manager to access the program. When the Theme Manager appears, click the Download button next to the themes you wish to install. If you wish to uninstall a theme, click the remove button. Once you have finished installing themes, click the Done button to close the Theme Manager. To Switch Themes, click View, Themes, and select the theme you wish to apply.

UPDATER:

New Enhancements to TOPS 2000™

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 Balance Sheet Net Income calculation has been corrected so that you no longer have to change your accounting periods in order to print the previous year's fiscal reports.
• Added Fix to AR itemized statements. Screen no longer disappears after entering dates.
• Added New Utility Billing tiered pricing and Utility Billing reports.
• Added State tax calculation method to the Payroll module.
• Added Deductions entered as % in slots 2 thru 6 on the Payroll History Reports.
• Added Process Payroll 1st, Next, Back, and Last buttons.
• Added Ask if history should go to the developer when adding new owner.
  

UPDATER: 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 as a workstation.)
2. If it is open, close TOPS on your computer.
3. Connect to the Internet and navigate to
   http://www.topssoft.com/downloads.htm.
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™.
10. In a network environment, it is important to update all workstations and the server.

SUPPORT:

March 31st - Your Deadline for Closing the Payroll Year!

Attention Payroll users! We are quickly approaching the end of the first quarter. By now, you should have run any and all reports necessary for 2004. Recall that Payroll runs on a calendar year independent of your Fiscal Year. Most importantly, back up your data! This can be easily done by utilizing our Internet Backup Service. Visit
http://www.topsbackup.com for more information.

Closing the year will zero out your Quarter to Date and Year to Date figures for 2004. Your 2005 figures will remain unaffected. Note that this procedure will update your Current Payroll Year automatically.

You may receive a message that time transactions are on file. This is simply a warning. You may proceed. A Close Payroll warning is displayed. Answer Yes to proceed. You will then be prompted to Purge Terminated Employees. This is your opportunity to do just that. If you answer Yes, the system will purge history for your terminated employees as well as delete those employees. Upon completion, the menu re-appears.

If you are tracking sick and vacation time and you do not accumulate time into the next year, remember that you will have to manually adjust your Employees via the 'Maintain' tab.

Contact Us

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

Designed by Property Management Systems Inc., d.b.a. TOPS. Copyright© 2005 Property Management Systems, Inc., 364-C Christopher Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 2879. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

To manage the emails that you receive from TOPS, please visit
http://www.topssoft.com/eforms/manage_subscriptions.htm.