Staring at PowerPoint slides during your company meeting whether working remote or at the office can be a bit, here it is I’m going to say it… BOOORRRRRIIINNNING! Let’s be honest, company meetings with zero interaction with team members is no fun. After the first 15 minutes of just listening to the presenter, interest is … Read more
Microsoft Excel can be very intimidating especially when you’re not an expert, like me. I was asked to write a blog on a topic I was not familiar with. I chose to challenge myself and learn more about Excel and the creation of PivotTables. What is a PivotTable? A PivotTable is a tool that helps … Read more
With Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) growing and expanding its capabilities rapidly, Microsoft announced they are retiring Office 2010 on October 13, 2020. What does that mean? It means you need to upgrade to Microsoft 365. Office 2010 will no longer be available for download, technical support or have any further updates on security. Office … Read more
Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Here at Crestwood we’ve been using Microsoft Teams for approximately a year now and we’ve become very familiar with its features. Saying that, doesn’t mean we know it all, because we don’t, or at least I don’t. I can honestly tell you we learn something new just about every other week. … Read more
If you’re a Dynamics GP or 365 Business Central customer and have been considering going paperless, now is your chance. Get started quickly with a free trial of KwikTag’s KwikStart’s Cloud program. This trial period includes: Up to 50 Users – all of whom can start attaching and viewing documents right away. Up and running … Read more
After spending 15 glorious years in Mount Prospect, IL, Partners Tim Thompson and Brian McGuckin moved Crestwood Associates to their new home at the Schaumburg Corporate Center, 1501 E. Woodfield Road in Schaumburg, IL. Moving is not easy, packing up, donating and purging unneeded items is very time consuming, not to mention difficult when you … Read more
If you’re looking for easier ways to schedule your employee’s time, check out the scheduling management tool now in Microsoft Teams called Shifts. It’s built mobile first for fast and effective time management and communication for teams. Shifts lets Firstline Workers and their managers use their mobile devices to manage schedules and keep in touch. … Read more
Everyday I look for new ways to navigate Microsoft Teams seamlessly. Here are some nifty new tips I found helpful when working in Teams. [For some fun tips and Tricks for using Teams to record video, join us for a webinar on July 28th!] Like to multitask? Chat anywhere on your desktop with Pop-Out Chat. … Read more
Crestwood Associates has again been named to the Bob Scott’s Top 100 VARs for 2020 for the eighth year in a row. The Top 100 resellers are chosen from organizations that sell and implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting software. “Wow, eight years in a row!” says Tim Thompson, Partner at Crestwood Associates. “We … Read more
Crestwood Associates has been using Microsoft Teams for a while now, but I still get calls and questions every day about where something is located. Teams is great for collaborating, meetings, etc., but even I forget where something is at times. This article is going to show you tips and tricks for searching in Teams. … Read more
Did you know that every time you add an image to your Word document, it automatically generates “Alt Text?” Do you know what Alt Text refers to? Alternative Text or Alternative Descriptions are written copy that describes the image. This text also helps screen-reading tools describe images to visually impaired readers. It will appear in … Read more
Update from January 2020 Post: No Better Way to Collaborate Other than Chat Microsoft is eliminating the ability to initiate a chat directly with a co-author of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint document. This change will take affect mid-April (across the web, Windows, and Mac versions of Microsoft Office). Moving forward, users can communicate with others … Read more
Now that “shelter in place” has swept the nation to curve the spread of the Covid-19 virus, most companies are adapting the Work from Home (WFH) model, allowing their employees to continue to work during the shutdown. Working from home is nothing new for Crestwood employees. This model was adapted almost a decade ago. I … Read more
Most don’t know this about me, but prior to joining Crestwood Associates, I was the Mail Merge Queen of the world. 😊 I’ve supported both sales and marketing departments for over 20 years, serving law firms, transportation, and the manufacturing industry. While in each of those positions, I’ve created hundreds of mail merges, from form … Read more
Have you ever used Track Changes in Microsoft Word, or received comments on your spreadsheets in Excel, or even PowerPoint, then questioned why a certain change was made? You try to contact the person who made the edit, but can’t locate them, they’re either in a meeting, or on vacation. So, now you’re stuck until … Read more
I was asked to write a blog on new features of the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2019 release. Since I’m not an expert, I turned to someone who is: Crestwood’s Mary Lenehan. Mary has been working with Dynamics GP for over 20 years, conducts all our year-end training seminars, and presents at GPUG conferences every year. … Read more
2019 is coming to an end. However, leading up to the end of the year, there’s a holiday coming up, one that your employees may be heading home for. “Home” means different things to different people. For some, this may mean a few miles down the road, for others, it’s a cross-country flight away. Unfortunately … Read more
Hopefully by now, you’ve upgraded to Acumatica 2019 R2! Acumatica is routinely adding new features and improving on current functions. Below are three quick how-to videos for previously added functions; one is exporting Generic Inquiry Parameters to Excel and Pivot Tables, another is Landed Costs and finally GDPR Compliance for Acumatica. Stay tuned for more short … Read more
Microsoft is set to update Tasks in Outlook on the web at the end of October, with the full rollout be completed by December 2019. What does this mean to you? Nothing really, just a new name, from “Tasks” to “To Do.” Personally, I’ve never used the Tasks feature to its fullest potential. I’ve added … Read more
It’s been a long time since I’ve found something this cool in Microsoft PowerPoint, so I had to share! Motion paths for animating objects in PowerPoint. Here’s the scenario: My manager came to me one morning with this slide and said: “I need ‘Member 1’ to be grouped and animated with 4 random ‘Subs’ and … Read more
As your business grows, you may find your organization struggling with the limitations of software designed for smaller concerns. Everyone has to start somewhere, so it’s only natural that you will eventually outgrow the systems you had at the beginning. This is particularly true of accounting packages. QuickBooks, for example, is a fantastic resource for … Read more
When you’re just starting out, QuickBooks is the default option. Easy to set up, familiar, and easy to use, the decision to use the product is usually an easy one. You made the decision years ago, and the software did its job. However, as your company grew, the software began to show its shortcomings. While … Read more
As I was searching for a new topic for our Productivity Tips & Tricks, I came across this nifty tool called Dictate. Similar to voice to text on your mobile phone, this feature allows you (actually your fingers) to take a break from typing. What’s not to love about that? First thing, Dictate is only … Read more
Before you make any important business decisions, it is necessary to check the books. Can you afford to take on this project at this price, or will it strain the profit margin? Can we invest in new equipment this year, or do we need to put it off? Are the efforts we’ve been dedicating to … Read more