Insights & Information regarding enterprise resource planning software from a leading industry expert.

Accepting Credit Cards: 5 Things You Need to Know

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by Geoff Williams (smallbusiness.aol.com)

Sure, some businesses are cash-only and do just fine - the local ice cream parlor, the greasy spoon diner down the street, the flea market that's been around for a century. But these days, in a nation where floating on credit is as American as apple pie, you've got to take plastic.

While they require some infrastructure upgrades & come with annoying fees, it has become increasingly difficult to run a full-fledged business --especially in retail-- without accepting credit & debit cards. But despite the drawbacks, the added convenience for customers could lead to bigger purchases at the register. "You want to be accessible, and you want to broaden your opportunity to close the sale," says Greg Hammermaster, president of Sage Payment Solutions, which helps more than 140,000 business & organizations accept electronic payments, including credit and debit cards, electronic checks, gift cards & automatic recurring payments.

So how can you make your business credit card-friendly? Here are five things you need to know.

1) Apply for Merchant Status - What is merchant status? The term means you can be entrusted to allow customers to pay you with a MasterCard, Visa, American Express and the like. So why shouldn't they trust you?

To read the rest of the article, visit; http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2010/07/05/how-to-accept-credit-cards/

To find out more how Sage Payment Solutions can benefit you & your business, contact us today at sales@plus.ca for more information.

My AP Does Not Balance to the GL in Sage ERP Accpac!

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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.

1. 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.
2. 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. 
3. 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:

1. Locate the last fiscal period where the AP and the GL were in balance.  Use that as a starting point to begin your reconciliation.
2. Identify the variance amounts for each subsequent period since AP & GL were in balance. 
   1. 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.
   2. If the periods are out of balance by different amounts, then there are variances in each period that need to be identified.

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.

1. 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. 
2. 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.
3. 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. 

1. 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)
2. 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! 

What’s a Sage Accpac ERP System Database?

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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.

Sage Accpac ERP Bank Reconciliation Revamped!

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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;

1. Drilldown to original transaction, such as payment to Vendor.
2. New Totals tab with breakdown of reconciled transaction by status (Cleared with write-off, Cleared with bank error etc.)
3. 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
4. New Reports: Bank entries Posting Journal, sorted by posting sequence
5. 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!

Reprinting the Data Integrity Check Report

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Sage Accpac Spring Cleaning

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While you are doing this, why don't you include maintenance of your Sage Accpac ERP system?

Your Sage Accpac system would love it if you gave it a little care and attention, you may consider reviewing things such as:

• Reviewing your backup plan including ensuring you actually have DATA on that backup.
• Reviewing your Data Integrity plan, are you regularly performing a data integrity check?
• What is the size of the available disk space on your server?
• Is your server performing at capacity?
• Have you checked in with your users lately? Perhaps they are having issues that they have developed "work arounds" for that is costing your organization time and effort needlessly.
• When did you last inventory your hardware?
• Are your Product Updates "up-to-date"?

If these tasks seem too time consuming or technical, call us, we can help!

Clients of Plus Computer Solutions who are current on their Gold and Silver Telephone Support contracts will be hearing from me soon to ensure that we work with you to include your Sage Accpac ERP review in your Spring cleaning plans. 

Happy Spring!

Accpac Custom Cheques

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by TK Haran (tk@plus.ca)

How we could Print cheque and advices without manually photocopying the cheques!

Create a custom directory and define that in Sageaccpac.

Step-1; Creating the custom folder and directory for the custom reports.

Step 2: Define the custom location in Sage Accpac

Make sure you have defined the customization directory correctly for the company that requires to use that report or reports.

Step-3;

Go to bank set up and select check form, pick the custom report.
And then go to advice form and select pick the custom form.
Make sure, that stock type is selected as "Checks Then Advices"

Step-4;
Select the Check stock code and you will see the check from and advice from popping up.

Step-5; Print Cheque

Step-6; Printed Cheque

Step 7;
Close the Cheque window shown in step-6, you will receive the following screen.

Step 8;
As shown in step-6, print the advice and confirm whether it is printed correctly or not.

This will significantly reduce the time spent by staff member in taking photocopying cheques.

And better return on investment than investing on additional software, provided the requirement mere photocopying of cheques.

HST - How to Prepare for Implementation Sage Accpac Part 2

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As mentioned in the previous post, below is some information provided by the CGA that every business should consider so that they are best prepared for the HST.

To begin the preparation process, consider all facets of an organization that are affected by sales taxes (for example, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, purchasing, forecasting and budgeting); this can be a very time consuming task. The benefit of spending time preparing for implementation is a reduction in costly errors, surprises for overlooked issues, and future audit exposures.

Below are a number of issues businesses need to consider for the sales tax implementation.

Collection of Sales Taxes

• Amend Software and/or tax table used to generate invoices, debit and credit notes to accommodate additional tax rates/codes.
• Amend automated system-generated entries (e.g. monthly inter-company charges, monthly rent charges or management fees to reflect the sales tax codes/rates).
• Consider the impact of harmonization on real property contracts during the transitional period and after implementation.
• Determine if prepayments have been made before the implementation date. The transitional rules may be used to determine the tax rate applicable in these situations.
• Develop special codes for point-of-sale rebates for the provincial component of BC HST and OVAT if applicable.
• Do a product and service sales tax analysis. Many goods, services, intangible personal property and real property non-taxable under the old Ontario sale tax legislation will now become taxable as a result of harmonization
• However, unless a supply is specifically excluded from BC HST or OVAT (e.g. books, children's clothing), or under a specific Ontario or BC levy post-harmonization (e.g. in Ontario certain insurance premiums), the sales tax status will be consistent with current GST rules, which will simplify tax administration for businesses.
• Do not delete or deactivate old tax rate codes since it may be necessary to use them after implementation during the transitional period.
• Follow transitional rules for volume rebates, promotional allowances, price adjustments, goods returned or exchanges after the July 1, 2010 implementation date and guidance for goods in transit on July 1, 2010.
• Modify tax tables for Internet web sites. All GST registrants will automatically become registered to collect BC HST and OVAT.
• Review ongoing or long-term contracts that straddle the harmonization date to ensure the correct sales rate is applied (e.g. service agreements, licenses, memberships and leases).
• Update point-of-sale terminal or cash-register software.

Recovery of Value-Added Taxes Paid (Input Tax Credits and Rebates)

• A business defined as a "large business" (over $10M taxable sales) or a financial institution cannot claim input tax credits for the provincial component on specified restricted expenses. Restrictions will last up five years with a three-year phase out.
• Develop updated or new tax tables/codes for accounts payable systems that automatically record input tax credits or rebates based on embedded taxes. Prepare to code payables for restricted versus non-restricted expenses.
• Do not delete/deactivate old tax rates as they may be required in some situations. If your system can only accommodate one or a limited number of tax rates, develop a manual system to record sales taxes correctly during the transitional period.
• During the transitional period, implement procedures to ensure only the value-added tax paid is recovered. Develop an override procedure to use in instances where old tax rates are charged in error.
• Develop a system to track the federal and provincial components of HST if you are part of the MUSH sector (municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals) or qualifying non -profit organization.
• Evaluate and update periodic system-generated payments to apply the new taxes
• Make adjustments to the remittance percentages if you are a small businesses or public service body using the simplified remittance methods
• Modify employee expenses reimbursement and allowance software or pre-printed forms for not only the new rates but also the restricted expenses and possibly the use of factors. In addition, watch for special transitional rules for expenses reports that straddle the implementation date.
• Selected listed financial institutions must adjust formulae included in the Special Attribution Method calculation if applicable.

Other Considerations;

• Revise Cash flow projections.
• Update budgets and forecasts.
• Modify purchase orders with pre-printed sales tax information or system generated purchase orders to accommodate the new taxes, e.g. the goods for resale exemption will no longer apply in Ontario or British Columbia
• Modify pre-printed price lists or Internet websites containing sales tax information.
• Develop a system to track bad debt adjustment, tracking the tax from the original transaction
• Develop a process to change taxable benefit remittance rates for the 2010 and 2011 taxation years, if applicable.
• Modify documented procedures for how internal tasks are performed whether automatically or manually.
• Additional calculation may be required for the embedded tax content subject to the change-in-use provisions.

Plan to do a test run of sample data for all modified systems as a result of the numerous changes and revisions. This will reduce the potential for error and surprises when the systems are activated on July 1, 2010.

For more information & to find out how to update your Sage Accpac ERP System join us at our our HST User Group Meeting on April 08, 2010 from 8:30am-11:00am. To register & more information visit; http://erp.plus.ca/HSTUserGroupMeeting

Importing Transactions Using Power of MS Query

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Written By; Leon Colton, Plus Consultant, leon@plus.ca

Sometimes one doesn't have to exit an Excel spreadsheet to get the necessary data, all Accpac tables can be accessed and analysed directly from within Excel. Yes, yes - Excel! I'm talking here about MS Query that can be called upon from the Data menu of Excel. Provided you know the ODBC connections to your company's data and credentials to access it you're good to go and query the data you need, all fields of any table, with selections and filters are available. Of course knowing SQL language can be handy and can save hours of work, as in the below example.

So, let's say you need to import certain A/R Invoices from one company to another, and you want to limit it to a specific date range and only for some customers. Doing export/import batch by batch can consume significant amounts of time when it comes to more than 10 batches, not to mention the manual ‘cherry picking' your customers' invoices - that can really turn out as a nightmare.

This complexity is caused by the fact that multiple sheets are interrelated by common sets of references together in one import Excel file. So, for example, one import file of A/R Invoices consists of at least three following spreadsheets (optional fields will require additional sheet): Invoice Header; Invoice Details; Payment Schedule. These sheets correspond to each other by Batch number, Entry number and other references, therefore excluding certain transactions from the workbook can be a tedious task, resulting in a failure of import in the case that some records were deleted incorrectly.

What can be helpful here is to run a query on the Accpac tables (such as ARIBH) directly from Excel: Data/Get External Data/from other sources/MS Query, or using shortcut Alt+DDN and specifying data source name and database from within the login screen. When this done, you'll be prompted by the next screen - choose the Table or set of fields from various tables to build the query. Then select the data by certain criteria, such as batch range or ‘Date Posted' range and sorting it in necessary order.

The last step of the Wizard is deciding whether you want to dump the data on a spreadsheet or keep editing it in MS Query. By selecting Query you have obviously more things to do with data, such as further slicing and dicing it before final cast on the sheet, almost like baking a cake.

After all is done and you're in the query window, two sections show up - tables section and records section. Now, remember I've mentioned the SQL language - here's the example of how you can really save time: instead of picking fields and specifying criteria in the query window, go right to SQL scripting by pressing the SQL button and script a query. It's easy - try this;

SELECT ARIBD.CNTBTCH, ARIBD.CNTITEM, ARIBD.CNTLINE, ARIBD.AUDTORG, ARIBD.IDINVC, ARIBD.IDITEM, ARIBD.TEXTDESC, ARIBD.UNITMEAS, ARIBD.QTYINVC, ARIBD.AMTEXTN, ARIBD.TOTTAX, ARIBD.BASETAX1, ARIBD.BASETAX2, ARIBD.TAXSTTS1, ARIBD.TAXSTTS2, ARIBD.AMTTAX1, ARIBD.AMTTAX2, ARIBD.IDACCTREV, ARIBH.FISCPER

FROM SAMLTD.dbo.ARIBD ARIBD, SAMLTD.dbo.ARIBH ARIBH

WHERE ARIBD.CNTBTCH = ARIBH.CNTBTCH AND ARIBD.CNTITEM = ARIBH.CNTITEM AND ((ARIBH.IDCUST='CUS01') AND (ARIBH.CNTBTCH>$145) OR (ARIBH.IDCUST='SHAC01') AND (ARIBH.CNTBTCH>$145))

ORDER BY ARIBD.CNTBTCH, ARIBD.CNTITEM, ARIBD.CNTLINE

What you see in red font is the database name, so you can just change it to your company database ID, change the criteria to appropriate for your needs, such as batch number and customer name and you're good to go ahead and execute the query. If all steps are properly done, what you will then have at hand is an import spreadsheet of Invoice detail lines for the specified criteria.

Note: The above mentioned example works for MS SQL Database engine, the script will slightly change when querying Pervasive data.

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like further assistance with this TIP please call our office directly.

Meeting The IFRS Challenge

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By Mitch McNicol, mitch@plus.ca 

The IFRS Challenge

There's no longer any doubt: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are coming down the pipeline. The business and accounting press are full of news about IFRS, and businesses are realizing they need to pay attention.

Over 100 countries now require or permit IFRS reporting, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Singapore, Russia, South Africa, and also the European Union and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

In the U.S., the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a tentative roadmap to IFRS that features a set of progressive milestones. As proposed, the roadmap would let about 110 companies use IFRS for their end-of-year SEC filings for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2009. For the years 2012 and 2013, companies will need to run U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and IFRS reporting in parallel in preparation for 2014 when large accelerated filers must compile their financial statement under IFRS rules and report a comparative statement for the previous two years (2012 and 2013) using both IFRS and U.S. GAAP.

In Canada the timeline is even sooner. The Canadian Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) has confirmed that IFRS will replace Canadian GAAP effective January 1, 2011, for "publicly accountable profit-oriented enterprises." This means that these companies will need to restate statements under IFRS in their fiscal year 2010 in order to be able to file comparatives in 2011.

To find out more about IFRS & how it affects you, join us for our Lunch & Learn on Thursday March 11th from 12pm-1pm PST. This next lunch & learn will cover some of the changes brought on by IFRS such as;

• Presentation of Financial Statements
• More analysis of fixed assets & a different means of depreciation for finance leases & restatement for property.
• Does not allow the Completed Contract method of project costing.

Join us & Learn More:
Date: Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Where: Your Desk!
Sign Up Today, click here!

As a customer of Accpac you can rest in the knowledge that Accpac is IFRS compliant. In fact, Sage has produced a compliance guide that every attendee will receive by attending the webinar!