Bassco Enhancements to CIMS

FMS Enhancements

(Jump to Student Enhancements)

• Established a way to identify old vendors, so that you can (a) prevent them from being used on purchase orders and requisitions, and, (b) optionally, based on a switch setting, remove them from F4 indexes
• Set up a purchasing card system which allows you to receive a file of transactions from the bank which includes employee ID, account number, amount, etc.  This data is then reviewed (changed if necessary) by designated approvers, and then posted to FMS.
• Developed automatic routing and approval of journal entries (both adjusting and budget).  This includes budget checking, and the ledger is not impacted until a journal entry is approved..
• Created the capability to define G/L account descriptions based on the full (up to 28 digit) account strings.  If present, this description replaces the “generic” account description (form GNL.203) on screens and reports.
• Built a budget maintenance system, which allows the district to specify which users are authorized to do the budgeting for which accounts.  Those users then see the total dollars for all their accounts, any changes made, as well as the data for an individual account, all on one screen.
• Expanded the General Ledger Financial Report Writer to support additional calculations beyond the 45 already provided.  For example, we can include a column showing the total remaining payroll cost, and another column showing the difference between the payroll budget and total remaining payroll cost.
• Expanded the purchase order closing procedures by enabling the closing of purchase orders by PO number range and/or account range.
• Automated account inactivation (I or D) for those accounts with no activity.
• Added the ability to have the budget checking logic use a percentage of the actual budget.  For example, restrict users to 90% of budget until late in the year.

• Added the capability to prevent the printing of closed purchase orders, as well as the ability to prevent changes to approved purchase orders.

EMS Enhancements

• Modified EMS to send direct deposit notices via e-mail, saving paper, postage, and processing time.
• Added the capability in EMS to support user-defined addenda, leave, and deductions based on whatever rules are necessary.  This is very useful in larger districts, where unions sometime make unusual demands.  For example, we can handle garnishments, and we can compute deductions and leave accruals based on hours worked.
• We developed the interface for FrontLine Data's AESOP product.  AESOP is a web-based system where employees and substitutes log on to record and fill absences.  Our interface merges substitutes’ time worked and employees’ absences into CIMS payroll.  It performs error checking consistent with EMS, generates the probable account number for the Sub’s time using your rules, and provides additional reporting. This interface pays for itself!!
• Created separate contract programs to allow entry of additional data needed for printing contracts.  You can then print contracts.  Modified time entry to determine if there is a signed contract on file, total time paid for contract does not exceed time allotted for that contract, and no resigned date exists for that contract.
• Added support for more than eight absence leave codes per employee, to handle non-recurring leaves such as jury duty, military leave, family leave, etc., which are (a) not accrued, but (b) might apply to any given employee on any given day.  These leave codes are NOT entered on the employee’s assignment, but they ARE available via F4 when entering time and attendance even though leave code validation is turned on.
• Added support for five additional job codes to be included or excluded when computing deductions.
• Created a mass assignment generator that will add an assignment with a specified new job code to each employee with an existing assignment with some other job code, or to employees in a specified group.
• Added screens to P/R check lookup to show account distribution and absence detail.
• Significantly automated the payroll budget forecasting process for multiple years, allowing for various choices for each year based on computed totals in prior year.
• Modified salary & benefit budgeting to allow some of the employee’s pay to be based on existing (current year) pay tables and the rest of the pay to be based on projected (next year) pay tables.  This provides a much more accurate projection if any contracts begin on other than the first day of the fiscal year.   
• Developed a very comprehensive one-page-per-employee report that shows almost everything you ever wanted to know about each employee.
• Significantly streamlined EMS Mass Time and Attendance Input.  This includes automatic changes to account strings when inputting overtime, and it is very useful in larger districts. Also added the ability to enter time for one day and then duplicate it for several days, so instead of keying 40 hours for one day (and seeing that on your reports), you would see the individual days and hours.
• Created a modification to arrear deductions if employees do not make sufficient pay to subtract all deductions.
• Set up a pay table function to facilitate the creation of next year's tables by adding percentages and/or dollar amounts to the current tables.  A range of percents may be specified that will automatically be spread across the steps in the table.  In turn, a higher percentage increase may be given to employees with more seniority, or vice versa.
• Implemented “Positive Pay,” where you send a file of your check information to the bank to prevent fraud.
• Created the ability to track leave usage and accruals for contract period and lifetime. 
• Added the capability to accrue a separate absence code based on perfect attendance.
• Developed a process to allow employees to 'Bank' certain types of absences.  These 'Banked' units can be processed to automatically create additional assignments to pay for all or some of the 'Banked' units.
• Added the ability to generate Days/Weeks exception records from existing records in Time and Attendance files
• Added the ability to process payroll for a single period end date (will not include prior time/attendance period end dates)

FAS Enhancement

• Modified FAS to allow fixed assets to be directly posted to the Suspense File at the time invoices are posted.  This bypasses the need for receiving.

WHS Enhancements

• Developed automatic routing and approval of warehouse requisitions.
• Added the ability to encumber backorders in the WHS system. 

CIMS Student Enhancements

• Created software to support the upload of achievement test scores from files in various formats, i.e., Iowa, California, Stanford, SAT, etc., and then view them in CIMS, generate reports, and print them on transcripts.
• Created an interface to Excelsior Grade 2 (Pinnacle), which downloads students, teachers, schedules, etc., and uploads grades, comments, and attendance. Teachers' gradebooks are updated automatically every night.
• Developed several different academic eligibility and award eligibility tracking systems based on courses taken, GPA’s, attendance, and discipline.
• Modified address maintenance to enforce the consistent entry of street names in terms of spelling, directions (N, S, E, W), number ranges, etc. Automatic assignment of the student's Map Grid is optionally provided. This enhancement is very useful to the transportation department, and to those who assign the next year school number.
• Created an interface to Edulog (bus routing system) that keeps track of the last data downloaded to the PC. This allows for rapid refresh of the PC database, since only changes need to be transferred.
• Implemented several Student Fee Billing and Accounts Receivable systems that automatically generate fees based on courses taken and other parameters, and automatically adjust/pro-rate the fees following schedule changes.  Parents can pay by sending their credit card info to a bank lock box; the bank sends a file of payment transactions to the district which is posted to the student fee system.  This frees your teachers from collecting/handling money, writing receipts, etc.  This also makes it very easy to withhold report cards, diplomas, etc, when fees have not been paid.  Parents can also pay on-line – see next item.
• Created an interface to EZpay™, a web-based payment portal through which parents can pay student fees, including those generated by the above enhancement, as well as lunch and activity fees.  For more information on EZpay™, visit http://www.866myezpay.com/ 
• Modified transcripts many ways, such as (1) show semester 1, and semester 2, and final grade on one line, (2) include ACT, SAT, and state proficiency test scores, (3) show correct full and half day attendance data, and (4) print on customized forms.
• Modified attendance functions to support printing of full and half day absences on report cards, and to print new absence summary reports by homeroom and by student, and to print a new absence reason breakdown report.
• Modified grading computations in numerous ways including rounding off, special rules for how grades (e.g., I) given in selected periods should affect semester and final grades, and special rules for how credits are earned, excluding selected students from GPA, etc.
• Added the capability to include course fees on student schedules.  Also added the ability to include up to 25 lines of comments based on the student’s class on the schedule.
• Developed software for "Lottery" processing, which randomly assigns students to desired schools based on district-defined parameters, and then automatically updates the next year school data in CIMS.
• Established a Drop/Add Reporting System that automatically notifies teachers and counselors of drops and adds, and prints revised schedules for counselors.
• Set up a student profile turn-around document to be sent home to parents - prints student demographic data on a preprinted form with space for corrections.
• Developed an interface to a food service point of service application that generates bills and maintains receivables.
• Developed a Field Trip Management system enabling school personnel to enter a field trip request.  The request is then printed out for approval by the appropriate administrator(s). Once approved, a field trip order form is printed for the transportation department that includes the date, destination, number of students, default account numbers, etc., with spaces for entry of buses, drivers, driver hours, miles, fuel costs, etc. After the trip, the transportation department updates the data and various reports are available, including a summary that allows easy entry of G/L journal entries.
• Created several customized report cards, honor roll reports, transcripts and student graduation requirements reports and inquiries.
• Established an Excessive Absences Warning system that allows each school define their own criteria for excessive absences, tardies, and unexcused absences, and then prints warning messages on the absence reason worksheet. Instead of printing warnings on the worksheet, we can interface this function with the CIMS Attendance Letters program or other word processors.
• Also developed a Truancy Module which supports two categories of truancy (e.g., habitual and chronic).  This builds a file that includes the truancy data as well as demographic/address info, which can be downloaded to a PC for letter generation, etc.
• Created Special Education software that generates Special Ed teacher rosters, student rosters by disability, student counts by disability within teacher, etc. This includes user-customizable Special Ed. Student Profiles, and a Special Ed. Report writer.
• Added the capability to maintain General Student Attributes by homeroom.
• Defined upper/lower case versions, instead of all upper case versions, of student and family master files for use with Query.
• Created the capability to generate student reports based on/sorted by street name.
• Wrote a kindergarten enrollment summary.
• Created the ability to track and print student library visits.
• Created the ability to input and track student community activity hours.
• Created a student graduation requirements report with sufficient information on it to be sent home to parents.