Startup Wizard

The first time you start The Labor Contractor's or The Farmer’s Office, the Startup Wizard will guide you through some basic setup tasks.  Once the startup wizard is completed, it will not appear again.  Don’t worry if you need to skip entering some information in the startup wizard; it can always be put into the program later.

This is the opening page of the Startup Wizard.  Click on the Next button to continue. 

Enter the Company Name, Access Code, Account #, Contract Expires date and Registration Code that we have provided for you.  Once all the entries have been filled out, and as long as a valid access code is entered for the company name, the Next button will be enabled and you can continue to the next page.  If any of the entries have been left blank, or if the access code is not valid for the company name, the Next button will remain disabled.  Double check how you are typing in the company name and access code.  Contact Datatech customer support if you have a problem with the access code not working.

If you are installing an evaluation copy, click Evaluation and a company name and access code will be provided for you.  When you are installing the evaluation version, the next page in the wizard will allow you to select which optional program modules you would like to activate.  Available options are Accounts Receivable, Magnetic Media Reporting, Crop Management Billing, and Crop Cost Accounting.  The Crop Management Billing and Cost Accounting options are not used by most labor contracting companies, but you may want to turn on the Accounts Receivable and Magnetic Media options.

The next page contains your company information.  Type the appropriate information for each entry and then click on the Next button.

The next page contains Labor Contractor company information, such as license number, worker’s comp information, etc.  Type the information appropriate to your company and click on the Next button. 

This page handles set up of your bank account(s).  The Labor Contractor's Office can handle up to 99 different bank accounts.  This page will let you set up four different accounts.  Type in the account names, and if they are checking accounts, the next check number to use.  When you are done, click on the Next button.

The next page lets you specify which accounts to use for various kinds of checks.  Some companies have a primary checking account that they write their vendor checks from, with another account that payroll checks are written from.  The Labor Contractor's Office keeps track of which accounts to use for each type of check.

The bank account descriptions that you entered on the prior page may be selected for each of these entries.  If you only have one bank account, then it will be used automatically for all types of checks.

This page allows you to select the style of checks that you use in your laser or ink jet printer. 

There are two different settings that affect how checks print out: the check position and the check style.  The check position may be either at the top with two stubs, as pictured, or it may be in the middle with a top and bottom stub as pictured.  (The check can also be on the bottom if you are setting up a custom check format. If setting up a custom format, you do not need to change any selections in this wizard.  You will set up these details later in the custom check format.)

Both payroll and payables use blank stubs.  A quarter inch is reserve at the top of the stub to print your company name and address, but the rest of the stub should be blank. 

Additional check format options are available in the Program Setup.   You can set the format in the Startup Wizard to Standard, and then change later if you need a different format.  If you are not sure which format to use, you can just select the Standard option and try printing checks on blank paper to see if they line up with your checks.

If you need a custom format please contact Datatech for more information on setting up custom checks, or look in the on-line help for “custom check formats”.

This page handles setup of several payroll settings that are unique to each individual company.

Keep in mind that if you are midway through the year and will need to enter payroll checks for the first part of the year to catch up, you should pick 1 as your current quarter.

If you don’t have your federal and state ID numbers or unemployment rate handy, these can be entered later.

Enter the state postal abbreviation for the State for Withholding, such as CA for California, AZ for Arizona.

The grid in the top right part of the wizard lists several preset miscellaneous deductions.  Check the box for each of the deductions that you’ll need to use on employee checks.  If you need to add other types of deductions, you can do that later (see the section on Miscellaneous Deductions).

Also, select the type of employees that you have according to the tax form that they are reported on.  Some agricultural businesses simply classify all employees as 943 (Ag), while others may report office and other non-ag workers as 941 (Regular) employees.

The Farmer’s Office/Cost Accounting – The next three pages will appear only if you are enabling Cost Accounting

Enter the year you would like to assign as the default current crop year.  You can change the current crop year on specific cost centers when you are setting them up.

If you would like to keep track of vine/tree counts by row, you can turn on the row count option.

The recommended setting for the Crop Report Format options is the second option, Lists expenses by GL #, subtotal by Job Code then GL #.  When running crop reports you are able to change this ordering as needed.

Select the Equipment options you would like enabled.  If you are going to enter equipment usage on payroll you may select whether to enable one or two pieces of equipment and whether the charge rate will be entered during payroll. Additional settings are available in the Program Setup for equipment options.

Select the ending month of your fiscal year.  The wizard will show you the starting and ending months and years of your current fiscal year.

If you want to require a user name and password when you log in to The Labor Contractor’s Office, enter these on this page.  (The password will show asterisks (*) instead of the letters you are typing so that your password will not be visible.  You’ll need to enter the password twice to confirm it.)

You will want to choose a password that you can remember easily, but will not be known to other people.  A user name and password are not required by the program.  If you would like to open the program without requiring this, simply leave the fields blank and click on next.  If you are using this as an evaluation copy and do not need to protect the information contained within, you do not need to have a user name and password.

Additional names and passwords can be added once the program has started.

Click on the Finish button and the Startup Wizard will complete the startup work, and then you will be able to start using The Labor Contractor's Office.