 March/April 2001 (XXXIX 2) |
he Treasurers Planning Group which is a joint project of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Financial Services Group and Friends Fiduciary Corporation held a meeting on Saturday, January 27, 2001, on how Meetings could utilize computers. The first half of the meeting was given over to a discussion of the wide variety of uses for computers that are essentially non-financial in nature. The presenters were Joan Spagnoletti (Westfield Meeting), Laurence Sigmond (Germantown Meeting), Chris Roberts (Newton Meeting), Stephan de la Veaux (Wilmington Meeting), and Kert Kadyk (Valley Meeting).
Perhaps the most important observation was the fact that, no matter how small a Monthly Meeting may be, the computer may still be a valuable tool. A small Meeting may not need a computer to maintain financial records. However, there are many other uses that may prove beneficial to a Meeting outside of the area of finance. The only things that are necessary are curiosity, a willingness to satisfy that curiosity, and access to a computer. It is not even necessary to make a large financial outlay to take advantage of a computer.
Internally, among the many uses for a computer by a Monthly Meeting are: membership records, committee assignments and terms, notices of meetings and events, minutes of meetings, correspondence, calendar, statistics, newsletters and other documents. Joan Spagnoletti and Kert Kadyk shared how their Monthly Meetings structured their databases and how they used the databases to create membership lists and booklets.
Externally, “linkages” – connections to the outside – enable a Meeting to find out what is happening elsewhere, and to share with others what is going on in the local Meeting. For example, through the PYM website – www.pym.org – official information about the Yearly Meeting, Working Groups, and Monthly and Quarterly Meetings is available. The webmaster is Hal Taylor at hal@riverfarm.org. Philapeace.org is a more informal web site where Meeting members interested in peace and social concerns can discuss their concerns or post events and activities. Laurence Sigmond monitors this site and he can be reached at laurence@philapeace.org.
Chris Roberts spoke about tutorials for new web users which are available at his web site at www.keynotesoftware.com . Another web site with tutorials is www.Quaker.org.UK/unofficialwebtools.html.
As more and more use is being made of computer technology, it becomes increasingly important that certain things be standardized. Templates need to be available so that the data collection format will be uniform as will be the data elements to be captured. A glossary would be most helpful so that everyone will be using the same terminology. Standardized reporting formats should be designed to facilitate the sharing of information. It is important that users have some basic knowledge about thing like “file structure,” “processing,” “backup,” and the fundamentals of computer terminology. Stephan de la Veaux spoke on file compatibility and structure. Moorestown Meeting agreed to share their backup procedures. E-mail moorestownmm@msn.com.
Ed Dunlop (Willistown Meeting) spoke on hardware and software. He brought in a specifications sheet and reviewed the minimum hardware requirements and current cost which would be about $1,310 with a 700 MHz processor; 64 MB memory; CD ROM; floppy drive; zip drive; anti-virus software; an office software package; and power back-up protection. He explained why all of these were necessary and what they meant. He then talked about Macintosh and stated that the I Book was equivalent to the PC he had priced for the group.
He then reviewed the office packages. Microsoft Office has 90% of the market and is the most expensive but the most commonly used. Word Perfect Office which has Corel and Quattro Pro is used more extensively by the legal profession, has a shorter learning curve than MS Office, and is approximately half the price. Star Office is used in a Unix or Linux environment and is approximately half the price of MS Office. Other office programs like Works don’t have the capabilities of these programs and have transferability problems.
Janet McMaster (Woodbury Meeting) spoke on using Quicken for Monthly Meeting financial records. It is easy to use and can accommodate committees and fund accounting. Quicken can track investments very well. Bob Crauder (Radnor Meeting) spoke on QuickBooks. He stated that the users guide is readable and provides guidance for setting up the program. Once the program is set up, it is easy to use and provides an excellent audit trail. Stephen de la Veaux (Wilmington Meeting) spoke on the differences between Quicken and QuickBooks. QuickBooks is better if the Meeting has a payroll and Quicken is better if the Meeting tracks investments. Also, larger Meetings might be better with QuickBooks and smaller Meetings with Quicken but that is not a hard and fast rule.
The next meeting sponsored by the Treasurers Planning Group will be hands-on training on Quicken on Saturday, April 7, at Westtown School. To attend you need to pre-register with Kathy Reilly [215-241-7214 or kathyr@pym.org] or Connie Brookes [215-241-7272 or CABFidCorp@aol.com].
H. Paul Kester
Newtown Meeting (PA)
Clerk of PYM Financial Services Group
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM