Rockton Software Announces New Launch of Rockton Connect

SANDPOINT, IDAHO — September 27, 2012 — Rockton Software is pleased to announce the launch of Rockton Connect to the Microsoft Dynamics community at eXtremeCRM 2012, September 30th through October 3rd, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Connect is a Microsoft Dynamics CRM-based financial management product that provides a real-time view of a business’s vital statistics.

Rockton Software is a creative company that develops products that make Microsoft Dynamics more intuitive and user-friendly to improve customers’ lives by making their work simpler and easier. Rockton Software started in 1999 by offering custom Dexterity development for clients using Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) accounting software. Today, over 2,000 companies use Rockton Software representing more than 50,000 users. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, solid solutions and customer service continue to be the unique strengths of Rockton Software.

Rockton Software is seeking Vertical Partners to combine their IP with Connect to deliver strong, viable, vertical solutions in the mid-market.

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For more information, (Vertical Partner inquiries) contact via email
connect@rocktonsoftware.com

For more information on Rockton Connect and Rockton Software
http://www.rocktonsoftware.com

The Disciplines of Working from Home

Written By Pam Rasmussen,
Technical Support at Rockton Software

Working from home – it’s everyone’s dream job right?  After all, how much easier can life be than rolling out of bed in your pajamas, going to the kitchen and pouring a fresh cup of coffee, then making your way to your desk and turning on your computer? There’s no traffic, weather, road conditions, time clocks, road construction, or stopping to fill that nearly empty gas tank. There are no worries about the periodic flat tire or car breakdown either. I have to say, after working in the corporate world for over 30 years and watching the commute time steal my free time away each and every day, working from home is bliss!

I work in a support role where I support Rockton Software Products that integrate with Microsoft Dynamics GP. I also interact with Microsoft CRM, creating and managing support cases. I have very specific hours where I must be available for our customers and Value Added Resellers (VARs). To be successful at this, I follow a structured and balanced environment that I've created. I treat my virtual job very much like I did my previous jobs at large corporations.

Working at home successfully for me comes in part from always being a fairly self-disciplined person, probably from how I was raised. As a child, when there was a job to do, that job got done before I dare think about play time. I also learned to finish what I started.  These behaviors instilled in me at an early age have helped me throughout my career.

If you have the opportunity to work at home during your career, I hope these things I do to make working at home successful for me, will help you too.

Create a Structured Routine
I have a set time I go to bed and wake up. Yes, I still use an alarm clock and yes, there are mornings I would love to sleep in, especially after staying up that extra hour to finish watching that movie the night before instead of recording it. I also shower every morning, do my hair and get dressed in casual clothing. Keeping to a routine is critical to being productive and succeeding. It is also just as important to turn off at the end of the week. When Friday night rolls around, I shut down my computer and close my office door. I flip my imaginary sign, “Closed for the weekend”.

The Smelly Armpit 
It is easy to let yourself fall into the lazy pit. The lazy pit is where you get up when you feel like it; you skip the shower and the teeth brushing, and don’t bother changing out of your PJs. You know what I’m talking about, where every day’s a Sunday. To ensure you don’t fall head first into this “pit”, you need mental strength and a lot of it. I imagine myself in an office building where people can see and hear me. I go through a mental checklist; would I wear this outfit to an outside job, or wear this hairstyle? If the answer is yes, I’m good to go.

Just Say No
We all have friends and families members that are either retired, unemployed or just plain don’t need to work. You may find they call you or want to come and visit. Some may even invite you to go to a movie, shopping or somewhere that sounds irresistible. I have found that being up front with them by telling them that even though I work at home, I have a job to do. It’s tough, especially when that once a year Labor Day sale is on, but I just say no!

Break for Balance
To keep in balance, it is beneficial to make time for breaks and lunch. Since there is no 12 o’clock whistle in my house, or co-worker to stop by my desk to get me for a coffee break, I find myself sometimes glued to my desk for hours. So, I really have to force myself to get up and move about several times a day to get that mental and physical break I need. Also, I cannot count the times I've been stuck on a support issue that I’m not sure how to resolve, and I take a break and suddenly the solution pops in my head.

Some of you may read this blog and think, really? You might think you wouldn't need to do these things to succeed. If that is you, then I guess you are done reading this and can go back to your smelly armpits and pajama pants. I can only speak from experience and these things have worked for me for the last four years now. I appreciate this rare opportunity, so I’m not about to screw it up!


Don't forget to check out the new Rockton website!

I carry my office in my backpack!

Written By Alina Filipczak,
Marketing Manager at Rockton Software

In 2010, when I accepted my position as the Marketing Manager at Rockton Software, I was living in north Idaho in a small town called Sandpoint. Now Sandpoint has several companies whose headquarters are located there: Coldwater Creek, Litehouse Dressing and Thorne Research just to name a few. Not to mention, I had worked at 2 of those companies before coming on at Rockton.

It’s now 2012 and I am living near Denver in a small town called Erie. No headquarters here, just a great suburb close to a city with lots of amenities! I was actually able to leave the Rockton Software corporate office in Sandpoint and take my job with me—what a great concept!  I carry my office in my backpack!

Rockton Software is a virtual company with employees in 7 states. We are spread across 4 time zones, and we work great together. How is that really possible you may ask? We use VOIP phones, instant messaging, and just about any communication technology one can think of. We have Rockton Software Retreats twice a year to meet with our fellow co-workers for face-to-face meetings and vision planning. We are able to meet one-on-one with our superiors and embrace personal growth.

Have you considered working remote?  If not, you might want to give it try!

Rockton has a new website, check it out!

Rockton Software: The Updated Website!

Written By Nicole Sexton, Social Media
Coordinator at Rockton Software

We decided that we needed a more modern website, here at Rockton. Our Web Developer, Shawn Strayer, has been spending nearly a month of his time working on this new site. He has done a great job on the new look!

At the Partner Event, I attended a few sessions that talked about how important a company’s website is; it is the face of your business to anyone online, which means prospect customers. Rockton has made the change.

And, we think our new website looks fantastic! What are your thoughts on Rockton’s new website?

Useful ISV Products for Microsoft Dynamics GP: Part 3 of 8

Written by Mark Rockwell,
President of Rockton Software

41. Blue Moon Industries: Freight Matrix defines freight charges based on ranges of order totals or shipping zones and methods.
42. Blue Moon Industries: SOP to BOM Link associates sales documents and assembly orders.
43. Blue Moon Industries: Disassembly BOM lets you issue finished goods to be disassembled and returns component items back to stock.
44. Blue Moon Industries: Advanced GL Close extends the year-end close functionality by increasing the number of divisional segments to four.
45. Blue Moon Industries: Enhanced Voucher Selection gives the end-user a list of all documents available for payment WITHOUT building a batch.
46. Business Computers Software, Inc.: Time Matrix is a Time Clock system. It tracks time entries for Payroll, HR, Project Accounting, Manufacturing, WennSoft, Horizons and Olympic Project Cost.
47. Computer Productivity Services, Inc.: Bar Code Label Application for POP, SOP, Inventory and Fixed Assets generates the correct quantity of Bar Code Labels with a click for an entire transaction by Base U of M, Transaction U of M, Sales U of M, Lot or Serial number or an editable Quantity for Specific Line.
48. Computer Productivity Services, Inc.: Wireless Fixed Asset Physical Count and Create is a user scan each asset. When the count is complete the user uploads the data through a USB/ODBC connection. The user is able to scan in new assets and create them on the fly.
49. Computer Productivity Services, Inc.: Wireless Inventory Physical Count lets users scan each Lot/Serial number and confirm the Part Number and Quantity, or scan each Part Number and Quantity. When the count is complete the user uploads the data, edits the information, and can restrict the count by Class and Sit.
50. Computer Productivity Services Inc.: Wireless Receiving, Adjustments, and Transfers has three different functions: transfers, purchasing, and adjustments. Transfers scans and updates warehouse information. Purchases scans and updates receipt information. Adjustments scan in adjustments and quickly update warehouse information.
51. Computer Productivity Services Inc.: Production Management for Labels, Tags, Signs, and Flexible Packaging Manufacturing is a quotation management, narrow and wide web Flexo, Litho, Screen and Digital Print Estimating, Work Order Management and Customer Service, Drag and Drop Scheduling, Shop Floor Time Management, Shop Floor Material Management and Job Costing.
52. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): Re-Formatter reformats the Chart of Accounts and Account Structure.
53. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): AA Tools for Analytical Accounting has four modules to manage the data in AA: backfill data, change codes, convert GL segments, and complete analytics.
54. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): emPerform Employee Appraisals is a web-based appraisal system that integrates employee revies, goal management, succession planning, compensation management, 360 multi-rater feedback, unlimited web surveys and reporting.
55. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): Cost Allocator performs multi-level account allocations using 1 or 4 methods.
56. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): CRG Cubes is a pre-built SQL Analysis Services Cubes for many modules and can help with BI and SQL Reporting Services projects.
57. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): Changer can change, merge, and combine GL accounts, vendor IDs, item number, customer IDs, project numbers, and contract numbers.
58. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): Merger Series enables the merging of orders or invoices.
59. Corporate Renaissance Group (CRG): Company Combiner is multiple companies can be combining into one.
60. Diamond Software: Use Tax Tracking and Reporting allows use taxes to be calculated and booked to the proper taxes payable account as vouchers are entered.

Wishing for Part 2 of Useful ISV Products, check it out!

The Dreadful Abyss of Changing Banks in Microsoft Dynamics GP

Diane Bilyeu, Controller
at Rockton Software

Are you a GP User but you didn’t set it up?  Do you now have that daunting task of changing banks?  Do you have to try and find all the places in GP that have to be changed to reflect the new bank as the default bank?  Hitting the Panic Button?

Enter Superwoman (or man), GP’s Navigational Dashboards! 

 For those of you that count ‘clicks’ to get to your destination, it could take you 5-6 (or more counting the mistakes) clicks using the ‘old’ Tool Bar and that’s IF you know where you are going.  You would have to start by going to MS Dynamics GP>(hmmm, now where?) Edit, Tools or Maint>(hmmm, now where?) Setup, Utilities or Routines>(hmmm, now where) Setup has 6 possible choices, Utilities has 4 possible choices, Routines has 3 possible choices.  I think you get my drift here!  If you didn’t set up GP and you don’t know it blind-folded then you quickly get lost in that abyss, possibly intimidated and at the very least will more than likely not catch all the places you need to change your bank in.  Keep in mind that in GP for each real life bank account you have, you have to have a GL account and a ‘checkbook’ set up in GP.  You tie each checkbook to its own GL Account.  Now the hard part happens, if you still use the Tool bar.  It’s easy, if you use the new Navigational Dashboards.  You have to change all the places in GP where the checkbook(s) are used.

By going to the Navigational Dashboards you simply click on each dashboard for all of the modules you use.  As an example, let’s use the Sales Dashboard.  You click on the Sales Dashboard to open it up, go to Setup and proceed to click on each ‘section’:  ‘Receivables’, ‘Customer Class’ (if you use them you have to open each class go to Accounts and change the checkbook there), SOP, Invoicing.  Change the checkbook in each one and you are done.  Very simple, painless and time saving!  You do the same thing for each module you use.

For most companies you use one bank for AR & AP, possibly a different one for PR.  You just set up whichever bank (checkbook) you want to use for each module.  For your Financial module it works a little bit differently because GP has ‘assumed’ you may be using multiple banks.  The only thing you need to do thru the Financial dashboard (actually needs to be done first) is to set up your GL account for each bank and then go and setup your Checkbook for each bank and attach it to the GL account you just setup.  When doing your Bank Transactions, you enter the bank at the time you do the transaction so you have the choice of changing banks.  I hope my tip has helped make your day a little bit easier!  This Dashboard Damsel is signing off until next time…….

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The Partner Event 2012 Recap

Written By:
Nicole Sexton, Social Media
Coordinator at Rockton Software

The Partner Event 2012 was a wonderful experience for me since I am new to the channel. It was nice to finally put names to faces, as well as meet up with all of the Rockton Crew since we are located in 7 different states.

Since I am the Social Media Coordinator at Rockton Software, I found multiple sessions very helpful. It gave me an insight on what Rockton is doing correctly, as well as what we can work on. My favorite session that I attended was 60 Tips in 60 Minutes presented by Michelle Glennie and Cheryl Salazar of The Partner Marketing Group. It was quick paced, giving multiple tips on what social media sites to use. A helpful tip, which came from another attendee of the session, was about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is a website (www.meclabs.com), this website has different webinars that give tips about SEO.

Aside from the sessions, I enjoyed the Sunrise Scramble and Bowling night. I just want to point out that I was on the leader board for both! The Bowling night was the most fun, due to the dancing and delicious cupcakes.

Now that the Partner Event 2012 is over, Rockton Software is sponsoring The Technical Airlift. Mark Rockwell did a stunning performance at the Opening Session at the Technical Airlift 2012, which you should check out!

Useful ISV Products for Microsoft Dynamics GP: Part 2 of 8

Mark Rockwell, President of Rockton Software, has presented these useful ISV products at GPUG for Microsoft Dynamics GP. 

Written By Mark Rockwell,
President of Rockton Software

21. Ariett Business Solutions: Ariett Xpense is a web-based expense reporting in the “Cloud” SaaS with web-services integration for Dynamics ERP or with Mobile Apps, Receipt and Policy Management, Corporate Credit Card Integration.
22. Ariett Business Solutions: Ariett MyTripNet offers pre-trip and pre-expense approval, online travel booking, seamlessly populating the employees Ariett Xpense Report. This is a tool for pre-approval of Ariett Xpense line items that will appear on an employee’s Corporate Credit or P-Card.
23. Ariett Business Solutions: ReqNet is a web-based requisition and purchased management, audit trail, receiving, budgeting and commitment, RFQ, project accounting with budgets, ISV support for WennSoft, Olympic, Binary Stream, Mobile Approvals, and bundled analytics and reporting.
24. Ariett Business Solutions: Ariett Mobile for approvals support with any Smartphone with cross company approval and drill down—across Ariett product lines from a single screen.
25. Avalara: AvaFile is a Managed returns service that allows tax departments to view, modify, and approve returns for submission to any tax jurisdiction.
26. Avalara: AvaTax for Microsoft Dynamics provides protection against changing tax laws, obsolete data, and transaction tax audits.
27. Avalara: vCert is web-hosted software that gives power to Tax, Finance, and any other department to control the entire exemption certificate lifecycle.
28. Azox: eSource provides B2C, B2C and a Sales Prtal for order entry.
29. Azox: Credit Card Extension brings PCI compliance, encryption, batch processing and reporting to customers outside of GP.
30. Azox: Online Bill Pay Bundle allows customer to open a secure payment portal and pay outstanding invoices online real-time.
31. Binary Stream Software: Multi-Entity Management shares various master records such as items, vendors, and customers across different corporate entities, locations, or structures all in one database.
32. Binary Steam Software: Property Site Manager is an essential property and site management, including billing processes, track and bill costs, occupancy, profit and loss, and complex calculations for retail and telecommunications rent.
33. Binary Stream Software: Advanced Revenue & Expense Deferrals is an in-depth control and flexibility to manage deferrals for both revenues and expenses on a line item basis.
34. Binary Stream Software: Advanced Recurring Contract Billing automates the recurring invoicing process by batch producing and delivering all invoices due within a certain date range.
35. Binary Stream Software: Healthcare Materials Management is a complete healthcare supply chain management with requisition, procurement, fulfillment and consumption tracking and management.
36. Binary Stream Software: Investments & Loans Management is an investment portfolio, loans, and fund investor management functionality.
37. BIO Analytics Corp.: BIO Enterprise, BIO Express provides advanced reporting, analysis, and dashboarding.
38. Blue Moon Industries: SOP Auto Invoice automates the sales order transfer process and provides automatic invoice printing and posting.
39. Blue Moon Industries: Container Management is a functionality for importers, including manifest entry and vessel tracking, to track the purchase and receipt of imported inventory items.
40. Blue Moon Industries: ChargeBack Processing is used to enter and edit customer defined remittance adjustments prior to the posting of cash receipts.

Looking for Part 1 of 8, Useful ISV Products for Microsoft Dynamics GP?

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