Welcome to the Power of Nine eNewsletter. The goal of this free newsletter is to provide TEA users with tips and tricks on using TEA IX as well as news and other information about TEA IX. Please feel free to forward it to your co-workers, or let them know that they can access it from the TEA IX website.
What's New !
GoToAssist now offered
Have you ever had a hard time trying to explain to Support the problem that you are experiencing with TEA or wish that they could see what you are attempting to do on your system? If you’ve answered ‘yes’, then you’ll be pleased to know that CommonGoals Software now offers a new and innovative approach to TEA Support by utilizing a program called GoToAssist.
GoToAssist allows you to speak directly to a TEA Support representative via an online chat. It also allows our TEA Support Team to remotely view, and even take control of your computer desktop in order to help resolve your question(s). It's like having a real live TEA expert sitting right beside you!
How does this work you ask? After you have contacted TEA Support with your question(s), a GoToAssist session is initiated by you by accessing the Live Support area on the CommonGoals website. This allows a TEA Support representative to view your computer to see exactly what you're dealing with.
Worried about security? Don't be! During the session, you can decline the start of a screen sharing session, deny the initial download or refuse receipt of a transferred file. At any time you can take control of the mouse and keyboard or end the screen sharing session altogether. Once the session has ended, the support representative can no longer connect to your computer. Any future sessions generate new session keys and can only be initiated by you. Plus, the data exchanged between you and your TEA Support representative is completely secure. Identities are scrupulously verified and protected with industry-standard authentication technology, and GoToAssist sessions are kept secure and private with the use of randomly generated session keys and advanced encryption.
So next time you're in a fix and can't seem to convey to TEA Support exactly what you're experiencing, give GoToAssist a try!
Additional reports added to the online Custom Report Repository
Be sure to visit the TEA website and check out the Custom Report Repository section to see the latest additions. Some of the reports that have been added include:
- Audit Confirmation Sample 2
- Investment Transaction Activity Forecast
- Job Impact by Municipality
- Late Fees Assessed
- Leverages by Municipality
- Loan Portfolio by Municipality
- Loan Writeoff by Municipality
- Transaction Activity - ONLY Loans with Activity
- Transaction Summary - ONLY Loans with Activity
Upcoming Events
Here's a look at some of the stops we'll be making in the coming months.
- AEO Annual Conference 2005
Portland, OR - May 10 - 13, 2005
Blazing Trails: Innovations through High Performance Microenterprise Development
Join AEO and co-host, Oregon Microenterprise Network (OMEN), in the premiere microenterprise training conference for the demanding Microenterprise Development professional! For more info, visit http://www.microenterpriseworks.org/conferences/aeo2005 - The Ontario Association of CFDCs' Annual Conference
Timmins, ON - June 12 - 14, 2005
Together - Shaping the future....of our communities - The 2005 Annual Community Futures Conference
Red Deer, AB - June 15 - 17, 2005
Leadership Issues of the 21st Century
Training
Ontario CFDC Regional Training
The feedback we received from the Regional Training for OACFDC – member organizations was very positive and most helpful. Several very good recommendations and suggestions were received and will be considered for future updates to the program and future training sessions. Thank you to all who participated!
Online Mini-courses for TEA
We recently completed our first round of Online Mini-Courses. A "thank you" goes out to all who participated in the first round of this new training method! The feedback we have received has been extremely positive and great suggestions and recommendations have been made on how we can improve upon these sessions in the future. One comment that we keep hearing is that online training is very cost effective as no time is lost for travel and no additional expenses are incurred.
We encourage any organization that needs a TEA refresher or wants to learn some specific functions or roles within the software to visit our website and look at the online training schedule and book today. You will find these courses an excellent means of learning the software at an economical cost. Round 2 starts soon!
Custom Report Builder Training
We are offering 2-day, instructor-led, classroom training sessions for TEA’s Custom Report Builder in several cities across Canada. Level 1 and Level 2 courses are being offered in the following cities:
| City | Level 1 | Level 2 |
| Mississauga, ON | April 18 & 19 | June 16 & 17 |
| Ottawa, ON | April 21 & 22 | May 18 & 19 |
| Calgary, AB | April 26 & 27 | May 31 & June 1 |
| Edmonton, AB | April 28 & 29 | June 2 & 3 |
| Vancouver, BC | May 2 & 3 | June 7 & 8 |
| Kelowna, BC | May 4 & 5 | June 9 & 10 |
| Saskatoon, SK | May 9 & 10 | June 27 & 28 |
| Winnipeg, MB | May 12 & 13 | June 13 & 14 |
| Corner Brook, NL | May 24 & 25 | June 23 & 24 |
| Halifax, NS | May 26 & 27 | June 20 & 21 |
Pre-registration for Custom Report Builder training sessions is required so be sure to sign up today! Course agenda, schedule, pricing and registration information is available on our website.
Level 1 focuses on the basic aspects of developing custom report using the Custom Report Builder. Learn how to modify reports, mail mere, create labels, develop reports from scratch and much more.
Level 2 builds on the skills learned in Level 1 and introduces more advanced topics, such as sub-reports, useful for developing complex reports using the Custom Report Builder. CRB Level 1 and an intermediate to advanced-level understanding of TEA's functionality are prerequisites for this course.
For further information and available training options, please contact CommonGoals Software. Provide us with your specific training requirements and we'll be happy to provide you with a no cost, no obligation quote. You can also contact us anytime at training@commongoals.com.
QuickHelp
- Synchronizing Tasks and Appointments to MS Outlook
- Working with Late Fees
- User Defined Fields
- Changing a Title on a Report
- Tracking Spousal Information from within a Client Record
- Adding Personal Information to your Personal Financial Statements
- Amortization Schedules for Line of Credit Loans
TEA has the ability to export appointments and tasks into MS Outlook. Because TEA doesn’t yet synchronize with a PDA such as a Palm Pilot or Blackberry, this feature allows you to easily transfer all your tasks and contacts from TEA into MS Outlook which is able to synchronize with a PDA. This is a one-way synchronization from TEA to Outlook which means that information can’t be imported into TEA from Outlook. Only the tasks of the current selected user will be sent so ensure that your name is selected from the user drop-down menu before beginning the synchronization. Since this is a manual process, a system or process should be defined within your organization as to how frequently the export will be performed to ensure the accuracy of the data in Outlook.
To enable TEA synchronization with MS Outlook,
- From within the TEA Administration module, double-click to open System Settings.
- From the System tab, check the Enable Outlook Synchronization check box.
- Click OK to save settings.
- Close the TEA Administration module.
- Select the Calendar Module on the main screen.
- Click Tasks to open your Tasks list.
- Ensure your name is selected from the User drop-down menu.
- Click the Outlook button to start the snychronization process.
- When complete, a summary window will appear. Review and click OK to close.
Working with Late Fees
Late fees are great way of leveraging your clients to make their payments on time. Most micro-enterprise organizations in the United States enforce this and have found that late fees help to reduce their delinquency to some degree. In TEA, you can calculate late fees based on three primary methods: as a percentage of payment, percentage of principal balance or a fixed amount. Percentage of payment is the most popular method of calculating late fees; however calculation method is an organizational preference.
It is standard to offer a grace period when applying late fees and TEA accommodates this practice. Often times the delay in payment can be a result of payment dues dates falling on a weekend, delay in the postal system, statutory holidays or personal circumstances affecting the client. TEA allows you to offer a custom grace period (in days) so as not to penalize the client unnecessarily.
For a complete document on Working with Late Fees within TEA, including configuring, applying and adjusting late fees, visit the Document Library on the TEA Support website. User Defined Fields
Within each module of the TEA program there are a maximum of 28 user-defined fields available to you. There are eight character fields, eight date fields, eight numeric fields and four drop-down lists. If you are looking to track additional information in TEA that is not currently an option, this is where you track this information.
To create a new user-defined field,
- Open the TEA Administration Module.
- Double-click on User-Defined Fields.
- Select the Module tab to create a user-defined field that will appear only in that module.
- Enter the description of the user-defined field in either a Character Field, a Date Field, a Numeric Field or a Drop-Down List. This will be the text or field name displayed in TEA.
- Click OK to save your changes.
- Close the TEA Administration module.
Changing a Title on a Report
Did you know that you can modify the report titles that appear on your TEA reports? It's simple!
Open the Print Report Dialog Box; highlight the Report Title and type in exactly what you want to appear on the report. This feature allows you to change the Title that appears on your report without changing the default report title permanently. This is handy when you require more descriptive titles on your reports. For example, if you were printing a contacts report for specific groups or project you could include the name of the group or project on the report.
You also have the option to change the default Report Title that appears on the report by opening the print Report dialog box of the appropriate report and clicking the Report Manager… button. In the Report Manager, select/highlight the name of the appropriate report from the reports listed. Click Properties. In the Report Settings dialog, you can modify the Report Title. Click OK to save your changes and close the Report Settings dialog box. Click Close to close the Report manager. Click Close to close the Print Report dialog box. Tracking Spousal Information from within a Client Record
Did you know that you can add spousal information to your Client Records by selecting Edit | Add | Spousal Information?
Adding Personal Information to your Personal Financial Statements
If you are using TEA’s Personal Financial Statements, when you import the Personal Information this information will automatically be brought over to your Personal Financial Statement (PFS).This time saving feature automatically imports all the personal information you have entered within your Client Record to the Personal Financial Statement. The Client’s name, address, phone number, SIN number, marital status and number of dependants, as well as any Spousal information entered, will automatically be imported into your PFS.
To import personal information from the client to the PFS,
- From within the Client Record, select Personal Financial Statements from the Navigation Tree.
- Click the New button to add a new statement or double-click a record in the grid to open an existing statement.
- Select Edit | Import Personal Information from the menu.
- You will receive a message warning you that existing info entered on the PFS will be overwritten by the info from the Client record. Click Yes to continue.
Amortization Schedules for Line of Credit Loans
For line of credit loans, the amortization schedule should always be advanced for the maximum amount of the line of credit. The reason for this is so that invoice for the last payment (the payout amount) will be correct. If the payment appearing in the amortization schedule is more than the actual balance on the loan, TEA will take this into consideration when generating the final invoice.
For customer service or technical questions regarding TEA IX, please visit the TEA Support page on the web. You must use your assigned Username and Password to access the Support area. If you have lost or misplaced your login information, you may contact TEA Support and we will e-mail this information to you.
As always, if you have any feedback regarding this newsletter, please e-mail your comments to us. We hope you have enjoyed this issue of the Power of Nine eNewsletter.
Best regards,
The TEA Support Team
Power of Nine
eNewsletter for TEA IX
April 01, 2005
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