APPENDIX J

HOW TO CREATE A NEW YEAR

     When you run CompuDance for the first time, you discover that you are in the year 0000-00.  This is your practice year (a tutorial) that you can use to learn CompuDance.  When you are ready to create a real year, you should read "New Year Options" starting on Page 2-7.  Then, follow the procedures found in this Appendix.  See the warning on Page J-3.

     You can create a New Year anytime you want.  You do not have to have classes for the New Year.  You can register students and transfer students from one year to another without having set up a class schedule.

CREATING THE NEW YEAR

     To create a New Year, from the CompuDance Main Window, select File, then New Year Options.  The Create A New Year Window will open.  Select Options, then Make the New Year.  You will be asked to enter the New Year.  For example, for the year 2008-2009 you would enter [2008-09].  Be sure that you have read the discussion of new years starting on Page 2-7.  CompuDance will confirm your request, and then create the New Year.  That's it!  If this is the first year you have created, you can exit the Create A New Year Window.

     If this is not your first year, then you have some options.  The purpose of the New Year Options is to copy some of your data from a previous year to the New Year.  The New Year which you created contains no data -- no students, no families, no classes, etc.  There are two ways to get some of that data in the New Year.  You can enter all of your students, classes, families and income categories all over again -- just like you did for your first year.  Or, you can transfer (copy) some of that data from a previous year to your new year.  Obviously, the second alternative is the best!

     In the remaining sections of this Appendix we explain the various options you have for copying data from a previous year to your new year.  When you do this transferring, the data will exist in both the old year and the New Year; you will always have access to that data in both years.  For example, assume that you transfer student records from 2007-08 to 2008-09.  Sally Victor, Student 1278, was a student in 2007-08.  After the transfer, Sally will be Student 1278 in your 2008-09 New Year database and she will still be Student 1278 in the old 2007-08 database.  You will be able to switch from year to year by using <Ctrl> + [Y] from the CompuDance Main Window.  (See Page 2-10.)   

NEW YEAR OPTIONS

     To use the New Year Options, you must first create your new year.  After that, from the CompuDance Main Window, again select File, then New Year Options.  The Create A New Year Window will open.  Select Options, then Transfer Data from the Old Year.  You will be asked to enter the Old Year and the New Year, i.e., [2007-08] and [2008-09].  You have seven New Year Options.

				      1 Classes, Students & Families
				      2 Classes (without students)
				      3 Employees
				      4 Families (with no members
				      5 Students (you select)
				      6 Students & Families
				      7 Income Category Labels

     The rest of this Appendix will explain these options.

WARNING!!!

WARNING! You must use the transfer options BEFORE you enter any data in your new year!

     NEW YEAR OPTION 1

     This option will copy last year's class, student and family data files to your new year.  It will copy these files exactly as they were last year.  All classes will contain the same students they contained last year, and all students will have the same registration data they had last year (name, phone, tuition, etc.).  Nothing will be changed, except for income/tuition and expense/payroll data.  Students will have no charges posted against their accounts, and will have no payments credited to their accounts.  All income and expense data will start at zero.  You have no accounts receivable for the New Year; you have no income; and you have expended no money.

     You will then need to create your new year's income and expense categories, or use Option 7 if you wish to keep them the same as last year.

     When might you use this option?   Let's assume that you set up CompuDance on a calendar year basis as opposed to an academic year.  So you created 2008-08, which is January 1 through December 31, 2008.  When January 1, 2009 arrives, you will want to start a new year (2009-09) –– new expenses and new income.  But, all of your classes and all of your students from 2008-08 will remain the same –– you don't have a new registration period, classes just continue.  Option 1 is designed for that type of situation -- all students and classes remain the same.

     NEW YEAR OPTION 2

     This option will copy last year's class files to the New Year.  The class files will be copied exactly as they were last year with one exception –– they will contain NO STUDENTS.  Classes that were deleted last year will be deleted this year.

YOU CANNOT USE BOTH OPTION 1 AND OPTION 2!

     When might you use this option?   Let's assume that you set up CompuDance on an academic year basis.  So you created 2008-09, which is September 2008 through August 2009.  When September 1, 2009 arrives, you will want to start a new year (2009-10).  Suppose that most of the classes you had last year remain the same –– same days, same times, and same titles.  Instead of having to re-enter all of those classes again, this option makes it easy to simply copy the classes from last year.  Even if a few classes will change, it will probably take less time to change those than it would to re-enter all of them again.

     NEW YEAR OPTION 3

     This option will copy from last year to this year the following basic data for each employee: name, SSN, address, phone, hourly or salaried, pay schedule, single or married, and number of exemptions.  If you select this option you will not have to re-enter any of the above employee data.  If you have not installed the expense/payroll portion of CompuDance, no date will be copied.  (This option will not, of course, copy any of your employees' other payroll data -- YTD figures.  Those must remain a part of last year's expense records.)

     NEW YEAR OPTION 4

     This option will copy from last year to this New Year all of your families without any family members.  Data copied includes: Family Name, Complete Address, and Phones.  All balances are zero.

YOU CANNOT USE BOTH OPTION 1 AND OPTION 4!

     When might you use this option?   You would use this option when you want to save time by not having to re-register families from last year, and when you want your families to keep the same family number.  You would most probably use this option in conjunction with Option 5 on the next page.

     NEW YEAR OPTION 5

     This option will copy from last year to this New Year user-selected student records.  Each student which you transfer will have the same data as last year with the following exceptions: 1) the Tuition Amount will be zero ($0.00); 2) the student will be in no classes; 3) family students will be non-family students; 4) all balances will be zero.

     When you select this option, CompuDance will display the names of your students from last year –– one at a time.  It will inform you when the student was in a family last year or when the student was temporarily deleted last year.  If you elect to transfer a student who was temporarily deleted last year, that student will be automatically re-instated.  Based upon the information displayed for you, you will press Yes to transfer or No not to transfer.  After using this option you can put your students in the families.  See Page 6-9.

YOU CANNOT USE BOTH OPTION 1 AND OPTION 5!   

     When would you use this option?   You would use this option when you have students from last year who have indicated that they will be returning this year –– possibly they have pre-registered or paid a registration fee.  The list is so long that you decide that you would save time by transferring them all at one time, instead of one at a time from the SRD.  (See Page 6-4.)

     NEW YEAR OPTION 6

     This option will copy all of your family and student records from last year to this New Year.  Each student you transfer will have the same data as last year except that the student will be in no classes.  Family students will be in families.  You can elect to exclude temporarily deleted students.  You can elect to change the student and family tuition figures to zero, or leave that as they were in the old year.  Our experience has been that this is the option most studios use.

YOU CANNOT USE BOTH OPTION 1 AND OPTION 6; or BOTH OPTION 4 AND OPTION 6;
or BOTH OPTION 5 AND OPTION 6!

     When would you use this option?   You would use this option when you want to transfer all last year's active students and families.  The number of students is so large that Option 5 would take you too long, so you decide that you would save time by transferring them all at one time.

     NEW YEAR OPTION 7

     This option will copy all of your income and expense categories from last year to this year.  The income category names, type and taxable status will remain the same.  The expense category names will remain the same.  (If you have not installed the expense/payroll portion of CompuDance, default expense categories are copied.)

     When would you use this option?   You would use this option when your New Year income and expense category names will remain the same, and when the type and taxable status of your income categories will remain the same (or substantially the same).  This option simply saves you the trouble and time of having to create those categories all over again.

			     Very Important WARNINGS!!

	1. Never create the same New Year twice.
  	2. Do not use Option 4 or Option 5 more than once for each New Year.
  	3. When using Option 5, you must go through it in one sitting.  You cannot 
	    abort it, and then start again later!
	4. If you make a mistake in naming a new year, click File, and then click
	    Rename A Year to change it.
       	5. You must use one of the transfer options BEFORE you enter any data in
	    the New Year!  Do NOT enter some data, and then use one of the transfer
	    options!!  That's disaster!