Needles in the Haystack

In General Ledger by Kevin Stroud

Dear AccountMate Clients,

Validating the Balance Sheet against supporting reports in the subsidiary modules is a regular topic here—appearing almost as often as my pleas to confirm your backups are working—but what do you do if these are out of sync and now you have to find the needles in the haystack?

First, it’s important to know that when entering an AccountMate transaction and there’s a date shown in red, that means it’s hitting GL on the date specified—often labelled “post date”—so keep your eyes peeled for red dates!

Regardless of which particular validation is off (AR Asset to AR Aging, Inventory Asset to Warehouse Quantity Listing, etc.) the first question when troubleshooting is always: When’s the last time they were in balance, and have all prior periods been restricted since that time? Often the answer is that someone posted into history, such as by typoing the year in January 2019 to be in January 2018.  On rare occasion entries are even typo-ed to future periods.  In both cases, restricting periods to only “the current month” prevents those simple mis-keys and lets us know “how big is the haystack” we’re looking in for the issues.

It’s also common that clients are trying to validate the Balance Sheet with reports run with the History Aging “as of” option and that’s ALWAYS dangerous as the “void dates” can be in different periods than the original transaction. Since voiding transactions may remove details of that transaction, when reports are run for prior dates it’s possible the transactions won’t show but the reversing entry to GL of the void didn’t hit until later. Thus, my rule of thumb is: Never hang your hat on validating the Balance Sheet with History Aging reports—always use Current Aging reports.

So, what do you do if you’re sitting there with the Balance Sheet not matching the validating reports?  Follow these steps:

1. Transfer all modules to GL—make sure there’s no transactions hitting future fiscal periods.

2. Run the validating reports with “Current Aging” and compare the current Balance Sheet accounts to the validating reports.

  • If you’re now in sync then there’s only a timing issue and the issue can be solved with journal entries.
  • If you’re *not* now in sync, then it’s time to start spelunking for the amount of the difference with <Reports><Transaction Search> – and, on a good day, there’s ONE transaction (for the amount that we’re off) at the root of the problem.  If it’s still not found, then the next option is to comb through <Reports><General Ledger Listing> for the offending account and verifying every line item against the transactional reports (not the <Transfer to GL> report) in the subsidiary module.  This is where having a small “haystack” is a HUGE help, and it’s important to *not* have your GL Accounts set to “Transfer as Summary” (as defined on the <Chart of Accounts Maintenance> screen) so you have visibility to the details of the transactions in GL.
  • By the way, the most common things found are GL journal entries hitting the validated accounts (such as cash) and Accounts Payable Invoices posting directly to your inventory asset.

3. If you still can’t find the problem, then the solution of last resort is:

  • Make Journal Entries to force the Balance Sheet to match the Current Aging reports as of the current fiscal period.
  • Restrict historical and future posting periods.
  • Then a few days later, transfer all modules to GL and run the validating reports with Current Aging again and see if anything is off—if so, then the <General Ledger Listing> haystack will only be a few days of transactions and the needle easier to find with the General Ledger Listing.

Like the ocean, you just can’t turn your back on your Balance Sheet and validating it monthly, using our handy Period End Closing Outlines, will keep you on top of the issues so the bottom line of your Income Statement will be correct and next year-end closing will be simpler!

Regards,

Kevin E. Stroud
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com

Core AM/SQL Product Training March 20-22, 2019 

The next Core Product Training class at AccountMate’s headquarters in Petaluma, California, is scheduled for Wednesday-Friday, March 20-22, 2019.

The three days of classroom training is applicable to both first-time and existing AccountMate users—and don’t forget that if you have an active Lifecycle Maintenance Plan, it includes one seat per year so your only cost would be travel expenses.
Contact us for additional information and see the course description here.

Connection #0 is busy

Yes, this was in last month’s NewsLine, but the question keeps coming up as PCs are updated so adding it for reference here again.

There’s been a recent MS-Windows Update which impacts AccountMate/SQL V9 and V10 and the feature to disconnect users.

The symptom is that when starting the program you’ll get a pop-up underneath of your AccountMate login window saying “Connection #0 is busy.”  You can hit <Ignore> to continue, but is a hassle as it occurs every time…

To permanently fix the issue:

  1. <Right Click> your AccountMate shortcut and select “Properties”
  2. On the “Compatibility” tab, check the box for “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and then select “Windows 7” from the combo-box as shown below
  3. Hit <OK> at the bottom and all should be good!

Tech Note: Understanding the Accounts Payable Nonpayment Feature

AccountMate’s Accounts Payable module includes a Nonpayment feature which allows you to record a portion of an AP invoice to a designated GL Account ID that is different from the Accounts Payable GL Account ID you assign for the vendor. This is useful when making partial or full payment to an AP invoice in the form of barter, deduction from an employee’s payroll, or conveyance of a non-cash asset.

Article #1120: Understanding the Accounts Payable Nonpayment Feature details how to activate and use the AP nonpayment feature, with the objective to help you get familiar with the feature and discover its significance to your company’s day-to-day operations.

Technical Tips

Version: AM10.4 for SQL and Express

Modules: IC, LC

TIP #1: In previous AccountMate builds, you cannot amend a lot number once it is assigned to the inventory item. Starting in AccountMate 10.4 for SQL and Express, you can amend lot numbers using the Amend Lot Number function without voiding and recreating the source transaction. You can access the function from the Maintenance menu of the Inventory Control module.
TIP #2: You can also amend the expiration date when you amend the lot number.
TIP #3: When amending a lot number, the Warehouse, Item #, and Current Lot # are required. The Current Lot # must be valid; it must exist in AccountMate and assigned to the Item # and Warehouse.
TIP #4: You can only assign one new lot number for lot numbers assigned by Work Order or for Customized Kit Item. For lot numbers assigned by Purchase Order or by Item, new multiple lot numbers are allowed.

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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL, Express, and LAN
AM8 for SQL, Express, and LAN
Module: AP
Q: After recording an AP prepayment transaction, I noticed that the vendor’s open debit balance remains unchanged. When I generated the AP GL Transfer Report, there were no entries for the transaction I have recorded. What did I miss?
A: The vendor open debit balance is updated only when a payment (through Post Handwritten Check, Print Computer Check, or Post Credit Card Payment or Post Credit Card Billing) is posted for the prepayment. After recording the payment, AccountMate will then generate the related journal entries for the prepayment (and payment) transactions.

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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL, Express, and LAN
AM8 for SQL, Express, and LAN
Module: AP
Q: When I generated the Past-Due Aging Report, the report shows that I have an open debit from a particular vendor; however, when I attempted to apply it using the AP Invoice Transactions function, the open debit record is not shown. What did I miss?
A: The open debit amount must be a debit invoice (i.e., AP invoice with a negative invoice amount). Only AP prepayment transactions are shown and can be applied in the AP Invoice Transactions function. You must use the Post Handwritten Check function to apply the negative invoice amount against a positive invoice amount.
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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL, Express, and LAN
AM8 for SQL, Express, and LAN
Module: PR
Q: I made a mistake with one of my employee’s pay. I voided the employee’s ACH check and amended the payroll to correct the mistake; then, printed the check. This process created another ACH file for one employee check. Now, I have two ACH files; the first ACH file with all employee checks including the erroneous pay for one employee and the second ACH file that has one employee check. Can I generate another ACH that has all the employee’s correct pay?
A: Yes, you can. To do this, perform the following:
  1. Lookup the E-Payment Batch # for the two transactions on the Electronic Payment Report.
  2. Access the Regenerate ACH File function from Reports menu and perform the following:
    a. Enter the bank number in the Bank # field.
    b. Select the Range option in the E-Pymt Batch # area; then, enter in the From and To fields the E-Payment Batch #s verified in Step 1.
  3. Note the filename of the new ACH file generated by AccountMate.
  4. Go to the directory where the ACH file is stored and look for the newly generated ACH file. Upload this file to your bank’s website.

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