Issue: August 2006

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In This Issue: 

 

Tip 1:  Using the Time Card Edit Report in Payroll
Tip 2:  Transferring a Group within an Organizational Structure
Tip 3:  Using the Project Register
Tip 4:  Using Titles to Correct Unknown Gender Records
New Feature:  Exporting any Shelby Grid to Excel

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Many users asked the following question during the various Dashboard sessions at NUGM 2006 (National Users Group Meeting).

 

"What are the major differences between the 'My Queries' and 'My Status' areas of the Shelby Dashboard? Do they function the same way?"

 

Although subtle, there are three major differences between these two areas. Firstly, "canned" queries (queries that are built into the program) can be found in the My Status area only.

 

Secondly, custom reports built with the ShelbyQUERY Report Designer will appear in the My Queries area only.

 

Lastly, every query loaded in the My Status area is run upon launching Shelby. Therefore, it would be a good idea to move as many queries from the My Status area to the My Queries area as possible to reduce long start up times. For more information about how to move queries from My Status to My Queries, see Tip 2 of the June issue of SSTips.

 

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Tip 1

  Using the Time Card Edit Report in Payroll

 

Submitted by:

Carmen Dea

Shelby Consultant Trainer

 

Overview:  SSTips suggests that you run the Time Card Edit prior to saving your pay run. This little-known report, found on the Employees to Pay screen, will allow you to print out a list of all payees' compensations, deductions, and taxes, helping you make sure that all payroll information is correct prior to printing checks. The report also provides an overall total of these figures.

 

Approach:  Start your pay run as you normally would, selecting the appropriate options on the Select Employees to Pay window and clicking OK to proceed to the Employees to Pay screen. Once there, click Reports on the menu bar and select Time Card Edit. View and/or print the edit as needed.

 

Use the Following Steps to Run the Time Card Edit Report

  1. Start Shelby v5.

  2. Locate and click on the Payroll link.

  3. Click the Run Payroll Checks link on the Payroll Home Base screen to start your pay run.

  4. Select your desired pay run options on the Select  Employees to Pay screen.

  1. Click the OK button on the Select Employees to Pay screen. If you are manually entering hours for your employees, do so at this time and continue to the Employees to Pay screen.

 

  1. Click Reports on the menu bar at the top of the Employees to Pay screen.

  2. Choose Time Card Edit from the menu.

 

  1. Select the items you want to print on the Time Card Edit window.

 

  1. Click the OK button.

  2. Examine and/or print the Time Card Edit report as needed.

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Tip 2

   Transferring a Group within an Organizational Structure
 

Overview:   It is once again nearing time for promotions, the process in Shelby where you "graduate" or move the attendees of one class to another. Typically, this involves running the Promotions utility in the Membership module to move the attendees, either as a group or individually. However, this SSTip outlines a quick and easy way to transfer an entire group of individuals (or an entire level of groups) given that the new group belongs to the same organization and level as the old group.

 

Approach:  Open the Membership module and enter the Organizations and Small Groups area. Locate the group (or level of groups) that you want to transfer and open the group. Use the Reports To field to change the parent group or level for the group you are moving.

 

Use the Following Steps to Move a Group or Level

 

For this example, we will assume that we wish to move the "Singles" level, which consists of one group named "Mon Nite", from the level 2 MONDAY department to the level 2 FRIDAY department.

  1. Start Shelby v5.

  2. Locate and click on the Membership link.

  3. Click on the Organizations link (may also be called Organizations and Small Groups) on the Membership Home Base screen.


 

  1. Right-click on the group or level that you want to move (e.g. SINGLES - Christian Singles Worship and Fellowship).

  2. Choose Open from the context menu.

 

  1. Click the pick-button located to the right of the Reports To field on the "Level Name" Information window.

 

  1. Double-click on the new parent level you want the selected group or level to report to (i.e. Friday).


 

  1. Click the OK button at the bottom of the "Level Name" Information window.

  2. The level or group should now display under the new parent level. Give any sub-levels or subgroups new group ID numbers and descriptions as needed. To do this:

    1. Right-click on the first sub-level or group that needs to be renamed.

    2. Choose Open from the context menu.

    3. If you are editing level details, enter an appropriate level ID number in the "Level Name" ID field. If you are editing group level details, enter an appropriate group ID number in the Group ID field.

    4. Enter an appropriate level or group description in the Description field.

    5. Change any other level or group details as needed.

    6. Click the OK button at the bottom of the window.

    7. Repeat steps a. through f. for each sub-level or group that needs to be changed.

Before:
After:

 

 

Note: As previously mentioned, the steps above work only if the group or level that you are transferring from is at the same level as the destination level, and within the same organization. In the scenario above, if you created a new organization called "Singles Night" and wanted to transfer the old roster to this new organization, you would have to use the Promotions utility in the Membership module to do so.

For more information about how to use the Promotions utility, click here.

 

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Tip 3

   Using the Project Register
 

Overview:   Many Shelby users create projects to help track income from certain sources or to help track spending associated with an event or other function. Keeping track of these projects, when they are used, and how much money is tied to the project can be a tedious job, unless you use a little-known report called the Project Register. Follow the steps in this SSTip to learn more.

 

Approach:  Open General Ledger. Click Utility, and choose Project Information. Then, click on Reports and choose Register. Select the desired display options and run the report.

 

Use the Following Steps to Run the Project Register

  1. Start Shelby v5.

  2. Locate and click on the General Ledger link.

  3. Click Utility on the menu bar at the top of the General Ledger Home Base screen.

  4. Choose Project Information from the menu.

  5. Click Reports on the menu bar at the top of the Project Information screen.

  6. Choose Register from the menu.

  7. Click the Include/Exclude button at the top of the Project Register window.

  8. Select which projects you want to include or exclude from the report. To print all projects, click the Select All button.

  9. Click the OK button on the Project Selection window after selecting your projects.

  10. Enter a date range in the Date From and To fields to include only activity for a given time frame, or leave these fields blank to include all activity.

  11. Use the Starting Period and/or Ending Period pull-down fields to include activity for only a certain period range, or leave these fields set to All Periods to include activity for all periods.

  12. Use the Which Company radio button group to print activity for the currently active company (the company that is currently selected on the General Ledger Home Base screen), or to print activity for all companies. If you wish to print activity for a company other than the one that is currently active, return to the General Ledger Home Base screen, select the appropriate company, and return to this window.

  13. Use the Sort By radio button group to select the sort order for projects.

  1. Click the OK button when finished. The Project Register print preview will appear on the screen. Each project will appear on a separate page of the report. Print the report if desired.

 

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Tip 4

  Using Titles to Correct Unknown Gender Records

Overview:  Inconsistent and inaccurate data is inevitable in all forms of data entry. One common mistake data entry personnel make when entering new records is forgetting to update the Gender field for new individuals. However, this problem can be quickly corrected in a few minutes as long you include titles for these records.

 

Approach:  If desired, you can first use the graph function in Membership to get an idea of how many records have an unknown gender. Then, enter the Membership Information area. Use the Advanced Query feature to select all records with a Mr. title and an unknown gender. Use Update Selected Fields to then change the gender on these records to male. Repeat the process for all records with a female title and an unknown gender.

 

Use the Following Steps to Determine the Number of Unknown Gender Records

  1. Start Shelby v5.

  2. Locate and click on the Membership link.

  3. Click on the Graph icon on the toolbar at the top of the Membership Home Base screen.

 

  1. Click the Run button on the Graph Type window. An Excel spreadsheet launches displaying the number or records in each male, female, and unknown gender categories.

 

 

Use the Following Steps to Select Records with a "Mr." Title with an Unknown Gender

  1. Make sure you have a current backup of your data.

  2. Start Shelby v5.

  3. Locate and click on the Membership link.

  4. Click on the Membership Information link on the Membership Home Base screen.

  5. If the Individual Information Criteria window appears, click the Clear Filters button. If the Individual Information Criteria window does not appear, click the Change Criteria button on the Individual Information screen, and then click the Clear Filters button.

  6. Click the OK button on the Individual Information Criteria window.

  7. Click the Advanced Query button located in the top-right corner of the Individual Information screen.

 

  1. Scroll down the filter list on the left side of the Advanced Query window and click on the Gender criterion.

  2. Select the Unknown checkbox on the right side of the window.

  1. Scroll down the filter list on the left side of the Advanced Query window and click on the Title criterion.

  2. Select the Mr. checkbox on the right side of the window.

  1. Click the Show Matches button in the bottom-right corner of the Advanced Query window. You will be returned to the Individual Information screen and each record with an unknown gender and a 'Mr.' title will be selected.

 

Use the Following Steps to Update Unknown Genders on the Selected Records

  1. While still on the Individual Information screen, click Utility on the menu bar at the top of the screen.

  2. Choose Update Selected Fields from the menu.

  3. Select Gender using the Pick One of the Following pull-down field.

  4. Click the OK button on the Update Selected Fields window.

  5. Select Male using the Gender pull-down field.

  6. Click the OK button on the Update Selected Fields window.

 

  1. Click the OK button on the ...Gender Has Been Updated... window.

  2. Click the Cancel button on the Update Selected Fields window.

  3. Click the Clear Selected button on the Individual Information screen.

  4. Repeat steps 4. through 12. in the Use the Following Steps to Select Records with a "Mr." Title with an Unknown Gender section above, this time selecting a female title, such as Mrs.

  5. Repeat steps 1. through 10. in this section until you have cleared all unknown genders.

 

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New

  Exporting any Shelby Grid to Excel®

Overview:  A new enhancement has been added to Shelby that will now allow you to export the results from any grid in Shelby to Microsoft® Excel®.

 

Use the Following Steps to Export Grid Results to Excel®

  1. While on a grid, simply hold down the CTRL key and press the P key on your keyboard (i.e. CTRL+P).

 

  1. Click the NO button on the Do You Want to Print Screen window.

 

  1. The results of the grid will then appear in Excel®.

 

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Copyright Ó 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006  SSTips Publishing, a division of Shelby Systems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.  Alfred Johnson, Managing Editor.