Student Handbook Table of Contents Section Topic 1 Creating Account.1 School/University Sign Up.2 Instructor Sign Up.3 Corporate Account Sign Up.4 Logging into the 2 Banking Tasks.1 Bank Balances.2 Transfer Money.3 Payees.4 Making a Payment.5 Credit Card.6 Recurring Payments 3 Corporate Tasks.1 Manage e-inventory.2 Manage Company Site.3 Offline Transactions.4 Tax Rate.5 Customer Tracking 4 HR Tasks.1 Manage Join Codes.2 Company Payroll.3 List of Employees 5 IPO.1 Filing.2 Forms 6 Stock Portfolio.1 Researching Virtual and Real Markets.2 The List Virtual Companies Interface.3 The List Real Companies Interface.4 Buying and Selling Virtual Stocks (Market.5 Buying and Selling Virtual Stocks (Limit Order).6 Virtually Buying and Selling Real Stocks
.7 Viewing Transactions.8 Viewing Holdings/Portfolio 7 Credit Card.1 Credit Card Information.2 Apply For Credit Card.3 Forgot Credit Card Number.4 View Monthly Invoice.5 Increase Credit Limit.6 Print Credit Card 8 IVE Market Place.1 Go Shopping.2 Search/List VE Database
SECTION 1 Creating Account This handbook gives an overview of how to complete the tasks for the IVE e-commerce system. It follows the sections as they are listed on the IVE website (www.ivefinancial.com). 1.1 School/University Sign Up In order to be able to use the system a school or university must be registered in the network. In order to accomplish this task, contact the IVE office by email (contact@ive.cuny.edu), with the following information: 1. School name and address 2. Name, email and phone number of Main Contact Once that information is received, you will receive a confirmation email that your school/university has been added to the IVE. 1.2 Instructor Sign Up The allows the instructor to have full control over their student s corporate accounts. From funding to observing the student accounts, the instructor will be able to perform a wide range of different activities. Detailed information about how to use the Instructor Account can be found online in our instructor handbook. 1.3 Corporate Account Sign Up Corporate accounts allow the user to launch their virtual businesses in IVE s Virtual marketplace. Participants can practice entrepreneurship by validating their business concepts through trading/interacting with other virtual firms. Corporate accounts allow virtual businesses to secure funding, manage bank accounts, create their online stores, trade stocks in virtual and real markets, among other features. 1. To sign-up for a corporate account, go to the IVE website http://www.ive.cuny.edu/, and click on Create Corporate Account
2. Fill in the required fields (Username, Password, Company Name, First and Last Name, Email) and select the school and instructor that will be associated with the account. If you are not associated with a particular instructor, leave that field blank. You are also able to request funding and upload elevator presentations as a YouTube.com video, an MS Word document, and/or a PowerPoint presentation. Once you have filled out all required fields, click on Create Company. An email will be sent to your instructor (or IVE), who will review your account application (and associated seed funding). An email will be sent notifying the recipient of the instructor s decision (account approval or disapproval). 1.4 Logging into the Once this is done, the firm will have its Username and Password. All managerial functions require that the firm be logged into the system. Once logged in, you can begin to perform any number of different tasks, including the banking tasks. To log in: 1. Go to the IVE website http://www.ive.cuny.edu/, and click on Marketmaker on the left menu bar. This is the entrance point to the Marketmaker.
2. Enter you Username and Password and click Login. Once logged in you can inspect the different tasks that are listed in left menu bar. 3. To set up employee accounts see Section 4.1 Manage Join Codes
Section 2 Banking Tasks The has many different banking functions, to access the different functions proceed to the menu Banking Tasks on the left side of the page: 2.1 Bank Balances Firms can have various sources of funds. The IVE system automatically sets up a general funds account, which contains your seed funding and any future sales made through your online stores (see section 3) In additional to these accounts you may also create any new account that the firm may need. To accomplish this click on Bank Balances and then click on Create Account
Enter the name of the new account and click on Create Account. The new account will be listed with all other accounts, These accounts (e.g. Marketing or HR budget) can also be renamed in the future. 2.2 Transfer Money To move your funds from one of your accounts to the other you simply transfer the funds from the source account to the designation account. You can also indicate the reason for the transfer, and if you wish this to be recurring at a desired frequency. Source Account This is the specific account the money is coming out of Destination Account This is the account the money is going into. Pay Period/Reason - The reason for the payment Effective Date - This is the start date of the payroll. Amount - The amount of the check Effective Date The date the check is to be paid Ending Date The last date the amount is to be paid if it is recurring. Frequency How often the payment will be made, if recurring.
Once the information is all entered, click transfer and the funds will be automatically transferred. 2.3 Payees In order to make a payment you must first enter the payee into manage payees. If the corporate account was linked to an instructor account, the corporate account will already be listed. If the corporate account is not listed, to enter a new payee, click Payees at the top of the page: Enter the following information for the new payee: IVE checking account number Payee Name The additional information is optional be should be entered: Address 1 Street address Address 2 - City, State, Zip code Telephone number Fax Number Email address Website Once all the required information is entered, click on Add Payee. Once the payee is setup, you are now able to pay the person or firm that you have entered by making a payment (see next section). 2.4 Making a Payment This section allows virtual businesses to pay invoices for services or products that are not handled via credit card payments in e-commerce stores. In addition, this feature can be used to pay for expenses that an instructor may invoice the VE for, such as electricity or utility bill, rent, or any other expenses that may arise when operating a business.
Source Account This is the account the money is coming out of Payee This is the person or firm that you have entered as a payee and will be receiving this payment. If you have not added this payee, first go to Manage Payees at the top of this page and following the directions above. Pay Period/Reason - The reason for the payment Effective Date This is the start date of the payroll. Amount - The amount of the check Effective Date The date the check is to be paid Ending Date The last date the amount is to be paid if it is recurring. Frequency How often the payment is to be made Once the information is all entered, click Transfer and the funds will automatically be paid. 2.5 Credit Card Payment In order to protect your credit standing, you must pay your credit card bill. Before starting to pay your credit card, be sure to have your account number available. Click on Credit Card Payment and complete the following information: Source Account: Indicate which account the funds are coming out of. Credit Card Number Be sure to enter the correct numbers Pay Period/Reason entered the number or date of the bill for reference
Amount The amount you are paying. Click Transfer and you have just paid your credit card bill. 2.6 Recurring Payments All of the payments that you have set up to be paid more than once (weekly, monthly, etc.), will be listed on this screen, where you can manage the payments.
Section 3 Corporate Tasks 3.1 Manage e-inventory This section of the Corporate Tasks deals with entering your inventory. Before designing your website you must enter all the products that you wish to sell on this website. The procedure is quick and efficient but you must have the following information: Product Name ( Title) Product Description Quantity Product Wholesale Cost Product Retail Price (Selling Price) Graphic of Product on your computer or from the internet (www.google.com) Once you have accumulated all of the above information for each product you are ready to enter you e-inventory by clicking on Manage e-inventory. Click on Manage e-inventory Enter the information that you have collected individually for each product. When you have finished entering the information, click Add a product Each product will automatically be listed on your website for sale. You may change, or add products at anytime. Be sure enter the information correctly, you do not want to sell products that you don t have, or for the wrong price. 3.2 Manage Company Site 2007 IVE Financial All Right
In creating the website, IVE has broken down the page into various sections. Each of these sections is important to the overall appearance of the website. Below is a detailed discussion of each section in the order that they appear: Style This section deals with the different background colors, title text size and title text color. o Background Color A background color should both dramatic but eye pleasing. If you are planning on using a light color text, use a dark color 2007 IVE Financial All Right
background and if you are planning on using a dark color text use a light color background There are certain color combinations that you should avoid; green and yellow, blue and black, yellow and white, etc o News container background On the left hand side of your web site will be a box for breaking news, sales, or anything you wish to highlight. This choice is for the background color for that box. When choosing the color remember the color of the background as this will be surrounding the box. The same color rules apply to this insert as well as keeping in mind the background colors, and font colors. o Link bar container background This is your menu bar for navigation of your website. When picking background colors keep in mind the other colors that you have chosen. o Title font color The color of the letters in your title should stand out against the background that you have chosen. o Title font size Beside color, the sizes of the letters are very important. Larger letters indicate importance, but if the letters are too large they will over shadow the rest of the site. 2007 IVE Financial All Right
Header/ Latest News o o Logo Submit you company logo by browsing your computer until you locate the folder it is in. Once you have located it, click the Submit button to upload. Latest News Use the template to enter any news, special sales, etc. You can use different size print, fonts or colors. When you have finished, click Submit. Home 2007 IVE Financial All Right
o Welcome, What We Do, and Featured Service In each of these categories enter a paragraph enticing the viewer to you company. Mission and Company Description o A short mission statement and description of the company should be entered to explain what your business is about. Keep this to one or two paragraphs, since most viewers will not scroll and read long paragraphs. Our Staff o o List all members of the firm. Many companies like to organize this part by departments, but you may choose to list the people by alphabetical order instead. To insert a photograph of the staff: Click on the insert image Select an image file of your choice from your computer, server or on the Internet Write the person s name and any other information that you wish before submitting the Image. 2007 IVE Financial All Right
Start-Up Documentation o o o o Contact Information This will show basic contact information about your company on your website. If you want to edit this click Update User on the bottom of the page Edit - YouTube Elevator Pitch (post link to YouTube video) If you haven t added your YouTube elevator pitch during the account setup, you can paste (or change) the link from your YouTube elevator pitch here. Edit - Elevator Pitch (upload MS Word document) Here you can upload your Elevator Pitch as a MS Word document. Edit - PowerPoint Presentation for Elevator Pitch (upload MS PowerPoint document) Here you can upload your elevator pitch PowerPoint presentation Preview o At any time during this process you may preview your website and may any changes you wish. Do not publish your website until you are 100% satisfied. Publish o When you are 100% satisfied with your website, push publish and join the other online stores in the IVE network. 2007 IVE Financial All Right
3.3 Offline Transactions The IVE e-commerce System is available to both network and non-network members. Everyone, who wants to purchase goods from a virtual enterprise, must have an IVE credit card. Once they receive the IVE credit card they are ready to purchase goods. However, some companies in the network do not have an online store, although they are running a virtual business and have (sometimes real) customers. For instance, this could be catering or cooking classes (virtual caterers or virtual restaurants), which provide real services as part of their class activities. The restaurant, for example, may cook for the college president as part of their final presentations. To be able to charge the president s IVE credit card for their services, students use the offline transactions function of the IVE. In other words they are able to complete a credit card transaction without opening an online store. And here is what these virtual firms have to do: When a customer decides to make their purchase, they present the credit card to the merchant. Just as in our everyday lives, when we purchase something on credit, the store will swipe the credit card to record your information and send the information to the card service, The IVE merchant will enter the following information to charge the customer s credit card: Customer's Credit Card Number (no spaces Buyer's Last Name Charge Amount (no commas or dollar signs) Terms Purchased (detailed description for the bill) Once all of the information is entered, click Authorize Transaction. By authorizing the transactions, the company s account with be credited for the amount of the purchase and a charge will be sent to the purchaser. The credit card holder will receive an invoice directly to his/her email. 2007 IVE Financial All Right
3.4 Tax Rate The IVE Financial system mirrors the real world. Most state and local governments impose a sales tax on goods purchased by their residents; therefore, the IVE system also imposed the same rates that you would pay in your local stores. Be sure too familiarize yourself with which goods are exempt from sales tax and if your company s offerings are exempt or not. Enter the rate as a percentage and all goods will be taxed at that rate. Unlike the real sales, out of state purchases will be taxed at the local rate and not exempt, as in the case of most internet sales. 3.4 Customer Tracking The customer tracking feature helps you to keep track of your online sales, which can be viewed on a Google Map or list (bottom of page), sorted by date, or downloaded into an MS Excel file for further analysis. This feature will help you understand your target market as well as keep in touch with your previous customers.
Section 4 HR Tasks 4.1 Manage Join Codes A corporate account (or Virtual Enterprise) may have employees (students) that work in the simulated business. These employee accounts give each employee the opportunity to receive a salary into a personal checking account, transfer money into a savings account, or build a stock market portfolio. The first step in opening an employee account is to receive a Join Code. The Join Codes can only be generated by the administrator of the firm s account. The Director of HR, or whoever has access to the corporate account, can create enough Join Codes for the entire firm. (Additional codes can be requested at anytime to accommodate new employees.) Each code has an expiration date. The codes are to be distributed to the employees, who will need it to create their employee accounts. Once the accounts are open they automatically will be listed in a drop down menu in creating the Payroll See Section 4.2 Company Payroll Once the code is used, it is useless and should be discarded.
4.2. Company Payroll Payroll is a recurring event, and the IVE system lets you lessen your work by entering the employees information once and then issuing the payroll at your designated periods. Source Account This is the specific account the company is paying the payroll from. Employee Account In order to be paid all employees must have a checking account with the IVE Bank. When students sign up for their personal accounts using join codes these accounts are automatically listed in a dropdown menu. opay Period/Reason - Indicate the start pay period, or the reason for the pay check, i.e. Sales Bonus, Retroactive Raise, etc. Amount Amount of the check Effective Date This is the start date of the payroll. Ending Date The date of the last payroll. Frequency The firm must choose how often they will pay their employees
4.3. List of Employees By choosing this link you will view all the employees your virtual enterprise. This page lists: Username The name of the employee s account Last Name The student s last name First Name The student s first name User Since Date and time when employee joined the company By clicking on the student s name you will access the student information which includes: Account ID Account Password Date of last activity Bank Balances You can also delete the student s account from this screen by clicking Update User and then click Delete User. Important: If you set up automatic deposit, you can change and modify all recurring payroll payments by clicking recurring payments.
Section 5 IPO 5.1 Filing Complete the forms below for filing according to the IVE requirements for registering a class of securities under the various provisions of the 1933 Act and the 1934 Act. Once the forms are complete they will be automatically forwarded to the IVE central office. The company can also include a presentation along with their IPO application. The presentation, however, is not a requirement and IPO s maybe approved without a formal (online) presentation. Once the forms are approved (and the presentation is made), you will be listed on the IVE Stock Market and your shares will be available for sale to all members of the network. 5.2 Forms After you are logged in, please update your company information right away. You can do that by clicking on View User Details on the bottom of the left menu bar, followed by clicking on Update User. You are also required to upload your company logo to the system and to post your company mission/description on your company s site. See Section 3.2 Manage Company s Site for details.
As a next step please click on Manage e-inventory to enter your company s products. For the purposes of the IPO it is sufficient to enter Product Title, Product Description, Quantity, Cost To Company, Selling Price and Product Photo. See Section 3.1 - Manage e-inventory. You have successfully completed the preparatory work for the submission of the IPO Prospectus. As a next step, you need to click on IPO / SO Request on the left menu bar. To continue, click on click here on the top of the page. If you already updated your personal info, added your logo, and entered your company mission / description, click on Next. ]
If you already entered your products, click on Next. The next screen is an online submission form for your company balance sheet. Please complete this form to calculate your Suggested IPO Price. You need to calculate sums for both assets and liabilities. Please start with assets (from top down), then continue with your liabilities. After you calculated your Stockholder s Equity (=Assets-Liabilities), enter your Suggested shares (of course you can modify the default value of 1000) and click on Suggested IPO Price to calculate your value per share. When you are done click the Next button.
Congratulations, you are almost done! The last step in this process is to come up with your personal ticker symbol (four characters max.). Select an industry fund and a corporate partner from the drop down menus. These two market values will impact your company s stock price. The stock price and amount of shares are already filled in. To complete your IPO Prospectus click on Create Request. After you hit the Create Request button, you will be prompted to a screen that will show you the current status of your IPO Request. Upon approval, your company will be listed on the IVE Stock Market (and ticker) and people can start investing in your company.
Section 6 Stock Portfolio To buy/sell stock you will use the following functions of your account: 1. View Holding access and monitor your stock holding 2. View Transactions access your transactions summary 3. Buy/Sell Equity access your trading interface 4. List Virtual Companies access the virtual companies database 5. List Real Companies access the real companies database
6.1. Researching Virtual and Real Markets To start buying virtual or real companies stocks you need to do some research. Your bank interface gives you easy access to all relevant markets and industries, both virtual and real. Simply click on List Virtual Companies or List Real Companies depending on what stock you want to research, monitor, or buy. 6.2. The List Virtual Companies Interface On this page you get a list of all virtual companies (Virtual Enterprises that have gone through the process of an initial public offering (IPO)) that are currently trading their stock in the Virtual Stock Market. Important for your trading is to remember the Symbol and its share value (Price). The Difference between Prev Price and Price will help you to determine whether the stock went up or down in value. You can also search for companies: For example, if you want to look up companies that have the word furniture as part of their name, simply enter furniture into the search query field and press the Search button. Of course you can refine and alter your search queries according to your research interests. You can buy/sell stock by clicking on [Buy] or [Sell] next to the stock price. See section 4 for more details.
6.3. The List Real Companies Interface On this page you get a complete list of all real companies that are currently trading their stocks in real domestic and international markets such as NYSE (New York Stock Exchange), NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange, etc. These listings provide you with detailed information about real companies stocks. Besides buying virtual stocks you can also virtually place orders for real stocks with your virtual trading budget and add these stocks to your personal stock portfolio. You can easily search stocks through the search feature on top of the page (circle below). For example, if you want to look up a certain company such as the internet company Google, simply enter GOOG into the search query field and press the Go button. Of course you can refine and alter your queries (e.g. search for company names or symbols) according to your research interests. In the example below I searched for the company Google (Ticker: GOOG) and you can see the company summary (real-time data). Of course you can also do some additional research on real investment sites such as http://www.marketwatch.com, http://finance.yahoo.com/ or review business sections of newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, or The New York Times. You can buy/sell stock by clicking on [Buy] or [Sell] under to the company summary. See section 4 for more details.
6.4 Buying and Selling Virtual Stocks (Market Order) A market order 1 is an order to buy or sell a stock at the current market price. This has a big advantage since you are almost always guaranteed that your order will be executed. However, if you are buying in a fast-moving market you might wind up paying much more than the initial quote that you obtained. You will also be charged a nominal transaction fee for each transaction. To get started, click on Buy/Sell Equity to access your trading interface. To buy or sell you need to determine what account you want to use for your transaction. In most cases this will be your checking account. In the example below you are planning to buy stocks from a virtual company x- tremeadventures (Stock Symbol: XA) through placing a market order (buy shares for current market value) for 20 shares for the price of $ 11.86 each. You can see on the ticker that the current value one share of XA is $ 11.86, which amounts to a total purchasing price of $ 237.2. To place your order, press the Create Order button. Immediately, you will be directed to your View Transactions interface (see instructions below). To sell stocks, you use the same interface. The only difference is that you choose sell instead of buy. The rest is similar to the procedure above. Important: You can only sell stocks that you hold in your portfolio. 1 http://www.sec.gov/answers/mktord.htm
6.5 Buying and Selling Virtual Stocks (Limit Order) To avoid buying or selling a stock at a price higher or lower than you wanted, you need to place a limit order 2 rather than a market order. A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a specific price. A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher. The purchasing process is similar to the market order, the only difference is that you determine a limit (target price) for your order. In the example below you are planning to buy stock from a virtual company x- tremeadventures (Stock Symbol: XA) through placing a limit order (change Order Type to Limit Order ) for 25 shares for the price of $ 11.86 each. You can see on the ticker that the current value one share of XA is $ 11.86, which amounts to a total purchasing price of $ 237.2. Your Target Price is $ $ 12.00. This means that if XA s stock exceeds $ 12.00 before your transaction has been executed (this takes approximately one to two days in our case) your order will not be placed. If you order does not exceed the limit, you will purchase the stock to the current market value. To place your order, press the Create Order button. You will be directed immediately to your View Transactions interface (see instructions below). To sell stocks, you use the same interface. The only difference is that you choose sell instead of buy. The rest is similar to the procedure above. Important: you can only sell stocks that you hold in your portfolio. 2 http://www.sec.gov/answers/limit.htm
6.6. Virtually Buying and Selling Real Stocks Virtually buying and selling real stocks is similar to buying and selling virtual stocks. The only difference is that you have to indicate that you are virtually buying or selling real stocks (arrow below). In our example below you are placing a virtual market order for 30 shares of Google (stock symbol GOOG ). The arrow indicates that you are not buying a virtual stock. It is important that a stock symbol corresponds to the market where it is listed (GOOG to the real market, and XA to the virtual market). You can easily search for symbols by clicking on Symbol Look Up.
6.7. Viewing Transactions To view your transactions click on View Transactions. You will be directed to your transaction summary and you can see the status of your transactions. In the example below, both transactions are pending. Usually it takes about one day for the orders to be executed. You can also see how much capital gain you have made. 6.8. Viewing Holdings/Portfolio As soon as your orders have been executed your holdings are accessible through clicking on View Holding. This screen will allow you to monitor your holdings (stock portfolio) and make subsequent investment decisions.
Section 7 Credit Card As a member of the IVE community your students can apply for and receive an IVE credit card. To begin, go to the IVE financial website and click on Credit Card Information 7.1 Credit Card Information This page will explain the many features of the credit card.
By clicking on the Rate & Fees tab on the page you will access all of the fees that are associated with the checking account By clicking the Convenient account access tab you will see the many advantages to the credit card. 7.2 Apply For Credit Card You can apply for this credit card by either clicking the Get it now tab on the information pages or by clicking applies for Credit Card and the left menu. Either method will allow you to apply for the credit card by filling out the required information on the application form.
Please note that you must have a valid email address in order to receive the credit card and that your institution must belong to the IVE network. After completing the application with the required information, click Submit Application. You will receive a confirmation email with your credit card information as well as a link that will enable you to print your credit card. If you do not see your credit card in your inbox, make sure to also check your spam account. 7.3 Forgot Credit Card Number Once you have received you credit card and if you have misplaced the number, you can request IVE to email you your account number
7.4 View Monthly Invoice To access your monthly activities, enter your account number and PIN. This will show you the activity on the credit card as well as the balance due. You also have the opportunity to pay your bill, click, Pay Now. This will allow you to log into your bank account and pay the outstanding bill.
7.5 Increase Credit Limit To request an increase in your credit limit enter your credit card number and log in. Complete the form to request an increase in your credit card and submit the form. You will be notified by e-mail of the decision to increase you credit limit or not.
7.6 Print Credit Card This will allow you to print your credit card so that you use it to purchase virtual goods.
Section 8 IVE Market Place 8.1 Go Shopping To trade within the IVE marketplace, you have the option to buy products or services from the various virtual companies on www.ivefinacial.com. To start shopping, click on Go Shopping, where you will be able to access the various online stores by choosing a individual industry, school or company. You can also click on List or Map next to Go Shopping link to access the stores. The map shows all the schools and partners within the IVE market. Choose a location from the map or from the drop down menu below the map. Then click Click Here and the page will show you all the VE s that are associated with that particular location. Click on a VE to access their store. Once you choose your merchandise, click My Cart to checkout. Upon checkout you will be asked your name, credit card number and email. After purchasing, an email will be sent confirming your purchase. The charge to your credit card will be reflected in your credit card statement.
8.2 Search/List VE Database When you know the firm you wish to do business with, you can search for them using this feature. It will allow you to be linked to their web site, where you can make your purchases.