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November 23, 2005 - ICLUB News
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ICLUB Insider November 23, 2005
 THE LATEST NEWS ON INVESTING SOFTWARE BUILT BY ICLUBCENTRAL INC.

Summary


Club Tax Printers Coming Soon!

Very shortly, the 2005 Club Tax Printers will be available for purchase. The Club Tax Printer makes it a snap to prepare your club's required IRS filings using your club accounting software. This year, there are some important changes in the software of which club treasurers should be aware, so please review the following information carefully.

Club Accounting 3

Users of Club Accounting 3 can purchase the Federal Club Tax Printer program, and the Club State Tax Printer for eight states (Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri and New York). These programs operate as a "plug-in" to Club Accounting 3. Once installed, they appear as options on the CA 3 file menu; just select the Taxes menu and begin the process of generating your club's forms. When first installed, the CA 3 tax printers include draft forms which cannot be used to file with the IRS or your state agency. However, the CA 3 tax printers feature an auto-updater, which will automatically download and install the final forms when they are released. This will allow you to make sure that your forms are properly completed while we wait for final release of forms sometime in January, and then you can quickly print the final documents for your club.

The CA3 Club Tax Printers can be purchased and shipped on CD-ROM, or you can choose to download the program directly from the iclub.com web site and activate it with the serial number that you'll receive by email (and save on the shipping charge). The software is identical in either case and includes the auto-updater technology.

Club Accounting Online at myiclub.com

New this year, users of Club Accounting Online at myiclub.com can purchase both the Club Federal Tax Printer and the Club State Tax Printer (for the same eight states). (In prior years, there was no Club State Tax Printer for users of Club Accounting Online.) To generate your club's filings, just select the Taxes tab.

As with the CA 3 Tax Printer, the tax printers for Club Accounting Online will initially be released using draft forms. These will be updated with final forms as soon as they become available. When it comes time to order the Club Tax Printers for Club Accounting Online, log in to your club's web site, click the Taxes tab, and follow the link to purchase the Club Tax Printer. This will ensure that your purchase is linked to the correct club and that you purchase the right Club Tax Printer for Club Accounting Online.

NAIC Club Accounting 2.5

The Club Federal Tax Printer for NCA 2 operates in the same manner as last year's program. The program installs as a separate icon on your computer desktop; click the icon and begin generating your club's filings.

Because Club Tax Printer for NCA 2 can not be updated automatically with final forms, the software will not be released until the IRS finalizes the 2005 tax forms (usually by mid-January). The Club Tax Printer for NCA 2 will be available on CD-ROM and by download, and may be pre-ordered before 12/31/05, but the program will not be available until final forms are available.

This year, there will be no Club State Tax Printer for NCA 2. If you live in one of the eight states for which the Club State Tax Printer is available for CA 3 or Club Accounting Online, and wish to use the Club State Tax Printer, you can upgrade to Club Accounting 3 or switch to Club Accounting Online at myiclub.com. In either case, you can import your existing data into the new program.

Pricing and Availability

We haven't raised the price of the Club Tax Printers at all! The full price for a federal or state Club Tax Printer for a single club is $79 each. BetterInvesting members save $20, and can buy the federal or state Club Tax Printer for $59. BetterInvesting members who order before December 31, 2005 can buy the federal or state Club Tax Printer and save an additional $10 -- just $49 each! Having an accountant or tax preparer complete your forms would cost hundreds of dollars, so there's no easier or quicker way to prepare your required tax filings than by using the Club Tax Printers.

The 2005 Club Tax Printers are just days away from being released! To check on availability, get more information or order, visit http://www.iclub.com/products/p_taxes.asp or click the Taxes tab at your Club Accounting Online at myiclub.com web site.


New Manual for Club Accounting Online

And now a word from ICLUBcentral Technical Support: Users of Club Accounting Online at myiclub.com now have their own user's manual that describes how to use the service to keep your club's books and facilitate club discussions and operations. You can download the manual in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format by logging in to your club web site and clicking the Help link at the top of the page. Look on the right side of the page for the link to download the manual.

Once you save the manual to your computer, you can read it in the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can use the Acrobat Reader's search functions to quickly find the information you're looking for, making it one of the quickest ways to get help when you need it. In the coming weeks, we'll offer a spiral-bound printed version for sale, as well -- watch this newsletter for the release announcement.

Thanks for using Club Accounting Online at myiclub.com, the world's most popular investment club web site!


Accessing Expanded SSG Information from Investor's Toolkit

If you use BetterInvesting's Standard & Poor's Stock Data Service (formerly OPS) to automatically load SSG data into your investment analysis software, you might be interested in a new feature recently added to the BI web site. You can now review an "Expanded Fields" page for each company included in the S&P Stock Data Service. This page includes hundreds of additional data points for a company, with historical data going back decades, with definitions of the data fields that are included. This page can be useful when analyzing financial companies and REITS, for instance, to review additional information that's not included in the SSG files.

One way to make this functionality more efficient and hopefully more useful is to add a ticker-specific search link in your stock analysis software to automatically search the IAS archives for evaluations of a stock that you're studying.

Here's what you do:

  • In Investor's Toolkit 5, before opening any SSGs, click the "Web" button on the main toolbar and select "Manage Web Links," then click the "Favorites" tab.
  • Click the "Add" button, and then enter the following:
    • In the "Name" field, enter: *S+P Stock Data Service Expanded Fields (Leave the asterisk at the beginning of the name. Leave the "Ticker" field blank.)
    • In the "URL" field, enter:
      http://www.betterinvesting.org/stocks/tools/expanded.html?ticker=$*
      (If the above line wraps in your email program, make sure to recombine the lines and paste the entire string into the field.)
  • Click OK to close the data entry box, then click OK to close the Internet Access dialog box.

    Now, open an SSG and click the "Internet" button in the SSG toolbar (right above the SSG), and select the "S&P Stock Data Service Expanded Fields" option. You'll be taken to the BetterInvesting web site already loaded with that company's information. (You may be prompted to log in on the BI web site.)

    Users of Stock Analyst or Classic Plus can also add the link to the Internet Favorites in their software too. Just enter the following URL instead:
    http://www.betterinvesting.org/stocks/tools/expanded.html?ticker=<SYMBOL>

    Of course, you must be a subscriber to the S&P Stock Data Service in order to view the Expanded Fields, and the raw data that appears here can be overwhelming to novice investors. But it's certainly another valuable tool to add to your Investor's Toolkit.

    For more information on Investor's Toolkit or any other ICLUBcentral software, visit http://www.iclub.com/products/.


    Investor Advisory Service Continues to Shine

    The Investor Advisory Service, our monthly newsletter, continues to turn in great performance results, and was even featured in the November 2005 issue of The Hulbert Financial Digest. Hulbert is the leading authority on the performance of investing newsletters, tracking the results of more than 100 on an ongoing basis.

    Based on Hulbert's updated data through October 31, 2005, the Investor Advisory Service's winning streak has extended through the past one-, three-, five- and eight years, besting the Wilshire 5000 in each of those periods. Since Hulbert began tracking IAS in December 1995, the newsletter has earned a 13.7% annual return, compared to just 8.9% for the Wilshire 5000. In the past year, IAS has racked up a 14.9% return, compared to the Wilshire 5000's 10.7%. Even when adjusted for risk, IAS still beats the total market index.

    Each month, the Investor Advisory Service provides subscribers with three completed Stock Selection Guides on recommended companies -- the perfect tool to build a better personal or club portfolio using time-tested, long-term investing methods.

    To celebrate the IAS's achievement, we're offering a special deal to through the end of the year. Just visit http://www.iclub.com/ias/ and use the promotion code TAXPA to save $100 off the price of an online or print subscription.


    Read past newsletters, subscribe, or unsubscribe at:
    http://www.iclub.com/newsletters/

    © Copyright 2005 ICLUBcentral Inc. All rights reserved.

    Some ICLUBcentral products use the investing methodologies of BetterInvesting, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to investor education. BetterInvesting assumes no liability or obligations with respect to the investment education information or other content presented in the ICLUB Insider. For more information on BetterInvesting, please visit http://www.betterinvesting.org.

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