Dear Clients,
I’m often writing about detailed process improvement in business accounting and management, but going to take a wider view this time to the economy as a whole—because most people don’t realize exactly how GOOD the economy is right now!
No need to belabor the economic challenges of the last few years—mandated business shutdowns and infusion of massive government stimulus payments—which led to the highest inflation we’ve seen in decades and the corresponding rise in the interest rates as The Fed attempted to bring the economy in for a soft landing.
While the economy is a never-ending story, and unexpected events could yet arise, I have to say it looks like THEY STUCK THE LANDING!!!
In the second quarter of 2024, the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.8% (up from 1.4% in the first quarter) and inflation has cooled to 3% annually in June (down from almost 10% two years ago). Even though unemployment has ticked up to 4.1% (from 3.5% a year ago), that should provide some downward pressure on wage increases to also help keep inflation in check.
Interest rate hikes by The Fed were fast and furious from March 2022 to July 2023, rising from 0.08% to 5.33%, but did you realize the last interest rate hike was more than a year ago?
I’ve written previously about economic uncertainty and how to prepare your business for it. But looks like our compass is working again. And, meanwhile, experts are predicting a slow and steady decrease in interest rates over the next two years as inflation edges back down to 2%. Now consider that hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending has already been approved and will be breaking ground in the next couple years and THE FUTURE IS ROSY!!!
The question is, is your business ready for growth?
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And now for something completely different…
Like most everyone reading this, I spend my days at a keyboard writing email, building spreadsheets, analyzing data, etc.—and at the end of the day have nothing corporeal I can put my hands on. Thus, in addition to physically engaging hobbies like long distance running and playing music, I greatly enjoy projects for which I can TOUCH the results at the end—and have been building motorcycle choppers for a few years.
Below is a picture of my third build, some details of which are Harley Davidson “knucklehead” engine (made from 1936-48), with a Sugar Bear springer front-end that’s 30″ over stock, zebra-hide seat and microphone tail/brake light.
The bike took a little over 200 man-hours of bending/welding/grinding/cussing and finished two weeks ago—just in time for an annual Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota which I’ll be attending along with 500,000 of my close personal friends to show off that I’m more than an Excel expert.
Regards,
Kevin E. Stroud
kestrou@nexlan.com
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
3 Acumatica Socks Knockers—Aug. 21 Lunch & Learn Event
Of the probably 200-plus optional add-on and built-in capabilities available for Acumatica, a few of them knock the socks off of users from a wide range of company types, with functionality and flexibility that they need, and that make their day-to-day lives easier—including Acumatica Payments, Avalara, and Velixo.
At this NexLAN webinar, you’ll get a short, 15-minute overview of each to check them out. We’ll buy you lunch that day too!
- Acumatica Payments – Imagine not having to resend invoices to your customers, or send them your ACH banking info, or key in their credit card numbers, or take phone calls to collect their payment information. With Acumatica Payments, your customers can log into a portal anytime to see their outstanding invoices and make payments to you by credit card or ACH. This is built into Acumatica—there are no additional costs for installation and training.
- Avalara – It’s a nightmare to stay on top of all the details for sales tax jurisdictions, changing tax rates based on origin/destination and item type, tax payment due dates, and more. Avalara’s automations for Acumatica eliminate that nightmare for you and make it easy to stay current and compliant. It saves time on your tax returns too, with its ease of pulling data and automating the filing.
- Velixo – Hands-down one of the most widely used Acumatica add-ons, Velixo’s Excel-based reporting, planning, and analysis software reports on Acumatica data in real time, using simple functions based in the Excel that everyone knows and loves.
Attend this online event to hear presenters from all three companies and get an introduction to these powerful and flexible capabilities.
Register for the 3 Acumatica Socks Knockers—Lunch & Learn: To reserve your space, email tony@nexlan.com.
August 21st, 2024 12:00–1:00 PM CDT
For your free lunch as an attendee, just email a receipt to rachel@nexlan.com and let us know if you’d like a credit on your customer account or a check in the mail.
Acumatica Makes Selling Your Products on Amazon Much Easier
Simplify daily management of your Amazon Marketplace inventory details, orders, and accounting.
Whether your company aims to expand into new sales channels and markets by selling direct to consumers on Amazon—or you’re already selling on Amazon and need a solution to help you scale—Acumatica’s native Amazon Connector keeps your Acumatica and Amazon data synced around the clock. That means:
- You and Amazon both have always-current inventory visibility—without you having to manually update your Fullfilled By Merchant (FBM) inventory availability details for Amazon.
- Your Acumatica system always reflects your latest Amazon orders, shipments, and payments—no need to manually key Amazon orders into Acumatica.
- Your Amazon fees are mapped to your preferred GL accounts—so you don’t have to pour over statements to manually reconcile dozens of Amazon order and non-order fee types. Plus you can then easily run reports to understand where Amazon is charging you and what your profits are for Amazon orders.
Learn about these and other Acumatica Amazon Connector features (like virtual Acumatica warehouses for your Amazon inventory; access to Amazon Buy Shipping for shipping discounts; simplified security compliance; and more):
- Watch this webinar excerpt: 2024 R1 Feature Overview: Amazon Connector (12-minute video from Acumatica)
- Read more on Acumatica’s website: Acumatica’s Native Integration with Amazon Marketplace
- Reach out to NexLAN with questions specific to your unique business.
AccountMate AP Automation Feature—Webinar Recording
Did you miss the live demo in July of the new AccountMate V13.2 feature, Accounts Payable Payment Automation?
No worries. A recording is available for you to see the live demo where AccountMate Corp. and REPAY demonstrated the new Click-To-Pay feature in AccountMate.
Watch the AccountMate AP Automation webinar (34 minutes)
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What is the Accounts Payable Payment Automation feature from REPAY?
It processes your vendor payments online for you from within AccountMate, via a REPAY payments portal. This reduces your resources needed for check printing, ACH payment processing, and earning rebates on your virtual card payments. - REPAY processes the payments for you once you review and upload them. REPAY works directly with your vendors to maintain up-to-date vendor banking information for receiving payments, securely storing their data.
- Each vendor can still have their preferred payment methods (virtual card, credit card, ACH, or check), and you can securely register your bank accounts and assign them per vendor.
- This new automation integrates with the AccountMate SQL/Express Accounts Payable Module, as well as the Bank Reconciliation Module.
Have a question? It’s easy to reach us.
AccountMate Training: Payroll Module Class and Core Modules Class
Two upcoming AccountMate SQL/Express classes for AccountMate users:
1. Payroll Module Product Training—September 16-20
First up is AccountMate’s annual offering of a live, online class covering all of the functionality in the AccountMate SQL/Express Payroll Module. This is where current or new Payroll Module users go to gain skills and insights for this powerful, muti-faceted module.
It’s a five-day online hands-on class, 3-4 hours per session; 18 hours total—$500 per session or $1,800 for all five sessions. (Note that this class doesn’t qualify for the free Core Modules class seats that come with Lifecyle Maintenance.)
View the Sept. 16-20, 2024 payroll class details:
Course Overview | Course Outline | Course Schedule
➤ To register or ask questions, contact NexLAN.
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2. Core Product Training—October 2 – November 7
In just two months from now, the next offering of training for AccountMate SQL/Express core modules begins. You can attend one, multiple, or all of the module sessions (System Manager, General Ledger, Inventory Control, Purchase Order, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Sales Order, Bank Reconciliation).
There are two online hands-on classes per week, 2-4 hours each (39 hours total). It’s $400 per session, $3,000 for all. And if you have a current Lifecycle Maintenance Plan, you can send at least one trainee annually to this class for free (see the Course Overview for details of how many free trainees based on your number of users).
Plan now to go “back to school” this fall with at least one class session—master all the details of a module you use now, or learn a new module to add to your skills. This is an excellent way to cross-train employees, too!
View the Oct. 2 – Nov. 7, 2024 core modules class details:
Course Overview | Course Outline | Course Schedule
➤ To register or ask questions, contact NexLAN.
AccountMate Tech Note: Understanding Finished Job Cost Calculation Methods and Their Effect on Production Variances
AccountMate’s Manufacturing module provides three methods to calculate the manufactured items’ finished job cost:
- Finished job cost calculation based on actual costs
- Finished job cost calculation based on standard costs for component items and master item
- Finished job cost calculation based on actual costs for component items and standard cost for master item
Article #1164: Understanding the Finished Job Cost Calculation Methods and Their Effect on Production Variances discusses how AccountMate uses these three methods to calculate finished job costs including production variances. This document also presents the GL entries generated for each finished job cost calculation method.
AccountMate Tech Note: How Open Debit Transactions Affect the Past-Due Aging Report and GL Account ID Balances
When reconciling vendor balances with the GL Account ID balances, one must also consider the vendor open debit transactions. Open debits generally result from either down payments required for order fulfillment or purchase returns. AccountMate’s Accounts Payable (AP) module is equipped with tools that you can use to record these transactions.
Article #1190: Understanding How Open Debit Transactions Affect the Past-Due Aging Report and GL Account ID Balances explains how AP open debits are reflected in the Past-Due Aging Report and identifies the journal entries that are generated.
Acumatica Technical Tips
Turn off Lookup Box Suggestions
Q: When I am typing in an inventory ID for a new sales order, it opens a dropdown of all the Inventory IDs that include the characters of what I have started typing. I do not want that to show up. Can I turn this off?
A: Yes, you can turn off lookup suggestions in your User Profile.
Note: This is a system-wide change, so unchecking this box will also turn off lookup box suggestions for other fields such as Vendor, Customer, GL Accounts, etc.
To get to your user profile, in the upper right of the screen click your login name, and then My Profile. Under Personal Settings, on the General Info tab there’s a checkbox for Lookup Box Suggestions. Uncheck this box to turn off lookup suggestions.
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How to Show Account Numbers in Profit and Loss Statement
Q: When I run my Profit and Loss report, the account numbers are not on the report. Can those be added to the report?
A: Yes. You will need to alter the row set to show the account numbers. To add them to each line do the following:
- Go to Finance > Preferences > Report Definitions and find the report that you would like the account numbers to show on.
- In the Row Set column click the blue highlighted text.
- In the pop up screen, find the line that you would like to add the account number to, and in the Data Source column click the magnifying glass.
- In this pop-up, for the Expand drop-down choose Account, and in the Row Description drop-down, choose either Code or Code-Description.
- Click OK and then Save.
Repeat these steps for each line that you want to add account numbers to.
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How to Fix “EP Error: User must be an Employee to use current screen”
Q: I am getting the error, “EP Error: User must be an Employee to use current screen.” on some screens when I am trying to work in Acumatica. How can I fix this?
A: To fix this error the employee must be linked to their user on the User screen. Go to More Items > Configuration > User Security > User Management > Users and enter the user login you want to link the employee to. In the user’s Linked Entity field enter the employee and Save.
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Where do I change the default GL Accounts for Stock Items?
Q: When I am adding Stock Items to my Acumatica system, after entering the Item Class, on the GL Accounts tab, my GL accounts are automatically filled in. I would like to change the default GL account values that are auto-populated. How can I do that?
A: Go to Inventory > Preferences > Posting Classes and select the Class ID of the Item Class you would like to change the default accounts for. On the GL Accounts tab you can make the changes you wish and then Save.
AccountMate Technical Tips
How Do I Import Item Quantities When Doing a Partial Physical Inventory Count?
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: IC
Q: I will be importing physical counts in the next few days for about 50% of my inventory items. I may have to freeze all my items before the import. How can I retain the existing on-hand quantity of those items that were not counted, or those items not included in the import file?
A: If you can use the filter criteria to include only items included in the count, then use it to freeze only applicable items. If not, then perform the following:
- Very important: Make a backup of your system. Also confirm that you know your company’s procedure or IT contact person for restoring backups.
- Freeze all inventory items.
- Access the Input Physical Count function; then, click OK. This will display the message “Default on-hand quantity as counted quantity?” message. Click Yes; then, in the second Input Physical Count window, click Save.
- Export the records from the ICPCNT table after Step 2. Make this exported file your import file.
- Clean up the exported file to prepare for import (e.g., remove unnecessary records, update the counted quantity of those items that were counted, and leave the counted quantity of those items that are not counted as is).
- Import the physical count using the updated import file.
Also see our first article at Hot Dogs and Physical Inventory Counts for more details, critical information, and tips!
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Why Aren’t Some of Our Invoices Showing a “Click to Pay Now” Link?
Versions: AM12.3 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: AR
Q: Why is the Click to Pay Now link at the bottom of the invoice only available on some invoices?
A: The Click to Pay Now link (or Click Here To Pay Online link if you are running AccountMate 12.3) is only displayed on invoices assigned with a Click To Pay type pay code (i.e., the ClickToPay option is selected in Pay Code Maintenance).
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Is There a Document that Explains the Transaction Codes in the Inventory Transaction Log?
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: IC
Q: There is a Trs Type column in the Inventory Transaction Log which will help me identify the transaction that created the log; however, it is displayed as a code. Is there a document that explains the transaction that created the log (e.g., what the transaction type code SHIP is when you ship a sales order)?
A: The transaction types are listed and explained in the Online Help. Display the Online Help by launching the Inventory Transaction Log report; then, press F1. (Click the example screen below to enlarge it.)
You may also use the Trs Type Lookup button in the Inventory Transaction Log report interface. Click the Trs Type Lookup button to display the Transaction Type Search window, which shows the transaction type description (e.g., SHIP -> Sales Order Shipment).
For a chart that explains the Trs Type Codes all in one place, reference Article #1159: Understanding the Inventory Transaction Log.
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Printing Customer Statements for Parent Accounts But Not Subsidiary (Child) Accounts
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: AR
Q: Will unmarking the Print Statement checkbox in the Customer Maintenance ► Settings tab for the subsidiary customer (child account) prevent it from getting the Customer Statement so only the parent account will get the Customer Statement?
A: Unmarking the Print Statement checkbox in the Customer Maintenance ► Settings tab for the subsidiary customer (child account) will not only prevent printing the Customer Statement for the child account, but it will also not include the child’s information when you print the Customer Statement for the parent account even though you marked the Consolidate Statement checkbox for the parent.
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