News

Office Move Effective February 12, 2010!

Minneapolis, Minnesota – February 9, 2010- Business Automation Specialists of Minnesota, Inc. (BASM), a leading professional services firm and authorized reseller of Sage Accpac ERP, Sage CRM, Sage Pro ERP, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV, has moved their office to 300 Coon Rapids Boulevard, Suite 100 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“We will be leaving our existing office space on February 11, 2010 and expect to be all settled in our new building the following day, February 12^th,” states Ron Ketterling, BASM President. “We don’t expect any down time so service to our clients will not be interrupted.â€�

BASM provides consulting services and software solutions for midsized organizations, with a focus on manufacturers and distributors.  In addition, BASM has written their own software solution, Shop Floor Data Collection.  Shop Floor Data Collection is an integrated time capture system that works with Sage Pro 7.4 Work Orders and Job Cost.  It provides users with accurate, up-to-the-minute time spent on each work order allowing companies to get the full cost of the product, without wasted data entry time. 

To schedule a product demonstration or request further information on any of the BASM solution offerings, call (763) 571-8580 or visit BASM’s website at www.bautomation.com.

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As always, there never seems to be any shortage of excitement going on here and so far 2010 is no exception, starting with our pending office move. We found out early last year that our building had been sold and subsequently our lease would not be renewed, effective February 2010. Since that time, we have been looking for new office space. We just finished negotiations on a new office and the new address is included below. As you can imagine, we expect the end of January to be a little chaotic with the move.

On top of the move, we have people lined up for upgrades for the 2010 versions of Sage Pro and Sage Accpac. We’ve included information below on the features and benefits of these new releases with more information available on our website. If you are interested in getting more information, we strongly suggest you contact us soon, as we are doing upgrades on a first come first serve basis. We will also be developing “What’s New� training for those who want to learn more about the new features.

As you can see, the first half of 2010 will be a busy and interesting time for us. We are planning ahead to ensure that our move and busy upgrade schedule doesn’t interfere with the one thing that hasn’t changed … our dedication to providing the best customer service and best value to you and your company.

From all of us at Business Automation Specialists, we wish you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010!

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As the world of business is constantly evolving, so must your business management software. The team at Sage has been working directly with their extensive customer base to continually improve and develop new functionality, improve processes, and enhance productivity to help users get more out of their solution. The result is Sage Accpac Version 5.6 with key enhancements to help automate workflow and reduce costs throughout your organization, helping you accomplish more in less time. You will be able to:

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The latest version of Sage Pro software was built with existing Pro customers in mind, giving you ways to improve your daily processes and more options for analyzing and using your data both within and outside your Sage Pro system. Many enhancements in Sage Pro 2010 have been incorporated as a direct result of user suggestions, providing even greater value than a typical update. Features we think will be most valuable to our Pro customers include: Customizable report option grids, reserve inventory for a customer order, Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 compatibility, and the ability to accept commercial credit cards. Below is a quick overview of the major changes.

Eliminate the need to pay extra for custom reports. New in the Sage Pro ERP 2010 system is the ability to customize the report option grid so you can create custom filters and sort options for your reports. You can even save these custom report options to be reused as needed.

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We are occasionally asked why we only offer Block Time Agreements (BTA’s) versus offering Service Contracts. The answer is simple, BTA’s are typically a better value for our clients, for the following reasons:

• Yearly Service Contracts expire whether or not they are used. BTA’s are carried forward.
• You can use every dollar of a BTA for technical support, training and/or programming. Service Contracts only cover technical support.
• With a Service Contract, we would have to speculate ‘worst case’ scenarios to determine a price structure to ensure that we don’t lose money. With a BTA, the cost is fixed by time, giving you the best price possible.
• With a BTA, we offer discounted hourly rates depending on the number of hours purchased. This can be a terrific value for clients who purchase larger blocks of time.
• With a BTA, we offer a $50 discount off any of our webinars.
• With a BTA, we charge a ¼ hour minimum and bill at ¼ hour intervals. Without a BTA, we charge a ½ hour minimum with ½ hour intervals.
• You are in charge with your BTA … you have 100% control of how little or how much you use.

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After months of searching for a new office, and some intense negotiations with our new landlord, we finally have a new address. It officially becomes effective on February 12, 2010.

300 Coon Rapids Boulevard, Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55433

Our phone number and FAX number will remain the same.

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The BASM team has been reading and discussing the book ‘The Toyota Way’ for the last several months. It is an excellent, thought-provoking book, and we’d like to share the lessons we’ve learned with you in this multi-part series.

The Five Why’s – Part One: Solving the wrong problem
Do you ever find yourself solving the wrong problem? We have been asked to do that many times. In fact, we find ourselves doing it, even on our own issues. What is the wrong problem? Think of it like this – you have a strange noise in your car, you ask the mechanic to replace the exhaust system, when you really have a bad tire. Obviously, you are not going to solve the problem.

Toyota personnel are trained to ask “Why� at least five times before accepting the problem as the right problem. The basic focus of this technique is to take the time to think through what the real problem is. Solving problems that are actually symptoms causes other problems and doesn’t resolve the issue that is causing you trouble.

What you are really looking for is the cause and effect relationships underlying the particular problem. You are looking for the root causes of a defect or problem. It’s easy to stop at the first obvious symptom rather than digging deeper (too busy). Or, perhaps we don’t know enough to dig any deeper (need more training). No one else is interested in helping to solve the problem (lack of team). You can’t repeat the problem (different people using different methods – no standardization of procedures). Perhaps you stop at one issue, when in fact, there are two or more causes for the problem (taking the first or the easiest answer isn’t always the right answer).

So, how do you get to the root cause? Find out in The Five Why’s – Part Two, coming in the March newsletter or visit our website at www.bautomation.com, click on the Resources tab, then on Articles for the whole series.

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Income Tax Reciprocity with Wisconsin Ends

Effective January 1st, 2010, Income tax reciprocity with Wisconsin ends. If you have employees who reside in Wisconsin and work in Minnesota, they are subject to Minnesota income tax withholding and will need to file Minnesota income tax returns for 2010. Wisconsin employers of Minnesota residents should withhold Wisconsin income tax from compensation paid for work performed in Wisconsin. Regardless if you use one of our Payroll modules or not, you will need to deal with this right away. Contact us to schedule a consultation if you need help to make these changes to your system.

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The state of Minnesota is aggressively pursuing Sales and Use Tax collections through increased audits; as witnessed by a number of our clients who are experiencing them.  When we were audited, we forgot the use tax for supplies we purchased on the Internet.  It caught us by surprise.  Regardless of whether or not you sell taxable items, you must file a use tax report if you purchase taxable items on which you paid no sales tax. According to the Minnesota Revenue website www.taxes.state.mn.us, you should be collecting sales tax if you do

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