Fact Sheet What s involved in converting data into Income Manager?

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1 Fact Sheet What s involved in converting data into Income Manager? Income Manager provides professional data conversion services to a wide variety of clients and users. Inquiries All inquiries regarding data conversion services should be directed to Teresa Knechtel at teresa@incomemanager.net or conversions@incomemanager.net. Quotes and Costs for data conversion services Data conversion is a specialized and labour intensive process. Each conversion is a customized procedure that requires mapping client data to the Income Manager data architecture. Rarely are two data conversions similar and, they are never identical. Because data conversion is a highly individualized and custom process, costs can vary considerably from one conversion to another depending upon the complexity of the data conversion. Unless otherwise indicated, all conversions are quoted and billed at the rate of $75 per hour. Conversion quotes can only be provided upon receiving a sample of all files or data to be converted. Quotes are estimated on the time to convert client data, based on the sample files provided. Any additional files provided after a quote has been given or, while a conversion is in progress, or after a conversion has been completed, will affect the original quote and/or the cost of the conversion. In addition to the conversion quote, there is a system setup charge of $150. This fee covers communications with the client concerning their data conversion, file transfers, and system implementation. Data/file formats and structure Data conversion services are available only for electronically submitted data files. In other words, data conversion services are not available for paper files or paper records. Data files must be provided in one of the following formats: Delimited Text file (comma separated or Tab delimited) Excel MS Access databases (versions 2, 97, 2000, 2002, 2003) MS SQL Server 2000 FoxPro Dbase

2 All data files or database tables should include Field Names or Column Names if in Excel format. If Field or Column names are not provided, then a listing of all numbered fields or alphabetic columns with an accompanying description or interpretation of the numbered fields or alphabetic columns must be provided. These descriptions should accurately reflect the use of these fields from the client s perspective of the type of data being captured. Ambiguous data For the most part, field or column names describe the type of information being retained. Fields or First Name, Last Name, Address, City, Province/State, Phone, , etc. are self-evident. However, many organizations create custom databases or Excel files for their own particular use. These databases or files may have fields or columns that are unique to your organization and their significance or meaning may not be immediately apparent to anyone outside your organization. It is incumbent upon you or your staff, to provide written documentation to us, describing or interpreting the meaning and/or use of any ambiguous data, so that this information can be accurately interpreted and converted to Income Manager. Factors that affect the cost of conversion and, things you can do to save money Field and column names Files or tables without field or column names will cost more to convert because field or column names will have to be manually added to convert the data. You can save money by ensuring that all files and/or tables have field or column names as opposed to numbered fields or alphabetic columns. Number of records versus number of columns Many people are of the misconception that a fewer number of records can be converted more quickly than a large number of records and therefore expect lower conversion costs. This is because other software providers quote conversion costs based on the number of records to be converted. This is a myth because, while the number of records has some bearing on conversion time, it is much less of a factor than the number of fields or columns in a file or the number of different files to be converted. Each field or column must be mapped to a corresponding table and field in Income Manager. This is a labour intensive process and applies to the conversion to any database and so is not unique to Income Manager database conversions. By example: 500 records across 30 or 40 fields or columns, will take significantly more time to convert than 50,000 records across 3 or 4 fields or columns. Appending records is handled by the computer and happens very quickly, while mapping fields is a manual and individualized process. Eliminating unnecessary fields or columns, will save conversion time and expense.

3 Clean versus messy data Clean (consistent) data is much easier and therefore faster to convert than messy data. Messy data is that in which data has been entered inconsistently and/or into inappropriate fields or columns. For example; cities entered into the province or state field or into the PostalCode field. Or the same data inconsistently entered: such as Ontario, or Ont. or, Ont or, ON. There are many examples of messy or inconsistent data. Ensuring that your data is consistent before submitting it for conversion will save time and money. The number of files to be converted Many organizations have multiple files located throughout their offices and wish to consolidate and centralize their data. The number of files (such as Excel spreadsheets or workbooks) greatly affects the amount of time it takes to convert data. As a general rule, multiple files usually means that each file must be handled and setup like a separate conversion. Therefore, converting 20 Excel spreadsheets will probably take 10 times longer to convert than 2. Where possible, consolidating multiple files into one or a few files will help reduce conversion costs. This is usually only feasible where the files contain the same types of data. Duplicate data Conversion quotes do not include the removal of duplicate data. Multiple files can result in numerous duplicate records. The number of duplicate records can be reduced to a certain extent however a definition of duplicate records is required. E.g.: Does duplicate record mean same first name, last name, address or just same first name and last name. When using such definitions remember that the computer sees the record John Smith as a different record than J. Smith or John Smyth. Similarly if the address for John Smith is 23 Some St versus 23 Some Street this is not a duplicate record according to the computer. Business Rules Certain rules will have to be provided for the conversion. As an example, in Income Manager, records can be either Individual or Organizational records. You will need to provide us with a rule that allows us to identify which records in your existing files are Organizations and which are Individuals. Another instance where a business rule would apply is if financial transactions in your current files do not have complete date formats (Day Month Year), in such cases a default date will be required.

4 Preparation of data files Assistance with extracting data from your database can be provided, there will be a data handling fee. Scheduling and timing A minimum of two (2) full weeks is required to complete the conversion process from the date that data files are submitted. We recommend that clients be trained on their own converted data. This means that data files must be submitted at least two full weeks prior to the scheduled training date. IMPORTANT: Once data files have been submitted for conversion, no further data entry should be carried out by the client on their original database or files, as this data will not have been included or captured in the original data submitted to us. This means your data entry is on-hold during the data conversion process. If data continues to be entered after submitting data files then this data will have to be manually re-entered into Income Manager after installation resulting in duplication of effort. Transferring data files When transferring data files use a compression utility such as PKZip, WinZip, or WinRAR, to compress (zip) your data files. Be aware of the size of the files before and after compression. A rule of thumb is that compressed files will be reduced to approximately ¼ to ½ of their original size. Compressed (zipped) files will transfer much more quickly than uncompressed files because of their size. In addition, compressing your data files help to secure the information against possible corruption during the transfer process. or FTP Privacy and Security Password protection In the interests of security you may wish to password protect your compressed file(s). If so, you will need to provide us with the password in a separate so that we can open and extract the data files. Income Manager Privacy Statement A copy of the Income Manager Privacy Statement is available from our web-site Questions or inquiries concerning the privacy of your data should be directed to privacy@incomemanager.net

5 2-way Confidentiality Agreement Income Manager provides a two-way Confidentiality Agreement helping to safeguard and ensure the confidentiality of any data provided to us. Retention of data Unless otherwise instructed, Income Manager will retain original data files provided to us for a period of three (3) months from the date of submission after. This is to provide a support archive of the original data files should any questions concerning the conversion of your data arise at a later date. No further inquiries can be explored following removal of the original data files.