Looking Forward

From The President

Regional User Groups

Annual Conference 2003

Backups: An Insurance Policy

Caselle Calendar

Las Vegas–Back By PopularDemand

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DECEMBER 2003

Looking ForwardDuane Hutchings, President and CEO ofCaselle, Inc. has been with the company since…well, forever. To many customers, Duane issynonymous with Caselle. He was there whenthe fledgling Software Systems was born, whenthat company evolved into Caselle, Inc., andnow decades later, the success of Caselle is thedirect result of his vision and leadership. So it iswith much gratitude and appreciation that wewish Duane the best of luck as he steps downfrom the position of President of Caselle topursue other long-awaited goals and aspirations.His continuing role of CEO and board memberwill ensure that Duane’s wisdom, leadership,and integrity remain true hallmarks of Caselle.

In his stead, Steven Hutchings will be the newPresident at Caselle. Formerly the Senior VicePresident and Director of Research andDevelopment, Steven has proven his ability to

design efficient, high performance, user-friendlysoftware. He received a bachelor's degree inaccounting and computer science from BrighamYoung University and spent several yearsworking in the accounting industry. Afterworking as an accountant with Duane F.Hutchings & Associates, CPA, Steven joinedforces with Duane to launch Software Systems,the software company that was ultimatelydestined to evolve into Caselle.

Steven has an insatiable appetite for technology,operating systems, programming languages, andcomputer hardware.With more than twenty-fiveyears of experience, he has the ability to meldthe separate and demanding disciplines of real-world accounting and finance with accessiblehigh-tech solutions. His contributions haveshaped Caselle applications in the past, andnow he will have an increased role in shapingthe vision and future of Caselle as well.

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Duane Hutchings congratulates Steven Hutchings on his new appointment.

Steven D. HutchingsPresident

From the PresidentBecause of your continued support, wehave had another great year. We welcomenew customers in the states of Hawaii,Louisiana, and Missouri and lookforward to reaching the 1,000-customermark this coming year. As we add newsales sites and continue to grow, weremain focused on providing you withthe best service available. Our staff hasgrown to ensure we are able to provideunbeatable customer service to each oneof you. We appreciate having you ascustomers and recognize our job is toprovide you with the best software,service, and support to make yourorganizations more successful.

Customer service is at the heart ofCaselle’s culture and has always been oneof our strengths. It will continue to be afocus in the future. We are very pleasedthat our customers are able to receivehigh-quality support with response timeswell below the industry average. Wework hard to resolve your questions andto provide data conversion solutions andtraining to enable you to meet your dailyneeds in a timely fashion.

We are pleased to introduce several newand exciting product features and updatesthat can further help you in your jobs:

• Cash Receipting now offers Credit CardAuthorization and Online Payments.

• A Document Management interfacehas been incorporated.

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New Customers AlphaCorp, Inc., UT

Alpine, WY

Alpine Court, WY

Badger Mountain Irrigation District, WA

Big Water Court, UT

Breckenridge, CO

Burlington, CO

Carlton City Court, OR

Carney Foy, CPA, NM

Davis & Jonas, CPA, WA

Dixon Mutual Domestic Water, NM

Eagle, ID

Enterprise, OR

Frisco, CO

Green River Court, WY

Harrisburg, OR

Hidalgo County, NM

Homer, AK

Huntsville, UT

Kafoury Armstrong & Company, NV

Kayenta, AZ

Kenai, AK

• The Project Management suite is on themarket.

• Materials Management (inventory) is apopular software addition.

• Significant changes have been made toAccounts Payable, General Ledger, andPayroll.

• Timekeeping now allows equipmentusage tracking.

• Asset Management has been completelyrewritten and contains features yourequested. This new version wasincluded in the recent release.

We are excited to announce that workhas already begun on the next generationof Caselle software products. The designphase is behind us and we are currentlycoding the rewrite of all of ourapplications to Microsoft’s .NET

Kolker & Kolker, Inc., OK

Lochbuie, CO

McElroy, Quirk & Burch, APC, LA

Mountain Regional Water, UT

Newberg City Court, OR

Page, AZ

Pagosa Springs, CO

Palisade, CO

Papillion, NE

Parker, AZ

Ririe, ID

San Joaquin Regional

Rail Commission, CA

Seal Rock Water District, OR

Simla, CO

Soldotna, AK

Special District Management

Services Inc., CO

Uintah City Court, UT

Wellington, CO

Wilder, ID

framework. The new applications will ben-tier based and use object-orienteddesign. They will be easier to use, bemore dynamic and powerful, willprovide all the features and capabilities ofour current applications, and will includemany features you have requested. Manyof these next-generation applications willbe released in 2004. Be ready to moveinto the future with state-of-the-artproducts from Caselle.

Regional User Groups Thank you to all who participated in ourrecent Regional User Group survey. Wereceived a limited number of responsesfrom customers in ten states; however,the majority of interest came fromColorado and Utah. We will becontacting those who were willing to

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won’t bother with the GFOA conferenceanymore. Thank you!”

Kent Brooksby, Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ

“You have a wonderful system. Iappreciate all the time and effort you putinto it.”

Jamie Seaquist, Powell Valley RoadWater District, OR

“Very useful information, well presented,and easy to understand.”

Eva Smith, Pryor Creek, OK

“Thanks! This class was well worth mytime. The instructor was easy to follow.This was a five star presentation.”

Jolyne Hoffmann, Moab, UT

The Little America Hotel held true to itstradition of excellence throughout theconference. We all benefited from theirattention to detail and culinary delights.Caselle offers our sincere thanks to eachof you who attended the 2003 AnnualConference. Your support, comments,and loyalty to our company andproducts make all the difference inCaselle’s success!

Backups: An InsurancePolicy for Your Data

If you’ve worked with computers for anylength of time, you’ve likely seen anassortment of notes, recommendations,and even the occasional warning thatyou should backup your data. And likemany things that we see regularly, youmay have grown so accustomed to thesestandard recommendations that you justbreeze past them without giving them asecond thought.

Stop. Rewind. And, if you’ll pardon thepun, back up. When it comes to backingup your data, you not only need to giveit a second thought, you need to actuallydo it.

What’s so important about regularbackups? That’s a good question. And theanswer is simple: regular backups are aninsurance policy against the possible lossor corruption of your data. In a perfectworld, we wouldn’t need them – ourcomputers would never crash, the powerwould never go out in the middle of anupdate, no one would ever accidentallydelete the wrong record, buildings would

host a conference in their area. There isstill time to respond if you are interested.Just click the Regional User Group linkon our website and fill out the shortsurvey. Thanks for your help!

Annual Conference 2003 With record attendance, accommodatingsurroundings, and award-winning food,the 2003 Annual Conference proved tobe a huge success. Customers andexhibitors from nineteen states wererepresented, coming from as far away asAlaska and Pennsylvania. Clients enjoyedthe informative sessions, networking,talking with exhibitors, prize drawings,and having Caselle staff membersavailable to them. The performance bythe Osmonds – Second Generation setthe tone when they shared their patrioticenthusiasm and talent.

Here’s what some of you had to say:

“The Caselle Conference was the bestever this year! Every class was veryinformative and the food was great. TheLittle America [Hotel] was a beautifulplace to have the conference. Thank youfor all your hard work!”

Jayne Morris, Pleasant Grove, UT

“This is unquestionably the best, mostuseful conference I have ever attended! I

Caselle Prize Winners

Free 2004 Conference Registration

Rae Lea Cousens, Florence, OR

Christine Lawrence, Tooele County, UT

Three Nights Stay at the MonteCarlo Resort for 2004 Conference

Larry Semmens, Kenai, AK

Pocket PC

Kimberly Blazzard, Washington City, UT

Brian Richards, Snowflake, AZ

The Osmonds - Second Generation opened the Annual Conference with a powerful performance.

never burn down. But until that perfectworld exists, we need backups.

So, now that we’ve stressed theimportance of backups, that raisesseveral questions:

• What needs to be backed up? Mostbackup systems typically focus on yourmission-critical data files – in otherwords, the more important theinformation, and the more difficult itwould be to replace it, the more itneeds to be included in your backupstrategy. In the case of Caselle software,this would include the databasesassociated with each application.

• How often do I need to make abackup? In developing a backupstrategy, think about the volume ofinformation processed each day, and theamount of time it would take torecreate that day’s work. A smaller officemay find that a weekly backup issufficient, while a practical solution fora larger office with a large flow ofinformation may choose to makenightly backups. Other factors toconsider include evaluating variousbackup storage methods and the costsassociated with making the backups.

• Where should the backup be kept,and for how long? The obviousanswer to this question is that thebackup should be kept in a safe placefor as long as you think you mightneed it. But what does that reallymean? What would you consider a“safe place” for storing your mission-critical data? We recommend a secure,off-site location. Some organizationskeep backups stored in a safetydeposit box. Again, a carefulevaluation of your needs and concernsshould go into the development ofyour backup strategy.

• How can I use the backup if Iactually need it? Ah, here’s the realquestion! What do you do when youfind that yesterday morning’s blackoutcaused a corruption in your data?

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Caselle, Inc.Phone: (800) 228-9851

(801) 798-9851Fax: (801) 798-1764

1570 North Main PO Box 100Spanish Fork, UT 84660-0100E-mail: caselle@caselle.com

www.caselle.com

That’s when the backup proves it’s truevalue. You take the problem to yoursystem administrator, and together youevaluate when you know that you hadthe last good data – in this scenario,that would have been from the day-before-yesterday. The systemadministrator gets the backup for thatday, and uses it to restore the data.And, as always, Caselle SupportRepresentatives are available to assist,if needed, regardless of the cause ofthe data loss. Soon, you’re back atwork, data restored, problem solved.

The bottom line: A functioning backupstrategy is like an insurance policy – notsomething you want to consider after youneed it. Take the time to give it a secondthought now. You’ll be glad you did.

Las Vegas – Back byPopular Demand!You loved it in 2002 – so get ready forLas Vegas in 2004! Reserve October 13& 14 and join us at the Monte CarloResort & Casino for an informationpacked, fun-filled conference. Improveyour knowledge of Caselle’s softwareduring the day, and then enjoy the sightsand sounds of exciting Las Vegas atnight! The elegant Monte Carlo Resort &Casino offers visitors all the amenities.Plan now to attend - look for moredetails in April 2004.

Monte Carlo Resort & Casino3770 Las Vegas Boulevard, SouthLas Vegas, NV 89109

(702) 730-7777 Front Desk(800) 311-8999 Reservations

www.monte-carlo.com

Fabulous Las Vegas - the 2004 Annual Conference location.

Caselle Calendar

Our Office will be closed on the following dates.

Christmas Dec 24 @ noon

Dec 25–26

New Year’s Day Jan 1

President’s Day Feb 16

Memorial Day May 31

Using the CaselleFTP SitesMark Resch, System Analyst

The Caselle FTP site is a location onthe web that Caselle has set up tomake it easy to transfer files, such asprogram updates and databases, to andfrom Caselle. As most of you know,transferring files to Caselle by mailrequired a couple of days whiletransferring files by FTP takes only afew minutes. That’s a significantimprovement and it means we will bebetter able to help you because we’llhave the necessary information weneed to solve your problem.

Begin by logging onto the Internet andopening the FTP site. You can use theshortcut at www.caselle.com or youcan go directly to the Caselle FTP site.Both methods are explained in thissection. You should choose the methodthat is easiest for you.

Logging on to the FTP sitefrom www.caselle.com

1. Log onto the Internet.

2. Click on the address bar and typein www.caselle.com

3. Click Customer Center.

4. Enter the password. If you don’tknow the password, contactcustomer support.

5. Under Caselle’s FTP Site, clickftp.caselle.com

6. Enter the user name and password.

Logging on to the FTP Sitefrom ftp.caselle.com

1. Log onto the Internet.

2. Click on the address bar and typein ftp.caselle.com

3. Enter the user name andpassword. If you don’t knowthese, contact customer support.

The main page at ftp.caselle.com,can be used to upload files fromyour computer to the FTP site ordownload files from the FTP site toyour computer.

Upload files from your computer1. To upload files, use the Windows

Explorer to locate the file on yourcomputer.

2. Right-click on the file and selectCopy.

3. Return to the main page atftp.caselle.com. Right-click on theftp.caselle.com screen and selectPaste. The files will be copied tothe FTP site. A progress bar withthe estimated time required tocomplete the transfer will bedisplayed, however, ultimately thesize of the file and the speed ofyour Internet connection willdetermine the length of timerequired to complete the upload.

4. Exit the site when the upload is finished.

Download files to your computer1. Log onto ftp.caselle.com.

2. Right-click the file to downloadand select Copy to Folder.

3. Select the folder to save the file to.Click OK.

4. Exit the site when the download is finished.

You might want to keep theseinstructions handy. Having themaround will shorten the time spent onthe phone with customer service whenyou upload or download files.

TIPS&TRICKSVol. I December 2003

FAQ’SIf you have an idea for a frequentlyasked question, please send yourquestion to: feedback@caselle.com.We’d love to hear from you!

Cash Receipting

Q: How can I print the Update Reportagain?

A: Open the Miscellaneous menu andselect Update Payments. Under theReceipt Dates area, type in the date to bereprinted. On the right side of the screen,clear the Options check box and select theUpdate Payments That Have AlreadyBeen Updated check box because thepayments have been updated. Now, you’reready to run the report.

General Ledger

Q: Why do the balance sheet accounts inGeneral Ledger Inquiry look different fromthe accounts for revenues andexpenditures?

A: If an account is eligible for budgettransactions, then the Inquiry screen willdisplay period totals for encumbrance,budget, actual amounts, and year-to-datetotals. If an account is not eligible forbudget transactions, then the Inquiryscreen will display the balance and debitand credit totals for the period.

Utility Billing

Q: How do I change a service address?

A: Begin by opening CustomerMaintenance and verify the locationnumber is correct for the account. DONOT change the service address inCustomer Maintenance because the meterand meter activity will be lost. Next, openLocation Maintenance and display thelocation number tied to the account andchange the service address. Using LocationMaintenance to change the service addresswill preserve the link that ties the meter tothe account.

Q: How do I print a Billing Register for asingle service and print a list of customerswho have been billed?

A: Print the Billing Register – PenaltiesOnly (Caselle Master) report. Open theReports menu and select BillingRegister. Select the “Billing Register –Penalties Only” report and then clickon the Services Tab. Double-click onthe Penalty field and select theservice(s) to include on the report, andthen run the report.

Q: Can I use the same route andsequence on more than one meter?

A: Yes, the same route and sequencecan be entered on multiple meters andeven multiple customers, but Caselledoes NOT recommend it. If the sameroute/sequence is entered on more thanone customer, the system will sort bysequence, customer number, and thenservice number. When the sameroute/sequence is entered on multiplemeters on one customer account, thesystem will list the meters as they wereinstalled on the account with the mostcurrent meter listed first. Assigning thesame route/sequence to multiplecustomers or meters may result in themeters not being listed in the desiredorder. It is always recommended thateach meter or customer be assigned aunique sequence number.

Utility Electronic Reading

Q: How can I resequence my meters?

A: Open the Miscellaneous menu andselect Resequence Meters. Therecords in your reading file mustinclude the date and time stamp inorder to be resequenced.

Caselle Applications

Q: When should I run Compact andRepair?

A: How often you run Compact andRepair depends on how much you useCaselle Applications. If you’re a smallersite, try running the Compact andRepair routine once a month. If you’rea larger site, you may need to runCompact and Repair each evening or atleast once a week. We recommendrunning Compact and Repair for all ofthe Caselle databases at the same timeto ensure all of the databases were“compacted” and “repaired.”

Q: I want to use User Security. Whatshould I do before I enable UserSecurity?

A: Here are three tips you shouldconsider before using User Security.

• Verify your user’s passwords to makesure they are setup correctly.

• Keep the user log in consistent withthe Cash Receipting operator codes.This allows the User ID to beupdated with payment transactionsto each subsystem.

• Check the user’s rights to allow theuser access to the specific areas youwant them to have. Don’t forget AAW& AAA rights, otherwise the usermight not be able to gain access tothe specific application they need touse.

Q: What are Batch Reports?

A: Set up a Batch Report if you findyourself printing the same reports overand over again. For example, if youhave several reports that are always runat the end of every month. The trick isto set up the individual reports andthen add the individual reports to thebatch report. When it’s time to printthe reports, just print the batch report.

Caselle, Inc.Phone: (800) 228-9851

(801) 798-9851Fax: (801) 798-1764

1570 North Main PO Box 100Spanish Fork, UT 84660-0100E-mail: caselle@caselle.com

www.caselle.com

TIPS&TRICKSVol. I December 2003