Newsletter - June 2010 Helping you improve farm performance

New look for Cashmanager RURAL

The Cashmanager RURAL opening screen has remained unchanged for the past ten years. With our July release we will be introducing a new look that includes a Digital Dashboard.

So what’s a Digital Dashboard? The Digital Dashboard provides a summary of information about the performance of your business. It is current, instantly accessible and allows you to monitor your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on a day to day basis. In Cashmanager RURAL, the Digital Dashboard has industry specific KPIs for Dairy, Sheep and Beef and other farm types.

ATS customers

ATS customers will also benefit from the next upgrade. Customers will be able to import ATS statements into Cashmanager RURAL – saving loads of time on data entry and reducing keying errors. More details will be released with the upgrade.

This is our Dairy Farm example. To view screen shots of other farm types visit our news page at www.crssoftware.co.nz

Farming in the cloud

Recently CRS Software attended a ‘Farming in the cloud’ conference hosted by Federated Farmers. Sitting on a mountain top had nothing to do with it!

The forum discussed the advantages of sharing farm management information and using the internet to access data available in ‘The cloud’. Representatives from software companies specialising in farm management solutions were invited to attend.

Discussed at length was how the availability of high speed broadband will greatly enhance the opportunities. The only limiting factor is the ability to exchange data between the various electronic devices and software. The conference discussed standards for the exchange of data, with a view to making data sharing easy and seamless for farmers.

Cashmanager RURAL is recognized as the leading solution for farm management and financial information but for

physical farm measurement there are several providers. Given the complexity of farming software this is likely to continue. The abilty to exchange data between programs was therefore considered essential to deliver the best possible management information to farmers.

The release of Cashmanager RURAL ONLINE is strategically significant, as it means our Online clients can participate in what is a very exciting future using cloud computing solutions.

The term “Cloud” is used as a metaphor for the Internet. Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand.

Sending data to your Accountant

Under version 4’s database licensing there is no cost for the accountant to install the desktop software and work on your data.

One of the reasons for developing our new product Cashmanager Rural Online was to simplify the data sharing process. With ONLINE, instead of sending your accountant a copy of your data, you simply invite them to view your data (at no cost to them). Should they recommend changes or corrections, even if done months after the end of the year, both of you will view the same information - that’s a huge benefit.

If your accountant doesn’t use Cashmanager RURAL in their business just ask them to call us at CRS Software and we’ll help them get started.

Preparing for Year End

With the end of the financial year fast approaching it is a good time to catch up on any outstanding cashbook work.

If you have been putting off installing the last upgrade, reconciling your monthly accounts or contacting our Support Team - do it now.

Your annual subscription entitles you to unlimited access to the support desk which is open from Monday to Friday 8.30am to 7pm. You can either give us a call or send an email. If you require us to work on your data we aim for a 24 hour turnaround so please factor this into your year end and GST preparations.

Canterbury Farming couple moving ahead with Cashmanager RURAL ONLINE

More and more people are finding the ONLINE version of Cashmanager RURAL is the perfect tool for managing their farm finances. Being online means a farmer can invite their business partners, advisor or accountant to look at or work on their farm management data. Changes made by one party will be immediately available to the others and gone are all the frustrations of sending backups back and forth.

Shaun and Lynn Lissington farm in North Canterbury and have been using a version of Cashmanager RURAL ONLINE - Cashmanager CRT ONLINE since June of last year. When Lynn is not out on the farm helping Shaun, she can be found tackling the accounts, a job she says is much easier now, thanks to the Online program.

“I love it, it’s absolutely wonderful. We have two farms and are in partnership with another couple, so I have three farms on the books. I am putting through about 200 items a month and find it a brilliant system. The CRT monthly statement is pre-coded and I can see what each item is. I would recommend it to anyone and it certainly saves a lot of time.”

The CRT version of Cashmanager RURAL ONLINE has the added benefit of a data feed which means the monthly statement automatically downloads into the cashbook, each transaction is pre-coded by CRS Software making it instantly ready to do GST and financial analysis. Currently the data feed feature is only available for CRT, Farmlands will be added later in the year.

Another important feature of Cashmanager RURAL ONLINE is that it is tuned for rural broadband. Rather than just being a web browser, with delays while each page loads, Cashmanager RURAL ONLINE installs a local application and uses the internet to synchronise all changes. This means it will operate just as fast as the desktop version on any reasonable broadband service, including satellite.

Special Offer

It’s easy to sign up - for CRT customers go to: www.crt.co.nz and follow the link on the homepage, for CRS customers go to www.crssoftware.co.nz. Your existing Cashmanager RURAL data easily uploads to the Online version. For PremierPac subscribers we have a special price of $40 +GST per month (conditions apply) if you sign-up before the 30th June. Alternatively just call us on 0800 888 707 and we will organise it for you.

Seven steps to creating a cashflow forecast

You can create a plan that achieves your personal and business goals and ensures buy-in and ownership from everyone in the team by following these simple steps.

STEP 1 Get together with the team who manages the farm. It’s the people in your team that will make your plan succeed or fail. For this reason they need to be involved early in the planning process. On a family farm that involves both partners!

STEP 2 Review and analyse the past year. Work with your team to review the last year. Discuss what went well, what could be done better or just differently. Discuss how external factors like climate or economics have affected your farm over the last year and what impact these may have over the next twelve months.

STEP 3 Set your goals for the next business year. Start your planning by creating some high level goals. Then set targets for the profit you want to achieve. This high level plan doesn’t need to be detailed and can be subjective.

STEP 4 Create a month by month estimate of your income and expenditure. Now you need to add detail. Worksheets are an ideal tool and should list as much information as possible along with clear comments for future reference.

Use the same codes in your plan that will be used later in your accounts - this will make monthly revision much easier.

STEP 5 Experiment with options. Once you have a draft forecast, experiment with options that might increase the surplus and evaluate the results.

STEP 6 Take your budget to an advisor for review. When you have a plan you like, discuss the draft plan with a trusted advisor. A good source for advice is your bank manager (explain this is just a draft for their comment - they will be impressed to be asked), but it could also be a professional consultant.

STEP 7 Get agreement from your financier, and then engage managers to make the plan happen.

Now that you have a cashflow forecast you like, get agreement for seasonal finance arrangements from your financier. Your biggest challenge now awaits you – ensuring that the plan is implemented!

Improve your credit rating and reduce interest costs

By supplying your bank with a detailed and up-to-date cashflow plan you may be able to improve your credit rating and reduce your interest costs. A good credit rating can save up to 3% over a poor rating.

The banks assess your risk and apply a credit rating based on your equity, profitability and ‘personal factor’. While your equity and last set of accounts are hard to change you can improve your risk profile by providing your rural banker with your Cashmanager RURAL cashflow forecast. You could also supply the EFS report, stock reconciliation report, worksheets to show how you calculated your figures and variance report comparing the forecast with last year. Demonstrate you “own” the plan and big savings in the cost of interest are possible.

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