Convergence 2014 March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia Practical Considerations and Take-Aways Presented by: Gold Cross Ambulance Justin Mellor, CPA, CFE CFO – Gold Cross Ambulance

About Gold Cross Ambulance: 1.Approximately 400 employees, operating in: Salt Lake City Vernal St. George 2.GPUG Member since March Started GP Implementation March Went Live on GP December 31 st, Core GP Users / How we use Great Plains CFO (Reporting, Dashboards) Controller (GL, Reporting, Dashboards) Accounts Payable Clerk (Accounts Payable) Payroll Clerk (Payroll for 26 departments) HR Manager (HR)

What Keeps us up at night at Gold Cross? 1.Having Accurate & timely: Financial Reports Dashboards 2.Managing / understanding payroll costs with precision 60 to 65% of our costs are payroll related It’s critical we understand our operating cost per hour to survive changes in reimbursement rates, etc… 3.Forecasting, comparing Forecast to Actual 4.Cash Flow Budgeting

GP / Management Reporter Strengths & Hopes 1.Strengths: Payroll setup / reporting Reporting within Management Reporter Reporting by: Division Cost Center Location 2.What we hope to improve / implement shortly Fixed Assets Taking “Excel Reports” to the next level

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) My Focus: Way TOO much content for 15 minutes Even doing a “15 tips” in 15 minutes wouldn’t do it justice & you can likely find those on the internet or a blog. I’ve decided to focus on more of “practical considerations” you can use as you plan to attend next year (which are probably also good suggestions for attending the GPUG User Conference this fall)

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) PRESENTATION: 1.Conference Facts / Practical Considerations 2.What Next? Post-Covergence / Virtual Convergence 3.Highlight: Excel Refreshable Reports / Dashboards

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) Conference Facts / Practice Considerations: Why did I attend? Desperate for training Novice GP user, but realized I’d only scratched the surface Approximately 13,000 attendees from all over the world Plan Ahead and book early to: Obtain best pricing Reserve the best hotels (not all created equal) Get one-way flights at a reasonable price

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) Conference Facts / Practice Considerations (continued): Take as many of your team members as you can A LOT of ground to cover My original schedule had me double / triple booked per session until I was able to narrow it down Make sure you are on the absolute latest release / update Presenters are all extreme nerds and many won’t make sense to you if you are just 1-2 releases behind! Narrow your scope (at least per attendee) Firehose of information / topics Try to narrow it down / focus on 1-2 specific topics as you schedule / attend sessions.

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) Conference Facts / Practice Considerations (continued): Plan your schedule ahead & then go with the flow Though always easier said then done: Try to disconnect from your regular workload / job description in Utah (it will be there when you get back) Bring a tiny laptop with a long battery life to take conference notes & to practice topics “live” Turn outlook off on your phone / laptop OFF It’s relatively expensive to attend and is a LOT of information Long term, disconnecting to focus on the conference will pay dividends to your company because of knowledge gained

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) Conference Facts / Practice Considerations (continued): Try to narrow it down / focus on 1-2 specific topics as you schedule / attend sessions. Plan ahead for some (at times) frustrating down-time Between general sessions, exhibits, etc… there is really only time to attend 4 to 5 “break-out” sessions a day There’s dead time in between. Plan ahead for some (at times) frustrating down-time Take Note of those sessions / topics you want to re-visit later on your own post-conference

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) What Next? Post-Covergence / Virtual Convergence You’ll come back re-energized and full of ideas Real life and “maintenance” of just keeping up with your regular responsibilities can erode your ability to implement / improve based on what you learned at the conference Try to set aside time each week / day to pro-actively implement / improve upon something you learned at the conference and to share those ideas with others in your company to improve their efficiency and effectiveness

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) What Next? Post-Covergence / Virtual Convergence Take advantage of Virtual Convergence! It’s almost better than attending because you’ll have time to practice “live” on your own time Even if you could only send one individual, all others can benefit on your return Re-watch key presentations you learned the most from (have a 2 nd screen available to implement / test suggestions while you watch) Watch presentations you wanted to see but couldn’t Use the videos to train others in your company (Do a team lunch and watch one in the conference room)

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) What Next? Post-Covergence / Virtual Convergence Virtual Convergence: Xpn8WqhL Xpn8WqhL

Convergence 2014 (March 4-6, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia) Highlight: Excel Refreshable Reports / Dashboards A few minutes of a presentation from the conference: “Better Reporting with Excel Reports and Smartlists” Time: 5:41 to about 10:00 minutes “Live” Dashboard on Gold Cross T-Server Created in about 60 minutes last night If you know excel well, you have virtually unlimited capabilities to create a re-freshable, dynamic dashboard with “live” – always up-to date data.