Dear AccountMate Clients,
January is always a busy time for us – with numerous client year-ends, payroll updates, W-2 printing, and a flurry of requests for custom reports to support year -end audit information – but it’s also the time that many installations and upgrades “go live” so they can synchronize with the new year.
Clients are often nervous about the process. This is understandable since it’s their business in flux and they are not familiar with the process since they don’t do fifty- plus of these every year.
One of the things we do at NexLAN to make this as smooth as possible is use an Accelerated Implementation Methodology, which is typically 30 days for an unmodified non-manufacturing system or 90 days for a heavily modified or manufacturing system.
Does that sound fast to you? It should – but the benefits are many: reduced time and cost, less disruption to existing operations, reduced probability of over-engineering, and quicker “time to benefit”.
Especially now, when businesses demand measurable and immediate results, an upgrade should be nearly seamless and an implementation shouldn’t be a long, drawn out affair. In both cases, besides “doing it right”, one of the goals is, “Get those consultants off your dime as soon as possible!”, right?
So, if you’re considering an upgrade – and if you’re more than a build behind the current releases of LAN 7.1 or SQL 7.5 you should! – then give me a call about how we minimize the business impact and reduce the cost while accelerating the benefits!
On the running front: Haven’t posted any updates in our NewsLine in a few months and I’ve received numerous e-mails asking if I still run. Yes, but I pretty much took the fall off. Of course “off” means that I was running only 30 miles per week instead of 75, and I still did some short (up to half-marathon distance) races but nothing really tough. I’m already ramping up in 2009 though, and will be running the inaugural Illinois Marathon in mid-April, then my 3rd consecutive Boston Marathon the following weekend. I am currently weighing my options regarding two different 100-milers in June, and will pick one and sign up soonest.
Regards,
Kevin E. Stroud
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
AccountMate Basic Product Training Class
AccountMate has scheduled a basic product training class to be held at their corporate office in Petaluma, CA, March 18-20 (Wednesday – Friday). The course content includes planning and implementation of AccountMate 7 and covers core financial modules (AP, AR, BR, GL, IC, PO, SO, and UM). The cost of the class is $2,085. If you are interested in the class please contact us at NexLAN by calling us at (217) 431-7236 or <replying> to this e-mail.
Tech Note: Correcting Overlooked Accrued Received Goods Reversals on Paid AP Invoices
AccountMate designed the Accrued Received Goods feature to fulfill the need to update the company’s liability as purchases are received instead of waiting for the vendor’s invoice. So that the liability is not overstated, the amount that is accrued at the time the PO is received must be reversed when the AP invoice is posted. Sometimes users may forget to reverse this accrual when recording the AP invoice. This situation is further complicated if the AP invoice is paid before the mistake is discovered. The article in the link below discusses how to correct an erroneous accounting entry that results from the failure to Reverse Accrued Received Goods.
Article 1208: Correcting Overlooked Accrued Received Goods Reversals on Paid AP Invoices
Tech Note: Access Rights Guidelines
One of the foremost requirements of any data processing system is for rights to be set up to grant or restrict access to specific software functions. Each user’s access rights depend on the specific role(s) he or she plays in the organization. Rights must be assigned properly so as to help ensure data integrity. Just as users are not entrusted with tasks that may be in conflict with each other in the real world (e.g. recording vendor invoices and signing checks to pay vendors), care must also be taken not to give them access rights to software functions that may give them too much “power” in the system and put too much temptation in their path.
This article in the following link provides a sample configuration of user access rights under a set of business cycles that exists in a retail business. It identifies a set of tasks for each business cycle and provides guidelines on which functions to grant rights to users in AccountMate.
Article 1082: Guidelines for Assigning Access Rights in AccountMate
Tech Note: Understanding the Bank Reconciliation Report
With month end fast approaching, some of you may already be preparing to perform bank reconciliation. For some, this may be the first bank reconciliation of the new fiscal year. For others, this may be your first bank reconciliation in the new AccountMate version. In either case, we thought you might find it helpful if we reissued an article that discusses one of the tools that can facilitate this task. I am referring to the Bank Reconciliation Report, which is designed to provide information about disbursements and receipts recorded for each bank account, which are either outstanding or have cleared as of the bank statement date. To make full use of this report, it is important to understand what type of information it provides and how the system calculates certain key information that are included in the report. Click the title of the article below to access the document.
Article 1071: Understanding the Bank Reconciliation Report
Technical Tips
Versions: AM7 for SQL and Express (AM7.5 and higher)
Modules: IC, SO, AR, PO, MI, RA
TIP: Starting in AM7.5 for SQL and Express, authorized users may view the Customer # in the Booked Quantity Details Analysis and/or the Vendor # in the On-order Quantity Details Analysis. To view this, perform the following:
- Launch AccountMate Administrator program; then, access the Security Function from the Setup menu.
- Access the Group/User Setup function.
- Select in the Group/User setup window the user to whom you want to give access; then click Edit.
- In the Edit User window, mark the Show Customer# in Qty Booked for Item# and Show Vendor# in Qty On-Order for Item#
- Access the Inventory Maintenance function
- Enter in the Item# field, the Item for which you want to view the details on the booked and on-order quantities.
- Click either the Detail Analysis button adjacent to the Booked Quantity field to display the Quantity Booked for Item# window showing the Customer#; or click the Detail Analysis button adjacent to the On-Order Quantity field to display the Quantity On-Order for Item# window showing the Vendor#.
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Versions: AM7 for SQL and Express
AM7 for LAN
AM6.5 for SQL and MSDE
AM6.5 for LAN
Modules: GL
Q: Some GL Account IDs that should show up in the Statement of Financial Position do not appear. What could cause this?
A: Verify that the missing GL Account IDs are assigned the proper Account Group ID and that the Account Group ID is assigned the proper Account Category.
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Versions: AM7 for SQL and Express (AM7.5 and higher)
Modules: AR
TIP: Beginning with AM7.5 for SQL and Express, users may double-click the Apply Amount column field to automatically populate payment to outstanding customer invoice. To do this, perform the following:
- Access the Apply Payment function.
- Enter in the Customer # field, the customer for whom you want to apply payment.
- Complete the information in the Payment area as necessary.
- Double-click the Apply Amount column field to automatically populate payment.
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