Cougar Mountain Newswire

1st Quarter, 2007

Cougar Mountain Turns 25!

2007 marks Cougar Mountain Software's 25th year of business. After recognizing how personal computers would change people's daily lives, Bob Gossett founded Cougar Mountain in 1982 and the company's first accounting program debuted soon thereafter. Cougar Mountain continues to incorporate the latest technology so we can offer our customers the best integrated accounting, point-of-sale, and fund software available.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, our customer, for your continued support and patronage. Please let us know if there are any ways we can make your Cougar Mountain experience a better one. Also, continue to monitor our website and your email for any special offers in celebration of our 25th year. We look forward to serving your for many more years!

Version 11.1 Available NOW !

For those enrolled with Cougar Mountain 's Software Assurance Plan, Version 11.1 was made available for download on the Customer Service Center in mid December, 2006. With this download you'll receive all the necessary files to update your payroll tax tables, as well as any changes made to the 2006 W2, W3, and accounts payable 1099 and 1096 forms.

The new 944 form is also included. This form is used to report wages, tips, federal income tax withheld, and the employer's share of social security and Medicare taxes withheld on a yearly basis. This form eases the burden for small businesses with an annual tax liability of $1,000 or less by allowing them to file yearly rather than quarterly.

Denali Version 2.5 Unveiled!

The playing field is now level! With this update, Cougar Mountain's Denali core modules have all the features and functionality of our popular CMS Professional lineup so you don't have to sacrifice any functionality making the switch. Also, because of Denali's 32-bit platform, you will have the benefit of increased speed and stability, and the ability to handle higher transaction volumes.

This update includes all recent Denali improvements as well as new features to help you run your business efficiently and productively. For example, you can now accept payments and pay vendors by credit card, track transactions through the User ID and batch number, and create better custom reports with new date controls and drill-down menu options. These and other new features are designed to expand your abilities with the software, and in turn help your business run smoothly.

New! Cougar Mountain CRM Bridge Tool !

In the past few weeks we’ve constructed some new functions, like a search tool to help you quickly find exactly what you’re looking for, an email signup form so you can receive any and all Cougar Mountain news releases or special offers, and the debut of Cougar Mountain’s first blog where we will post any news, information, or tips & tricks for CMS users.

With CRM Bridge to Act! from Cougar Mountain, you no longer have to make duplicate entries in both programs. The CRM Bridge to ACT! allows you to import or export information between the programs with just a few simple clicks.

• Complete order entry in one place.
• Keep records up to date in one step .
• Import customer information into Cougar Mountain.
• Keep an up-to-date database.
• Read Purchases automatically .
• Programmed alerts to avoid discrepancies.

Service Spotlight

Tired of waiting for the support team to call you back? Need an immediate solution to your software problem? The first few months of the year is tax season and one of the busiest times of the year at Cougar Mountain Software—at times as many as 60 customers may be lined up in our queue waiting for a call back.

If your problem needs immediate attention, consider Cougar Mountain's Priority Phone Support plan. Priority Phone Support provides you with immediate access to dependable, expert advice for your time-critical issues. No more waiting for hours for a return call, with Priority Support your problem is placed at the front of the line.

Cougar Mountain Training Road Show!
Next stop. . .

Our offsite training seminar in Orlando, Florida last month was so successful, we've decided to do it again—this time we're taking our training road show west. If you or your employees are in need of some training, make plans to attend our spring training seminar in fun-filled Las Vegas—April 9-11th, 2007.

This three-day course will cover Cougar Mountain's basic modules (GL, AR, OE and AP), and offer an optional fourth day of training for those interested in learning more about the PR, BR, and PO modules.

The cost of the course is $695 per person, though we are offering discounts for additional attendees from the same organization. The optional fourth day is $199. Hotel reservations can be made directly with the Tropicana Hotel & Casino (888.826.8767) by the individuals attending and the cost is $89.00 (double occupancy) plus 9% tax and $5.00 resort tax.

Cougar Mountain Quick Tip:
Custom Reports

If you use customized Cougar Mountain report, then the new custom reports feature in Version 11 is for you. This new feature will make it possible to do the following:

• Save custom versions of Cougar reports in a safe location where upgrades will not overwrite them.
• Keep the original Cougar reports after you create your own custom version.
• Create multiple versions of any of the Cougar reports with this feature.

The new custom reports feature in Version 11 is a great tool that will help you get everything you need for reporting. We've offered customers the ability to customize Cougar reports all along, but now with the new custom reports feature introduced in Version 11 you can rename reports, save them in a different location than the original, and save the default reports before they're modified. This feature can be set up by opening the Main Menu module and selecting Define Custom Reports from the Options menu.

You can find more information about this feature in the New Features PDF (select Start > Cougar Mountain Software > Documentation and select the New Features Guide ) or open the Define Custom Reports window and select the Help button.

This functionality is currently available on the following reports (additional reports will be added in Version 12): Print Checks in Bank Reconciliation; Customer Statements and Aged Analysis in Accounts Receivable; Edit Report and Print Invoices , Reprint Invoices from History, and Packing Slips in Order Entry; Edit Report in Point of Sale, Print POs/Reprint POs in Purchase Order, Print Immediate Checks, Print Checks, and Aging in Accounts Payable, and Employee History in Payroll

Survey Alert!

Cougar Mountain is continually looking for ways to improve our products and services.

In an effort to gather more detailed, in-depth feedback from you, our customer, you will receive a survey from us via email in a few days. It contains a list of questions regarding possible new features for Cougar Mountain Software's Version 12. This is your chance to look at what's in the works and tell us which changes would better serve you and your business.

Also included will be a few questions to gauge the level of interest in participating in our new Customer Advisory Panel. Customer comments are welcome any time, and play a significant role in the design of our software's tools, service, and features. This panel would be just another avenue to keep the dialogue open between us.

This notice is just a ‘heads up' to help you start thinking about program improvements and whether you'd like to be a more active participant in the design of our programs. As our customer your input and feedback are highly valued — please take the time to fill out this survey and comment on our new Customer Advisory Panel.

Thank you and as always, we appreciate your patronage.

Cougar Forms

Do you like the idea of printing your own paychecks, tax forms, and professional envelopes but don't know where to get supplies? Aside from producing accounting software, Cougar Mountain also has forms, toner, and other stock available for your documentation needs.

Like our software, peace-of-mind also comes with Cougar Mountain Forms. All our tax forms are tested with each version of our software, 100% guaranteed IRS approved, and if you're already a Cougar Mountain Software user, we will personally guarantee any forms you purchase from us will perfectly align with your printer. If they don't, our support team will help you free of charge.

Customer Service Center

Visit our Customer Service Center to get the latest Updates and Smart Patches for your existing Cougar Mountain applications.

CLICK HERE for the CSC.

Times Are Changing

Starting in 2007, daylight savings time will begin three weeks earlier, and end one week later. That means clocks change on March 11th and November 4th this year. To keep your Cougar Mountain Reports accurate, please refer to this update page from Microsoft's Help & Support Center. For those using XP or higher Microsoft will offer support patches, but for those on older operating systems the time change must be done manually. Again for specific information, please visit Microsoft's Help & Support Center.