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Table of Contents

1. How to Use this Tutorial

2. Starting Up

3. Basic Setup

4. Setting Up a "Pay as Cut" Tract

5. Setting Up a "Timber Deed" Tract

6. Entering Load Slips

7. Processing Vendor Pay

8. Processing Revenue

9. Business Reports - Loads

10. Tracking Time - Basic Setup

11. Entering Time Slips

12. Processing Payroll

13. Equipment Expenses

14. Business Reports - Time and Expense

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1. How to Use this Tutorial

Purpose of this Tutorial

This tutorial will help you understand the fundamentals of The Logger's Edge Software and become familiar with the screen layouts and grids.  In it, you will work through the Software, starting with entering very basic setup data and finishing with calculating vendor payments and viewing management reports.  There is also a section explaining how to enter time slips and process hourly pay, and a section covering entry and tracking of miscellaneous expenditures such as parts and repair for equipment.

By working through the tutorial you will get a basic understanding of how the system operates and the work flow involved.  The examples that you work through may not necessarily match those that you face in your business, but should provide a good overall appreciation for The Logger's Edge functionality.  In order to make best use of your training time, we recommend that you work through the tutorial in order to learn the basics of the program and generally how it works.  This approach will allow you to maximize your training time by concentrating on where to enter key information, how to configure payment scenarios, and how to interpret reports.  Once you have a baseline familiarity with the software, you can then work through each menu item available through the interface and use the training information available in the Support section of our web site to learn more details about the system.

Completing this Tutorial

This tutorial will take approximately 3-4 hours to complete.


2. Starting Up

The first time you run The Logger's Edge you will be prompted to create a working database. This database stores all of your employees, equipment, time slips, loads, etc. – all of the data that you use in your business. 

The directory defaults to the Database directory created when you install The Logger's Edge.  Do not click on the HarvestBoss0_SEUS.mdb file.  The Harvestboss0_SEUS.mdb file is normally a hidden file in the Database directory.  (If your computer is set not to show hidden files, you may not see this file --  there is no problem with not seeing the file; it still remains in the background.)

In the File Name entry box, type 'US_Tutorial' and click 'Save'.  The Logger's Edge will then create your new Database called US_Tutorial and start up the program. 

When you specify the name of your database (i.e. US_Tutorial), do not use the database name HarvestBoss0_SEUS.mdb.  HarvestBoss0_SEUS.mdb is a template or kernel database that is used as the starting point for all new databases.

 

The status bar at the bottom of the main window identifies the database to which you are currently connected.

This tutorial will walk you through the steps for setting up a "Pay as Cut" scenario and a "Timber Deed" scenario.  The "Pay as Cut" tract shows a scenario where you have a tract and pay stumpage to the landowner as the wood is cut; the "Timber Deed" tract shows a scenario where you have a tract and pay the landowner up front for the rights to log their land. 

Once you have finished the tutorial, you can then create a database for your company.  You will use your company-specific database as the "master database" for all of your actual work, once you have completed the tutorial.  The tutorial database is really just a "test" database for you to use while learning the program.

The following are some other details relating to management of load slips that will be covered throughout this tutorial:

This tutorial is intended to teach you the basic functionality of the system relating to management of loads and to give you a feel for the basic data flow through the system. 


3. Basic Setup

The first tasks that you need to perform in The Logger's Edge are to set up all of the basic data you need in order to create your own tract and specify your revenue rates and pay rates associated with deliveries from this tract.  The procedures that will be covered in this section are:

Before setting up these items, let's first take a look at the load slip so that you can get a better understanding of the types of information you will need to set up.

Navigate to Data Entry | Load Slips | Load Data or use the Load Slip Icon located on the toolbar.

Click on 'Add' to see the following load slip form.

 

The load slip includes several fields: Tract, Species, Product, Destination, Truck No, Driver, Truck Type, Route and the Dates, which are entered through drop-down lists.  The purpose of preset lists is to ensure that only valid entries can be selected for these fields.

You will notice in the above screenshot that there are yellow and white text fields -- the yellow fields are required entries; the white fields are optional entries.  There are times you may not have valid data for a required entry.  In this case a selection of 'NONE' serves as a valid entry.

In the next few sections you will set up the lists required for entering load slips.

Click 'Cancel'  to close the New Load Slip window.  Click 'OK' to close the Load Slip grid.

Setting Up Accounting and Pay Periods

Pay periods are used throughout The Logger's Edge for running payment calculators and creating statements.  A pay period is a date range you configure to match a payment cycle for your vendors.  For example, if you pay your vendors for deliveries for the 1st through the 15th of August, and then pay them separately for deliveries from the 16 to the 31st of August,  you would set up a pay period from August 1st to August 15th, and a second period from the 16th to the 31st.

In order to setup a new pay period, however, you must first configure the Accounting Period to which it pertains.  An accounting period must be as large as or larger than your pay period.  Accounting periods can be used for custom reporting and are generally configured as a log year or as fiscal quarters.

Accounting Periods

Navigate to Setup | Accounting | Accounting Periods.

The Logger's Edge comes with three preset accounting periods for 2005, 2006 and 2007.  If you want to change the start or end dates for the periods, you can simply edit them in the grid.  Otherwise, you can move on to the next step.

In The Logger's Edge, setup items are generally assigned a 'Code' and a 'Description'.  The 'Code' for an item is its short form, such as an abbreviation or mnemonic.  The 'Description' is a longer form of the same item.  You should be able to identify the item by either its code or its description.

Click on 'Save' to save the item.  Saved items appear in the tree view on the left side.  Click 'OK' to close the window.  When you have finished entering the data into the grid, you do not have to hit both 'Save' and 'OK'.  When you click 'OK', the system automatically saves your entry, but it will also close the grid.  Saving manually allows you to save an item and leave the grid open.  Clicking on 'Add' will also save your current item before adding a new row.

What is Active?

Many records in The Logger's Edge have an 'Active?' checkbox.  The 'Active?' checkbox is used to manage setup data that is currently in use versus setup data that has been used in the past or will be used in the future, but is not currently needed.  For example, if customer xyz is no longer a current customer, you can uncheck the 'Active?' checkbox so that the customer will no longer appear in drop down lists.  All of the customer's prior information (such as time slips, pay statements, etc) is, however, still retained in the database.  The customer can be reactivated again in the future with no loss of historic data.

When you see a 'Show Active Only' check box on a window, you can uncheck the box to see all records, whether they are active or not.

Pay Periods

Navigate to Setup | Accounting | Pay Periods.

Click on 'Add' to enter an empty row.  Fill in the row with the following information:

Code

W/E 8/18/06

Description

Week End 8/18/06

Start Date

8/12/2006

End Date

8/18/2006

Accounting Period

2006

The Accounting Period was setup in the previous section.  In order to enter the accounting period, you can either type it into the grid or select the 2006 accounting period from the list on the left by double-clicking on it.

Click 'OK' to close the grid.  The information that you have entered will save automatically when you click 'OK'.

Some users have different pay period cycles for contractors versus employees, or for loads-based payment versus hourly payment. Furthermore, some users only issue payments for loads once they have received payment from the mill, and the mills may not follow a commonly defined pay period.  If you need to define multiple types of pay periods, discuss your requirements with a Caribou support representative, as the system can be configured with more flexibility than the simple case used in this tutorial.

Setting Up Pay Activities

You must configure pay activities in The Logger's Edge to match the activities for which you receive revenue and the activities for which you pay your employees and subcontractors.

To setup pay activities, navigate to Setup | Pay Activities.

Several Activities are already listed by default. 

All of the activities you will enter now should be set up with 'REG PROD' as the Pay Type.  (The Pay Type and Production Indicator flag are used when tracking detailed time slips and tree count information through the system.  If you are interested in learning more about these capabilities, please refer to the documentation relating to time slips on our web site.)

Click on 'Add' or use the short cut key, Alt+a and enter the following activities.  These pay activities are common for users that are paying loggers and perhaps hauling companies to harvest and deliver the wood, and are receiving revenue from a mill for the delivered wood. 

Code

Description

Pay Type

Production Indicator

Active?

LOG DELIVERY

Log Deliveries for Rev

REG PROD

No

Yes

CUT-HAUL

Cutting and Hauling

REG PROD

No

Yes

CUTTING

Cutting

REG PROD

No

Yes

In the tutorial, we will work through two scenarios:

  1. You have a tract where you pay stumpage to a land-owner as you cut the wood and deliver it to the mill.  You will also pay a logging contractor one combined price for both cutting (logging) & hauling the wood. 

  2. You own a tract where you purchase a timber deed and want to deplete the initial purchase price as loads are delivered to the mills.  You will pay a logging contractor for all phases except for hauling and a separate trucking contractor for the hauling.

Click 'OK' to close the Pay Activities grid when you are done.

Setting Up Vendors (Contractors)

Vendors (or subcontractors -- we use the term interchangeably) are companies that work for you or are any other company or person that receives payment from you for goods or services rendered.  A typical vendor list would include all of the logging and hauling contractors whom you pay, landowners to whom you pay stumpage, any foresters who receive commission payments, and perhaps even lawyers who receive legal fees.  If you own equipment and pay for parts and repairs, you would also list all of your mechanics, parts suppliers, and repair shops in this list.

To setup a vendor, navigate to Setup | Vendors.

Click 'Add' to enter the following three vendors:

Code

JL

SS

M&H

Description

JL Logging

Stanley Stump

M & H Trucking

Contact

NONE

NONE

NONE

Active?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Address

P.O. Box 871

P.O. Box 456

P.O. Box 3221

City

Lewiston

Castle Rock

Augusta

State

Maine

Maine

Maine

Zip Code

54122

53432

52456

Phone

      

Fax

      

E-mail

      

Tax ID

      

Statement Type Code

Standard Vendor

Standard Vendor

Standard Vendor

It is important to enter the Address of the vendor as this information appears on the header of vendor statements.

Click 'OK' to close the Vendor grid.

Setting Up Trucks

In The Logger's Edge, you set up trucks and their owners in order to pay for trucking separate from other phases or activities.  If you do not pay for trucking separately or do not care to track the specific trucks that deliver each load, you do not need to setup specific trucks.  In this tutorial, we will be paying trucking as a separate phase, so you will need to setup contractor-owned trucks. 

Setting Up Log Trucks

In order to set up the log trucks, navigate to Setup | Equipment/Trucks | Trucks | Unit Numbers and click 'Add'.

Type directly in the grid to enter the following trucks.

Code

Owner

Configuration

Description

TT-100

M&H

NONE

TT-100

TT-101

M&H

NONE

TT-101

JL-1

JL

NONE

JL-1

JL-2

JL

NONE

JL-2

The entry for the Owner is used to identify which vendor (contractor) to pay for each load entered in the system.  Scroll to the right and notice the other optional columns that can be used to track additional detail about the truck, such as its serial or permit number.

On the Truck Weights tab, ‘Summer Max Weight’ and ‘Winter Max Weight’ are maximum weights used to calculate overloads.  If you want to track overloads in the system, you must enter the values for each truck.  This tutorial will not cover overloads, so you can skip these entries.

If your own company owns log trucks, you would specify ‘MYCO’ for the owner, indicating your company is the owner.  (You  can always change the code for your company from MYCO to whatever acronym you would like.  If you want, you can navigate to  Setup | Company Information to change the name and code for your company.)

Click 'OK' to close the grid.

Setting Up Routes

The setup item 'Route' is used to distinguish pay for each load ticket if trucks are based on their route.  For example, you might setup ‘Off Highway’ and ‘On Highway’ routes to identify loads that were delivered over highway or off-highway roads.

Setup routes by navigating to Setup | Routes.

Use 'Add' to create two routes with the following information:

Code

Description

Y

On Highway

N

Off Highway

Click 'OK' to close the grid.

Setting Up Customers

To setup a customer (the company -- mill owner -- from which you are receiving revenue), navigate to Setup | Customers.

Use 'Add' to enter new customers with the following information:

Code

Description

BBR

Big Berland River Inc.

IP

International Paper

Click 'OK' to close the grid.

Setting Up Destinations

A destination is a mill (or other location, such as a wood yard) to which your company delivers wood.  Destinations are distinct from customers because a customer (like International Paper) may have several mills.  Destinations are very important in the system because they are required on each load slip and are used to determine which customer will pay you for the loads and which revenue and pay rates to apply to each load. 

To enter a new destination, navigate to Setup | Destinations.

We will set up just one destination for each customer, on the assumption that we only deliver to one Berland mill, one IP mill, etc.  Add the following new destinations: 

Code

Description

BBM

Big Berland Mill

ANDRO

IP - Androscoggin

Click 'OK' to close the grid.

Setting Up Species and Products

The County, Species and Products are user-defined data fields that are configured in the system.  During your initial system configuration, these fields can be renamed, reordered, and fields may be added or removed, depending on your needs.  For example, you might want to use terms such as State, Subdivision or Grade.

In general, different mills use different attributes and terms to describe the wood that they purchase.  In recognition of the wide diversity in industry practice, The Logger's Edge allows you to tailor your terminology to fit your business.  When we configure your system, we can expand or reduce the number of categories or change the category names.  Talk to a Caribou representative if you would like the terminology in your system modified. 

Setting Up Species

In order to setup each of your species,  navigate to Setup | Species and click 'Add'.  You will then see the following form where you will enter the species data.

Use the information below to setup each of your two species.

Code

Species

PI

Pine

SF

Spruce, Fir

Once you have setup the species, click 'OK' to close the form and click 'OK' to close the grid.

Setting Up Products

In order to setup each of your products,  navigate to Setup | Product and click 'Add'.  Setup two products using the information provided below.

Code

Products

PULP

Pulpwood

SAW

Sawlogs

Click 'OK' to close the Products grid.


4. Setting Up a "Pay as Cut" Tract

The following screen captures show the setup steps for a tract called "PC-Williams."  (PC is a naming convention we use in this example to indicate "pay-as-cut" because this tract is owned by a land-owner to whom we pay stumpage as the wood is cut.) This tract setup shows a common setup for users that are:

Tracts are set up under the menu item Setup | Tracts | Setup.  You should see one tract called 'Internal Cost'.  This tract should not be edited.  It is available for use when entering time slips where the time relates to mechanic time or any other time that is not directly attributable to a specific tract or job.

Step 1

Click the 'Add' button to initiate the wizard if you are setting up a new tract.  (Note that double-clicking on an existing row in the grid will allow you to edit an existing tract.) 

Click 'Next'.

Step 2

Enter the county for the tract.  This field is for informational and reporting purposes.  If you want to be able to indicate a larger geographic area to which your tract belongs, you can do so in this window.  (The County label is configurable and can be changed to Township or Parish, for example.)

 

When you first enter this window there will be no counties (other than the 'NONE' county).  Click 'New County' to add a county, as shown here:

Click 'OK' to save your new county.  Then click 'Next' in the wizard window to move to Step 3.

Step 3

Enter the unit of measure for deliveries.  Most users receive their deliveries in LBS, although some users prefer to just enter tons.  Note that if you deliver to multiple mills from a given tract, and some mills provide the load slips in tons and others in pounds, you should pick a single measure that you will enter all of your weights in.  (This list of measures is configurable, so we can work with you to populate it with measures that make sense for your business.)  For this exercise, select LBS and click 'Next'.

Step 4

Select a standard volume measure for reporting production (deliveries).  The measure that you select in this screen is used SOLELY for reporting in the system's standard reports, as many of the reports will show costs per "volume" and need to have a single "common denominator" to be meaningful.  Most users choose Tons here, so that the system's standard reports will display tons in any columns labeled "volume".

Your selection in this window does not limit you in terms of how you can receive payment for deliveries, or issue payments; if you choose tons here, you can still pay loggers or receive payments in MBF or cords, for example.

Select 'TON' and click 'Next'.

Step 5

The next step involves setting up the start and end dates for the tract.  The start date is generally the date you start logging.  The end date is when the tract is complete.  The dates also set the boundaries for when loads identified with the tract will be paid.  A load with a date outside the start and end date will be flagged as an error when you run the calculators in the system.

Enter the date range 1/1/2006 to 12/31/2006 and click 'Next'.

Step 6

This step involves setting the rates that the Mills will pay you for log deliveries. 

Use the following information to enter into the rates window.  You need to click the 'Add' button to put a blank row into this window.  Once you have the blank row, you can type in the information shown here.  After you have completed one row,  you can click 'Copy' to create another row, and then just edit the fields that need to be edited.  If you add a row by mistake, simply highlight the row, and click the 'Delete' button.

Customer

Destination

Activity

Species

Product

Rate

Basis

Effective Date

 BBR

BBM

LOG DELIVERY

PI

SAW

$245.00

MBF

1/1/2006

 BBR

BBM

LOG DELIVERY

SF

SAW

$255.00

MBF

1/1/2006

IP

ANDRO

LOG DELIVERY

  

PULP

$65.00

TON

1/1/2006

IP

ANDRO

LOG DELIVERY

PI

PULP

$67.00

TON

1/1/2006

IP

ANDRO

LOG DELIVERY

SF

SAW

$260.00

MBF

1/1/2006

In the above screen shot, you will notice that Truck Type and Route are left empty.  This "blank" translates to ANY, So row 1 reads as "We get paid $245.00 per MBF for harvesting when the Species is PI, the Product is SAW and the Destination is BBM, and have ANY Truck Type and use ANY Route.  Row 3 says that we are paid $65.00 per TON for all pulpwood delivered to ANDRO, regardless of species.

Click 'Next'.

Step 7

Use this screen to specify the rates you pay your contractors and landowners for deliveries from this tract.  To add rates, click 'Add', and then begin filling in the proper information in the newly inserted row in the grid.

In this tract, the rates for STUMPAGE and CUT-HAUL differ by Product.  You may use any of the pull down menus in each column to create the different pay rates based on different load attributes.

Enter the following information into the grid:

Contractor

Activity

Product

Rate

Basis

Effective Date

JL

CUT-HAUL

PULP

$16.50

TON

1/1/2006

JL

CUT-HAUL

SAW

$100.00

MBF

1/1/2006

SS

STUMPAGE

PULP

$5.00

TON

1/1/2006

SS

STUMPAGE

SAW

$105.00

MBF

1/1/2006

The above entries show that a landowner named Stanley Stump will get paid $5.00/TON for Stumpage for Pulpwood delivered to ANY Destination and $105.00/MBF for Sawlogs delivered to ANY Destination.  JL Logging will be paid $16.50/TON for harvesting and delivering Pulpwood and $100.00/MBF for Sawlogs (again, to any destination). 

Click 'Next'.

Step 8

For the purposes of this tutorial, we are skipping Step 8. Click 'Next' to move onto Step 9.

Step 9

Specify how you want conversions (if any) to be performed.

If all of the volume you deliver is hand-scaled and you receive the volumes from the mills directly, you can choose the top radio button: Use No Conversions. (If you make this selection, you will bypass the next two screens we show in this tutorial.)

If all your pay rates, revenue rates, and reporting are all on a per ton basis for this tract, then you can choose the middle selection this screen: Use Generic Conversion. Again, if you make this selection, you will bypass the next two screens.

If you need the system to use standard conversions to convert pounds to MBF, cords, or some other measure, you should use the last radio button: Use Tract-Specific Conversions, as shown here. 

Step 10

Use this screen to indicate the attribute or attributes that govern your conversions.  Select 'Product' and click 'Next'.

 

Step 11

Use this grid to enter the conversion factors that you will need for  purposes of generating payment or receiving revenues on this tract.  The columns that appear here are dictated by the selection you made in the prior step.  That is, there is one column  for 'Product' here based on the selection in Step 10.  If you had also selected destination in Step 10,  you would also see a destination column in the grid.  The 'From:' measure is dictated by your selection in Step 3 (delivery measure).  Enter the Conversion Rates as shown.

 

The conversion rates are interpreted as follows:

Product

Conv Rate

From

To

Effective Date

Pulp

13000

LBS

MBF

1/1/2006

Saw

12000

LBS

MBF

1/1/2006

Click 'Next' to continue.

Step 12

Enter Cruise Volumes.  Use this window to enter the cruise for your tract (if you have cruise information).  The cruise lets you track your actual deliveries against what you expect from the tract.  This screen is not required and is used solely for reporting on actual versus budgeted volumes. (When setting up your own tracts, if you do not track cruise volumes, you can simply click 'Next' here.)

Enter the cruise volumes below:

Product

Cruise Volume

Vol Measure

Pulp

6200

TON

Saw

820

MBF

Click 'Next' to continue.

Step 13

For the purposes of this tutorial, we are skipping Step 13. Click 'Next' to move onto Step 14.

Step 14

Use this window to assign a name to the tract.  Use the 'Code' field for a short name (which will appear on settlements, for example).  Use the 'Name' field for a longer, more descriptive name (or simply set the name and the code to be the same).  The 'Description' field might be useful for a legal land location.  The other fields are configurable (or can be disabled completely).  Enter the information as shown below and click 'Next'.

 

The above screen can be configured to track additional pieces of information. For further details contact your Caribou Support representative.

Step 15

Up to this step, all of your selections have been stored in memory.  You can use the back button to review or edit your information.  You must click 'Finish' to save the tract and all of the corresponding information to the database.  If you choose 'Cancel' here, NONE of your information for this tract will be saved.

When you click 'Finish' you will see the grid with your new tract.

Click 'OK' to close the grid.


5. Setting Up a "Timber Deed" Tract

We now want to set up a second tract though the tract setup wizard.  This time, however, we will assume that the tract is a "Timber Deed" tract -- i.e. it is a tract for which you have purchased the timber rights (in a lump sum).  The primary difference between this tract and the earlier tract is that instead of paying a landowner for stumpage, we will want to charge ourselves an internal depletion amount (based on the lump sum payment for the tract), which basically allocates the original purchase price across loads as they are delivered to a mill(s).

When setting up this second tract, we are assuming that deliveries from this tract will go to the same two mills as before: Big Berland and IP. 

Now, navigate to Setup | Tracts | Setup.

Often, when you set up a new tract, you already have an existing one that is similar.  In that case, you can highlight an existing tract and click on 'Copy' in order to use an existing tract as the starting point for a new tract.  We will not do that here, but you should be aware that is often easier (less typing) to start with an existing tract than to start from scratch.

Click on 'Add' to begin the tract setup wizard.

Step 1

Click 'Next'.

Step 2

Enter the County.  Again, this field is for informational and reporting purposes.  If you want to be able to indicate a larger geographic area to which your tract belongs, you can do so in this window.  (The County label is configurable and can be changed to Township, for example.)  Select 'Androscoggin' and click 'Next'.

Step 3

Enter the unit of measure for deliveries.  Most users receive their deliveries in LBS, although some users prefer to just enter tons.  Note that if you deliver to multiple mills from a given tract, and some mills provide the load slips in tons and others in pounds, you should pick a single measure that you will enter all of your weights in.  (This list of measures is configurable, so we can work with you to populate it with measures that make sense for your business.)  Select LBS and click 'Next'.

Step 4

Select a volume measure for reporting to track production.  The measure you that you select in this screen is used SOLELY for reporting in the system's standard reports, as many of the reports will show costs per "volume" and need to have a single "common denominator" to be meaningful.  Most users choose Tons here, so that the system's standard reports will display tons in any columns labeled "volume".

Your selection in this window does not limit you in terms of how you can receive payment for deliveries, or issue payments; if you choose tons here, you can still pay loggers or receive payments in MBF or cords.

Select 'TON' and click 'Next'.

Step 5

The next step involves setting up the start and end dates for the tract.  The start date is generally the date you start logging.  The end date is when the tract is complete.  The dates also set the boundaries for when loads identified with the tract will be paid.  A load with a date outside the start and end date will be flagged as an error.

Enter the date range 1/1/2006 to 12/31/2006 and click 'Next'.

Step 6

This step involves setting the rates that the Mills will pay you for log deliveries. 

Use the following information to enter in five rates:

Customer Destination Activity Species Product Rate Basis Effective Date
 BBR BBM LOG DELIVERY PI SAW $80.00 TON 1/1/2006
 BBR BBM LOG DELIVERY SF SAW $75.00 TON 1/1/2006
IP ANDRO LOG DELIVERY   PULP $65.00 TON 1/1/2006
IP ANDRO LOG DELIVERY PI SAW $67.00 TON 1/1/2006
IP ANDRO LOG DELIVERY SF SAW $75.00 TON 1/1/2006

In the above screen shot you will notice that 'Truck Type' and 'Route' are left empty.  This translates to ANY, so row 1 reads as "We get paid $80.00/TON for harvesting when the Species is PI and the Product is SAW, and we deliver to BBM, using ANY Truck Type and using ANY Route.

If the mill breaks the price they pay you into multiple rates -- say one rate for the trucking component of the work, and another rate for the harvesting,  you can handle that scenario as well.  You would enter two distinct rates in this grid, using the 'Activity' drop-down selection box to distinguish the rates between Trucking and Harvesting, for example.  In this scenario, we made a simplifying assumption that the mill pays you one bundled price for log deliveries. 

Click 'Next'.

Step 7

Use this window to specify the rates for your contract.  To add rates, click the 'Add' button.  The system will insert a blank row in the grid for you to use.

In this tract, we have rates for three phases, or activities, that we are paying:  CUTTING, TRUCKING and DEPLETION.  (The Depletion phase is really an accrual of an internal cost, rather than an explicit payment.)

Enter the following information into the grid:

Contractor Destination Activity Species Product Rate Basis Effective Date
JL   CUTTING   PULP $5.50 TON 1/1/2006
JL   CUTTING PI SAW $18.00 TON 1/1/2006
JL   CUTTING SF SAW $19.00 TON 1/1/2006
M&H BBM TRUCKING     $8.00 TON 1/1/2006
M&H ANDRO TRUCKING     $10.00 TON 1/1/2006
MYCO   DEPLETION     $30.00 TON 1/1/2006

The above entries mean that JL Logging will be paid $5.50/TON for Pulpwood, $18.00/TON for harvesting of Pine Sawlogs and $19.00/TON for Spruce/Fir Sawlogs.  M&H will be paid $8.00/TON to haul logs to BBM  and $10.00/TON to haul logs to ANDRO.

The DEPLETION rate is set up at $30.00/TON and the contractor is set to 'MYCO' - meaning my company.  This rate will generate an internal entry of $30.00/TON which will not be actually 'paid' to any vendor.  It will, however, appear on tract costing reports as a cost for each load coming from that tract.  The effect of this depletion rate is to "spread" the lump-sum purchase price for the tract of land across the deliveries as they are harvested, so that while the tract is being harvested, you can look at costs associated with the volumes harvested to date.

Click 'Next' to continue.

Step 8

For the purposes of this tutorial, we are skipping Step 8. Click 'Next' to move onto Step 9.

Step 9

Specify how you want conversions (if any) to be performed.

This time we will select Use Generic Conversion.  We can use the generic LBS/Ton conversion because all of our revenue is received in tons, our payments are issued in tons, and our cruise volumes are recorded as tons.

Click 'Next' to continue.

Step 10 and 11

In Step 9 we selected Generic Conversion and not Tract-Specific Conversions, so we do not need to setup any conversions.  Therefore, the system bypasses Steps 10 and 11.

Step 12

Enter Cruise Volumes.  Use this window to enter the cruise for your tract (if you have one).  The cruise lets you track your actual deliveries against what you expect from the tract.  This screen is not required and is used solely for reporting on actual versus budgeted volumes.

Enter the cruise volumes as follows:

Species Product Cruise Volume Vol Measure
  Pulp 3400 TON
PI Saw 2100 TON
SF Saw 300 TON

Click 'Next' to continue.

Step 13

For the purposes of this tutorial, we are skipping Step 13. Click 'Next' to move onto Step 14.

Step 14

Enter a name and description for the tract.

Step 15

Click 'Finish' to save the information to the database.

Click 'OK' to close the Tract grid.


6. Entering Load Slips

Now that you have your basic setup data complete and your two tracts set up, you are ready to enter load slips.

To add, view or edit load slips, navigate to Data Entry | Load Slips | Load Data (or use the icon shown below) and you will get the following filter window:

Select the Pay Period W/E 8/18/06.  This will auto fill the Start and End date.  You are not, however, required to choose a pay period in this window.  You can select any start and end date to view loads.

Click 'Add' to bring up an empty load ticket.

This first tab, Contract Detail (located at bottom of ticket), is where you enter the attributes of the load such as Species, Product, Destination, etc.

Enter the following data into 5 new loads:

Tract

PC-Williams

PC-Williams

PC-Williams

TD Mitchell

TD Mitchell

Species

SF

SF

SF

SF

PI

Product

SAW

PULP

SAW

PULP

SAW

Distance

100

115

100

125

125

Destination

BBM

ANDRO

BBM

ANDRO

ANDRO

Truck No

JL-1

JL-2

JL-1

TT-100

TT-101

Driver

NONE

NONE

NONE

NONE

NONE

Truck Type

NONE

NONE

NONE

NONE

NONE

Route

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Ticket No

T101

T102

T103

T104

T105

Load No

1

2

3

4

5

Date In

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

Date Out

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

Date for Pay

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

8/15/2006

Gross Weight

59900

56500

61000

51000

55500

Tare Weight

19900

21000

22000

18500

18550

After entering each ticket, click 'Save/Add'.  This action will clear out the ticket number and weights, but will leave the information on the left side of the screen with the same entries that you had on the prior ticket, for ease of data entry.  Once you have finished entering all load slips click 'OK'.   After you have entered the five tickets, the load slip grid should look similar to the following:

 

Click 'OK' to close the Load Slip grid.


7. Processing Vendor Pay

Now that you have your tracts and load slips entered, it is time to see how pay works.

Run Vendor Pay

Select Calculators | Vendors - Full to process pay for your vendors (sub contractors).  You are prompted to select the pay period:

Select the ‘W/E 8/18/06’ pay period and click 'OK'.  The Logger's Edge will process your vendor pay.  Assuming you have followed the tutorial directions correctly, you should receive the following message:

Click 'OK'.  If there are pay errors, you will be notified with a Pay Errors screen and you will have to fix the errors before you can proceed.

Review Vendor Statements under Reports | Vendor Statements | By Pay Period.  You will  be prompted to select the pay period:

Select the ‘W/E 8/18/06’ pay period and click 'OK'.

The vendor statement is designed to accompany your check for pay to your subcontractors.

The vendor statement grid above shows the detailed payments to JL Logging.  In order to scroll through each vendor's statement, click on the dropdown list box in the top left.

Note that when you click on 'My Company', you get a listing of the depletion amounts charged to your timber deed tract.

You can also use The Logger's Edge to generate formatted vendor statements.  Click on the 'View Statements' button.

Select 'JL Logging' and click 'OK'.  (If you want to review multiple statements at once, highlight them and click 'OK'.  Alternatively, you can click 'Select All' and then click 'OK' to generate all statements at once for all vendors.)

The Logger's Edge will create a formatted statement for each of the selected vendors.  The first page is a summary page for the statement.  Use the page arrows at the top of the window to view the detail pages for the current statement.

 

Take a minute to review the Vendor Statements.  You may configure the statements to include the columns and groupings that you would like by using the File | Configure Statements and Invoices utility.  If needed, a Caribou Software representative can help you with this configuration.

Click 'OK' to exit the Statement window and click 'OK' again to exit the Vendor Statements grid.


8. Processing Revenue

The Logger's Edge also processes revenue in order to calculate the amounts you should expect to receive from each mill based on the loads delivered and the rates you have entered for each tract.

To process invoices, select Calculators | Invoices - Full.  You will be prompted to select the pay period:

Select the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period and click 'OK'.  The Logger's Edge will now process your invoices.  This process will match up loads with revenue contracts and apply the rates that the mills pay you.  Since most mills self invoice their logging contractors, you will most likely not send out the physical invoices that The Logger's Edge creates, but you can use the reports to cross-check against the settlements that the mill provides to you.  You will receive the following message if the invoice processing is successful:

Click 'OK'.  If there are errors, you will be notified with an Errors screen and you will need to correct the errors before proceeding.

The invoices generated by the calculator can be viewed by navigating to Reports | Invoices | View: By Pay Period.  You will be prompted to select the pay period:

Select the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period and click 'OK'.

In the grid, you will see the first customer's tickets and the amounts owed to your company for the loads you have delivered.  Use the 'Select Vendor' list to move from the statement for one customer to the next.

Generally,  mills do not pay you based on an invoice you submit to them, but instead 'self-invoice' -- they generate an invoice and then send you payment for what they owe you.  In this case, you can think of the above invoice as a 'Pro Forma' invoice in that it represents the amounts due to you based on the loads you have delivered and the rates you have set up.  These Pro Forma calculations allow you to track your tentative (or accrued) revenue in The Logger's Edge before you receive any statement from the mill.

Click 'OK' to exit the Customer Invoices grid.

Verifying Mill Settlements

When you do actually receive settlements from the mill, you will likely want to verify the amounts you expect to receive from the mill for each ticket with the amount they actually pay you.  This reconciliation process allows you to ensure that you receive payment on all the loads you have entered in The Logger's Edge and that the payment you receive is consistent with the amount you expect to receive.

Verifying Mill Settlements is a three-step process in The Logger's Edge.  The first step involves running the invoices calculator (above) in order to compute your Pro Forma revenue. (We have already completed this step.)  The second step involves entering the actual revenue (as reported to you on your mill settlements) for each load you receive from the mills to which you deliver.  The third step involves running the Mill Settlements reconciliation Report, which compares the amounts calculated by The Logger's Edge using the Invoices Calculator above, with those amounts you enter from your settlements.

To enter your actual revenue, navigate to Data Entry | Load Slips | Load Revenue and choose the pay period 'W/E 8/18/06'.  The grid will fill with all of the tickets in your date range that have been successfully processed through the invoice calculator.  You will not see any information in the grid if the invoice calculator has not been run for the selected pay period.

You should now see a screen similar to the one below.  This screen is used to enter the actual revenues from mill settlements.

You will notice that initially all of the values are $0.00 in the amount column, indicating that no revenue has yet been entered into the system from the actual mill settlements.  When working in this grid, you can either key in the amount of revenue from the mill directly, or you can re-key the values in either the Pay Weight column or the Rate Column.  (Those pay weights and rates are generated by the system when you run the Invoice Calculator.)  When you re-key either of these values and move to the next row in the grid, the system will automatically fill in the amount column based on the pay rate multiplied by the pay weight.

For the purposes of this tutorial, let's assume you have received a check (settlement) from Berland, but not IP.  Furthermore, let's assume that you have been paid a slightly different amount for one Berland ticket than the amount you expected to be paid (perhaps because the mill recorded an incorrect species on the ticket).  We have made these assumptions to highlight the value of the Mill Reconciliation report in identifying revenue issues to be addressed with the mill.

Please enter the following information into the grid.

Ticket No

Revenue Contract

Rate

T101

RV: PC-Williams - BBR

$240.00

T103

RV: PC-Williams - BBR

$255.00

T102

RV: PC-Williams - IP

$0.00

T104

RV: TD-Mitchell - IP

$0.00

T105

RV: TD-Mitchell - IP

$0.00

On the left side of the screen, you can choose the relevant revenue contract (e.g., Berland or IP).  That selection will filter the ticket list down to only those tickets associated with that revenue contract.

Once you have entered the amounts shown above, click 'OK' to exit the grid.

If you were now to re-open the load revenue window and choose the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period, you will see only three load tickets in the grid.  This result is expected because the Show Unpaid Only checkbox at the top of this window is checked.  If you want to see all of the loads, you can uncheck this box and you will see all of the load slips (both those you have marked as paid by entering the pay amounts, and those that remain unpaid). 

When you have finished entering your information, select the menu item Reports | Business Reports (or use the icon on the far right of the toolbar) to launch the Logger’s Edge Reporter.

From the reporter, navigate to Load Reports | Mill Settlements, Reconciliation report.  Choose the pay period as 'W/E 8/18/06', select both the 'PC-Williams' and 'TD-Mitchell' tracts, and sort by 'Destination'.  Click 'OK' to run the report.  You will now want to check the 'Difference' column on the far right of the report to verify that all differences are zero. When you open the Mill Settlements report, you will notice the tickets that have not yet been paid are marked as 'Not paid' in red.  You will also notice that there is a discrepancy between what the mill has paid you on ticket T101 and what you expected to be paid.  In this case, the reason for the difference is that the mill used a rate of $240.00/MBF, but the rate you have set up in the system that matches this load is $255.00/MBF. 

Click on the large 'X' to exit the report.


9. Business Reports - Loads

To view all reports and statements in The Logger's Edge, navigate to Reports | Business Reports.  The Logger's Edge Reporter, a separate application, will open.  There are a variety of standard business reports available in the Reporter. 

You can add reports that you use most frequently to the 'Favorites' folder on the left side of the window.  Simply click on a report name that you find under any of the other folders, and drag the report upward (as you continue to hold your mouse button down) out of the original folder.  Drop it into the 'Favorites' folder.

There are several useful features available when you run any of the grid reports from the Reporter:

  • You can print the report using the print button

  • You can export the report to Excel using the Excel button

  • You can export the data to a “tab-delimited” text file with the tab button

  • You can cut-and-paste a set of data from the window to another MS Windows application, such as Excel or Word.

    • You should review the following reports to see how the load slips, payments, and revenue you have entered into The Logger's Edge so far appears on reports. 

    The reports can be grouped into two general types of reports: 

    Analytical Reports

    Audit Reports

    Running the auditing reports that are asterisked above should be a part of your routine process to ensure no loads are left unpaid, and no loads have been paid twice for the same activity. 

    All reports can also be run for date ranges, not just pay periods.  All grid reports use the Date Hauled (Date Out) on load slips and do not take into consideration the date for pay.  (The Employee and Contractor Statements under the Statements menu item do, however, rely on date for pay.)

    We describe a subset of the reports listed above in the text that follows.

    Tract P&L Report

    Once you have processed employee pay (which has not yet been covered in the tutorial to this point), vendor pay, and invoices, you can assess the profitability of your tract operations.

    Open The Logger's Edge Reporter (Reports | Business Reports) and then select Tract Reports - Economics | Summary P&L.

    Select the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period and select the 'PC-Williams' tract.  Click 'OK' to run the report.

    The total cost is the sum of  employee pay, equipment costs and contractor payments.  The tract profit is revenue less total costs.  The revenue for the tract is based on the revenue you have keyed into the system upon receipt of the mill settlements, not your pro forma revenue based on the invoices calculator. 

    The bottom set of rows on the report (shown below) summarizes the tract status.

    The actual production (delivered volume) is based on load slips, and the estimated production is based on tree counts multiplied by the volume/tree factor.  (The tree counts can be entered when you record time slips in the system, if you track them.  If you do not track them, the statistics (other than actual volume) at the bottom of this report will not be meaningful.)

    In a tract under harvest, the actual (delivered) volume should exceed the estimated volume due to the inventory of logs harvested, but not yet delivered.  These logs may be on a landing or remote deck.

    The last two rows compare the actual vol/tree based on the actual volume delivered and actual tree counts, with the estimated vol/tree.  When a tract is finished, the two ratios should be fairly close, assuming your estimated vol/tree ratios were reasonably accurate.  If they differ, you can replace the estimated value with the actual value on the tract and recalculate your production values based on your tree counts so that they are based on the true actual result.

    Click the small 'x' to exit out of the Tract P&L report.  You are now back to the main menu of The Logger's Edge Reporter.

    Revenue, By Destination, Summary Report

    In The Logger's Edge Reporter, select Tract Reports - Economics | Revenue, By Destination, Summary.

    Run the report for the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period and select all destinations.  Click 'OK' to run the report.

    This report summarizes the load counts, volumes, and revenues received on a destination basis.

    Click the small 'x' to exit out of the Revenue, By Destination, Summary report.  You are now back to the main menu of The Logger's Edge Reporter.

    Deliveries, By Destination Report

    In The Logger's Edge Reporter select Tract Reports - Production | Deliveries, By Destination.

    Run the report for the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period and select all destinations and all tracts.  Click 'OK' to run the report.

    The report shows a listing of all your loads from each tract, ordered by the destination to which they were delivered.

    Click the small 'x' to exit out of the Deliveries, By Destination report.  You are now back to the main menu of The Logger's Edge Reporter.

    Loads Paid, All Loads Report

    In The Logger's Edge Reporter, select Load Reports | Loads Paid, All Loads.

    Run the report for the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period and select all tracts.  Click 'OK' to run the report.

    This report provides a detailed listing of each load and each vendor paid (and amounts paid) in connection with each load.  It is useful as a final check before issuing your settlements to your vendors to ensure that each load is paid for all the phases you expect to pay.  If a phase (activity) has not been paid, but a rate has been set up for that phase on the tract, the phase will be flagged in red as 'Not Paid'.

    Click the small 'x' to exit out of the Loads Paid, All Loads report.  You are now back to the main menu of The Logger's Edge Reporter.

    Cruise Summary Report

    In The Logger's Edge Reporter, select Tract Reports - Production | Cruise Summary.

    Run the report for the 'W/E 8/18/06' pay period and select all tracts.  Click 'OK' to run the report.

    This report compares your cruise amounts entered on each tract with the associated volumes actually delivered from each tract.

    Click the small 'x' to exit out of the Cruise Summary report.  You are now back to the main menu of The Logger's Edge Reporter.


    Employee Setup

    10. Tracking Time - Basic Setup

    Let's now switch gears and explore how The Logger's Edge handles employee time.  The following sections of this tutorial are focused on showing you how to handle hourly employees and equipment, as well as creating hourly payroll statements for employees.  In addition, you will cover tracking of maintenance costs for company-owned equipment.

    The first steps that you need to perform in The Logger's Edge are to set up your employees and equipment.  In this section you will cover:

    Before setting up these items, let's first take a look at the time slip so that you can get a better understanding of the types of information you will need to set up.

    Navigate to Data Entry | Time Slips | Employees | Enter Slips or use the Time Slip icon as outlined in the screen below.

    Click on 'Add' to see the following time slip form:

     

    The time slip includes several fields: Date, Employee, Equipment, Truck, Tract, and Activity which are entered through drop-down lists.  The purpose of preset lists is to ensure that only valid entries can be selected for these fields.  In your prior exercises with load slips, you have already set up many of these items (Trucks, Tracts, Activities), but you have not yet set up employees or equipment.  These are your next tasks.

    You will notice in the above screenshot that there are yellow and white text fields -- the yellow fields are required entries; the white fields are optional entries.  There are times when you may not have valid data for a required entry.  In this case, a selection of 'NONE' serves as a valid entry.

    In the next few sections you will set up the lists required for entering time slips.

    Click 'Cancel' to close the New Time Slip window.  Click 'OK' to close the Time Slip grid.

    Setting Up Employees

    Navigate to Setup | Workers | Worker Setup.

    In this grid, you will enter two employees:

    Code

    BF

    JM

    First Name

    Bob

    Joe

    Last Name

    Feller

    McKanic

    Full Name

    Feller, Bob

    McKanic, Joe

    Employer

    MYCO

    MYCO

    SSN

    		    

    Address

    231 Pineview Ave

    1003 East Muskeg Dr.

    City

    Lewiston

    Castle Rock

    State

    Maine

    Maine

    Zip Code

    54122

    53432

    Phone

    		    

    Fax

    		    

    E-mail

    		    

    Hire Date

    3/15/2001

    11/1/2000

    Active ?

    Yes

    Yes

    Statement Type Code

    Standard Employee

    Standard Employee

    In The Logger's Edge, employees are assigned a 'Code' and a 'Full Name'.  The 'Code' for an item is its short form, such as the employee's initials or employee number.  The 'Full Name' is the employee's full name.  The Logger's Edge uses the 'Code' in most pick lists, so you should use codes that make employees readily identifiable.  For the employer, you should select 'MYCO' -- meaning a worker is employed by your own company.  This grid is also used to enter contract workers, who are identified by an employer other that MYCO. 

    If you have a self-employed truck driver that works for you and drives one of your company-owned trucks, but is not actually an employee, you would set the person up as a vendor first.  Then you would set him up as a worker, and select the vendor entry you just made for this worker as this worker's Employer.

    Again, note there are yellow (required) and white (optional) entries in the grid.  You should (though you are not required) enter each employee's address, because it appears on his or her employee pay statement.

    Click on 'Save' to save the item.  Saved items appear in the tree view on the left side. 

    What is Active?

    Many records in The Logger's Edge have an 'Active?' checkbox.  The 'Active?' checkbox is used to manage setup data that is currently in use, versus setup data that has been used in the past or will be used in the future, but is not currently needed.  For example, if employee Jack Straw is no longer a current employee, you can uncheck the 'Active?' checkbox so that the employee will no longer appear in drop down lists.  All of Jack's prior information is, however, still retained in the database.  Of course, Jack can be reactivated again in the future with no loss of historic data.

    When you see a 'Show Active Only' check box, you can uncheck the box to see all items (in this case employees), whether they are active or not.

    Employee Pay Rates

    In the worker window, you will note there are three tabs: (1) Workers (the current tab); (2) Worker (Employee) Base Rates; and (3) Equipment Assignments.

    Click on the Worker (Employee) Base Rates tab.

    Use the data below to enter each employee's pay rate.

    Employee Code

    Effective Date

    Rate

    Loaded Rate

    Rate Type

    Active

    BF

    1/1/2006

    20.00

    23.00

    HR

    Yes

    JM

    1/1/2006

    24.00

    27.60

    HR

    Yes

    The column 'Rate' is for the employee's hourly rate.  The 'Rate Type' must be set to 'HR' in order to pay hourly employees.

    The 'Loaded Rate' column is for you to specify your full cost of the employee, inclusive of payroll taxes and other employer-paid benefits. The system will automatically make a default entry based on your base rate, multiplied by a percentage uplift specified in the software (15 percent).  The system's default uplift percentage can be changed for you by a Caribou representative.  In addition, you can over-ride the calculated loaded rate in this grid with a specific loaded hourly rate for each employee.  Many reports in the system can be run using employee base rates, or employee loaded rates, depending on your selection at the time you run the report. 

    Click 'OK' to exit the Workers grid.

    Equipment Types

    Now let's turn to setting up equipment.

    Navigate to Setup | Equipment / Trucks | Equipment | Equipment Types.  In The Logger's Edge, each specific equipment unit is assigned an equipment type, such as loader, delimber, forwarder, feller buncher, etc.  Thus, before you can actually set up a specific piece of equipment, you need to fill out the selection list of equipment types.

    Click on 'Add' to enter an empty row.  Fill in the row with the following information:

    Code

    Description

    Active?

    FB

    Feller Buncher

    Yes

    LD

    Loader

    Yes

    These are two equipment types you will use next when you set up equipment units.

    Click 'OK' to close the grid.  The information that you have entered will save automatically when you click 'OK'.

    Setting Up Equipment Units

    To setup equipment units, navigate to Setup | Equipment / Trucks | Equipment | Unit Numbers.

    Click on 'Add' or use the short cut key, Alt+a and enter the following two equipment units.  The 'Owner' column is used to identify which 'Vendor' owns the equipment.  For company-owned equipment, you would use your company's 'Code' -- MYCO in this case.

    Code

    Description

    Equipment Type

    Owner

    Serial Number

    Permit Number

    Active

    FB101

    Deere 653G #101

    FB

    MYCO

    		    

    Yes

    LD203

    Timberjack 330B #203

    LD

    MYCO

    		    

    Yes

    You will note at the top of the grid there are two tabs -- 'Equipment' and 'Equipment Activities'.  You are currently on the 'Equipment' tab.  Click on the 'Equipment Activities' tab and you will move to a grid where you can assign default activities to pieces of equipment. 

    In the grid, you should enter the activity for each piece of equipment.

    Unit Code

    Eligible Activity

    Is Default

    Active

    FB101

    CUTTING

    Yes

    Yes

    LD203

    LOAD

    Yes

    Yes

    Recall that when we looked at the time slip above, there were entries for the piece of equipment and activity.  The default activities that you have set up here will be used to auto-fill the activity on the time slip when you click on the piece of equipment, thereby reducing your data entry burden.  (The default entries on the time slips can, of course, be over-ridden as you enter time slips if, for example, a loader does "piling" on a time slip instead of "loading".)

    Click 'OK' to exit the Equipment grid.

    Setting Up Equipment Cost

    When you own your own equipment units, you can set up an internal charge (an internal cost) for the use of your equipment.  This internal charge allows you to account for the capital costs (operating expenses, depreciation, interest, etc.) associated with completing a certain job or tract.  In order to set up the equipment cost for each of your equipment units, navigate to Setup | Equipment / Trucks |  Equipment | Equipment Costing.

    Click on 'Add' to enter the cost for each of your units.

    This form allows you to directly enter your equipment costs.  If you have another system to calculate your costs or you use a reference guide or "Blue-Book" to estimate your rates, you can just enter them here.

    The entry form shows two rates:

    1. Std Cost Per Hour:  This cost is the cost of operating your machine, NOT including the cost of the operator.  In reports that rely on this cost measure, the actual cost of the operator is added to the Std Cost to calculate the full cost of operation.

    2. Fully Founded Rate:  This is the cost of operating your machine, including the cost of the operator.  Certain reports in the system make use of this full rate per hour, rather than relying on payroll costs for operators.  If you are not using The Logger's Edge to track payroll costs, you may find that reports based on this fully founded rate are better suited for your needs.

    Enter the following costs for your equipment units.

    Unit Code

    Effective Date

    Std Cost Per Hour

    Fully Founded Rare

    Annual Hours

    FB101

    1/1/2006

    150.00

    180.00

    2,200

    LD203

    1/1/2006

    120.00

    150.00

    2,000

    Click 'OK' to exit the Equipment Cost grid.

    Employee Equipment Assignments

    In The Logger's Edge, employees can be assigned to individual equipment units.  Recall that when we looked at the time slip above, there were entries for the piece of equipment.  You can set up an employee to have a default piece of equipment so that when you click on the employee, The Logger's Edge will auto-fill the equipment unit on the time slip.  This feature can save you significant data entry time when an employee operates the same equipment unit over a number of consecutive days.

    Navigate to Setup | Workers | Worker Assignments | Equipment.

    In the grid, click on 'Add' and select 'Bob Feller' as your Worker and 'FB101' as the Equipment Code.  Make the effective date '1/1/2006'.  These entries tell The Logger's Edge  that Bob Feller is assigned to the equipment FB101 as of 1/1/2006 so that when you are entering time slips for him, his equipment is automatically filled in with the FB101 equipment unit.

    You do not need to set up an equipment assignment for your other employee -- Joe McKanic.  In this tutorial, we are assuming that Joe is a mechanic and could possibly work on any number of equipment units in a given day.  Thus, it makes no sense to set up a default equipment unit when you would most likely have to change it when you filled out his time slip.

    Click 'OK' to exit the Equipment Assignments grid.

    Setting Up Expense Accounts

    In order to enter expenses (non-payroll), such as maintenance or fuel charges for equipment, you first need to set up account codes for each class of expense.

    To setup your expense accounts, navigate to Setup | Accounting | Account Codes.

    Click 'Add' to enter the following three expense accounts:

    A/C Code

    Description

    Part 1

    Part 2

    Active

    200-01

    General Parts

    200

    01

    Yes

    200-02

    Fuel

    200

    02

    Yes

    200-03

    Regular Service

    200

    03

    Yes

    When entering account codes, you can save some time by entering the 'Description' first, followed by the 'Part Numbers' that make up your account code.  When you enter the individual parts, the system will auto-fill the A/C Code column with the two separate parts, separated by a '-'.

    Once you have finished with the account codes, you are finished with your basic setup items.  You can now turn to entering time slips.

    Click 'OK' to exit the Account Codes grid.


    Entering Time Slips

    11. Entering Time Slips

    You are now ready to enter time slips for your two employees.

    Navigate to Data Entry | Time Slips | Employees | Enter Slips or use the Time Slip icon as shown in the screen below.

    Click 'Add' to enter your first slip.

    Enter the Slip Number (an optional entry), and then select Bob Feller ('BF') as the Employee.  This selection should auto-fill the Equipment unit 'FB101' (his equipment assignment) and the Activity 'CUTTING' (the default activity for the equipment).

    You should leave the Truck 'NONE' and enter the hours as 7.5 (7 1/2 hours).  You are then done with the slip.

    Now, let's assume Bob also had a 1/2 hour of down time (time he is paid for, but the unit is not working).

    Click 'Save/Add'.  This command will save your first entry and leave the form open with all of the items carried over except the Hours.  Just enter 0.5 for hours and change the Activity to 'DOWN'.

    Now, let's also assume Bob also had a 1/2 hour of maintenance time at the end of his shift.

    Again, click 'Save/Add'.  This command will save your first slip and leave the form open with all of the items carried over except the Hours.  Enter 0.5 for hours and change the Activity to 'MAINT'.  Also, change the Tract to 'INTERNAL COST', because you do not want to charge this maintenance time to the tract, but want to track it as part of your internal maintenance costs.

    Click 'OK'.  Your time entry grid should look as such:

    Let's now enter a week's worth of time (see below) for Bob Feller (you have already entered the rows dated 8/12/2006 so you can ignore them):

    Slip Number

    Date

    Employee

    Equipment

    Truck

    Hours

    Tract

    Activity

    Date for Pay

    Order

    1001

    8/12/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    0.50

    INTERNAL COST

    MAINT

    8/12/2006

    2

    1001

    8/12/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    0.50

    PC-Williams

    DOWN

    8/12/2006

    1

    1001

    8/12/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    7.50

    PC-Williams

    CUTTING

    8/12/2006

    0

    1002

    8/13/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    8.00

    PC-Williams

    CUTTING

    8/13/2006

    0

    1003

    8/14/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    0.50

    INTERNAL COST

    MAINT

    8/14/2006

    1

    1003

    8/14/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    8.00

    PC-Williams

    CUTTING

    8/14/2006

    0

    1004

    8/15/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    1.00

    PC-Williams

    DOWN

    8/15/2006

    1

    1004

    8/15/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    7.00

    PC-Williams

    CUTTING

    8/15/2006

    0

    1005

    8/16/2006

    BF

    FB101

    NONE

    8.00

    PC-Williams

    CUTTING

    8/16/2006

    0

    When you're done, your time entry grid should look as such:

    Note the tabs at the top of the grid 'Time Detail' and 'Time Summary'.  You are already on the 'Time Detail' tab.  Click on the 'Time Summary' tab.  This tab will provide a daily summary of each employee's time.

    Now that you have finished with Bob Feller, let's enter a couple of slips for Joe McKanic.  Click on the 'Time Detail' tab and then click 'Add' to enter the data as shown.

    In this example, we are assuming Joe is our mechanic and he spends 1 3/4 hours fixing a track on the FB101 feller buncher.  The Activity is maintenance and the tract is 'INTERNAL COST'.

    Click 'Save/Add' to add another slip:

    In this slip, Joe is performing regular service on the feller buncher FB101.

    The two entries for Joe are:

    Slip Number

    Date

    Employee

    Equipment

    Truck

    Hours

    Tract

    Activity

    Date for Pay

    Order

    1006

    8/17/2006

    JM

    FB101

    NONE

    1.75

    INTERNAL COST

    MAINT

    8/12/2006

    0

    1006

    8/17/2006

    JM

    FB101

    NONE

    3.00

    INTERNAL COST

    MAINT

    8/12/2006

    1

    Once you have made these entries, you are ready to move on to processing your payroll. Note that many of our users use The Logger's Edge for payroll purposes to calculate the gross amounts due to each employee and to generate statements to accompany the employee's check.  Other users do not use The Logger's Edge for actual payroll purposes, but do enter the worker time slips into the system for job cost reporting and equipment maintenance tracking.  If you choose not to use The Logger's Edge for payroll, you can always enter time for your workers that aggregate all work done on a certain piece of equipment by a certain employee in a certain tract for the entire week, or even the entire month.  If you opt to enter time this way, a Caribou representative can disable the automatic overtime calculations in the system for you.

    Click 'OK' to exit the Time Detail grid.


    Processing Payroll

    12. Processing Payroll

    Now t