What is Microsoft. OneNote? and how can it benefit me. By Cindy Prindle, MCAS. wicpa.org

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1 What is Microsoft OneNote? and how can it benefit me By Cindy Prindle, MCAS 16 On Balance Mar Apr 2012

2 On Balance Mar Apr

3 OneNote Microsoft Office is a note-taking tool that can help keep your notes and other Fig 1 information well-organized. It s a good tool in education and can be useful for meetings, projects, research, planning and other tasks. Fig 2 allows you to OneNote document text, record audio and video, draw diagrams and shapes, insert graphics and include information from the Web with automatic citations added. It s important to understand that a notebook in OneNote is a digital notepad, which can hold all types of notes you create using the software. OneNote uses a notebook similiar to a Windows folder and its sections as files within that folder. Each section is saved with an.one file extension. The notebook is broken down in a collection of sections. Each section contains multiple pages. It s on those pages that text, pictures, graphics, tables, or audio and visual files are stored. As you enter text in a notebook, the content appears in a note container. (See Fig. 1) OneNote provides you with three default notebooks: Work Notebook, Personal Notebook and OneNote Guide. The Work and Personal Notebooks are starter notebooks that are available for you to add entries. You can use the New Notebook Wizard and select the various templates to create a new notebook. You add new sections, pages and subpages for continual organization. You can also create subpages for existing pages to organize content on a deeper level. A nice benefit of the program is that you will never need to save anything manually because OneNote automatically saves all of your information. There is no save button. (See Fig. 2) 18 On Balance Mar Apr 2012

4 Fig 3 K2 Enterprises Information can be added to your notebook by using the tools found in the Insert Ribbon. Tables are enhanced with the ability to enter math functions and calculations. The results are displayed next to the expression in the table. You can easily capture a screen shot and paste it into a page for reference. File printouts or scanned documents are inserted into OneNote as searchable text. You can make your own audio and video recordings on a note page using the Audio and Video Recording Ribbon. The program automatically recognizes and preserves hyperlinks, making it easy to access information stored outside or inside Notebook. (See Fig. 3) OneNote integrates with other Microsoft programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint and Outlook. Therefore, you can send data to or from your notebook in one step. OneNote comes with a utility called side note. Side note enables you to create an OneNote entry quickly, even if the program is closed. The side note will automatically added to the Unfiled Notes section at the bottom of the Navigation bar where you can retrieve it and organize it into the appropriate notebook later. You can add tags to any of your notes, which allow you to retrieve, sort and search the notes faster and easier. Tags are predefined labels associated with your notes. However, you can customize your own tags so the labels are more relevant and meaningful to your business or industry. You can also use the search option to find text in all open notebooks based upon key words. The results are highlighted in yellow highlight, and the results provide links to the specific pages. (See Fig. 4 & 5) Sharing work in a collaborative environment is increasingly important to businesses today. OneNote offers several methods that enable greater collaboration and information sharing between teams, groups or co-workers. This can reduce the overuse of and other traditional applications. Two key collaborative tools include Notebook Synchronization through a shared notebook and Live Sharing. A shared notebook is a notebook stored in a common network or Internet location. Multiple users can access its content and make changes simultaneously. When one person is making changes to a shared notebook, it doesn t become locked or uneditable by others. As a result, all changes made by all users are automatically synchronized. Technology-Focused CPE To Help You Become More Productive And Improve The Bottom Line In 2012! FOUR-HOUR PROGRAMS Excel PivotTables for Accountants Part I September 19 Excel PivotTables for Accountants Part II April 24 & October 18 ipad An Effective Business Tool April 24 & October 18 Cloud Security and Compliance - What s Your Responsibility? September 19 EIGHT-HOUR PROGRAMS Excel Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Accountants April 25 & September 20 Peachtree Accounting Software - Managing Businesses More Effectively September 21 QuickBooks Advanced Features, Tools, and Techniques October 19 For more information, visit www. or On Balance Mar Apr

5 Live Sharing allows several participants in a shared note-taking session. These sessions make it possible for all participants to view and edit each other s notes in real time. The person who initiates a session can set a password for the session for restricted session access, so only those who enter the password can join. An message containing the invitation to the session is automatically generated. The names of all the participants are listed in the Live Session task pane. OneNote is a software tool worth learning and using. It Fig 4 Fig 5 offers benefits for any company in organization, time management and team collaboration. It s included with several versions of Microsoft Office. Cindy Prindle, MCAS is a master instructor at Hawkins, Ash, Baptie & Company, LLP in La Crosse. Contact her at or cprindle@habco.com. audimation.com 20 On Balance Mar Apr 2012