This month’s Insider includes an invitation to join an on-line Construction forum. Please read our Feature Article and sign up to join a valuable networking resource!
The March issue also contains some very important Payroll information regarding changes effective April 1, 2009 (CDN). Note that the U.S. changes are already in effect so be sure to download the payroll update as soon as possible! Make sure your system is updated accordingly by downloading the product updates!
Be all that you can be using Jonas Software! Take advantage of our Internet Webinars which we now offer at Beginner and Advanced user levels. The sessions are outlined in the Upcoming Training Webinars section. Be sure to register early as space is limited!
Check out the News and Events section to see the latest award bestowed upon Jonas Software! We continue to invest in adding new functionality to our product to anticipate user demands for our current product and future versions.
Our featured Support Rep is one whose voice you are sure to recognize - scroll down to Know Your Support Rep to meet Penny Smith.
As always, we are including some FAQ’s and Helpful Hints to add to your own Knowledge Base.
Your opinion matters!! We'd like to know what you think of our newsletter and how we can improve it to make it the best information tool possible. Please forward your suggestions to us via e-mail.
| Table of Contents | |
| Feature Article | Know Your Support Rep |
| Important Reminders | FAQ’s & Helpful Hints |
| News & Events | Product Updates |
| Upcoming Training Webinars | Comic Relief |
Join the Jonas Discussion Group on LinkedIn!
On March 1, 2009 Jonas ventured into the world of social networking by creating a Jonas Construction group on LinkedIn. To those that are not familiar with LinkedIn, it is a website used by professionals from around the world to keep in touch with colleagues and business associates, recruit new talent, and learn from people both within and outside their immediate network.
The Jonas Construction group was created to allow Jonas Clients and Staff to post discussion topics and solicit ideas and feedback from across the Jonas user base. The discussion boards will be monitored by a number of experienced Jonas staff members but it is our hope that the primary value will come from Jonas users interacting with each other.
LinkedIn is free to join. Once you are a member, go to “Groups” and search for “Jonas Construction”. We are hoping to have a critical mass of clients on the discussion board by the end of March so that we can start putting up topics to discuss. If you have any questions please e-mail Karoline Lapko who would be happy to help you sign up and get online.
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U.S. and Canadian 2009 Payroll Revisions
U.S. Payroll
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has just released new income tax withholding and advance earned income credit payment tables. These new tables have been developed due to changes to the tax law made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. These are effective immediately. The IRS asks that employers begin using these tables in lieu of the previously published tables as soon as possible, but no later than April 1st 2009.
For additional information visit http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n1036.pdf
Canadian Payroll
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced income tax changes to income thresholds and federal personal amounts that are effective April 1st 2009.
For additional information visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/pyrll/t4127/frmls-eng.html
The U.S. and Canadian Payroll Update are currently available for download through the Support section of the Jonas website at www.jonassoftware.com
To access the Jonas Support section of the website, you must have an assigned User Name and Password for your company. If you require one, please contact Jonas Software at 1-800-352-6647or 905-886-0544.
April 1st 2009 Canadian Payroll Update
The April 1st 2009 Canadian Payroll update can be performed in one of two ways – it is your choice!
METHOD ONE: The first method of performing the update is by simply downloading the current Jonas Product Update and running it.
If you are downloading a “Product Update” for the first time, please read the “Install Instructions” located below the list of available Product Updates. This will promote the successful completion of this process.
METHOD TWO: If you do not wish to perform the Jonas Product Update you can download only the Payroll Update (April2009Payroll).
IMPORTANT - BEFORE YOU BEGIN
PERFORMING THE UPDATE
METHOD ONE – Updating Payroll via the Jonas Product Update
For version 11.6, 11.8, 11.9 and 12.0
This method updates your Jonas software AND applies the new payroll changes.
If you elect to use METHOD ONE by downloading a “Product Update” and you are unfamiliar with this process click on “Step-By-Step Install Instructions” to review the process.
“Step-By-Step Install Instructions”to apply the update.
You can skip the following section and move to the section entitled ‘VERIFY THAT YOUR JONAS PAYROLL HAS BEEN UPDATED’.
METHOD TWO – Payroll File Update Only
For Versions 11.4, 11.6, 11.8, 11.9, and 12.0
This method applies the new payroll changes ONLY.
1. From our Product Updates screen, select the link April2009Payroll.
Note: Depending upon your Internet Browser settings you may be warned about ‘downloading malicious files’ or some other similar message. The Jonas update is verified as 'virus free' using McAfee VirusScan software. Simply select YES (or the appropriate response to allow the download).
2. When you are prompted to ‘SAVE’ or ‘RUN’, always select the Save button. The Save button is located on the bottom right of the screen. The download should now start (you should see a download screen indicating progress).
3. You will now be positioned in the ‘Save As’ screen. Select the “Desktop” icon, which is found on the left side of the display. You should now see “Desktop” at the top of the screen as the location where the update will be saved.
4. Now select the Save button on the bottom right of the screen. The download should now start (you should see a download screen indicating progress).
5. Once the download has completed select the CLOSE button on the download screen. You can also log out of the Jonas website and then close your Internet session if you’d like.
6. Go to your Windows desktop and locate the newly created icon, which should have a description of April2009Payroll.exe (or very similar).
THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE IS OUT OF PAYROLL!
7. Select the April2009Payroll.exe icon and the update should commence.
8. A Jonas Welcome! screen will appear.9. Click on the Next button.
10. A screen indicating that Installation Completed! should appear upon successful completion of the update (you should see this screen within a minute or two, maybe even seconds.)
Note: If you don’t see the Installation Completed! screen or the message “Unable to locate Jonas Software” appears, LEAVE YOUR TERMINAL ‘AS IS’ AND CALL US IMMEDIATELY at 1-800-352-6647.
11. IMMEDIATELY run Jonas. You should now see a Progress Pie Chart indicating the update is working.
12. The Pie Chart should go to 100%. Now you will be positioned at your normal login screen.
Verify THAT YOUR Jonas Payroll has been updated
1. Click on Explore to choose the network drive where Jonas resides (usually J: drive). Go to GJCWIN\PAYROLL and locate GJW18AA.09.
What’s New in Payroll for April 1st 2009?
Federal Changes Included in this Edition:
• Effective April 1, 2009, the federal tax rates are not changed.
• The income thresholds were retroactively increased to January 1, 2009. As three months has passed since then, and the thresholds have been prorated to reflect the changes. The revised thresholds are as follows:
- 15% on income less than or equal to $41,200 (formerly $38,832);
- 22% on income greater than $41,200, but less than or equal to $82,399 (formerly $77,664);
- 26% on income greater than $82,399, but less than or equal to $126,264; and
- 29% on income greater than $126,264
Federal Personal Amounts for April 2009:
• The basic personal exemption has increased from $10,100 to $10,320 effective January 1, 2009. Therefore, the prorated amount is $10,375.
Canada pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI):
• The total employee/employer’s Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contribution has not changed for
April 1, 2009.
• There are no changes to Employment Insurance (EI) for April 2009.
Provincial and Territorial Changes Effective April 1, 2009:
• Yukon will again be harmonized with all federal income thresholds.
Forms:
• The federal Form TD1 has been revised for April 2009. The CRA provides a specific TD1 form for each province (except Quebec) and territory. Employees should complete the provincial or territorial TD1 form that corresponds to their province or territory of employment if they are a new employee or wish to change their claim amounts.For Additional Information:
• Visit the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website at:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/t4127-apr/t4127-4-09e.pdf
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Accounts Payable – Beginner Session
Date & Location: Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Session Length: 2 ½ - 3 hours
Session Time: 1:00pm EST
Location: Webex
Fee: $200 per connection
Trainer: Pat Selby
Course Description: This course will cover everything there is to know about Accounts Payable. You will quickly learn the basic setup, key flags and daily procedures for entering invoices received from vendors and then paying those vendors. We will trouble-shoot common problems including releasing retainage/holdback, partial payments, incorrect invoices and cheques, automatic allocation, transferring to history and much more. Also, we will teach you how to research out of balance issues, set up direct deposit for a vendor and how to use our powerful reporting tools.
Spots are limited, so register now.
Accounts Payable – Advanced Session
Date & Location: Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Session Length: 3 hours
Session Time: 1:00pm EST
Location: Webex
Fee: $200 per connection
Trainer: Pat Selby
Course Description: This webinar aims to give you an understanding of the advanced features in Accounts Payable which will allow you to make full use of the new functionality. The following topics will be covered:
- Partial Payments
- Edit Invoice Information
- Various programs for posting invoices and printing checks
- Direct Deposit
- Bank Reconciliation
- Housekeeping
- Cash requirement for partial payments
- Cancelling cheques for partial payments
- "New Code" to merge invoice details to one Supplier Code
- Out of Balance Issues
- Editing Invoice Information
- Lien Waivers
- Job Cost Related Reports
- Hold Codes
- New flags and options...and much more.
System Administration – Controller Overview – Advanced Session
Date & Location: Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Session Length: 3 hours
Session Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm EST
Location: Webex
Fee: $200 per connection
Trainer: Gary Nowak
Course Description: This webinar aims to give you an understanding of the controls and parameters that control the Jonas Software system. The following topics will be covered:
- Jonas Printer Styles and Preference Setup
- Inter-Company
- Menu Minder
- Jmail
- Designing Letters
- Housekeeping and Month End Procedures
- Reset A/R & AP TTD, Reverse A/P and GL History Transfer
- Setup Company Profile & Taxes
- Foreign Exchange
- Multi banking
- Overview of Master Gen
- Multi-company Issues
- Jonas knowledge base
- Reconstruct Lost Audit
- Out of Balance corrections
- Logos
- 13 Period Accounting
- Set Starting Numbers PR, AP, PO, Take Off, JC, Parts
- Auditor Download File
- Jonas User Event Log & Jonas System Log
- Storing files as PDFs...and much more.
Change Order Management – Advanced Session
Date & Location: Friday, April 9th, 2009
Session Length: 3 hours
Session Time: 3:00pm EST
Location: Webex
Fee: $200 per connection
Trainer: Gary Nowak
Course Description: This course will cover everything there is to know about Change Order Management. You will quickly learn how to set up the change order module and learn how to correctly process internal and comprehensive change orders. Emphasis will be placed on the following: creating and revising estimates and change orders, using takeoffs, reviewing the effects of a change order on a job, sub-contractor integration, progress billing, daily processing, revisions and key reports.
Spots are limited, so register now.
Job Costing Management – Beginner Session
Date & Location: Friday, April 17th, 2009
Session Length: 3 hours
Session Time: 1:00pm EST
Location: Webex
Fee: $200 per connection
Trainer: Pat Selby
Course Description: This course will cover the basics procedures in Job Costing. You will quickly learn how to set up a job, process invoices, use progress billing and trouble-shoot common problems. An overview on job scheduling, estimating, take-offs, subcontractors will be covered for you to understand the integration. You will learn to understand how key flags and options control the flow of information. Also, you will quickly discover how to use and design informative project management reports.
Spots are limited, so register now. |
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for Residential and Commerical Technology
Jonas is very proud to share the news that our Construction Solution has won two very prestigious awards for 2009 – for both Residential and Commercial Technology in the New Products category from Constructech! The winning product was the Jonas Paperless Service Management which includes e-Service, Jonas Mobile and the Dispatch Board. Please see the press release for the Commercial division below.
Commercial Technology Innovation “NETS”
Constructech Magazine Top Products Awards for 2009
Carol Stream, Ill. – Feb. 25, 2009 – Constructech magazine, in its March issue, announces the winners of its 2009 Constructech Top Products Awards—an annual competition that recognizes superior product innovation, success, usefulness, uniqueness, adaptation, and potential for growth in the commercial construction marketplace.
Constructech’s panel of editors reviewed nearly 100 entries in four primary categories for 2009—New products, Enhanced products, Trusted products, and Supported products—28 of which “NETS” this year’s best-of-the-best honors.
“Our goal again this year was to identify the leading technology products in the commercial construction market today,” said Mike Carrozzo, chief editor of Constructech magazine. “By no means are we saying that these are the only viable products on the market.
“Rather, in the opinion of our editorial team, they are a representative sampling of the most innovative and successful products currently available to the commercial construction industry,” added Carrozzo. “And indeed, these products are among the best technology currently available for commercial construction applications.”
Commercial Winners by Category:
New Products (Features technology applications that have been in the market for less than two years).
• Paperless Service Management from Jonas Software
Specific criteria used for selecting this year’s award winners included product description, the product’s overall usefulness and uniqueness to the industry, and the customer growth rate for the particular product throughout past years.
“As we continue on in 2009, it is the resilient nature of the commercial construction industry that will keep projects moving ahead and innovation moving forward,” added Peggy Smedley, editorial director of Constructech. “Our readership studies show that 60% of our readers plan to spend anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in 2009 on new technology, and that 65% of these readers are either the single decision maker or a key influencer of technology purchases at their respective companies.
“These are encouraging numbers, and companies will turn to products and services like those included in our 2009 Constructech Top Product Awards to take on the challenges that most certainly remain ahead,” said Smedley.
Commercial market winners and their winning products are featured in Constructech’s March issue. The magazine announced and profiled its 2009 residential market Top Products Award winners in its February issue. To order a copy of either the February or March issues of Constructech, please contact Dawn Cassata at dcassata@constructech.com.
About Constructech Commercial
Constructech Commercial magazine is focused on providing the construction industry with the necessary tools to increase productivity and profitability by looking at the true value of information technology and building control automation through the eyes of the builder, contractor, and corporate owner.
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This month we are featuring Penny Smith,
Construction Triage Call Coordinator.
Penny is a newcomer to Jonas having joined us in December 2008. When you have called our support centre, it is very likely that Penny’s has been the voice on the other end of the telephone line at one time or another. |
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Q. My Payroll cheques are not printing in order, resulting in the cheque #’s not matching.
A. In the Windows printer configuration, in the Advanced tab, select the option “Start printing after last page is spooled.”
Q. How do I process an NSF cheque?
A. In Accounts Receivable, go to Cash & Customer Receipts. Once you select the company code, click on the button below “Show Paid Invoices” which will bring up the invoice which has already been marked as paid.
Enter the check amount (in this example $-85.50) and distribute to the correct invoice(s).
Now you can post and the invoice will be outstanding.
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IS IT TIME FOR YOUR NEXT UPDATE???
It is important for Jonas users to perform Product Updates on a regular basis to ensure that you keep your Jonas Software current and problem-free. Check the website weekly as a new download is available every Tuesday. It is advisable to install it immediately.
CURRENT VERSION
The current version for Jonas Software is 11.8.
HOW TO UPDATE??
There are two procedures to choose from to obtain the latest Release.
- Downloading from the Website.
- Installing the Product Update from a CD.
Before You Begin:
Determine the version of Jonas that you are currently running. If you are unsure, open Jonas and check the version number located in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Ex. Version 11.6.034 (the release .034 indicates the release level).
Downloading the Product Update from the Website
- Click on the Product Update that matches the version of Jonas software you are currently running. (Ex. 11.4 or 11.6) You cannot change versions via the website, only by loading a CD. Note that you might have to be above a specific Release level to be able to run a Product Update from the website. Notes at the side of the Product Update will tell you this.
- Choose the Save option. You will be presented with the SAVE AS screen display below. Save the Product Update in the X:\GJCWIN\CUSTOM directory (where the X: is the logical drive letter that contains the Jonas programs - usually J:). Note: This is just a suggested directory, but not a mandatory location to save the Product Update. Then you can open and run it. After successful installation, log off Jonas and log back in order for the changes to take place.
Installing the Product Update from a CD
Advanced Release versions do require all users to be out of Jonas for the introduction of new data structures. Loading an update from a CD sent by Jonas will always require all users to be out of the system regardless of the version.
- Jonas recommends that if you are installing on a network that the Product Update be installed from a workstation. However, if installing the Jonas Product Update via Citrix or Terminal Server, it must be installed at the server console.
Note: Some operating systems, for example Windows 2000, may require you to log onto the server with full administrator / supervisor privileges.
- Locate the Product Update using any technique (e.g. Windows Explorer or via the Run command on the Start button). Double click on the saved PUxxx.exe file.
- Wait 5 – 20 seconds and a window will appear. Step your way through the Welcome screens by clicking on Next.
- Choose the Destination Directory. If the drive is not correct, please select browse and indicate the correct location. When the correct path is shown, click on Next.
- The Installation Complete screen will appear upon completion of the installation.
- Click on the Jonas for Windows icon. The program will automatically start rebuilding the screens and data files.
Your Jonas Software system update may include modifications, new or revised settings, key features and other items which will change your current system. We encourage you to check the release and enhancement notes from time to time for software updates and to always maintain your system to use the latest release of the software. (Administration>Release Enhancements)
