Sage is changing the names of many of its ERP software products in an effort to create a more consistent brand experience for its partners and customers.
Within Sage 100, there are three offerings:
It’s a truth universally accepted (and also supported by many surveys) that today’s young people are more interested than ever in entrepreneurship. Having seen their parents laid off from corporate jobs, having grown up with entrepreneurial role models like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, and having witnessed their older siblings’ difficulty finding entry-level jobs in today’s economy, it’s no surprise that youth today often express more interest in starting their own businesses than in working for someone else.
But are young people interested in starting their businesses for the right reasons—or the wrong ones? A new study by Harris Interactive for ASQ (PDF), which polled teens about their attitudes toward careers and study, paints a worrisome picture.
The teens, ranging from 6th to 12th graders, believed studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects gave them the widest range of opportunities after graduation. Medical doctor and engineer were seen as the most desirable careers by 34 percent and 29 percent of respondents respectively. In contrast, just 11 percent of the teens thought being an entrepreneur offered the most opportunity.
But even among those students who were interested in careers in STEM, 67 percent were concerned about the obstacles they would face. What was bothering them? Twenty-six percent said the cost and time required to get a degree in STEM is too high compared to other subjects. One-fourth said their grades in STEM subjects (math and science) aren’t good enough to pursue this as a career. Perhaps most disturbing, 25 percent said STEM careers involve “too much work and study” compared to other careers.
It begs the question, are the students who want to be entrepreneurs taking that path because they truly want to be business owners, or because they think it’s “easier” than studying math or science?
As an entrepreneur, I truly believe that we are living in the most exciting period for entrepreneurs we have ever seen. But to fully take advantage of the biggest opportunities for entrepreneurship today—those in technology–you need to be well versed in math and/or science.
I wonder if today’s image of the successful tech entrepreneur as laid-back and casual (picture Mark Zuckerberg’s ever-present hoodie) and the fun, campus like environment at tech companies like Google may be giving our kids the mistaken impression that you can surf YouTube all day and still come up with the next great business idea. Sadly, 51 percent of students in the survey admitted they spend more time after school on the computer—surfing the Web or playing video games—than they do on schoolwork, studying or reading.
Being an entrepreneur is a lot of fun, and on the outside, it may look like it’s all play and no work. But getting it right requires lots of hard work. Are today’s kids up to the challenge? Or do they think entrepreneurship is “the lazy way out”?
http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/02/entrepreneurs-working-hard-or-hardly-working.html
Sage Fixed Assets 2012.1 Tax Update! Designed to provide you with the most up-to-date functionality and tax legislation, this version contains exciting new features and enhancements to your Sage Fixed Assets solution.
The following changes apply to our industry-leading fixed assets solution:
• New Product Names. We have changed the names of all of our Sage Fixed Assets products.
• Sage Fixed Assets – Depreciation: Tax Law Updates. We have updated the Sage Fixed Assets program to comply with the latest tax law changes:
• Updated Tax Forms. The 2012.1 tax update includes the updated IRS Form 4562 – Depreciation and Amortization for 2011.
• Updated Tax Limits. The 2012.1 tax update complies with the scheduled updates to the Section 179 limits and luxury auto limits.
• Updated Sec 179 Limits for Qualified Disaster Zone Property. The 2012.1 tax update includes Section 179 dollar limits for the Qualified Disaster Zone.
• Updated Audit Advisor. We have updated Audit Advisor to check for real property that may be qualified for the Section 179 expense deduction.
Sage Fixed Assets - Depreciation Tax Law Updates
Updated Tax Forms
The IRS changes many tax laws each year. As a result, the corresponding tax forms and worksheets may change moderately or significantly. Sage Business Care members receive the updated forms and worksheets each year as part of the annual tax update; enabling them to get the greatest savings and most benefit from the recent tax law changes.
This year, the IRS Form 4562 – Depreciation and Amortization has been updated for the 2011 tax year.
To run the tax forms and worksheets
• Calculate depreciation through the end of the fiscal year.
• Select Tax Forms and Worksheets from the Reports menu.
• Select the desired tax form or worksheet.
• Complete the fields on the dialog box, and then click the Execute button.
Updated Tax Limits
The IRS routinely modifies the depreciation limits for certain automobiles to adjust for inflation and other factors. If you use vehicles in your business, these changes can have significant tax implications.
Luxury Auto Limits
The depreciation limits in effect for automobiles placed in service in 2012 are as follows:
Year 1: $11,160*
Year 2: $5,100
Year 3: $3,050
Year 4: $1,875
* If you elect out of the 168 Allowance for the automobile, the depreciation limitation is $3,160 for the first year.
Light Trucks and Vans Limits
The depreciation limits for light trucks and vans placed in service in 2011 are as follows:
Year 1: $11,360*
Year 2: $5,300
Year 3: $3,150
* If you elect out of the 168 Allowance for the truck or van, the depreciation limitation is $3,360 for the first year.
Section 179 Limits
The maximum Section 179 limit is $139,000 for assets placed in service in the tax year beginning in 2012. In addition, the maximum cost of Section 179 property that can be placed in service in the year before the phase-out begins is $560,000 for the tax year beginning in 2012.
Increased Sec 179 Limits for Qualified Disaster Zone Property
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 provides for increased Section 179 limits for assets located in a Qualified Disaster Zone. The Section 179 limit for 2012 is $239,000 ($139,000 plus the cost of the Disaster Zone property, limited to $100,000).
Learn More
Sage 100 ERP (Formerly MAS 90 and MAS 200) - Order of Closing
Every month end and year end, people often asking me what are the procedures to close their books. I've attached a PDF document that displays the order of closing for Sage 100 (formerly MAS 90 and MAS 200).
Click on the link below to download the PDF:
Order of Closing for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200
Here is an article from Eric Jackson from Forbes that I thought was inspiring... Enjoy.
Just Lin, Baby! 10 Lessons Jeremy Lin Can Teach Us Before We Go To Work Monday Morning
by Eric Jackson, Forbes.com, Contributor
Lin-sanity has swept up the NBA over the last week.
Friday’s 38 point performance by Harvard grad Jeremy Lin for the New York Knicks against the LA Lakers was his greatest performance yet as a starter, since he burst on to the scene and propelled the team to 4 straight wins.
But what can all of us learn from this story of this incredible young man — and how can we apply the same lessons to our own lives when we go back to work on Monday morning?
1. Believe in yourself when no one else does. Lin’s only the 3rd graduate from Harvard to make it to the NBA. He’s also one of only a handful of Asian-Americans to make it. He was sent by the Knicks to play for their D-League team 3 weeks ago in Erie, PA. He’d already been cut by two other NBA teams before joining the Knicks this year. You’ve got to believe in yourself, even when no one else does.
2. Seize the opportunity when it comes up. Lin got to start for the Knicks because they had to start him. They had too many injuries. Baron Davis was gone. The other point guards were out. Carmello Anthony was injured. Amare Stoudemire had to leave the team because of a family death. Lin could have squandered the opportunity and we would have never have noticed. But he made the most of it. You never know when opportunities are going to arise in life. Often, they’re when you least expect them. Make the most of them. Don’t fritter them away.
3. Your family will always be there for you, so be there for them. It wasn’t until a few days ago that Lin got his contract guaranteed by the Knicks for the rest of the season. Before that, he could have been cut at any time. He had to sleep on his brother’s couch on the Lower East Side to get by. His family always believed in him and picked him up when he could have gotten down on himself. That made him continue to believe. If you want your family to believe in you like that, you’ve got to be there for them too when they need it.
4. Find the system that works for your style. Lin isn’t Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. He’s not a pure scorer. He’s a passer and distributor – who can also score very well. It didn’t work for him in Golden State or Houston – where he was before landing at the Knicks. But Mike D’Antoni’s system at the Knicks has been perfect for him to show off his strengths. You’ve got to do your best to understand what your strengths are and then ensure that you’re in a system (a job or organization or industry) that is a good fit for those strengths. Otherwise, people overlook the talents you bring to the table.
5. Don’t overlook talent that might exist around you today on your team. You probably manage people at your own company today. Are you sure you don’t have a Jeremy Lin living among you now? How do you know that “Mike” couldn’t do amazing things if you gave him a new project to run with? How do you know “Sarah” isn’t the right person to take the open job in London that you’ve been talking over with your colleagues? We put people around us in boxes. He’s from Harvard. He’s Asian-American. Not sure he can play. How many assumptions have you made about talent around you? Don’t be like the General Managers in Golden State and Houston, and let talent slip through your fingers.
6. People will love you for being an original, not trying to be someone else. You’ve got to be you. You can’t be some 2nd rate copy of Michael Jordan. There will never be another Michael Jordan. Just be Jeremy Lin — yourself. Whatever that is. That doesn’t mean you don’t work hard — it just means you find what you’re good at and do it. Fans will love you for being you, just like they love Jeremy Lin.
7. Stay humble. If you one day are lucky enough to have newspapers want to put you on the cover in order to sell more, don’t let it get to your head. It’s been remarkable watching how humble Lin remains through all this media frenzy. It makes his teammates and fans love him that much more.
8. When you make others around you look good, they will love you forever. I didn’t know how good Tyson Chandler was, until I saw him playing with Jeremy Lin. Lin has set Chandler up many times over the last week for easy dunks because he drew the defense and then passed the ball. That’s partly why the Knicks are playing so well. They are all working harder to share the ball with others. And it’s beautiful to watch. And when the media swarms Lin, he tells them how good his teammates are. Do the same with your peers and reports.
9. Never forget about the importance of luck or fate in life. Some people believe in God, some in destiny, some in luck. Whatever you believe in it, be grateful for it.
10. Work your butt off. Lin couldn’t have seized his opportunity if he hadn’t worked like crazy for years perfecting his skills. There are no short cuts to hard work. Success is a by product of that.
I hope the Lin-sanity continues. And I hope we all can apply these lessons to our own work and family life.
Go team.
Eric Jackson, Forbes.com, Contributor
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2012/02/11/9-lessons-jeremy-lin-can-teach-us-before-we-go-to-work-monday-morning/
Sage has released their newest version of their popular Contact Management software, ACT!
Sage ACT! 2012 has many new features that will help increase productivity and efficiency.
Here are some of the new features available in Sage ACT! 2012:
What's New in Sage ACT! 2012
It has been warned by from Symantec that anyone still using pcAnywhere to remote into their computers should disable the product and stop using it. It was revealed that several years ago a theft of its source code puts their customers at risk of an attack.
from www.smh.com.au -
Security firm Symantec took the rare step of advising customers to stop using one of its products, saying its pcAnywhere software for accessing remote PCs is at increased risk of getting hacked after blueprints of that software were stolen.
The announcement is the company's most direct acknowledgement to date that a 2006 theft of its source code put customers at risk of attack.
Symantec said it was only asking customers to temporarily stop using the product, until it releases an update to the software that will mitigate the risk of an attack.
It acknowledged that some customers would need to continue using the software for "business critical purposes", saying they should make sure they were using the most recent version of the product and "understand the current risks", which include the possibility that hackers could steal data or credentials.
Still, it is highly unusual for a software maker to advise customers to disable a product completely while engineers develop an update to fix bugs. Companies typically recommend mitigating factors that will reduce the risk of an attack.
"That's crazy. That's pretty much unheard of to just say 'Stop using it'. Especially a vendor as large as Symantec," said H.D. Moore, chief architect of Metasploit, a platform that security experts use to test whether computer systems are vulnerable to attack.
PcAnywhere is a software program that is also bundled with some titles in Symantec's Altiris line of software for managing corporate PCs, Symantec said in a white paper and note to customers released on its website overnight where it disclosed the warning.
Company spokesman Cris Paden said that Symantec has fewer than 50,000 customers using the stand-alone version of pcAnywhere, which was available for sale on its website for $US100 and $US200 as of early Wednesday afternoon in the US.
The company last week warned customers of the 2006 theft of the source code, or blueprints, to pcAnywhere and several other titles: Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton Internet Security, Norton Utilities and Norton GoBack.
It made the announcement after a hacker who goes by the name YamaTough released the source code to its Norton Utilities PC software and had threatened to publish its widely used anti-virus programs. Authorities have yet to apprehend that hacker.
At the time, Paden said that the theft of the code posed no threat as long as customers were using the most recent versions of Symantec's software, with one exception: users of pcAnywhere might face "a slightly increased security risk".
In the white paper published early on Wednesday morning in the US, the company indicated the situation was more serious.
"At this time, Symantec recommends disabling the product until Symantec releases a final set of software updates that resolve currently known vulnerability risks," it said in the white paper.
The company also reiterated its previous guidance that users of its other software titles were not at heightened risk because of the breach in 2006.
"The code that has been exposed is so old that current out-of-the-box security settings will suffice against any possible threats that might materialise as a result of this incident," it said on its website.
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