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Microfin News |
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April 2004 Number 1 |
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In This Issue 1. New versions of Microfin under development 2. Microfin Self-study tools 3. Upcoming Training courses 4. Helpful Hints: Copy-and-Paste Microfin Information Microfin Home Page View complete list of changes for Microfin 4
Links mentioned SNHU MDI Southern New Hampshire University’s Microenterprise Development Institute Boulder Microfinance Training Program Contact Us
Stay in Touch Click the link above to send an email subscribing to the Microfin ListServe. You’ll be informed of Microfin-related issues and be able to ask other users for technical assistance.
Latest Version of Microfin Microfin 3.1 will be released April 1. Click here to see a list of changes in this latest version If you don’t need the changes in this version, you may prefer to wait for version 3.5 to be released before upgrading.
This newsletter is produced by Chuck Waterfield and Tony Sheldon with financial support from Sida.
You have received this newsletter because you are currently subscribed to the Microfin ListServe. To unsubscribe from the ListServe, click here. |
New versions of Microfin under development
· A new “Microfin Lite” version that hides non-essential sections from view · Additional input lines for staffing, operational expenses, fixed assets, and financing sources · Support for up to 20 branches for users of Excel 2002 or XP · Interest rates on the automated default loan can be varied monthly · Graph Clipboard is included in Export/Import process
Over the following year, we will work on Microfin 4, incorporating many more changes, including: · Conversion to monthly projections for all five years, to improve precision of projections · An increase in the number of loan products, including new “line of credit” products · Support for clients who “rest” between loan cycles · Complete redesign of savings products sections · New insurance products · Support for new interest calculation methods, additional fees, and irregular repayment frequencies · Enhanced financial management tools, including comparison to latest Micro Banking Bulletin data
A complete list of all changes is available for review at: www.microfin.com/microfin4.htm Sida is also providing funding for the User's Manual to be updated for the new versions and translated into French and Spanish. Additionally, they will provide financial support for maintenance of the Microfin website and provision of technical assistance to Microfin users.
Multi-media Self-Study Microfin Tools
These self-study tools will be developed concurrently with Microfin 3.5 and 4.0 and will be released in two stages. These tools will be produced in English and Spanish and will be available for free download from our website as well as distributed on CD-ROM.
Upcoming Microfin Training CoursesWashington, DC April 19-23 This course is currently full. Please contact sheldon@microfin.com to be placed on the waiting list.
Southern New Hampshire University June 21-25 This course forms part of the Microenterprise Development Institute. Please contact mdi@snhu.edu for further information, or visit www.mdi-nh.org
Boulder, Colorado July 19-30 This course runs for two weeks, as part of the Micro Finance Training Program at Naropa University. Please visit www.naropa.edu/microfinance/ for further information.
Washington, DC Sep 27 – Oct 1 Please contact waterfield@microfin.com for further information.
Antigua, Guatemala (in Spanish) November Planning still in progress. Please contact waterfield@microfin.com for further information.
Microfin Helpful Hints: Cut/Copy/PasteAs you may already know, when you try to cut or copy information within Microfin things may not go as expected. Here is a summary of the key issues: Cut-and-PasteCut-and-Paste has been disabled in Microfin because in most cases doing so will permanently damage the formulas in Microfin. If you paste on top of a cell that is referenced in a formula (and virtually all input cells in Microfin are referenced in other formulas) those formulas will be damaged and return a #REF. If you find that you’ve entered a number that needs to be moved to another cell, use a copy/paste and delete the original cell. Copy-and-Paste to the same worksheetCopy-and-Paste has been slightly modified in Microfin. The first time you try a copy-and-paste, you will receive notification that you should be careful about formatting. In Excel, a normal copy-and-paste carries over the formatting of the original cell. This can cause grey cells in Microfin to end up blue. To avoid this, you can use the menu to perform an Edit / Paste Special / Formulas. For convenience, this feature has been assigned to CTRL-V in Microfin, the key combination that normally does an Edit /Paste. Copy-and-Paste to a different worksheet or workbookYou may have found that when you click “copy” and then move to another worksheet to perform a paste that you can no longer do so. This is because Excel loses the contents of the temporary clipboard as the Microfin toolbars are redrawn when you change sheets. There are two options that you can use to successfully copy and paste:
1) Use Edit / Office Clipboard to enable this more comprehensive clipboard. Your contents will be stored for future use in Excel or other applications 2) Open up a second copy of Excel. Don’t open a new workbook, but actually use the Start / Programs menu to open up a second copy of Excel. After copying from Microfin, you can move to the new workbook in the second copy of Excel and paste. Note that this will paste the values of the range copied, not any formulas as would be the case if the paste were within the same copy of Excel.
By using these techniques, you should be able do everything you need to with your Microfin data. If you have any questions or additional ideas, email waterfield@microfin.com.
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With
the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
(Sida), we will be developing two new versions of Microfin over the coming 18
months. Microfin 3.5 will be released in July and will incorporate over 40
new features, including:
