This 2nd Bulletin confirms some changes to the Red Sky reports and details changes to the visual layout for accountants in particular. In addition we wish to notify you that we will be releasing a new version this week which will have a number of substantial enhancements (see notes at end of this email). This new version will need to be downloaded immediately from our website once released.
RED SKY SUMMARY REPORT NOW A ONE PAGE REPORT
We have reviewed our Summary reports and in response to your suggestions have significantly reduced the content of these reports when printed in their short form. For either Dairy or Sheep & Beef this report now comfortably fits on one page. To produce this short report you must tick the ‘Summary Only’ checkbox on the right hand side of the print screen.
‘CLUTTER’ REMOVED FROM SCREENS WHEN USING ‘FINANCIAL ONLY’ OPTION
We have hidden all the ‘Physical’ fields that are not needed when processing Annual Reports so expect to see much less in many of the screens, especially the Livestock, Feed and Land & Adjustments screen. This should make it easier and quicker for all accountants in particular to complete entry.
The next version will also allow users to exclude the second stock breed/type from the screens, which will make for easier and faster entry for most users.
OPERATING PROFIT PER HECTARE, PER STOCK, AND PER MILK REPORTS REDESIGNED
We have made some key changes to these reports and these changes do not need a new version release. The next time you synchronise you will receive this new layout. There have been no changes to the Operating Profit report which has absolute values split between Revenue and Expenses, with Adjustments at the bottom of the report. However the Per Hectare, Per Cow/Stock Unit, and Per Kilogram of Milk reports no longer have an ‘Adjustments’ section. All ‘Adjustments’ will now be added/deducted from the relevant code, which will ensure both the farm and benchmark performance are recorded accurately (i.e. capitalised R&M or capitalised fertiliser will be deducted from these codes).
To ensure these new reports are calculated accurately under this new format, you will need to open any Years already completed, go to Reports, then select the ‘Op Profit’ tab, then select each enterprise report (i.e. Dairy, Sheep, Beef), and then place your cursor in the first column of numbers of each of these reports, click right mouse, and then select ‘Recalculate all’. You do not need to do this for any of the Per Hectare, Per Cow/Stock Unit, or Per Kilogram of Milk reports as these will all get updated from the ‘Op Profit’ reports. Nor will you need to do this for any new data that you enter into Red Sky. However you will need to follow this procedure with the benchmarks that you already have downloaded, or delete the benchmarks you presently are using and retrieve these benchmarks again from our server the following week.
NEW ‘OPERATING PROFIT AS PERCENT OF REVENUE’ REPORT
We have produced ‘Operating Profit as Percent of Revenue’ as an alternative report for you to use. Again this report does not need a new version release. The next time you synchronise you will receive this new layout.
NEW SHEEP AND BEEF ‘SUMMARY’ AND ‘PHYSICAL’ REPORT
These two new reports have been developed in recognition of the number of farmers who primarily wish to view these enterprises on the one report. Both of these involve further development of the format previously used under the ‘Summary’ and ‘Physical’ report options. These reports have been developed with direct input from Baker & Associates of Masterton, NZ. With our new version release later this week, there will be further additions to our report selection and these will largely come from the team at Baker & Associates.
NEW VERSION RELEASE THIS WEEK
There are some further significant enhancements with this new version. Possibly top of the list is some changes to the database functionality that will result in Red Sky running faster on your computers (and using less RAM), as well as there no longer being any restriction in size of databases. You will be able to have as many farms and years in a single database as you wish with little or no change in performance as more data is added.
We will also be launching the new Fertiliser/Farm Gate Nutrient Balance module, along with some specialty reports for sheep and beef farms. The option to hide the second stock breed/type will be selected via a checkbox in the Options screen. Once this version is released we will be producing a range of new benchmarks.
You will need to download this new version when we release it, as older versions will no longer be able to synchronise with our server. However you will be able to continue to run Red Sky on your computer as long as you do not wish to synchronise. If you have difficulty downloading a file of this size from a website then please contact us and we will send you the new version on a CD-ROM.
I hope there have been some further points of interest for you in this 2nd Bulletin. If you have some suggestions on how we can further improve Red Sky please let us know. Any and all feedback is most welcome via feedback@redskyagri.com
If you would like further information on any matter relating to Red Sky or wish to no longer receive email from us then please contact us at feedback@redskyagri.com