What's New?
Comparison Analysis (Pro version only)
The comparison analysis enables you to compare the results of one plan to another plan. This analysis is very useful when you want to evaluate two versions of the same plan, or to compare the plan for next year to the plan of last year, etc. The comparison analysis can also be used to compare two periods within the current plan. The Comparison Analysis enables to compare plan data to actual data.
Dynamic Link with MS-Excel (Pro version only)
Periodical data that is entered in the data screens can be imported from MS-Excel files. This import functionality creates a dynamic link between the Excel sheet and the specific target cells to where data is imported, so that any change in the Excel file is automatically reflected in the linked data. This feature expands the usability of the software and enables you to incorporate data and calculations, which are very specific to the business, into the general layout of the software.
Goal Seek (Pro version only)
A Goal Seeking analysis was added to the Analysis module. The Goal Seek analysis assists in finding what should be the sales, or the direct costs or the operating expenses, in order to achieve a certain target profit.
Guarantees
Guarantees are important part of the financial status of a business. In the new version the user can enter information about Guarantees issued by the business. The financial requirements of the business, including the Guarantees, are then compared to the total amount of liabilities that the bank permits the business to have including credit line and guarantees.
Forecast Module
A quick and simple Forecast module was added. This module is based on the actual data that was entered and on the plan data till the end of the year. These two sets of data are combined together in order to calculate the forecast for the annual results and compare them to the original plan.
Sales Analysis
The Sales Analysis screen displays the sales that are planned for the plan periods and allows you to analyse, quickly and easily, the mixture of the planned sales grouped by markets or products and what are the expected trends during the plan period.
Production Expenses and Investments
Expenses can now be ascribed to Production or Operations (while in the previous version they were automatically included in the Operating Expenses). This feature is used in presenting the Profit and Loss report according to the Direct Cost method. Expenses that are ascribed to Production will be calculated as part of the direct costs and cost of goods sold. The same can be done with Investments and the depreciation calculated for them will be included as part of the cost of goods sold.
Reports Customization
The Report module enables now a much better customization for the creation of the reports. Reports can now be created for only part of the plan years, for years only, with or without previous years, etc. The number of columns in each report page can also be set, allowing for better quality of annual reports.
Plan Table
The Plan Table displays the list of the plans that were prepared with the software and saved to files. These plans can then be re-loaded into the software.
Actual Cashflow
The Actual Data module includes now also the Actual Cashflow screen where you can enter data that reflects the actual cashflow transactions that took place during the actual period. This screen is used to create the Actual vs. Plan analysis and the Forecast analysis
Financial Ratios Analysis in Actual vs. Plan Module
The program calculates the main financial ratios based on the data that was entered in the Actual data module. These ratios are displayed and compared to the plan ratios in the Actual vs. Plan module.
Undo (Pro version only)
The Undo function enables you to undo changes that were done in a data table that is currently used for data entry.
What-If (Simulation) by Years (Pro version only)
The What-If analysis can now be run for each of the plan years while in the previous version only the first year could be selected. The analysis can be run also for the whole plan period.
Menu Structure
The main menu of the software was reorganized in order to make it more easy to use. Two menu options were added to the main menu:
- View - includes relevant sub-menu options such as the Plan Navigator, Easy-Start Wizard etc.
- Options - includes sub-items such as Preferences, System Options, etc.
Plan Navigator
The Plan Navigator, which is displayed on the left side of the main window of the software, was changed and enhanced. A bar with three buttons was added in its top with the following functions:
- Show/Hide a small Help window at the bottom of the Navigator that gives a short explanation for the selected Navigator's item
- Expand/Collapse the Navigator's tree
- Change the Navigator Mode to Simple, Medium or Full as described below.
Navigator Mode
The Plan Navigator can display now items according to three modes that are selected by the user: Simple, Medium or Full. When the Simple mode is selected, the Navigator will show the main and most used planning functions of the software. When the Full mode is selected the Navigator will show all the planning functions. The Medium mode is in between the other modes. These modes can be used as a tool that enables new users to learn the software more easily, and it can help experienced users to focus on the planning steps that are necessary for them.
Technical changes & Fixes
Preferences screen reorganized
The "Preferences" screen was re-organized in order to make it more easy to use.
Drill Down in Profit Center Analysis
The sales for each Profit Center can be expanded to show the sales by product.
Drill Down in Cashflow report
The Cashflow report includes now the option to drill down and get more information for some of the lines in the report that were not easy to figure out how they were calculated.
Drill Down in Actual Profit & Loss Report
The Profit & Loss report, which is included in the Actual vs. Plan analysis, can now show drill down of data for the operating expenses. This makes it easier to understand the variance between Plan and Actual.
Password Protection
The software allows you to define a password that will be required any time the software is initiated and will prevent unwanted visitors from using the software to view your plans while you are not at your desk.
Default Path to Save Plan Files
The user can now define the default path where plan files will be saved to and loaded from. This is done in the Preferences screen.
Year Caption
When the plan period starts in a month other than January (as defined in "General Data" screen), the captions of the years, in all the screens and reports, will be changed to show that a year includes months from two calendar years, e.g. if the plan period starts on April 2005, the first year caption will be 2005/06, the second year caption will be 2006/07, etc.
Number of Other Loans and Downpayments (Pro version only)
The number of loans that can be entered in the Other Loans table was increased from 10 to 50 different loans in the Pro version. The number of Downpayments was increased from 10 to 50 in the Pro version.
Total Year Column in Actual Data Module
The screens used to enter actual data have now columns that show the total of each year for each line when data is entered by months or quarters.
Financial Parameters - Average Salary per Production Employee was removed
The line for "Average Salary per Production Employee" was removed from the Financial Parameters screen. This line was used in the past to calculate an average number of employees in the production and present it in the Financial Ratio screen.
Use of User Defined Text
User defined text can be used or not used according to a selection in the "User Defined Text" screen. This is useful when you want to temporarily return to the system default texts without erasing the text defined by you.
Activation and Serial Number
The software is installed as an evaluation version, which is active for a limited number of days and some of the functions are not fully active, e.g. printing, copy and paste, etc. It can be run for a limited number of times.
The software should be activated with a serial number that is provided by the software vendor and can be obtained by sending e-mail or by calling the support center. Once the serial number is entered the software is fully functional.
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