Dear AccountMate Clients
Like all businesses, I regularly engage in “competitive analysis“, to see what the competition has to offer. The AccountMate product compares VERY favorably in functionality with the other mid-tier alternatives, and I wanted to note an area where I think we’re clearly ahead – our “drill-around” ability – so here’s an overview to make sure you’re getting the full benefit of it.
Some products will tout their “drill-down” ability, but AccountMate goes way beyond that by letting you drill up, down, and around transactions and to/from the General Ledger impact.
So where’s this great functionality and how do I get at it?
In both the LAN and SQL product line, look for and click on:
- Underlined labels on forms – they drill down to the maintenance screens of the underlying data – usually validated fields.
- Italicized column headings in grids – they drill down to underlying reports (like in GL Chart of Accounts Maintenance on the “Period Analysis” tab), or to underlying screens (like in the AR Apply Payments screen on the “Adjustment” column).
- Notepad buttons beside displayed quantity amounts – they drill down to screens listing the detail which comprise the displayed quantities (like in Inventory Maintenance beside the “Booked Qty” amount) or grids where you can drill to reports (like in Create Sales Order on the “Line Items” tab).
Most powerfully of all, in the SQL product, look for and click on:
- Colored (the default is blue) text in report previews – they drill down to other reports of supporting information, where you can click on yet more colored text to drill up/down/sideways to even more reports. There’s really no limit to how many reports you can drill through via this method, and I’ve often ended up wondering where I started once I got into looking at an issue! <grin>
These are powerful ways to immediately access information without having to navigate through other screens and reports – and leverage the built-in efficiency of your AccountMate system. Enjoy!
On the running front, ran my 5th consecutive Boston Marathon on Monday of this week. Finished in 3:06:20, so I didn’t quite hit my goal time, but was still in the top 10% of a VERY tough field and beat my qualifying time for next year’s Boston by almost 25 minutes so I’m happy. Typically, this is my only marathon of the year, and then I run ultra-marathons through the rest of spring, summer and fall – but my wife had a terrible time at Boston due to a sinus infection, so now we’re figuring out what marathon to run to get her qualifying time for 2012. If there’s a flat, fast, marathon near you – that’s not too warm! – then let me know!
Regards,
Kevin E. Stroud
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
End-User Core Product Training: 11-13 May, 2011
End User Core Product Training class will be offered at the AccountMate headquarters in Petaluma, California on May 11-13, 2011 (Wednesday through Friday).
This 3-day course covers the installation and implementation of AccountMate/SQL V8 and discusses the key features in each of the core financial modules: General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Sales Order, Upsell Management, Accounts Payable, Purchase Order, Bank Reconciliation plus basic Inventory Control features.
While an excellent course for those end-users new to AccountMate, even experienced end-users are welcome and can expect to increase their application skills.
Please contact us for pricing and to sign up. Complete class details are here.
Pre-requisites: Attendees should have a good understanding of basic accounting concepts and work flows in an accounting software.
Free Vertical Solutions Webinars
AccountMate is hosting several vertical solution webinars. If you are interested in attending any of the below webinars please hit <reply> to this e-mail, or send directly to nexlan@nexlan.com letting us know which 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.
Bassets Fixed Assets – Thursday, April 21, 2011 – 12-1 CDT – Bassets Fixed Asset System allows companies to simplify the management of their business assets, control costs, maximize tax savings and meet all their asset reporting requirements. Bassets is scalable from tens to hundreds of thousands of fixed asset records. It easily interfaces fixed asset data with the AccountMate Software’s General Ledger with its powerful depreciation export.
Some additional Bassets Fixed Asset System highlights:
- Ability to dynamically calculate fixed asset depreciation on-the-fly for historical, present and future periods
- Provide over 20 standard fixed asset reports and a custom fixed asset report writer [Crystal Reports]
- Calculates fixed asset depreciation for any Period and can run historical reports and generate future projects
- Allows for complete/partial transfer and disposal of fixed assets
- Addresses many Fixed Asset Depreciation Methods including: MACRS (GDS), Alternative MACRS (ADS), Declining Balance deprecation, Sum of the Years Digits, Remaining Balance over Adjusted Life, and Straight line depreciation
DocuFire Fax & E-mail Management System – Wednesday, April 27, 2011 – 12-1 CDT – DocuFire Server is a multi-user document management and communication system designed to automate all aspects of AccountMate customer and vendor communications. With DocuFire Server, all your Invoices, Customer Statements, Sales Quotes, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders and Direct Marketing documents can be faxed or emailed by PDF (and/or printed) right from your desktop, saving you thousands of dollars in postage and mailing costs. All without re-keying any data.
Acme Point-of-Sale – Thursdsay, May 19, 2011 – 12-1 CDT – Acme Point of Sale is fast, feature rich and user friendly. Acme is designed from the ground up as true point of sale that interfaces to a multitude of POS hardware for a complete solution. Our credo “Keep the Lanes Moving” addresses the main needs of retailers and resellers… Be fast, flexible, fault tolerant and fool proof.
Acme includes our traditional user interface and our awesome “gotta see it” touch screen.
We are load tested to 25 lanes, 2,500 transactions per hour, 250,000 items and 250,000 customers. To keep the lanes moving with large databases we include multiple PLU’s per item, printable bar coded price books, Merge Scan, Super Find (think Google) and much more.
Tech Note: Understanding the Company Access Lock Feature
AccountMate 8.1 for SQL/Express introduces the Company Access Lock feature. A company can be locked to prevent users from accessing it or logging into it. This feature is useful when performing period-end closing, adding or editing fields or performing any other process that requires exclusive access rights to the company database.
Article 1294: Understanding the Company Access Lock Feature
Tech Note: How to Set Up and Use a Signature Image in AccountMate
Using digital signatures on checks has become more common than manual signatures. The Signature Image feature in AccountMate allows users to set up, maintain and delete signature image records for use in either the Accounts Payable or Payroll custom checks. Knowledge about this feature may help you maximize its use; thus, saving the signatories’ time and making the image readily accessible for authorized users.
Article 1295: How to Set Up and Use a Signature Image in AccountMate
Technical Tips
Versions: AM8 for SQL and Express
AM7 for SQL, Express and LAN
AM6.5 for SQL, MSDE and LAN
Module: PR
Q. After installing the FICA update, how will AccountMate handle an employee’s over withheld FICA tax if the maximum FICA gross wage ($106,800) was reached before the FICA update was installed?
- A. If an employee reached the maximum FICA gross wage before the FICA update was installed; then, AccountMate’s calculation of FICA tax will be as follows after installing the FICA update:
- Employee: On the first payroll run following installation of the FICA update, AccountMate will compare the amount that was withheld to the amount that should have been withheld. Then, to correct any over withheld FICA tax, the over withheld amount will be added to the net pay during that payroll run. There will be no FICA tax calculated on subsequent payroll runs.
- Employer: AccountMate will stop calculating FICA tax on the first and subsequent payroll runs.
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Versions: AM8 for SQL and Express
AM7 for SQL, Express and LAN
AM6.5 for SQL, Express and LAN
Module: AP
Q: I discovered that an invoice that has already been paid should have been recorded as a 1099 type. How can I change it?
A: Perform the following:
- Access the Void Check function.
- Enter in the Check # field the check # that was used to pay the invoice; then, click Void.
- Access the Amend AP Invoice function.
- Enter the vendor number in the Vendor # field; then, enter in the AP Invoice # field the invoice number that you want to amend.
- Amend the value in the 1099 Type field by clicking the list box button; then, select the correct 1099 Type from the list.
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Versions: AM8 for SQL and Express
AM7 for SQL, Express and LAN
AM6.5 for SQL, MSDE and LAN
Module: PR
Q: I noticed that employee withholding taxes are calculated based on their gross wages before deductions. I have a deduction that reduces the employee taxable income by the deduction amount. How can I set up a deduction code that reduces taxable income?
A: You can reduce employees’ withholding taxes by marking the applicable federal and state tax checkboxes in the Deduction Maintenance ► State Taxes Reduction tab. You can choose to reduce Federal Withholding, FICA, Medicare, FUTA, Subject Wages, State Withholding, SUTA, SDI, and other additional taxes.
Notes:
- The Subject Wages checkbox is available in AM7.6 for SQL and Express and AM7.3 for LAN or higher only.
- If you are using AM65 for SQL, MSDE and LAN (with LAN payroll), you will find the Reduce Federal Taxes area in the Deduction Maintenance ► Information tab and the Reduce [state] Tax area in the Deduction Maintenance ► State Taxes Reduction tab.
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Versions: AM8 for SQL and Express
AM7 for SQL, Express and LAN
AM6.5 for SQL, Express and LAN
Module: AP
Q: I created an invoice and manually applied payment to it. When I tried to print the computer check, I encountered the message, “No records were found for these criteria.” Why?
A: Verify the following:
- The bank # that is entered in the first Print Computer Check window is the bank # specified for the invoice in the AP Invoice Transactions ► Amend AP Invoice ► Information tab ► Bank # field.
- The maximum amount allowed for the computer check in the Bank Account Maintenance ► Information tab ► Maximum Amount Allowed area is equal to or greater than the total applied payment for the invoice.
- The vendor is set to active in the Vendor Maintenance ► Settings tab ► Status field.
- The Vendor Maintenance ► Settings tab ► Hold Print Check checkbox is unmarked.
- The vendor currency code is the same as the bank currency code.
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