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LET US HEAR FROM YOU We Value Your comments ... Your questions ... Your suggestions ... Thank you |
We will be happy to answer any questions regarding our products and services you might have, Do not hesitate to email us at tds@churchsoftware.com. We will respond to your email within 24 hours. In addition, we will place interesting and frequently asked questions here. Your name will not be used.
- Is it possible to buy only the parts of the program we need right now?
- What is the cost of the software?
- How often is CMTS™ for Windows® upgraded? How much do new releases
cost??
- Can CMTS allow everyone to work in different locations?
- Can the software be used on multiple computers?
- How easy is it to transfer data between the home and the church?
- We need a system that is flexible and can be easily customized.
- Can someone with very little accounting knowledge use the bookkeeping system?
- Our church maintains a different checking account for each fund. Is this necessary?
- What is fund accounting? How does it differ from a general business accounting system?
- I experience lengthy waits calling for support. Is your system any different?
- I work a full time job and can not call for support during normal business hours.
- Will someone come to the church and provide installation help and training?
- I often work on the system late at night and fear I might mess something up.
- I like to work in Microsoft Excel. How easy is it to export CMTS data into a spreadsheet?
- Are there any limitations to the number of people that CMTS can handle?
- What are the system requirements?
- Is it possible to easily spot someone whose attendance has dropped off without recording attendance?
- What if we have an older computer?
- Can the software be customized?
- Can data from our existing system be imported into CMTS?
CMTS™ for Windows® has flexible pricing options. Purchase module(s) you need now. Add others later. For instance, start with Members/Visitors/Others (MO Option - $199.00) or Membership and Donations (MD Option - $299.00) and upgrade to the complete system within a year by paying the difference between what has already been paid and the complete system price (Single User - $495.00). Other options are also available.
What is the cost of the software?
CMTS and OMS have several purchase options. Pricing starts at $199.00 for a basic version of either system. Go to Forms and Documents to view or print an order form with all pricing options.
How often is CMTS™ for Windows® upgraded? How much do new releases cost?
We try to average at least one new upgrade per year. The last two upgrades of CMTS™ for Windows were in July 2002 and March 2003. The last two upgrades of OMS™ for Windows were in August 2002 and April 2003. Upgrades are free and automatically sent to customers provided that their support is current.
Our secretary uses a program we wrote to track names and addresses. The treasure uses a different program at home to handle the finances. Another volunteer tracks donations on a spreadsheet and duplicates the secretary’s work by maintaining another name list. Can CMTS allow everyone to work in different locations, avoid duplication of work, and continue to do their same job?
YES! See the next question.
We would like to use the system on several computers. Is this possible?
Yes. There are several ways this is easily done. By licensing several computers, one person can enter names and addresses at one location. Another person can work with finances; still another can record donations or attendance, all on different computers. The pastor can even look up addresses and enter visitation notes on a laptop while making visits. Computers can be located at church and/or in volunteers’ homes. In larger churches it may be necessary to have several people process donations at the same time. In this instance, our multi-user network system is a perfect solution.
I volunteer at the church. How easy is it to transfer the database from church to home and back again?
It is very easy. Backup your work onto a diskette by selecting [File]>[Backup]. Take the diskette to the other location and select [File]>[Restore]. It’s that simple.
We need a system that is flexible and can be easily customized. How flexible is CMTS?
The system may be customized in a number of ways. Define up to 9,999 special dates, skills, organizations and events. For instance, define an organization for the choir, the finance committee, each Sunday school class or and any other desired group. Link each person with any organizations or groups that person is associated with. Associate a person with the appropriate special dates, events or skills. Define individual categories such as members, prospects, and visitors and classify each person accordingly. Define your own data items for people and households. Record notes for an individual including date, time, subject and a free-formatted memo. Print a roster or a set of mailing labels for the entire congregation, for a particular category of individuals or for all individuals in a specific organization. Print labels for each person or print only one label per household.
Attendance is the hardest part for churches to record. The church is large and no accurate means has evolved. We are using the envelopes to help take attendance, not accurate but the easiest. Can your contribution system talk to the attendance and update the attendance module? We need a system that will allow us to easily spot someone whose attendance has dropped off. Recording attendance would be too time consuming and not practical in our church.
In the donation module there is a report titled “Donation Call List”. This report prompts for a date range and gives a list of donors whose last donation date is within the specified date range. This is a simple way to identify people whose attendance may have stopped in recent weeks without implementing the attendance module. The attendance module does provide this and other useful information. The module is easy to implement, and data entry is very fast and efficient. However, your suggestion of automatically updating the attendance from donation data entry will be considered for the next release.
I am the church bookkeeper. I have no prior experience and need a very simple system.Does CMTS qualify?
The accounting module can be implemented in “Basic Mode” or “Double-Entry Fund Accounting” mode. “Basic Mode” meets the needs of the majority of our churches. It requires little bookkeeping knowledge, yet it provides complete check book management for multiple check accounts, offers budgeting capabilities, excellent month-end financial reports and has a great month-end check reconciliation.
Our church maintains a different checking account for each fund. We have tried different programs but still find this the best way to track in each fund.
This is not necessary with a true fund accounting system. Even if all money is kept in one bank account, a fund accounting system will track the balance in each fund at all times.
What is fund accounting? How does it differ from a general business accounting system?
Fund accounting is a specialized form of double-entry accounting often used in churches and other nonprofit organizations. In fund accounting, the equity section of the balance sheet is properly titled the fund equity section and contains an account for every designated and undesignated fund. Income and expense accounts often referred to as sources of funds (income) and uses of funds (expenses) automatically link with the associated fund equity account. This makes it possible to automatically update fund balances whenever a transaction effects an associated income or expense account. Business accounting system can not do this. The system has numerous reports including a balance sheet and a report known as “Statement of Sources and Uses of Funds and Changes in Fund Equity”. This report is similar to the profit and loss statement found in commercial accounting systems. Sound complicated? Remember that the CMTS™ for Windows® bookkeeping system may be implemented in “Basic Mode” as well as “Double-Entry Fund Accounting” mode. “Basic Mode” offers an excellent bookkeeping system for most churches and does not require extensive accounting knowledge.
Often when I call a software company, I experience lengthy waits or can not get through. Is your system any different?
The minimum recommended system requirements for CMTSTM for Windows®
I work a full time job and can not call for support during normal business hours.
We have many churches where the computer operator is a volunteer holding down a full time job as well. This is one reason we have support hours on Saturday mornings. In addition, we will make special arrangements to work with a customer at times when we are closed when nothing else is possible. for Windows®
Will someone come to the church and provide installation help and training?
On site training is available in some areas of the country but cost extra and is rarely required. The software is easy to install and simple to use. It is also well documented. In addition, when requested, we are happy to provide installation planning, software implementation and training services by telephone at no additional charge to new customers. In addition, these services are available to existing customers for upgrades or when someone new starts using the system.
I often work on the system late at night when no support is available. I reach a point where I fear I might mess something up if I continue.
CMTS™ for Windows® has a great feature called restore points. To create a restore point simple select [File]>[Save]. Then, if something unexpected happens, you can roll the database back to a previously created restore point in seconds. To roll back to an earlier point in time, select [File]>[Restore from Save or Backup]. Click on the file lookup button, select the desired restore point, and then select [OK].
I like to work in Microsoft Excel. How easy is it to export CMTS data into a spreadsheet?
Data from CMTS™ for Windows® may be exported into MicroSoft Excel literally in four or five mouse clicks. View information such as names and addresses, donation information, a complete check ledger, attendance or most other information in seconds. In addition, data can also be exported into a “comma-delimited” file which can then be imported into many other applications.
Are there any limitations to the number of people that CMTS can handle? How many people may be assigned to each family or household?
There is no limit to the number of people that the system can store or the number of individuals assigned to a household.
What are the system requirements?
The minimum recommended system requirements for CMTSTM for Windows® :
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IBM PC or compatible 200MHz or faster
Windows® 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000 or XP
32 MB RAM (64 MB RAM recommended)
At least 40 Megabytes free hard disk space
800 x 600 display, 16-bit color recommended
Many of our churches have older equipment donated by church members. If your computer is running Windows® 3.1 or DOS, we can still help. We continue to support the DOS versions of our products as well as our 32-bit Windows versions.
Can the software be customized?
Software should meet your needs. You should not have to change the way you run your organization because of software requirements. Our products are very flexible with numerous options to tailor features to meet your requirements. The optional Report Writer allows you to write your own reports or modify the numerous reports supplied with the system. We also offer custom programmming services at very affordable rates. Whether you need a special report, a modification to an existing report, or a change in the program to meet a specific need, we can help.
Can data from our existing system be imported into CMTS?
Yes! We often provide custom import routines so that information does not have to be re-entered. Please call our office for more information.
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