Web Databases and Postage Charges

Jenny, my wife, has been writing Alpha desktop databases since 1992. They've come a long way since then, and now they are more likely to be web based.

She's just finished a database for a local company to record and produce their quality certificates for their customers. It replaced a DOS database they had used happily for many years. They had some very postive things to say about Jenny, which naturally makes me happy. I think the key thing was that the database did what they wanted. The key points are that the system is:

• Easy to use ,
• Easy to find information in,
• Requires no additional software is required apart from the web server,
• Can be accessed from anywhere, with just about any browser,

It's led on to being asked to do some work for a "front-end" for their current invoicing system, with the simple requirement to allow them to send invoices by email. I suspect that the demand for systems that can email invoices will increase since the 60p first class stamp was announced.

So, thank you Royal Mail for increasing your postal charges!

The End of Payroll Year End?

HMRC have announced a new way of reporting PAYE: Real Time Information or RTI.

What this means is that information about payroll payments will be submitted throughout the year, rather than waiting until the end of the payroll year, in April.

The statement from HMRC is "Most employers will be legally required to use RTI from April 2013 and all employers will be required to by October 2013."

What this means for business who run their own payroll is the end of the stressful end-of-year payroll submissions. For my business, it means the loss of some business at the end of the year, helping small business deal with this stress!

For businesses with Sage Payroll, Sage are currently piloting the changes required - see www.sage.co.uk/rti so it's a bit, watch this space!

As more businesses will be submitting data more frequently, the potential for problems does increase somewhat. So the advice now is to make sure that your Sage Payroll data is up to date and correct. Here are some do's and don'ts from Sage:

Some simple Do’s and Don’ts of recording employee names

• DO – enter the employee’s full forename and surname.
• DO – enter a double barrelled forename or surname in full.
• DON’T – use known as, for example, if HMRC know the employee as ‘Robert’ don’t use ‘Bob’.
• DON’T – enter an initial in either the Forename or Surname boxes.

Some simple Do’s and Don’ts of recording employee dates of birth

• DO – enter the correct date of birth and ensure it’s in the format DD/MM/YYYY, for example 05/05/1985.
• DON’T – enter a default date of birth, such as 01/01/1901, or make one up.

Some simple DO’s and Don’ts of recording employee NI numbers

• DO – only enter an employee’s correct National Insurance number.
• DON’T – make up an employee’s National Insurance number.

All of the don't can make the payroll submission fail, not just once, but potentially 52 times!

And, if you do want help with your last payroll year end, do let me know - 0770 3321215 or email bob.earnshaw@bplus.co.uk

HMRC information:

Main RTI website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rti/index.htm

Improving your payroll data: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rti/dip/index.htm

Sage Payroll Year End: http://pye.sage.co.uk/

Mobile Phone Deals

Like a lot of people I get a lot of Spam for mobile phone deals and like most people I always wonder what's the catch. One in particular caught my eye, it was an iPhone 4S 16Gb with 3 on a 24 months contract, 2,000 minutes, with a whopping 5,000 text messages, all for £35 a month! Wow, and the Handset was free! When I investigated, the handset wasn't free - but a one-off payment of £99. Strange type of free or is that 3? 

The reason I check is to make sure that Utility Warehouse are still giving the best deal on mobiles. So what could I get for £35 a month with Utility Warehouse? Well, I can get an iPhone 4S, 16Gb with 800 minutes, unlimited texts and 500Mb of data for a one-off payment of £170. Admittedly, 2000 minutes is fairly unlimited, so not a bad deal then with 3?

So why would I choose the Utility Warehouse mobile over the 3 mobile?

1. Something to check is how much you pay for calls outside your bundle. On this 3 deal, when you've used your minutes voice calls are 30p per minute. Utility Warehouse mobile voicecalls are 18p once outside your bundle.
2. Once your contract term is finished my iPhone will go down to the SIM only price of £15 a month. I couldn't find out what happened to the 3 deal.
3. Utility Warehouse are on the Everything Everywhere network, with the widest coverage. 3 are on the 3 network.
4. My mobile bill will come on one bill, with my gas, electric, telephone and internet. One bill, one direct debit.
5. I've got a cashback card that regularly discounts £30 a month off my utility bill. Oh, that's my iPhone for a fiver every month then.....

See http://www.1bill.co.uk/ Mobile, Pay Monthly for more details.

What's the difference between a Spreadsheet and a Database?

I still come across people who use spreadsheets, when what they really need is a Database. So, what's the difference and why do you need a database?

Many people start their databases as a spreadsheet but, as it becomes larger and more complex, the spreadsheet becomes more and more difficult to work with. There are many advantages to using a database.

A database can contain a virtually unlimited number of records while most spreadsheets have a limited number of records or rows, and you end up with multiple spreadsheets and it's difficult to find the information you need.

Data input can be controlled much better in a database through the use of field rules. This means fewer input errors - especially when new employees or temporary help is employed.

Data input can be easier, faster, and more versatile through the use of lookup lists and lookup tables – for example address details can be brought forward into an invoice without retyping.

Multiple report formats can easily be created for the same data without physically re-sorting or re-ordering any data. Reporting capabilities are much more powerful and formats can generally be more complex.

Sorting and filtering of data for viewing, editing, and reporting is much easier and more powerful than with a spreadsheet.

So, if you want someone who is able to write an database solution for you, or you know someone would benefit, please have a look at http://www.bplus.co.uk/AlphaSoftware and let's have a chat.

Feed-in-Tariffs - What's that all about?

Feed-In Tariffs are for people who generate their own electricity, using solar panels on their roof, wind turbines, or other technology.

Customers save money by generating electricity themselves, and they can make money by sending electricity back to the national grid. They are paid for the electricity they generate, at a rate fixed by the government, typically around 43.3p per KiloWatt Hour (Kwh) for solar panels of less than 4Kw.

The Utility Warehouse Discount Club have launched their own Feed-In Tariffs. To make them that extra bit special, they will pay customers an extra 2p per Kwh for the electricity they generate. So that’s 45.3p per Kwh paid back to the customer who generates that electricity.

That's more money than they can get anywhere else - and it's guaranteed for three years!

The only condition is that you switch to the Utility Warehouse for the electricity you import from the grid… but I think you’ll be happy with that!

With the Utility Warehouse, you could save money too. They made a unique Price Promise: they guarantee you’ll save money when you switch to their services – or they’ll give you back Double the Difference.

Their unique Price Promise means you can benefit from:

• The UK’s cheapest Home Phone

• The UK’s cheapest Home Phone and Broadband bundle

• The UK’s cheapest Mobile tariffs

• The UK’s cheapest standard Gas and Electricity

If you’re interested in earning more, or saving on your household bills, please get in touch.

I’m happy to give you more details and answer any questions you may have. In the meantime, please see http://www.1bill.co.uk/

So who do you know who has solar panels, wind turbines, and other forms of electricity generation and wants to reduce their overheads even more?

Using ACT! Connect with my Blackberry

ACT! Connect is a great way of keeping your smart phone (Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Android) updated with your ACT! Contacts and Calendar. I'm using it to update my Blackberry's contacts and calendar.

To set it up, there's a link in ACT! 2012 under "Connections", helpfully called "ACT! Connect". Click on the free 30 day trial link. Once you've registered, you are sent a link to download an App to your phone and another one to install the software on your PC or Server. Follow the instructions and install the app and the PC software.

The synchronisation is all done through a secure Sage Portal, which usefully gives you a web calendar and contacts that you can view from any browser, like the iPad, and your laptop via Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari. You can schedule the PC to sync automatically with the portal. Your phone then syncs with the portal, which you can do manually or schedule this as well.

It's simple and it works and I like it. Have a look at the demo:

https://www.sageactconnect.com/js/auth/tours/SAC_demo.htm

Keep Shopping Around For Energy Deals?

There's a lot in the news at the moment about energy companies - you know, they're greedy, profiteering and so-on. Then I hear that only 15% of households actually do shop around for better energy deals.

The problem is that the 15% who do shop around find out after a while they're no better off. Plus people don't understand the bills they get. So is it any wonder people don't shop around?

I joined Utility Warehouse as a customer so I didn't have to keep shopping around for these reasons. The deal with Utility Warehouse is simple; they provide a price promise:

• The UK’s cheapest Home Phone
• The UK’s cheapest Home Phone and Broadband bundle
• The UK’s cheapest Mobile tariffs
• The UK’s cheapest standard Gas and Electricity

Or they will give you back Double the Difference!

Plus, there's a 10% discount available after a year. Simply put, good value. And, I can understand the bill!

You can save even more money by taking a CashBack Card.

For me this is what makes Utility Warehouse unique. No other utility company can do this.

The Cashback card is linked to your bank via a standing order. It is automatically topped up much like a pay-as-you go mobile. Or, you can top it up instantly by phone or online.

It is a Mastercard, so you can use it everywhere. Use it in-store at Utility Warehouse’s 39 partner stores and you receive a monthly discount off your Utility Warehouse single bill averaging 5% of what you’ve spent on the Cashback Card. Big name partner stores like Sainsbury’s, Asda, M&S, Boots, B&Q, Argos, Halfords, Homebase, Miss Selfridge and many more.

You can use your card to earn CashBack in conjunction with coupons, the Nectar Card, money off vouchers, promotional deals and online special offers too!

There's a one-off application fee of £9.99 for each card you request. There is no monthly fee for the first six months; after that each card costs £1.00 a month. There is also a 35p charge each time you top-up your card.

How much you save depends on how much you spend, but I would expect to save between £30 and £40 every month, bigger families will save much more.

Is that a better deal?

Find out more at http://www.1bill.co.uk