Yes but you need additional software from Conaccess. This allows images and documents (share withdrawals, loans documentation) relating to members to be displayed on the screen by entering the members account number. You will need to buy a scanner if you do not already have one. Ask for details.

Whilst conaccess does not print out coverage reports it does provide all the information for you to build such a report .All analysis reports can be exported into Excel and saved for future use. So whilst you have more to do than just click the mouse by doing the conaccess way you are at least checking the calculation and the premium to be paid rather than accept what the computer print off!

In the situation where you have collection points with no computer support it was found that letting collectors calculate interest from tables was subject to a great deal of errors. Once the transaction was complete it was very difficult to open the transaction up again to charge under calculated interest. Credit Unions always got to know when the member had been overcharged but seldom when they had been undercharged. The Back Office system (BACUS) allowed for all transactions to be processed in a back office environment and that by calculating interest at the end of each month a print out could be sent to each collection point so that interest could be added to the members pass book without error. At 1% per month it was also easy for the member to understand the interest calculation i.e. £320 outstanding equalled £3.20 in interest. The system enabled good control over the interest calculation, simplicity of calculation and ease of implementation but suffers in a slightly less accurate calculation than if the interest was calculated on a daily rate basis. Using our FOCUS system which is he next generation of software that Conaccess has this does use a daily rate basis of calculation but this is an automated passbook system.

It is in reality a cashiering system emulating what happens in Building societies and banks. It uses an Olivetti passbook printer to give a running log of transactions completed with the credit union every time you go to the office to make a saving or loan repayment. The passbook is specially pre-printed so the members have a much more sophisticated product to serve them with. It certainly helps to build confidence that the credit union is well run and well organised. Interest is calculated every time a loan repayment is made. All the accounting and financial reports used under BACUS are there in FOCUS with additional reports to serve the cashiering function.

YEAR END IMPACT ON CONACCESS SOFTWARE.

When the year is closed down the software produces 2 files automatically. The first file in an archive file which remains on that computer all the time you use it. It is called COPYXXXX where XXXX is the year date. So closing down at 30th September 2008 will create a file called COPY2008.

A Second file is also created called COPYLAST. This file only lasts until the close down of the following year . It is used to reflect the audit adjustments and to do the Annual Return (CY form for the FSA)

However the problem is when you transfer the software to a new computer as the setting up of this uses only the current database .

All the previous years data is copied into the DATA file.

If you are on XP and previous versions this will be located under

C:\PROGRAM FILES \ BACUS or FOCUS\DATA and will be shown as 

COPY2002

COPY2003

COPY2004

COPY2005

COPY2006

COPY2007

And so on with

COPYLAST being the audit version.

What needs to be done now is to replicate these files in the same DATA directory that was on the old machine.

You will need to use the standard Microsoft "COPY" and "PASTE " technique to do this .As the file sizes are now getting beyond the old high density floppy disc sizes it is now advisable to use the flash drives (memory sticks as they are also known) . Ensure you copy the correct years into the right folder name other wise you will not get the expected results. Also if you put spaces between COPY and the YEAR the software will not pick up the database for that year.

As part of the increased security that Vista imposes on its program files it is not advisable to place the database under the BACUS or FOCUS directory. (The Conaccess program will however be placed there).

To load the program therefore requires a minor change to what has been needed before.

The steps to take are as follows:

1. Create a folder (directory) on the C drive and name it Conaccess (recommended)

2. Load the software as normal. (Look for a small icon on the CD that says "setup" launcher. The software will be placed automatically under C:\Program Files\Bacus\ or C:\Program Files\Focus\

3. Within the "Bacus" program are other programs of which one is named "Consetup" for Bacus and "Focsetup" for Focus.

4. Open "Consetup" or "Focsetup" and select " Full Installation" and click next.

5. You will need a copy of the database that is loaded onto the appropriate drive.

6. Enter the drive letter where the database is.

7. The next box will tell you where the program is located.

8. The next box is the location where the database is to reside. This needs to be the folder as set up under 1 above. You can use the find button to locate it. Once highlighted it will fill in that box with the required location.

9. Now click on the final button " finish" and the implementation will be complete.

Warning!!

It is important that you use the correct version of the software with the correct version of the program. Failure to do this will result in error messages and possible corruption of your database.

Note

Once you receive an upgrade use it immediately (after taking a backup of your database) and if successful destroy the earlier version of the software you have.

Ensure all your computers are using the latest version and that non-upgraded computers do not log on, as this will cause the database to be corrupt.

BACUS and FOCUS are built using Visual Foxpro. The BACUS and FOCUS release disks contain both an OLE-DB provider and an ODBC driver for Microsoft Visual Foxpro database allowing users direct access to the BACUS/ FOCUS data files so that data can be extracted into reports in third party products such as Microsoft Excel.

This is relatively straight forward.

You need to get the latest release version of the software which will be on a CD. If in doubt post a question.

By placing the CD into its drive it will either start to run or you may need to go via "my computer" to the CD drive. Click on this and various files will be shown.

What you are looking for is a file called "setup.exe". The icon looks like a tiny picture of a computer configuration. Click this a follow instructions on the screen. The loading procedure follows the normal Microsoft install shield method.

Once this has finished it will have placed the program in a drive (normally C: ) and allocated it to a folder within "program files" called BACUS or FOCUS automatically.

At this point only the software has been loaded and we now have to load in the database.

To do this go to where the program has been loaded and search for a file called "consetup.exe" (for BACUS) or focsetup.exe (for FOCUS).

Click this file and various options will open up to you. To load up the database for the first time you select "Full installation " .On the next screen it will ask you where the current database is and you need to know what type of transfer medium you are using i.e. floppy disk, flash drive as each has its own drive letter. Normally this is a back up copy of your database but in order for this to work it must not be encrypted when the backup has been done.

Enter the drive letter and any other location you have used in the first box you see and click "read". The system will fill in the bottom reference of the credit union (if it is a zipped database it will merely say unknown database . This doesn't matter and the final part is