January 2023
Letter from the President
User Group Recap by the Numbers
Total number of attendees at the conference.
Individual companies represented.
Different states represented.
Unique individual training seminars offered.
Average attendee rating (on a scale of 1 to 10) for the overall conference.
228
93
20
15
8.2
These are all great numbers to see!
We were so excited about the quality of the venue, the event itself, and the raving responses we have received so far that we have already started to plan for our next conference tentatively scheduled for May 8 & 9 of 2024!
If you were one of the attendees, thank you for coming.
If you missed out, we hope to see you at the next one.
The energy at the event was astounding. So many people were charged up and excited to be there. Partly because many of us haven’t been together as a group for some time, and partly because of the excitement to learn more about STRUCTURE and our plans for the future.
Unlike previous conferences, this time we had many of our users assist with the presentations by weighing in on their experiences with STRUCTURE and sharing their thoughts with all of us. This format was most powerful, and we will definitely consider including customers in future presentations.
Lunching with your peers was once again a great networking opportunity that most respondents felt was a great format we should continue with in the future.
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Several people commented that they wished there was more time for more breakout sessions, and many of you requested expanding the conference to two full days or more so that we could cover more topics.
We hear you loud and clear, and plan on expanding the next conference to multiple days.
During the luncheon, some of you requested we bring back the segment in the newsletter showcasing how long your company has been a C/F Data client. Please see the anniversary section in this issue.
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued confidence in C/F Data Systems and our ability to support your organizations as we continue to grow together.
Everybody at C/F Data Systems wishes you and yours a very happy and prosperous 2023!
Enjoy the New Year,
Eric Goldstein
Eric Goldstein
President
C/F Data Systems
Milestones
Happy Anniversary!
Please join us in congratulating the following companies for their tenure with C/F Data Systems and their loyalty to our STRUCTURE brand.
Celebrating 35 Years
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Comalli Group, Pittsfield, MA
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J C Higgins, Stoughton, MA
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Barry Communications, Worcester, MA
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R & R Window Contractors, East Hampton, MA
Celebrating 25 Years
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John H Lyman & Sons, Gilford, NH
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Commercial Roofing & Contracting, Putnam, CT
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Pandolfo Company, Burlington, MA
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The Electricians & Co, Malden, MA
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Favreau’s Electric, Brunswick, ME
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Advantage Electrical Services, Traverse City, MI
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Custom Drywall, Providence, RI
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Electrical Dynamics, North Reading, MA
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General Mechanical Contractors, Auburn, MA
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Commercial Painting, Providence, RI
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Fred Williams Inc., Hingham, MA
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Nason Mechanical Systems, Auburn, ME
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Commonwealth Plumbing, Rockland, MA
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Pittsfield Pipers, Pittsfield, MA
Celebrating 30 Years
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Douglas A King Builders, North Easton, MA
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B-G Mechanical Contractors, Chicopee, MA
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Component Assembly Systems, Pelham, NY
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Bent Electrical Contractors, Somerville, MA
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Cherenzia Excavation, Westerly, RI
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Omega Electric Construction, Burlington, VT
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Depaoli Mosaic, Canton, MA
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New England Foundation, Boston, MA
Celebrating 20 Years
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United Hvac, Rockland, MA
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J Masterson Construction, Danvers, MA
Thank you for many years as a valued member of the C/F Data Systems family!
How To: Set Up 401K Limits
There are two deduction codes available for 401K.
These exact codes must be used for the system to recognize the 401K deductions:
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Use an upper-case Z for a traditional 401K.
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Use a lower-case z for Roth.
NOTE: To start a Roth plan, you must call C/F Data Systems Support first to change a hidden Control File Question.
On the second screen of EMT (Employee Maintenance), in the deduction grid enter the Z or z code, frequency, type (flat or %), the amount, and the limit.
If an employee has both a Traditional and a Roth 401K, enter the same limit on both the Z and z lines. The system will know that this is the combined limit for both.
Sample of EMT (second screen):
How To: Set 401K Limits for the New Year
Important Note: Wait until after all Payroll Year End steps
have been completed and EYU has been run.
From the Year End and W2’s menu, select ES4 - Set 401K Limits for New Year.
The ES4 screen will appear.
Enter the 401K limit for the new year. The 2023 limit is $22,500.
The limit will update on both the Z and z (Roth) deduction codes in EMT.
After the ES4 is done, change the limit for employees over age 50 in EMT to $30,000 for the catch-up contribution.
Support Tips
Upgrade Notifications
If no one is receiving notifications to upgrade STRUCTURE, please let C/F Data Systems Support know.
If you do receive the notifications and you always click [Remind me Later], please let us know why.
If you are still using version 18.04.15 or lower, let us know how we can help with getting you up to date with the latest version.
See the screen to the right for an explanation of the options you have when you are asked to update.
Export Spreadsheet (CSV)
If you are running a report and have selected the “Export Spreadsheet(csv)” option, the report will display an Excel icon on the tool bar when it’s open in View Mode. You must select this to open the report in Excel as a CSV file.
Training Opportunities
Education is a valuable tool if you want to be up to date with the latest enhancements, and perhaps even learn new ways to improve your day-to-day processes using STRUCTURE.
While our new customers receive initial trainings to learn the system, those of you that have been using it for a while can also benefit from refresher courses that will improve your efficiency and maximize the way you benefit fromall of the features STRUCTURE offers.
Also, if you have recently hired new employees, they are perfect candidates for classes as well.
We offer live online training, in-person classes at our Weymouth, MA home office, as well as onsite visits to your office. These options are billable, so if you are interested in learning more, call us today to get a quote.
For training tools at no cost to you, on your STRUCTURE Tool Bar you can click the red '?' icon to access our Help screen to download full class workbooks for the various applications.
To the left of that is the blue Globe icon that brings you to our Support Website that has tabs for How To’s, Webinar recordings and other great learning tools for self-help.
Reach out to us so we can schedule something that works for you!!
Support Contact Information
Phone: 800.370.4357 | Fax: 781.337.9991 | Email: support@cfdatasystems.com
The phone lines are open from 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday (ET). Email support is available Monday through Friday 8:30am to 7:00pm.
Support may be unavailable Monday (9:00am-9:30am) and Thursday (8:45am-9:45am) for staff meetings.
2023 Tax Changes
Tax changes go out the second week of January. Admin users should be getting a notification to run an upgrade upon logging into STRUCTURE. If you have not received this message by the second week of January please contact support.
Please do not make any changes yourself to the tax tables, especially the description. Doing so can void the changes we send you. Correcting these errors will be billable.
After the tax changes are made, the description field for any state that had a change will include a January 2023 date.
Unemployment
The tax upgrade will update the State Unemployment Limits in the system. If you have a change to your percentage, you need to enter that in field 13 of EQS - Company State Info for EQU.
EQF
FICA limit will change to $160,200.
401K
The 401K limit is $22,500. You must enter the amount in ES4. This will update the 401K limit for both 401K and Roth. Employees 50 years of age or older are eligible to make additional catchup contributions. The 401K catch-up contribution for 2023 is $7,500. Enter $30,000 in EMT in the limit field for qualified employees with a “Z” or “z” code.
If an employee has both regular 401K and Roth, put the same limit on both deduction lines in EMT.
Federal Tax Changes
Important: FUTA - Go into EQF and verify that field 8 states 00.6000. The Federal tax tables have changed.
The Social Security tax rate remains at 6.2% and the Medicare tax rate remains at 1.45% for employee and employer. An extra 0.9% in Medicare is withheld on an employee whose wages are in excess of $200,000.
Make Sure You Read the Release Notes
Read the release notes that accompany the upgrade for a list of states with changes.
Fiscal Year End
Summary Checklist
Accounts Receivable
□ Run AGE – Accounts Receivable Aging – in detail ‐ prior to running the GMC for the month
□ Write off Bad Debt - See Fiscal Year End – Detail, or the Bad Debt How To, for full instructions
□ Optional – run ASR – Sales Analysis by Dollar – enter the dates for your Fiscal Year. Once printed, rerun for the first day of the new year to clear Current Invoice and YTD Invoice total from AMT change mode.
Accounts Payable
□ Run VAA – Accounts Payable Aging – in detail ‐ prior to running the GMC for the month.
□ Optional – run VAN – Vendor Analysis - enter the dates for your Fiscal Year. Once printed, rerun for the first day of the new year to clear Current Invoice and YTD Invoice total from VMT change mode.
General Ledger
After completing the steps in Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, you will be ready to close the year in General Ledger.
□ GMC – Month End Close
□ GFR – Current Month Financial Reports
While You Wait for Your Accountant’s Year End Figures:
You can continue posting your daily activity into future GL periods before doing the year end close in General Ledger.
Optional: If you haven’t already done so, set up the following Prior Year Reports to be archived:
□ PTB ‐ Trial Balance
□ PPF ‐ Financial Reports
□ PIC, PBC, & PCC ‐ Comparative Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Supporting Schedules
□ GPU ‐ Period Update
When You Get Your Accountant’s Year End Figures:
□ GJE – Journal Entries – Enter your accountant’s adjustments for the end of the year
□ GJU – Current Report and Update – to check your entries and update.
□ GFR – Current Month Financial Reports
□ Optional: GTR ‐ Trial Balance ‐ in Detail, for G/L Period 01 through G/L Period 12
□ Optional: Run Prior Year Financials (PTB, PPF, PIC, PBC and PCC)
□ GPU – Period Update (for period 12) – The System will automatically close the year. No one should be working in STRUCTURE when this is running! This Update will take longer than other period updates, and you will receive a report.
Other Applications
Job Cost ‐ Optional
□ JMF – Summary Reports – enter the dates for the cost and billing you want moved into COST PRIOR YEAR and BILLED PRIOR YEAR. Run one of the reports from JMF that includes Total Cost and Total Billing to check the information.
□ JPY – Move Costs to Prior Year Column ‐ will move total cost and billing amounts (based on the JMF report above) into the Cost Prior Year column and Billed Prior Year on your Job Cost Reports. Your Work in Process reports use this information for various columns and calculations, including “COST INCUR THIS YR.” Happy New Year!
Inventory - Optional
(NOT for users with ‘Roll Inventory’. Call C/F Data Support for Detailed instructions)
□ IMC – Clear Month to Date Totals - Clears the totals from the Units MTD column of the Material Usage Report (IUR)
□ IYC – Clear Year to Date Totals - Clears the totals from the Units YTD column of the Material Usage Report (IUR)
□ IIU – Inventory History Clear - This is usually run as part of the instructions for doing a physical count for inventory
Happy New Year
Please remember that the beginning of the year is an especially busy time of year for our support department.
We appreciate your patience when contacting our support staff, and we assure you that whether you contact us by phone, email, or ticket we will respond to your request as soon as possible and in the order your request was received.
For the fastest response, please leave a message on the main “Support” voicemail, instead of on an individual person’s voicemail. This main voicemail is checked often, and the person you wish to speak to will be notified. If that person is not available, someone else will assist you with your situation.
Also, please direct your support related emails to the main support email address (support@cfdatasystems.com) unless you were specifically instructed otherwise. We don’t want to keep you waiting for an answer to a problem that can be resolved by any one of our support members, especially if the person you are trying to reach is unavailable. You should receive an automatic reply saying a ticket has been created. If you don’t get one, call the office to make sure a ticket has been created.