Frequently Asked Questions

How long have you been in the gambling software business?

Gleason's Software and Services has been providing gambling software since 1988. At that time, 1988, "Applied

Concepts" with Cecil Foster and "Best Business Systems" with Bill LaPlante were the two other software companies.
Neither is around today. We have had a booth at every Allied Charities convention including the first.

What are the computer requirements?

Any "Windows" computer bought in the last five years would be adequate. You may use any version of Windows:
XP, Vista or Windows-7. If you will use the computer only for gambling records and reports you do not need the video
features that are among the main improvements from the XP version to the Vista and Windows-7 versions.

One item to consider is a "floppy disk" reader (3 1/2 inch disk). Distributors typically plan to send the "invoice on a disk"
on floppy disks. Lately, floppy disk readers are not standard on portable (laptop) computers. However, an external
plug-in floppy disk unit is inexpensive, about $30. Another good alternative would be to receive any invoice file as an
attachment to an e-mail message or use "exchange flash drives".

With Gleason's you can enter invoice information using the keyboard or read it from any file ..... however you recieve it.
Call us with any question.

What is "ASCII" and what is "DiskPost"?
ASCII (or Ascii, pronounced "As Key") is the abbreviation for "American Standard Code for Information Interchange"
and is an industry standard. Any word processing program can read and print an Ascii text file.

DiskPost is a name given to a "dBase" file by Surething in their distributor software. "dBase" is a specialized database file
format by a company named Borland, a competitor of Microsoft.

Gleason's software will read any distributor's "invoice on a disk" file written in either format.

   Do you print checks? Do you do payroll?
We recommend Quicken or Quickbooks. They will accomodate any check form you want to use. If you use either one
you can send the checking/banking information directly to Gleason's software.

Use Quicken or Quickbooks for check printing and/or payroll records and reports. Export the information easily to
Gleason's for your gambling records and reports. Use our Quicken/Quickbooks 'Users Guide' to help you export the
information to Gleason's.

What does your software cost?

♦ We have no set-up or initial fee.

♦ We have no fee for updates or improvements.

♦ We have no long-term contracts, the monthly fee applies only
when you say you are using the program for records & reports.

♦ The software use charge is a monthly fee and if the year is paid in advance you get two free months.

♦ The software use charge includes help getting started and help any other time you need it,

such as when a schedule-F variance occurs or with any hard-to-find reporting error.

Your average total Pulltab Deals Full Use Charge

___ Under 6 $9 per deal per month

___ 6 to 20 $45 per month

check one per month or $450 per year

___ Over 20 $67⁵⁰ per month

per month or $675per year

"Limited Use" is for someone who uses the program only for inventory records and the Schedule-B2’s. This usually is
someone who uses an accounting service for the rest of the tax return. [The Limited Use Charge is 2/3 Full Use Charge.]

All Bingo, Raffle, Paddle Ticket and Tipboard as well as Pulltab reporting are all included.
For Service Providers there is a different pricing plan, contact us.

We have never increased any price. We have depended on an increased number of customers to cover our
increased in costs. The different prices offered (for under 20 deals per month and under 6 deals deals per month) were
introduced to try to make it easier for smaller organizations to be able to use our software.

The purpose of the "monthly billing" is to make it easy for anyone to get started without a major commitment and to
continue with monthly billing if it fits the organization. An organization could switch at any time to annual billing to take
advantage of the two free months.

The "limited use charge" was introduced because using a computer to keep inventory records and do schedule-B2's is
the best first step in relieving the paper work burden. The financial work is then a small step to "full use".

"Limited Use" and "Monthly Billing" were innovations when we introduced them.
For Service Providers there is a different pricing plan, contact us.

How do I get started?
The cover letter of what we send you will ask you to call us when you would like to arrange a visit by us to your place to
see that you are "off on the right foot". The Microsoft Windows (or Vista) system will verify Gleason's is the source of the
program, no unprofessional "Unidentified Publisher" when you install the "Charity" program.

The title of the first section of the "Users Guide" is "Getting Started". If you are new to gambling, all you need is your state
license information. Otherwise, all you need is your last schedule-F, worksheet-E and your ending inventory information.

If you are switching to us from "Surething" it is easier yet. We help you use your Surething "Minnesota Gambler" backup
files and load all of your files into Gleason's "Charity" program. It is that easy. All you need do is go forward from there.

We have visited all of our customers at their place except about five. It was their choice. Call us when you want us!
Otherwise, call us at anytime with any question. Remember our service motto, "When you work, we work".

What help will I get and how will I get it?
There is, of course, the "Users Guide". There is a seperate "Month-End Check List" that we recommend you use until you
develop your own routine. There is check list labeled "How to Handle Schedule-F" to start with whenever your funds
difference is not Zero ($0.00) and there is no 'Smiley Face'!

No 'Smiley Face' on schedule-F is when your help begins each month. The program has some aids that will help find your
"inconsistancy". But the rule we recommend is, "Don't struggle, call us". 95% of the time some questions of things for you
to check will isolate the problem. If we do not find the inconsistancy this way we can have you send your files to us
attached to an e-mail message (or by US mail if you do not have access to the internet). Then we can both be looking at
the same information. Between the two methods we have a 100% success rate. We have never failed anyone!

It all begins with a phone call by you. Any day of the week and any (reasonable) time of day. If the "funds difference" on
schedule-F is not zero don't struggle (much), call us.

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