What's New in OpenAccounts

Transcription

1 Version 8.0 Patch 2 Prepared by Advanced Business Solutions Park House 300 Pavilion Drive Northampton Business Park Northampton NN4 7YE Tel: +44 (0) Web: Date: 01/06/2014 Document Version: 1.0

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3 Copyright Advanced Business Software and Solutions Ltd Whilst Advanced Business Software and Solutions Ltd ( ABS ) endeavours to ensure that the information in this document is correct it does not accept any liability for errors or omissions or any liability arising out of its use. The software described in this document is supplied under licence and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such a licence. Issue of this document does not entitle the recipient to access or use the software described. The development of Advanced Business Software and Solutions Ltd software is continuous and the published information may not reflect the current status. Any particular release of the software may not contain all of the facilities described and / or may contain facilities not described. Doc Version 1.0 Version 8.0 Patch 2

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5 Contents Introduction... 7 Look and Feel Changes... 8 Refresh Option... 8 Identification of Companies... 8 Choosing a Department... 8 Searching a Menu... 8 Saving a Menu change... 8 Labels on Tab Folders... 8 Starting New Sessions... 9 Notes, Contacts and Attachments... 9 Suppressing the Splash Screen... 9 Desktop Wizard... 9 User Preferences Confirmation Message on Logout Always Collapse Menus Standard Dashboards Screen Flashing Functionality Changes Accounts Receivable & Sales Invoicing Invoicing at Group Account Level Group Account Matching Priority Customer Copy option (SL01) Aged Debtor Report (SL15) Sales Invoice Entry (SI01) Payment Plan Letters Accounts Payable and Invoice Register Payment Proposal Maintenance (PL07) Manual Payments (PL11) OCR Link Update (PR20) CIS Monthly Return (CI14) Cash & Bank and Sundry Payments Bank Statement Entry (CB12) Sundry Payments Maintenance (CP01) General Ledger Period Balance Enquiry (NL20) Transaction Description Maintenance (NL50) Phasing for Prepayments and Deferred Income Cost and Expense Code lookups Project Accounting Project Budget Model Maintenance (PB22) Billing Revenue Recognition (PI10) Procurement and Stock Checking Project Budgets Invoice Matching (PO10) Purchase Order Enquiry (PO11) Fixed Assets Doc Version 1.0 Version 8.0 Patch 2

6 Asset Reinstatement Additions and Disposals Report (AR21) Impairments Grants Component Accounting Bulk Journal Entry (AR06) Rent Accounting Use of Soft Labels Property Status Codes Multiple Tenant and Funder Ledgers Security Rent Free Periods Multiple Concurrent Tenancies Tenant Reference Numbers Printed Invoice production Tenancy/Tenant linkage Reporting Ad Hoc Queries (ED06) Forensix Alerts Data Extracts Report Mapping (EQ90) SEPA Single Euro Payments Area System and Generic Changes Updating a Profile Barcode Printers External Users Document Security Batch Entry Programs Smart Enquiries Help About Report Appendix A New Programs Appendix B New Process Parameters Appendix C - New Mail Merge Fields Doc Version 1.0 Version 8.0 Patch 2

7 Introduction OpenAccounts Version 8.0 Patch 2 was released in July It is primarily a maintenance release, incorporating changes reworked from previous versions of OpenAccounts (V6.0 Patch 6, and V7.0 initial release), and correction of issues found in the initial release of Version 8.0. There are however a significant number of enhancements to functionality, particularly in the areas of Fixed Assets and Rent Accounting. There are no database schema changes in this patch release. V8.0 Patch 2 is only available on Progress OpenEdge 10.2B (Service Pack 7), supporting databases in Progress and SQL This document lists any significant changes in functionality, along with details of new programs, process parameters and mail merge fields. Doc Version 1.0 Page - 7 Version 8.0 Patch 2

8 Look and Feel Changes Refresh Option A Navigation Pane has been added in the context ribbon above most programs that contain browsers. In this pane are options for moving through the browser (with First, Last, Next and Prev options), and a Refresh button which can be used to rebuild the browser. This is particularly useful in batch entry, audit and update functions as the user no longer needs to exit from these programs to get an updated list of batches awaiting processing. Identification of Companies When operating in a multi-company system there is a new way of identifying the current company (in addition to the entry in the prompt bar at the bottom of the container). A new button can be added to the context ribbon in most programs to identify the company, comprising an image (in the example below a coloured blob) and some limited wording to show below the icon. If the icon is pressed it acts in the same way as the Help/About button. The company specific icons and text are defined using the BS99 Toolkit (Container Maintenance System Preferences) Choosing a Department Where the user is allowed access to more than one department in a company, the department required can be selected when logging in, changing company, or changing department. The entry screen used for this department selection is now consistent with other selection screens Searching a Menu When searching for a short item in the menu, and that item is at the end of the menu structure, the search would fail. This has been corrected Saving a Menu change When the sequence of entries in the Menu Navigation Pane is changed, the changes were lost when logging out; they are now retained Labels on Tab Folders Where the choice is to show the labels on the right hand side of the tabs, the tab headings are now shown in vertical text making them consistent with labels shown on the left hand side Doc Version 1.0 Page - 8 Version 8.0 Patch 2

9 Starting New Sessions It is now possible to start a new session from a program that is within a Transaction, where previously the only option given was to run a Smart Enquiry. For example, the screen below shows the options givien when clicking on the OpenACcounts icon whilst maintaining a customer account Errors have been found when starting multiple new sessions in quick succession. To overcome this a new limit has been introduced to prevent more than one new session being started within one minute. Notes, Contacts and Attachments When a row is selected on either a Note, Contact or an Attachment the row was highlighted in orange, and the text became white. This was found to be hard to read, so the text has been changed to be black Suppressing the Splash Screen Desktop Wizard A new entry has been introduced on the General tab of the System Preferences screen (BS99 -> Container Maintenance/System Preferences) to allow the Business Suite splash screen to be switched off. This will affect all system users. The wizard which is used to assist in the integration between OpenAccounts and external applications (primarily MS Word and Excel) has been returned to the system as an option in the BS99 Toolkit. (The Wizard had not been available in previous patches of V8.0) Doc Version 1.0 Page - 9 Version 8.0 Patch 2

10 User Preferences A number of enhancements made to the User Preferences, accessed by pressing the OpenAccounts icon (top left on the initial screen): Confirmation Message on Logout The option to show a warning message, and ask for confirmation, when logging out can now be individually set by each user. As before the default is set using the Container System Preferences option in the BS99 Toolkit, but there is now an option in each user s Preference to choose whether to accept the default or to force either Yes or No Always Collapse Menus When the user changes from one menu to another, there is now an option to always open the new menu in a collapsed state (i.e. with only the top level option shown). The user must then open the menu to the required level. The default action is for the menu to remain open, in the same state as when last used within the current session Standard Dashboards Screen Flashing It is now possible to have non-openaccounts screens (dashboards) displayed as tabs in the main container when logging in. These are addressed by a URL and could provide gateways to other applications. An extra tab has been added to the System Preferences screen (BS99 -> Container Maintenance/System Preferences) to allow an Administrator to specify Dashboards that all users should see. These can also be switched on and off without deleting the entry. A new tab has also been created in the User Preferences panel (Business Suite icon, top left of container -> User Preferences) to allow a User to specify Dashboards that only they can see. These can also be switched on and off without deleting the entry. A correction is included that prevents the screen flashing, when focus on the OpenAccounts screen is temporarily lost, displaying an underlying screen instead Doc Version 1.0 Page - 10 Version 8.0 Patch 2

11 Functionality Changes Accounts Receivable & Sales Invoicing Invoicing at Group Account Level Where customer group logic is used cash can be entered on a group master transaction, but up until now the ability to raise an invoice on the group master has not been allowed. This restriction has been lifted, and can be enabled by changing a new Accounts Receivable Company Parameter (program BS06 Company Parameters) Group Account Matching Priority When matching a cash receipt, or when Transaction matching, on a group master customer the transactions are currently displayed in sub-account sequence (based on the sub-account code and the transaction date). A new matching priority field has been added to customer records to change this sequence, so that the subaccounts are presented in a user-defined priority sequence Customer Copy option (SL01) Within the Customer Maintenance program there is now a Copy option which allows a new customer to be created, based on the details of an existing customer. This is particularly useful when creating a new sub-account linked to a customer group master Aged Debtor Report (SL15) When running this report direct to a spreadsheet, and choosing the Full Customer Details option, a number of additional columns are now available: Address Line 1, Address Line 2, Phone Number, Contact, Status, Date of Last Receipt Sales Invoice Entry (SI01) This program showed a Running Tax Total when building up an invoice, but it was not correctly updated. To avoid confusion this has been removed from the display Payment Plan Letters There is now an option to print a mail merge letter, whenever a new plan is created or an existing plan modified. In each case the user is asked if a letter is required. Any letters requested in this way can then be produced using new program SL44 Payment Plan Letters. The letter types are maintained in program BS40 Mail Merge Maintenance, as type Customer Letters Accounts Payable and Invoice Register Payment Proposal Maintenance (PL07) Where a payment batch has been sent to ebis for approval, deletion of the batch is not allowed until the response from ebis is received (previously this was only a warning message) Manual Payments (PL11) The program has been changed to automatically default the supplier code to that of the last payment entered in the batch (as in previous versions). If this is not required the feature can be turned off by applying the new process parameter NDS to this program Doc Version 1.0 Page - 11 Version 8.0 Patch 2

12 OCR Link Update (PR20) New options have been added to ignore child tables, and to remove old unlinked items from the report CIS Monthly Return (CI14) There is a new summary format in this program (format B), that summarises at supplier level Cash & Bank and Sundry Payments Bank Statement Entry (CB12) A new, optional, description field can now be entered for each transaction on the statement Sundry Payments Maintenance (CP01) Where a payment batch has been sent to ebis for approval, deletion of the batch is not allowed until the response from ebis is received (previously this was only a warning message) General Ledger Period Balance Enquiry (NL20) When choosing to show budgets in a column a budget model can now be selected, where before the enquiry only showed the live budget. This is also available in the Balances option in the Executive Enquiry (NL21) Transaction Description Maintenance (NL50) This new program allows the description stored on GL transactions to be modified, after the transaction has been posted to the ledger. On entry to the program the user must select the transactions to be amended, by entry of a document type and number (and optionally a batch number). The program will then present a browser list of all transactions for that document number. The user can then modify the description for a single transaction line, or set a common description for all the lines. A full history of any amendments made in this way is retained, and can be seen in the main GL Transaction Enquiry screens. The modified description is then shown on all enquiries and reports Phasing for Prepayments and Deferred Income When Phasing was introduced in a previous version the maximum number of accounting periods over which a charge can be phased was set at 24. This has now been increased to a maximum of 96 periods. Cost and Expense Code lookups These standard lookups now show the status of the code displayed, so will show when codes are suspended Project Accounting Project Budget Model Maintenance (PB22) A new GL Load option has been added to this program, which allows a project budget model, for a specific financial year, to be Rolled-up into a General Ledger Doc Version 1.0 Page - 12 Version 8.0 Patch 2

13 budget model for that same year. The option starts by listing the contents of the project model in a browser, and allowing the required accounts to be selected. For every project/workstage/activity combination selected the program derives the default GL cost and expense codes linked to that account, and adds into a GL budget (retaining any period split on the project budget). Note that the account to which each budget is posted can be modified as part of the selection process Billing Revenue Recognition (PI10) A new field, Project Actual End Date has been added to the list of fields available for selection Procurement and Stock Checking Project Budgets A new company parameter allows for checking of project budgets at summary level. The new parameter is maintained in BS06 Company Parameters Purchase Ordering Parameters; a new question Check Project Summaries with options Yes, No (the default) and Only. Budget Checking wherever the budget checking routine and API is used, summary projects budgets are now checked if requested. A summary project budget in this context is an overall budget held at project level (i.e. no workstages or activities). If the parameter is set to No, then no project summary budget checks are required. If set to Yes then the summary budget should be checked, in addition to the budget held at the project/workstage/activity level. If set to Only the detailed budget check is not required, and the test should only be done at summary level Note that when testing for a summary project budget the program first derives whether the activity linked to the original call is a revenue activity or not. If it is revenue, then only a project summary revenue budget will be checked. If not the budget check will only be made against a summary cost budget Invoice Matching (PO10) A new column has been added to the Orders browser screen, to show the value of each order that has been selected for matching Purchase Order Enquiry (PO11) Three new fields have been added to the enquiry screen that shows an order line: Line Status, Quantity Received and Value Received These fields also added to the Purchase Order Smart Enquiry (MW05) Fixed Assets Asset Reinstatement A new journal type has been added that will allow an asset that has been disposed of in error to be reinstated to the ledger. The asset is brought back in the same state as it was at disposal, but in the accounting period selected for the reversal. When automatic depreciation is run after the reinstatement it will take into account any gap in time between the disposal and reversal. Note, however, that if proceeds were entered against the original disposal these proceeds are reversed in the General Ledger, but the reinstatement is not linked to a sales credit document. The reinstatement can be used on any asset that has been removed by disposal, writeoff or inter-company transfer. Doc Version 1.0 Page - 13 Version 8.0 Patch 2

14 Additions and Disposals Report (AR21) This program has been renamed to Asset Transaction Reports as it now has a separate report format for every type of asset journal transaction. Impairments Grants This journal type no longer requires that Revaluation Provcessing is turned on in the company parameters. A new Impairment Reserve (P/L) control account has been added on asset group and location records. Previously postings were made to the Revaluation Reserve. Note also that in AR03 Group Maintenance, if impairments are required then all the impairment control accounts must be defined. When entering an impairment journal, (in AR06 Asset Journal Entry) the screen has been reformatted to clearly separate the journal type from revaluation journals. Entry of such a journal will not be allowed if the impairment control accounts have not been defined for the group to which the selected asset is linked. In the Asset Enquiry (AR23) it is now clear when the asset was last impaired or revalued A new Grant Disposal (P/L) control account has been added on asset group and location records. Previously postings were made to the standard disposal account for the grant element of the asset. When entering a Grant Journal it is now possible to enter a specific suspense account to be used for the addition of that grant, overriding the standard codes held on the asset group (and optionally on locations). Where a revaluation journal is entered for an asset that includes a grant, additional GL postings are now made to reverse out that grant value into a suspense account, using a new Revaluation Grant Reversal (B/S) control account defined on each group (and optionally on locations) Component Accounting Note that Grants and Impairments are no longer linked to the Component Acounting function (i.e. these journal types are available to all users) Bulk Journal Entry (AR06) When entering the selection criteria for a bulk journal, wildcards can now be used in the selection of assets Doc Version 1.0 Page - 14 Version 8.0 Patch 2

15 Rent Accounting A number of functional enhancements have been made to this module, partly for usability reasons, but also to expand the market in which the module could be applicable. These include the following: Use of Soft Labels In the company parameters the terms to be used for certain key entities can be chosen by the user. They are Tenant, Funder, Property, Tenancy, Rent Element, Invoice Property Status Codes These can now be user-defined using a new maintenance program (RA17). For each status the user can specify whether the status is to be charged as a void, and can define default posting criteria (activity and expense codes) Multiple Tenant and Funder Ledgers Security Any number of such ledgers can now be used in Rent Accounting, and can be combined. For each ledger the user can choose whether it is to be used for tenants only, funders only, both tenants and funders or neither (ledgers not relevant to Rent Accounting). If ledger security is turned on this can be used to limit access to tenants and funders Access to properties and tenancies can now be restricted by using a new security method based on a property analysis type, and code ranges linked to the user. The analysis type to be used is defined in the Company Parameters (BS06); the user code ranges are defined in the Operatory Security program (BS09) Rent Free Periods Standard calendars can be maintained at company level (using a new maintenance program RA16), and for individual tenancies, defining periods when the rental charges are not to be applied Multiple Concurrent Tenancies It is now possible for the same tenant to have more than one current tenancy, useful where the tenancies do not all relate to their primary accommodation. Note though that there can only be one current tenancy on any property record Tenant Reference Numbers Against each tenant an unlimited number of separate references can now be stored, primarily used for locating a tenant in an enquiry. These reference numbers can be linked to specific funders, and are then used when importing receipts from those funders Printed Invoice production Where a printed invoice is required this can now be chosen as an option at rent element level Tenancy/Tenant linkage Where the group logic is being used in the Tenant Ledger, it is now possible to link a tenancy to a sub-account rather than the group master record. This means that it is possible to have a separate account on the ledger for each tenancy for a given tenant Doc Version 1.0 Page - 15 Version 8.0 Patch 2

16 Reporting Ad Hoc Queries (ED06) New fields have been made available on the following query types; Register Transactions Received Date Payables Transactions Received Date, Matched Date, EBISUserCode, EBISUserName Receivables Transactions Matched Date, EBISUserCcode, EBISUserName Forensix Alerts The Unusual Purchase Order Value alert has been re-classified, to trigger if an order is more than 50% higher than the average order value for the supplier, or more than 25% higher than the previous highest order for that supplier Data Extracts A new program allows for regular extracts of data into export flat files, the data being presented in a format suitable for importing into a 3 rd party reporting product. A separate data file is created for each of the following extracts selected. A separate XML file is also produced for each extract, which is also used to define the sequence of the fields on each export record. Standard extracts are provided for: Customers Transactions (Sales) Suppliers Transactions (Purchases) General Ledger (Summary) General Ledger (Transactions) Project Ledger (Summary) Project Ledger (Transactions) Commitments Purchase Orders (Summary) Purchase Orders (Detailed) Fixed Assets Report Mapping (EQ90) In excess of 60 new report formats have been added to the list of those available in the mapping tool, and therefore able to output direct to spreadsheet when the report is run SEPA Single Euro Payments Area Changes made to allow for EURO payments to be made, and direct debits collected, using the new standard XML file formats. This is achieved by making a new SEPA XML bank format available on Accounts Payable Payments, Sundry Payments and Accounts Receivable receipts with a payment method of Direct Debit. Some additional data is also stored at company, supplier and customer level Doc Version 1.0 Page - 16 Version 8.0 Patch 2

17 System and Generic Changes Updating a Profile This process will now leave on file records that are specific to users that are linked to the profile being updated. This particularly prevents user-defined browser layouts being lost when the profile changes. Barcode Printers Previously the only way to link a specific barcode printer to a user was via the openacc.ini file. It can now be done within System Utilities, by adding notes against the user holding the same information as was previously in openacc.ini (i.e. BarcodePrinter and BarcodeZPL settings). Note for this to work the openacc.ini settings should be changed to BarcodePrinter=notes External Users When a user is defined as External (within System Utilities), they are now able to use the Print Manager and the Job Watch functions. These were previously barred Document Security When modifying a batch, where document security is in use, the programs were not testing the settings on the default user if no specific rules have been applied to the user. This has been corrected Batch Entry Programs It was previously possible for a user to access the same entry batch in two separate tabs within a session, and this caused conflicts and errors. Checks have been added to prevent this occurrence Smart Enquiries In previous releases of V8.0 the Notes, Contacts and Attachments options were available in all the Smart Enquiries, but any new records or changes made were not saved. This has now been corrected so that new notes etc. can be added or modified in these enquiries Help About Report This report now shows the number of the latest Hot-Fix Bundle installed Doc Version 1.0 Page - 17 Version 8.0 Patch 2

18 Appendix A New Programs Program Name Program BS53 Reporting Data Extracts oa_bs/bs53mnt.cls NL50 RA16 RA17 GL Transaction Description Maintenance Rental Calendar Maintenance Property Status Codes Maintenance oa_nl/batch/nl50sel.p oa_ra/batch/ta16mnt.p oa_ra/batch/ra17mnt.p SL44 Payment Plan Letters oa_sl/reports/sl44srp.p Doc Version 1.0 Page - 18 Version 8.0 Patch 2

19 Appendix B New Process Parameters Program Name Parameter Usage Any Run1 Stops more than one tab for the selected program being opened within a single session BS40 Mail Merge Maintenance USD When printing cheque amounts in words, the word and is excluded from the dollar values (e.g. one hundred and thirteen becomes one hundred thirteen ) CB48 Cashbook Journal Spreadsheet Import NVAT Allow the total VAT on the journal to be entered as a negative value (if a credit) CC11 Action List DDAT Calculates the overdue amount for a customer based on the due dates of transactions instead of using the due period ED04 EDR Report Production UWF Allocates a unique workbook name when exporting to Excel, by adding the user initials, date and time to the filename (reworked from V6.0) NL18 Transaction Update NOZ Will not create any GL transactions if all the value and quantity fields are zero (reworked from V6.0) PL03 Document Entry AOL Will abandon as an error any invoice where the VATvalue is outside the company tolerance (instead of just warning) PL11 Manual Payments NDS No defaulting of the supplier code PL24 Detailed Aged Creditor Report DNZ Default the Account Type to Non-Zero Accounts (instead of Overdue Only ) Doc Version 1.0 Page - 19 Version 8.0 Patch 2

20 Program Name Parameter Usage PO06 PO11 PO33 MW05 MW08 Purchase Order Entry Purchase Order Enquiry Requisition Enquiry Smart Order Enquiry Smart Requisition Enquiry LNTXT Show the first line of free text in the order lines browser, instead of the product description PO16 Purchase Order Printing CLAQ Closed Line Actual Quantity. On a mail merge output the quantity shown on the order detail line, if the order line has been closed, should be the original order quantity less the quantity underdelivered PO16 Purchase Order Printing NOAS Prevents shuffling of the supplier address (i.e. does not remove blank lines) SL25 Detailed Aged Debtor Report DNZ Default the Account Type to Non-Zero Accounts (instead of Overdue Only ) Doc Version 1.0 Page - 20 Version 8.0 Patch 2

21 Appendix C - New Mail Merge Fields Document Fields AP Remittance Advices BankAcc4 Prints the bank account code as a series of *s followed by the last 4 digits of the bank account, e.g. "****5678" Purchase Orders Payment Terms Code Payment Terms Description Sales Invoices Account Balance Sales Statements SRCVAL Original Source SRCVAL+ Debit Source SRCVAL- Credit Source OSSOURCE O/S Value Source OSSOURCE+ O/S Debit Source OSSOURCE- O/S Credit Source BASEVAL Original Base BASEVAL+ Debit Base BASEVAL- Credit Base OSBASE O/S Value Base OSBASE+ O/S Debit Base OSBASE- O/S Credit Base RUNBASE Run Total Base CURRENCY Currency Code Doc Version 1.0 Page - 21 Version 8.0 Patch 2