Posted by Plus Consultants on Thu, Sep 09, 2010 @ 12:32 PM
by Leon Colton, leon@plus.ca
So what is Sage Accpac Intelligence (SAI), everybody asks these days, and do I have the intelligence to work with it? Well, to help you decide for yourself and instead of giving another definition of this great product I decided to build a simple consolidation report, over the course of the next few blog articles, which will provide you a trail on how to build your own more complex reports, using the power of SAI. So what is hiding behind the SAI Connector icon?
Let’s consider the following scenario, a company runs two Company databases for two separate locations, but uses the same suppliers and runs monthly Aged payable reports in each company. The management of the company would like to consolidate these two reports, but exporting them into Excel and then analyzing the data involves too much of ‘spreadsheet acrobatics’, besides how would you know which company which invoice belongs to, without adding more columns to the report? It is all possible, of course, but too time-consuming. Well, you can do it in Crystal Reports (CR), somebody says..that’s true, but CR can only work with one database at hand.
And here is the point – SAI has CR capabilities of working directly with data tables, but goes beyond it, in that it can consolidate various databases, and in a few different ways, depending on what you want to do.
Some people would like to compare SAI with other familiar products, in order to pin it down on their maps, and here is another comparison – Financial Reporter (FR) can produce G/L based reports, and even drilldown to details, but SAI can withdraw data from subledgers, where FR has no access. Similar to FR, SAI maintains formulas for specific financial data (such as Account Name "GLAMF"."ACCTDESC", or Fiscal Period - "GLPOST"."FISCALPERD"). More than that, SAI has its own set of canned Financial Statement templates, and I encourage you to explore them at your own time. In regards to drilldown, you can decide what level of details you want to drilldown summary figures (to be covered in future articles on SAI series).
Another great feature of SAI - having it’s own Launcher it can be accessed directly outside of Accpac and save you a Lanpak. In other words, a manager wishing to look up specific operations figures or review financial information doesn’t have to kick a clerk out of Accpac to access the reports.
Stay tuned for more detailed information about Sage Accpac Intelligence in the weeks to come and how you can better use this to get the information you need from your Sage ERP Accpac system.
Posted by Chathu Amarasinghe on Fri, Aug 06, 2010 @ 12:28 PM
How many of you have asked if GL transactions listing can be printed in portrait without having to customize the report.
Well, it is now included as an Sage ERP Accpac canned report.
This is how you use it.
- Go to GL Reports
- Select GL Transaction Listing
- Uncheck “Balances and net Changes” and “Posting Seq. and Batch Entry” options
- This will print GL transaction listing in Portrait.
Posted by Dee Dutton on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 @ 12:10 PM
When you are in Accpac, have you ever wanted to have the Vendor Activity window open twice? Have you ever wanted to work on 2 orders in Order Entry at the same time? How about entering 2 different AR Receipt Batches at the same time? Did you know that you can?
With Accpac open, you can see the “objects” in the right-hand panel on your desktop. If you right-click on the object you want to have open more than once, select “Properties”. You will then see the option to “Start Multiple Copies”.
If you select this and then hit “Apply” or “OK”, you will then be able to have that screen open more than once and be able to work in either screen.
Please note, this is based on security settings and will apply to the logged in user only.
Posted by Plus Sales on Fri, Jul 23, 2010 @ 11:39 AM
by Brian Morris, brian@plus.ca
One of the more frustrating tasks for the average Accpac user occurs when they are presented with a multi-line order, which needs to be rekeyed on a regular basis. Not only does this waste a lot of time in the sales/order entry departments, but it can potentially lead to errors on subsequent orders. There a few methods of automating this process, but let’s first consider the most basic approach: the copy orders function.
In the example above, the OE clerk has just posted a complicated order for ACME Plumbing, with different comments attached to various line items. If another customer then places a similar order to the one just created, the Copy Order function would be used. To run this feature, click on the icon found in the O/E Transactions folder of Order Entry, as in the image below.
On the screen that pops up, you need to enter the Customer Number of the client you want to copy from and to (in the case of a repeat order for the same client, this number could be identical). Then you simply need to specify the quote or order number that you’d like to clone, and click on the blue arrows.
Once clicked, you will then see the individual line items from the cloned order appear (see below). If any of them need to be modified or deleted, you can do this from this screen. In addition to the standard order entry fields, you can also edit the Optional Fields by selecting that tab on the same page. When the order looks correct, just hit the “Create” button at the bottom-left of the screen, and the new order number will be displayed.
That concludes our look at the Copy Orders function, but in an upcoming post we will look at other methods of reducing duplicate entry, such as employing Standing Orders. Please check back often, and post any questions or comments below!
Posted by Bonnie Wittmeier on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 @ 11:06 AM
Sooner or later, it happens. You run your AP Aged Payables Report, and compare the total to the balance in your GL, (AP trade account), and they are not equal. What now?
A reconciliation will need to be done, there’s no getting away from that. You will need to do a comparison between all the transactions that have gone through AP and cross them off against all the entries in the GL Listing to find out which one(s) are different and/or missing. This can be a tedious process. However, there are a couple of tips and tricks that might help short-circuit the task.
- Ensure all your AP batches have been sent to the GL. (AP Periodic Processing / Create GL Batches). Then, POST all the AP batches in the GL. Re-run your reports to see if we are now in balance.
- Run your reports as of a future period, such as the end of the current fiscal year. Sometimes AP transactions get posted to prior periods. After they get sent to the GL, the period may be adjusted to a current period before posting. (So as not to affect an already published financial statement, for example, or because that period has already been closed). Therefore, the imbalance may only be due to a fiscal period discrepancy, and will even out at a later period. This is not normally a concern unless it crosses over a year end.
- Under GL Transaction History, select the AP trade account. Change the source code to different modules besides AP and check if there are any entries which originated from somewhere besides AP. These entries may be the cause of the variance.
If these 3 tricks don’t reveal the difference between your subledger and your GL, a full reconciliation will be required. Here’s how to make that process simpler:
- Locate the last fiscal period where the AP and the GL were in balance. Use that as a starting point to begin your reconciliation.
- Identify the variance amounts for each subsequent period since AP & GL were in balance.
- If several subsequent periods are out of balance by the same amount, locating and adjusting the first of those periods will bring the following ones into balance.
- If the periods are out of balance by different amounts, then there are variances in each period that need to be identified.
| Period |
AP |
GL |
Variance |
| 04 |
120,000 |
120,000 |
0 |
| 05 |
114,500 |
118,000 |
-3,500 |
| 06 |
95,000 |
98,500 |
-3,500 |
| 07 |
108,000 |
106,500 |
1,500 |
| 08 |
87,800 |
98,700 |
-10,900 |
In this example, period 4 is balanced, and there are discrepancies in periods 5, 7 and 8. The reconciliation process needs to begin at period 5. Depending on the adjustments required to bring period 5 into balance, (the AP may need to be increased, or the GL amount decreased, or some combination of these), the variance amounts of periods 7 and 8 may be changed, therefore it will be imperative to start the reconciliation at the earliest period that is out of balance.
- Print the GL Transaction Listing for the AP trade account for period 5. Then print either of the AP Transaction reports – Vendor Transactions, or GL Transactions – depending on which one works best for your particular set of data.
- Compare each of the entries in the GL to each transaction on the AP report. Once each line item has been compared and crossed off with its match, you should be left with the ‘orphan’ entries – your variance. You could also export each of these reports into excel and use some sorting and comparison formulas to assist with this task.
- Now that you have the source of your discrepancy, you will be able to correct the imbalance by making the appropriate adjustments.
This process is identical for the AR subledger as well.
There are some settings which can be optimized for reconciliation purposes.
- Ensure your AP trade account is set to be a ‘control account’ which allows only AP transactions to be posted into it. (GL Accounts / Accounts – select ‘control account’ and then add ‘AP’ to the ‘subledger’ tab)
- Check your AP Setup / GL Integration / Transactions. Set your Detail Transaction Types (invoice, credit note, payment, etc) to have easily recognizable fields sent to the GL Detail Reference and GL Detail Description columns (vendor number and document number for example). This will make identifying specific AP transactions easier in the GL Transactions Listing report.
Give us a call if you need assistance with this!
Posted by Glen Mund on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 @ 02:29 PM
When I speak to clients and prospects in the distribution sector, and ask about their inventory problems, the most common response is the lack of inventory accuracy. Most often this means the quantity of inventory on the warehouse floor does not match the records in the ERP or other system. Obviously this is very critical functionality that an ERP system can provide but the functionality requirements should not end here.
Other critical inventory accuracy functionality that should be expected from your ERP software are:
Inventory Value
- Obsolescence : What is the value of obsolete inventory? This reporting assists with the determination of how well an organization manages its inventory and how accurate the existing demand forecasts are. Perhaps product quality is poor. An ERP system should help make this type of assessment.
Check out the rest of my lastest article on the Sage ERP blog at; http://blog.sageerpsolutions.com/inventory-accuracy/
Posted by Scott Davies on Fri, Jun 11, 2010 @ 03:26 PM
Think way, way back to when you setup your first company in Sage Accpac ERP. (Ok, it may not be that far back for some of you.) If you recall, you actually created TWO databases – a Company and a System Database. A Company Database is fairly self explanatory, but a System Database? What is it and why do you need one?
A System Database contains information such as Currencies and Rates; Optional Field definitions; Schedules and Reminders; User Authorizations; and Customization information. Since there is a high likelihood that this information would be common across many, if not all, of your companies, they are grouped together into a common “System” Database that can be used over and over again.
So how does structuring the database in this fashion benefit you? Let’s say tomorrow you decide to create a new company in Accpac; you don’t have to re-enter all of your users*, currencies and rates, etc. Just link the new company’s database to your existing System Database. If you forgive the database-design terminology, the relationship between System and Company Databases in Accpac is one-to-many.
It is no mere coincidence, as you may have deduced, that much of the information in this common System Database is available in Accpac's System Manager under the “Common” Services area. Also tied to the System Database are the functions in the Administrative Services module. However, the functions in Common Services are slightly different – as they can not only be common across multiple companies, but also across the different modules within each company.
It is important to note that when backing up your Accpac ERP database (be it Pervasive or MS-SQL) you need to back up BOTH your Company and System Databases. A Company Database will not load without a System Database.
If you have any questions about your System Database, backup routine, or any other Accpac ERP related questions, please don’t hesitate to call our offices. We’re here to help!
* The master users list is not actually stored in the System Database but, rather, in a directory under your Accpac Shared Data folder.
Posted by Plus Consultants on Mon, May 31, 2010 @ 11:34 AM
by Leon Colton, Consultant
Accpac users probably won't be overly excited if asked about their experience with Bank Reconciliation.
Remember those children games when you need to match one thing with another? And the sense of delight when you find that fragment of the puzzle and plug it in its proper place to complete the picture? That is the sense Accpac users deserve on first-Friday-of-month afternoons, when reconciling last month's Bank statement. But instead of "arts & crafts of bookkeeping" they probably toiled for hours to crunch their numbers on uncomfortable and cumbersome reconciliation forms, till the bottom line finally turns to ZERO! First withdrawals, then deposits, finally Bank entries. And what about more complicated transactions, or NSF cheques handling, or those interest charges included in a customer's cheque, or searching for that bank entry posted a few months ago. Does all of that sound familiar?
Well, here is the good news - Bank Reconciliation has changed for good, it was overhauled and greatly improved in the new Accpac 5.6 version! This time it seems Sage really listened to end-users and designed new functionalities and rebuffed existing ones. Simple to use and readable, designed with users' convenience in mind, a monthly reconciliation can be a breeze. Take a look at some of the changes made:
Streamlined & Simplified Reconciliation Form:
Four tabs (Withdrawals, Deposits, Returns & Bank Entries) united in one Reconciliation tab, and with sort option selected by date you can view transactions as they appear on the bank statement. For those who prefer "out of sight - out of mind" methods - new filters by reconciliation status and transaction type are just what you need! Filter those already reconciled transactions from the screen, view only outstanding cheques or deposits. And feel comfortable sorting by date or document number for easy matching.
Too many dates in the summary screen? No worries! Now it's only Statement date and Reconciliation date. You want to speed up the process - no problem, just double click on the line to change status from ‘Outstanding' to ‘Clear'. Now that's real fun!
New Bank Entry Button
Did you ever say - "hey, why can't we use Distribution Codes and Distribution Sets when entering bank transactions? Now you can, pretty much like in Receivables and Payables modules.
The Bank Entry button on the Reconciliation tab opens a new Bank Entry form, where you can enter any kind of reconciling transaction- from simple service charges to compound entries that use Distribution Codes and Distribution Sets or just G/L Accounts:
NOTE: When the bank entry gets posted it appears on the Reconciliation Tab, just make sure ‘All' transactions are selected in Display field.
Handling more Complex Transactions
Since the new Bank Entry form can handle any number of G/L Accounts, there's no need to scramble everything into one amount, or use A/P and A/R for interest charges or taxes.
More Efficient Transaction Reversal
Instead of Returned cheques and Reversed Payments, you can now do all transaction reversal on one screen.
It is also possible to select the Reversed reconciliation status right in the Reconciliation tab to reverse a payment or other withdrawal, including Bank Entry. However, you must use the Reverse Transactions form to reverse a receipt (deposit). Reversed deposits will appear as outstanding withdrawals on your current Bank Reconciliation when the reversal is posted.
It is now possible to quickly reverse a whole range of transactions in one shot, using the ‘Quick Clearing' button. And restore it back just as quickly, if it was done accidentally!
Zoom to Actual Book Balance
This one is my favourite! I remember the feeling of disbelief when first coming across the discrepancy between the G/L Bank Account balance and Book balance stated in the Bank Reconciliation- it was like my ground was shaking and I thought the entire company data got corrupted?! Little did I know about Bank Services and GL being out-of-sync, when some Bank related transactions are posted straight in G/L, bypassing subledgers. To be honest, I always considered that being a ‘bug' of the system. That is now fixed - these two amounts are separately stated in the zoom-in window, with the book balance breakdown.
You'll also notice the Go button beside "Bank Entries Not Posted" amount, which allows you to post entries on the fly.
Unification of Terminology
‘In Transit' status for deposits is now called ‘Outstanding', just as withdrawals.
All funds moving into Bank Account are now called ‘Deposit', such as Withdrawal Bank errors cleared with lesser amount.
All funds moving out of Bank Account are now called ‘Withdrawal':
- Withdrawals.
- Payments.
- Reversed receipts.
- Deposit bank errors where the Cleared Amount is greater than the deposit amount.
Other Improvements;
- Drilldown to original transaction, such as payment to Vendor.
- New Totals tab with breakdown of reconciled transaction by status (Cleared with write-off, Cleared with bank error etc.)
- Improved Bank G/L Integration, to include Bank Entry Detail and more fields to flow through to G/L batch, such as: Bank code, Bank Entry Type, Distribution Code, Entry Number and Entry Description
- New Reports: Bank entries Posting Journal, sorted by posting sequence
- Transaction History Inquiry with ability to make selection by Source Application (A/R, A/P, Payroll, Bank Services, Other) or by Reconciliation Status, or even to search for specific payment by amount.
In conclusion the new Bank Reconciliation is definitely worth trying!
Posted by Alison Boons on Fri, May 14, 2010 @ 04:47 PM
We found this great article on Stephen Smith's blog & would like to share it with you.
by Stephen Smith (http://smist08.wordpress.com)
Sage ERP Accpac uses Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) as its macro language. This is the same macro language used by Microsoft office & many other Windows desktop applications. With VBA Macros you can access the Accpac Business Logic laryer & enter documents, perform processing like posting batches or print reports. Since every screen in Accpac is an ActiveX control, you can embed any screen in a VBA macro & then manipulate/customize it in a standard uniform manner. Writing VBA macros is a huge topic; there are many books available on the topic along with courses at Sage University on VBA specifically for Accpac. This blog posting just lists a few useful tips & tricks that people find helpful when programming Accpac macros. These assume a general knowledge of writing basic Accpac macros. These aren't in any particular order & tend to jump all over the place.
To read Stephen's ideas, check out the full article her
Posted by Chathu Amarasinghe on Fri, May 07, 2010 @ 10:33 AM
Did you know that Sage Accpac ERP supports duplex printing and you can set it up easily by form or report.
Example;
I want to use duplex printing for my GL posting journals and normal printing for all other reports/forms.
This is how you do it.
- Double click on "Posting Journal" report in GL
- Go to file and select "Print Setup"
- Check mark "Print on Both Sides" option
From now on, Sage Accpac ERP will remember these settings and prints your GL Posting Journals report duplexed.
** Please note that you need to have printer with "Automatic duplex feature" to use this feature.**