Dear AccountMate Clients,
As the title of this month’s NewsLine implies, we’re coming up on year end for most companies in the accounting world – and year end for payroll even if your fiscal year doesn’t end December 31st. To make this as smooth as possible for you, AccountMate is offering three FREE webinars regarding recommended procedures for closing the month/period, the fiscal year, and the payroll year. Please see below for details and how to sign up.
We’re also pleased to announce the release of AccountMate Version 7.6 for SQL and SQL/Express – with details and webinar information also below. If you have an active software maintenance plan for either of these platforms, we’ll be putting your copy in the mail immediately. Please contact us to coordinate installation when it arrives.
Need to relate a “not good news” story from the last month: We were contacted by a fellow AccountMate Business Partner, who had a client that suffered a catastrophic hard-drive failure on their SQL Server in early November. They had sent the drives to a specialist and paid thousands of dollars to recover what data they could, but since the SQL data for each company is, effectively, one large file – what they were able to recover wasn’t usable.
Here’s the worst news: The last backup they could locate was from December 31st, 2008 – OUCH!!! So, they lost over 11 months of work – aged payables and receivables, open sales orders and purchase orders – they even run Payroll in-house and lost all of those transactions. Hard to imagine a worse situation…
We wrote a utility a couple years ago which easily allows clients to make a quick backup of the SQL data, and have installed it a handful of places, but the story above convinced us to “package it up” and suggest it for all installations (since even AccountMate LAN Version 7 uses SQL Express for the payroll data).
Complete details of NexSQLBack are available, including the price of $200 – but we’re making this available at ZERO SOFTWARE COST to all NexLAN clients! Just call us to schedule the installation and then make this a regular part of your month-end closing so you’re never faced with a catastrophe of this magnitude!
Back on the “good news” front: Proud to relate some of the industry awards we’ve recently earned here at NexLAN. At the annual AccountMate Business Partner conference in October, we were happy to repeat as the recipient of the “Central Region Outstanding Sales Achievement“, leading all Business Partners in AccountMate product sales in a 20 state region. In November we received nationwide recognition for the fifth consecutive year by Accounting Technology as a Top 100 Technology Pacesetter, and were named in a similar ranking by The Progressive Media Group as one of the 100 organizations on “Bob Scott’s Insights’ VAR Stars“. Finally we just renewed our certification, which includes customer satisfaction surveys, as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the fine staff we have here at NexLAN for their continued fine work – and note that NexLAN succeeds only if you, our clients, succeed!
Finally, on the running front: Had a disappointing performance at the inaugural Ozark 100-mile race early in the month. Hit the top of my left foot *hard* only two miles into the race, and dropped out at mile 46 when it was swollen so much it wouldn’t fit into my shoe even loosely laced. Upon returning home, an x-ray confirmed I chipped the bones and doctor suggested I take off six weeks for recovery and healing. It’s been three weeks now, and the swelling and discoloration are almost gone so I ran an 11 mile trail race last weekend -but took it “easy” and stayed in the middle of the pack! <grin>
Regards,
Kevin E. Stroud
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
Free Period/Year/Payroll Closing Webinars
AccountMate is hosting FREE webinars in December on procedures for closing of fiscal periods, fiscal years, and payroll years. We expect these to fill up quickly, so please respond promptly with your preferred dates/times if you’re interested.
Period-End Closing in AM 7 will be held on December 14 from 12-1 CST, covering the recommended procedures to close the period in the subsidiary modules. It will also identify some common issues which may arise during the closing process and how to resolve them.
Closing the Payroll Tax Year in AM 7 will be held on December 16 from 12-1 CST and is specifically for closing the payroll tax year whether your fiscal year ends on December 31st or not. Also discussed are the reports affected by the tax year closing process.
Fiscal Year-End Closing in AM 7 will be held on December 18 from 12-1 CST to discuss the requirements and procedures for closing the fiscal year. Some tips to help effectively perform year end closing will also be discussed.
If you are interested in attending a seminar please hit <reply> to this e-mail, or send directly to nexlan@nexlan.com, with the date and webinar you would like to attend and we will be glad to get you registered. Seating is limited so please register early if you are interested.
AccountMate SQL & SQL/Express Version 7.6 Released Today
AccountMate has announced the release of SQL & SQL Express7.6 today, December 1st.
Here are a few of the important Enhancements and Changes in this latest release of AccountMate 7.6 for SQL and Express:
Supports Windows 7
This latest product release supports Windows 7 workstations.
Enhanced Projected Material Requirement Report
We have enhanced the Projected Material Requirement Report to facilitate work order scheduling and material requirements planning.
Data Filter Options Added to the Purchase Requirement Report
We have added additional data filter options to the Purchase Requirement Report to make it easier for the user to narrow down the results to specific items.
Option to Filter AP Aging Reports by Due Date
We have added the option to filter the Accounts Payable invoices that will be included in the Past-Due Aging Report and the Forecast Aging Report by their due dates. This enhancement gives users the ability to prioritize invoices that are already due or about to become due thereby helping them to more effectively manage the company’s payables.
Option to Accumulate Paid Leave for Overtime Work
Users can now set up overtime earning codes to accrue paid leave hours. This is to accommodate the requirements of those companies who grant their employees paid leave benefits for the time that they work in excess of regular hours.
If you run AccountMate SQL or SQL/Express and have an active Software Assurance Plan, we’ll be putting your copy of the latest software in the mail immediately. Please contact us at your convenience to discuss and schedule the installation.
AccountMate SQL/MSDE 7.6 New Features Webinar
AccountMate is offering a special “AccountMate 7.6 for SQL & SQL/Express New Features” webinar. The presentation is open to all end-users and is scheduled for Friday, December 11th, at noon Central Standard Time. Please contact us, by <replying> to this e-mail, to sign up.
Tech Note: Understanding Repetitive Demand for Inventory Recalculation during Freeze Inventory
AccountMate validates the state of your inventory data when you perform Physical Inventory Count. If data problems exist of if relevant tables contain conflicting information, AccountMate will display a message asking you to recalculate inventory data before you freeze inventory. In most cases, recalculation resolves the problem; however, there may be instances when the issue is more complex than what the routine can handle. In these instances AccountMate keeps asking you to recalculate inventory data until the problem is fixed.
The following TechNote may be used as a guide to diagnose the cause of the data problem so you can take the necessary actions to resolve it and proceed with freezing inventory.
2010 Payroll Tax Subscriptions
If you haven’t already ordered your 2010 Payroll Tax Subscription, then please contact us at your earliest convenience. We’ll be in touch in mid/late December when the update is released with download instructions and to schedule the update if you’d prefer we handle this for you.
Just a reminder that 2010 is the last year payroll tax subscriptions will be supported for AccountMate/LAN Version5 for your payroll tax subscriptions. Please contact us regarding upgrade options.
Tech Note: Inter -Fund Balancing
Government entities and nonprofit organizations allocate and account for individual funds based upon the purpose for which these are set up. In daily operations, some transactions may occur between funds. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) requires that each fund’s total debits and credits be in balance.
TechNote #1145 illustrates these inter-fund transactions and discusses how AccountMate handles manual and automatic inter-fund balancing in compliance with GAAP requirements.
Article 1145: How AccountMate Handles Inter-Fund Balancing
Holiday Closings
NexLAN will be closed on Friday, December 25, 2009 and Friday, January 1, 2010. If you don’t have our latest emergency contact list, hit <reply> and we’ll gladly send you a copy.
Technical Tips
Versions: AM7 for SQL and Express
AM6.5 for SQL and MSDE
Modules AP, AR
Q: Is it necessary to run the Multi-Currency Revaluation feature in AR and AP prior to performing monthly period-end closing?
A: It is at the company’s discretion to perform multi-currency revaluation in AP and AR prior to every period-end closing; however, you must perform multi-currency revaluation before each period-end closing if you intend to restate the receivable and payable balances using the latest currency exchange rates. Note that you cannot perform Multi-Currency Revaluation in AccountMate for transactions in a closed period.
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Versions: AM7 for SQL, Express and LAN
AM6.5 for SQL, MSDE and LAN
Modules PR, AP
Q: What is the source of the value in the 1099-MISC form ->RECIPIENT’S Identification Number?
A: AccountMate uses different sources to populate the RECIPIENT’s Identification Number box depending upon whether the 1099 is issued for a contract employee or an accounts payable vendor.
The value in the contractors’ 1099s comes from Employee Maintenance->1099 Info-> Federal ID field. AccountMate will use the contractor’s Social Security Number (SSN) entered in Employee Maintenance->SSN field if no value is entered in the Federal ID field.
The value in the vendors’ 1099s comes from Vendor Maintenance->FEIN/SSN field. The RECIPIENT’S Identification Number box will be blank if no value is entered in this field.
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